Mad Caterpillar

I've been meaning to add a "Reading" sidebar to my blog for a long time now, and finally got around to it. I tend to have several books in rotation at any one time -- something to escape into, something to learn from, something to be inspired by, something that someone recommended... my mood will dictate what gets picked up at any given time. I also have a particular weakness for books written for children and young adults, so I tend to have one of those on the nightstand at all times as well.

I usually also have a book to listen to waiting on the iPod for times when multitasking is called for. I have a labrador retriever that loves long walks (what lab doesn't?) and while I enjoy walking immensely, I sometimes find that treading the same city paths over and over again gets quite tedious at times. Listening to a book as we walk brings a whole new dimension to that activity, and I've spent many happy hours with my old girl walking the paths in our neighborhood, catching up on those books that I never seem to have the time to read in paper form. We both get our exercise, and I get caught up on some really good stories -- what's not to love?

I get most of my audiobooks from audible.com. I love that they have an extensive selection of unabridged titles (I just can't bring myself to listen to abridged versions of books) in almost every genre. I tend to listen to mostly escapist fare, with the occasional classic or non-fiction piece mixed in. So far, here is a list of my favorite listens from the past year -- if anyone reads this and cares to add their favorite audiobook titles to the comments, I'd love to see what other folks have enjoyed listening to lately!

So without further ado, and in no particular order, here are some audiobook titles that I highly recommend:

-- "Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell" by Susanna Clarke, narrated by Simon Prebble

-- "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Bronte, narrated by Amanda Root

-- "Outlander" by Diana Gabaldon, narrated by Davina Porter

-- "Out of the Silent Planet" by CS Lewis, narrated by Geoffrey Howard

-- "Son of a Witch" by Gregory Maguire, narrated by John McDonough

-- "1776" by David McCullough, narrated by David McCullough

-- "Ender's Game" by Orson Scott Card, narrated by Stefan Rudnicki and Harlan Ellison