Note: I contributed a blog entry for seminarians’ blog on the website for the Oblates of the Virgin Mary. You can check it out here.

It had seemed like a good idea: Listen to an audio book of “The Return of the King” during the road trip to and from Philadelphia. We would save time and effort to cover the reading assignment.

Some of the guys complained about how the narrator portrayed the voices of Gimli and Aragorn. The narrator used the same tune to sing the various songs in the book. But frankly, it was a lot of work to listen to the book and stay awake. I fell asleep to some sections. It took about 10 hours to cover the reading assignment.

On the Vermont trip on Columbus Day weekend, we opted against another audio book. I offered my road playlist while I drove up to the cabin. My playlist have some pop hits from the past decade (including songs by Enrique Iglesias, Taylor Swift, Jay-Z and Jessie J) and a few classics. It must have been the excitement before the trip. But some of the guys were singing to some of the tunes like “Bridge over Troubled Water.” That was the first time that ever happened.

Next time, when you want a good audio book, choose something enjoyable instead of a required class reading.