I have not abandoned ship. The reason I haven’t written any posts recently is that I have to spend every spare minute reading George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series (A Game of Thrones etc.). I was sent there by Daniel Mendelsohn’s review in the New York Review of Books 7 November 2013 issue. To be fair the review did contain a warning that the books might take over your life. I can thoroughly recommend them — they have a narrative drive which won’t let you get off the roundabout, and are written with style and verve. I am currently in the middle of volume four. I bought a 4-book bundle for Kindle which Amazon were selling for $15.99 — an excellent price for over 4000 pages of old-world intrigue, blood and thunder. I read on my iPad until it runs out of charge, when I plug it in and switch to my iPod Touch. Occasionally I come up for food and sleep. I plan not to buy volume five until six and seven are also available, so that I can return to the 21st century for a while.
Later: I did of course end up buying and reading volume 5 right away after finishing volume 4. After all, as I said, it is compulsive. Now I have to await Mr Martin’s WordPerfect progress.
Glad to hear that you are so absorbed!
Not too long ago I listened to the audiobook version of “Game of Thrones” read by Roy Dotrice. (I got it as a digital download from my local library.) An excellent narration that allowed me to enjoy “reading” the book while walking my dog daily. Although, at over 33 hours in length, it took me nearly 2 months to finish it, but loved every moment and got lots of exercise.
Just a thought…
I’ve never listened to an audiobook — because I don’t have a car, mainly, (One of the advantages of living in New York City), so I’m not sure how I’d get on with it. I sort of feel I’d not be able to concentrate as well, but I expect that’s just because I haven’t done it, and gotten used to it. It’s definitely a growing segment of the book business — I keep thinking I should write something about it.