On My Nightstand February 19, 2023

Good morning everyone! It’s a long weekend, but our schedules are starting to get packed with sports again. My son has lacrosse and my daughter has ice skating on Monday. I truly love watching them practice and play, but all the driving cuts into my reading time! We’re also celebrating my daughter’s birthday. It was in December, but so close to Christmas we haven’t been able to have a party until now. This is her first party in two years due to Covid, so when she wanted to order a two tier cake that feeds 46 for a party of 12 people I said yes! So it will be a rush to eat 46 servings of cake between now and Ash Wednesday. Goals!

Have a great week everyone.

What’s on my nightstand this week:

Bob by Wendy Mass and Rebecca Stead - One of my kids insisted on having this at a book fair a few years ago, and then never read it. I decided I should at least read it before we give it away!

Dearie by Bob Spitz - Julia Child is so fascinating, and I’m enjoying this biography.

Diary of a Void by Emi Yagi - This just came in from the library so I haven’t started it yet, but the premise sounded so relatable. A woman in a mostly male office fakes a pregnancy so that she doesn’t get roped into all of the extra chores.

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Non-Fiction November Wrap Up

What is Nonfiction November? It’s a challenge to read as much nonfiction as possible in the month of November. I track my challenge results on Litsy, but I’m sure it’s done elsewhere as well.

Non-fiction November was really successful for me this year. After not really liking anything I read in October (I didn’t even bother with a reading wrap up), November showed up in a big way.

Here are my top 5 2022 Nonfiction November reads:
(In no particular order…)

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot - Wow, why did I wait so long to read this book? I have so many feelings after reading this. I‘m sure there has been a lot written about this amazing book so I won‘t even try, but I am so glad this book is now in my life.

Dear Bob and Sue by Matt and Karen Smith - In this travel memoir couple Matt and Karen write about the time they quit their jobs to visit all of the National Parks. At first they upset me because they didn‘t properly appreciate Cuyahoga National Park (a favorite) but they eventually grew on me. Their travel was interesting but approachable, and I liked that they seemed to keep a budget in mind most of the time.

Tell Me More by Kelly Corrigan - I loved what she had to say about grief and parenthood. This book was well worth reading.

Agatha Christie An Elusive Woman by Lucy Worsley - I absolutely loved this book. Lucy Worsley did an excellent job of making Agatha Christie come to life. I‘ve only read a few Christie books, and liked not loved them so don‘t let that hold you back from reading this biography!

We Had A Little Real Estate Problem by Kliph Nesteroff - This history of Native American comedians was so interesting. I meant to read this last year, and am so glad I finally got to it this year. This was heavier than you might expect a book about comedy to be, but so informative.

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The 2021 Audie Award Finalists

I was introduced to The Audie Awards as a new book blogger and it’s become an obsession ever since. Starting in January I check the website over and over until the finalists are announced. Last Tuesday was the day I finally saw the list, and I am really excited to start listening my way through.

I was happy to see favorites Louise Penny and N.K. Jemisin get nods for two books I loved last year: All The Devils Are Here and The City We Became. I’m looking forward to checking out some of the short story collections, and I’m patiently waiting for my turn to listen to Barack Obama’s memoir on Libby. (Six months and counting.) But my very favorite category is History/Biography and I will listen to all of them by the end of the year.

The nominees are:

The Dead Are Arising by Les Payne and Tamara Payne, narrated by Dion Graham, published by Recorded Books

Deep Delta Justice by Matthew Van Meter, narrated by Brad Sanders, published by Hachette Audio

His Truth Is Marching On: John Lewis and the Power of Hope by Jon Meacham, with an afterword by John Lewis, narrated by JD Jackson, published by Penguin Random House Audio

J.R.R. Tolkien: The Making of a Legend by Colin Duriez, narrated by Simon Vance, published by Oasis Audio

Just Us: An American Conversation by Claudia Rankine, narrated by Janina Edwards, published by Audible Studios

The Lincoln Conspiracy by Brad Meltzer and Josh Mensch, narrated by Scott Brick, published by Macmillan Audio

I can’t wait!

2019 Show Us Your Books

2019 was a very prolific reading year. I listed to more than 70 audiobooks this year, loved biographies of people I don’t agree with politically, and learned I really love graphic novel adaptations of the classics. I read 20 five star books, and they were all really good, but when it was time to pick my favorite I had a hard time. Here’s my best effort, but be warned that it will take me a while to get there.

Re-Reads

Here’s what I wrote when I first read these:

A Piece of the World by Christina Baker Kline -- If you have ever felt like you're invisible, or taken for granted by the people around you, I think you'll really feel for the main character in this book. (Even as she makes bad choices.) I appreciated that this wasn't the usual artist has affair with muse story.

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman -- I listened to this book about a grumpy old man for the Imaginary Book Club. It had been on my TBR forever, and I was so glad for the push to get to it. It's great on audio if for no other reason than to get the correct pronounciation of Ove.

The Martian by Andy Weir - I've been embracing the spirit of Mark Watney lately when faced with tasks that seem impossible. If he could get off Mars, I can get my work projects done.

Audiobooks

My first impressions:

City of Thieves by David Benioff - This is one of the best audiobooks I’ve ever listened to. Two men in Leningrad during WWII set off to find some eggs. It’s horrifying and sad, but also oh so funny. Highly, highly, highly recommend.

Save Me A Seat by Sarah Weeks and Gita Varadarajan - My son and I both wished it were longer.

Save me the Plums by Ruth Reichl - This book was a great peek into the workings of Gourmet Magazine, told by someone who clearly loved her job. I also loved the insights into how a working mom with a demanding job made it work.

Non-Fiction

My thoughts:

50 Great American Places by Brent Glass — Highly recommended for anyone who will take a detour when they see a brown sign on the highway.

Hoover by Kenneth Whyte — This book completely changed what I thought about Herbert Hoover. An amazing biography about an amazing life.

Betty Ford by Lisa McCubbin — An amazing book about an amazing woman.

Fiction

My twenty second reviews:

The Boat People by Sharon Bala - This was a timely and relevant book. Highly recommend for anyone interested in issues facing refugees coming to the US and Canada. (One note: the lack of quotation marks was distracting, but I was able to get past it because the story was good.)

A Place For Us by Fatima Farheen Mirza — Beautiful and heartbreaking. This one will stay with me for a long time.

The Kite Runner Graphic Novel by Khaled Hosseini — The Kite Runner (Graphic Novel) by Khaled Hosseini - This leaves a few big chunks of the novel out, but still packs an emotional punch. I liked it a lot.

Drum roll please: my very favorite

This is the one I keep coming back to, and the one I think I’ll still remember in ten tears.

Thank you all for giving me a place to talk about books this year! Here’s to happy reading in 2020!

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Non-Fiction November

I know I was just complaining about theme reading, and now here I’m talking about another monthly reading scheme I signed up for.

But, but, my TBR! I swear this will help.

This month I’m taking part in Non-Fiction November (hashtag #NFNov on Litsy.)

I have so many non-fiction books I have started, but haven’t finished. My planned stack is in the picture above, audio on top and paper on bottom. Plus I might have one or two saved to the kindle app on my phone.

Anyone else taking part in Non-Fiction November?

You might also like:

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April 2017 Audiobooks

Spring is here, and I'm spending a lot of time listening to audiobooks while I walk under flowering trees. I'm enjoying it as much as I can before summer starts, and I need to stay inside near my air conditioner! I live in DC, so probably about another two weeks.

I found Z for Zachariah in the kid's section of my library, but it freaked me the heck out, and I'm glad I didn't try to listen to it with my kids. It's an end of the world novel about a girl living alone on a farm after a nuclear war - until a man finds her.

I finished The Nature of the Beast, and am sad to say I only have one book left in the series until the new one comes out in August. I liked this one as much as I have liked the last few. That is to say, a lot. Plus there's physics! Yay physics!  Can anyone recommend a similar detective series that is good on audio?

I've also been busy reviewing books for The Armchair Audies.

Here are my review so far:

In Harm's Way

Paul McCartney

A Time to Die

Reviews for the last two in the category will be coming this month, and then I'll announce who I think should be the winner in the category.

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REVIEW: Paul McCartney: The Life by Philip Norman

This is my second review for The Armchair Audies.

This biography of Paul McCartney starts like a lot of biographies of stars starts - with a forward detailing the author's relationship to a star and his or her work. And so I will start this review. Like most liberal arts students I went through a Sergeant Pepper phase in college, but when I think of Paul McCartney I think of my Dad's music more than mine. That may have clouded my ability to listen to 30 hours and 44 minutes of the details of Paul's life on audiobook.

I enjoyed the history of the Beatles, and a more R rated view of their time in Hamburg that Malcolm Gladwell made famous in Outliers. I also really liked learning the backgrounds behind their songs. Fans had a tendency to make all of the songs about drugs. In many cases they were right (Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds), but they were also wrong sometimes (Fixing a Hole was about DIY, not heroin.)

But then things start to drag. The breakup, tax troubles, Yoko troubles, and drug use seem to go on forever. Many parts are repetitive as well. We must have heard about the meatloaf Linda McCartney used to make before she became an animal rights activist five times. By the end I was repeatedly checking the counter to see how much more I had to go.

I did love the narrator for this audio book. The accent was perfect. It sounded like someone who could have grown up in Liverpool with Paul.

I'd recommend this book if you're a super fan, but otherwise skip it.

Review: Rosemary: The Hidden Kennedy Daughter

I got a lot more laundry done than usual this weekend because I was listening to the audiobook version of Rosemary: The Hidden Kennedy Daughter by Kate Clifford Larson. This book about the least famous Kennedy child was heartbreaking, but also inspiring. Her birth was rough, and Rosemary suffered from intellectual disabilities. After a failed lobotomy in her early 20's Rosemary spent her life hidden away from her public, and even her family for a time. It's hard not to judge Joseph Kennedy for what happened to Rosemary, just as much as it's hard not to admire what her brothers and sisters, especially Eunice and Ted, did later in life to better the positions of disabled people.

If you like biographies of underappreciated people try:

Because I needed more books on my TBR: what I've added lately

In my world, all of the best of books lists that come out this time of year are more exciting than Christmas morning. I've been devouring them for the past week or so, and now I have hundreds of new to me books on my to-be-read list. Here are some of the highlights:

I can hardly wait! Happy reading!

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