There are those who refuse to listen to audiobooks; for whatever reason, some people seem to go out of their way to avoid being read to. I don't understand it. It seems to me that a good reader going through a good story is a perennially cool combination, and look at the advantages:

• You can enjoy a book while retaining the use of both hands, both feet, and both eyes (of course, the brain that control the aforementioned body parts may be too occupied to make any decent use of parts available, so those who suck at multitasking should probably refrain from driving while listening and chewing gum)
• You can get through a sizable book in near record time
• You don't have to hunt down your reading glasses whenever you want to enjoy the book (wait till you get older, you'll see what I mean)
• And nobody cares if you listen to an audiobook while in the bathroom

The audiobook section at the iTunes Store is likely the least accessed section, and that's a shame because there are some real gems out there. Even Apple seems to ignore this section of the store because there are freebies in audiobooks that seldom make it to the 'Free On iTunes' page. I had thought that had changed, I guess I was wrong.

Be that as it may, this week the Free On iTunes section is kind of sparse, but browsing through the audiobooks section I came across a fine freebie; an essay by David Rakoff taken from his book 'Don't Get Too Comfortable'.

Don't Get Too Comfortable

Mr. Rakoff reads this humorous essay about a late night scavenger hunt in downtown Manhattan sounding a bit like Truman Capote reading aloud from Woody Allen's blog, and you can't help but snicker at both the character and the content. After listening to the 17 minute essay you'll want more, as, I suppose, is the purpose of the freebie in the first place.

While we are on the subject of audiobooks, I know of another excellent audiobook series. Though they are not free, they are well worth the money and a mention here; The Dark Materials Series written by Philip Pullman. The series includes The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass, and they are fantastic reading for anyone. The audiobook production, however, is just that, a full fledged production with a full cast for voices, sound effects, and music.

Book 1 of the Dark Materials Series

Apple has wisely extended the previews of audiobooks to 90 seconds, which is still only adequate enough to let you hear the quality of the production in this series. If you or your kids have iTunes gift cards, these would be purchases well made.

Other freebies on iTunes are: