Weekly Reads (Listens): Dark Places

After listening to, and loving the narration in Fangirl and Eleanor and Park, I looked up all the books that Rebecca Lowman had narrated, and up popped Dark Places, that has been on my to-read list since I read the disturbing psychological thriller Gone Girl . I've heard that Dark Places and Sharp Objects are both even more disturbing. On one hand, that makes me super excited to read them, but I feel like I have to be in the right "mood" ya know? So I picked up the audiobook, and was hooked immediately.

The narration is great, told by three different narrators, as it's told from multiple character's perspective. I found myself leaving for work early and sitting in my car to spend more time listening to the story when I arrived at the library. In typical Gillian Flynn fashion, it was awesome and I wanted to devour it.

My rating: 4 stars.


Summary from goodreads:

"I have a meanness inside me, real as an organ."

Libby Day was seven when her mother and two sisters were murdered in “The Satan Sacrifice of Kinnakee, Kansas.” As her family lay dying, little Libby fled their tiny farmhouse into the freezing January snow. She lost some fingers and toes, but she survived–and famously testified that her fifteen-year-old brother, Ben, was the killer. Twenty-five years later, Ben sits in prison, and troubled Libby lives off the dregs of a trust created by well-wishers who’ve long forgotten her.

The Kill Club is a macabre secret society obsessed with notorious crimes. When they locate Libby and pump her for details–proof they hope may free Ben–Libby hatches a plan to profit off her tragic history. For a fee, she’ll reconnect with the players from that night and report her findings to the club… and maybe she’ll admit her testimony wasn’t so solid after all.

As Libby’s search takes her from shabby Missouri strip clubs to abandoned Oklahoma tourist towns, the narrative flashes back to January 2, 1985. The events of that day are relayed through the eyes of Libby’s doomed family members–including Ben, a loner whose rage over his shiftless father and their failing farm have driven him into a disturbing friendship with the new girl in town. Piece by piece, the unimaginable truth emerges, and Libby finds herself right back where she started–on the run from a killer.

Friday Faves

Here's a Little List of some things I've been digging on lately:





Being able to shop again
I've done some celebratory retail shopping as of late. Hurrah to the shopping freeze being lifted, amiright??

I've already professed my love to the Mac Roga, but I also am obsessed with the green flyte tank for obvious (=green) reasons.

Kyle bought me the pink version of the Oiselle flyte long sleeve a couple of weekends ago when the sale was on sale (and I guilted him in to the purchase since he missed my goal race for a fishing tourney and I did well). I regret not getting the yellow as well (ugh of course).

I also threw down some $$ on some new PRO compression socks. My old ones just weren't as calf huggy as they used to be. Naturally I picked green and yellow colored socks. 

Veronica Mars

My co-worker is obsessed and has been lending me the television series. I'm loving it. 12 years later. Whatever. The huge (now huge!) cameos are enough reason to watch! I'm working hard to get through it so I can catch the movie.

Qdoba Mango Salsa

Every time I eat Qdoba (way too frequently, might I add) I think to myself "I wonder how skinny you'd be if you didn't like Qdoba....." and then I realized I'd substitute another terrible food in its place, and continue to eat my nachos. The worst slash best time of the year has started: mango salsa time! My Qdoba consumption increase.... exponentially during this time of year. Thank god marathon training is just around the corner before I need a wheelbarrow to get around.

Rebecca Lowman's narration skills

I started listening to audiobooks when I was in grad school to capitalize on more "reading for fun" time that was extremely limited. I'm done with school, but still listening away on the way to and from to work, and car trips. Narration can really make or break an audiobook. Rebecca Lowman is my absolute fave and I'll probably continue to listen to anything she's narrated (luckily there's a lot!).

**I'm not affiliated with any of the companies in this post and my opinions are my own and I wasn't compensated in any way for this post. Blah blah blah, etc.**

Classics on Audiobook

I like to listen to audiobooks while I'm driving. My commute to work is only about 15-20 minutes, but it still helps me pass the time (I hate driving). Last month, I decided to throw in a classic book in to the listening rotation and listened to The Great Gatsby. Most people see that I work in a library and assume I've read every classic book there is. Spoiler alert: not true. I've only read a handful. I figured this would be a great way to get more classics in.

Let me know which classics (and who narrated them) I should listen to in the comments. The narration is so so so important to me. I don't know how many books I've stopped listening to and decided to just pick up the print version because I can't handle the narrator.

And speaking of great narrators and audiobooks, I just finished Dad Is Fat by Jim Gaffigan, comedian, narrated by Jim Gaffigan, and it's just hilarious. Seriously LOL funny.

My rating: 4 stars.

I have The Lord of the Flies waiting on standby as well as The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.

I'm also planning on supplementing my listening by throwing in some past Newbery award winning audiobooks, so feel free to throw those in as suggestions too!

Weekly Reads: Mr. Peumbra's 24 Hour Book Store

<----This was me growing up (big shocker).  We lived out in the country for three years of grade school, and there were no kids nearby for miles.  My brother was six years older than me, and in high school, so clearly hanging out with his little sister wasn't high on his priority list.  So in the summer time, I would load up my backpack with books, get my golden retriever BFF Buck, and follow Frog Creek to my favorite tree.  The tree was deep in a wooded area and difficult to get to, so I felt like I was the only person in the world.  The tree's branches stretched out over the creek, and one of the branches had a giant gaping crack in it that I could store things in.  My dog would lay at the base of the tree and keep me company while I read summer afternoons away.  I saw this picture on Books Direct tumblr and had a major flashback of those great years.

And with that wordy diatribe, I am announcing a new weekly (hopefully) component to my blog entitled:  Weekly Reads.  I hope to highlight a book that I'm currently reading and obsessed with, a soon to be released book, or a great read I've just finished. Reading is more fun when we do it together, amiright?

Right now I'm reading a few books, but the one I'm most excited about is Mr. Peumbra's 24 Hour Book Store by Robin Sloan.  I have been waiting forever for this book to come in at the library for me, and finally decided to just attempt to listen to it on audiobook.  I'll usually give an audiobook 30 minutes to decide if I like (=can stand) the narrator before giving up and picking up the hardcover version instead.  I'm so glad I lucked in to the audiobook version because I love the narration.

The story is set in an eccentric bookstore in San Francisco that is open all hours of the day.  Clay is the clerk working the night shift.  He hardly makes a sale on any of his shifts, and the only customers he sees regularly request obscure books from the VIP section of the store that are for check out only.  When he delves into the store's quirks more in depth, he finds there is even more than meets the eye in Mr. Penumbra's store.

I'm typically not one who's in to fantasy novels, but I am obsessed with stories that have fantastical elements that could be happening in our lives right now, and we don't know it.

What's your read of the week?

**If you click on the book cover and purchase the book through Amazon, I get a few pennies of the sale.  If you check it out from your library, it's free, and I don't get anything, but I'm super stoked that you're supporting your library.  :)**

Books By the Quarter: 1/4

I meant to start a monthly book review on the ol' blog, but before I knew it, it was halfway through January, then the end of February, and now it's April.  What in the world?  Where is my time going??  Despite having zero free time, I have still managed to keep up on my reading "for fun."  Usually it's just my hour lunch break (the ones that I'm not reading text books), but I figure it's time spent on my future, right?

I set a goal of reading 52 books yet again this year, and am currently at 23.  Um... oops.  Apparently I could've aimed a bit higher.  Part of this is due to some time spent listening to audiobooks.

Audiobooks

I started The House of Night series (Marked: A House of Night Novel ) at the start of the year.  I've heard it reviewed as Harry Potter meets Twilight.  Well... not quite, but it's fairly entertaining, about a young vampire fledgling who attends vampire finishing school.  While I enjoy the series (so far) I would NOT recommend the audiobooks.  The horrible teen slang imitations and whiny tones are almost unbearable.  I'd imagine reading with your own voices in your head would be much more endurable.
Rating:***

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian was such an amazing re-canting of a young Native American's tale of growing up, narrated by the author himself. Found myself laughing outloud many times.
Rating: *****




Still Alice is not necessary a book I would recommend on audiobook vs. reading, but it was a great book regardless.  The main character is diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's, and it was truly a heart-wrenching tale.  I found myself not wanting to listen to it, because I was scared as to where it was going to progress.  I really really enjoyed it, despite the sad topic.
Rating:*****


I've been meaning to read The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 1) forever, and finally listened to it on audiobook. It was pretty entertaining and took me back to grade school learning Greek mythology. I'll likely listen to the rest on audiobook as well.
Rating: ****



Young Adult


Another of my beloved genres is young adult books.  I'd like to be a children's/young adult librarian so I suppose it makes sense that I read this (paying no attention to the fact that I'm a sucker for the dystopian/end of the world genre that is all the rage right now).


I vowed to finish all the series I was in the middle of before starting any new ones.  That... didn't last.  However, I did read Specials (#3 in the Uglies series).

 I enjoyed this series. I opted to not read the 4th book because it's technically a trilogy, and it almost seems like the 4th one is an afterthought to cash in on the series. Let me know if you've read it and loved it. Rating: ****


 Continuing on the Pretty Little Liars trend so far this year I've knocked out:
  Pretty Little Liars #7: Heartless Rating: ****

  Pretty Little Liars #8: Wanted Rating: ****






  Pretty Little Liars #9: Twisted Rating: ****






One of the top books I've read in 2012 (and to be honest, in my life) is John Green's The Fault in Our Stars

A truly amazing and heart-wrenching book, but just so beautifully written. Rating: *****




Delirium was one of my favorite YA reads for 2011, so I was thrilled for the follow-up novel in the series Pandemonium (Delirium) , however I felt pretty hohum about it. Wasn't an amazing page turner, but of course it ended on a crazy high note, and now I can't wait for the finale novel.  Rating: ***






I enjoyed the first book in this series on the way home from the Philadelphia Marathon, and I was excited to see where the second book took me Crossed I really enjoyed this book, and it was a great continuation of the first one. Again I'm excited to see where the series ends up. Rating: ****





Breaking my promise to not start any new series without completing my current ones, are Cinder: Book One in the Lunar Chronicles Cinder is essentially a tale of Cinderella set way in the future, only she's a cyborg. Very entertaining. Kinda predictable, but I'm excited to see where the rest of the series goes. Rating: ***



 I was really excited to read Under the Never Sky as it's another dystopian genre book, but it wasn't omg amazing. It was good, but I didn't put it down needing to pick up #2. Which is probably a good thing because this one just came out in January, I think. :) Rating: ***



This was another book that didn't quite live up to my expectations. Why We Broke Up is a novel by Daniel Handler who wrote the Series of Unfortunate Events books, with fun illustrations. I wanted to stop reading it.... multiple times. Ultimately, I'm glad I finished it, because it was good. I was just expecting greatness. Rating: ***



Children's Books


I'm not normally one to pick up a children's book unless I have a kid around who wants me to read to them, but these books by Brian Selznick came highly recommended.


Wonderstruck is the newest book by Selznick and the illustrations were just beautiful. The nice thing about kid's books is that you can read a couple over your lunch break.
Rating: *****

 I managed to pick up The Invention of Hugo Cabret on the same day that Hugo (the movie) came in for me at the library. Not realizing that the movie was based on the book. BAD future librarian! The movie was amazing, and the book was just as delightful. Again, the illustrations are just out of this world. Definitely flip through it next time you have a free moment. Rating: *****


Adult Novels




 The Lover's Dictionary: A Novel is a truly unique book, where the narrator goes through tales of his relationship using each letter of the alphabet as a word that describes a memory or story. I've never read a book like this and it was so good, and left so much of the story to your interpretation. Super quick read.
Rating: *****


Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) had me rolling at times. Very entertaining. Mindy Kaling has such quick wit. I really loved learning more about her and her career. I've heard this is amazing on audiobook (I believe she narrates it!) Rating: ****



I think I'm the last runner in the world to read Once a Runner: A Novel but it was so good. After reading on my lunch break, I'd immediately want to take the rest of the day off from work and just run.
Rating: ****




I'm not normally one to pick up a love story (although I am a sucker for Nicholas Sparks books, sue me!) but I thought The Last Letter from Your Lover: A Novel had an interesting take on the typical love story. I don't want to give too much away, but it was two stories woven together and I couldn't get enough of either of them.
 Rating: ****




I tend to read all of Sophie Kinsella's books, and picked up I've Got Your Number: A Novel despite a less than stellar rating. It was entertaining and wholly predictable, but sometimes when your brain is fried from school, that's exactly what you need.
Rating: ***



There you have my book reviews for the first quarter of the year.  Feel free to follow me on goodreads (and send me a message that you read my blog, I tend to not follow those that I don't know on there, it gets overwhelming).  Let me know if you have any good book recs for me as well!  Also, if you click on the links in this post and purchase the book through amazon, I get a penny or two from the sale.  Or you could just support your local library instead.  ;)