Audio Books Mar 7th through August 22nd

Audio Books I have listened to from Mar 7th through August 22nd


I have been listening to more podcasts lately which has been a dent in the amount of audio books I can listen to as there are only so many hours in a day. The first up in this time frame was My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry by Fredrik Backman which I loved. A lot of the reviewers were put off by the fantasy aspect of it but I thought that added to the story. Coop: A Year of Poultry, Pigs and Parenting by Michael Perry and I am on the fence. His writing style is easy to read but found it a little incomplete. It never fleshes out any one subject, just jumps from topic to topic without a resolution. Next up was Uncommon Type: Some Stories by Tom Hanks. I really,really wanted to like this book since I love Tom Hanks and he narrated it but I just could not wait for it to be finished. The stories loosely are connected as the same characters pop up in a few but none of them are satisfying or complete. I could not connect to any of the characters because the stories made little sense or abruptly end before you can develop the connection. I quickly listened to She Persisted:13 American Women Who Changed the World by Chelsea Clinton. This was a short listen as it is a children's book but I have recommended it to friends with small kids, especially girls. The same day as Chelsea's book I listened to The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry by Jon Ronson and was disappointed. I have loved his other books and Ted Talks but this book just did not cut it for me. I think it was a bit all over the place and not focused which took away from any point about mental health care he was getting at.  The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning by Margareta Magnusson was for me a waste of a couple of hours. It was less about cleaning out stuff and more about her life. My audio reading life redeemed itself with the next book Political Tribes: Group Instinct and the Fate of Nations by Amy Chua. I really was set to not like this book as her most famous book really rubbed me the wrong way. I however found this book full of information and insight. My reading high was diminished with the next book. The Motivation Myth: How High Achievers Really Set Themselves Up to Win by Jeff Haden. The was another absolute waste of my time. I do not equate being rich with being successful. I think being content or happy is what we should strive for and would love to read those books. Because of the Amy Chua book goodreads suggested Hacks: The Inside Story of the Break-Ins and Breakdowns that put Donald Trump in the White House by Donna Brazile. This book gave me information that I was looking for but did it in a whiny, I am the wounded party way that made me not like it. A different political time was up next. Churchill and Orwell: The Fight for Freedom by Thomas E Ricks was a good historical account of this time and relationship. Britt-Marie Was Here by Fredrik Backman finally became available at the library so I listened to it. Britt-Marie was introduced in his previous book and she is just someone you have a hard time liking. In her own book you warm up to her and actually hope she has a second book. I delved back into the non-fiction world after Britt-Marie with So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo, this is one of those books that I recommend to everyone. One take away is that you can acknowledge your advantages without discounting your disadvantages. I do not need to play one up with anyone. I have had a few disadvantages in life but that does not mean I have not had advantages. People of Color or in other disadvantaged groups are the ones who say what counts as racist/sexist/ageist/ablist and not those outside the group. More holds became available at the library about this time so Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House by Michael Wolff, this book really just confirmed thoughts I already had about this administration. Minecraft: The Island by Max Brooks was the next book I listened to. My older son is a minecraft fanatic and so we listened to this together in the mornings. It is narrated by Jack Black and even though I am not into Minecraft I enjoyed listening to this with him. Fredrik Backman's short story And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer was up next. This was an extremely short and sad listen.  Switching gears I listened to B is for Burglar by Sue Grafton which I found entertaining but a bit dated.  I plowed on right into C is for Corpse also by Sue Grafton and still had the same opinion. It was entertaining but dated. After a stint in the detective world I listened to This Messy Magnificent Life: A Field Guide by Geneen Roth which I really wanted to love as the forward was from Anne Lamott whom I love. I just zoned out through a lot of it because it was so repetitive and light on the information.  Mystery was in the air again as A Fatal Grace by Louise Penny came available at the library. Louise Penny can make me forget about time with her effortless writing. Self-Help called my name and I gave Option B by Sheryl Sandberg a chance. I really felt for her story but just did not have any lasting impressions from this book. I honestly forgot I had listened to it until someone mentioned her and loss. The State of Affairs: Rethinking Infidelity by Esther Perel. I am not sure that I got as much out of this book as I hoped to. She is a marriage therapist and all I really took from this book was communicate with your partner. I tried to gain some knowledge from Neil deGrasse Tyson next with his new book Astrophysics for People in a Hurry and it was a fail. I can not tell you a single fact I learned from this book.  I fell back on crime thrillers with D is for Deadbeat by Sue Grafton but started really hating the main character.  Still trying to plow through the series I listened to E is for Evidence by Sue Grafton.  I increasingly noticed the judgy, prejudice nature of the novels and started hating the main character more than before. Flat Broke with Two Goats: A Memoir by Jennifer McGaha was a promo book offered free for a period of time to the library so I listened to it. I really had no sympathy for the author. There are things that befall us and there are things we bring on ourselves. The author definitely had her head in the sand and then whined about the resulting disaster. F is for the Fugitive by Sue Grafton was my  attempt to get through the series. I just can not take any more of these.  Semi switching gears and going back to non fiction. I listened to Creative Quest by Ahmir Questlove Thompson. This one was an easy listen and introduced me to his podcast. Tried a parenting book next which is an addiction of mine because I am convinced I am screwing my kids up and they are going to need therapy. Voice Lessons for Parents: What to Say, How to Say it, and When to Listen by Wendy Mogel. Still sure my kids will need therapy after this book, I do not feel like it led to any lasting change in my life.  I do not agree with everything Madeleine Albright says in her book Fascism: A Warning but I did think most of it rings true with our current political climate. While listening to my books I was also listening to Zombies Attack: An Unofficial Minecrafters' Adventure by Mark Cheverton. I do not play minecraft as I mentioned before but I like that I can listen to these books with my son and we can discuss them. I promise that G is for Gumshoe by Sue Grafton was my last attempt at the series, I can not let my OCD change my mind. The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny will likely be my last book in that series. I like the detective, the town it is set in and the mysteries but the side narrative in the books really has put me off. Hiking has always been something I enjoy and I want to hike a section of the PCT sometime in the near future so I tend to pick up any books about hiking. North: Finding My Way While Running the Appalachian Trail  by Scott Jurek is one of those books. I did like the book although I did not find it transformative as some reviewers did. I has put Esther Perel's book on hold before reading the other one based on her Ted Talk. I was disappointed in the first one but thought I would still give this one a try since it was on hold for so long. Same review on Mating in Captivity as her other book. I really just did not gain anything useful from it. Finishing this book actually left me with nothing else to listen to ( besides my podcasts) so I  just did a search on the library app to see what was currently available and Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now by Jaron Lanier caught my interest. This book was a quick listen and had some really good points. It made me rethink my Instagram usage and watch other pages that are "free". It did not convince me to delete my facebook account though. Evidently the next author is well known although I had never heard of him. Charlie LeDuff's book Sh*tshow!: The Country's Collapsing and the Ratings are Great left me angry. Angry at him, angry at the system and angry at the current administration. I have been working for change in my life and community but this showed the problem is deep and widespread. Why Courage Matters by John McCain is another book I really wanted to like and I just could not. I know he went through unspeakable horrors as a POW but I really want to believe that is not the only type of courage in the world.  Expanding my understanding of experiences unlike mine led to I'm Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness by Austin Channing Brown which I am still digesting. Working in a multi cultural space and living in a neighborhood where we are the one of the only white families lulled me into believing I understood the experience of being a POC in America. I was wrong and I need to keep exploring this topic.  Soon after finishing this one my kids and I took a long road trip to visit my family so we listened to a few audio books specifically for them. My older son loves the I survived series so we listened to I Survived the Eruption of Mount St Helens 1980 by Lauren Tarshis. I had read an adult book on the eruption and of course was alive for the actual event. Having these experiences I realize that the I survived author put some thought into the characters having a "happy" ending by surviving. For my younger son we listened to a really and I mean really quick book. Pete the Cat's Train Trip by James Dean and although it was brief it was a fun one. In between the kids books, mainly while they were napping or watching DVDs I listened to I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer by Michelle McNamara which was published weeks before they announced the suspect had been arrested. There was one more kids book Cars 3 Junior Novelization by Walt Disney Company that we made it through. It was a shortened version of the movie which the kids enjoyed. Once home I started God Save Texas: A Journey Into the Soul of the Lone Star State by Lawrence Wright . I liked the book overall but it was very repetitive and lots of name dropping.  The View from Flyover Country: Dispatches from the Forgotten America by Sarah Kendzior which again was enjoyable but repetitive. It is a collection of short stories on the same subject so it is hard to have no overlap but think maybe this should have been shorter or in a broader collection with other authors. We are to another kids book which we listened to while riding around town on errands The Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary. This was one of my favorites as a kid so I was excited for my kids to listen to it. They really seemed to enjoy it and are excited to get the second in the series from the library. How to Change Your Mind: The New Science of Psychedelics by Michael Pollan. This book was a little too long which I am not surprised with since it was written by Michael Pollan. It will be interesting to see where this research goes. Still non fiction but a different subject captured my interest next. I saw Blood, Bones and Butter by Gabrielle Hamilton available and decided to check it out. I was not familiar with her despite her seeming fame. The book was a good read and an interesting look at someone else's life. Due to my recent reading history Killing It by Camas Davis was recommended and since it was available I jumped on it. This one really made me think about the cuts of meat I am purchasing. I already try to buy everything straight from the farmer but have never thought about the cuts that they are not offering. The second book in the Ralph S Mouse series was not available so we listened to Henry Huggins by Beverly Cleary and again the boys are excitedly waiting for the rest of the series to become available from the library.  We are almost caught up in time with the books I have listened to! A Future of Faith: The Path of change in Politics and Society by Pope Francis. I checked this one out as I really loved the last book by the pope. This one was in interview format and I just could not get into it. And Finally The Gift of Fear by Gavin de Becker was recommended in a fb group I belong to. It was essentially 3 hours of someone telling me to trust my instincts.


I will do another post with the print books I have read which will not equal this in number but I thought this post had gone on long enough.