I have a new car. I bought it a few weeks ago, and I'm having trouble moving my attachment over from my old car. And yes, it is all the fault of books. You see, my old car has a cassette player and my new one has a CD player. In my local library system most of the audio books are still on cassette. So here I am, halfway through Clive Cussler's Raising the Titanic on cassette and I can't listen to it anymore! Not only that, but I'm not going to have much to chose from in the future (sigh).
   Yesterday I gave in and picked up my first book on CD. I've gone back to the beginning of the Harry Potter series. That will keep me busy for a while! It has been many years since I read the book. I was impressed by how instantly compelling the story was even though it breaks the conventions that we romance writers follow. I don't read enough juvenile or YA fiction to know if the start of HP1 is normal there, but the beginning is actually focused on the Dursleys, Harry's relatives who take him in after his parents, well, you know. Then Rowling sneaks in the Potters by how they relate to the Dursleys, never even mentioning what they do that is so terrible to this proper family. Very sly and smooth and so subtle in how we know they are dreadful despite thinking they are wonderful. For someone newly reading HP1, you might almost think the Dursleys are the focus of the series, though of course we know better. I'm not very far in yet, but I'm enjoying it immensely! I have a feeling I'm going to learn a lot.
   In the last year, since I'm in a new library system with fewer choices (and a longer commute) I've been listening to old favorites like Diana Gabaldon and Charlotte Bronte. The books I loved hold up, though I experience them differently both because they are audio and because it isn't my first read/listen. Give it a try with one of your favorites!

 

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