More Sonic Thrills

I spent a wonderful afternoon last Sunday, sitting on my porch in my new rocking chair, reading and listening to the birds.  It was so quiet on my street and the weather was perfect -- not too hot and not too cold, with a light breeze.  I really love hearing birds singing.  It's another of my sonic thrills.


Sounds are a very important part of my life.  It's not surprising, then, that I have become a huge fan of audiobooks in the past ten years.  I like listening to books because I can do other things while I listen to them (multitasking is my whole life, it seems) and because I get to hear good books while relaxing.  However, not just any audiobook will do.  I find that I can really only listen to fiction.  I prefer to read nonfiction.  I also find that certain narrators are absolutely unlistenable to me.  I have some very specific preferences.

• In general, I prefer women narrators.  However, their voices cannot be too high and I really prefer that they not have upper-class English accents.  Unless, of course, we're talking about Rosamund Pike. 
• Regarding male narrators, I prefer voices that show some energy.  I can't stand Dick Hill as a narrator.  Does it get any more stagnant than his narration?  Not possible.  Oh, and who calls himself "Dick"?????
• If I'm listening to a novel that takes place in Scotland or Ireland or England, the narrator's accent should be Scottish or Irish or English.  Why does Samuel Gillies or Joe Dunlop or Michael Page narrate books by Ian Rankin, which take place in Scotland?  I prefer James MacPherson when I'm listening to Rankin.  And I'm so grateful for Gerard Doyle, who narrates Adrian McKinty's books, which take place in Northern Ireland.  I feel like I'm there when I listen to him.

There are certain words that I love strictly because of how they sound.  These are usually words that start with an 'm' or a 'p'.  If both of those letters are in the word, it's probably one of my favorite words.  For example, I like the words:

• pimento
• pipit
• pippin (to be fair, I also like this word because of Scottie Pippen)
• mercurial
• madcap
• maharaja
• mineral
• memento mori
• prism

Also, my favorite town name is Mineral Point.  It's a town in Wisconsin.  I visited it once and didn't find it particularly charming, but I love the way it sounds.  Mineral Point.  It's a beautiful name.