SFist Rain makes a good point today when she reminds us that our friends at the San Francisco Public Library have more to offer us than just the printed word. You can also check out or reserve CDs, DVDs, audiobooks, and VHS tapes (for the unfrozen cavemen lawyers among us) for those times when reading isn't your first choice. Needless to say, you can also find these types of items at our fine local independent bookstores.

As mentioned, Rain is currently listening to Stephen King's as read by Sissy Spacek. It's an unnabridged, anniversary edition, and quite engrossing. It's interesting to hear Spacek interpret other roles aside from the one she made famous in the film. However, she's new to the whole "book-on-tape" thing (well, book-on-CD...and actually, it's a book-on-iPod, as she transferred a library copy to her iPod--for her PERSONAL use only, of course!) and she doesn't think it's her bag. It is entertaining, and fun to listen to on the way to and from work, or while taking a walk, but she doesn't think she could ever listen to a book she hasn't previously read. She thinks she'd feel like she was missing something, or not really getting HER version of the book, the version that can only be gotten through actually reading the words on the page. And it's also time-consuming. This particular book isn't actually that long, but it covers seven CDs and had a running time of over six hours. Reading is much faster.

Job Hopper cover from the Job Hopper site

Carrie