One of the most disturbing and thought provoking books that I have listened to in the last couple of years was a book called The Road by Cormac McCarthy.

http://www.randomhouse.com/kvpa/cormacmccarthy/

In order to tell you about my opinions of this book, I first need to give you a little background on the plot.  I will not spoil anything in case you want to read it. 

The book takes place after some type of massive disaster that nearly wipes out all of human existence.  The main characters in the book are a man and his son.  They are attempting to go towards the coast.  During their journey they are faced with a number of hurdles.  Survival is the most common.  They are always searching for food and also trying to steer clear of strangers who could be a danger to them.  The vast majority of people they meet on the road are evil and do terrible things.  One of the main questions in this book is why do these people do evil things.

In my opinion this book is not a story about good and evil even though there are a lot of hideous acts that occur.  It is a book about choices.  What would you do if you were in a situation were everybody you loved died, you had no food or home, and little hope that things will be better tomorrow.  If you were faced with that life would you choose to be a good person?  Would you attempt to make the world a better place by showing your humanity or would you just survive even if it means hurting others in the process?  An even worse possibility is that you loose your humanity all together. 

Going through our daily lives seems hard at times.  We all stumble over the hurdles that we come across on a regular basis, but for the most part we fall in line and live our lives the way that society tells us we should.  Be kind to others and try to do something greater than yourself.  Our newly elected president just said something very similar in his inauguration speech, all be it a little more elegantly.  The question that this book brings out is what if society doesn’t exist.  What if we do not have that silent hand constantly steering us in the right direction?  Are people innately good and the rules of society the result of that goodness or is it the other way around?   Are we good because we developed a society that tells us we have to be that way?  I would like to believe that I am good because I choose to be and not because society tells me to.  Because I am good and attempt to make good choices I contribute to society in order to make it better.  As a result if society didn’t exist I would still attempt to make good decisions. 

No scientist can test to see where goodness comes from or what people can do in extreme situations, but the great thing about fiction is that we have an avenue to explore the possibilities.

I have been a listener of books for about 4 years now.  It started when my commute averaged more than two hours a day.  I was going stir crazy.  I would listen to the radio and it seemed like there was either a DJ talking about something that he knew nothing about, but needed to fill air time or there was a commercial.  I needed something to occupy that time.  Something that would stimulate my brain or entertain me.  I had a friend at work who just signed up with a service that gave him the ability to download a couple of book a month and listen to them.  He gave me his sign on so I could try it out.  Next month I signed my self up.  There was a promotion going on at the time where if I signed up for a year contract I would get an discount on an Ipod.  If I remember correctly I only had to pay $30 for it the Ipod.  It was the best thing I did.  I think if money got tight I would cut out cable before my books.   

The site I use to get my books is www.audible.com

Besides books I also get a daily subscription to audible news papers.  I mostly listen to the New York Times, but on occasion listen to the Wall Street Journal.  This allows me to stay caught up on current events.

At first I would only listen to non fiction books, but as time went on I found that I had a tendency to listen to science fiction books.  Growing up I didn't do much reading.  So before this I couldn't have told you what my preference of books was.  I didn't realize how much I was missing by not reading (listening) to books.  It is amazing how much you learn through them.  Your vocabulary increases.  Your sense of of human nature increases and your perspective of sociological issues also is greater.

In the coming days/weeks I will be posting mini book reviews over some of my favorite books I have listened to.  Below is a list of all the books I have listened to up until now.  

If you have any questions or comments about the books please post.

List of Books

• Einstein's Dreams Alan Lightman
  
• A Short History of Nearly Everything (Unabridged)  Bill Bryson
  
• Out of the Silent Planet (Unabridged)  C.S. Lewis 
  
• Till We Have Faces (Unabridged)  C.S. Lewis 
  
• The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (Unabridged)  C.S. Lewis 
  
• Prince Caspian (Unabridged)  C.S. Lewis 
  
• The Horse and His Boy (Unabridged)  C.S. Lewis  
  
• Eragon (Unabridged),  Christopher Paolini  
  
• Brisingr  Christopher Paolini 
  
• The Road (Unabridged)  Cormac McCarthy 
  
• Angels and Demons (Unabridged)  Dan Brown 
  
• Digital Fortress (Unabridged)  Dan Brown 
  
• Deception Point (Unabridged)  Dan Brown 
  
• Odd Thomas (Unabridged)  Dean Koontz 
  
• Forever Odd (Unabridged)  Dean Koontz
  
• Fear Nothing (Unabridged)  Dean Koontz 
  
• Life Expectancy (Unabridged)  Dean Koontz 
  
• Sole Survivor  Dean Koontz 
  
• Mr. Murder (Unabridged)  Dean Koontz 
  
• Brother Odd (Unabridged)  Dean Koontz 
  
• Seize the Night (Unabridged)  Dean Koontz 
  
• Ticktock (Unabridged)  Dean Koontz 
  
• The Darkest Evening of the Year (Unabridged)  Dean Koontz 
  
• One Door Away from Heaven (Unabridged)  Dean Koontz 
  
• Odd Hours (Unabridged)  Dean Koontz 
  
• Strangers (Unabridged)  Dean Koontz 
  
• The Thirteenth Tale (Unabridged)  Diane Setterfield 
  
• The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Unabridged)  Douglas Adams 
  
• The Restaurant at the End of the Universe (Unabridged)  Douglas Adams 
  
• Blasphemy  Douglas Preston 
  
• Never Change  Elizabeth Berg 
  
• Dune (Unabridged)  Frank Herbert   
  
• Children of Dune (Unabridged)  Frank Herbert 
  
• Son of a Witch (Unabridged)  Gregory Maguire 
  
• Genghis Khan (Unabridged)  Harold Lamb 
  
• The Open Door by Mrs. J.H. Riddell  
  
• The Glorious Cause  Jeff Shaara 
  
• Give Me a Break  John Stossel 
  
• The Traveler (Unabridged)  John Twelve Hawks 
  
• America (The Audiobook)  Jon Stewart and The Writers of The Daily Show 
  
• The Pillars of the Earth (Unabridged)  Ken Follett 
  
• World Without End (Unabridged)  Ken Follett 
  
• Hidden Empire (Unabridged)  Kevin J. Anderson 
  
• A Forest of Stars (Unabridged)  Kevin J. Anderson 
  
• Horizon Storms (Unabridged)  Kevin J. Anderson 
  
• Scattered Suns (Unabridged)  Kevin J. Anderson 
  
• Of Fire and Night (Unabridged)  Kevin J. Anderson 
  
• Metal Swarm (Unabridged)  Kevin J. Anderson 
  
• The Ashes of Worlds (Unabridged)  Kevin J. Anderson 
  
• The Kite Runner (Unabridged)  Khaled Hosseini 
  
• Harsh Cry of the Heron (Unabridged)  Lian Hearn 
  
• Heaven's Net Is Wide (Unabridged)  Lian Hearn 
  
• The Giver (Unabridged)  Lois Lowry 
  
• An Act of God by Melville Davisson Post  
  
• Reaching for Glory: Lyndon Johnson's Secret White House Tapes, 1964-65  Michael Beschloss State of Fear (Unabridged)  Michael Crichton 
  
• The Best of Analog Science Fiction and Fact Magazine (Unabridged)  Michael Swanwick, Adam-Troy Castro, Jerry Oltion, Stephen Baxter, Pat Forde, and more 
  
• Neverwhere (Unabridged)  Neil Gaiman 
  
• Speaker for the Dead (Unabridged)  Orson Scott Card 
  
• Xenocide (Unabridged)  Orson Scott Card 
  
• Children of the Mind (Unabridged)  Orson Scott Card 
  
• Empire (Unabridged)  Orson Scott Card 
  
• Ender in Exile  Orson Scott Card 
  
• The Republic  Plato Symposium (Unabridged)         
• Altered Carbon (Unabridged)  Richard K. Morgan 
  
• Broken Angels (Unabridged)  Richard K. Morgan 
  
• Woken Furies (Unabridged)  Richard K. Morgan 
  
• Spin (Unabridged)  Robert Charles Wilson 
  
• The Eye of the World (Unabridged)  Robert Jordan 
  
• The Great Hunt (Unabridged)  Robert Jordan 
  
• The Dragon Reborn (Unabridged)  Robert Jordan 
  
• The Shadow Rising (Unabridged)  Robert Jordan 
  
• The Fires of Heaven (Unabridged)  Robert Jordan 
  
• Lord of Chaos (Unabridged)  Robert Jordan 
  
• The Kingdoms and the Elves of the Reaches (Unabridged)  Robert Stanek 
  
• Water for Elephants (Unabridged)  Sara Gruen 
  
• The Gunslinger: The Dark Tower I    Stephen King 
  
• The Drawing of the Three: The Dark Tower II    Stephen King 
  
• The Waste Lands: The Dark Tower III (Unabridged)  Stephen King 
  
• Wizard and Glass: The Dark Tower IV (Unabridged)  Stephen King 
  
• Wolves of the Calla: Dark Tower V (Unabridged)  Stephen King 
  
• Song of Susannah: The Dark Tower VI (Unabridged)  Stephen King 
  
• The Dark Tower: The Dark Tower VII (Unabridged)  Stephen King  
  
• Bag of Bones (Unabridged)  Stephen King 
  
• Duma Key (Unabridged)  Stephen King 
  
• The Talisman (Unabridged)  Stephen King and Peter Straub 
  
• Black House (Unabridged)  Stephen King and Peter Straub 
  
• Twilight (Unabridged)  Stephenie Meyer 
  
• New Moon (Unabridged)  Stephenie Meyer 
  
• Eclipse: The Twilight Saga, Book 3 (Unabridged)  Stephenie Meyer 
  
• Breaking Dawn (Unabridged)  Stephenie Meyer 
  
• Freakonomics: Revised Edition (Unabridged)  Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner 
  
• The Art of War (Unabridged)  Sun-Tzu, translation by John Minford 
  
• The World Is Flat: Updated and Expanded (Unabridged)  Thomas L. Friedman 
  
• Man's Search for Meaning (Unabridged)  Viktor E. Frankl 
  
• Greatest Minds and Ideas of All Time (Unabridged)  Will Durant