Recent Adventures in Audio
I know the sidebar is meant to capture recent books I’ve read, but I keep thinking that I need to make this blog more mobile-friendly and ditch the sidebar entirely—if I can even remember how to CSS anymore—so I’m going to post a few links here.
All of these are Audible links because that’s mainly how I consume books these days—listening while cleaning the house, doing laundry, running errands, baking, biking, and puzzling. I did recently read a paper book (if I can remember what it was by the end of this post, I’ll include it in the list), and it felt decadent to spend time just sitting and reading. I think sometimes I kid myself that binge-watching The Great British Bake Off or Downton Abbey isn’t decadent only because I’m also doing a puzzle or (ostensibly) chopping vegetables at the same time. In the case of the baking show, I'm doing a lot more standing in front of the iPad than I am chopping.
In reverse order of listening:
Uncanny Valley by Anna Wiener
I particularly enjoyed how she referred to companies and apps descriptively rather than by name (e.g., "the social network everyone hated"). I'm betting I can convince Austen to read this just for the satisfaction of being able to identify all of them.
The Ride of a Lifetime by Bob Iger
Simultaneously a chronicle of a career, a meditation on management, a justification of acquisition, and a love letter to Steve Jobs. I enjoyed all of it, but I wish Iger had read the whole thing himself instead of just the introduction.
Disappearing Earth by Julia Phillips
This is probably the most inventive novel I've read since Colson Whitehead's The Underground Railroad (which I started as a paper book and finished as an audiobook and preferred the latter, as the narrator was excellent), though it's completely different. I love that its focus and point of view is on and about women, and it made a remote part of Russia feel completely contemporary and relevant.
I won't bother to list all the political and current events books I've listened to in the past few months, though She Said was good, and I recommend The Fifth Risk by Michael Lewis.
As promised, one more link: Stir by Jessica Fechtor is, I think, the last paper book I read (over Thanksgiving). I thought maybe there was another since then, but if so, I can't bring it to mind.