Craft Gossip

Independent craft blog since 2007

Listen Whilst You Craft

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Thanks to Random House We have these amazing Audio listening books to review, but rather  than waste too much time actually reviewing each novel I am going to review Audio Books in General.

I am sure your wondering what Audio books such as Twilight and Harry Potter have to do with Craft?  I have only 3 words.  “HANDS FREE READING” Now you can craft, knit, sew, crochet, paint whilst listening to best sellers.

Imagine being at your next knitting group meet up and being able to throw in a little book club discussion. In today’s busy busy world finding time to craft is nearly impossible and finding time to read is left to commuting trips, car rides (if your not driving) and those sick winter days cause your stuck in bed under a pile of snotty tissues.

Make sure you add Audio books to your Christmas wish list so that the next time your looking for an excuse to knit, or an excuse to listen to a great novel you have something great to listen to.

Audio books are perfect Christmas presents for crafting loved ones too so check out some of the books below.

THE LOST SYMBOL

By Dan Brown

Read by Paul Michael

A fantastic new thriller from the author of The Da Vinci Code, this time set in Washington, D.C.

THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE

By Stieg Larsson

Read by Simon Vance

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo was one of my favorite books of last year—this is the second book in the trilogy.

THE TWILIGHT SAGA

By Stephenie Meyer

Read by Ilyana Kadushin

Vampire-werewolf rivalry, a love triangle and teen angst—try giving the audiobook a listen to get you in the mood for the New Moon movie release in November!

HARRY POTTER

By J.K. Rowling

Read by Jim Dale

This series not only gives you a lot of material (the entire series runs more than 117 hours!), but is one of the best audiobook productions of all time—Grammy winner Jim Dale narrates the series with over 134 voices (and holds a Guinness World Record for that feat).

THE GUERNSEY LITERARY AND POTATO PEEL PIE SOCIETY

By Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

Read by a full cast

This charming audiobook won an Audie Award last year for Best Fiction, and is written as a series of letters read by a full cast of colorful characters.

LAST NIGHT IN TWISTED RIVER

By John Irving

Read by Arthur Morey

John Irving returns with an audio that is epic in scope (over 24 hours long!)—it spans the past fifty years in America, and has at its center a complex father and son relationship written with great suspense and wry humor.

Comments

  1. Children’s audio books mean eye-free reading with small children – when my eyes are too tired to read, or when I’m trying to finish sewing something, or when dinner has to be cooked and TV is not allowed!! My favourites come from Barefoot Books.

  3. I can’t knit without a book now! I love Jonathan Strange and Mr Norell by Susanna Clark and the Temeraire books by Naomi Novik. Cannot recommend them highly enough.

  4. I currently subscribe to several audiobook clubs. I can not sew without listening to books. I go through 3-4 a week. I will definitely check out audiobooks. Ps. Some really great listens are: Suzanne Collins “Hunger Games” so, so good, you’ll love it. The sequel is “Girl on Fire”. Also, Stephen King’s new one “under The Dome” It is a good book and is long which helps with my audiobook spending.

  5. Podcasts are amazing to sew to (if you don’t have patience to go through an entire book). My personal favorites are “This American Life” and “Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me” from NPR. Many of them are also free, conveniently enough.

Have you read?

Celebrating Terry Fox Day

In our continuing exploration of lesser known holidays, let’s take a look at Terry Fox Day, which is probably one you know if you’re Canadian. 

Terry Fox was a Canadian athlete who had a leg amputated at age 18 because of cancer and then did a cross-country run to raise awareness and funding for cancer research. He was born July 28, 1958, and the first Monday in August is celebrated as Terry Fox Day in Manitoba. 

Fox is considered a kind of folk hero in Canada despite the difficulties of traveling across Canada on foot (no one on his team spoke French, for example, the weather was often bad and cars would force him off the road) and the low number of donations at the beginning of his run. He ultimately had to end his run after 143 days and 3,339 miles, or 5,373 km, because his cancer had returned and spread to his lungs, but he raised $1.7 million, and a telethon a week after he ended his run raised $10.5 million. 

Check out some Terry Fox quotes collected by My Little Desire. You can learn more in this video from CBC Kids, and listen to the Terry Fox song illustrated by a first grade class. 

 Twinkl has a bunch of Terry Fox related activities in both English and French, including an activity pack with a maze and word search, a coring challenge, a fact sheet and coloring page.

Most of the resources I could find were at Teachers Pay Teachers, but you can learn more about the activity pack for grades 1-3 that Mrs. Bremer’s Class has made, which tells his story and has kids write things they learned and discuss why they think he is a hero. 

Creative Classroom Core has a few paid resources include writing activities, reading comprehension and a Terry Fox fact book. 

That Fun Reading Teacher has a K-2 singalong with a differentiated reader and activity to teach kids about him. 

You can also celebrate Terry Fox Day by talking about what makes a person a hero and who the kids in your home or classroom think of as heroes. And if you’re Canadian, there are Terry Fox runs in more than 650 communities in September, so you can make plans to participate or cheer on the runners to remember his legacy.