June Reading Wrap-Up: All Audio, All The Time

Reading Wrap-up

Whew! It’s been a while since I’ve wrapped up a month of reading! Since I started working full-time again, I’ve been hitting the audiobooks hard (I love you, Overdrive) and I’ve been incredibly pleased with June’s line up.

Between the World and Me – Ta-Nehisi Coates

I started this book a while back, but ended up having to return my copy to the library before I could finish it. Towards the end of May/beginning of June, I finally made it to the top of the wait list for an audio copy. This book was… just… wow. I think about this book a lot, especially when the author spoke about how fear is often the emotion that drives violence. I look at the incarcerated men with which I work daily and see how that fear could have been a factor in their behavior.

A Fighting Chance – Elizabeth Warren

Of my June reads, and possibly all of 2016 as well, this is one of my favorites. Warren has been fighting for everything she’s ever accomplished: going to college, being a working mom, becoming a law professor, all her political work from the outside, and her arduous run for Senate. She’s a remarkable woman, despite all the shit she’s been getting from some Bernie supporters as well as the presumptive Republican nominee. However, I will say that her book convinced me that I will never, ever, not in a million years, ever run for public office. Nope, nope, nope.

The Restaurant at the End of the Universe (Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Universe, #2) – Douglas Adams

I know I just read this last year, but after listening to my boy, Stephen Fry, narrate Hitchhiker’s Guide, I decided to give the whole trilogy (in five parts) an audio go. This installment was narrated by another British fave of mine, Martin Freeman. Yet again, I love the absurd brilliance of this story, and I think it was even better the second time around. I’m currently on the wait list for Book 3.

Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore – Robin Sloane

I heard about this through some social media buzz, and, I’ll admit, I’m a sucker for a book about books. I didn’t really know what to expect from this, but I loved it! Personally, I believe you cannot go wrong with bookish secret societies and super computing powers. Additionally, the narrator, Ari  Fliakos, gave a stellar performance. I highly recommend that if you, my dear readers, decide to pick this one up, go with audio. I was so enthralled, I listened to almost all of the ~8 hours in a single Saturday.

Fahrenheit 451 – Ray Bradbury

I told y’all I liked books about books, didn’t I? Sadly, I must confess that this is my first reading of his classic. *hides face in shame* Well, let me tell ya, I picked the wrong election cycle to start picking up such discomfiting dystopian dramas as The Handmaid’s Tale and Fahrenheit 451. Holy T.A.R.D.I.S. of Gallifrey, these stories are chilling and eerily relevant for 2016. Nevermind the whole burning books thing, which is enough to make me squirm. What really got me was the sheer lack of thought demonstrated by characters like Mildred Montag; it reminded me of too much of how accepting some people are of what they are told without ever thinking about the situation themselves.

Coming up in July…

The Namesake – Jhumpa Lahiri

This one’s for book club. I’m just getting started so it’s too soon to tell.

The Color of Magic – Terry Prachett

I’m giving Discworld a try because it seems right up my alley. This one is actually an eBook, so it’s slow going. I read the first chapter and it got my head swimming, but I think I’m going to love it!

How was your month, readers?!

4 thoughts on “June Reading Wrap-Up: All Audio, All The Time

  1. So much audio! I see a lot of audio in my future, too, as things get busier and I get too lazy to hold up physical or Kindle books. 😉

    I’ve seen mixed feelings go around about Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore, but I’m with you on thinking that the premise sounds marvelous. I think I’ll take your advice to go with audio if/when I get around to it. Eight hours is just short enough to tempt me toward it sooner.

    I really ought to reread Adams’s work. It’s been way too long!

    I hope your July is full of similarly stellar reads. 🙂

    P.S. I’m not sure if you’ve posted much about it before, but I’d love to hear about the work you’re doing with incarcerated men!

    1. I work as an addictions counselor in a residential therapeutic community. I do individual and group counseling along with coping skills/psychoeducation groups. On top of that, I am helping some of them study to earn their GED.

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