Category: top ten tuesday

Tips for Listening to Audiobooks (Top Ten Tuesday on a Wednesday)

I have not felt like blogging AT ALL lately. My mind is feeling busy juggling a lot of small family things, reading (which makes me happy), decluttering/spring cleaning, and daydreaming about the summer. I am also in the middle of a big EXCITING project that I will talk about more sometime soon. Anyway, the blog has fallen by the wayside and I’m okay with that.

That being said – I couldn’t resist this week’s Top Ten Tuesday prompt from That Artsy Reader Girl. Audio freebie! In the past year or two, I have REALLY gotten into audiobooks. I would say I am probably listening to one at all times – at least every day whenever I can. Here are 10 tips I have for trying out audiobooks if you think it’s something you want to incorporate in your life, but you haven’t had success with yet.

1) Use Bluetooth headphones. I have these ones, but there are hundreds out there now. I know a lot of people who use iPhones like Airpods, but I have never tried them. I can walk around the house cleaning and still be listening to my book at all times. I can listen to my book when I’m shoveling snow or mowing the lawn or out for a run or walk. These are an awesome investment.

2) Speed up the book. I am a fast reader so listening to audiobooks at 1x speed feels like molasses to me. I usually start a book off at 1.75 speed to get a feel for the narrator and then speed it up to 2x or 2.25. My family thinks this sounds like gibberish, but you get used to it pretty fast and it makes a 10-hour audiobook go by in 5 hours.

3) Be picky about the narrator. You can listen to a sample of most audiobooks, and some narrators just don’t work for me so I know I’ll be turning to those books in print instead.

4) Use Libby and Hoopla!! I rarely pay for audiobooks. I have had audible in the past but I always felt like I had to pick an ABSOLUTELY AMAZING book to use a credit on and they just kept piling up. Most books I wanted to listen to on Audible were available at my library with a waitlist, so I never felt like I should spend a credit on them. When my library finally got Hoopla about a year ago, my audiobook consumption went up even more because you can get a book instantly (up to 5 a month, in my case). I always have a few books on hold in overdrive/libby via my library and usually have one or two selected from Hoopla too.

5) Listen to audiobooks when you are busy doing a mindless task. I always joke that audiobooks have made my chores so much more enjoyable. Washing dishes several times a day? Not my favourite thing to do. Listening to books? One of my favourite things to do….so if I listen to my book while I’m washing dishes and cleaning up after supper, I barely even notice that I’m cleaning. The same thing goes for driving. I am fortunate to not have to spend TONS of time commuting in the car but I’d say I do have about an hour or two a week in the car to listen to a book and it makes the time pass much faster.

6) Listen to audiobooks in genres that you want to listen to but have a hard time holding your attention. When I first started listening to audiobooks, I listened almost exclusively to non-fiction and the classics. I still find that I prefer the classics in audio format and I wish so much that I had listened to audio versions of some of these books when I was in university instead of falling asleep while trying to read Shakespeare. Overall, I find most non-fiction more interesting as an audiobook and I love that many of the classics are now available performed by famous (and talented) actors! I am currently listening to Anne of Green Gables narrated by Rachel McAdams and it is absolutely wonderful.

7) Don’t hesitate to check out other free audiobook sources. I know I just mentioned sticking to Hoopla and Libby, but I have also listened to a couple of books via YouTube (these are books in the public domain, mostly). I just make sure to do that at home and not while I’m on the go since they can’t be downloaded but have to be streamed over the internet. This has worked great for kid’s books too. Librivox is another great resource for audiobooks in the public domain.

8) Sign up for a one-month trial to get a free audiobook you really want to listen to. I’ve done this before with Audible, but some other options for audiobook listening are Scribd, Playster, Audiobooks.com, Rakuten Kobo, Audiobooks Now, and Libro.fm is 0.99 for the first month but it also allows you to give back to your community, which is great.

9) Watch for Audible’s sales and daily deals. Also, if you own a kindle version of a book (or if you have Kindle unlimited and you’ve borrowed that book), the audio version is often significantly discounted so keep an eye out for that. I love reading a book and listening simultaneously – I get through books pretty quickly that way. Nadine also shared a great site called Chirp that I was really excited about following (audiobook deals) but it only allows you access if you’re American – which I was SO disappointed about.

10) Share audiobooks! You can always send someone their first audible book (from your library) for free. Here’s a tutorial for how to do it. I’ve done this with a few friends who really wanted to listen to a particular book.

Bonus: I’ve mentioned a lot of these before, but here are some audiobooks I’ve loved in the past few years:

The Martian
The Shadow of the Wind
Harry Potter series
A Man Called Ove
Children of Blood and Bone
The Hate U Give
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Talking as Fast as I Can
Year of Yes
Daring Greatly 
As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of the Princess Bride
Born a Crime
Louise Penny’s Inspector Gamache series (note: the original narrator died after book 10 so there is a new one who I also really like)
When Breath Becomes Air 

Audiobooks I’ve heard are excellent but I read and have not yet listened to:

Daisy Jones & The Six (full cast)
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (also full cast)
Big Little Lies 

I’ll share 14 audiobooks on my TBR on Friday!!!

10 books on my Spring TBR

At the end of 2017, I made a new shelf on Goodreads called TBR-2018. I turn to this shelf any time I’m not sure what to read next, and it also includes books on my shelves that I haven’t read yet (and books on my kindle that I forget about, honestly). I have gotten into a “bad habit” of seeing a review of a book on Instagram or a blog or Goodreads and instantly going to request it from the library right away (and then suspending it so all my holds don’t come in at once). Sometimes I get holds in from the library and I don’t even remember why I thought I wanted to read that book. I’m trying now to just add them to my Goodreads TBR categories and sort those out every once in awhile instead of having all the books come in at once from the library. I’m trying to remind myself that those books will always be there!!! 😉 (Netgalley is just as bad for this).

ANYWAY…I have a few more library books to read and then I am suspending some holds and taking a month or two to read books on my kindle shelf and my shelf at home. Here are a few books on my spring TBR list (linking up with The Artsy Reader Girl today for Top Ten Tuesday):

I am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes – a few online bookish friends have RAVED about this book and I borrowed it from my parents probably a year ago and haven’t gotten to it yet. It sounds intense and fast-paced.

The House at Riverton by Kate Morton – My parents bought me this book for Christmas 12 years ago when it came out and I still haven’t read it. I’ve read and enjoyed The Secret Keeper and The Distant Hours by Kate Morton, but her books require a big time commitment so I’ve shied away from them sometimes.

Get Lucky by Katherine Center – I’ve had this on my kindle for over a year and I love her other books so this one should be good too. I think I only have this one and one other to go before I finish her backlist.

A Conjuring of Light by V.E. Schwab Kristen was kind enough to mail me this a SUPER long time ago and again, I just need to commit the time to it because I have heard that the ending to this trilogy is amazing.

Us Against You by Fredrik Backman – I had been stalking Netgalley several times a week to see when this book would be on there and then they e-mailed it to me and it was one of the best days ever. I loved Beartown, and this one sounds excellent too. (Comes out June 5)

The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory – waiting for this one to come in at the library before I suspend holds…I have heard mostly wonderful reviews of this new release

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy – I’m planning to listen to the Maggie Gyllenhaal narration of this one on Audible. I have tried to read War and Peace at least 10 times with no success but I have heard this work of Tolstoy’s is a bit more approachable and the audio version feels like the way to go 🙂

Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery (re-read) – I haven’t read this in quite a few years and I am going to listen to Rachael McAdam’s narration this time.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows (re-read) – I want to listen to the audio version of this before seeing the movie in May – CAN’T WAIT to see the movie fyi 😉 The trailer is here. It looks SO GOOD!!!

You Think It, I’ll Say It by Curtis Sittenfeld – I have this one from Netgalley and though I haven’t read much of her work (only Eligible, which I loved), I look forward to this one.

Have you read any of these? What else should I add? I have a TBR list a mile long so this is just some of the many books I’ll read this spring, I’m sure! 🙂

Top Ten Tuesday: 10 Bookish Settings I’d Love to Visit

This topic from Top Ten Tuesday over at The Broke and the Bookish resonated with me, so here I’ve included 10 bookish settings I’d love to visit (or visit again). Any that I missed?! 🙂

1) Hogwarts – OF COURSE I could spend a lifetime exploring this castle… 🙂 I’d also put the Weasley’s house on this list too but Hogwarts is first and foremost.

2) Three Pines from Louise Penny’s Inspector Gamache series – I’ve been there! Kind of!! We were in Louise Penny’s town this summer and I would have loved to spend more time there. The whole area is absolutely stunning.

3) Edenbrooke – as well as the beautiful grounds!!

4) Pemberley from Pride & Prejudice – preferably when The Darcys are home and there’s a ball going on 😉

5) Narnia from Chronicles of Narnia – I’d definitely want to bring a friend with me though, or maybe my own Lucy 🙂

6) Luna from The Lunar Chronicles – but I’d want to be there after Winter so that Levana isn’t around…

7) Terabithia from Bridge to Terabithia – it just seems like such a carefree and magical place 🙂 (PS: If you haven’t read this book, it is amazing and a huge cryfest)

8) Florin from The Princess Bride – would love to hang out with Buttercup and Wesley!!! Just to be clear though, I’m going to steer clear of the Fire Swamp…

9) Green Gables from Anne of Green Gables – I’ve been there when I was younger but it is wonderful and I’d love to go BACK there with my kiddos, so I’m counting it. New Moon is up there too, although it is more fictional!!

10) And this one is technically kind of from a movie, but I’d say the library from Beauty and the Beast (also depicted in Lost in a Book) – what is NOT to love about it??

Plus one honourable mention: Rivendell from Lord of the Rings

Top Ten Tuesday: Mothers in books

My Mother’s Day weekend was lovely overall. We celebrated with my  wonderful mother on Friday night and then had a pretty low-key day on Saturday with gorgeous weather outside with the girls. Saturday night, I went out for supper & to a concert with a friend  (AKA a break from the bedtime routine), and then celebrated with my in-law’s at our house on Sunday. For some reason this year I felt a bit more emotional ON Mother’s Day than usual. My girls finally understand (and LOVE to celebrate everything), so they had a cute card and lovely gifts for me on Sunday. We are also gearing up for my sister in law’s wedding this coming weekend so they just got home and it was wonderful to see them. Mostly I just find that sometimes I look at how big my kids are getting and feel this sense of pride/nostalgia/joy/sadness/overwhelming love and adoration/fatigue all wrapped into one. I guess that’s motherhood, in a nutshell.

This weekend, I thought of a few book-ish mothers or mother figures that I either admire or enjoyed as characters in some beloved books. Here’s my list, linking up with The Broke and the Bookish for Top Ten Tuesday today (in no order):

1) Molly Weasley, Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling – Obviously. She is such a passionate person and so willing to take people (i.e. Harry) in as her own. Not to mention she knows how to keep her children (relatively) in line. I wish I could say we named our daughter Molly after her, which we didn’t, but could have 😉

2) Rosie Walsh, This is How it Always Is – I have mentioned my love for this book quite recently, but the family is just too adorable. The mom is a busy family doctor who also manages to navigate parenthood and keep the spark alive with her husband. I really like her.

3) Marmee, Little Women by Louise May Alcott – Marmee is so good to her girls, and they love her for it. She knows what each girl needs and tries her best to ensure that they all grow and learn in their individual ways.

4) Fatima (Amat’s mom) & Kira Anderrson in Beartown by Frederick Backman – I promise I will stop talking about this book someday, but today isn’t that day. Amat’s mother’s sacrifices for his success are inspiring, and Kira’s devotion to justice is admirable.

5) Violet Bridgerton, The Bridgertons series by Julia Quinn – I love this series and the mother who heads up the entire family without her beloved husband who died much too soon.

6) Jess Thomas, One Plus One by JoJo Moyes – Although it’s hard to agree with all of the actions Jess takes in this book, her intention was honourable and she really does her best for her children. Plus, this book is just so much fun.

7) Marilla Cuthbert, Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery – a stern mother figure who is finally swayed by the girl with the carrot coloured hair. This relationship is so heartwarming.

8) Katie Nolan, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith – she taught her children how to be tough and appreciate their blessings. She was such a positive role model even when things were so hard for their family.

9) Vianne Mauriac, The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah – Such a strong mother. I could never do what she does in this book.

10) Kavita Merchant, Secret Daughter by Shilpi Somaya Gowda – the hardships that this woman went through to give her daughter a better life are appalling and immense. This is such a powerful story about the true love of a parent.

Who are some of your favourite moms in literature?? If I were picking someone humorous, I’d go for Mrs. Bennet in Pride & Prejudice, but she kinda drives me a LITTLE bit crazy (which is her purpose, obviously!)

Best Books I read in 2015 (Top Ten Tuesday)

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted over at The Broke and the Bookish, and this week’s topic is the Best Books you read in 2015 sorted however you’d like. Since many of the books I read this year were not actually released in 2015, I’m going to categorize mine as the best books that I read this year in general 🙂 I had a few great re-reads this year too (Pride and Prejudice!) but I’m not counting them in this list.

I am planning to link up this post with a “Best of” Show us your Books with Steph and Jana on December 29, but I wanted to post it today too. 

When I decided to come up with this list, I originally just sat and thought of all the books that were most memorably the BEST in my mind. Then I went and looked at the books that I rated 5 stars on Goodreads, and picked out my favourites. These are the books that really stayed with me the most this year:

EDITED Dec 30 to add:
I am so disappointed I only read 98 of my goal of 100 books on Goodreads this year, BUT I read a lot of great books! My reading has really fallen short in the past month (hello, busy Christmas season), but I am slowing getting back to it now that things have settled down. I have a few goals posts coming up in the next few days too!!

1) The Martian
I am obviously not alone in my love for this book, and I also really enjoyed the movie. I couldn’t stop talking about this book for weeks and I encouraged everyone that I know to read it. I *loved* it on audiobook. I will probably re-read this someday, but maybe not right away. If you haven’t read it, please do!! Even if Science Fiction is not your thing, I think almost anyone who likes books would appreciate this one 🙂 Mark Watney is an amazing character and the story is so different from anything I’ve read lately.

2) Jane Eyre
I bought this at a used book store over 5 years ago and only got to it this year. I listened to parts of it via Librivox and read parts of it too. I loved this story and Jane Eyre is an amazing character who makes strong, feminine life decisions. This book is a classic for a reason and I’m glad I finally read it. 

3) Me Before You
This book made me feel a wide range of emotions and it will definitely stay with me for a long time to come. I am considering re-reading it before I read After You next year, but I think from all of the reviews I’ve read that it might be better to just read After You on its own. Either way, this book made me think in a way that I hadn’t expected.

4) Winter (and really, the entire Lunar Chronicles series)
I’ve professed my love and excitement for this book enough, but series like this one really remind me why I love to read. 

5) Edenbrooke
I enjoyed this book and Blackmoore this year. I’ve heard that Heir of Edenbrooke was a bit of a letdown, but it’s pretty short, so there’s no reason for me not to read it (probablly this week, actually). I loved these characters and this entire storyline SO much and I think I will actually end up purchasing this book and re-reading it and highlighting parts of it, etc. etc.

6) Little Women
I should have read this book when I was a teenager. I loved it so much at this age too, especially near the end when they are all “becoming adults” 🙂 This book made me feel a wide range of emotions, and I enjoyed the entire story.

7) The Royal We
For awhile I was a bit ashamed of how much I loved this book and my husband teased me a little bit when he learned what I was up so late reading about, but honestly, this book was smart and HIGHLY entertaining and I loved it. End of story. It may not be of the same writing caliber as Jane Eyre, but I absolutely wholly loved it all. This book might not be for everyone, but it will be for most people 😉 (haha)

8) The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
I really liked the letter format of this book. It felt like you were really getting into the characters’ mindset and thoughts and it felt more intimate that way. I was also overwhelmingly excited by the ending 🙂

9) The Sea of Tranquility
I didn’t expect to love this book as much as I did. It was incredibly raw and not altogether happy, but I really, really loved it. I especially loved Josh’s character (obviously). You should definitely check this one out if you haven’t yet. 

10) Three Way Tie::Big Little Lies, The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry and Fangirl – these were all books that I finished quite quickly because I loved them so much. I was on the edge of my seat for all of Big Little Lies. I loved the character of A.J. Fikry and I enjoyed his bookish nature. The characters in Fangirl made me feel happy and while I didn’t enjoy Carry On quite as much, Fangirl and Attachments are probably my favourite Rainbow Rowell novels. 

What are the best books that you read this year? I might add a few more thoughts to this post by the end of December 😉





Top Ten Tuesday: Favourite Quotes from 14 Books I read in 2015

So far, I have read a number of absolutely amazing books this year. I’d say, in some ways, it has been my best year of reading. I owe this to discovering some book blogs, to finding time to read on my commute, and to giving audiobooks a try. It was hard for me to narrow down the top 10 quotes I loved from books I read this year, so I’m doing quotes from 14 books instead. Sorry!! 😉

Although these books weren’t all my favourites, these quotes really stayed with me. I am planning to start keeping a quote book next year (maybe even digitally if I get lazy), because I really like looking back on certain parts of books and remembering how reading those words made me feel.

Here are my favourites lately, to link up with The Broke & The Bookish for Top Ten Tuesday:

Sea of Tranquility (Katja Millay)
“I know at that moment what he’s given me and it isn’t a chair. It’s an invitation, a welcome, the knowledge that I am accepted here. He hasn’t given me a place to sit. He’s given me a place to belong.”

The Martian (Andy Weir)
“They say once you grow crops somewhere, you have officially ‘colonized’ it. So technically, I colonized Mars.In your face, Neil Armstrong!” 

I especially loved this line in the movie 🙂

The One (Kiera Cass)
“You are not the world, but you are everything that makes the world good.”



Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
“There is no happiness like that of being loved by your fellow creatures, and feeling that your presence is an addition to their comfort.” 

Pride & Prejudice (Jane Austen)
Too many to choose from, really, but here are two of my favourites:

“I cannot fix on the hour, or the spot, or the look or the words, which laid the foundation. It is too long ago. I was in the middle before I knew that I had begun.” 

“An unhappy alternative is before you, Elizabeth. From this day you must be a stranger to one of your parents. Your mother will never see you again if you do not marry Mr. Collins, and I will never see you again if you do.” 

Edenbrooke (Julianne Donaldson)
“You are bright and fun and delightfully unexpected. You are brave and compassionate and selfless. And you are lovely beyond measure. I want you, all of you, just the way you are.” He drew in a breath. “If you will have me.” 

Blackmoore (Julianne Donaldson)


“I think the most profound beauty is found in what our hearts love.” 

Where’d You Go Bernadette (Maria Sempele)
“That’s right,’ she told the girls. ‘You are bored. And I’m going to let you in on a little secret about life. You think it’s boring now? Well, it only gets more boring. The sooner you learn it’s on you to make life interesting, the better off you’ll be.” 

The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry (Gabrielle Zevin)
“We are not quite novels. We are not quite short stories. In the end, we are collected works.” 

“We aren’t the things we collect, acquire, read. We are, for as long as we are here, only love. The things we loved. The people we loved. And these, I think these really do live on” 

“You know everything you need to know about a person from the answer to the question, What is your favorite book?” 

Attachments (Rainbow Rowell)
“I’d know you in the dark,” he said. “From a thousand miles away. There’s nothing you could become that I haven’t already fallen in love with.”

 The Guernsey Literary And Potato Peel Pie Society (Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows)
“Reading good books ruins you for enjoying bad books.” 

The Royal We (Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan)
“Whatever this is… it doesn’t happen twice in a lifetime. I’d rather work at this with you than settle for less with anyone else.” 

Cress (Marissa Meyer)
“Maybe there isn’t such a thing as fate. Maybe it’s just the opportunities we’re given, and what we do with them. I’m beginning to think that maybe great, epic romances don’t just happen. We have to make them ourselves.” 

Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
“I’ve got the key to my castle in the air, but whether I can unlock the door remains to be seen.”


What are some of your favourite quotes from books you’ve read lately?? Do you keep track of them? Goodreads is so helpful for this, but I really think the quote journal is going to be fun for me moving forward!!!



Fall To-Be-Read Books (Top Ten Tuesday)

Last week, I jotted down a list of books that I really wanted to get to this fall, so this week’s Top Ten Tuesday is a perfect topic for me! My own list has more than 10, but I’ll share my favourites! I’m waiting for a few of them from the library, but I am hoping I’ll get to all of these before Christmas 🙂

All images via Goodreads
The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith aka J.K. Rowling 
I read the first in this series and although it was a bit slow at the beginning, I was hooked by the end. Looking forward to following Strike’s story in this one. There’s a third in the series coming out this fall too, so maybe I’ll get to that one before Christmas.
Carry On by Rainbow Rowell
I loved Fangirl and I can’t wait to read this story about the fan fiction 🙂 Comes out in October!!
Winter by Marissa Meyer
The much-anticipated finale to the Lunar Chronicles…comes out in November and I can’t wait to see how it all ends. I’m listening to The Fairest right now, and it’s an interesting perspective on Queen Levana. 
The Hypnotist’s Love Story by Liane Moriarty
This will be my second Liane Moriarty book, so I hope it lives up to how much I loved Big Little Lies!
Persuasion by Jane Austen
I can’t believe I haven’t read this yet, but I can’t wait. I know the storyline (although I haven’t seen the movie either!) and I think I will really enjoy it. I might listen to some of it on audiobook and read parts of it…we’ll see how it goes.
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
This book is recommended for fans of The Martian (even though it is not at all the same) – It seems like it will be a fast paced read.
Edenbrooke by Julianne Donaldson
I’ve heard nothing but good things about this regency book and I think it will tie in well to all of my Jane Austen reading over the next few months 🙂
I’m already partway through this short read and feeling so motivated to GET RID OF THINGS. Now if only I can get my husband on board?? 😉
At the Water’s Edge by Sara Gruen
I loved Water for Elephants and I have heard this one isn’t quite as good, but it’s still worth a read.
My True Love Gave to Me  (Various authors/ short stories)
To read in November (or sooner – whenever the library gives it to me?) in anticipation of a wonderful holiday season!!!
To check out some other Top Ten Tuesday lists, go to the link-up HERE. Thanks to the Broke and the Bookish for hosting! 
What’s on your reading list for the fall???