Great App: Audible

As you all know, I’ve been listening to podcasts while I walk and drive for a few years now. I blogged about some of my favorites here. There is literally not a topic you can’t find in podcast form – from the history of how chimneys work to mastering self love. I still love podcasts, but I must admit I have recently become a convert and am now completely obsessed with listening to books on tape. A friend and I recently spent 10 hours (5 up and 5 on the return) in a car driving our daughters to sleep away camp. She proposed we listen to a book on tape and introduced me to the site Audible.com.

We listened to When Life Gives You Lululemons, by Lauren Weisberger on our road trip. It’s another salacious tale by Weisberger with swears and sex aplenty, so we couldn’t listen until the girls were no longer in the car. That meant we didn’t finish the whole book during the ride home so I downloaded the Audible app when I got home to finish the book on my own. The author takes some wild liberties when recreating “Greenwich” and all that unfolds in the lives of Emily Charlton (you first met her in The Devil Wears Prada) and the cast of characters in this novel, but it is highly entertaining nonetheless. There are over-the-top parties, secret romances, naughty politicians, and outrageous outfits – the perfect equation for a light summer read.

Next up I listened to The Great Alone, by Kristin Hannah. Not surprising to anyone who read The Nightingale and knows Hannah’s style, this book was a major tearjerker. The book takes place soon after the Vietnam War has ended. The novel follows the life of a man with severe PTSD and what that looks like and how it affects his wife and daughter. They find themselves moving off the grid to the Alaskan wilds, and that’s where it becomes really interesting. The most fascinating part for me was Hannah’s ability to completely transport the reader to Alaska. In the dead of winter, where temps reach negative 30 reglarly, the reader can feel the unbearably cold winter air blowing around you. And you can almost smell the 50 foot pines, damp moss, and crisp ocean air. It’s a love story like no other, but not just between the main character and her first love. Hannah does an incredible job capturing the love shared between a mother and daughter as they battle against the odds of a wild land and a man whose demons threaten to destroy them all. Such a good book.

I’m halfway through The Alice Network, and loving it so far. A full review to come!