Book #44 in 2024 3.0 out of 5 (photo from Goodreads)
I listened to the audiobook version of this which was ready by Danny Trejo. His reading is quite choppy but speeding up the audio helped with that. After a while I started to get used to his cadence. He has a distinct voice that I could pick out even when streaming to my cochlear implant.
I’ve seen Trejo in various movies but I didn’t know anything about his life. He had a really hard life as a kid being in and out of prison. He had drug issues. He dealt with cancer. He had a stroke. His kids dealt with addiction. In a way it’s amazing he’s still alive.
He tells stories in a manner in which it feels like you’re just hanging out and he’s talking to you. He realizes his faults and learns how to get help and get better. And he looks to help others with addiction.
Book #43 in 2024 4.0 out of 5 (photo from Goodreads)
This was an interesting book for me. It’s full of messed up characters and I kept thinking, “What the heck and I reading?!” None of the characters are especially likeable but that’s partly the point.
Amanda is grieving the loss of her daughter after she was murdered and her husband after he takes his own life feeling responsible for not watching and protecting her. She meets Wendy who has had a similar experience and loss. The two decide to help each other with revenge on the attackers that took their loved ones.
Book #42 in 2024 4.5 out of 5 (photo from Goodreads)
I listened to this as an audiobook as part of my cochlear implant rehab. While Michelle Obama’s voice didn’t sound “normal” I could hear it come through from time to time. At times when she said Barack I heard it as The Rock which made me chuckle.
I enjoyed listening to this. I felt like I got to know Michelle Obama and her family on a personal level. It felt real and not fake. I liked how the Obamas tried to shield their kids but also wanted them to do as many normal kid things as they could.
Book #41 in 2024 5.0 out of 5 (photo from Goodreads)
I really enjoyed this book—more than I thought I would after reading the cover. I enjoyed the characters, the story, and the lessons learned. It’s funny and sad and leaves you with good feelings.
Kathy’s job is to escort souls to “processing”. After someone dies the soul goes to be processed. Conner has died but his soul has gone missing. Kathy finds him but he’s unwilling to go with her, claiming he was murdered. It’s up to Kathy to figure out out what happened with Conner’s death within 45 days or Conner will remain a ghost.
While this is the author’s debut novel, it appears that it’s the first in a series. I’m interested in reading more about these characters.
I liked how Kathy and Conner’s relationship developed and what they learned from each other. I even like Simon and Jo.
If foul language offends you this may not be as enjoyable for you. Conner is a teen who swears a lot.
Book #40 in 2024 3.5 out of 5 (photo from Goodreads)
This is a decent but dark mystery/thriller even with some flaws.
After missing for two years, Ellie Black is found. Chelsey is the detective trying to figure out what happened to Ellie. Chesey’s sister went missing 20 years ago, which is one reason she became a detective and wants to solve missing girls’ cases.
Ellie isn’t forthcoming with information about what happened to her and where she has been. It’s up to Chelsey to try and get information from her so she can catch the person behind the kidnapping and potentially having others have the same fate.
Book #39 in 2024 4.0 out of 5 (photo from Goodreads)
I was able to read an early release of this book. The author has hearing loss in one ear. She writes about losing her hearing and how her life spiraled into trauma. She dealt with life-debilitating vertigo early on, and had to give up her career and take a look at her life.
I enjoyed reading about Nin’s journey, especially her relating things in life to nature, animals, and gardening. She emphasizes that you never know what life will throw at you. You don’t know how you’ll react. You may find that you don’t like parts of yourself. You may also find a way to rise above it all.
This is a real look at how a disability can be jarring, especially when it comes on unannounced. Nin’s hardships are real, but so are her triumphs.
Book #38 in 2024 3.0 out of 5 (photo from Goodreads)
I’ve figured out that memoirs are good to stream during the day when I’m working because I can pay attention and work but don’t need to concentrate enough to pay attention to an intricate storyline. I’ve not read many memoirs so I’ve had to find people I think are relatively interesting. It’s also nice that so far the memoir audiobooks I’ve listened to have been narrated by the author. This helps me recognize and hear something close to their real voice through my cochlear implant.
Friends started when I was in college. It was a staple each week for a few years – a group of my own friends would watch each week. I’m not one to get starry-eyed with celebrities so I don’t usually follow their personal stories or necessarily keep track of what movies and TV shows they’re in outside of what I’ve watched myself. Such is the case with Matthew Perry.
After his role as Chandler Bing I’m not sure I’ve watched him in anything else. I was only loosely aware of his drug and alcohol addiction throughout his life, well after watching Friends.
I feel like his book read (or listened in my case) like you’re in the mind of an addict rather than someone just retelling stories. This is both good and bad. It felt like it was all over the place. I often didn’t know what year something was happening and didn’t feel like trying to figure it out based on various clues like when the LA Kings won the Stanley Cup. Many things and themes are repeated. And repeated.
This repeat of the addiction then getting sort of better then a relapse made me wonder how Perry lived as long as he did. Reading this after his death (a year ago) did make me go look up whether a cause of death was determined. I found that a drug was in his system and people around him have been charged with getting him the drug when he shouldn’t have had it. So even after an ending of the book that seems somewhat promising Perry went back to his old ways.
I give him credit for sharing his story and being honest, but it made me not want to be friends with him had I ever had the chance. While there are glimpses of him wanting to help others and himself, his ego shines through all of that. He might have been on a different path had he let someone into his inner circle that he felt he could trust. He mentions feeling like he could call any of his Friends co-stars anytime. Yet he never reached out.
Book #37 in 2024 3.0 out of 5 (photo from Goodreads)
I’m not usually interested in reading famous people’s autobiographies but a friend suggested this one to me and said I needed to listen to the audiobook. So as part of my cochlear implant rehab I decided to listen. While it didn’t sound exactly like Matthew’s voice as I streamed it, I did hear glimpses of it from time to time.
I do think that McConaughey is a good story teller. He has a nice voice that draws you in, but sometimes I didn’t care about the stories. I’m not sure if that was because I don’t care about him as a Hollywood star (I neither like or dislike him) or if I felt some of the things he shared were irrelevant.
I preferred listening to his stories from before he became a star compared to those afterward. I did like some of the overall themes in the book such as going for greenlights and that yellow and red lights will eventually turn green.
Book #36 in 2024 4.0 out of 5 (photo from Goodreads)
I found this book to be quite humorous. I wish it were longer. It takes about 15-20 minutes to read. Bonus for there being little blubs about the animals mentioned throughout at the end.
This is a funny way to make yourself feel better as a mom as you compare yourself to animal moms that do terrible things to their kids.
Book #35 in 2024 4.0 out of 5 (photo from Goodreads)
I never read this book as a kid but I enjoyed it as an adult. I listened to the audiobook as I read along with a physical book as part of my cochlear implant rehab.
Miyax finds herself lost in Alaska as she runs away from an undesirable home situation in hopes of making it to San Francisco to meet a pen pal who calls her Julie. While on her own, she learns to communicate with a wolf pack.
I liked the nature aspect of this book, especially in the first and last parts. I’ve always been interested in the ways animals communicate with each other – their own kind, other animals, and even humans. Miyax finds herself struggling to survive and learns about herself and how she feels about traditional Eskimo life and newer ways of thinking.
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