What are audiobooks?

1. You are a small child and your Dad is reading Dr.Seuss tongue twisters to you, and they are so funny you can't stop laughing.
2.  Or you can still hear the dramatics of Munch's character yelling "It's 50 degrees below zero!" when the little boy is sleepwalking because your parents read it to you so many times you can still remember parts of it 20 years later.
3.  You start to listen to books through middle school, but in high school you tend to only hear excerpts of books as examples of literary elements.
4.  As you grow older you learn how to read print confidently and spend $5 at Walmart on a new book every time you go because there are no other places to get books and you are horrible at returning things to the library.
5.  When did I really stop listening to books?
6.  There came a time when I didn't really listen to books being read to me anymore even though I took so much pleasure in it when I was little.
7.  I've noticed when students are reading a story to me, I have to really pay attention to what they are reading or else I won't comprehend anything they just read to me.
8.  The same thing happens to me when I'm listening to audio books.
9.  Yes, I got over my problem of not returning things to the library and have started renting audio books for my long commute to and from work.
10.  I recently started listening to the book "The Shack" by William P. Young  that my Dad recommended and I've noticed that if I am not fully tuned in to the voice and inflection of the reader I become lost.  I don't know what is going on, what on earth they're talking about, it's like being stuck in the middle of a big party where you don't know anyone and there is a bunch of different conversations going on.  So far I've had to rewind at least 5 times to listen more closely.  It's hard to create that mental image without the printed text in front of me.
11.  I'm still not sure with only hearing the book one time I'm fully comprehending the intricate details of the story, when did I stop rereading?  That's a discussion for another time.
12.  I think I will keep listening to audio books because I want to get back to the reading pleasure I had when I was a young girl.

Ebook vs. Book Book

    My Dad asked me the other day, “Why did you have to go to the library?  Why aren’t you just reading on your new iPad?”  This made me think of the new literacies of today.  While I do read ebooks downloaded from the library website for 10 days at a time and they are very accessible when reading during transition times, I also enjoy a paper copy of a book once in a while.  When will this trend change?  Will the next generations be strictly ebook readers, placing virtual bookmarks, and sliding a finger or tapping a screen to “flip” backwards to reread?  Do we gain more knowledge or pleasure from reading an ebook?

    While reading Carla Neggers “Declan’s Cross” an FBI thriller with a little romance thrown in, I thought about how I sometimes read too fast to comprehend.  Just so you know, it is a hard copy version, found while browsing through the shelves of the library instead of a computer screen. I have been pleasure reading right before bed because it gives my mind something to think about other than the stress of life.  I’ve noticed that I go in and out of engagement with the book.  One minute I am reading along and connecting it with my prior knowledge of the story and the next I am thinking about what is going on in my life while still reading the words.  I have to stop and track backwards to find where I stopped paying attention to the meaning.  Meanwhile the book is falling out of my hands or I have to switch positions to see the left page or the right page.  I wonder if this is how a struggling reader reads when they know the words but cannot retell the story because they don’t know the strategy of going back and rereading? 

     My question is, is it harder or easier to focus on the meaning of the text when you are reading before bed or in the afternoon? Is it harder or easier to focus on the meaning of the text when reading an ebook or paper text?  Is it harder or easier to focus on the meaning of the text when you have to stop and look backwards?