Here's a fun, simple project you can do at home. For the sound recorder you need:A small, inexpensive microphone.A microphone extension cord/wire, the longer the betterA computer with a sound card capable of recording( most recent-model PC's include one )A paper bowl, medium to large sizeSound recording softwareA soft material, such as a ...

These are two recent favorites - it would be a very long list if I actually compiled them all!  :D  It's also a list slanted toward geeky and gamer interests - I've got a bunch of mainstream and mundane favorites, too. His Majesty's Dragon, by Naomi Novik The Knight, by Gene Wolfe  Furies of Calderon, by Jim ...