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Category Archives: Audiobooks

Eighth day, please

21 Feb

Winter break is nearing it’s end and I’ve coveted the time needed to do random household chores, update the last pieces of the spring semester for the college course I teach, complete odds and ends work on other projects, and READ.

I read daily. It’s a core element of my daily routine for personal and professional reasons, so it’s work even when it’s not work and it’s not work even when it is work. And Lena Dunham’s quote popped up in my head after thinking about the week that included quite a bit of reading

I couldn’t agree more. I will never get out from under my TBR pile and I spent a few days drinking from my “Death by TBR” mug gifted by my friend, Stacey. So if I could lobby the powers that be for an eighth day dedicated entirely to reading, I would. I am. Please, add an eighth day to the week so that I may read… while drinking tea.

What was I reading during break? What wasn’t I reading is the more apt question.

Picture books like Every Peach Is a Story by Masumoto, Masumoto, and Tamaki, The Octopus by Guojing that is a wordless picture book not yet released, and I’m So Happy You’re Here: A Celebration of Library Joy by Threets and Nam to name a few.

Middle grade graphic novels like Deepwater Creek by Regina and the adapted One Crazy Summer by Williams-Garcia and illustrated by Miller.

Young adult like Leave It On The Track by Fisher, Red Flags and Butterflies by Azzam, I Love Amy by Unni, and the forthcoming Corpse de Ballet graphic novel by Kearney.

Adult books like much-talked about The Correspondent by Evans and the dark manga called Confession by Kawaguchi.

 
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Posted by on February 21, 2026 in Adult, Audiobooks, Authors, Childrens, Fiction, Graphic novels, Illustrators, Manga, Middle grade, Upcoming Releases, Young Adult

 

The day after the Youth Media Awards

27 Jan

With a snowstorm hitting much of the eastern seaboard, it was to be expected that Monday would be a snow day. For colleagues like my friend Stacey Rattner who builds a fever pitch of excitement about the Youth Media Awards at her elementary school, it was disappointing to not have the day together in the gym, but she pivoted. For me, I was happy to have uninterrupted time to watch it (with a glass of champagne in celebration) at home. I could make my notes, I could tag favorite books and authors who won, and text colleagues on committees to cheer on their work.

And there was plenty of notes, tags, and texts!

While it runs a bit long when publishers and imprints are listed along with titles and creators and committees select a handful of honor titles that deepen the bench for celebration, my happiness was elevated throughout. Highlights included three celebrations of Candace Fleming- two for career achievement recognition and one for winning the Excellence in Nonfiction award for Death in the Jungle. A second was a sustained recognition of Cynthia Leitich Smith’s editing of Legendary Fry Bread Drive-In is worth noting. With its recognition in the Odyssey category, I might have to go back and listen to it because it was magical the first time in print, so I might want a second experience as an audiobook now.

An early favorite to see was Arriel Vinson’s new talent award for her debut Under the Neon Lights. I had the pleasure of moderating a panel for School Library Journal last year for which she was a shining part. And I have catching up to do in categories like Stonewall and Schneider Family because there were some titles that hadn’t come across my desk that I will be on the search for. Similarly, I pay special attention to the Batchelder awards because I’ve found them to be particularly moving or fun (in the case of John the Skeleton by Laan last year)

And last, all the love to the Coretta Scott King illustrator award to R. Gregory Christie for The Library in the Woods and written by Ramsey whose message and moving art is a must-read and happiness that Insectopolis: A Natural History by Kuper that I had on my year-end top ten list for adult nonfiction was recognized by the Alex Award as a book with special teen appeal. To validate that, we had it in our high school collection already and I enthusiastically shared it with a girl who was looking for a book about insects and bugs- I told her I had the perfect book for her.

I’ll ride the high of the celebration of all of the committees’ work to get to this point and recognize the talent of all of the creators of these amazing books by adding more to my endless TBR and looking out for new content by them as well.

And the first book on my list to read that I hadn’t heard about before that was a Stonewall honor will be He’s So Possessed With Me by Liu.

Was there a moment that you were jumping up and down about? Or a book that is now at the top of your list to read?

 
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Posted by on January 27, 2026 in Adult, Audiobooks, Authors, Childrens, Events, Fiction, Illustrators, Nonfiction, Reflections, Young Adult

 

A weekend threepeat

24 Jan

Last weekend was a long weekend due to the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday and I had cleared my calendar for Monday specifically to spend the day with one of the best writers and uncoverers of hidden history, Ruta Sepetys, by way of her new book, A Fortune of Sand which is due out in June. This will be her first official book for adults. That was the cherry on top of the sundae. Preceding that was Katie Bernet’s Beth is Dead, a young adult thriller twisted from Alcott’s classic Little Women; consider that the whipped cream and nuts of the sundae. And immediately before that, I finished the audiobook From Scratch by Tembi Locke. Heavily focused on food, I’d call that the ice cream and marshmallow topping (I’m not a hot fudge fan) from the perfect sundae that was my weekend threepeat. Allow me to elaborate on each book that led to my divine reading weekend.

Tembi Locke narrates her memoir. When it’s personal, it should always be narrated by the writer and because so much of the book focuses on Italian and Sicilian culture in addition to her being raised in the United States, it makes the most sense to have someone capable of navigating the languages and do is seamlessly. It’s uplifting only in that Locke looks at her time with her husband as magic even as he lay dying and she realizes she would have to parent alone but that she would have supports to bolster her when she didn’t think she could do it herself. She discusses his Sicilian roots and how he spoke to her through food and affection. For readers of food memoir, this should not be missed. It’s also a mix of romance, family, and grief. Silently moved in parts, I didn’t realize I was crying until the tears fell down my face.

I’ll start with the cover: to die for. It matches the thriller slasher vibes of most YA that has overtaken the shelves these last few years. With that, it’s hard to make them unique at this point but Bernet did it, ironically, by retelling the classic Little Women. What sets this apart is the intensity- it’s a full speed car crash that doesn’t let up for 400 pages and it’s hard to keep anyone’s attention for that long but I was glued to my couch, tea in hand, reading until the end. No doubt others will feel the same way and I’m going to make a comparison here; Tiffany D. Jackson’s The Weight of Blood is heavily recommended and has made readers again out of a teens that I give it to. And they’re choosing Stephen King’s Carrie immediately after. This could be similar as I would assume many won’t come to Beth Is Dead having already read Little Women. As someone who had both the book AND the 1994 Gillian Anderson movie to draw from to read as an adult, there’s a deeper layer of respect for what Bernet pulls off.

Women is a theme I’m realizing as well to my threepeat. Female authors, female stories and Sepetys’ first adult book is among those. She pulls from the Detroit of the 1920s, but also the framework that women should often be seen and not heard because if they are vocal, there’s real danger they’d be sent away by their husbands. With that, readers meet Marjorie, the twenty-something daughter of an industrious family making their money in the auto industry and follow her through a period of creativity, self-discovery, and retribution. This arc is intense. And Sepetys’ writing is rich and sharp. I felt like I had lived Marjorie’s life because of the immersive storytelling which is more apt because of Sepetys skill in mining hidden history and her own background in Detroit. The setting, characters, and conflict came alive and could it be a Gatsby-esque cinematic sensation? It read like one for sure.

It really couldn’t get any better than that. They were hard to top and three in a row feels like winning the reading lottery. What’s been your longest streak of starred reads?

 
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Posted by on January 24, 2026 in Adult, Audiobooks, Authors, Cover Love, Fiction, Nonfiction, Upcoming Releases, Young Adult

 

What are you doing?

09 Aug

It’s National Book Lovers Day. What are you doing today?

So far I’ve visited my indie bookstore to buy a favorite picture book (Big Enough by Regina Linke), stopped at my local public library to pick up books for my son and me (he had a hold list of about twenty-five manga titles that he’s taking camping next week), and read (Slither: How Nature’s Most Maligned Creatures Illuminate Our World by Stephen S. Hall).

I’ll also squeeze in time to stare at my bookshelves.

 
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Posted by on August 9, 2025 in Adult, Audiobooks, Authors, Childrens, Cover Love, Events, Nonfiction

 

Love: When holds arrive

21 Feb

Whether I’ve been in the queue for months or just a few days, the notification that my audiobook has arrived makes me super happy.

Yesterday morning the audiobook of James by Percival Everett popped up.

And yesterday afternoon I picked up volume 13 of Spy x Family by Tatsuya Endo.

I am happy.

 
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Posted by on February 21, 2025 in Adult, Audiobooks, Blogging, Fiction, Manga, Miscellaneous

 

Love: Uninterrupted audiobook time

07 Feb

In recent weeks, I’ve been able to get uninterrupted audiobook time during projects at work (the day after Onyx Storm hit shelves and my months-long hold for the audiobook queued that morning) and activities at home that only require movement and not necessarily brainwork. It’s always a bonus complimenting the traditional audiobook times like daily dog-walking that includes the audiobook, driving to and from work, folding laundry or doing dishes.

I have at least two audiobooks on my Libby and endless holds waiting to come in. Plus, I have a favorites list on Hoopla to pull from. They’re stacked just like my physical TBR.

Having a stretch of uninterrupted time in addition to the daily opportunities is a treat especially if my loans have become unruly or the task seems daunting without the extra distraction of being able to have my audiobook on.

Here is my last, current, and next audiobook queued.

 
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Posted by on February 7, 2025 in Audiobooks

 

Best of 2024: Adult

21 Dec

Finally, the caboose to this best-of train are books written for adults. A treat and indulgence for a high school librarian like myself. It’s evident that I lean heavily into nonfiction but have been known to get sucked into a vivid fiction too. Oh, and comics.

 
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Posted by on December 21, 2024 in Adult, Audiobooks, Comics, Cover Love, Fiction, Nonfiction

 

Talking audiobooks

11 Nov

At a recent fortieth birthday party, the conversation turned to audiobooks while we sat down to eat. This particular conversation included my husband, my cousin’s husband, my dad and myself.

If you had told me as a teenager that I’d be talking to my dad about audiobooks when I was an adult, I’d call you crazy. But here he is, a semi-retired technician who was gifted a pair of Shokz bone conduction headphones by my husband and me recently and all I hear from my mom is that he loves his headphones and that he’s basically always listening to an audiobook now. What someone can do with a little extra time and a good pair of headphones– listen to audiobooks of course.

My cousin’s husband is an avid reader and a collector of presidential biographies and autobiographies. He’s an audiobook listener now more than ever and that’s because of his audiobook subscription. What someone can do with a specialized interest and a subscription– listen to audiobooks of course.

My husband, a casual reader more of magazines and avid consumer of YouTube videos and podcasts about food, health, and fitness, is now incorporating audiobooks into his routine, generally on his drives each day for work. Yes, he still has his radio programs that he has to listen to, but when those aren’t on, he’s got an audiobook on deck. The last few he’s read included one that our sons are reading for English class and a series of books written by a commentator he’s regularly listened to for years. What someone can do with wanting to learn deeply about a topic (or connect with another person reading the same book) and a free library card– listen to audiobooks of course.

And here I am. A high school librarian who thought I’d never listen to an audiobook while working out and now almost exclusively listen to an audiobook on walks and runs, who listens to most books at 1.5x speed, who will listen to just about anything as an audiobook EXCEPT a book originally formatted as a comic or graphic novel, who uses audiobooks as a way to squeeze in more reading especially if it’s in the car, folding laundry, or baking. What someone can do with an endless TBR pile– listen to audiobooks of course.

Long live the audiobook.

 
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Posted by on November 11, 2024 in Audiobooks, Miscellaneous

 

Six sensational stories of friendship

30 Jun

It’s fitting to end this week of posts with books that feature a friendship. We all need friends in this world and these are some of my favorites.

  1. Hilo series by Judd Winick: When an alien kids come down to earth, friends rally around Hilo and welcome him into their circle.
  2. Laid Back Camp manga series by Afro: Camping buddies.
  3. Heavy Vinyl comic series by Carly Usdin illustrated by Nina Vakueva: Girl power friendship set among the backdrop of a 90s record store but they have a secret about what else they do.
  4. A Place at the Table by Saadia Faruqi and Laura Shovan: Differences become shared experiences.
  5. Cornbread & Poppy series by Matthew Cordell: Opposites attract.
  6. Simon Sort of Says by Erin Bow: Friends are there when you need them the most, especially for comic relief.

My wish is that you enjoyed the collection of lists over the past month to find and use in your own classrooms, libraries, personal collections, and TBR piles. Happy summer!

 
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Posted by on June 30, 2024 in Audiobooks, Authors, Childrens, Comics, Fiction, Graphic novels, Illustrators, Manga, Middle grade, Verse, Young Adult

 

Six sensational funny books

22 Jun

Young adult can get downright dark and middle grade weaves in and out of serious topics, so where’s the funny? Here are a few favorites:

  1. Slugfest by Gordon Korman: When you have to go to a summer school gym class called PEE, then you know it’s going to be a good time.
  2. This Will Be Funny Someday by Katie Henry: I mean, it’s right in the title.
  3. The Misfits: A Royal Conundrum by Lisa Yee with art by Dan Santat: A supergroup of misfits and a mystery to solve, what could possibly go right?!?!
  4. American Panda by Gloria Chao: Mom’s voicemails for her 17 year old college student daughter.
  5. Swim the Fly by Don Calame: When you’re going to try to make the swim team for a girl and all of your “bros” have weird goals for the summer, readers are just along for the ride.
  6. Lumberjanes: Unicorn Power by Mariko Tamaki and illustrated by Brooklyn Allen: When aren’t the hardcore lady types from Miss Qiunzella Thiskwin Penniquiqul Thistle Crumpet’s Camp entertaining?
 
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Posted by on June 22, 2024 in Audiobooks, Fiction, Illustrators, Middle grade, Young Adult

 
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