Recommending books can be great fun. Over the summer, I’ve demanded that people read Gone Girl and Broken Harbor so I can sit back to watch the show as they read. There always seems to be a hot new book out there to recommend to people, but it’s not just new releases that can be fun to recommend.
I’ve been getting to know a coworker recently. When I discovered that she took a life altering trip to Scotland and wished that she could go back, I immediately began to tell her about the Outlander series. I told her what was better than reading Outlander was listening to the audiobook narrated by Davina Porter. The audiobook version was so good. There were several times within the novel, when I couldn’t listen any longer, that I pulled the paperback off my shelf, found where I stopped listening and continued reading. What was different about the Outlander was that when I next returned to audio I didn’t just fast forward to catch up with the story. Reading the print sated my immediate desire to find out what happened next, but the experience wasn’t complete without Davina. I listened to the section I’d read in print over again.
Long story short, I convinced her to pick up the audiobook and coached her on downloading it on her smartphone so she wasn’t dependent upon the location of her CD player. Since then, I’ve enjoyed so many conversations when she’s come up to my desk with an OMG! expression on her face. I would try to guess which section she was gushing about and had a great time taking in her excitement.
Monday she came up to me with an accusatory stare. She said, “You didn’t tell me it didn’t end with Outlander!” I defended myself, reminding her that I told her it was a series. She agreed, but said that I didn’t emphasize enough that Outlander wasn’t a happily ever after kind of story that ended with that book. The woman caught the Jamie Fraser fever. Were others not trying to get work done around me, I would have laughed my ass off. Instead, I chuckled and told her that she’d better use her audiobook credit and pick up Dragonfly in Amber. I also pulled up Audible.com and showed her that there are 7 books in the series.
My coworker doesn’t listen to audiobook as fast as I do, so I anticipate at least another couple years of fun conversations with her. Each time we talk helps me to relive the joy I discovered in Diana Gabaldon’s series and Davina Porter’s narration. That also gives me time to come up with my next recommendation for her.
Share the books you love — both old and new — with others. It will enrich you both and make you feel all sorts of happy.
I was desperate for an audiobook to listen to the other day and didn’t have any out from the library so I started listening to A Breath of Snow and Ashes again. Davina Porter is such a good narrator! She really brings the books to life.
I bet you are THE book expert at work. I’m always a little nervous when I recommend a book to someone.
I bought this book last year when I met Diana at the Brooklyn Book Festival. I don’t know why I haven’t read it yet…maybe I am afraid of the size of the series! I’ll have to look into the audio!
I love the “scenes” you’ve written of your conversations with your co-worker. I can just see her accusatory stare!
I finally convinced my daughter (and mother) to read this series. When my daughter brought back the first book to grab the second book she lovingly threw it at me and said, “why, why did you not tell me about this book sooner?”. Mind you, I have been telling her for years. She devoured them and now wants to start on the audios! She ended up buying the books for herself because my mom had book 3 when she was ready for it.