A new obsession with audiobooks

Seriously, why did I wait so long to listen to audiobooks? I don't know what I was thinking! But I had this strange misconception about listening to books, like it was something only old people did or the experience would be too different.

I will gladly admit that I was wrong. Very wrong.

Audiobooks allow my love of reading to continue even when it should be literally impossible to read a book. While driving my car! On a walk! okay those are really the only two examples I can think of, but still! Do you know how much time I spend in my car? That was a lot of wasted reading time, until  the joy of spoken fiction and non-fiction came into my life.

The only review I've done on here so far (which sad, try harder) was of an audiobook. So maybe everyone thinks I don't read actual books, but I do! I swear! Anyway, I have listened to some great books recently and since my miraculous if not probably 10 years late discovery.

I was worried that listening to a book, I wouldn't get the same joy, I wouldn't pay as much attention, things would be lost. And while sometimes that is a bit true, there is also a whole different level that is added when you listen to someone read. The intonation, emphasis, the smallest little comments can sound so much different! Maybe I would have read it in a very similar way, but hearing the voice behind the words almost makes me feel like I'm actually having a conversation. I can hear the emotion. It is different and unique, and I don't think that every story makes a good audiobook honestly. I don't necessarily know what characteristics make for the perfect story to listen to, but here are a couple good ones I've "read" recently.

One of the window displays at Macy's in NYC this Christmas. So appropriate. 

David and Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell was everything I had expected and yet still surprising. I can't explain why, but I always am excited to read anything written by Gladwell but at the same time I kind of dread actually reading them? It makes no sense. So I decided to listen to it. And I'm so glad I did! The title gives you a pretty good idea of what the book is about, the underdog versus the powerhouse, and why sometimes too much power ends up being hurtful. Lets just say, after I read this book I told my parents that I was mad at them for ruining my life because they didn't die before I was 16 (it wasn't mean, read the book you will totally understand).

Another recent car read was I Am Having So Much Fun Here Without You by Courtney Maum. I had absolutely no idea what this book was about, I had just heard the excellent reviews. It was not even CLOSE to anything I had guessed, but it was really good! A bit predictable unfortunately, I found myself yelling at the main character at one point because "the answer" seemed so obvious to me. But regardless, I enjoyed it. There were interesting layers and I did like how it ended. I wouldn't say it is on the MUST READ list, but it was a fun "read" and I enjoyed it.

If you truly want to expand your personal level of nerdiness or increase the number of ways you can walk around with headphones in while learning things, I would suggest trying out the audiobook. If you are really in love libraries like me, you may have noticed that a lot of libraries have an online affiliate where you can borrow ebooks and audiobooks and that is awesome. Check it out. I don't think you will regret it. If you do, I really can't be friends with you anymore.

Let's Start Small

I was all excited about writing this, and I was going to write about like three different books and I got way too enthusiastic and then I started overwhelming myself and I had too many thoughts in my brain going on and that's when I was like, "ummm dial it down Kelly. Calm yourself."

So instead of being an insane person, I will briefly mention one book I read recently and hopefully it will end up being a little bit coherent.

I just finished reading "One More Thing: Stories and Other Stories" by BJ Novak and it was hilarious.  Shocking right? I bet most people could have guessed that, or assumed it would be, I mean not going to lie I did. I opened that up and without even realizing it I thought, "Ok man, this better be funny." Talk about a little pressure. So my apologies to BJ Novak, if you felt the collective pressure of the English speaking world as you wrote this book, excellent job rising above and getting the job done in spite of that.

But it wasn't just funny. It was really smart. The title of one of the stories is now something I literally cannot stop thinking about. "Regret is just perfectionism plus time." I said that to someone, and we both just sat there for a few minutes and thought about that. You know something is powerful when it stands in silence like that. I still keep thinking about it and marvel about how spot on that is, why has no one said that before? Why haven't I realized that? It's perfect.

Novak balances a more obvious humor with subtle (or not so subtle) underlying jokes throughout his stories. I definitely laughed out loud to myself (in public, casual) reading this book and at then a few chapters later I'd be just thinking about how cleverly worded the story was. What I found particularly amazing about this book, is that they are all short stories but when I reflect on the book that is not how I think about it. Someone asked me to to give them an example of a story from the book for a "preview" of the kinds of stories he tells. I couldn't answer that question, because I realized I really hadn't been thinking of them as completely separate. I mean yes, I consciously was aware of the differences between stories, it was clear when a new one began and ended, but I still think of "One More Thing" as a cohesive book, not a collection of short stories. I can't really explain why, but I think it's pretty cool that Novak is able to do that and connect everything by some invisible thread that just makes sense. This is why I could never write fiction! Writers are much more clever than we give them credit for. Thank you writers, for continusously blowing my mind but also making me feel like a bit of a dumbass at the same time. Amen.

So what should I read next? I can't decide, I don't really have any certain preference right now which is making it very hard to choose since the options are everything. Hm.

Team Read EVERYTHING EVER.