Talking Books

[DrivingMissLazy]

Several years ago when I was making the long distance commute (3500 mi.) between Pasadena and Ft. Lauderdale, I invested in several Talking Books. I found that it passed the time for me much faster than listening to music or trying to find an interesting talk radio station.

I later discovered that the Flying J stations had these Books for rent that you could rent in one location and drop off at another location. I never tried this system.

I am curious if anyone else has tried this system an if anyone knows of a source of these books used, or maybe we could set up a swap of some kind. I would like to add a few to my ePod.
Richard

[Runcutter]

Richard, I've made extensive use of books on tape on long car trips.  I don't know about using them with the coach, (for me, I don't know about anyone else) as I don't want any of my attention diverted with a heavy vehicle.  Phyllis and I volunteer as judges at the local transit system driving competition (Roadeo), which was this last Saturday.  I was talking with the head of system safety, they have a great problem with bus drivers using cellphones, - an automatic write-up.   

Our local school system has an annual used book sale as a fundraiser, I've picked some up there.  I've purchased more at a Dallas area chain of used bookstores --  Half Price Books.  I don't know what other cities they're in.  I think I've seen them also at Cracker Barrell, with a buy and return program. 

Almost all of my trips are by plane, maybe one or two car trips each year.  So, with that low volume, and the low resale value (If I purchase at Half-Price Books, I only get a few dollars trying to sell them back), we've ended up donating them to church friends who pass them along to shut-ins, or nursing homes.

Arthur   

[Len Silva]

Cracker Barrel restaurants has a similar program.  You purchase the book at full price and get credit for it when you turn it in. I think it comes to $3.50/week.

Len

[Jeremy]

I know that the RNIB (Royal National Institute for the Blind) here in Britain put great efforts into providing a heavily subsidized audio books service for it's members, so it might be worth contacting the US version to see if they offer a similar service you can take advantage of some how. I know that in the UK book publishers are now required to provide audio-versions of new books as they are published, so there is a vast range of titles available nowadays. I wouldn't be surprised if you can download them for free from somewhere on the internet as well - worth a search

Jeremy

[jjrbus]

Gee Richard, with all your money, you want to save a few pennies on books? The first place I would look is the public library. Our public library system in this country is a wonderful resource but underused and underappriciated!

[DrivingMissLazy]

Great idea. Thanks. I went to the small local library a while ago and they had a rack of both CD's and tapes. They are also a part of a large regional library in Parkersburg. There they have the books on their computer so they can be downloaded via INTERNET to my computer. From there they can be downloaded to an MP3 device. Thanks again for the great idea.
Richard

Gee Richard, with all your money, you want to save a few pennies on books? The first place I would look is the public library. Our public library system in this country is a wonderful resource but underused and underappriciated!

[jjrbus]

Thanks for the thanks Richard. Its always nice to know the outcome of something.