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.

Reaching for the American Dream

In 1901, my maternal great-grandmother, Beda, arrived in the United States aboard the S.S. St. Paul. She landed in New York City the day President William McKinley died, September 14th. She married my great-grandfather, Claus, during the winter of 1908. She worked as a seamstress and he as a farmer in Marshall County, Kansas. My great-uncle, Everett was born in the fall of 1909 followed by my grandmother, Inez, in the winter of 1913. The family learned English by reading the Sears and Roebuck's catalog.

My husband's parents married in the fall of 1946 in Clifton, Arizona. My in-laws worked for the Phelps Dodge Corporation in the copper mine.  They raised a family in the town of Morenci, owned and operated by Phelps Dodge. The entire city (school, hospital, mercantile, everything) was owned by the mining company. They rented a three bedroom, from the corporation for $24-$25 per month. Along with each paycheck a book of coupons, in $20 increments, was issued. This money was deducted from the paycheck, but could be used to make purchases in the mercantile.

Although the time period and the locations are not the same, they are similar enough to the new book I am reviewing that I had to mention some of the comparisons.

Katerina's Wish
by Jeannie Mobley

Katerina's Wish is a wonderful coming of age book about a young Bohemian girl and her family who have come to the United States in the early 1900s. They make their way to a southern Colorado coal mining town and live in a home owned by the mining company. The family is part of a community of other immigrants, also working for the mining company. The three sisters, Trina, Aneshka and Holena, attended school during the fall helping them to learn English. Their mother relied on her daughters to assist her, but learned about America by looking at the pictures and ads in the newspaper.

This thirteen-year-old overcomes a number of obstacles in order to help her family achieve the American dream. She shows the most growth through listening to fairy tales told by family and friends. The sisters learn about perseverance, creative thinking, and reaching for your dreams. I love the manner in which Ms. Mobley wove the traditional Eastern European fairy tales into the book. It made me want to go and find these stories so I could read more.

I highly recommend this wonderful historical fiction title for all libraries providing services to children in upper elementary through middles school (Grade 4 - 8). Not only is it a wonderful story, I actually did not want it to end and hope a sequel is in the making, it is also an excellent example of a mining community.

Storytelling and The Storyteller

When my husband and I went back to school to work on our Master's degrees we were fortunate enough to be able to take a few classes together. One of my favorite was a storytelling class. I had been a teacher for about two years and loved reading to my students, but I don't think I ever told them a story until I had this class.

Not only we were responsible for reading a lot of folk and fairy tales, but we were also tasked with telling stories to our fellow classmates. This was the scariest part for me. Growing up I loved to sing. I sang for a number of recitals, solos, competitions and performed at some events for different organizations. However, getting up in front of my peers to tell a story really terrified me. So, I did found stories I could sing. It was the easiest way for me to tell my stories in a manner that not only suited my personality, but also my cultural heritage.

My favorite story that I told (sang) was The Massacre of Glencoe. During the early morning hours of February 13, 1692, in the Highlands of Scotland, specifically Achnacon, Invercoe, and Inverrigan, thirty-eight MacDonalds from the Glencoe Clan of MacDonald were killed in their homes by their own house guests. The reason for the massacre, they had not been prompt in pledging their allegiance to William and Mary. In addition to the thirty-eight slaughtered in their homes, forty women and children died from exposure to the freezing temperatures after their homes were destroyed by fire.

The Old Banjo
by Dennis Haseley

My husband, a very talented musician, chose to tell the story The Old Banjo by Dennis Haseley. It is a wonderful story where a banjo in an old farm house attic reminisces about all of the instruments  and the beautiful music they made together. It is a very moving story that reminds me of the poem by Myra Brooks Welch, "The Touch of the Masters Hand". He masterfully paired the story with beautiful banjo music to enhance the telling of the story and I am mesmerized to this day by his re-telling of this amazing story.

Another assignment given to us during this spring semester class was to attend the Tejas Storytelling Festival in Denton. I don't think we had ever heard of the festival, let alone attended. If I'm not mistaken the festival had only been going on for eight years. We had a wonderful time! I think we would both agree, our favorite storytellers at the event were Donald Davis and Barbara McBride-Smith. They were phenomenal! Every time I see a CD of their storytelling I have to get it. I just love their accents and their way of telling.

Jim Henson's The Storyteller
by 

Well, this all started when I received an eBook edition of Jim Henson's The Storyteller, a graphic novel which was originally released in December of 2011. For those who loved the television series back in the late 1980s you will love the the interaction between the Storyteller and his faithful companion, Dog, at the start of each of the stories. In this beautifully illustrated graphic novel, there are nine stories. They include the following:

• "Old Nick and the Peddler", a Scandinavian folk tale, adapted and illustrated by Roger Langridge
• "The Milkmaid and her Pail", an Aesop's Fable, adapted and illustrated by Colleen Coover
• "An Agreement Between Friends" a Romanian folk tale, adapted and illustrated by Chris Eliopoulos
• "Old Fire Dragaman" an Appalachian Jack Tale, adapted by Jeff Parker, and illustrated by Tom Fowler
• "Puss in Boots" a French fairy tale, adapted by Marjorie Liu and illustrated by Jennifer L. Meyer
• "The Frog Who Became an Emperor" a Chinese folk tale, adapted by Paul Tobin and illustrated by Evan Shaner
• "Crane Wife" a Japanese folk tale, adapted and illustrated by Katie Cook
• "Momotaro the Peach Boy" a Japanese fairy tale, adapted by Ron Marz and illustrated by Craig Rousseau
• "The Witch Baby" a Russian folk tale, adapted from a screenplay by Anthony Minghella, script by Nate Cosboy, and illustrated by Ronan Cliquet

This graphic novel eBook would make an excellent addition to any library's digital collection, especially because of the variety of tales provided within. I was only familiar with two of the tales ("The Milkmaid and Her Pail" and "Puss in Boots") but I enjoyed reading all of the stories. I believe readers of all ages will not only find the stories entertaining and engaging, but the illustrations by the different artists diverse and intriguing.

*To comply with new guidelines introduced by the Federal Trade Commission, Archaia Entertainment, LLC has provided a complimentary electronic copy of this book through NetGalley.com.