Audio Books

I mentioned yesterday about listening to Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets. Audio books have kept me going for years. Sometimes they are live, sitting on my sofa- my Dad used to read to me every lunchtime. We would watch Working Lunch together- oh yes I had sorted my self out with a pension from the age of 25 thanks to the gurus on there- while eating our lunch and then he would sit and read to me. We went through Treasure Island, 39 Steps, Robinson Crusoe, lots of classics. Also the Harry Potter books when they first appeared (my husband continued with that tradition when the final few were published).
The difficulties, of reading to myself, were varied over the years. Focusing on the page was sometimes difficult. Dizziness would result in me trying to read with one eye open and one eye closed. Nausea would also set in quite quickly after 15-20 minutes. The biggest problems, which are also occurrent now are the lack of short and long term memory, and poor concentration. I can read 3 pages and realise that I have taken in only one paragraph, constantly turning back pages and getting nowhere fast isn't particularly helpful. The tiredness can cause such bad concentration that I might need to give up for a couple of weeks- by which time I have forgotten what I have read so far! My cognitive ability is improving but I still have to see what happens, some days are better than others and non-fiction is easier to read as are books of letters or short chapters and children's books
My husband reads to me now most nights before we turn out the light. It is a great way for me to keep in touch with literature and remember some of my favourites. With such a poor memory I can enjoy the same book a couple of years apart and it will seem completely new to me. We switch between drama and comedy, sci-fi and classic, also reading a lot of children's books for a gentle interlude occasionally, we have gone through the whole Narnia series and also Anne of Green Gables. Every Christmas we come back to a seasonal tale- last year it was 101 Dalmatians, the year before The Box of Delights and before that Harry Potter, preceded by Narnia. (I can remember that but very little of the contents of the books!)
Listening to reading also came in CD and cassette form. Mum would look out for free ones on the newspaper and I bought a few magazines when a series came out of Classic stories. My favourites became Tess Of The D'Urbervilles, Rebecca and Jane Eyre. The incidental music and the tone of the voices became a familiar comfort after a while and if I heard nothing else the background sound of it would lull me to sleep on difficult nights.
I'm listening to Radio 4 Extra a lot, which has book readings and dramatisations- usefully in 15 minute chunks and also available for 7 days on the internet radio via iPlayer. I have also found a couple of websites which have unabridged downloadable readings of books which are in the public domain. Most recently I have found The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. A childhood favourite, I was over the moon to have a new voice read it to me like Jackanory all over again! These times are more for comfort and familiarity than study or great significance. Books just give me something to look forward to, to see the time pass, another daily foothold which has nothing absolutely to do with me being ill.