Part 20b ~ What Are You Listening to Now?

2020 ~ second six-month thread

Collecting more inviting book posts!

I'm listening to How the South Won the Civil War. I became familiar with Boston College Professor of American History, Heather Cox Richardson from her blog, as well as her popular Facebook Live videos (which you can now find on Youtube as well.) This is not the history that I learned in high school, or in college, for that matter. Professor Richardson's primary thesis is that the symbolism and narrative of what it means to be an American is intertwined with what she calls the "American Paradox" that equality in the USA depends on the inequality of certain other people. Fascinating.

Enjoying this OverDrive Kindle eBook Alexa reads to me ~

Sunrise Canyon (Americana) by Janet Dailey

(book 1/Arizona/a former dude ranch is now the site of a horse therapy program for troubled
teens/military vet with PTSD issues/romance)

Enjoying this OverDrive audiobook selection ~

Texas Outlaw (A Texas Ranger Thriller, book 2) by James Patterson

(continues the tale of Texas Ranger Rory Yates/nice change of pace)

Enjoying this OverDrive Kindle eBook Alexa is narrating for me ~

Agony of the Leaves (A Tea Shop Mystery) by Laura Childs

(book 13/cozy mystery/Charleston/drowning murder)

Just finished The Far Empty and started the sequel High White Sun. Excellent narrator.

Enjoying this OverDrive Kindle eBook Alexa reads to me ~

Third to Die by Allison Brennan

(book 1/tale centers around a newly forming Mobile Response Team/police detective/FBI agent/serial killer)

I'm still listening to Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison which is read by the author. I am enjoying it but I'm not getting a lot of listening time because I'd rather be doing things like going for bike rides or walking in the park and I don't like trying to listen to an audiobook when I am outside.

Posting and shelving books at this site is hardly worth the bother. It appears that LT is going the way of Shelfari.

Breezed through Memory Man by David Baldacci. Meh. Now into an old series starter, Clan of the Cave Bear.

Finished Clan of the Cave Bear then went through Broken English by P.L. Gaus. Now into a very well done book, Akin by Emma Donoghue.

Finished Pereira Maintains by Antonio Tabucchi read by Derek Jacobi. A beautiful novel about art and politics in Portugal, in the period just before WWII. Wonderful narration by Jacobi. Highly recommended.

Finished The Wife and the Widow by Christian White. It has the amazing twist in it. I thought I'd inserted the wrong disc into the car player because I just had no idea what was going on. I love it when a book surprises me, especially a murder/mystery novel.
I'm now listening to The Here and Now by Ann Brashares. This is a Young Adult talking book and a timely read. Survivors of a plague in the future that killed millions travel back to 2005 so they can live in the hope of preventing the disastrous plague from happening. Unfortunately, the characters are poorly drawn.

I finished Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison quite a while ago. I loved the writing and Morrison's narration but I found the story didn't really grab me until the last third of the book. Still it is a worth while listen.

Then I listened to Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks which was also read by the author. I didn't think she was the best narrator for the book but I did find the story, which is about a village in England that has the Bubonic plague imported with a shipment of fabric and has to lockdown for a year, quite fascinating.

Now I am listening to Rick Mercer's Final Report, also narrated by the author Rick Mercer who had a long running show on CBC TV featuring Rick doing interviews and jobs all across Canada. Every segment featured Rick's Rant in which he did a short monologue about a subject that had piqued him during the week. At the beginning of the book he says that when he started the show he worried about whether he would run out of material for his rants but never once, in 15 years, was he short of a subject. The show is no longer broadcast although there are quite a few of Rick's Rants and some other segments on YouTube. As a fan of Mercer's I am loving listening to this book which features a number of his rants plus stories about how the show was produced, shot and developed.

I just finished reading The Ragged Edge of Night narrated by the author, Olivia Hawker. I'm not usually a fan of the author narrating, but this was one spot on. Currently reading a cozy mystery, A Quiet Life in the Country, also narrated by the author and it's just so-so. TE Kinsey doesn't seem to have a wide enough range to pull it off.

Currently about to finish Dirt Music by Tim Winton.

I just finished listening to The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet which I liked very much. It has two timelines: Seattle (and a few other locales) in 1942 when the Japanese of the West Coast were interned and Seattle in 1986. Henry is the main character in both timelines. In 1942 he is 12 and 13 years old so in 1986 he would be 56 or 57. He is a Chinese-American whose parents are very traditional and his father, especially, hates the Japanese because they invaded China. So when Henry becomes friends with Keiko, a Japanese-American girl who goes to the same school as Henry, his father is angry. But Henry follows his own emotions and he is devastated when Keiko and her family are removed from Seattle and interned. In 1986 Henry is a widower and he is galvanized by the news that the Panama Hotel is being reopened and the new owner has discovered the basement contains the belongings of Japanese families that were left there when the internment started. This starts Henry on a quest for a particular record, a recording of a jazz tune that was special to him and Keiko, and inevitably brings back memories of Keiko. Quite a lovely story. I believe someone here recommended it after I posted about listening to The Stationery Shop which has a similar story of friends/lovers parted by circumstances beyond their control. Thanks to whoever it was (must be on the first thread). ETA that it was Molly3028 who recommended it.

Finished Dirt Music and am now more than halfway through The Bartender's Tale.

>17 gypsysmom:

I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed two of my favorite novels!

The Romanov Empress: A Novel of Tsarina Maria Feodorovna
by C. W. Gortner
(OverDrive audio/almost 18 hours long)

4+ stars

The Valley of Horses by Jean M. Auel. This will be my 3rd time listening to the whole Earth's Children Series once I finish this time. Before I started this reread I was re listening to The Wheel of Time series by Jordan/Sanderson. (2nd time through that one) I've managed to collect most of both series in hardback though I'm still looking for a couple.

I've listened to two audiobooks since my last post. On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong is about a young Vietnamese American boy growing up and his adaptation to his new country, to having a homosexual relationship and to dealing with his mother and grandmother who both have mental health problems no doubt caused by living through the Vietnam War. A tough listen but worth it.

The Mistress of the Ritz by Melanie Benjamin is quite different than that one although it is also about someone adapting to a country that they weren't born in. Blanche Auzelio is married to Claude who is the manager of the Ritz. Blanche was born in the USA but aspired to work in the movie industry so she accompanied an actress to Paris where she meet Claude. Their marriage isn't perfect but it becomes even more fraught when the Nazis invade Paris and make the Ritz one of their headquarters. Blanche and Claude were real people which makes the story quite interesting.

Took a little break to read a couple of hard copy books. Now am back in my ears with Life after Life by Kate Atkinson.

Enjoying Bryn Turnbull's novel ~

The Woman Before Wallis: A Novel of Windsors, Vanderbilts, and Royal Scandal
(OverDrive audio)

Sorry to say I gave up on Life After Life. Could not get into it.

Just finished listening to Hamnet (which in Canada is for some reason called Hamnet and Judith) by Maggie O'Farrell. It was recently awarded the Bailey Prize for Women's Literature. It's a very interesting story about Shakespeare's son dying of Bubonic Plague which is the motivation for Shakespeare to write Hamlet. However, the book mostly centres on Anne Hathaway who is called Agnes here. She is portrayed as a healer, herbalist, and an independent woman. Quite fascinating.

>25 jldarden: I have to wonder if an audiobook is the best way to go with this book. I read it and frequently had to refer back to previous chapters but that wasn't a flaw as far as I saw. It would be far more difficult to do with an audiobook though.

Finished All the Light We Cannot See. Well read but not my cup of tea.

Also finished Nocturno de Chile. I loved the book but I wasn't convinced by the reader. He should have been more intense in some sections, I think.

Started The Door by Magda Szabo. Very good reader. So far, I'm very intrigued by the story. What a weird character.

https://www.librarything.com/work/16563180/book/191388057
The Vatican Princess: A Novel of Lucrezia Borgia
by C. W. Gortner
(OverDrive audio)

I am almost done The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel. It is certainly different from Station Eleven but, since it deals with Ponzi schemes and the 2008 economic crisis, it is very interesting.

Just finished up Tim Curry's fabulous read of A Christmas Carol. 3rd year running. Highly Recommended.

Finished The Glass Hotel and by the end I think I liked it just as much as Station Eleven. Then I snuck in a novelette by Diana Gabaldon A Leaf on the Wind of All Hallows which is about what happened to Roger Mackenzie's father whose plane went missing during WWII. Nice little sortie into the Outlander world. Since the last "big book" came out in 2014 I've been missing the Outlander world.

I am now listening to We Have Always Been Here by Samra Habib which was chosen the winner of this year's Canada Reads competition. It is very interesting.

I listened to Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid. This is the story of a fictional rock band in the 1970s with all of the concomitant sex, drugs and booze but also a poignant love story.

>33 gypsysmom: Daisy Jones and the Six was one of my favorite audiobooks in recent years. The full cast made it feel like I was listening to interviews with all the characters. It was a great production.

>34 megbmore: I agree that it was a great production. It's nice when a publishing company pulls out all the stops for an audiobook. Sometimes I feel like the audiobook is an afterthought.

Currently into The Natural by Bernard Malamud.