I enjoy working on puzzles while listening to an audio book. Finding the right book is tricky. The story line has to be engaging, but also the narrator’s voice makes or breaks the story.
Bingo – Abraham Verghese’s, “Cutting for Stone” was a fantastic family saga set in Ethiopia with a focus on medicine. Sunil Malhotra was a perfect choice to narrate the book. I immediately sensed the author had a medical background, the surgery scenes were so detailed. Oh, not gory, not like that, professional.
I don’t want to give the story away. Verghese did a wonderful job of building the scenes and giving a good ending, ie, not a predictable one. He’s Indian, lived in Ethiopia and works in the medical field. The sign of an excellent book is when you keep wondering whether it really happened! He accomplished that.
Here is the puzzle I worked on. A lot of fun.
Now, I’m off to find a NEW book to read. Maybe Verghese has another one I will like.
Any recommendations, let me know. I tend to enjoy historical fiction.
The other day, I had to run errands. Get my new crown put in. My gosh, it’s so expensive, I do feel it’s like a piece of jewelry in my mouth, I need to treat it with care. Then the DMV sent me a notice, go for Emissions Check on the car. That’s always stressful. If the car doesn’t pass, go to repair shop. Luckily, my car passed.
I was so busy that it was 3 pm and I had not eaten anything. It was a hot day, in the high 80s, so I wasn’t hungry, but I was really really thirsty. I had a vision of a Starbuck’s Mocha Frappuccino. That’s what I wanted. However, no Starbucks close by.
I decided to stop at Barnes & Noble. I always enjoy browsing the books, puzzles, journals, and magazines. I must have been there about an hour, time flies when we look at books. Suddenly, a lady came by with drink samples from the cafe. GUESS WHAT – she said they were Mocha Frappuccino samples.
I’m still laughing at the coincidence of this encounter. I was lost in a book, minding my business when the cafe lady approached. Of course, I took a sample. Then I smiled and thought, how nice of my Guardian Angel to surprise me like this. Team work. Sometimes a small sample is all we need.
The authors from the book, “The Secret,” would say I perfectly manifested my drink.
You know what, I would agree with them. Now, if I could just manifest winning the lottery.
People ask me, how do you get things done? I look at them in surprise. Why, I multi-task, of course. I can do a zillion things at one time. Like a video in full speed. It’s true.
This weekend, for example, I needed to clean my windows, but I also needed to go walking. The weather was so nice, I wanted to read my book at the park. As I was thinking about what “choice” to make, I realized I could listen to an audio book while I cleaned the windows and when I walked. BRILLIANT IDEA!
The key is the narrators . I started searching the library for books. Luckily, we can play a sample, so it was an immediate thumbs up or thumbs down.
By chance, I found The Crimson Thread by Kate Forsyth. The storyline is good, set in Crete during WWII, so I could learn a little bit about their culture. I was pleasantly surprised with a multi cast of narrators. Normally, there is just one narrator. I’m always amused how narrators are fantastic at portraying a woman’s voice, a man, a child, a grandparent, etc. — it’s really entertaining — and that they remember throughout the book what voice they need to use for each character.
If you’re not a fan of audio, you should give it a try. Gee, you can garden, wash your car, chop vegetables while listening to a good book. Definitely worth it!
Share what you’ve been reading. I’m always on the lookout for something new to read.
Recently, I was in the San Francisco area. I was by the ocean, went into a very small book store. Small bookstores are wonderful, they have a more interesting choice of books. Usually, many local authors, which I like.
As I went to purchase The Cat Who Saved Books, they had the Italian Baci candies at the check out. What a treat! I haven’t had them for so long. I thought it was a lovely idea to buy a book, a few Baci chocolates, then head to the ocean and start reading. I bought three!
This story sounded interesting about a boy who is depressed when his grandfather dies. He meets a talking cat and goes on quests to “save books.” I was curious about the talking cat and saving books, how/where and what kind?
I’m at the beginning stages of reading this book, so no book review yet. Summer is coming, I think this will end up in the beach bag for summer reading. Life is so busy right now, no time to read.
What small bookstore have you found lately? We do need to support them, I try!
Since St. Patrick’s Day is this week, I thought I’d share this book. A friend recently told me – GO GET IT! I listened to it in audio. As with any book, some really “good” parts, then parts where I yawned a bit, but didn’t want to “fast forward,” because I “might” miss something CRITICAL.
Has it changed my fortune? Stay tuned in the coming months to FIND OUT.
Spring is almost here. LUCK does seem to be in the air!
I haven’t been to the Library in a long time. Before COVID to be exact. It’s so easy now to get books online, that going to the library isn’t necessary. Yet, there’s something about a nice hardcover book in my hands that makes reading that much more enjoyable. Sit by the window, no straining with the eyes.
The other day I walked passed a library. I decided to go in. I forgot how nice it is to look at the section for NEW books that “just arrived.” I was so happy! All sorts of unknown book titles. Before I knew it, I had been in the library almost 2 hours. Amazing, I was a little kid, opening one book after another.
It’s also interesting to see what books people return. Look at this, I found a Jeffrey Archer book. I used to read him all the time. Then moved on, but I really enjoy his writing style.
I can’t give a review of the book yet. I’ll admit that the story line does not seem NEW so far. Seems like a plot that’s been out there already. I’m hoping for some MAJOR twists and turns, so I am not left yawning and skimming versus reading to get to the end.
If you are looking for one last summer book to read, I recommend Rough Magic by Lara Prior-Palmer, her memoir. I’m listening to it on audio. The Mongol Derby, in Mongolia, is said to be the toughest horse race in the world. Riding 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) for 10 days, using 25 horses along the way. Lara Prior-Palmer, won at 19 years old in 2013, she is the youngest person to have won the race.
Fast forward to 2019, when the oldest person, Bob Long from Idaho, won the race at 70 years old. He said that age is just a number. True; however, he grew up riding horses, so he felt comfortable with this type of rugged race. Still, at 70 years, that kind of race is hard on the body. He made it to all of his pit stops without over riding his horses in any way.
So, I’ve got to say, this was a good summer find.
I’d love to read another memoir like this, one of endurance. Any good reads, share them.
A week ago, I was bored with what I was reading. Good books, but they weren’t catching my attention. I’m sure you’ve been there. When we keep reading the same paragraph over and over, it just won’t sink in. I even fast forwarded to the middle of the book to read a few paragraphs – NOPE, my interest in the story was not going to improve.
So, I went to the online library and started browsing. This book by Jack Canfield / Gay Hendricks, You’ve Got to Read This Book!, came up. The title alone got me hooked.
I’m half way through, and I gotta say, it’s a good title, good book. Great stories of people’s lives, some hardships and/ or how they got where they are. Somehow, this book has my attention. I think I like the short story aspect and learning about different people.
Time to head to a bookstore…
Spring / Summer — going to the beach, longing for a book to actually hold and read. Miss hardcover books, too much online reading.
Here’s to exploring the bookstore and buying a new book!
In December, after a snow storm, longing for the beach, I decided it was time for a new puzzle. A purchase that should have taken 15-20 minutes turned into 2 hours of searches. As I wasn’t sure what type of puzzle I wanted, my search took me in all sorts of directions.
Did I want to spend time making a puzzle of Italy, cupcakes, stamps, Ireland, doors, dogs, Spain, so many choices. Nothing seemed appealing, until I came upon this simple beach scene that reminded me of my childhood days on Lake Michigan. BINGO! I smiled and made my purchase.
I enjoy doing puzzles while listening to an audio book. When my puzzle FINALLY arrived, it was not in stock, so a 2 day delivery turned into a 4 week wait, I headed to the online library. I like books by Jeffrey Archer; unfortunately, so do other people, wait times were way too long.
As I searched for alternative books, I came across this book, by Phaedra Patrick, “The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper.” I liked the cover and the title made me smile. I decided to give the book a try. So far, so good. It’s an interesting story about a man whose wife died and he finds a charm bracelet she had which he had never seen before. Wthout spoiling the story, I think you can tell where this tale is headed — YES?!
The key to any great audio book is the narrator. A good narrator can give a book a 5 Star rating. This narrator, James Langton, doesn’t disappoint. He uses such funny voices for the different characters, it’s a joy to listen to him.
I just started. On the puzzle, I always start with the border first, then I try to find something easy to make, like the pink surf board, so I feel a sense of accomplishment at the “get go.” Next the umbrella AND then to find out WHERE Arthur goes in discovering the story behind his late wife’s charm bracelet.
Clever story idea. Don’t they say everyone has a secret even long term marriages, 50+ years, where life seemed rather dull and routine, suddenly a secret is revealed. The other amusing part of this book is how children are used to their parents being a certain boring way and when something changes, and they see their parent with energy or enjoying life — they don’t like it! The children suddenly become suspicious of their parent and their new life motives! LOL
Let’s see where this story goes… Personally, I want to see Arthur start enjoying life!
I wanted to share a book with you by David Brooks, “The Second Mountain: A Quest for a Moral Life.” I came across this book by accident, so glad I did. It’s very interesting, because it talks about life. How we climb one mountain for certain reasons, then life throws us a curve ball, we sink down into the valley, must recover and then start to climb the second mountain.
COVID has made us all sink into the valley. We need to climb a NEW mountain, forge a new path.
I’m not done with the book yet, but so far, I give it a thumbs up!
Brilliant Viewpoint 