Great Listens by Mary Kubica

I have recently developed a new addiction. It is an addiction my son has had for years...listening to audiobooks. Don't get me wrong, I have listened to audiobooks in the past, just not to this extent.

I remember when the Harry Potter books were released in audiobook format our family purchased them as quickly as possible. It was back in the day when we took at least one family road trip a year. These trips included my husband, my son, and my parents. All being voracious readers, listening to books as we traveled seemed like a great idea. I never got a great deal out of these listening sessions. As a back seat rider the soothing ride quickly put me to sleep.

I find it so funny to think back on those days driving across the country listening to Jim Dale with his amazing collection of voices spin the tale of Harry and his friends, because my son, Timothy (four at the time) would make comments like, "Always Harry Potter" and "I hate Harry Potter". He wanted to watch his train videos, which he would do because we had a conversion van at the time. Now, at age twenty, he is beyond excited for our upcoming trip to Florida when we will be visiting Universal Studios and the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. His feelings and opinions of Harry Potter have greatly changed, just as mine have of audiobooks.

I have discovered I can listen to a book while doing other activities and thoroughly enjoy the story. The best part is being able to increase the amount of literature I cover! I can read one book and listen to another without any problem, just not at the exact same. [Wouldn't that be awesome if you could listen to one book while reading another?!?]

So, to get to the point of this entry...Mary Kubica's The Good Girl and Pretty Baby. I recently discovered Hoopla, an amazing digital service provided by my local library. The service provides library users with 24/7 access to eBooks, movies, television shows, music, and audiobooks. While searching through the audiobooks, I discovered The Good Girl. It sounded like it would be an interesting book, so I checked it out.

The Good Girl
by Mary Kubica

The Good Girl (2014) is the debut novel of Mary Kubica, and what a way to start! The story centers around the abduction of Mia Dennett. Since I listened to this book, I am assuming each chapter was titled Before or After (preceeded by the name of the character from whose viewpoint the chapter was being told), at least this is how the narrator began. Eve, Mia's mother, Collin, Mia's abductor, and Gabe, the detective investigating Mia's abduction tell the main portion of the story. I loved the character development and really cared about each of the people telling their story. It really was a wonderful book to listen to, especially with the various readers performing the narration as the characters. It was a much more realistic, almost as if you were physically there participating in the action.

The book has been compared to Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. I can see where some would make the connection because of the narrative and the twists in the storyline.

Pretty Baby
by Mary Kubica

As soon as I finished listening to The Good Girl, I went back to Hoopla to see if Kubica had written anything since this debut. I was thrilled to find Pretty Baby (2015). I immediatly checked it out and downloaded the book. I listened to book as much as I could between work and sleep. The narration for this book was performed by a woman (Cassandra Campbell) and a man (Tom Taylorson) which again provided the sense that you were in the presence of the characters as they told their story. I wanted to know about the characters telling this story, Heidi, Willow, and Chris, and it was much more believeable because of the different narrators. Like her debut, this book provided a wonderful twist and lived up to the hashtag #PsychologicalThriller. 

I'm very excited to say I have recieved an ARC of Ms. Kubica's newest book, Don't You Cry, which will be released in June 2016. I have not had a chance to read it yet, but I will be posting my comments about the book as soon as I have finished it.

Audiobooks, my new addiction

I remember when I was a child, my mother reading to . One of my most vivid memories is of lying in her bed listening as she read from one of the many books we always had in a pile next to the bed. I don't remember the title of the book. All I remember was suddenly awakening and being very frightened. I guess I had fallen asleep as she read, her voice calm and soothing. The abrupt waking scared me so badly I remember it some 35 years later.

Why do I mention this memory today? It all has to do with listening to books and stories. The only negative memory I have of listening to books is the one above, which is not so much negative as powerful. I have always loved listening to stories, especially by wonderful storytellers like Donald Davis and Barbara McBride-Smith, both of whom I have had the pleasure to hear in person.

The Belgariad
by David Eddings

When I was pregnant with my son, my husband and I decided we would read our favorite books to each other. We knew it was important to read to our baby and what better way to begin bonding than by sharing our favorite books with each other aloud. Well, Walter started. He was going to read The Belgariad by David Eddings. I honest tried listening to him read this, one of his favorite books. However I would immediately fall asleep. In my defense, Walter has an extremely tranquilizing voice. He could have been a hypnotist attempting to pacify me into a deep sleep. It worked every single time he picked up the book. Needless to say, this we never finished the book. (Years later Walter did share this book aloud with Timothy - our son - who thoroughly enjoyed it as much as his father.)

If you have read my previous post, you will remember I recently began using Overdrive, an amazing service provided by our local library. It not only has Audiobooks, but also eBooks, which can be checked out. Walter had been listening to books he checked out from our library on his daily hour and a half roundtrip commute. I don't have to drive far at all to get to work, but I decided a ten minutes of listening to a book is better than losing that ten minutes to not reading, so that is when I checked out Billy Crystal's book Still Foolin' Em. As soon as I finished listening to it I checked out another autobiography. I went from one Saturday Night Live personality to another, Tina Fey. Her Bossypants was a great book, again because the author's narration brought so much to the presentation.

I have always enjoyed Tina Fey. I loved her on Weekend Update and was completely blown away by her portrayal of Sarah Palin. I hate to admit I never watched 30 Rock. After listening to her book, I think I need to go back and watch the series.

Again, as soon as I finished listening to Fey's autobiography I was back on to the Overdrive app to find another book.

Ali in Wonderland and Other Tall Tales
by Ali Wentworth

This time it was Ali Wentworth's  Ali in Wonderland and Other Tall Tales.

I'm not sure what initially drew me to Ali Wentworth. I do, however remember how shocked I was to learn that she was married to the political correspondent we watch on the ABC Evening News. They just did not seem to go together like peanut butter and jelly or chips and salsa. He has always seemed so stuffy and political where she seemed over the top and hysterical. Well, I guess opposites truly do attract.

On the Day I Died: Stories from the Grave
by Candace Fleming

Listening to Ali tell her stories was fabulous. It was almost like sitting down with her for a personal conversation. She has no inhibitions. She tells everything like it is in her life. I'm fairly certain I would not have enjoyed this book as much had I simply read it from cover to cover. Hearing her read the words provided for a much more pleasurable experience. Her tales were interesting, informative, and most of all funny. When it ended, I wanted more.

I attempted to find more, but was not successful. So, if I couldn't have funny, I might as well, since it it October, go for something scary. I found Candace Flemings's On the Day I Died: Stories from the Grave. Written for young adults, but please don't get caught up in the genre, no matter what your age, this is a phenomenal book. The book revolves around a cemetery for the young, who have been buried here from 1800 to present time.

A young man, Mike, is directed to a forgotten cemetery for teens who have died. Each story is told in a different voice providing the listener a better connection to the ghost. At the end of the book, the author provides a little background information concerning the setting and plotbase for each story. Some of the stories are based on historical information collected from the author, others are simply fantastical tales woven in the authors imagination. Personally, I would have preferred more of the historically acurate tales. I was a bit preplexed when listening to the more sci-fi stories, as I was expecting the author to follow the authentic ghost tale format. The classical stories fit better into the setting of the graveyard for teenagers. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this audiobook and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys ghost stories.