Tag Archives: audiobook

Just Last Night

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img_5961Book: Just Last Night by Mhairi McFarlane

Date Read: December 23, 2021 to January 1, 2022

Rating: 4 (of 5) stars

One of the funny things about being a reader is the odd habits that you develop over time related to your reading. Currently, I take pictures of my books with my cats. I used to track the number of books I read by using a different bookmark for every book I read, and then counting up my pile of bookmarks at the end of the year. Perhaps my oddest bookish habit is my text exchanges with a particular friend: we frequently text each other about the books we are reading, but rarely actually share which book we are talking about.

This past December, my friend was texting me about a book that had her on an emotional rollercoaster. She thought she had picked up a romance, but ended up with a story that had much more depth. With each unexpected turn in the story, I got an update about how every prediction made was turning out to be wrong. So toward the end of the month when I ended up waitlisted for all of the audio books I had hoped for on my holiday driving, this turned into a natural recommendation. It is not exactly the book that I would typically pick up on my own, but as she had said, it was much more than the fluffy romance novel that she had anticipated.

Although the romance storyline was definitely there, I felt like this book was much more about friendships and family. It all starts with a friend group and a pub quiz—a new romance trope, I think. Our main character, Eve, introduces the dynamics of the group just before finding herself on a romantic misadventure. This is around where things begin to veer into the unexpected, starting with a tragedy within the friend group.

I try not to give too much away when writing these, so I will just say that the story did not turn out to be anything like what I predicted along the way, while somehow still hitting all the things I would expect from a romantic comedy. McFarlane had me alternately laughing and crying, and did an excellent job of handling some serious topics without straying too far from the heart of the genre.

Boris’s Thoughts: “I never saw this book, so I don’t believe you actually read it.”

Stuart Little

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img_5956Book: Stuart Little by E.B. White

Date Read: April 12 to 13, 2021

Rating: 3 (of 5) stars

Back in September 2020, I wrote some about audio books, sharing that I have decided the format is a good fit for revisiting books that I know I have read. I have mostly been accessing these through the free library at my job, as I do not want to invest much in purchasing audio versions of books I already own. I tore through many of the books last summer, and things have fallen off some during 2021. While I am exploring other options for access to audio, I have only picked up a few remaining titles I can still access for free. In April this year, I decided that I needed a little something to listen to while going for a walk. I decided on Stuart Little, as it is one that I know I read long ago, but could remember very little about.

I had some mixed feelings on this one. I think it started with a fine concept for a children’s story, and thought that there were some really cute and engaging chapters. Each chapter seems to function as its own little short story, with the chapters then connected together to tell an overarching story of Stuart’s life. Many of these were fun or silly, most with an element of adventure as well. However, there were a few that fell short for me, especially later in the book after Stuart leaves home. I felt like there was some potential in some of the stories, but was ultimately unsatisfied with how things played out.

For me, the biggest issue is that the story feels incomplete. It does not have a wrapped up ending, the book just stops in the middle of what it seems should be Stuart’s greatest adventure. Stuart is driving north—he is in search of his friend, but has no ideas of where to look or really a clear idea of how he might find her. He stops to have a conversation with a man about the direction he is heading, and then the book is over. Perhaps a vague and open ending like that might be viewed as hopeful in a book for adults, but it really does not fit with the rest of the book; any deeper meaning would certainly go over the heads of children in the glossed over final interaction.

Minka’s Thoughts: “What a mean cat that was! I may be a troublemaker, but at least I’m not MEAN. This book gives a bad name to all cats! Who would write such terrible things? 1 paw!”

The Outsiders

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img_5950Book: The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

Date Read: January 4 to 7, 2021

Rating: 4 (of 5) stars

A few months ago, I wrote a post about revisiting previous reads through audio. This was my first audio book of the year. It is one that I had been sure that I had read before, although I do not own and it was long enough ago that I never had it listed in my logs. I feel like I normally have a pretty good memory for books, but as I was listening to this one, I started to question whether or not I really had read it before. Even after reaching the end, I am not entirely sure. One of the biggest factors in my uncertainty is a feeling that if I had read this years ago, I feel like it is one that would have stuck with me more. There are parts that were familiar to me: meeting the girls at the movie theater, hiding out in a church, even reading Gone With the Wind. At the same time, there were major events that I did not remember or anticipate at all.

I suppose all that is to say that this is an unusual one for me: a book that I am not sure I have ever physically read but finished on audio at the beginning of the year. There were so many things about this book that I really loved—and I have to say that some of the things that it did not fully resonate with me enough to get 5 stars probably has to do with me reading it now as an adult rather than when I was younger. In some ways, I think this might be the perfect book for its target demographic. While some aspects of it may be dated, Hinton does an excellent job of capturing how it feels to be a teenager even now—a weird mix of feeling like everything in the world is against you, but in some small way tuning in to the fact that others’ struggles may not be that different from your own. And, of course, feeling at the same time like everyone else’s struggles could not possibly be anything like your own personal experience.

Of course, the experiences of relayed by Ponyboy Curtis certainly fall outside the norm for the typical teenager—most readers probably find themselves somewhere in the middle between the two groups described in the book, although nonetheless feeling like they are also an outsider. I really enjoyed the voice of Ponyboy. He is introspective enough to add some depth to the character, but not so reflective and self-aware as to become unbelievable as a real teenage boy. This is a great book for middle school and high school age students, who may need the reminder that their thoughts and feelings are valid and shared. It’s also a great book for adults who may need a bit of a reminder about how hard it can feel to be a teenager.

Boris’s Thoughts: “I still don’t understand how you read with these. Where are the words? Where was the snuggles? Is it really a book if it did not involve cat snuggles?”

The Hunger Games

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img_6217Book: The Hunger Games (Trilogy) by Suzanne Collins

Rating: 5 (of 5) stars

I recently revisited The Hunger Games, after having read the trilogy quite a few years back—about a year after the final book was published. I remember enjoying the series quite a bit, but many of the details of why have become rather fuzzy over the years. I remember the general plot of each book, many of the major events, and feeling invested in Katniss and her revolution. Beyond that, many of the particularities of the series have faded into a broader feeling of “I am glad I read that, and I would read it again.”

Well, as I said in my last post, I have always been a re-reader. While I do not re-read as often as I would like, there are a handful of books that I have read at least a dozen times. Reading the next new thing on the shelf is certainly exciting, but there is a thrill that comes with re-reading a good book that cannot be replicated. The story, vaguely familiar, comes into sharper focus. Details that seemed insignificant the first time through suddenly jump out with meaning. It is been quite some time since I have done any re-reading, and I am so happy that I chose to start here.

This series were the first books that I chose to re-read via audio book. The format is well suited for the first person narrator, and it was really interesting to actually hear the story in Katniss’s voice. It kind of felt like something somewhere between a book and a movie—there is a liveliness added to the story when hearing a character relay their first hand experience, but we are still able to hear the thoughts and emotions that can get lost in a movie adaptation.

The first thing that stuck out to me this time around was the wealth of rich details in the text. Katniss has a unique set of survival mechanisms that lead her to be very in tune with her surroundings, especially in the forest. This makes the details in her descriptions fit with her as a character, adding a nice balance to the scene setting. For me, the scene setting often feels forced with the first person narrative. Everyone notices their surroundings, but it’s not a typical line of thought to describe them in great detail. This all helps to make her story feel grounded in reality, despite the extreme differences in her world.

While I say extreme differences, I suppose I should also comment that there were a few moments that felt a little too real to me. I could not help but twinge a little as some of the characters were voicing their concerns about their government—on both sides. At the same time, I think this could be a fair introduction to some of the realities of politics and war, especially since this is aimed toward young adults. While the first book seems to pretty clearly align the sides of Districts versus Capitol as Good versus Bad, this becomes increasingly blurred coming into the end of the series. Life is complicated, just as their war is complicated. There are good and bad people on both sides; no system or side in disagreement is perfect.

Lastly, I noticed much more depth in the character of Katniss than in my initial read. She is a more powerful, yet damaged character than I remember. One thing that really impressed—and frustrated—me about her portrayal is how very clear it was that she was experiencing symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Of course, this makes perfect sense: she had a history of trauma even before being thrown into the Hunger Games, and then a series of continuing traumatic experiences after. I felt that Collins did an excellent job of depicting this, both in Katniss’s behavior and her thoughts at trying to cover for herself. The frustrating aspect for me was how every single other character seemed completely unaware of the extent of her struggles, perhaps with the exception of Peeta. Even those who appeared to understand that she was not well also seemed to brush off the severity, or act as if circumstances make it unimportant. I suppose, while frustrating, this may be an accurate representation of what many experience when dealing with similar mental health issues. While certainly not the main focus of the book, I think this aspect of the story provides a good glimpse at the thought processes behind such an illness. Perhaps there is room for some to find some understanding of others.

Boris’s Thoughts: “If you listened to these books instead of reading them, how did I still end up in a pile of them?”

Bookish Things – Audio Books

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img_5962I have never considered myself an audio book person. I like to hold my books in my hands; I like to see them sitting on my shelves. Being surrounded by books makes me feel warm and cozy. I find books comforting and magical. Of course, I realize that a huge and important part of those books is the stories that they contain. I have always appreciated the existence of audio books—they are certainly an amazing thing, to allow those with visual impairments or reading difficulties access to these stories that might otherwise be out of their reach. Of course though, I can see. I can read them myself. Why would I need an audio book?

For most of my life, the line of thought stopped there. Once, when I was younger, I got an audio book from the library when there was a long waiting list for a book that I wanted, but the audio version was available. This was back in the day of cassette tapes, which I must say gave me a bit of a distaste for the genre. I gave them little further thought until this previous New Year’s Eve—I very much wanted to finish my book by the end of the year, and had a long drive to make. I had only a few chapters left in the sixth book from A Series of Unfortunate Events, and was able to find the audio book for free online. I decided to give it a try. What a treat this turned out to be! The book was narrated by Tim Curry who was a perfect fit for the series; I was really impressed with his voice work in bringing life to the story.

Since I enjoyed the first part from A Series of Unfortunate Events, I listened to parts of other books in the series as well. Unfortunately, I ran into some trouble. I am a little distractible, and often found myself needing to replay parts. I discovered that it was nearly pointless to listen at certain times or when doing certain activities. Even though folding laundry or doing dishes seemed like perfectly thoughtless tasks, I found my mind drifting. And of course, I frustrated myself quite a bit with switching back and forth between books and audio every few chapters. After thinking through some of these kinks over the last several months, I decided that I would listen to at least 5 audio books as a sort of trial run, before putting the format on the back burner again.

img_5954As it turns out, I did not need all five books before making a decision: I have no desire to replace reading with audio, but there is a perfect place for audio books in my life. For me, audio books are an ideal way for me to revisit books. I have always been a re-reader, but often struggle justifying the want to re-read when there are so many new books waiting on my shelves. There are a few times that I have found I can work in audio books during my routines without interfering with my other reading, which has worked out really well for me. I frequently walk the parks in my neighborhood, and this is the perfect time to get in a couple chapters most days. It is also a great option for longer car trips, as long as I do not need to concentrate too much on navigating—this summer I have gotten in many hours of listening driving between home and my family’s cabin in Northern Michigan.

I very quickly made it through the five books that I committed myself to, and have kept going. It has been fun for me to get the chance to revisit quite a few previous reads, and I have been lucky that the books I have chosen have had well matched narrators. While I intend to keep this blog primarily focused on physical books and new reads, I do hope to sprinkle in a little bit of audio every once in a while.