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Theme Challenges
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'Low Vision Awareness' Theme - 2015

The last figure I heard quoted was that only 4% of all books are available in accessible formats, non-fiction being by far the worst represented.
Really interesting theme; I'm afraid I'm rather uninformed about all; it can be a good occasion to deepen the knowledge...


Amber - feel free to count those horror books under the Halloween Theme, even though you are reading them in Feb. :)
Gemma wrote: "I'm going to try and listen to an audio book this month. I was thinking about Jane Eyre."
Great choice for an audiobook
Great choice for an audiobook
I think I will give audiobooks another go but not sure which one. Will have a think.

Most definitely, Jean, you will win hands down!

Yes, lots of bonus points for you and me! I can add this to my list of 'Good things about having AMD'!! (Yes, I do have such a list)
Up tonow these two; but before the end of the year thy'll be much more: I like audiobooks, I listen to them often
Thomas Love Peacock, Nightmare Abbey Read Audiobook
Albert Camus, La Peste Reading now Audiobook
Nathaniel Hawthorne, The House of Seven GablesÌý Reading now Audiobook
Thomas Love Peacock, Nightmare Abbey Read Audiobook
Albert Camus, La Peste Reading now Audiobook
Nathaniel Hawthorne, The House of Seven GablesÌý Reading now Audiobook

2. Four to Score by Janet Evanovich (audiobook)
3. Bad Monkey by Carl Hiaasen (audiobook)
4. High Five by Janet Evanovich (audiobook)
5. Hot Six by Janet Evanovich (audiobook)
6. The Shoemaker's Wife (audio; I liked the narrator of the 1st half; the author narrated the 2nd half and her voice wasn't as sing-song and lyrical)

I don't have any vision problems and usually read paperback books, sometimes with ridiculously tiny font that anyone would struggle with. For this challenge I guess I'll count books that I read on my kindle (which are few) and audiobooks (which are completely new to me!)
February books -
The Grass is Singing Kindle
Middlemarch Audiobook
The Awakening Kindle
Petra wrote: "1. Three to Get Deadly by Janet Evanovich (audiobook)
2. Four to Score by Janet Evanovich (audiobook)"
How's this book by Evanovich Petra?
2. Four to Score by Janet Evanovich (audiobook)"
How's this book by Evanovich Petra?

There are plenty of books which are never published in accessible formats, even since the advent of e-readers. Ususally we VIPs just shrug and read something else. But having read some of Anna Akhmatova 's poetry I wanted to read more than is available on the Kindle. Very little poetry is ever available as Large Print, so... I got a normal size print book out of the library Selected Poems and am somehow managing with magnifiers.
Do you reckon this counts? It's certainly reminding me of just how small what is called "normal print" is. I had forgotten, as you get to think that what you usually read is "normal"! :D



1. War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy (audiobook & Kindle)
2. Booktaker by Bill Pronzini (audiobook)
3. Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri (audiobook but I recommend using a print or ebook edition)

4. Dr. Katzenbergers Badereise � Jean Paul
5. The God Delusion � Richard Dawkins
6. A Simple Heart � Gustave Flaubert
7. A Mercy � Toni Morrison
(all audiobook)
1. My Cousin Rachel- Read in small print, but found in large print
I was going to count The Grass is Singing but it's £97.36 from Amazon in large print. I have to admit, I have just been going through my books and I am amazed at how few are available in large print and also how difficult it can be to find them. I guess with the advent of kindles this is less of a problem but I am shocked.
I tried an audiobook again (Middlemarch) but I just can't concentrate on it
I was going to count The Grass is Singing but it's £97.36 from Amazon in large print. I have to admit, I have just been going through my books and I am amazed at how few are available in large print and also how difficult it can be to find them. I guess with the advent of kindles this is less of a problem but I am shocked.
I tried an audiobook again (Middlemarch) but I just can't concentrate on it

You are absolutely right. The advent of e-books has made an enormous difference. Put it this way. If it had not been for e-books I would never have had the courage to join Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ. It would all have been too depressing and frustrating.
Thanks on behalf of all us VIPs to all of you for being game for this challenge! :)
I was surprised how difficult I found just searching for a large print book.
Using amazon kept finding kindle editions and some large prints were clearly out of print and very expensive.
This challenge has certainly raised my awareness
This challenge has certainly raised my awareness

They will probably put a price of £2.99 or similar on it. It may have cost me about 30p. But yes, if I had searched for it on Amazon I could expect to pay the price you said, as it's a sellers' market for Large Print books. Totally ridiculous situation. I get some real bargains - but can't choose what they will be!
Another thing that drives me spare is when volumes are separated. I saw a Large Print copy of Middlemarch a couple of weeks ago, and was about to snap it up when I spotted that it was only the middle one of three! Aaaargh!
Mind you, I did once manage to get a complete Large Print David Copperfield . Two Large Print volumes - and found at different times in different towns! Not even a matching pair, but still first and second volumes. :)

9. He Lover of Death - Boris Akunin
10. Das Fräulein von Scuderi � E.T.A. Hoffmann
all audiobook

7. Spy Killer
8. The Good Earth
9. A Little Princess
10. An American Tragedy
11. Three Singles to Adventure
12. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
13. Pearls, Girls and Monty Bodkin
14. Oliver Twist
15. The Raven Boys

16. Silas Marner
17. Behind the Scenes at the Museum
18. How to Live on 24 Hours a Day
19. Little Men
20. Persuasion

7. Last Man in Tower
8. The Extraordinary Education of Nicholas Benedict
9. Star Island

Please see this: if you are curious which:
/topic/show/...
I am going to be trying a Kindle Paperwhite. You know the selection of audio and Kindle books available is much higher in the US than in Europe. I HATE all the publication restrictions. But I am terribly happy that more and more books are becoming available in these formats.
PS In my reviews, although I rate by the book's content rather than its narration, I also discuss my view on how well the book was narrated. Well narrated books can be the icing on a cake, but they cannot save a bad book.
3 Nathaniel Hawthorne, The House of Seven GablesÌý Read Audiobook
4 Charles Dickens, Barnaby Rudge (1841) Read Audiobook
5 Anthony Trollope, Is He Popenjoy? Read Audiobook
6 Charles Dickens, Martin Chuzzlewit Reading now Audiobook
4 Charles Dickens, Barnaby Rudge (1841) Read Audiobook
5 Anthony Trollope, Is He Popenjoy? Read Audiobook
6 Charles Dickens, Martin Chuzzlewit Reading now Audiobook

10. Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail
11. Fifth Business (highly recommended)

21. Lady Audley's Secret
22. The Red and the Black
23. Nicholas Nickleby
24. Enchanted
25. The Prince and the Pauper
26. Heart of Darkness
27. The Mysterious Howling
28. The Man with Two Left Feet
29. Moll Flanders
30. Little Dorrit
31. The False Prince
32. If This Isn't Nice, What Is?: Advice for the Young
33. The Mysterious Affair at Styles
34. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
35. Oedipus the King


Hahaha! Yes, it is now part of my morning routine: turn on coffee pot, turn on audiobook...
1 Thomas Love Peacock, Nightmare Abbey Read Audiobook
2 Albert Camus,Ìý La Peste Read Audiobook
3 Nathaniel Hawthorne, The House of Seven GablesÌý Read Audiobook
4 Charles Dickens, Barnaby Rudge (1841) Read Audiobook
5 Anthony Trollope,Ìý Is He Popenjoy? Read Audiobook
6 Charles Dickens, Martin Chuzzlewit Read Audiobook
7 Wilkie Collins, The Evil Genius Read Audiobook
8 Nalia Ginzburg, Caro Michele Reading now Audiobook
2 Albert Camus,Ìý La Peste Read Audiobook
3 Nathaniel Hawthorne, The House of Seven GablesÌý Read Audiobook
4 Charles Dickens, Barnaby Rudge (1841) Read Audiobook
5 Anthony Trollope,Ìý Is He Popenjoy? Read Audiobook
6 Charles Dickens, Martin Chuzzlewit Read Audiobook
7 Wilkie Collins, The Evil Genius Read Audiobook
8 Nalia Ginzburg, Caro Michele Reading now Audiobook

1. A Shilling for Candles - Josephine Tey
Audiobooks:
36. Carter Finally Gets It - Brent Crawford
37. a couple of short stories by Michael J. Sullivan: The Viscount and the Witch & The Jester
38. Kim - Rudyard Kipling
39. Once - Morris Gleitzman
40. The Phantom of the Opera - Gaston Leroux
41. The Scarlet Letter - Nathaniel Hawthorne
42. The Murder at the Vicarage - Agatha Christie {reread}
43. Whodunnit? Murder in Mystery Manor - Anthony E. Zuiker
44. Barnaby Rudge - Charles Dickens
8 Nalia Ginzburg, Caro Michele Read
9 Stephen Crane, The Red Badge of Courage Reading now
All Audiobooks
9 Stephen Crane, The Red Badge of Courage Reading now
All Audiobooks
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Alexandre Dumas (other topics)Elizabeth Gaskell (other topics)
Edith Wharton (other topics)
Edith Wharton (other topics)
John Galsworthy (other topics)
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Hopefully participating in this challenge will increase awareness of what options are available to those with macular degeneration or other vision problems. If you inquire about large print editions or audiobooks at your local library, it might help build demand for these items as well.