By now, you know that I’ve recently gotten into audiobooks. Turns out, it inspired a new motto:
Listen to what you don’t want to read.
I had the most difficult time getting through How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents. I’ve enjoyed some of Julia Alvarez’s other work, but this one was tough. From the character switching (four sisters, mami, papi, Chucha etc.) to the timeline switching (past, present, past-past, just before present) to the (seemingly) random stories being told throughout each chapter, it just wasn’t cohesive enough for my brain.
I still don’t know what the book was about other than the girls and their parents moved to the U.S. because the Dominican police were after their father. There were stories in between that I don’t remember being resolved (what happened with the doctor’s wife who kissed their dad at the restaurant?).
In the past year or two, I’d only gotten halfway through this book. It wasn’t relaxing or indulgent and I was reading it just because I’d started it and wanted to finish it. But I realized after my recent discovery of the joy of audiobooks that I didn’t have to read the rest of it; I could listen to it!
I immediately borrowed the audiobook from my local library and found I only had 2.5 hours left of the book (since I was already halfway through). That 2.5 hours still took me four days to listen to, and that’s how I knew for sure that this just wasn’t my kind of book. Even listening to it was difficult.
But I did get through it! I got to the end, still with no comprehension of the events or the purpose, but I finished the book.
Now I know to listen to books I don’t want to read but still want to finish. Even books I haven’t yet started. If it sounds like something I don’t necessarily think I’ll enjoy, but want to get through the content or story, I can just listen to it.
Yay for delayed revelations!
(I totally believe things come to you when you need them.)
The Source of Self-Regard is next on the list. I am actually reading this one. It’s a collection of essays, speeches, and such by Toni Morrison. I’m reading for interest and education, not for excitement and escapism, so I don’t feel a need to rush through it.
I’ve also got a bunch more Michael Crichton titles I’d like to read, but I want to get through my primary TBR list first. I’m getting there!
How far into your 2024 TBR list have you gotten? Have you enjoyed one book more than others you’ve read? Are you reading them or listening to them? Give me the good stuff!
Happy Reading!
🖤