This article was written for Annabel & Grace, which is now part of Rest Less.
I have just come back from my final Book Club meet up of 2019. We are a bit of an oddball Book Club as we talk about all things in the entertainment peppered with a lot of chat – personal and political! If we have read a book since the last Book Club then we do talk about it. However we also chat about TV, Films, theatre and podcasts, and we share our recommendations. So there is no chosen book that we all have to read.
This week I talked about the app Audible, a listening to book service.
I am a great fan of Audible books and listen to them as much as I can; when walking the dogs, cooking dinner or just to get some peace and relaxation. I am an Amazon Prime customer which means I get many credits and I hardly ever buy a book. However it is only £7.99 per month if you are not an Amazon Prime member.
Reasons to join Audible:
- You own your books even if you cancel your subscription at any time
- Exchange any audio book you don’t love.
- You have unlimited listening to documentaries, comedies and more.
- There are up to 80% off selected audiobooks.
- You can listen online or offline, on the underground or mid-flight.
- It automatically goes to your current place in the book whatever you are listening on. Even when you switch from car audio to mobile phone to Alexa, Kindle or iPad.
If you click HERE you can enjoy a 30-day free trial.
We spend our lives reading the news, emails and even the Annabel & Grace online magazine so it is nice, occasionally, to just listen!
You can also give 3/6/12 months subscription as a gift. What a wonderful present this would be for any book lover. It would also be a special gift for anyone who cannot read so easily. Click HERE for this service.
I have just finished listening to The Dutch House by Ann Patchett. It was narrated by Tom Hanks which I think was better than reading the book the regular way. Read my review of this book HERE.
BBC SOUNDS
Another great listening service is BBC Sounds which includes the BBC radio catch up service. Right now I am listening to Middlemarch.
To a provincial town in England. Not in the south, not in the north. But “somewhere around the middle”, where the “economic outlook is gloomy” and “parliament is in crisis, but the effects of the crisis are felt everywhere”.
Does that sound familiar? No not set in 2019 but 1829 – 1832.
In a scene at a business meeting, someone chastises, “I cannot regard wealth as a blessing to those who use it simply as a harvest for this world!”
Wouldn’t John McDonnell agree?
Pretty much everything that makes Middlemarch so enjoyable, and such a great book club read, also makes it perfect on the radio. The world-building, the interrelation of so many characters, the dialogue. Bankers, estate managers, minor gentry. Doctors with ideas about diet and ventilation, lawyers “with the complexion of an Easter egg”.
Simply; this is life in a “somewhere around the middle” town. No white whales – but plenty of people feeling sad at the kitchen table. Welcome to our world as I write this on the eve of the General Election.
Click HERE for Middlemarch on BBC Sounds.