I’ve always remembered my seventh-grade teacher saying that when she was a little girl, she and her family would go driving just to listen to the radio. That was during a time when radio featured actual programs, such as variety shows and detective stories, complete with sound effects.
This entertaining form of audio was what came to mind while I listened to the recently published audiobook, Quidditch Through the Ages ($14.99 through Audible), which I accepted an offer to review. As its name implies, the book explains the history and evolution of quidditch, the sport featured in the “Harry Potter” series.
I truly enjoyed listening to this book for a couple of reasons. First, it’s read by Andrew Lincoln (Rick Grimes in “The Walking Dead”), whose delivery and myriad of voices keeps you engaged in a story about a made-up game. The addition of sound effects during Lincoln’s reading adds to the theater of his performance.
“The wizarding world is one that I always wanted to get the chance to step into,” Lincoln said in a statement. “What makes this project so special is not only that it allowed me opportunities to create something my kids love and enjoy, but it also supports great causes.”
(A portion of the proceeds from this audiobook will be available to British charities Comic Relief and Lumos.)
Second, author J.K. Rowling is surprisingly funny; as one example, she explains why quidditch never gained popularity in the United States as it did in the rest of the world (a la soccer). Rowling also impressively writes a comprehensive history book, making up quirky anecdotes (including why witches fly on brooms), going over the evolution of the rules (as regulated by the Department of Magical Games and Sports) and chronicling the past performances of all the major quidditch teams.
Even if you haven’t read any of the “Harry Potter” books or seen the movies, you can easily follow along with the story. You only have to know that muggles are people without magic abilities.
The audiobook also includes exclusive bonus content, featuring the history of the Quidditch World Cup, which Rowling wrote in 2014 for pottermore.com.
For those not familiar with Audible, it’s owned by Amazon.com and has more than 400,000 audio programs from audiobook publishers, broadcasters, entertainers, magazine and newspaper publishers, and business information providers.
