Though frugal with money, one of my great luxuries is a membership to the YMCA. Each treadmill at the Y is equipped with its own TV. All you have to do is bring your own earbuds.
While I love canned laughter and makeovers as much as the next gal, for 2011 I’ve decided to replace  watching episodes of “King of Queens” and “What Not to Wear”  with classic literature.
So, I downloaded “War and Peace Book 1: 1805” Â from Project Gutenberg, used Audiobook Builder to get it organized, put it on my iPod and started listening to it while I run.
If you don’t  subscribe to our quarterly newsletter, Project Gutenberg is a place to  download books and audiobooks that are past copyright. Their current collection includes thousands of books, and is definitely worth checking out.
Listening to “War and Peace” beats filling my head with sitcoms. I’m 2 hours into a five hour recording. Each chapter has a different person reading, because the readers are volunteers. Â This keeps the book even more interesting.
It has come to my attention that once finished with Book 1, there is no Book 2 yet recorded!
The hardcopy was available from my local library, but it isn’t safe to run with it. War and Peace is ginormous. Worst case scenario: I could drop it on my toe and suffer a debilitating limp for years to come (SEE PHOTO ABOVE). Second worst case scenario: My sweaty hands ruin it as I turn pages.
What can you do to help? Well…
Though already mentioned in our winter newsletter, I am now compelled to add that Project Gutenberg gets its audiobooks from Librivox, which is looking for volunteers to read for a public audiobook collection.
If you like to read and have a voice, put it towards a noble cause. Save this runner’s toe!