.jpg)
Mary Dixie Carter’s debut psychological thriller, THE PHOTOGRAPHER, releases on May 25th and will be a Bookreporter.com Bets On pick. A graduate of Harvard College with an honors degree in English Literature and an MFA in Creative Writing from The New School, she has had her work featured in a number of prestigious publications, including TIME, The Economist and The New York Observer. Reading and writing are integral components of Mary Dixie’s life. Audiobooks, specifically, have brought her family closer together and transformed long car rides. She is deeply grateful to the iPad thief who made this possible, as you will learn in her Mother’s Day blog post.
My husband and I used to let our daughter and son watch movies on our iPads when we had a long car ride. They weren’t allowed to read in the car because that makes everyone carsick.
Then one day, about four years ago, we parked on a street in Brooklyn and inadvertently left the car doors unlocked with the iPads inside. When we returned, the iPads were gone. So when it came time for the next car ride, the children knew the iPads had been stolen and there was no discussion about it. That day, they listened to their first audiobook.
Now, at ages 10 and 8, they both look forward to a long trip. And it’s not because of our destination or what we are going to do when we arrive there. It is because of the car ride and the audiobook that goes with it. Over the last few years, we’ve listened to audiobooks of the entire Harry Potter series, most of the Roald Dahl books, The Penderwicks series, the Spy School series, and our latest, the Charlie Thorne series --- to name a few favorites. When we reach our destination, the children are disappointed. Often they sit in the parked car, finishing off a chapter.
We didn’t replace the iPads for almost two years, because we didn’t want to return to watching movies in the car. But it wouldn’t have mattered. At this point, the children would choose to listen to an audiobook over seeing a movie.
On this Mother’s Day, I’d like to thank the iPad thief. You may not have realized what a gift you gave our family.
