This month's audiobooks

I have been listening to audiobooks like no one's business lately. My rabid consumption has been driven by a combination of a huge pile of laundry from my kids' swim camp, and all of the time in the car spent driving them to said camp. Being a parent is giving me perspective into how much work my mom had to do so that I could be bored all summer. Oh well, turning lemons into reading time and all that. Anyone want me to throw in a load of towels for them?

The Residence by Kate Andersen Brower was fascinating. I really liked getting a behind the scenes look at life in the White House. (But note: both of my kids complained endlessly about the narrator on this one. They said the voice gave them a headache.)

I had seen the movie version of And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie, but I've never read an Agatha Christie book. The movie was pretty good, but the book was just so much more messed up. (In a good way.) Look for more Agatha Christie in my future reads.

The Royal Wedding by Meg Cabot was my solution when I was craving something light and funny. It was super predictable and stupid, and that made me love it all the more. Sometimes that's all you need.

Eruption by Steve Olson was a fascinating look into the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens. I didn't know much about the eruption going into this book. I remember a teacher bringing a jar of ash to school, and all of us being like Mount St. Who? I was also vaguely aware that the state highpoints of Oregon and Washington were volcanoes. I was too young at the time, and too distracted since with my east coast problems to realize that there are volcanoes that have, can, and will explode in the Pacific Northwest. I can't decide if I should should rush out west to see them before they do, or stay far far away forever in case they pick my vacation week to come alive. There were some boring bits that I tuned out about the history of the lumber industry, but most of this audiobook took my breath away, much like Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air.

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I read about it in a book, and now I must go...

I finished The Wright Brothers last week, and now I am itching to travel to Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. I've been there before, but David McCullough's book is so rich with detail that I need to figure out a way to see it again. I barely remember it, and I'm sure I didn't appreciate it enough. Luckily it's only about a four hour drive from here (when traffic is good.)

Have you ever done that? Read about a place, and gone there? As much as I read it usually works the opposite for me. I read about a place because I've just been there, or because I have plans to go there.

A new adventure! How exciting!

July Quick Lit

Each month I link with Modern Mrs. Darcy's Quick Lit as a way to talk about the books I liked, but didn't review.

DC Metro has decided to make up for years of delayed repairs by doing them all at once this summer. That means they are just shutting down certain areas of track for weeks at a time leaving a whole city to scramble when it comes time to get to work. I'm learning the city's bus system, and getting in some extra reading time while I wait for unfamiliar modes of public transportation to arrive. July 2016 might be a record breaking reading month for me!

If I had just picked up Eligible as a Curtis Sittenfeld fan I would have hated the horribly bigoted characters. However, since I knew it was a play on Pride and Prejudice I kind of found the whole thing amusing and impressive. This book doesn't stand alone like Bridget Jones does, but as a Jane Austen re-write it's kind of cute. I loved that Mary got a chapter at the end of the book. 

Home Field by Hannah Gersen is billed as a book fans of Friday Night lights will enjoy. I've never watched Friday Night Lights, but I know enough people who have to know this book would appeal to me. It's one of those books that tells the story of nice people who are trying to do their best in a really tough situation. The ending was just about perfect. (Note: review based on an ARC I received from Library Thing.)

The Madwoman Upstairs by Catherine Lowell was entertaining - we all would like a world where Bronte descendants were reported on about as much as the Kardashians in this world wouldn't we? Another book with a perfect ending, this was well worth the read, though if I had to do it again I would wait and curl up with it on a cold winter's day.

The audiobook version of Bill Bryson's A Walk in the Woods was road trip entertainment for my brother and I when we were driving to Maine last week. I've listened to this probably about eight times, but it never gets old for me. This is by far my favorite Bill Bryson book.

Rise of the Rocket Girls was interesting from a science standpoint, but even more interesting from a working mom point of view. This was an awesome look at some of the unknown heroes of NASA.

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What I read last summer...

According to my records, last summer I read thirty books! I was curious to see what kinds of books I spent a good part of my summer with. To be honest with you there are some I must have read really fast, because there are some that I barely remember. Then there are the others. The ones that I can just look at the covers and I am transported back to the sights and sounds of last summer.

We had a few kid free days while visiting relatives in Ohio, so of course I tore through a few books. I get up hours earlier than my husband, and enjoyed the time by drinking tea and re-reading Jurassic Park. I loved this book when I first read it as a teenager, and I still like it a lot now.

My summer reading wasn't all fluff. How to Talk so Kids Will Listen & Listen so Kids Will Talk ended up making a huge impact on how I interact with my kids.

I was stuck at the LaGuardia airport for about six hours last year as part of a business trip, and I had finished my book on the plane. Nightmare! Luckily I randomly bought this Sally Ride biography at a newsstand, and the time passed quickly. Amazing and inspiring.

Destiny of the Republic was a fascinating audiobook that would be perfect for a long road trip, however I clearly remember listening to it when I was doing the mounds and mounds of laundry from my son's sports camp. Another amazing part of history that I didn't know much about.

The ferry ride across Lake Champlain is beautiful, but I couldn't pay a bit of attention because I was 3/4 of the way through Doctor Sleep. A creepy Stephen King book that takes place in New England kept me from paying attention to actual New England.

The accent in the audiobook version of The Boston Girl was perfect. It made you feel like the main character was with you, talking to you, about her time growing up in Boston back in the day. A year after my grandmother died, it soothed something in me to feel like I was listening to the story of someone who would have been about her age.

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The tyranny of library due dates

I really love the ability to put books on hold and renew books online at my library. However, being the book addict that I am I am prone to checking my account once or twice a day. No harm done, except for when I realize that four best sellers have come in at once, and they're all due next week, and they can't be renewed because they all have multiple holds on them.

That's when I start feeling rage similar to what the Incredible Hulk must feel.

Why am I expected to work when I have books to read? Why do my kids want to eat when I have books to read? Why do I have to talk to other people when I have books to read?

You wouldn't like me when I'm angry. Leave me alone and let me read my book.

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My favorites from Books on the Nightstand

Like most people I was sad but understanding when Ann and Michael decided to pull the plug on the Books on the Nightstand podcast. It doesn't take years of listening to deduce how much work went into recording that show.

This podcast was always the one I never forgot to download, and I would usually listen to an episode two to three times so I could get all of the bookish info straight. I'll miss it, but luckily there's a large backlog of episodes to go back to. Here are some of my favorites:

Episode #376 - Ten Books, a Whale, and a Library Farm - The "Don't You Forget About Me" feature was my favorite, and this episode had an especially good one.

Episode #357 - Planning ahead to 2016 - Reading goals are one of my favorite things to think about.

Episode #346 - AirB and Bookstore - Great for daydreaming.

Episode #327 - Jynne Martin Helps Me Solve My Poetry Problem - Poetry! It's not just by dead guys.

Episode #304 - Wait...What Just Happened? - I thought it was just me.

As you can see all of my favorites are from the past few years. Lucky me, I get to ease the pain of no new episodes by listening to the ones that aired before I "discovered" this podcast. Any recommendations on where to start?

Halftime Reading Goals Progress

Can you believe it? 2016 is half over. Any resolutions I made to improve myself in January have been long abandoned, except for the ones related to reading. I'm still trying to meet my 2016 reading goals for non-fiction, reading out loud, and classics.

Goal #1:

Read 50 non-fiction books, at least 40 from a list I curated from my TBR.

Progress: I have read 28 non-fiction books so far this year, but only ten are from my list. I'm in the middle of a huge book from my list now, so progress will be made this summer.

Goal #2:

Read the 5 chapter books on this list out loud to my kids.

Progress: I have read three chapter books out loud to my kids (plus numerous story books), but none were from my list. Not to fear, we have started two books from the list, so this shouldn't be a total shut out.

Goal #3:

Read these 8 classics in 2016.

I've read 3/8, almost half of my list. I would have read Grapes of Wrath too, but for some reason I've been waiting for weeks for my library hold.

Reading Challenges:

Modern Mrs. Darcy's reading challenge:

I only have 2 books left for this one -- "A book chosen by your sibling, spouse, child, or BFF", and "A book that was banned at some point".

BookRiot's Read Harder Challenge:

I've read 10/24 books for this challenge. Time to step it up! I'm starting with my selection for 500+ pages - City on Fire.

Books on the Nightstand Summer Reading BINGO:

I am super excited for my BINGO card - this is my 3rd year doing this, and I think it's my best yet.  I usually try to read the whole square, and I usually get pretty close.

My TBR

I started the year with 400 books on my TBR, and am down to 383. Not bad, since I feel like I've added about a thousand books since summer reading lists started coming out.

Happy reading!

Three Heroines Who Compare Real Life To Romance in Popular Culture, and Find It Lacking

I love the idea of flights of books (TM Modern Mrs. Darcy.) It's like wine flights only with reading. You don't do a deep dive on a subject, you take a small taste of several different varietals and compare and contrast the tastes.

I've stumbled upon an unintentional book flight this week:

Three Heroines Who Compare Real Life To Romance in Popular Culture, and Find It Lacking:

I haven't even finished two of these books, but I can tell you that if you, like me, are stuck in a seemingly never ending cycle of rainy days and public transportation delays you could do much, much worse.

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Books I'm actually going to buy

I'm a heavy library user - both out of cheapness, and out of a strong desire not to have my house collapse under the weight of all the books I would own if I had to buy everything I read. That said, there are two books I've decided to pre-order this summer, because I just can't wait for the library.

Just like every other Muggle around I'll be reading Harry Potter and the Cursed Child this summer. I'm sure there will be spoilers galore, and I want to binge on this one before I read all about it on Twitter.

I LOVED The Fifth Season when I read it last week, and NEED to read the next installment, The Obelisk Gate, when it comes out in August. It comes out two days after my birthday, so this won't be hard to justify!

Do you still read actual books (not in electronic format?) Are there any you're planning on adding to your shelves this summer?

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What Should I Read Next?

Have you ever played with the site What Should I Read Next? I just heard about it today, and spent some time exploring. I added a few books to my TBR - Push Not The River was recommended when I entered The Tea Rose, and Bread and Roses, Too was recommended when I entered A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. I plan on giving these two new to me books a try, and will report back when I do.

I always think it's difficult to recommend books based only on the title - how does a database know if I liked the characters, the story, the setting, or what? Worth a try though. What's a few more books to read over the course of a lifetime?

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How To Escape A Reading Slump

When I go on vacation I usually pack books before clothes. So when I didn't have any ideas of what I should read on my last vacation, and ended up reading The Thorn Birds just because it was part of a reading challenge and long enough to occupy me all week I knew something was off. I was entering a reading slump. I've been back a week, and it's still going on. I haven't had one this bad since I was pregnant, and it took all my brain power just to remember my PIN.

I'm trying not to fret. I'm trying not to push it. But the truth is I can't engage in anything, and I've been abandoning books like no one's business.

This too shall pass. In the mean time, here are a few strategies I use when I'm in a reading slump:

• Read magazines
• Read cookbooks
• Read short stories
• Listen to podcasts
• Reading just my favorite parts of my favorite books

What do you do when you're in a reading slump?

How I manage my reading life

I read like it's my job, so there's a fair bit of paperwork and tracking involved.

Back in the day when I saw a book I wanted to read I would just buy it, and leave it in a pile. Then I had kids, and ran out of space and money. Now I am a heavy library user.

My library has a holds limit 50 holds at a time, and I try my best to make it work for me. About 1/3 of it is taken up with books that have a long wait. My library is usually very well stocked, but if something's popular it's not unusual to wait 2-3 months. The other 2/3 is managed so as to try and read my TBR down.

I track my TBR in librarything. I pay a bit each year to maintain my 500+ book list, but to me it's worth it to have something I can sort and tag the way I want. I used to use Goodreads, but the cleaner look of librarything just suits me better.

When I finish a book I track it in three ways. I mark it read and give it a start rating on librarything. I also mark it read here - this isn't strictly necessary, but I like to be able to scroll through the cover images. Plus if someone is thinking about following me, I like to give them a snapshot of my reading life.  Last, if there's any quotes I like from the book I write them down in my paper reading journal.

My journal isn't anything fancy. I use the free printable from Modern Mrs. Darcy. It's three hole punched, and enclosed in a cheap binder from target. I also use my journal to hold any print outs from reading challenges, and my immediate reading list. I pick about 10 books that I want to prioritize each season. The rest of my reading I pretty much leave up to chance and mood.

How do you track your reading?

I forgive you Stephen King

Warning: This post contains minor spoilers from books that came out about 10 years ago. If you are strictly spoiler free on The Dark Tower and Harry Potter this is not the post for you.

I started reading The Harry Potter series during a trying time in my life. It was 2006, and all of the books had been released but the last one. Harry & co. were pretty constant companions during that time. I was easily able to get used copies of the first five, waited a while but finally got the 6th, and pre-ordered the 7th one to arrive at my house on release day like every other muggle I knew. I sat on a blanket under the holly tree in my back yard and read the whole thing at once. I loved the series, when it came to the ending I was underwhelmed.

Eventually I decided to re-read the Harry Potter series. I re-read them twice actually - once for each time I was pregnant. There's something about Harry Potter that suits the mind numbing exhaustion of pregnancy. Then my kids were born, and I began to rely on audiobooks. That's when I met Jim Dale, and listened to the whole series again. Somewhere along the way I changed my mind. I decided that the ending was amazing. It just took me a few reads to slow down, and realize how it all fit together.

I'm not sure what made me go back and re-read a series when I knew I didn't like the ending. But it's reflection on Harry Potter that made me go back and start re-reading Stephen King's Dark Tower Series.

During my misspent youth I used to steal my Dad's Stephen King books, and hide them under my pillow to read late at night. He must have eventually caught me, but I don't think he was mad. (The Stand isn't really suitable for hiding under a pillow.) He even suggested that if I really wanted to read something amazing by Stephen King I should check out The Dark Tower. There were only four books at the time, but he said they were worth reading even if they were unresolved. Being of an age where I wasn't prone to take my dad's advise I didn't pick them up right away.

A few years later I was lonely while studying abroad, and picked up a copy of The Gunsliger at an Oxfam shop. I read the first four books while in England, and waiter eagerly for King to write and release the last three. I have a vivid memory of getting up early the day after my wedding so I could go outside and read Song of Susannah. Like Harry Potter, I got the last installment of the series on the day it came out and read it all in one huge gulp. When I finally got to the end I threw the book across the room. Then I picked it up to make sure I hadn't missed something. Then I threw it again.

My reaction to the ending was so violent that I'm amazed that I had the emotional energy to start reading the Harry Potter series just a few years later. Who knows, maybe that's why I put off reading Harry Potter when everyone else in the world was. When a book breaks your heart, you don't easily set yourself up to let it get broken again.

Last year I realized that just like with the ending to Harry Potter, my tendency to binge read might have made me miss the true genius of The Dark Tower series. So I started again. I made my way through the first four - the original books my Dad had told me about. Then I took a break before I started the last three. I finished Wolves of the Calla last week.

I forgive you Stephen King. I haven't yet gotten to the end of the series in this re-read, but I forgive you. The way you weave in the early 2000's into this book while remaining true to the original characters amazed me. Your world building and weaving ways astound me. Even knowing what's coming I am impressed. I'll keep reading with an open mind and a glad heart, and I promise not to throw anything when I get to the ending this time.

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Quick Lit March 2016

Love to be reading outside again!

Each month I link with Modern Mrs. Darcy's Quick Lit as a way to talk about the books I liked, but didn't review.

I had a sick day a few weeks ago, and reading A Share in Death by Deborah Crombie in bed was just the right medicine. I read this all in one day, and immediately reserved a few more in the series. I needed a good distraction while I waited for Career of Evil to finally come up on my library holds list.

I picked up Train Like a Mother by Sarah Bowen Shea and Dimity McDowell as inspiration for my summer hiking training. I liked the advice on time management, nutrition, coming back from an injury, and play lists even it was focused on training for a running race. Still useful even though I run a mile at best each week.

If I were to play the game where I had to match Cormoran Strike characters to Harry Potter characters Matthew the fiancé would be Umbridge. I was really hoping he would turn out to be the killer so we could be done with him. (That's not a spoiler: he was never a suspect.) Still a good book though; I can't wait for the next one.

The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton was the first book in recent memory that I could guess the ending to before it happened. That doesn't make it a bad book. I liked the characters, and I'm glad I read it.

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Catching up on podcasts

When I'm not reading actual books, I tend to alternate between audiobook listening and podcast binging. This week I've been catching up on podcasts, and have found some bookish ones I loved. (Some of these are old, but they're new to me!)

Jane Austen Game Theorist from Freakonomics Radio

What to do with ARCs on Dear Book Nerd

Rick Steves talks to David McCullough about the Wright Brothers

The Get Booked ladies answer the burning question "What should I read if love West Wing?"

What's your favorite podcast?

Books that make me want to read other books

Everything I've read about Mary Karr's The Art of Memoir has been positive, but I've put off reading it because someone said it would cause me to add dozens more books to my TBR. Since my list usually hovers around 400 books, I'm a little scared to read a book that will add to it. So, I'm putting that one off until I can get my list down to 375 or so.

It wouldn't be the first time a book forced me to add to my TBR. It was Kelly Corrigan's Glitter and Glue that got me to try My Antonia, and Katherine Reay's books always have me tempted to spend my whole paycheck on Barnes & Noble Classics. So, it's not a bad thing that a book will cause me to read other books. I just need to put it off for a while. For the sake of my family. And my future employment prospects.

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The Book Was Better: A Walk in the Woods

A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson was one of the first books I read about hiking. I loved it right away, and made my husband listen to the audiobook version on a road trip. We both thought it was hilarious, and we still repeat some of the lines today. When I heard it was going to be a movie starring Robert Redford, I was puzzled, but excited. It sounded baby-sitter worthy.

My first clue should have been when we got the baby-sitter, but couldn't find the movie in any theaters around us. I finally ended up streaming it last week, and was really glad I didn't shell out baby-sitter + movie theatre type money for it. Everything that is so wonderful about Bryson's book comes off as stiff and uncomfortable in the movie. Some of my favorite plot points in the book were there, but taken out of context they just don't stand up.

It's a shame. When one of your favorite books is recreated by one of your favorite actors you expect magic. But even Robert Redford couldn't make this movie better than the book.

If you like books about hiking try:

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Turning to books for comfort

“When I’m 80 years old and sitting in my rocking chair, I’ll be reading Harry Potter. And my family will say to me, ‘After all this time?’ And I will say, ‘Always.’”

— Alan Rickman

Last week we had to leave town suddenly for a funeral. It was very sad, and totally unexpected, so of course I knew I would need a stack of books to get me through. I grabbed the next four books on my reading list, and threw them in my bag without thinking. And then at the last minute I took Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows off the shelf. In the car on the way there I flipped through the book, re-reading my favorite parts, and let myself be comforted by the world we all know so well.

Books have given me so many things. If there's one thing I hope to pass on to my kids it's a love of reading, because from there all of the other important things will flow: compassion, empathy, understanding, pride, hope, courage, and comfort.

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