Audiobooks offer literature on the go

If variety is indeed the spice of life, there is plenty of it to be found in the Marion County Library. You might begin finding it, as I have done recently, by listening to some of our newest audiobooks.
There are many to choose from for adults, teens, and children; those for our youngest readers even include the printed book packaged in a kit along with the audio.
As a child of the 1970’s, I remember comic Steve Martin’s rise to fame. My older brother even had Martin’s comedy albums, (vinyl LP’s, yes, I am that old!) that I listened to frequently, which may be why listening to Martin read his biography, Born Standing Up, was such a treat. Martin recounts his lonely childhood, his drive to become a magician and his segue into standup comedy in a surprisingly serious and touchingly eloquent manner, while still providing laugh out loud moments as he runs through some of his classic comedy routines to give listeners an idea of how they developed into his “anti-comedy” sets.

Steve Martin may have fashioned himself as a “wild and crazy guy,” but even he would not believe the wild and crazy circumstances that Em Watts finds herself in when she awakens from a grievous injury in the young adult audiobook, Airhead, by Princess Diaries author Meg Cabot. Em (short for Emerson, not Emily) is, or rather was, an intelligent, rather tomboyish, videogame-playing high school junior before her accident.

After the accident, she discovers she has been kept alive only by a radical procedure: a “whole body transplant” in which her brain has been placed in the body of world famous teenage supermodel, Nikki Howard, who unfortunately suffered a brain aneurysm at the same time and location of Em’s accident. Despite the far-fetched scenario, I was drawn into the story by its humor … Em’s adventures promise to continue through several sequels.

In vivid contrast to Airhead’s frivolity is Sally Nicholls’ novel, Ways to Live Forever, read by Charlotte Parry. In it, 11-year-old Sam suffers from acute lymphoblastic leukemia and has pretty much come to terms with his own imminent death (even while his parents have not).
His journal entries help him sort out his life and his death and the questions he raises, such as “How do you know that you’ve died?” and “Why does God let kids get ill?” may indeed help young readers and parents address them also. With the help of the charismatic and pragmatic Felix (another young cancer victim), Sam works through the list of things he wants to do before he dies, including kissing a girl, going up a down escalator, and setting a world record. Once Sam confides his list to his father, he overcomes his denial of Sam’s situation and helps him accomplish a ride in an airship, but it is Sam himself who succeeds in achieving his final goal of seeing the earth from space.

Youngest listeners will appreciate the book and compact disc package of Mr. Putter & Tabby Run the Race by Cynthia Rylant, illustrated by Arthur Howard, and narrated by John McDonough. Despite his enthusiastic embrace of April’s springtime energy and newness, Mr. Putter is reluctant to join his neighbor, Mrs. Teaberry, in signing up for a senior marathon, until he learns that second prize is a train set complete with lights, signals, and tunnels.

He finds that training for a marathon is quite difficult, especially when it takes you four days just to find your sneakers and toe-touching proves to be an unattainable goal. Mr. Putter’s friendly feline Tabby is always ready to share a cup of tea after training sessions, however. Mrs. Teaberry’s good dog Zeke is also helping with the training by frequently running off with her jump rope.
Petrarch believed that “Sameness is the mother of disgust, variety the cure.” Cure your own monotony malady with a heaping helping of audiobooks and more from the library.