Clip clip and away

How did I survive so long without an MP3 player? I've wanted one for years, but just kept putting off the crucial decision. Now, finally, I have my very own shiny red, matchbook-size 2GB player and I'm quite addicted to its charms.

The player that's captured my heart is the Sansa Clip 2GB with Radio - the red version, of course!

After first being drawn to its shiny red gorgeousness and miniature proportions and then charmed by its helpful little screen and friendliness to others (computers and software alike), you could now say I'm looking forward to a comfortable, committed future together...

It has a fantastic inbuilt clip - thus the name - which has proven really useful at the gym, the good sense to keep your place in an audio book even when you switch over to listen to something else, a radio, sensible controls, easy volume adjustment and it sounds great!

[advert over] :-)

I've also rediscovered audio books. Not a cheap option compared to a book, but what a treat! I signed up to Audible for a couple of months and this may be a new addiction! I listened to The Hobbit (unabridged) first - all 12 or so hours of it. Absolutely brilliant! For days you couldn't get much sense out of me at all, it was all 'What has he got in his pocketsess?' and 'the eagles! the eagles!'

My second find, and another treasure, has been Tim Butcher's Blood River, read by the author. In 2004 Tim, a correspondent for the Daily Telegraph, made his way alone across one of the most dangerous countries in the world, the Congo, inspired to follow the route of the famous explorer HM Stanley. This is his account of the adventure, the people he met and the history of this apparently doomed country. Obsessed, yes; crazy, probably. Yet this is a fantastic tale and a deeply provoking and affecting account of the present-day Congo and the forces which have shaped it and continue to do so. Thoroughly recommended.