How did you find other readers when you were a kid?>...aaand back to audio books (again)

[RandomAnthony]

Last night my twelve year old went to a Mockingjay release party from 9:30 to midnight. He was one of the youngest kids there, I think, but the party was important for a couple reasons and he said he had a great time. They did trivia from the first couple books, etc., then got the books at midnight.

Why was this important, you ask? Well, for example, my son is on the football team, practices five days a week, and has lots of football friends. But he doesn't get the message from the culture around him much that guys are supposed to read and I know some of his friends don't read at all. So when he connects at the library with 25 local kids who like to read he hopefully forms relationships with other readers his age.

Which leads me to the question...how did you find other readers when you were a kid, if you did at all? I remember teaching middle school in Chicago and seeing the reading kids sort of find each other by watching each other read, trading books, etc. Did that happen with you? Comments?

[[deleted user]]

I never did really find other readers when I was younger. My mom was a school librarian, so I got to see a lot of books which kept me in stock.

[Kevin]

i never found other readers and never really sought them out. i LOVED the deal where you got the form and ordered books for like .69 each. mom would never give me money for candy or toys but she would always give me a few bucks for books at the book fair or on book order day. with the crowd i ran around with my whole childhood i sorta kept the book lovin' on the DL

[Brittomart]

I never really "found" other readers. I have only like, one other friend who reads, and we're pretty close, but he's it. The other readers I found were kinda...snobbish.

[Félix]

Dinnae happen.

[Stacia (the 2010 club)]

I can't say that I ever hung out with a reading type crowd.

The closest we ever got to reading being somewhat cool was when the Scholastic order forms would come in at school and everyone in the class would pick out a couple of books to order. Then, on the day of the book delivery, we'd all get excited to take our books out of the packs that they came in and we'd read them in class.

My mom was a huge reader, and because of that she made it a priority to take me to the bookstore and library just about every week (sometimes twice a week). I was only allowed limited television and video games, so in the pre-telephone years, if I was alone, it was pretty much a given that I'd be reading. If I was with friends, we were usually outside roaming the neighborhood and getting into trouble.

[Lobstergirl, el principe]

We were a reading family, me especially. My mother would take me to the library and I'd come home with a stack of books two feet high and read through them without stopping. I don't remember ever reading with my friends, though. It was pretty much a solitary habit. I think I read a lot more than they did. I don't even remember seeing other kids at the public library. But most kids at school loved the Scholastic thing too. Isn't it funny the way so many people have that as a common experience? I'm sure I still have some of those Scholastic books somewhere.

[janine]

i come from a reading family too. my parents read every day and my sisters read too. my brother is the only one who never asks for books on his birthday. i don't think i had any real reading friends before i was 14 or 15.

[Kevin]

my mother was a reader. in all the dysfunction and mess of our family i am sure books took her away the same way they did me. i remember her reading poems to us. Kentucky Belle was one of my fond memories. she also read James Whitcomb Riley to us. there were always lots of books everywhere. my daughter now is the one who got this passed from me

[ms.petra]

I agree, reading was a great escape for me a well. I remember staying up all night reading both The Exorcist and The Omen. I loved those creepy terrifying novels maybe because they made my life look a little less so. Now, I am hooked on audio books because I can listen at work or while I am doing yard/house work. I still read, it is just a time luxury in a busy life.

[Lobstergirl, el principe]

I've only listened to one audio book, Hound of the Baskervilles. I find it easier to read a book; when I'm listening, I tend to get distracted and have to rewind.

[Stacia (the 2010 club)]

If I still commuted to work, audio books would seem like a great idea for the car. They don't make much sense for me at home. Walking around with an ipod isn't really my thing, and I move around too much in the house to listen to one in a single room.

[Heidi]

Most of my reading was suggested by my friends' older brothers and sisters who were in high school and junior high. Also, my parents and family would give me their childhood favorites (usually classics) as gifts for Christmas and my birthday.

I love audio books. I listen to them in the car on the way to work, from work, while running errands, and will often sit in the car to "finish a chapter." I find them so much more appealing than radio. I enjoy listening to music in the car too, but when I'm particularly stressed or upset about something, I don't want to listen to music because I don't want the music to be associated with that period in my life. Is that weird? I can deal with the audio books being associated with them because they're complete departure/escapism from whatever's weighing on my mind.

[Stacia (the 2010 club)]

The ever changing thread titles, custom fit to the current thread derail, are quite amusing.

[Lobstergirl, el principe]

Interesting. I can sometimes remember what I was reading when something memorable happened in my life. When one boyfriend dumped me, I was reading "Debating P.C." by Paul Berman. Another boyfriend I associate with "A Passage to India." That boyfriend was a big time-suck; I only read 3 books the year I dated him.

[Kevin]

audio books suck

[Félix]

I've done it while driving a long distance. I can't imagine another setting in which I could do it.

[Heidi]

Kevin "El Liso Grande" wrote: "audio books suck"

No, they don't.

[ms.petra]

I think the narrator can make or break a book. A great first listen would be the Harry Potter series narrated by Jim Dale. He is amazing!
also:
Website: www.georgeguidall.com

Average Narrator Rating: (See Reviews Below.)
Here are some of the things others have said about George Guidall and the books narrated by George Guidall :
AudioFile praises the narrator: “Guidall’s strong and assured portrayal of these characters gives us aural snapshots for our memory’s scrapbook.”

[Heidi]

ms.petra wrote: "I think the narrator can make or break a book. A great first listen would be the Harry Potter series narrated by George Guidall. He is amazing!
Website: www.georgeguidall.com

Average Narrator Rati..."

WHOA! The Harry Potter series is narrated by Jim Dale. I'd bet my left pinky on that. He was The Doc on Pete's Dragon... and he's one of my all-time favorite actors. He's actually the reason I got into the Harry Potter series to begin with. I already knew he was immensely talented. I had NO idea he could do so many dialects, though. He really brought the characters to life.

[Heidi]

Yep. Jim Dale. Random House says so on their Harry Potter listening library page (scroll down to the bottom... on the right).

[[deleted user]]

ms.petra wrote: "I think the narrator can make or break a book. A great first listen would be the Harry Potter series narrated by George Guidall. He is amazing!
Website: www.georgeguidall.com

Average Narrator Rati..."

I have the Stephen Fry - Harry Potter audio. He is brilliant. We listen to audio books on car trips when we go on holidays.

[Jonathan]

I saw Jim Dale on Broadway when I was a kid. He played the circus impresario P.T. Barnum in a musical version of Barnum's life. Totally fabulous--but that was probably thirty years ago. How old is Dale now?

[Félix]

Thirty years older.

[Jonathan]

Are you sure about that, Fes?

[Félix]

Probably.

[ms.petra]

Heidi wrote: "ms.petra wrote: "I think the narrator can make or break a book. A great first listen would be the Harry Potter series narrated by George Guidall. He is amazing!
Website: www.georgeguidall.com

Aver..."

thanks Heidi for catching my mistake... I seem to be doing a lot of that lately... too much other stuff going on in my head. :(
Anyway, it has been edited and both are fabulous narrators.

[Heidi]

ms.petra wrote: "Heidi wrote: "ms.petra wrote: "I think the narrator can make or break a book. A great first listen would be the Harry Potter series narrated by George Guidall. He is amazing!
Website: www.georgegui..."

It did occur to me that maybe he did an overseas version? I mean, Gail DID mention she has the version with Stephen Frye as the narrator.

[Jonathan]

I just checked on the worldwide interweb machine, and it says Dale is 75, won a Tony for Barnum in 1980. Also says his real name is James Smith. I guess that would be a pretty nondescript name for a stage actor.

[Heidi]

Jonathan wrote: "I saw Jim Dale on Broadway when I was a kid. He played the circus impresario P.T. Barnum in a musical version of Barnum's life. Totally fabulous--but that was probably thirty years ago. How old is ..."


I love him.

[ms.petra]

A lot of the narrators are former Broadway actors and they bring the stories to life. I also like memoirs read by the author. Sidney Poitier has a voice like velvet!

[Heidi]

Ohhh, I LOOVE Philip Pullman's voice. Makes me melty...


He's on my list of favorite narrators.

Also on the list:

Jim Dale
Tim Curry
Kate Burton
Frank Muller
Anna Fields
Paul Rudd

[Kevin]

i only want an audio book if paul reubens or tiny tim is narrating it

[Kevin]

or maybe the lady from throw momma from the train

[[deleted user]]

I have listened to a couple of audio books that were really well done, and a couple that made me want to stick a pen in my ear.