Yes, I’m that person who keeps a spreadsheet of all the fiction books (and a few sprinkled non-fiction) I have read since 1991. I love reading, but ever since I became a mother 17 years ago, I realized that reading became another item on my balance scale. I had to constantly negotiate my adored sleeping time with the hours of page turning. However, I have finally embraced the AUDIOBOOK, the one thing I was most thankful for in 2016. Of course I’m thankful for family, children, friends….but what I was excitedly most thankful for: THE AUDIOBOOK!
For a multi-tasking, curious, and easily distracted adult, I have found the cure to the boredom of the endless unloading and re-loading of the dishwasher. I have found a companion to my pathetically unyielding labour at my garden and a much needed encouragement on my walk/runs. The audiobook has allowed me to keep up and maintain a rhythm of the pages I read before I go to bed. The next morning I keep going where I left off. I am a convert and most books of 2016 were read in combination with the audio.
Major shoutout goes to my wonderful friends who suggest great books to me, and of course the beloved Westbank Library that has such a wonderful collection of both versions of the book.
It was a good year of books, as I loved most of them.
| TITLE | AUTHOR | THOUGHTS |
| Runaway | Munro, Alice | Lovely. One of the first books I read in conjunction with its audio version. Loved listening to these women’s stories, felt like listening to a friend on the phone. |
| A Little Life | Yanagihara, Hanya | Haunting. No audiobook for this one, but what a wonderful read. Tough material for most people, but the characters have stayed with me for a long time. One of my faves. |
| Of Mice and Men | Steinbeck, John | A classic for a reason. Read this right before watching the Austin Lyric Opera’s production. Also available on audiobook, read by Gary Sinise. Wonderful development of characters. |
| The Old Man and the Sea | Hemingway, Ernest | Wanted to read for a while. After reading the previous ones, I just felt underwhelmed. |
| My Brilliant Friend | Ferrante, Elena | Love-Hate relationship with this one. Wanted to find out more, but I hated both main characters. |
| When Breath Becomes Air | Kalanithi, Paul | So sad. |
| The Son | Meyer, Phillipp | I think the audiobook is superb, read by three different voices. I can see why they made it into a tv miniseries. |
| For Whom the Bell Tolls | Hemingway, Ernest | Felt a bit slow, but interesting take on the Spanish Civil War. Had trouble with Campbell Scott’s pronunciation of Spanish words and now hear his voice every time I hear the expression “que va”. |
| The Nightingale | Hannah, Kristin | Easy and page turning read. A story of the nazi occupation in France, told from a female and french point of view. |
| The Story of a New Name | Ferrante, Elena | I started the first, needed to continue with the series. |
| Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay | Ferrante, Elena | This one was my favorite of the series |
| The Story of the Lost Child | Ferrante, Elena | |
| Middlesex | Eugenedis, Jeffrey | If there ever was a book that was meant to be listened to is this one, if only for the scene at the car assembly line. Fantastic book. A fave. |
| Crazy Rich Asians | Kwan, Kevin | funny beach read |
| Crazy Rich Girlfriend | Kwan, Kevin | good palate cleansers after very heavy books |
| All The Light We Cannot See | Doerr, Anthony | so so. I have started and stopped this book so many times. After reading the Nightingale found this one a bit blah. |
| Life After Life | Atkinson, Kate | Loved, loved, what a surprise. Thanks to my friend Alex W. I have become a fan. |
| Fates and Furies | Groff, Lauren | Can I say hate? Just did not like either of the characters and found it so pretentious. |
| Luckiest Girl Alive | Knoll, Jessica | Perhaps I disliked this one even more. |
| My Name is Lucy Barton | Strout, Elizabeth | Loved. Again, Strout can tell fascinating stories of the mundane. So simple and so good. |
| The Life we Bury | Eskens, Allen | Ok |
| A confederacy of the Dunces | Toole, John Kennedy | Thought I was going to love it, then I thought I was going to hate it, and now I can see the humor of it. The character definitely is one to remember. |
| Where’d You Go, Bernadette | Semple, Maria | Read as a preparation to our upcoming trip to Seattle. Easy fun read from a fellow Barnard Alumn. |
| Today Will Be Different | Semple, Maria | The adult version of A Terrible, No Good, Bad Day. |
life via rosa 