Audiobooks......

I think I am in the process of learning something about myself. I think I am learning that i cannot sit still and just listen. I have to be doing something to keep myself occupied, and it has to be more than just aural stimulation.

I am learning this because for the first time ever I am trying to listen to an audiobook. I recently found a webssite called audible.com which basically sells audiobooks. I joined on a yearly subscription, not for the books, but for all the old radio shows they have on there ("Just a Minute", and "I'm Sorry I havent a clue", for example) However this month, with one of my two credits, I "bought" the audiobook Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke. I had wanted to buy the book for a while, but I decided - why not have a listen - perfect for long drives, or falling asleep to in the evening....

WRONG! I cannot listen for more than 5 minutes before either falling asleep, or, and this is worse, osing concentration and focussing on something else, like what i will have for breakfast tomorrow, or why did I forget to do my laudry yet again! This lapse in concentration means that I eventually have to stop the audiobook, rewind, and listen again. Easy? no! How do you know where you stopped listening? I invariably end up listening to 2 or 3 minutes of the same part again before it gets to something new.....and then I lose concentration again.

So - is it me? I thought maybe its just a boring book - but actually I am quite enjoying it, when I am listening to it. I just think that I am not cut out to simply sit and listen (something my mother and several girlfriends will probably agree with no doubt!) - I have to be doing something else at the same time. But of course then, I wouldnt actually be listening to the book.

ah well - I got through one hour of the book so far...only another 31 hours to go - I might be finished by 2010!