eAudiobooks

I've found a wonderful new things. The St. John's County Public Library has eaudiobooks and I a having a great time. After traveling the 120 mile round trip to get my card updated, I spent about 6 hours trying to figure out how to download the audiobooks and start listening on my computer. I say 6 hours, but it is probably more if I count the hours spent before I went down to the library. Why is it and computer things are always so complicated? It never fails that there is at least one instance where the computer directs me to click on the ??? at the top of the screen and the ??? is never there!

After a few hours, I finally realized that the program was giving me instructions for an Internet Explorer screen and I was using Firefox. Once I got over that, I was only halfway there. I still had to figure out how to use a new vocabulary that included "licenses" vs "checkouts." Eventually, it all worked out and I started listening to my first book.

Now that the "birth process" is over, I have only one complaint. The books are checked out for 3 weeks and you can't check them back in. You can only check out 10. While this would seem more than adequate, but it doesn't work well for me. I am getting ready to drive to Virginia and spend 2 months house sitting for my sister. This is my time to cross stitch, knit and listen to audiobooks. I made the mistake of downloading lots of short books because my wireless signal was weak and now I don't have enough books. I still have three to add, so I am getting Anna Karenina, Tess of the D'Urbervilles and Crime and Punishment. I figure those will last me long enough.

Books I've read recently

I have gotten into some fantastic books lately and I just have to pass them on. I heard about some of them in a podcast from the BBC book program. The topic was fiction book that recreated history in an accurate way. Using the Internet and the following books, I was able to fill in some gaps in my knowledge of world history in a very entertaining way.


The Catastrophist by Ronan Bennett is set in the Belgian Congo in the early 1960's. The plot centers on two writers who are caught up in the rise and fall of the charismatic leader, Patrice Lamumba. I remember the headlines vaguely, but was never able to set the memories in a clear context. The story focuses on a writer, James, and his Italian correspondent lover, Inez. While the book focuses on the relationship between these two, the awful history of that era unfolds with a nice balance.

Another book recommended was My Enemy's Cradle by Sara Young.


This was set in Holland and Germany during WWII and is about the Lebensborn program conceived by Heinrich Himmler. The purpose of these camps was to birth and rear Aryan babies for the Fuhrer. Cyrla is half Jewish and she takes the place of her Aryan looking pregnant cousin in one of the camps. The book is well written and compelling and deals with a subject that is little known.

Next I found Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie which takes place in Nigeria and concerns the break-away state of Biafra. The story is told through the eyes of 13 year old houseboy, Ugwu. I remember seeing the starving children in Biafra and I sent some money, more than I could afford, for their relief, but never really understood the politics of their suffering. This book shows the reader the conflict from various people's viewpoint and I felt gave a good synopsis of the conflict. As with the other two books, this was very well written.