Saturday, October 31, 2015

October Bookshelf

October was a busy month involving a lot of quilts and a lot of driving.  This means I went through a lot of audiobooks!

Brian's Return by Gary Paulsen
I'm kind of stuck on this series of outdoor adventures for young boys.  I think I need one more, but someone at the library is hogging it!

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
I love this book just because it uses the word "cannot" in the title.  I love "cannot" as much as I love the Oxford comma and two spaces after a period.  There, I said it out loud; let the hate-mail pour in!  I pulled this book off the NY Times Bestseller list.  I don't believe that the books on this list are necessarily better than other; I simply believe that they are books folks are talking about so I read them to join in the conversation.  I'm on an odd "accidentally read tons of stuff about WWII" kick right now, and this was yet another book set during WWII.  I enjoyed the viewpoint of the German child and the French child and how they were impacted by the war.  This was beautifully written and I highly recommend it.

Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton
I requested this from the library when I knew I'd see the latest movie in the theater, and many months later the audio book finally became available. I worked in a bookstore as an evening "Get Mom out of the house" job when Jurassic Park was first published.  Reading all of the new releases was a huge perk of the job.  I enjoyed this book then, but 25 years of watching the movie made me forget the book.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J. K. Rowling
When the quilting gets tough, the tough listen to a Harry Potter marathon while working to keep them on task. I've read this series through several times, and I was due for another go-through.  One book down...

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up:  the Japanese art of decluttering and organizing by Marie Kondo
I read this book when it first came out and used it to get rid of all the books and fabric that didn't "Spark Joy."  My sewing room is still a creative mess, but it is a creative mess that doesn't nag or cause me guilt.  I love that.  I listened to the audiobook while prepping kits for Houston and I liked the book even better the second time.  I will put this on my "read at least once a year" list.

A Single Thread by Marie Bostwick
I have been reading segments of this on my Kindle for several flights.  I finally finished it when flying home from Denver.  I expected it to be a light and fluffy novel, perfect for airplanes, but I didn't expect to enjoy it so darn much.  I'll have to put Marie Bostwick's books on my to-read list.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J. K. Rowling
After a 2:45 am wakeup and three flight delays, I had to start working as soon as I got into my house after a trip to Denver.  I have other books I should be listening to, but I wanted to listen to something fun to get started.  Harry Potter is fun.  Very fun.

Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple
At this point in the month, I was incredibly brain-dead.  I was tickled pink when I popped the first CD of this set into my laptop and heard Kathleen Wilhoite's reading of a fun book.  I wanted to quilt longer just to hear more of her energetic narration.  This book wasn't the great American novel, but it was fun and kept me quilting 'til the wee hours of the morning so I could make a UPS deadline.  That's a two-thumbs-up review from me!  I am so disappointed that there are no more Maria Semple or Kathleen Wilhoite audiobooks in my library system.  This was a one-hit wonder for me, but it came at just the right time.

The Kind Worth Killing by Peter Swanson
This was a basic murder intrigue book, but then... POW!  I won't reveal spoilers, but it was fun to watch this thing unfold.  I love when I can't predict where a book will go.  This audiobook had several narrators, the last one being Keith Szarabajka.  I love his gravelly voice, but never knew how to say his name.  I just hear his voice and think, "Oh, it's the guy with the eye-test for a last name!" (says Debby Ritenbaugh Brown).  I listened to the end credits on the book and they pronounced his name "sarah-bike-ah," so now we know.

I took a few breaks from books while quilting and periodically binged on some Netflix whilst quilting this month:

Person of Interest, seasons 1-3.  Jim Cavaziel has the same acting range as Kristin Stewart, but the stories were easy to follow while quilting.

iZombie, season 1.  I typically don't watch comedies.  At first I groaned, then I laughed, then I got interested, and then I watched all 13 seasons in 24 hours.  I do like zombies.  Braaaiiiinnnnnsssss..........

Legends, season 1.  Ali Larter is not a favorite of mine, but I do love me some Sean Bean.  The show was meh, but good enough to watch while napping in my hotel room while on a super-secret quilting adventure in Denver this month.

Back to the Future, I-III
Because, October 21, 2015 was the future date in the movies.  And we still don't have hovercraft.  I feel robbed.

I get a lot of my audio books on CD from my local library, but I also have an Audible account.  It is worth every penny to me!  Amazon is offering a special promotion if you want to check out Audible and see if you love it, too.  Try Audible and Get Two Free Audiobooks

1 comment:

susan said...

Thanks for sharing! I'm always looking for audio books to listen to...helps me even clean the kitchen!