What I've Heard- Watch Me Disappear

I really enjoyed reading Watch Me Disappear by Janelle Brown last summer and listening to the audiobook was just as good. When I finished reading it, I was left with my head spinning. Listening to the audio version allowed me to see what was going on that I totally missed the first time through this wild journey. Billie is an avid outdoorswoman, but she breaks the simple rule of not hiking alone. When she doesn't return from one such trip her family is left with more questions than answers.

This book is exciting and fun and it will keep your attention to the very end. Mostly read by Tavia Gilbert, the narration is really good. Part of the book, however, is read by Kaleo Griffith. He is fine when he is reading the words of Jonathan, Billie's husband, but when he reads any female voice it is a little like nails on a chalkboard to me. Some male narrators can handle female voicing. Jim Dale, for instance, is wonderful. Mostly though, I find that it just doesn't work for me. Fortunately, Griffith's parts are very short and soon allow us to return to the much more pleasing Tavia Gilbert.

I've recommended this book to so many people over the last few months. Please allow me to do the same with you. I think you'll really enjoy it.

Other People's Houses by Abbi Waxman

I really enjoyed Abbi Waxman's The Garden of Small Beginnings so when I saw that she had another book coming out, I was very excited to read it. Other People's Houses did not disappoint. In this book, Frances is the dependable neighbor who drives carpool, volunteers at the three different schools her children attend, and takes care of anyone and everyone she meets. One day while stopping by her neighbor's home to pick up something one of the carpool children has forgotten, Frances inadvertently witnesses the lady of the house shagging someone in the middle of the living room floor. Someone not her husband. Oh, dear- neighborhood drama.

This book is hilarious and so wryly written, full of sarcastic asides and such an accurate picture of a the life of a stay-at-home/ volunteer mom and wife you will wonder if Waxman has been peeking in your windows. Or maybe it's just me and I've accidentally just given you too much information about myself. Oh, well.

For instance, this tidbit seemed quite on the button:

Marriage had so little to do with the bedroom, and so much to do with every other room in the house.

And this about the problem with school volunteer positions:

Like childbirth, volunteering to organize a school event was way more painful that you expected it to be, but the minute the event was over you forgot how awful it was. It's the only possible explanation for why those lovely but exhausted women of it every year.

If you don't know what she means by that you haven't spent enough time decorating a school gym to look like a tropical getaway or wrangling a dozen of other people's children on a day-long field trip.

Really, this book was wonderful, though I was a tiny bit disappointed in the last little couple of chapters as it felt almost rushed to finish. Something about it didn't quite fit with the rest of the story, but I can let it go for such a fun book. I will give you the warning that the author does not shy away from the use of most swear words and she is particularly fond of the f-word.

Other than that, it was just delightful.

Ready Player One by Earnest Cline

For too long I've had Ready Player One by Ernest Cline on my shelf to read. Actually it was on my virtual "to-read" shelf for a couple of years and then I bought it and put it on my physical "to-read" shelf hoping that would help me get to it sooner, but it still sat there for nearly a year. Finally I could wait no longer. With the film being released I wanted to get it read before it left theaters. Ready Player One follows Wade Watts, a gunter (or Egg Hunter) searching for the clues in a colossal virtual scavenger hunt where the prize is basically the entire internet. This scavenger hunt has been created by a videogame expert who is obsessed with the 1980s. This obsession plays an integral part in the hunt, requiring any gunter worth his or her salt to be familiar with every tiny bit of '8os minutiae.

This book will highly appeal to anyone who spent time in front of an Apple IIe or an Atari 800XL. '80s kids will love all the television and movie references. Anyone who enjoys role playing games is sure to appreciate all of the D&D module mentions. I was alive in the '80s, but I really consider myself more of a '90s kid. The television and movie references I mostly got until the author entered into obscure Japanese Manga; then I was lost. I didn't play video games or D&D either, but I understood their purpose in the book. I can see how my teenage son would like it, too. He's going to read it next. 

Honestly, there were times that I skimmed a few paragraphs when it got too detailed about the technical aspects of the games. Otherwise, I found this book very exciting and difficult to put down. A friend said her husband called it the best book he's ever read. I don't think it affected me quite like it did him, but it was good. I'm excited to see how they did with the film version.