2.5/5 Star Review: The Awakening

It was an OK book that I probably won’t remember by the end of this year. I was looking for something relaxing and available as an audio book from my library. I’ve read a lot of Nora Roberts before but this book felt forced and played on so many stereotypes that it felt awkward. We know the best friend is gay, we know he works at a bar with cross dressers, but it felt like every single time he spoke it was to remind us, the reader, of these facts. It did not feel organic at all. I would have loved to have seen queer representation done better. 15 hours was also one incredibly long time for a book where almost nothing even happens for the majority of it.

2.5/5 stars

2.5/5 Star Review: The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up

I borrowed this book from the library to listen to while I was working on other things like cross stitch. This system has been super popular but honestly I’m not as enthralled with it. I don’t like how little room there is for flexibility, and how relapse is guaranteed if you don’t follow the rules exactly. I did like learning how to fold clothes, but everything else was a lot of hit / miss. Sometimes it’s just not practical, plus what ‘sparks joy’ could change day to day, or year to year. What if Anne Frank threw out her diary one day while cleaning. I think it’s important to look at a bigger picture. So for these reasons it was an ‘OK’ read, but not the greatest.

2.5/5 stars

2/5 Star Review: Master Your Emotions, By Thibaut Meurisse

I listened to this as an audiobook on YouTube, I’m pretty sure it was read by AI, which was pretty horrible, but I was determined to make my way through it. I also picked up a free copy on Amazon during a sale.

The author spends most of his time quoting others, and even says if you want to learn more you should go YouTube it. While I don’t think it was intentional, the tone was almost condescending, and there were plenty of groan-worthy moments. The ideas presented were simplistic in nature, so if you’re looking for a quick read (or listen) with basic ideas that you’ve probably already attempted on some scale, then look no further.

It also felt like there was a lot of repetition and confusion within the book. The author says ‘problems don’t exist’ and then also says ‘everybody has problems’. He talks over and over about how emotions are formed, how to be aware, how to let go, and how to deal with negative emotions – and is a bit all over the place with his ‘how to deal’ with aspects.

That being said, the book does have fairly high ratings over on Goodreads, sitting right now at 4.15 with 14,430 ratings. I’m not personally sure what those people saw in the book, but it really wasn’t for me.

2/5 stars

1/5 Stars: IKIGAI The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life (audiobook)

This book was bad. The Western approach to finding a purpose in life was taken from others (with no credit given), and the author interviewed 100 people and tossed a few quotes around and basically called it in. At least the audiobook was short.

1/5 stars.

Review: The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

I admit, I saw the movie before I ever read the short story and I wish it had of been the other way around. I enjoy books much more than movies, but the fact was that I enjoyed the movie so much I wanted to read the book. I picked up the audiobook narrated by Ben Stiller for free on amazon which happened to come around by coincidence.

As a few others have mentioned, the fact that it is so short, is exactly the point. It highlights “the wispy nature of one man’s substance along Main Street, America, the story is meant to be here one moment, then gone.”

All of us have daydreamed at one point in time or another, and wished we could live through them. We wish we could perform heroic acts, but tend to quietly go back to our mundane existence. This is a reminder of that, and I enjoyed it quite a bit. The book is short enough that there’s really no excuse not to give it a read or a listen and pay tribute to James Thurber.

4 / 5 stars

The Humble Audiobook Bundle

In an effort to listen to more audiobooks this year (even one would be an increase over last year) I picked up the latest humble bundle, which just happens to be eight audiobooks. I have only heard of three of the titles before, but at $4 (which was the average at the time that I purchased the bundle) I figured I couldn’t go wrong. I haven’t listened to any of the books yet because I’ve been slowly working my way through Moby Dick, but I did transfer them to my ipod with relative ease.

Some people don’t think audiobooks “count” when it comes to enjoying a book – but I think that they can provide the same relaxation and enjoyment. There are times when it’s just not possible for us to read, we’re often involved in other tasks but we do have the ability to listen. Why not fill these moments with some of our favorite things – books. No matter what their form.

Audiobooks?

I have to admit, I’ve never really been a fan of audiobooks before. I found them difficult to listen to and they put me to sleep more often than not, no matter what the book was or who the reader. This year I’ve vowed to give them a second chance, and try to get into the audiobook culture a bit more. There’s a few reasons I want to do this but the biggest reason is pretty basic, I can’t always dedicate as much time to reading as I would like. Lets face it, we’ve all got busy lives and while we may be able to fit in some time here and there on a daily basis, is it really enough? Of course not! Instead of listening to the radio all day long while I work at my standing desk, I want to try audiobooks. Will I stick with it? Who knows, but I want to give it a proper effort.

There are lots of places you can get audiobooks these days. Two very popular options I was given are Audible (now owned by amazon) and LibriVox. Of course the hardest part of listening to an audiobook is not finding a book that you want to listen to – but finding a voice who can read the book you want to listen to – well. You want someone who can pronounce names and places, who doesn’t read in a strict monotone, and who you can actually understand. Thankfully Audible lets listeners vote and comment, so you won’t be thrust into a horrible situation unaware. LibriVox is a bit touch and go, especially as all readers are volunteers but there are a lot of gems.

Right now I’ve picked up Moby Dick from LibriVox, since I’ve never read it before. The reader is fantastic, and I’m on chapter 7 so far and haven’t fallen asleep. That’s a good sign for me. I’ve never been much of a podcast listener for the exact same reason.

Have other audiobook suggestions? Any sites or books that you just absolutely fell in love with? Let me know in comments!