Re-Inventing Myself

Well, I tried to take a personal night last night but it didn’t quite work out. So tonight is the night. No working so far, YAY!!

As part of this personal night I wanted to use up my Audible.com credits so I could cancel my membership, and save a little more money each month. While Audible.com is a GREAT deal when it comes to audiobooks I can’t really afford the extra money right now. I tried to do this back in November but couldn’t find 6 books to “purchase”. I’d actually forgotten that I had found 3 back then, which I never downloaded, whoops. Back in November I got the following books, which I’m in the process of downloading now.

The Christmas List by Richard Paul Evans
Mozart’s Wife by Juliet Waldron
FREE: The Future of a Radical Price by Chris Anderson (of Wired fame)

Of course by paying monthly I get another credit each month. I can only carry over a total of 6 though. Forgetting that I’d gotten those three books I’m pretty sure I at least didn’t waste any money. The bigger issue was that if I were to cancel, I’d lose all the credits I’d already earned. Well that ain’t happening Bucko! So, I spent some of my Personal Night searching for more audio books to “purchase” and download. I tried going to my brother’s Goodreads account and to my friend Sam’s weRead account to look for books but that didn’t help much, mostly because the ones I found interesting either weren’t available on Audible or weren’t unabridged. Regardless I was successful, albeit took a few hours. Here’s what I came away with, for those interested.

Fry’s English Delight: The Complete Series – read/performed by Stephen Fry
Stephen Fry hosts four programmes on the joys of the English language – as heard on BBC Radio 4.
— I almost got that back in November but didn’t see the Complete Series and each individual one would have been a waste of a credit. I’m excited about this one.

Mozart’s Sister by Nancy Moser
Eleven-year-old Nannerl is arguably the best keyboard player in all of Europe. Yet, because her six-year-old brother, Wolfie, can play almost as well as she, he receives virtually all the praise and adulation. Traveling far and wide with her family, she and her brother perform before the crowned heads of Europe. Social convention and public clamor relegate her to living life in the shadow of a prodigy. When will Nannerl ever realize her own dreams and aspirations?
— I saw this in Borders and was interested but didn’t have the money at the time to get it. I’m glad I found it on here. Just have to decide whether to listen to this or Mozart’s Wife first. I guess I should go chronologically.

Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde
— I won’t paste the full description of this book here. You can go here if you want to know more. http://www.jasperfforde.com/special4.html. This is Jasper Fforde’s first Non Thursday Next and Non Nursery Crimes book. I’m excited about this too, although anxious for his next Thursday Next book.

Stephen Fry Presents a Selection of Oscar Wilde’s Short Stories read by Stephen Fry
“Oscar Wilde’s Fairy Tales continue to exert the same pull over the imagination and emotions as they did when he first read them to his children in the 1880s. Written with inspired poetic intensity and sudden flowerings of the matchless wit for which he is so well remembered, the stories combine the wisdom of parables with the impact of drama. I have loved them since I was a child: indeed they continue to make a child of me. I do not mind admitting that at the recording some passages were hard to read out loud without choking. I hope you will be as entranced by them as I have always been.” written by Stephen Fry.
— I’ve wanted to read/hear some of Oscar Wilde’s stuff since I found out Stephen Fry was such a proponent of his, particularly when listening to The Dongle of Donald Trefusis. I also wanted to listen to something read by Stephen Fry and I picked this before I found the complete Fry’s English Delight. I’m ok with listening to multiple things read by Stephen Fry though.

When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris
— David Sedaris is amazing. If you haven’t read or heard any of his essays get you to the book store NOW. He’s hilarious, and moving and well just all around pretty darn nifty. I remember seeing this book in the bookstore and, well, couldn’t afford it at the time, as it was brand new. Well this is even better. David Sedaris reading David Sedaris. Nuff Said!

Titus Groan: Volume 1 of the Gormenghast Trilogy by Mervyn Peake
— I again won’t paste the entire description. Find out more here… http://www.amazon.com/Gormenghast-Novels-Mervyn-Peake/dp/0879516283. This one was actually on my brother’s Goodreads. I’d seen it at his house and it sounded interesting. Or course I came across this after adding the other 5 books, using up the other 5 credits. So I only had enough for the first in this trilogy. I figured I’d try this though, and see what I thought.

Those would be the 6 books I got for my 6 credits. I hope you enjoy. I thought about linking to each but didn’t want to spend the time doing so, sorry.

But then, wow I’m having a hard time not starting sentences with prepositions tonight, at least in my head. I’ve tried to correct my grammar as much as possible. Anyway… But then, I saw that some free things on Audible.com are only available with a subscription. I checked what was free for members and didn’t see anything worthwhile. However, I then searched for any other free items and found the following. Yes, I spent a lot of time on Audible.com tonight.

Ricky Gervais Show: The Complete Fifth Season: Free Excerpt
— I think Ricky Gervais is an amazing comedian. His The Office is far superior to the US one. His stand up comedy is both offensive and hilarious, just how I prefer it. So why not see what this Ricky Gervais Show is all about. It’s just an excerpt but…we’ll see what happens.

And finally, damn prepositions.

A Study in Emerald by Neil Gaiman
Alluding to both the Sherlock Holmes canon and the Old Ones of the Cthulhu Mythos, this Hugo Award-winning short story will delight fans of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, H. P. Lovecraft, and of course, Neil Gaiman.

A Study in Emerald draws listeners in through carefully revealed details as a consulting detective and his narrator friend solve the mystery of a murdered German noble. But with its subtle allusions and surprise ending, this mystery hints that the real fun in solving this case lies in imagining all the details that Gaiman doesn’t reveal, and challenges listeners to be detectives themselves.
— I like Neil Gaiman’s writing, even if he did sweep Amanda Palmer off her feet before I had a chance. This was free so why not try it. It sounds interesting. I’ll let you know.

And that about does it for audio books tonight. I’ve now spent quite some time getting the audio books and then writing about the. This is fine though as it’s still part of my Personal Night. I also hadn’t updated this blog in some time so for all my fans out there, here you go! I hope you enjoy.