Audio Books

A month ago I posted about a new book series I was addicted to. The third book, City of Glass, was about to be released at the end of March.

I am one of those cheap people who doesn’t like to buy new books. The thought of paying $15-$20 for a book that I can find used in a year or two for less than half that amount makes me sick. An even better option is getting it at the library for free. So I waited about a week to see if it would show up at either of my libraries (the Lincoln library or the Rocklin library). It didn’t, so I finally called the Lincoln library and asked them if they were going to buy it since they had the first two books in the series. The lady immediately responded that they would since it was part of a series.

Two or three weeks went by without the book showing up.

The Rocklin library finally happened to get the book…but only on CD. I was a little bummed, because I really prefer to read a book. I feel like I always end up missing something while listening. My mind wanders off or the voice of the person reading the story is annoying.

I kept checking the library’s site everyday to see if the book had come in, but finally decided to start listening to the story while deep cleaning my kitchen last week. It was great! Cleaning is so much better when you are listening to a good book. I actually kept doing random things in the kitchen way longer than I would have normally just because I wanted to keep listening.

So I loaded up on 3 more audio books to listen to while I begin the HUGE project of repainting the rooms in our house. I started tonight in the guest room with the primer and enjoyed listening to the third book in The Underland Chronicles series, Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods.

So far so good!

RecoMonday: The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare

I started City of Bones last Monday during naptime and immediately was pulled in and put a movie on after naptime so I could keep reading. Then I stayed up until 2:30 that night finishing it.

Tuesday I went to the library to pick up City of Ashes and didn’t let myself start it until the kids were in bed for the night. I read about half of it until 1am and finished the rest of it today during naptime and video time.

The books aren’t amazing, but they were very entertaining to read and fast-paced. I don’t think they’re as good as the Twilight series, but they are similar with werewolves and vampires. The main girl, Clary, starts to see people that others can’t see and finds out she is a Shadowhunter – someone who hunts and kills demons. Many reviewers match it to Buffy and the Vampire Slayer. It’s also similar to Harry Potter.

There is a love triangle (of course). There are twists and turns (a few too many for me). And there is lots of action and some really good dialogue. Sometimes Clare’s descriptions are confusing, but it still kept me hooked.

And luckily I started this series at the perfect time. The 3rd and final book comes out this week.

Starting Read-Aloud Books

Last week I read a post at this blog about reading to kids.

Emily wrote that she was currently reading aloud The Indian in the Cupboard to her 5 yr old and 3 yr old. My immediate thought was, “Are my kids old enough to listen to a book without pictures?”

Well, we tried it and Blake is definitely able to do it and enjoyed it a lot. Clark isn’t quite there yet, but was able to listen while laying in bed sometimes.

We started reading James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl last Thursday.

We finished reading it yesterday. It only took us 6 days. I thought I might read a chapter or two each night, but Blake wanted to read it during the day. All the time. I’m not sure he quite understood that we weren’t supposed to finish it in one sitting.

So I stocked up at the library and am looking forward to reading longer books that will be more interesting for Dan and me as well.

New Book Addiction

A fun new series I’ve been reading.

I started City of Bones on Monday during naptime and immediately was pulled in and put a movie on after naptime so I could keep reading. Then I stayed up until 2:30 that night finishing it.

Tuesday I went to the library to pick up City of Ashes and didn’t let myself start it until the kids were in bed for the night. I read about half of it until 1am and finished the rest of it today during naptime and video time.

The books aren’t amazing, but they were very entertaining to read and fast-paced. I don’t think they’re as good as the Twilight series, but they are similar with werewolves and vampires. The main girl, Clary, starts to see people that others can’t see and finds out she is a Shadowhunter – someone who hunts and kills demons. Many reviewers match it to Buffy and the Vampire Slayer. It’s also similar to Harry Potter.

There is a love triangle (of course). There are twists and turns (a few too many for me). And there is lots of action and some really good dialogue. Sometimes Clare’s descriptions are confusing, but it still kept me hooked.

And luckily I started this series at the perfect time. The 3rd and final book comes out next week.