"Call me Ishmael"

Everyday I commute from home to school. It typically takes me about 20 minutes to make the drive from one location to the other. The carpool that I once belonged to dissolved now that we have differing school schedules based on our clinical rotations. Even though I liked the company, I have found that I enjoy having this time to myself each day. Sometimes I would listen to the radio and sometimes I would just drive with nothing on at all. After a while I became bored with the pointless and tactless morning radio shows and decided to begin something new, listening to audio books. Lookly back on my adolescent years, one of my regrets is not spending more time reading quality books, books that I felt would have added quality to my character and imagination. At the time, I thought myself to be clever by writing books reports on books that I never even tried to read. So I resolved to begin a quest of "reading" as many literary classics as I could. I went to the local library and made my first selection, "Treasure Island" by Robert Louis Stevenson. Being only able to listen to it for a sum total of 4o minutes each day, I knew it would take a little bit to finish. But this was no complaint of mine as I quickly began looking forward to that time of day when I would drive to and from school. Jim Hawkins and Long John Silver did an excellent job of captivating me within there story. Upon finishing this story, I eagerly began a new book, my next story to conquer, "Moby Dick" by Herman Melville. I was thrilled each time I got into the car to listen to Ishmael describe the overpowering desire that he saw in Captain Ahab to seek revenge on that monstrous whale. I was not disappointed by any means as it came to its climactic ending, however different then I imagined.

With two classic stories under my belt, my hunger for my quest has only increased. I thought I would stick with my new affinity for stories of traveling, sea faring men and their adventures and am currently listening to "Gulliver's Travels" by Jonathan Swift, another wonderful story.

I find that in each of these short 20 minute increments, I feel much more productive and culturally enriched than had I been otherwise. It has been a fun way to pass the time and I actually feel like I'm catching up on what I missed out on in earlier years. Even though some might consider it cheating by listening to it rather than reading I figure as long as I can find good books, I will continue this new found tradition. Any and all recommendations for good books are welcomed.