Terry Pratchett, Worth a Listen or Read

I'm probably the last person to have discovered the author Terry Pratchett, but in case you haven't, you've missed out. This is not an ad because I'm too lazy to put in the code, though I am trying a new widgety thing but it helps the author, not me. I had to zoom turn off my pop-up blocker and zoom-in to see the pages in the book. I hope it's helpful and doesn't just clutter up my blog.

Lily and I listen to his books on my iPod. I get them through Audible.com, which is a subscription service.

I bought my iPod in order to listen to books through NetLibrary. A friend who is on our library's board told me about how all I had to do was use the library website and I could download books for free to my iPod. So, since Lily and I love to listen to books while we commute to school, etc., I thought this was great. I went out and bought an iPod over a year ago.

Guess what. NetLibrary is partially funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the books on NetLibrary can't be loaded onto an iPod (the most widely used audio format device, though I'm sure that's now how a proper geek would say it; how much sense does that make?). You have to use some kind of Microsoft product, not that I'm paranoid or anything about Bill Gates taking over the world.

So, I bought some kind of $20 U.K. software online that will download the NetLibrary books and then record them on your iPod. It takes about half the time it would take to listen to the whole book and it sounds like you have mice, so I would set it up to convert the books at night. It said it was legal but it sounds marginal to me.

Is a monopoly legal? Market manipulations? But I digress. This was supposed to be about Terry Pratchett.

Anyway, that was not a clean solution (no chapter marks so it was hard to navigate the book), plus all that downloading and transposing was awkward and time consuming and squeaky so I was looking for something that would work with my iPod. The books on iTunes are too expensive. That's when I tried Audible. I get two books a month and it couldn't be easier.

And that's when I discovered the author Terry Pratchett. I'm not sure I understand his Discworld series, but his series about the teenage witch, Tiffany Aching, is sort of like Harry Potter but much, much funnier.

Brendan Wignall, Oxford Times
  "Terry Pratchett is simply the best humorous writer of the 20th century."  

I'm too tired to write a review so I'll just point you in the right direction. You can read all the reviews on Amazon or Audible. Though they are kid's books, I enjoyed them as much if not more than Lily.

We started with -- and I recommend you start with -- Wee Free Men. The guy who reads on Audible is great. I'd put in the Audible link but I'd have to sign out on Audible and I don't remember my password. Here's the Amazon link.

Next in the series is Hat Full of Sky. Amazon link.

Then The Wintersmith. Amazon link.

Unfortunately, that's the end of the Tiffany stories (so far). So we branched out and are listening to Witches Abroad. I am laughing out loud. So funny and so clever.

Like many children, Lily reads the same books over and over again. She likes to listen to the same books over and over again, too. I've listened to these along with her -- and they get funnier and funnier. Perhaps Terry Pratchett is an acquired taste. If so, I've acquired it.

Comments

[Angry]

I haven't read any Terry Patchet, must ask the the kids if we have any.

Um... this is off subject but your site ceased displaying in its usual format a day or two ago and is now just coming up in a text format. I'm sure it's not me because no other site I visit has changed. This wouldn't be so bad except I now have to scroll almost to the bottom of the page to see your lovely smiling face.