Summer Audiobook Wrap-Up

This summer has been the summer of the audiobook for me. My experience with audiobooks until now has been largely confined to a set of cassettes from when they were called “books on tape.” I began with Disney readalong stories and eventually graduated to Harry Potter. When I moved out last summer, I found the box for my Harry Potter tapes, very battered but with all 12 tapes intact.

Today, obviously, audiobooks are much more sophisticated and are having a bit of a moment. I’ve jumped on the bandwagon with Scribd (more on that later/not sponsored). I listen when I walk to work, while I was moving, and when I’m just puttering around the house.

The first book I listened to this summer really spoiled me and left me with a crazy book hangover. Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter, narrated by Edoardo Ballerini was just captivating. There’s really no other word for how obsessed I was with this audiobook. Beautiful Ruins is a fantastic book in its own right. It switches between past and present, focusing on the  doomed-movie Cleopatra, a washed-up movie producer and his assistant, an aspiring writer, and a starving musician. The characterization is fantastic, the settings are amazing, and it’s the kind of multi-narrative that totally works. The audio version just took it to the next level. Ballerini does all the voices without ever veering into camp, his Italian pronunciation was gorgeous. By the end I had laughed and cried and never wanted to finish.

After a bit of a book hangover, I tried to recapture the beauty with another “beachy” read, The Vacationers by Emma Straub narrated by Kristen Sieh. It is also a multi-narrative novel, following a family whose parents may or may not be divorcing as they go to Mallorca, with the mother’s best friend and his husband in tow. There is family drama, happy tears, and complicated relationships. It was unfair to this book that it followed Beautiful Ruins, because it was a perfectly enjoyable book that just couldn’t keep up with my love for Beautiful Ruins. Luckily, the narrator was fantastic, which elevated this potentially-disappointing-read to a good palate cleanser.

Finally, I listened to this summer’s big blockbuster, The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins. This was really great to listen to because each narrator actually had a different voice actor. It was so easy to keep track of the different threads with the different voices. I’m not sure this one totally measured up to the hype, since I guessed the “twist” about halfway through, but it was tense and fast-paced.

The only DNF I have had so far with audiobooks was Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng. I’m really upset I didn’t like this one — I’ve heard fantastic things from reviewers I trust, I love her twitter feed, and she has her MFA from my alma mater. However, the narrator spoke really slowly which drove me crazy, and I just had a hard time getting into the book. I typically love character-driven stories, but something about this one never quite clicked for me.

Up next for me, are Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer and The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert. More on Scribd soon, since I’ve been using it a ton!

What have you been listening to this summer?

Vacation Reads | Reading

I recently had the ridiculous luxury of an entire week of paid vacation on the beach and of course I took a stack of books. I’m still not used to the idea of PTO, so the idea of taking an entire week off and still getting paid just seems like the height of luxury.

But I digress.

I didn’t get quite as much finished as my pace in the first two days would suggest, but I’m still pretty happy with my reading for the week.

Books brought:

• Devil in the White City
• The Meursault Investigation
• The Silkworm
• The People’s Republic of Amnesia

Books read:

• Devil in the White City
• The Silkworm
• The Meursault Investigation (halfway)

I read both Devil in the White City and The Silkworm by Tuesday afternoon, and both are quite lengthy books. I really, really loved both of them. Devil in the White City tells two (true) stories: one of the design of the Chicago World’s Fair and one of a serial killer operating at the same time. It was fascinating and fast paced and read like a novel even though the book is a nonfiction. Highly recommend. I also really enjoyed The Silkworm, though not quite as much as its predecessor, The Cuckoo’s Calling.

I was rather surprised when my reading came to a grinding halt during the very short Meursault Investigation, after the lengthier books I read earlier in the week.

While I am loving Meursault, a retelling of The Stranger from the perspective of The Arab’s brother, it is a deceptively short book with unassuming simple language. The book deals with so many different layered issues (including but not limited to, colonialism, religion, family, time, absurdism, and war) that I would read for a half hour and find I had only read ten pages. So, while a fantastic book and meditation on one of my favorite books, not the best beach read.

As a result, I didn’t get to The People’s Republic of Amnesia yet but it’s definitely high on my TBR pile since it’s a library book.

What did you read on the beach/picnic blanket/in a hammock this summer?

Quarterly Goal Check-In

I meant to do this several weeks ago, but better late than never! I wanted to check in on how I am progressing on my bookish goals for 2015 now that we are a quarter into the year. I talked about my goals for the year here.

Current TV favorites

I’ve been in a serious reading slump lately, so I figured I’d share my other favorite storytelling medium: TV. Over the summer, instead of watching the summer shows I have been catching up on series I’ve never watched.

Bob’s Burgers

I cannot stress enough my love for the Belcher family. I am typically not a huge fan of adult cartoons, but this one is something special. The show focuses on the family and the burger restaurant they run. It is perpetually on the brink of closing down, and the family is super weird, but that’s exactly what makes them charming. I think part of what makes this show funnier than a lot of other cartoons is that the family actually likes each other. Bob may roll his eyes, Louise may plot, but at the end of the day they have each other’s back.

Mad Men

Mad Men is one of those shows that I tried to watch when it first came on, but I think I was too young for it. I thought it was too slow and it drove me crazy how Don seemed to mumble three-quarters of the time. Well, that still drives me crazy actually. But now I find the rest of the show ridiculously engrossing. I love the character-driven nature, especially since each character is so fascinating. The way that Weiner and co chose to write the story is so different from many other depictions of the era. Instead of Civil Rights crusaders or racist fist-shakers, these people are the normals. Rich normals, but normals all the same. They aren’t concerned with making waves, they’re concerned with maintaining the status quo that allows Betty to be a rich housewife and Don to cavort all over Manhattan.

West Wing

This show is a little out of the norm for me. Beyond Nick at Nite, 90s TV is not something that I have a lot of exposure to, having been too young to appreciate it at the time. After hearing Rosianna Halse Rojas rave about it on her Tumblr, I decided to give it a go. I’m only a few episodes in, but I can tell this one’s a keeper. It’s so interesting to watch a show that is so optimistic about Washington. In the era of VEEP and The Ides of March it’s refreshing the way the characters rally around the man whose vision they believe in. I’m also a sucker for any show with fast-paced dialogue and politics.

What do you turn to during a reading slump?

Best Books of the Year

In keeping with The Millions, Book Riot, and everyone else, I present: the best books of the year (according to me). These books are not necessarily published this year, in fact none of them are. Instead, I’ll just be going over my favorite books I’ve read so far this year. (I’ve included links to my more in-depth reviews.)

Fangirl
The first book I read this year and one of my favorite. Rainbow Rowell deserves every bit of hype she got from this book. The characters are fleshed out humans with different contexts and motivations. The portrayal of college life is spot on. I especially appreciated her commentary on “The College Experience” (that is, that there isn’t one way to do college). Her portrayal of mental illness and family dynamics are real and heartbreaking. Definite must-read.

American Gods
My second Gaiman, and my obsession. I recently discovered this is getting a Starz series, and I could not be more excited. This is one of my first forays into adult fantasy and it’s safe to say I’m in love with urban fantasy. I love the concept of this book, where the new gods are TV and computers. I love the creepy elements and the mystery aspects. It also doesn’t hurt that Gaiman is a great prose writer.

The House Girl
Though I don’t read as much historical fiction as I once did, this book makes me want to return to it. This story alternates between a slave girl and a modern-day lawyer searching for her story. The book is a reminder of how many different ways slaveholders removed slaves’ agency: the blatant violence we often see, and more subtle oppression like demanding affection and taking credit for their work. We also see family dynamics on multiple different levels. I didn’t love the ending of this book, but I loved the rest so much that it made my top books.

The Casual Vacancy
A re-read for me, it was even better than I remember. JK Rowling is a master of character development and this story is no exception. The class, gender, race, and small town politics slowly peel away to see the characters in all their flawed glory. This book may seem like there is no plot, until it gut-punches you in the end. I think the flak Rowling got when this book first came out was harsh and reactive. Must-read.

May TBR Results

This month, I am vindicated in my typical non-TBR existence. I completely forgot about my library holds when making my list, which really threw a wrench in my plans.

What I planned to read:

• Finish King Lear
• Finish Unnatural Creatures
• Finish The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
• The Casual Vacancy
• Throne of Jade
• The Mysterious Benedict Society

What I ended up reading:

• Finished The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (which I already reviewed here!)
• An Abundance of Katherine’s
• Neverwhere
• Started The Mysterious Benedict Society

An Abundance of Katherine’s and Neverwhere were library holds that I completely forgot about. My holds coming in worked out well, because I was feeling in a rut with my list and they pulled me out.

I started King Lear, and for some reason just wasn’t able to get into it. I was disappointed after I ended up enjoying Julius Caesar so much but I’m thinking I’ll give it another try in couple weeks.

The Casual Vacancy and Throne of Jade didn’t even get opened this month. With my new job, I wasn’t in the mood for the commitment these two longer reads would have required.

I’m currently about halfway through The Mysterious Benedict Society. So far, it has the kind of resourceful, mischievous kids I love now and would have loved had this book been out when I was younger.

A Series of Unfortunate Events 10-12

The Series of Unfortunate Events re-read is almost done! The Slippery Slope, The Grim Grotto, and the Penultimate Peril round out the last three books before The End. First of all, can we just acknowledge that a children’s/middle grade book has the word penultimate in the title? (continuing in my obsession with ASOUE not condescending to children).

These books are really exciting and layered. They also arguably show significantly more character development than any of the previous books.

The Slippery Slope

First, we have The Slippery Slope where the Baudelaire’s have been split up by Count Olaf. While this seems tragic, it sets the stage for Sunny’s evolution. It’s a little unclear how much time has passed since the series began, but it becomes abundantly clear in this installment that Sunny is no longer a baby. This development will become more important, but it’s also just nice to see some movement. This book also sees the Quagmire shocker and the return of Carmelita Spats. As I have mentioned before, Carmelita is one of my favorite characters. She is just so unbelievably awful – it’s amazing. This book finally gets some movement on the shadowy VFD. The VFD was just starting to get a little annoying, since it’s been around for a few books with little movement, but now the intrigue has returned.

The Grim Grotto

The Grim Grotto almost feels like two books. There’s the first half, where they are on the submarine and in the eponymous Grotto, then there’s the second half where they are captured by Olaf and have to once-again escape. It’s nice to see another young person, sometimes it seems like the Baudelaires are the only children in their world. The continuing lessons of moral relativism are so important in this book. Fiona and her brother raise really important questions, and it continues to be one of my favorite elements of this series. And of course, Carmelita making everyone (including an eye-rolling Count Olaf) listen to her performance is hilarious.

This book was, I thought, the darkest so far. It is unclear what happened to the Captain and Phil, Fiona betrays them, and Sunny almost suffocates to death. Even though Violet almost died at the hospital and Madame LuLu was eaten at the carnival, this seemed to have the largest number of dark occurrences. I think it seemed darker to me because many of the dark occurrences previous to now have been one-person tragedies. Here, though, they were betrayals and prolonged almost-deaths.

The Penultimate Peril

The Penultimate Peril reminded me in some ways of all the trailers for the Grand Budapest Hotel. The hotel from the commercials seemed just quirky enough to fit into the Baudelaire’s world. This book has some of my favorite small details, like the spatulas for flipping the sunbathers and the Dewey Decimal system. I have mixed feelings on some aspects of this book. After a while, the Frank or Ernest question became tedious and I just wanted to know which was which so we could move on with the plot. Also, the blindfolded trial seemed like it was taking the whole “adults will let you down” thing a little too far. This book has great plot elements, though, including Kit Snicket providing more background information and trying to figure out why (most) of their former guardians have all been gathered together.

Now we move toward The End, where things get weird and more than a little biblical.

February Read

My February read is pretty bare bones since I read two longer books this month and have been much busier with school and work.

I re-read Jane Eyre, which I read in high school. I had been expecting Jane Austen and was caught off guard by this book. I ended up being underwhelmed because I went into it with the wrong mindset. I enjoyed it so much more this time, and I’ll be putting up a full review soon. I also read American Gods by Neil Gaiman, which I loved. I loved the different mythologies brought into the novel as well as the language, which was simultaneously simple and beautiful. Throughout reading those two longer-reads, I read the first five books in A Series of Unfortunate Events. I reviewed the first three here and will be reviewing the next three in the next few weeks.

In March, I’m hoping to get a lot more reading done over Spring Break. I’m planning to continue working through The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, A Series of Unfortunate Events, Julius Caesar, and we’ll see what else.

January Wrapup

My goal of reading 40 books this year is off to a strong start! This month was kind of a hodgepodge. I had two standalone YAs, two Sherlock Holmes novels, and a middle grade. I bought an anthology of every Sherlock Holmes novel and short story, so I’m going to be working my way through that this year. I’m also going to be working my way through A Series of Unfortunate Events, one of my favorite series.

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

I reviewed this one [here], but I’ll do a quick recap. I loved the characters and Cath’s relationships with her family, roommate, and friends. It was sweet and sad and everything that freshman year is: terrifying but exhilarating.

Madness Underneath by Maureen Johnson

I also reviewed this one [here]. I was a little disappointed in this book, it definitely felt like it was a bridge between books one and three. Overall, it wasn’t a bad book, just not as good as the first. There was a serious cliffhanger, though, and I’m really excited to see where this goes.

Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black

This one I didn’t review because I couldn’t decide how I felt about it. I still can’t. I enjoyed the book, it was a really fresh take on vampires. In this world, vampires spread a virus when they bite. Once bitten, you are “cold” and can either (agonizingly) wait for the infection to take its course, or drink blood and become a vampire. Colds and vampires are quarantined in Coldtowns. There’s a centuries-old feud between vampires, a girl whose mother went cold, and all sorts of drama ensues. That being said, I was overall kind of underwhelmed by the book despite my enjoyment. I thought some of the character development was iffy, and some of the plot elements didn’t make a lot of sense.

A Study in Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

This one I reviewed last week. I loved the introductions of all the characters, I was less enamored of the surprise western adventure.

The Sign of Four by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

I liked this one better than Scarlet. It was just Holmes, Watson and Mary Morstan with only a few other characters. The mystery was exciting and Mary was actually a pretty progressive female character: she’s smart and brave, even if Watson’s response/description of her isn’t so progressive. Overall, I’m enjoying working my way through the original canon.

The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket

I read these as a kid, so it will be interesting revisiting them as an adult. There were some quirky in-jokes that I didn’t notice the first time around, like Mr. Poe’s son Albert. I must say, I recently watched the movie and I forgot how much more grim the books are. The movie is dark but in more of a Tim Burton way, the books have much less of the humor than I remember. I still love the little asides of “a word which here means….” I cannot describe how much of my vocabulary I owe to Snicket’s use of high-level vocabulary and his little built in dictionary.

This month went well for being back and school and work. Hopefully in February I will finish Jane Eyre and the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, and whatever else I may throw in. I may finally crack and read The Fault in Our Stars (which I have been putting off partially because I do not like to be unhappy, and partially because I have enjoyed John Green’s novels but never fully understood all the fuss).