I can’t concentrate. I can’t focus for long enough to sit and read and enjoy a book. I’ve turned to audiobooks, to “ear read” during this time. Audible and I became fast friends.
If you are on Goodreads, let’s connect! I set my reading challenge for the year at 27 books, I figured I could read or listen to a book every couple of weeks. I’m ahead of schedule thanks to audiobooks, and let’s face it, listening on 1.5x speed (or even a touch faster).
I can listen while I cut fabric, sew, work on my beadwork, do dishes, make a meal, etc.
Seven of the books I’ve loved so far this year:
Life Will Be the Death of Me:…and You Too! – I’ve recommended this to people again and again. I’ve left it on my phone so I can listen again. It is so good. This is Chelsea Handler’s take on going through therapy. Everyone needs therapy, you just might not realize it yet, but you do. Not because you are bad or failing, but because there is likely something there that you could use tweaked.
Embassy Row series – this is a series of three (All Fall Down, See How They Run, Take the Key and Lock Her Up) and it is a fun listen. I describe it as there’s a teenager who goes to live with her Grandpa, and while she’s living with him she wants to figure out who murdered her Mom. Also her Grandpa is an Ambassador. I don’t remember why I picked this one, it was probably something Audible highlighted one day, but it’s an easy listen, and I recommend the series over just an individual book – you need to hear/read how it ends!
An American Marriage – I liked that this is told from various perspectives. I like being able to see how another person is thinking. It’s often mixed up in our own daily lives, you see something one way, your friend sees it another. This doesn’t have a traditional “and they lived happily ever after” feel but they do live happily ever after.
With the Fire on High – I loved this! I love stories of people who fight to do what they want to do, whatever that want is. The protagonist doesn’t let anything stop her, she works hard, and yes, she succeeds. And sure, she probably has a little bit of magic in her too.
The Sun Is Also a Star – okay, I read this one. I’ve borrowed it from my online library at least four times because I didn’t finish within the two week borrowing period. I finished while waiting at the cell phone store a few weeks ago. First we waited outside, and then we waited inside. It was enough time for me to finish reading, and I really loved the ending. So much. I have not seen the movie and I’m not sure I want to – unless it has the same exact ending, then okay, I want to watch the end.
The Dutch House – Tom Hanks read this one on Audible. I really enjoyed the story, I like the brother and sister relationship, I like the house, I like the ending. Do I like it even more since Tom Hanks was the narrator? Who knows.
In The Country We Love – Diane Guerrero reads her memoir and it is just one story of life in the United States and what happens when families are torn apart. It’s easy to think of immigrants as other, as someone who did something wrong, so I appreciate when stories are told. We need to see people for who they are and appreciate what they have to offer. As a Native person, Native to what is the United States, I view immigration issues with a side eye and a smirk, because come on.
And so, what have you been reading?
