To say I don’t read might be an overstatement…I can indeed read – I have to all the time, my job(s) require it. To say I don’t read for fun or enjoyment is more to the point. I don’t. My first actual read for fun, my first completed book where someone wasn’t forcing me to consume the content was Left Behind…I was twenty-one (Imagine my disappointment when I realized I would have to read another 21 books to see how the story ends).  I don’t even think I finished the Seuss classic Green Eggs and Ham – I remember getting to ‘would you like them in a box or with a fox’ and either getting hungry or deciding the impracticality of eating such a food in those places with those animals was beyond my sensibilities.?

So why am I sputtering on about reading for recreation and expansion of the mind, when it’s obvious it is not a priority and I don’t make time for it…because I have discovered something that has me excited about finally getting to enjoy the world of literature like never before. This is not a new concept, in fact if your parents, grandparents, or primary school teachers were concerned with your mental development, vocabulary skills, and ability to grasp concepts – they read to you. That’s right…Someone Reading to you! This concept is not new to me either, for nearly all twelve years of marriage Sarah has fought nausea to read while we traveled in the car somewhere. We have read some great books – 5 or 6 Frank Peretti books, Creating Community, Church Planting Books, and most recently Crazy Love by Francis Chan.

Up to this point I had not found a way to convince Sarah to ride everywhere with me and read ;0
For Christmas my loving wife out of her wisdom and grace got me a subscription to Audible.com. Audible is bookstore of over 55,000 books in audio form…it is an incredible resource and a new way to consume content like never before. I am of course late to the game, early adopters have been using and enjoying Audible.com for years but now that I have found it, I wanted to share it with anyone who will listen (pun intended). I typically spend at least 1h 15min in the car on my commute everyday plus an hour working out a few days a week…with that recaptured time I should be able to read at a minimum a couple books a month.  

Here is a free way to see you are going to like Audible.com
You can get a free audio book that I’m reading right now called Tribes – this is a book about the social culture of people and how they respond to leadership. Pretty insightful book about taking a group of people and turning them into a movement. It’s free, it’s about 4 hours, and it is read by the author. I’m enjoying it…

Click here to get it http://www.audible.com/adbl/entry/offers/productPromo2.jsp?BV_UseBVCookie=Yes&productID=FR_ADBL_000302

You won’t need a credit card or anything but you will need to setup an account. Follow the steps to download the audible software and it will put the book in your media manager of choice – I’m using iTunes. I think if you try it…you will love it. Let me know.
www.audible.com

--Chris