Making the Most of a Long Commute

Since being back in the DC Metro area, my commute has gotten noticeably longer.  And not only longer, but certainly more aggravating some days.  The first few months weren't too bad.  I found some radio personalities that kept me entertained and played good music.  After Thanksgiving, I was able to submerse myself in holiday tunes and general holiday cheer.  Now that the novelty of "getting back into the groove" has worn off and the holidays are over, I have decided to try another avenue of amusement for my commute.

More than one person recommended books on tape (really it's a CD, but everyone still calls them books on tape - weird huh?) to me as a way to occupy my time.  I thought it was a good idea too, but never got around to implementing it.  Well, New Year, New Things.  I decided to start with a "safe" book with an author I know and generally like, Catherine Coulter with one of her FBI Thrillers - Hemlock Bay.  The reader for this book was quite talented and impressed me with what a book on tape could be.  She did different voices for all the characters and had a good pace.  I think I was expecting them to be dry reads, but reading a book aloud apparently requires some talent.  Who would have thought? 

The sad thing about the containers for books on CD, they are kind of hard to read/browse in the library.  It's a MUCH smaller collection and no glamorous spines to look at.

So did it have the desired effect to take my mind off traffic?  I definitely zoned out on the drive and was listening to the book more than I was concentrating on what turd was going to cut me off on my way home.  It's kind of nice actually.  As an added bonus, it only took a week to listen to the whole thing.  Considering I am in the car for 7.5 - 9 hours a week and most books are around 10-15 hours, it's a good pace.  The weird thing is when I get home and I think, I wonder what happens next.  I know I won't find out until I get in my car the next day or go run an errand.  This is both an interesting and frustrating way to go through a book.  It seems to hold my attention, but I can only get further in it if I listen more, not read at night before bed.  Sure I could bring up the CDs from the car, but then I would have to find the track I was on and listen with head phones or whatever.  That's a little too much effort for me.

The only thing I haven't quite gotten the hang of is changing the CDs at the end of each disc.  It's always a surprise and I don't want to waste precious car time listening to plain old radio.  I want to get back to the book as soon as I can.  I am sure I will get a method down as I listen to more. 

So now I am avidly reading AND listening to books.  I started a new author this week; James Patterson with Beach Road.  So far I am enjoying it. I think I could easily double the amount of books I go through this year.  Thank you Fairfax County Public Library for having such wonderful gifts for free!!