WARNING: Many of my time wasting activities use up a LOT of internet broadband time. Make sure the package you are on has enough capacity and you're not ending up with an unexpected bill! Often if you upgrade BEFORE they issue you a bill for your overspend, they don't actually make you pay the extra, but check your payment date before you exceed your allowance - but not always!
That said, money is often tight for the energy-challenged - so I'll include free stuff as much as possible, that's accessible to the housebound as well as the more mobile amongst us. And it's not all internet related.
One of the more difficult moments in the spring was finding I could no longer hold up a normal sized book and follow the story, even if I was re-reading it - so I turned to Audio Books - you can pause them, rewind them when you realise you've tuned out for a while by accident and pick familiar ones where you already know the characters or story so it's easier to follow. Often I find I listen to the first chapter multiple times until the reader's voice and the story becomes familiar, and as the book progresses (over days or weeks) I need to re-listen less often to grasp what's going on.
Time Wasting Solution: AUDIO BOOKS
How to Listen:
You don't need particularly special equipment:
Physical Audio Books - on CD or pre-recorded fixed content mp3/digital player - for CDs, you just need something that plays CDS and speakers or head/ earphones, with the pre-recorded players, you just need head/ear phones. If your speakers have an earphone type jack, you can use those instead - watch out though, these days most speakers have USB port jacks for computers, and those aren't compatible.
Digital Audio Books - computer that has an internet connection and speakers or head/ earphones. You can either STREAM (ie listen to them over your internet connection, the content stays on the internet) or DOWNLOAD (ie the content is delivered into your computer via the internet and you can listen to them later when not online) them - some of the Downloaded ones can be transferred onto an mp3/ digital player like an iPod etc.
Disabled Access Software - I've not tried this, but I would assume that if you switch it on, the Windows software that reads what's on the screen should be able to turn ANY text into something you can hear. So for example, there's a few websites where out of copyright books are published in text form. Presumably it's possible to 'listen' to them. But I'm not sure of the quality of the 'voice' you get with that, maybe one for the terminally bored with a lot of patience and excess energy!
I also imagine there's proper software you have to buy to turn text into audio - possibly even with a choice of voices. No idea. Google it...
Where to find Audio Books
Free Sources:
- You Tube - Streaming Digital Copies - sounds scary but basically it's just listening to something through the internet in real time. Once you come off the internet, you can't listen to it.
Sometimes whole books read & produced by professionals, or amateurs, sometimes extracts or abridged versions.
A list of You Tube audio book channels: http://www.youtube.com/channels?q=audio+book+free
There's also individual user uploads of playlists with whole books, like this science fiction Stargate book read by Michael Shanks - Gift of the Gods HERE. These take a bit more effort to find, but can be worth it. Try a You Tube search of your favourite author, or a book you know exists in audio, and see what comes up - you never know, someone might have shared it! There's also individual user uploads of their own fiction which can be interesting or not, depending on your tastes.... - Local Library - Physical Copies - in London it was FREE to borrow CD audiobooks. Here in Northumberland it costs a nominal amount to borrow a pre-recorded fixed content MP3/ digital player. Though some libraries have a scheme for Disabled people with reduced or nil costs. Have a look at your local County or Borough Council website to find your local Library website to see what's available.
Library websites have online catalogues, so you can search for Audio Books and see what's available in your whole area AND whether or not it's available.
Some Councils allow free requests for items from other Libraries and/or free reservations, so that you know when you spend the energy to go there, it's not going to be a wasted trip. You'll have to register for using the website which usually involves physically being in the Library, but I find they're very helpful over the phone and can often work something out for the housebound to get you set up.
Some Councils also have a scheme for your choices to be delivered to your house if you can't get to the Library - but you do have to be able to get to the front door (useless for me, the stairs are the in the way. sigh).
NB: Some Councils also give you online access to eReader books - these are not audio books, but because they download onto your computer screen, you can adjust the FONT/ TEXT size - and could still enable you to read books if you need larger print but can't hold the often enormous weight of large print books! It can also be useful if you have a Nook or a Kindle Fire or similar, widens the range of books available...
When I was in London and it was free to borrow audiobooks on CD, I used to 'rip' (ie record the content) onto my computer, into my iTunes and onto my iPod. This meant I could take my time to listen to the book and not worry about finishing it before the return date - important for people with fluctuating energy levels - it takes so much longer to do stuff. No doubt highly illegal, but as I wasn't sharing it with anyone else, and deleted it after listening, no-one lost anything...
- Listening Books - this is a charity specifically for people who have difficulties with reading the printed word. Loads of books for all ages & interests - fiction & non-fiction. INCLUDING CFS/ME SUFFERERS! I was very excited that it has the Game of Thrones books and also Terry Pratchett & Georgette Heyer.
http://www.listening-books.org.uk/
They have over 7,000 books which can be
- Streamed over the internet
-Downloaded into your computer and then into an mp3/ digital player (iPod etc)
-Physical copies of CDs delivered to your door.
It costs £20 a year for Streaming & Downloading, and £35 for just CDS by post and £45 a year for all three types. They also have a bursary scheme for people who can't afford it. They are lovely on the phone and very helpful.
Find out how it works HERE
Streaming is very easy - you need to use Internet Explorer Browser, click a few buttons and remember to bookmark when you stop so you can find your place again! These books are available 24/7 365 days a year. (suits me cos then I can have IE open for the streaming, and a different browser open for other internet stuff, like kitten cams).
Downloading is a bit trickier because you need to make sure your computer has the right settings for the software you download to work. Once you've done that, transferring the book to an mp3/ digital player (iPod etc) is dead easy. Best of all, you can listen to the downloaded on your computer for the period until the return date only, but once it's on your iPod etc, it's there until you delete it - which gives you as long as you need. (It might be overwritten on synchronisation, haven't tried that yet). Strangely I find downloading books easier using Chrome browser than Internet Explorer.
Not tried CDs by post, cos of the stairs being in between me & the front door thing.
Loads of them - audio books are popular in hard copy & online. There's websites you subscribe to like Audible (they have an initial free book offer usually), or you can buy them outright from Amazon or eBay or Barnes & Noble or other online retailers, and often you can buy CDs from bookshops.
Just remember to keep your receipts and any 'keys' to unlock any digital purchases - you'll need them if you lose the books from your computer to reactivate any re-downloaded ones!
Finally, don't forget Podcasts - some authors release their books in serial form as podcasts - which are audio 'magazines'.
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