December 2

A few months ago I signed up for an account with Audible, an online subscription service wherein one pays for a certain number of monthly credits that can be redeemed for mp3 versions of audiobooks. It’s completely legit, by the way, Audible acting as a certified reseller of digital media — and not some back door, pirating scheme. And the library is really quite awesome.

With a twenty to thirty minute commute each way it doesn’t take long to plough through my monthly “book on tape” broadcast from the iPod into the car stereo. I’m on my fifth since subscribing in August.

Day 2: The Evening Speed Blur.

After debating it for a while, I opted last month to save my October credit and buy a “double credit” book in November. A very small handful of new, longer-than-average novels show up at a cost of two credits. And, undecided if I wanted to read it in dead-tree mode, digital paper mode, or read-to-me-by-an-actor mode, I ultimately slammed down the decision and opted for the latter. And I’ve reached the half way, or so, point in Anathem, the latest novel by Neal Stephenson, decidedly one of my favorite authors.

Of course, after his last few books one needs to be wary of Stephenson’s artistic license. I suppose, with a small collection of wildly successful, culture-defining novels to his credit, he had fair play to go ahead and write a crazy, off-kilter story like his previous trilogy. But with that behind him, and a few vocal fans still wary about diving into another off-the-wall story, I have been very pleasantly surprised with Anathem thus far. He’s back, and he’s created a rich tapestry of a far-future society of strange but identifiable characters. I’m sure I’ll have a fuller review before the month is out.

And I’m thinking I might get the dead tree version anyhow. It’ll likely be worth a second read — this time with my eyes.