Tag: books

Xine’s Audiobook-Book Club

Welcome to Xine’s Audiobook-Book Club, where I am the one and only member of the club that I know of at least. I’ve found listening to my audiobooks more difficult lately. Everything that’s been going on in the world and being in quarantine now these last what 6 or 7 weeks – I’m losing count. Actually I’m not sure I really want to know. Focus is difficult with my normal routine so upended.

I finished The Scent Keeper by Erica Bauermeister in early March.It had been a selection from the Reese’s Book Club narrated by Gabra Zackman and ran 9 hours, 34 minutes. I enjoyed listening to this book. The story flowed and the author’s descriptions of the scents enveloped my senses taking me further into the story and Emmaline’s world.

The concept of the Nightingale invention is an intriguing idea and when I googled the concept I found a 2013 Wired.com article about a scent capturing machine. Some of the quotes which stood out to me in this audiobook included:

“Scents were like rain and birds. They left and came back.”

“It’s amazing how easily we can cast ourselves in the role of hero.”

I hadn’t realized how much I counted on the emotional armor of his friendship until he wasn’t there.”

“Maybe that’s how it always is, I thought – we all just go along, cathing glimpses of one another, thinking we know everything.”

“Grief makes a tunnel of our lives. And it is all too easy to lose sight of the other people in the dark with us. To wish they weren’t there so their loss wouldn’t rub up against us.”

Good Dog:True Stories of Love, Loss and Loyalty by David DiBenedetto and the editors of Garden & Gun Magazine. I loved this book and highly recommend it particularly for any dog enthusiasts out there. I actually read this book – an actual book where I could feel the paper as I turned the pages. Not an electronic one on my kindle. The stories were manageable in length, so I would breeze through a few of them at a time. I was forced to take a break for a couple of days when I misplaced the book – it had been hiding under a blanket that was tossed onto a chair next to where I had been reading it. I could relate to these stories as I have my own dogs and have lived through the same if not very similar experiences. I enjoyed reading this book so much that it prompted me to start writing my own stories down about my pack, Xine’s Pack. I had been struggling for years with notes about writing the stories of my own dogs, but something happened to me after I finished Good Dog, I sat down and the words came flying out 45 pages I wrote immediately. In the time we’ve been in quarantine I am now up to close to 200 pages. Some of my favorite quotes from Good Dog include:

“Life is heard. People can’t be trusted. Vigilance is key. Be wise who you love and when you do love, do it with every fiber of your being. Till death do you part.”

“When a pet dies, as with any beloved person or thing, you do not mourn the departed. You mourn the life you’ve lived along with the departed.”

I was only able to get through half of the 8 hours and 8 minutes of John Waters Hitchhikes Across America. I enjoyed the first half of the book, strange as it was; however, I found the second part so disturbing and disgusting that after trying a few times to get through it, I finally gave up. I had to turn it off for good. Not my cup of tea, I’ll definitely be exchanging this title.

I finished Second Nature: A Gardener’s Education by Michael Pollan (9hrs, 1min). A manifesto for gardeners and environmentalists, the American Horticulture Society lists this as one of 75 greatest books ever written on gardening. As I am a gardener and have written many articles related to gardening I know that making gardening sound interesting without making it sound too technical can be a challenge. I could easily relate to to his stories and chuckled at some as every gardener goes through similar experiences in one way or another. Listening to Michael Pollan describe his experiences I found very enjoyable as it took my mind away from the world’s problems and into the garden, despite that it was cold, rainy and even snowy in my own garden. I highly recommend this book to other gardeners or people who have an interest in nature and the environment.

I followed that book up with another Michael Pollan book, Caffeine: How Caffeine Created the Modern World, an Audible exclusive – this was a quick listen at 2 hours, 2minutes. I love caffeine and have been pretty much addicted to it for 45 years now. I found this to be an interesting history and explanation of how caffeine has shaped our world, so it was an easy listen.

Currently, as April finally wraps up – it seems like it’s been one of the longest months ever, I’m listening to two more books. The first is Cesar Milan’s Lessons From The Pack by Melissa Jo Peltier and Cesar Milan, 5 hours and 29 minutes. I just started this book and I’m only an hour in but as someone who has lived with many dogs and learned many lessons myself from them – I can again relate to this book and enjoy listening to Cesar’s stories.

Finally, I am listening to another Audible Original, this one by Mitch Albom called Human Touch. This book is actually in progress taking place in current time in a small town in Michigan during the Covid19 pandemic. Each week there is a new installment released, so far there have only been three installments and I’m on pins and needles waiting for the next chapter to be released. The story follows the interwoven lives of four families who live on a cul-de-sac and how the pandemic touches each and every one of them. I have always loved reading Albom’s books like Tuesdays with Morrie and Five People You Meet In Heaven. But I was a little hesitant at first to listen to this book since part of listening to the stories is to take my mind off of everything that it going on currently. But I have found that I am again able to relate to what is going on in the book and there is some sort of comfort knowing that others are going through some of the exact same things I am right now.

In the Library for next month I’m thinking about a classic Agatha Christie mystery, And Then There Were None. If you have any recommendations for future reads or listens, please let me know by leaving a comment – I’m always looking for new book sto enjoy. appy listening and reading everyone!

I’ve Become an Audiobook Enthusiast

It started all because I wanted to read more. I had the thought a few years ago while I was driving back and forth from my house in New Hampshire to my other house in Connecticut that I could be spending my time better in the car rather than purely getting myself from one location to the other.

It takes four hours give or take to take to do the drive – 8 roads total including I89, I91 and Route15. I’ve done the I91, Route 15 part hundreds of times over the years since that was my route to the condo trailside at Okemo I used to once enjoy. A different lifetime now.

I used to love driving but as I have aged – I’m only 55 yrs old – I find it more difficult now. I get tired easier and really don’t like driving at night. Too much glare and won’t unless I absolutely have to because one of my kids has an emergency of some sort.

At the time this all started I was obsessed with the show, The Game of Thrones and wanted to read the books. Problem was, when I would go to read at bedtime usually, I would fall asleep literally minutes later. So I decided to start listening to audiobooks on my drives down and back to Connecticut. Music would sometimes have the opposite effect of keeping me alert at the wheel despite listening to SiriusXM’s Lithium or Classic Vinyl.

Over two decades ago I had to drive a long distance from Michigan and I was advised to listen to talk radio instead of music. I found myself switching from the music stations to the news and talk radio stations to keep myself awake and was happy it worked.

I started listening to The Game of Thrones: A Song of Ice and Fire: Book One by George R.R. Martin and narrated by Roy Divine. It took 33 hours and 47 minutes. I listened to the book while driving back and forth to Connecticut. I listened while I was working in New Hampshire either splitting wood outside – we have a hydraulic wood splitter so it’s not as tough as it may sound, although it is physical labor. Sometimes I’d be inside with my headphones on in the wood shop making our garden kits, listening to the story. I discovered quickly how much faster some of my work was done while listening to my book. Or at least it felt like it went faster. I began to look forward to my long drives or work knowing I’d be submerged in another world and the time would fly by.

I loved the first book, A Game of Thrones and the second, A Clash of Kings. By the time I got to Book 3, A Storm of Swords I had found myself a little bored and Game of Throned out. After all, these are long marathon books upwards of 34 hours and that was the shortest one. Storm of Swords is 48 hours long!

The titles that sucked me in to the wonderful world of audiobook listening

On one of my trips down to Connecticut or back, something happened with my book I was listening to, so while driving I had to quickly select something that would play since I still had over 2 hours left in the drive. I wound up listening to The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion, narrated by Dan O’Grady.

This narrator’s voice perked me up – Roy Dotrice’s deep tones were beginning to lull me to sleep some. But this guy was much more upbeat. I didn’t know anything about the book when I started listening to it. I must have added it to my library at some point because it sounded interesting or was on sale or both. But I found that I was much more alert and involved in the story listening to Dan O’Grady reading now.

Since then, which is only about 18 months or so give or take, I’ve listened so far to twenty-three more titles and counting. Plus I actually read a book. So with that I am adding a new regular feature to my Xines’ Pack blog – Xine’s Book Club. I won’t limit it to calling it Xine’s Audiobook Club because I do want to actually read more too. So look for future posts about the books and audiobooks I read. I’m open to hearing suggestions and thoughts from others that have read or listened to these titles. It would be great to have an online discussion going.

Until happy listening or reading to you!