The Other Brain by R. Douglas Fields

[Book Prefaces]

The Other Brain by R. Douglas Fields

Play/download mp3 file

First, a word of explanation about this new series.

I've posted several recordings of book intros and prefaces before, and they were mostly from books I've read through and made recordings of. But I've decided to try something different as well from time to time.

One of the problems with reading books aloud is that it takes time. You can't just skim a book if you are to read it out loud; you pretty much need to follow every word in it. It could take anywhere between three hours to a few days to finish reading just one book, depending on how thick the volume is. It's a lot of time to invest, so the book better be good. But how do you know if the book is worth spending so much time on? The plain fact is, there is no way you can predict beforehand if you are going to like the book or not. But the preface could give you a pretty good idea about the book, and it seems worth spending a little time reading the intro. So, instead of just skimming the prefaces, I decided to start reading them out loud, recording and listening to them to ensure I get a clear picture of what the author is trying to get at. It doesn't really take that much time, and you'll figure out the author's quirks, get a feel for his/her writing style, and learn some fundamental facts about the theme of the book. It gives you a good reading exercise, and you can choose the right book for you while exercising. Sounds like it's worth a try, doesn't it?

Prefaces are usually included in free book samples available from some online vendors including Amazon. There are a lot of free samples out there. If you have a Kindle, you can instantly download free samples. If you happen to like the preface, you might be tempted to buy the book and record the whole thing, which is what Amazon is counting on anyway (not the recording part, just the buying part).

So, where to start? I've glanced at the list of books recommended for me by Amazon, and chosen the top six. That's where. It's a pretty skewed selection, to be honest, probably because I don't buy Kindle books often, and the last one I picked (Erik Kandel's In Search of Memory) must have weighed inordinately heavily in generating this list: all top items are about the brain and neuroscience! Fascinated as I am about the subject, it looked to me like a bit of overkill, but no matter; I'll start from there and see where this journey will lead me to! And here's the first one.

英語音読