Hi! Yes, me again, Lou Sylvre, thanking Love Bytes again and sharing more thoughts about books somebody else wrote. (Stifle the groans, please?) Recently, I haven’t been able to write (or play online) as much as I’d like, and there have been consequences. Notably, I’ve spent time thinking about things a bit more insistently than usual, and I have turned around and nailed those thoughts up here in my blog posts, for you to enjoy, wonder about, or roll your eyes as the case may be. Another change is that because reading has been a bit more difficult than usual, I’ve been listening to audiobooks. Of course putting those things together, I’ve given some thought to how listening vs. reading a novel changes the experience. And yes, I’m going to share some of those thoughts with you, a bit further down the page.

First, though, a detour. All the comment entries in last month’s contest made me smile! Every body got the answer to the second question right; Lou Hoffmann is indeed a German Baker’s granddaughter, and she is me.  I was delighted by the number of people who thought I could possibly be the next president, and very gratified that nobody thought I was an Irish Wolfhound. The picked-at-random winner from that contest is (envelope please)… flutterfli! Congratulations! (I’ll be in touch by email to work out details.) And I thank you all for reading the blog, reading books, and your comments about YA. Most appreciated. Read on to the bottom of the post and you’ll find that there are more odd questions there for you to answer to enter this month’s contest.

Now about stories.

I’ve been a reader as long as I can remember, but as I mentioned, I’ve been listening to books in audio format lately. Not that read-aloud story is new, of course. This is just the first time I’ve spent so much time listening to books. I got to wondering what it is about the way the listening experience differs for me from reading and I’ll quickly share my conclusions with you. Bear in mind, this is only my experience. First, I often feel like I have to be doing something with my eyes and hands when I’m listening, and this divides my attention. I frequently realize I’ve lost big chunks of the story and have to go back and listen again. Sometimes more than once because I still feel like I have to be doing something else with my eyes and hands. What the heck do you suppose that’s about?

Personally, I have no idea, but it’s obvious—and perhaps not so obvious—why I don’t have the reverse problem when reading. I can’t look at something else, because I need to see the words, and my hands are busy holding the book (or reader). Perhaps not so obvious, I hear the words in my mind as I read them—always—and I believe many people do. That’s why when novelists don’t pay attention to the rhythm and sound of the words and sentences, I have a hard time getting involved in the book. Much the same, my number one peeve about audio books is that sometimes the reader gives a common set of words an obviously wrong emphasis. Like, I wanted to shout it out long, and loud instead of I wanted to shout it out, long and loud as a made-up example. It grates on my brain.

There’s some science on the subject too. (Yes, it’s not always about me.  ) The demonstrated fact is, the brain lights up all over the place when anything is read or heard in what can loosely be defined as a story form, rather than, say a list, or such. I say loosely because this applies to anecdotes, jokes, and even telling about the list in a story form. Listening to a well-told or read story might increase this effect, activating more parts of the brain more thoroughly—if the listener is paying full attention. I haven’t found anything scientific that does more than suggest this, and no explanation as to why. Maybe because you can’t skim when listening? Maybe this differs widely person to person?

There’s an awful lot I don’t know, but one thing I can tell you for certain is this: When I listen to wonderful book read by a fabulous narrator, I practically drown in it. I’ll give you a couple of examples.

Black Dog Blues by Rhys Ford, narrated by Greg Tremblay

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In From the Cold: The I Spy Stories by Josh Lanyon read by Alexander J. Masters

And here are a couple of links about books and brains, in case you’re interested: “Your Brain on Books”; “What Listening to a Story does to our Brains”

Now: this month’s contest!
Answer two questions: 1. Tell me something about you and audiobooks. (Can be anything.) 2. Name one book that I (Lou Sylvre) have written. (Yeah, I know, weird, but there’s not one word about my own books in this post, so I had to sneak it in there.  ) The prize? $10 gift certificate for the Dreamspinner store.

Last but not least, an image I like that has nothing at all to do with the above.