Audiobook

“Witchcraft isn’t one thing but many things, all the ways and words women have found to wreak their wills on the world.”

“A witch is just a woman who wants too much”.

The Once and Future Witches is a deftly told historical feminist fantasy novel about three sister witches who help bring witching back into the world. The story unfolds alongside the late 1800s suffragette movement, and the women's movement soon turns into the witch's movement as the ways of witching slowly spread through town, and women reclaim the power they lost to time.

The novel is rich with historical details but also

Baked beans, bog mutants and interdimensional travel are the ingredients in this hilarious middle grade debut novel by John Cusik. 

I listened to the audio version of the book, which I highly recommend.  The narrator, Gary Furlong, does a remarkable job of giving life to the full cast of strange and quirky characters with the added bonus of doing so with a British RP accent. 

The story begins in the 21st century.  Lola Ray, a typical, responsible older sister, is looking forward to a vacation away from the annoyances and hassles of her everyday life.  However, at the airport something

“There was no honor among thieves. Boys in the game only respected you in direct proportion to how much they needed you divided by how much they feared you.”

Blacktop Wasteland is full of action and suspense.  Just when you think it may let up, S.A. Cosby shifts the action into another gear.  It is a nonstop adrenaline rush (You know it’s going to be good when the book starts out with a drag race). 

We ride along with Beauregard “Bug” Montage, who is a complex character with many titles: father, husband, son, car mechanic, and getaway driver. He struggles providing an honest living for his

Friends, I’m so excited! Michelle Obama’s documentary, based on the memoir Becoming, is coming soon to Netflix. Read more:

Netflix & Higher Ground Productions Announce Original Documentary "Becoming"

From the post, my emphasis in bold:

A NOTE FROM MICHELLE OBAMA:

I’m excited to let you know that on May 6, Netflix will release BECOMING, a documentary film directed by Nadia Hallgren that looks at my life and the experiences I had while touring following the release of my memoir…

…Even as we can no longer safely gather or feed off the energy of groups, even as many of us are living with

It wasn't until about five years ago that I became a fan of audiobooks. The tedious commute to my temp job required more than just a string of good songs, I wanted a story to elevate my journey there and back. I can't recall the first audiobook I chose, but I quickly became hooked. And then I discovered the glory of downloadable audiobooks, which enabled me to bring stories into more than just the driving parts of my life--suddenly, things like gardening or cleaning or cooking could also be times for story.

Here are other reasons to love audiobooks:

·         If, like me, you love books set

Ah, the one and only Brandon Sanderson. If you are a fan of high fantasy you are probably familiar with his works and can reminisce on the first Sanderson book you experienced. I say experienced- not read- because working the way through a Sanderson novel alongside his characters is an adventure. I started digging into Sanderson’s works with the Mistborn trilogy, which I highly recommend. The trilogy is a great introduction to Brandon Sanderson’s works as it is shorter, but still provides that intricate worldbuilding and thought provoking storytelling for which he is so well known. Since I

Many of you may be familiar with Piper Kerman’s story but I’ll give you a quick summary: in 1993, 24 year old Piper smuggled money for her then-girlfriend who was involved in an international drug ring. Following the money smuggling incident, she cut off all ties to the people involved and got started on a new life. However, her past caught up to her and Piper was indicted for her involvement in 1998. Six years later, in 2004, she was sent to Danbury, a minimum-security facility to serve 15 months. Piper ended up serving 13 months, and detailed her experience in this book.

It is important to

The second book in the Lunar Chronicles, Scarlet, is a take on the well known tale of Little Red Riding Hood. The main character and namesake of this second installment of The Lunar Chronicles is Scarlet, a farm girl on the outskirts of a small French town. Caution: some unintentional spoilers may be in the full review.

Fannie Flagg's The All-Girl Filling Station's Last Reunion CD-Audio read by the author

I really enjoyed listening to Fannie Flagg read. She had the perfect accent to tell this story about the history of some women working during WWII as pilots. I was not aware they even existed. I had never heard about them in any history class that I took.

The book begins with an older southern woman, living in Point Clear, Alabama, named Sookie Poole that finds out by accident that she is adopted. Sookies’ children are grown and married so she has the time to search for her background. As Sookie looks for

For many readers, Joanne Harris will forever be known as the author who brought them the delectable Chocolat. They'd likely be as shocked as I was to discover this gem from Harris, a collection of Norse myths all written from the perspective of the diabolical Loki!

(Sorry, Loki . . . I just couldn't resist!)

Anyway, The Gospel of Loki offers a chronological look at Loki's existence following his initial meeting with the Aesir, the Norse gods of Asgard. Obviously, as far as narrators go, Loki is about as unreliable as one gets. However, the strength of this book--aside from the stories

We've all heard the phrase, "I'll sleep when I'm dead," but Why We Sleep shines much-needed light on not only the benefits of slumber, but also the dire--and sometimes fatal--consequences of avoiding it.

As with many who have read this book, I first heard Dr. Walker on the wonderful, multi-faceted, Joe Rogan Experience podcast. If Walker's revelatory words in that interview were such to pique my curiosity, his book was enough to make me a determined, devoted acolyte. Why We Sleep contains information on scientific studies, personal experiences, and keen observation on our current society's

Picking up right where Star Wars, the Force Awakens' story left off, The Last Jedi continues the adventures of Rey, Finn, and Poe following their triumph over the First Order forces on Starkiller Base. Though the Resistance scored a huge victory, we are still faced with many questions: How can the Resistance possibly hope to stand against such an obviously superior foe? Will the now-located Luke Skywalker come out of hiding to save the galaxy?

Oh, and just who is this last Jedi, anyway?

Spoilers ahead!

Although audiences are understandably split in their reaction to The Last Jedi as a film

Hillbilly Elegy is unlike anything I've ever listened to. J.D. Vance grew up in the rust belt of America and was the first from his nuclear family to graduate from college. He speaks about growing up there and tells you extensively about the journey his family (grandparents and mother) made before today. 

He details some gritty stuff like an alcoholic grandfather and an abusive mom. I congratulate Vance for working so hard to create something for himself despite coming from a family that was torn apart by some challenging circumstances and, at the same time, held together by a grandparents'

Functioning as both a seminal look into pop culture's past as well as a fun, technological romp, Ready Player One is a fantastic tale centered around Wade Watts, a teenager and dedicated gamer in the year 2044. Having almost no family, few friends, and seemingly even fewer avenues open to him to escape his downtrodden existence, Wade has had a difficult life, to say the least. However, what Wade does have is access to the OASIS; a cyber-reality which will change his life forever.

An astonishing facet of Ready Player One is its prescience: Cline's great, sprawling work was published in 2011

In a word -- Wow! Clytemnestra opens the downloadable audiobook House of Names with: "I have been acquainted with the smell of death. The sickly, sugary smell that wafted in the wind towards the rooms in this palace." I was immediately drawn into Clytemnestra's narrative. Based on the ancient Greek tale of the House of Atreus as outlined by the tragedians Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, Colm Toibin's re-imagining does not disappoint. The tension is held throughout the entire story by the three narrators: Juliet Stevenson as Clytemnestra; Charlie Anson, as her son Orestes; and Pippa Nixon

After writing about the struggles of Gen X and Millennials in 2006's Generation Me, and the rise of society-wide obsession with self in 2009's Narcissism Epidemic, Dr. Twenge then set her sights on a new, decidedly different, group of young people.

A fitting moniker for those born from the mid-1990s to 2000s, "iGen"-- a term coined by the author, herself -- refers to a generation which has never known a world without the personal technology that has rapidly become a large part of our lives. A researcher with over two decades of experience, Twenge's work in iGen seeks to not only examine and

Will knows one way to grieve, dictated by the rules passed down for generations: no crying; no snitching; always get revenge. His uncle and father have already been victim to the cyclic system created by these rules, and last night his brother joined them. Will is desperately heartbroken, so he follows the one path given him by the rules: he grabs his brother's gun and heads for the elevator.

And that's where his story takes an unexpected turn. He has to go down seven floors, and the elevator stops at each of them to let on another passenger. Each passenger is someone dead from Will's life

Echo follows the stories of Otto, Friedrich, Mike, Ivy, and the mysterious harmonica that ties them together! The magical thread of music carries you through this wonderful tale. Friedrich in Germany, Mike in Pennsylvania, and Ivy in California are all dealing with the wrath of a war that tore countries and families apart. Friedrich is living with a birthmark that Hitler deems unsuitable, Mike will do anything to keep him and his brother together, and Ivy is learning that prejudice in America affects even the innocent. But they all find solace in music. With the help of the harmonica, someone

An eternal entity that goes into a sort of hibernation comes back every 27 years, feeding on the fears of children and creating all sorts of chaos in the town of Derry, Maine. The book IT is divided into five parts, moving from the summer of 1958 to 1985.

In the summer of 1958 Georgie, Bill's little brother, goes out to sail a paper boat and is the first to meet the entity during this visit. It does not end well for Georgie.  Bill and a group of other eleven-year-olds then get tangled up in the horror in Derry. They give the entity the name IT and themselves the name The Losers Club. After

On Turpentine Lane is purely entertainment. I was hooked from the beginning when Faith decides to buy a cute little house with 1950's decor . . . sans her fiancé or any idea of who had lived there previously. Both are signs that something isn't right. We soon learn about Faith's fiancé, Stuart, and his decision to walk across the country to find himself. One of my favorite parts is Faith reminiscing about her engagement to Stuart and the red string she wears as a ring. I found the characters to be interesting, sometimes bordering on extremely quirky, but fairly humorous. The story offers

I put off reading Heroes Are My Weakness for a long time. Susan Elizabeth Phillips is one of my favorite authors, and for years her contemporaries were the only time I ventured outside of historical romances, but this gothic-inspired standalone got lackluster reviews when it first came out and many fans lamented its darker tone compared to her usual zany, fun style. Once I started it in preparation for listening to her next book, though, I found the same spirit of ridonkulous humor, addictive storytelling, and endearing characters that I love about all her books.

Annie Hewitt is a down-on-her

Patton Oswalt sometimes serves as my spirit guide. That might be a function of my desire to put all of my useless pop culture knowledge to good use and get paid for it. Which is not to say that I think Patton's job is simply goofing on George Lucas or drawing parallels between his chronic depression and the Mad Max film series. Like all effective comedians, he presents his often insightful and unique views on the world with remarkable timing and a memorable delivery. To that end, I sometimes forget that those jokes must be written and not simply spat at the audience in an impromptu diatribe.

As Animal, Vegetable, Miracle celebrates its 10th year of being published, I decided to finally give it a try.

Much of what the Kingsolvers put forth about the food industry still rings true. 

It was fascinating to hear about the decisions for choosing to only consume food that they are in direct contact with, whether growing it themselves or knowing its origins. This leads to some interesting situations: what do you do when you invite 150 friends and family to your house to celebrate a birthday? How do you make food that you have in abundance during the summer last the whole year? 

The

Ah, a story featuring the scary-looking, staff-sabered Sith apprentice, Darth Maul! If you are reading this review, you've most likely seen Star Wars Episode One: The Phantom Menace, so you'll no doubt recall Maul as the strong, silent type. Admittedly, I was more than a tad hesitant upon embarking on this book's voyage. Does Maul speak at all? What if entire conversations held with Maul only involve him snarling at people before attacking them with that crazy-cool light saber? My goodness, why am I actually reading this via audio book, of all things?

Well, let me tell you, I was more than

Britt-Marie is reasonable, punctual, and practical, thank you very much. The best life lived is one of order, no shenanigans necessary. But recently sixty-three year old Britt-Marie has had to make some changes in her life. She's walked out of her loveless marriage and found herself a temp job in Borg, a decrepit town ruined by the financial crisis.

Britt-Marie becomes the coach of the local kids soccer team, quite by accident. She doesn't really know how to coach, but at least they will have clean uniforms. Since her arrival, the rec center has never been cleaner; and the resident rat makes

I am a re-reader. Whether I’m in a reading funk, or waiting for an author’s new release, I would rather pick up a book I’ve read before than take a chance on something new. I don’t know if it’s the comfort of knowing what’s going to happen or the chance to revisit favorite characters that appeals to me, but this habit tends to get me in trouble when I’m trying to weed my book collection.

I recently read an article on re-reading that suggested listening to the audio version of a book you previously read. I’ve never been a big audio listener, especially in fiction, so I decided to give it a try

Mikael Blomkvist is an investigative reporter and co-owner of a magazine, Millennium, in Stockholm, Sweden. A bygone behemoth of Swedish industry hires him to solve the 36-year-old mysterious disappearance of Harriet Vanger. Lisbeth Salander is the 24-year-old genius computer hacker (complete with tattoos, piercings, and black lipstick) who aids Mikael in his search for the answers. In uncovering what happened to Harriet, they discover a much bigger secret in Sweden.

This story is well-written and creative. Stieg Larsson creates a world where everything is possible and nothing is coincidence

At first glance, Anne and Marco Conti live a charmed life. They have an adored baby girl, a comfortable home, friends next door, and the support of Anne’s wealthy parents. This illusion is peeled away piece by piece as the story unfolds. While Anne and Marco are at their neighbor’s dinner party, their daughter disappears from her crib. Who is responsible for the kidnapping? Why did they leave their baby alone? Is the couple next door involved?

Anne and Marco seem devastated and guilt-ridden. The detective in charge is determined to find out what happened, and it is evident that Anne and Marco

Deep in debt and seeking a major change in her life, author Elizabeth Greenwood becomes infatuated with the idea of faking her own death. Couldn't she just "die," and walk away from her student loans, her life, and her problems? Instead of actually committing pseudocide, as it's known, she delves into researching the idea instead, and the result is Playing Dead: A Journey through the World of Death Fraud.

First Greenwood interviews several private investigators and privacy experts about whether it's even possible to disappear completely in the information age, when so much about our lives is

I'm a regular reader of classic literature, and I've enjoyed Merchant-Ivory films based on E.M. Forster novels in the past, so I'm not sure why I had the impression that his work was stuffy. Imagine my surprise when I found myself laughing out loud while listening to the audiobook of A Room with a View--and actually describing it repeatedly to one of my friends as "hilarious." 

In the first half of the novel, Lucy and her Aunt Charlotte are visiting Florence, and their lives unwittingly become entangled with those of their fellow English travelers, particularly an unconventional father and