I always have at least 2 books going and sometimes 3.
I just finished listening to Ken Follett’s The Armor of Light. It is a part of the Pillars of the Earth series. I listen in the car on the way to and from work, usually about a 45-50 minute round trip. I buy my audio books from Libro.fm, where I buy a $15 credit every month and then use it for whatever I want, so $40 books are only the $15 for the credit. Subscribers can choose an independent local bookstore that will benefit from the profits of my purchases. The credits never expire.
I am also almost done with A Doubter’s Almanac by Ethan Canin. He graduated from Iowa’s Writers Workshop with an MFA in writing, had bad writer’s block the whole time he was there, so went to med school at Harvard after that. His writer’s block went away while in med school and residency, so much so that he had a hard time concentrating on his studies. I think he finished his residency but never practiced after that, he had started having success with his writing. His medical background certainly gives him insight on how to write characters with medical issues.
I usually don’t read actual books, this is usually my third way of reading if I have three ways going. Right now it is my second way. When I am done with A Doubter’s Almanac (sometime this weekend), then I will go back to my kindle as my second way. I am getting tired of carrying heavy books to work to read at lunch time. LOL. So, I will read my kindle at lunch time and maybe also bed time. Or maybe I will decide to have 3 books going and read an actual book at bed time. I don’t know yet.
Also, D and I independently from each other read The Boys in the Boat a year or more ago. We found out by accident that we’d each read it after the fact.
We are excited to go see the movie on Christmas afternoon.
She surprised us and joined the crew team at Tulane when she was a freshman. I am not sure she’d ever been in a boat before other than possibly old almost retired canoes on safe, small ponds at summer camps and here she was rowing in the backwaters of the Mississippi delta. She did that for 3.5 years and misses it.
I should probably look into getting a library card. It may make sense at this stage of my life.
I grew up in Chicago and as a child visited our local public library frequently. I spent a lot of time there. My memory of that library is one of the reasons why I often include a stroll through a library while exploring cities on vacations.
That said the reason I don’t have a library card now is because when we moved to our current suburb of Chicago we bought a house in an unincorporated section. That meant we had to pay a yearly fee for not only park district programs but also for the library. We moved when DD was about 9 months old. I had decided I was going to be a SAHM. I was into saving money. (Plus, when my DD was born in TX my friends threw me a baby book shower. It was a great idea since my DH’s workplace gave him a shower where we were gifted a lot of baby clothes.)
Anyway, as the kids got older, we would visit the library where they could read but we didn’t check out books. It was a nice reason to get out of the house.
We were also fortunate to have an excellent independent bookstore nearby. It is family-owned and staffed with people who read a lot of books. This store was a wonderful resource and it helped me with book selections. (This is the store that had JK Rowling for a book signing after the first Harry Potter book was released in the US…but before Harry Potter became mainstream. I got an autographed copy and got to meet her because I was just stopping by to peruse books!)
Anyway, I’ll have to figure out if it makes sense for me since I have a long queue of books on my kindle to read. Part of my issue is that I actually enjoy the hunt for good books at a good price. (FYI The kindle version of The World Central Kitchen Cookbook is on sale today for $2.99.) Being able to share my kindle purchases with DH and the kids also pleases me.
I haven’t gone to audible books…yet. I resisted the Kindle for a long time because I like the feel of a physical book. Traveling by plane changed my mind.
Recently DH replaced his 15 yr old vehicle with a new hybrid car. If we start doing long driving vacations, it might make sense to try an audible book. We loved listening to Jim Dale on trips when the kids were little.
Sorry for rambling. I’m procrastinating…the vacuum awaits.
This book was on our son’s HS summer reading list. I read it then and DH and I listened to the audio version on our way to Maine last summer. It’s such a wonderful, uplifting story. Our son rowed all four years in high school and competitively at the academy (his four took gold in its weight class at the New York State Championships his sophomore year; he hung up his oar after that to focus on the Cyber Team, but he still sculls for pleasure when he can.) You really can’t appreciate what a grueling all-encompassing sport crew is until you either experience it firsthand, know someone who rows, or read a book like this.
I’ve asked DS to wait to see the movie until he and DIL visit us in January. That will be such a treat for all of us.
Not sure if you were aware -With your library card you can use the Libby app to check out ebooks or audio books. It lets you read them on your Kindle too. Just can’t share them.
That’s a real shame - several of them have been widely reviewed and praised.
I use both Hoopla and Libby. Libby I think I usually send books to my Kindle, Hoopla I usually have something obscure on my phone. Right now its a bilingual collection of Spanish poetry which is perfect for when you are waiting in lines or at doctor’s offices. It’s great, since there’s not a big demand for it, I can just renew it whenever it expires.
I mentioned Heaven & Earth Grocery Store to S a few weeks ago. Evidently the gift they sent me was in one of 2 of 4 packages that didn’t make it to D’s house for her family & me. He texted on Friday to ask about the name of that book I mentioned, so I think it’s a safe bet that Kindle version will be in my inbox tomorrow morning. I have recently started using Libby app, but suspect waitlist would be long for this popular title. Will be happy to get it from S’s family and to be able to read at a time desired without pressure to complete in 2 weeks.
Can you request the ones you are interested in? On my library’s website there’s a form to fill out to request a book.
I love that Pres Obama puts out these lists but I will probably only read two or three on there. I’ve gotten pickier about the books I read and only want to read books I really like, which is usually fiction and only certain types of fiction at that, maybe the occasional memoir or more rare a non-fiction title.
Another great thing about libraries are the Friends Of The Library book sales. My library usually has one every quarter. You can get some great used titles for cheap and help the library too.
If you download a Libby borrowed book on your Kindle it will still be there to read/finish after the book gets “returned”. My time is limited and I rarely finish a book in 2 weeks time but it stays on my kindle until I remove it from my library
I feel like it’s been a long time since I contributed to this thread, but I just finished A Visit from the Goon Squad. (Yeah I know I’m 13 years late to the party!) I remember listening to, and reading a lot of breathless reviews at the time. The PowerPoint chapter! I thought it sounded too gimmicky, but interesting. Eventually EGAN was the answer to one too many crossword puzzle reviews, and I decided I’d give it a whirl.
It’s not my sort of book at all - contemporary fiction centering around despicable characters (or at least temporarily off-putting). I’m not into tales from the punk era - I was too straitlaced to partake. But I was sucked in. I actually liked the gimmick chapters. If you have a pile of modern classics you’ve been meaning to read you could do worse than pick up this one. I thought it was pretty darn good.
Yay! I’ve already read a book on Obama’s list’ this never happens!!
It’s The Wager and it’s a can’t put down one imo - I am not a nonfiction fan usually but gimme a good survival-against-the-elements book and I’m all over it.
