The Casual Vacancy

Oh, jeez, I've completely neglected this blog, haven't I? Shameful. And it's not as though I've reduced my audiobook intake. I will throw another one out, although I'm sure there's no one left reading.

This one, I finished a few weeks ago. It took me a good deal of time, because to be honest, I thought the book started out glacially. And then...it continued that way. I had a hard time maintaining interest in the story, even though I thought the writing was quite good. But I was pretty caught up in it by the last third or so, and ended up liking the whole of it better than I thought. Perhaps it's just the strangeness of going from a series of children's books to one very, very grim book for adults that took some getting used to.

The Hunger Games

I gave this series another listen in the last few weeks, and was slightly taken aback by how thoroughly I enjoyed it. I think it had been long enough since my first reading/hearing of the books that I'd forgotten just how good they are. What caught me most by surprise was the emotional punch they packed. I spent most of Catching Fire and Mockingjay tearing up and sniffling.

I chose not to listen to The Hunger Games again before seeing the movie, because I thought it could affect my enjoyment and make me more critical of the movie than I would otherwise be, with all the details fresh in my mind. I can say, however, having listened to it shortly after seeing the movie, that it's one of the most faithful--probably THE most--adaptations I've seen. Details were tweaked, of course, but overall, I found the movie to be nearly flawless. I'll say what I often say about books: I don't necessarily think these are perfect, but again, I find them to be incredibly gripping. I couldn't have enjoyed them much more.

L'Engle and Green

I just recently listened to this, read by Jennifer Ehle. I've been a Madeleine L'Engle fan since childhood and I knew I'd read this one, but all I could remember about it was Charles Wallace being ill, and something about mitochondria. Verdict: It is bizarre and absolutely beautiful. I adore L'Engle's characters, especially Charles Wallace, and I love how Meg and Calvin interact. Revisit this one if you haven't in awhile--or visit it if you never have, but read A Wrinkle in Time first. I have that one on audiobook read by the author, and while I think incredibly highly of L'Engle's writing, as a narrator she is....not so good. So I'm thrilled to have A Wind in the Door read by someone else. I intend to listen to the rest of the quintet in good time; I don't recall every reading A Swiftly Tilting Planet or Many Waters, though I have read An Acceptable Time, and loved it as well. I'm looking forward to hearing it on audio.

Currently listening to:

Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel’s story is about to be completely rewritten. (from audible.com)


This. Whew. This one is a bit of sledgehammer to the heart, but it, too, is gorgeous. It's a very recent release and I'd heard rave reviews about it. I'm only about halfway through, but it is wonderfully written, and I think I will be sad to finish it. This is yet another book to which I'd point detractors of young adult literature. Sure, there's plenty that's not great, but there's an endless selection of marvelous novels as well, and as far as I'm concerned, they can be enjoyed by adults young and not-so-young alike. 

Marisa de los Santos

Currently listening to:

What if saying hello to an old friend meant saying good-bye to life as you know it?

It’s been six years since Pen Calloway watched her best friends walk out of her life. And through the birth of her daughter, the death of her father, and the vicissitudes of single motherhood, she has never stopped missing them.

Pen, Cat, and Will met on their first day of college and formed what seemed like a magical and lifelong bond, only to see their friendship break apart amid the realities of adulthood. When, after years of silence, Cat - the bewitching, charismatic center of their group - e-mails Pen and Will with an urgent request to meet at their college reunion, they can’t refuse. But instead of a happy reconciliation, what awaits is a collision of past and present that sends Pen and Will, with Pen’s five-year-old daughter and Cat’s hostile husband in tow, on a journey across the world.

With her trademark wit, vivid prose, and gift for creating authentic, captivating characters, Marisa de los Santos returns with an emotionally resonant novel about our deepest human connections. As Pen and Will struggle to uncover the truth about Cat, they find more than they bargained for: startling truths about who they were before and who they are now. They must confront the reasons their friendship fell apart and discover how - and if - it can ever fall back together. (from audible.com)

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I discovered this book the other day at my local indie awesome bookstore. I had no idea that de los Santos--whose first two books, Love Walked In and Belong to Me, were ones I adored--had a new one out. Fortunately, I had a credit on audible.com and came right home and downloaded this new one. I'm less than halfway through it at the moment, but it has the qualities I loved from her previous two works: The writing is gorgeous, and the characters are flawed and incredibly, undeniably human. If you want to check out her work and start with the first two, you'll need to read Love Walked In first, as Belong to Me is a continuation of its story. This new one is unrelated and can be read without those two, if you like to start with the most recent of a writer's repertoire. 

Libba Bray

I'm re-listening to the last book in one of my favorite trilogies: the A Great and Terrible Beauty series by Libba Bray. Once again, it's a YA story with a supernatural story line; clearly, I have my preferred themes. But I think there is a HUGE amount of marvelous young adult literature out there, and I don't believe you have to qualify as "young" to enjoy it. Nor do you have to be fond of the supernatural, as there are scores of novels which don't feature that element. I happen to love it, but that doesn't mean that every book which has it is necessarily good. Bray's series, however, is superb, and I would recommend it to anyone, of any age. The books themselves are beautiful, but the narrator of the audiobooks, Josephine Bailey, is exceptional.

It's 1895, and after the suicide of her mother, 16-year-old Gemma Doyle is shipped off from the life she knows in India to Spence, a proper boarding school in England. Lonely, guilt-ridden, and prone to visions of the future that have an uncomfortable habit of coming true, Gemma's reception there is a chilly one. To make things worse, she's been followed by a mysterious young Indian man, a man sent to watch her. But why? What is her destiny? And what will her entanglement with Spence's most powerful girls, and their foray into the spiritual world, lead to? (from audible.com)

The Rose Garden

As much as I enjoyed The Winter Sea, I found this book to be much better, both in terms of writing and story content. I absolutely loved this one. I enthusiastically endorse it.

And just in case you think that all I listen to are time-travel love stories, next in my lineup is some nonfiction about which I have heard nothing but rave reviews: The Immortal life of Henrietta Lacks.

My small thank you to Steve Jobs and Apple

I admit to being stunned when I heard the news about Steve Jobs's death yesterday. I knew he was not well, but considering it had only been six weeks since he'd retired, well...I was simply taken aback. I've read abundant tributes, many of which simply quoted Jobs's own eloquent sentiments. I never followed him that closely, nor do I know a great deal about him, but I can grasp, at least a little, what a visionary the world has lost.

I'm not an Apple person, per se. I don't run out and buy every single product they put out. I'm typing this on a PC, which in and of itself is proof that I've never been an Apple purist. Actually, Apple desktops and laptops have always been tempting, but I've never quite had the money for them. This is more about the one Apple product I've owned and loved.

Every audiobook I mention on this blog, I've listened to on an iPod. I've owned four of them in the last decade. My first one was a turquoise iPod Mini. Remember the mini? It's funny now to think that's what it was called, because subsequent generations of the ipod were so much slimmer and compact. Even so, I still think it's pretty cute. My next one was the 4th generation Nano, in red. Both of these, I ordered directly from Apple, and they had (and still do, I believe) that great feature where you could get the back of the iPod engraved. My mini bears a quote from T.S. Eliot: "You are the music while the music lasts." The red nano has one from John Milton: "Such sweet compulsion doth in music lie." They are lovely words and I wish I'd known them by heart, but in truth, I simply googled "quotes about music" and found them that way.

Since the nano, I've owned two generations of the iPod Touch. This is probably my favorite, simply because I love the ease of it, and all the apps, and the display, and...everything about it. It's comical, really, to look at the ipod touch and remember how the first iPods had no color or pictures, and had a tiny display screen. I admit, though, that while I love the Touch, I do kind of miss that quiet noise the click wheel made.

The fact that I've owned four of these may make it sound like they don't have any longevity. There may be mp3 players which last longer, but when I say I use the iPod, I don't mean casually. I use the hell out of it. I listen to music, podcasts, and audiobooks for nearly 40 hours a week. This only varies when it's KU basketball season and I have my little radio on for two hours during game nights. The iPod has been a faithful and true companion for me at work for nearly a decade, keeping me conscious (always a plus) and well-entertained on days when the hours seem to drag by. So while I may not be an Apple girl on all fronts, I'm an iPod girl through and through. Thank you, Steve Jobs, for making a product so fine.