It is almost a foregone conclusion that most librarians are
prolific readers and often surround themselves with others of a similar
persuasion. From my experience, a love of reading is often passed down through
the generations, so readers often come from families of bookworms.
Additionally, many librarians seem to choose partners that share their passion
for the written word.
I have bucked these trends. While my mother, sister, and I
are passionate readers, my dad does not even pretend to understand how reading
could be an activity from which anyone could derive pleasure. Similarly, my
husband, Andy, is not a reader.
Andy rarely enjoyed reading as a child and school often felt
like a chore to him, if not an outright punishment. He is incredibly bright and
sees things with immediate clarity. His mind just moves faster than the action
written on the page. In short, reading often bores him.
Inactivity also drives Andy nuts. If we were to rewrite the
punishments endured in Dante's Circles of Hell tailored to my husband’s
dislikes, sitting down to read for an extended period of time would be the
penalty in Andy’s 8th Circle of Hell. The punishment for ending up in the 9th
Circle would be sitting in eternal traffic. Therefore, it is easy to understand
my shock when Andy asked me to find a few audiobooks for him to listen to in
the car now that he drives to work more often than he used to.
I have always had a long commute, so I am used to
“reading” by listening to audio books
borrowed from the library and have my favorite genres and narrators. I began
racking my brain for the best titles to get Andy started. I knew that if I
chose the wrong books, he may abandon the idea.
I always wished that I could share the books that that bring
me so much joy with my husband. This was my chance, so I chose some safe bets.
Andy loves sports, so “The Boys in the Boat” by Daniel James Brown was a no
brainer. “Unbroken” by Laura Hillenbrand combines athletics, war stories, and
action/adventure- perfect. Fiction was harder. I finally settled on “The Art
Forger” by Barbara A. Shapiro. A dear friend had recommended the book to me,
and I couldn’t get over how well researched it was and liked the local
connection. The Art Forger rounded out my picks.
While I am not certain that audio books have entirely
replaced sports’ radio for commuting entertainment, my husband is tearing
through them. He gave both “The Boys in the Boat” and “Unbroken” two
enthusiastic thumbs up. He is on the final chapters of “The Art Forger” and he
is clearly enjoying it, if not as much as the non fiction titles. I am
excitedly preparing the next batch, filled with nonfiction by Bill Bryson and
Erik Larson.
The humorist David
Sedaris once observed, “If a person who constantly reads is labeled a bookworm,
then I was quickly becoming what might be called a tapeworm,” in response to listening
to books on tape. I think it is safe to say that my husband has officially
become a tapeworm, and I could not be more pleased.
