Tag: fiction

Michael Crichton: Jurassic Park and The Lost World (My First Audiobook)

Published on by Christine GabriélleLeave a comment

You know, as much as I love the Jurassic Park movies, I’d never read the books [gasp!]. Not until the Jurassic Park audiobook was suggested buy one of the guys in my small group’s book chat—he listens to it every year.

Of course, I’ve never been into audiobooks, so I drove down to my local library to renew my card that had been expired for six months (to be fair, they never had any of the books I was looking for, so I never had reason to use said library card), and immediately checked out the Jurassic Park ebook.

We’ve all seen the movies, right? So, I’m not going to lay out the plots of these two books. I will say the books are better than the movies. But aren’t they always?

We, in this little corner of the internet, know by now that I will shirk all my low-priority responsibilities to read through a book I enjoy. And while I made sure not to neglect any high priority work, I did put aside several tasks and read through Jurassic Park in about four days. I was hooked.

Now, here comes the confession (and if you follow me on IG, you’ve already read my confession):

I don’t have any memory of being read to as a child (not to say it didn’t happen), and I’ve never particularly cared for the sound of someone else reading to me—I prefer the voices in my head🙃—so I’ve always disregarded audiobooks (I know, I know).

That was until I promised (the same person who recommended the first book) to give The Lost World audiobook a try. And not only did I get through that book in two days, but I did it while also checking off my to-do list—shopping, laundry, going for a walk, job searching, designing posts in Canva, and cooking dinner!

And to top it off, actively listening to the audiobook kept my brain from spiraling and I was able to get a lot done without the constant overthinking that usually occupies my day.

So, I offered an apology to the audiobook listeners on IG, and now I’m offering an apology to you audiobook listeners here: I’m so, so sorry for every time I disregarded your Audiobook.

Now, I must also say this here as well: listening to an audiobook is not the same as reading a book (reading vs listening is akin to writing vs speaking). It’s still a valid form of book consumption, it’s just not reading.

There are some books I just want to consume—I want to get through it, know what happens, and check it off my TBR list—and there are other books I want to indulge in and enjoy.

For the books I just want to get through, I will gladly turn to the audiobook version and listen to it while I’m working, walking, shopping, etc. As a matter of fact, if I can access the audiobook for How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents through my local library, I will absolutely listen to the second half of that book so I don’t have to read any more of it! That way I can get through the rest of it quickly and move on to something I actually want to read.

Back to The Lost World. I know I saw this movie (I have a JP DVD set that I’ve watched more than once), yet it all seemed totally new to me listening to this book. While I was reading Jurassic Park, I could visually see scenes from the movie in my head, but with this one, my brain was forming its own visuals because there wasn’t a reference available to draw from for some reason.

Then I rewatched the movies and realized why… The Lost World: Jurassic Park (movie) was basically a completely different story than The Lost World (book). There were so many missed opportunities with these movies (like how truly delusional Hammond was)!

With both books, I found myself reacting out loud, rolling my eyes at people not listening, being annoyed with the kids, and being in awe of Ian Malcolm and his rants about self-serving scientists (also wondering why he ends up in a pain killer-induced haze in both novels).

The bad guys always die and the kids always live (except for some baby dinos), and it seems to be how we want the world to work. Honestly, if they would’ve only kept the herbivores for the park and destroyed any carnivores that resulted from their experiments, none of this mess would have even happened (Malcolm would probably find reason that it would have happened regardless) and the park may have actually been a success. But, of course, people always want a shock factor because they think it’ll attract more business. Well, the business went under because of Hammond’s shock factor. Way, way under.

Anyway, if you like the movies, you’ll love the books. I love the movies and I loved the books even more!

What’s next? Garcia Girls… because I did, in fact, find the audiobook through my library and will listen to the second half instead of reading it.

Happy Reading!

🖤

Alan Paton: Cry, the Beloved Country

Published on by Christine GabriélleLeave a comment

I did it, yall! I finally finished this book!

I started reading it again at the beginning of the month (only before bed), and it really only took a few days to finish the second half of the book.

So, what was the freakin’ book about, anyway? I’m going to tell you all of it (unlike usual), so you don’t have to suffer through it.

Basically, this old parson, Stephan Kumalo, is looking for his son who’d left for Johannesburg and never came home. His initial reason for going to Johannesburg, though, was in response to a letter from Reverand Msimangu saying his sister, who’d also gone to Johannesburg, was ill and he needed to see her.

The first half of this book is spent following Kumalo and Msimangu through Johannesburg as they go house to house picking up the breadcrumbs forming the trail to his son’s last known whereabouts. It’s terribly slow, the conversations are drawn out and mostly uneventful.

Eventually, Kumalo finds out Absalom (his son) has been arrested with his cousin and a friend for breaking into a home and killing a white man who they thought wouldn’t be there. Absalom said he was startled and firing the gun was an accident.

Since Absalom fired the killing shot, he is held solely responsible, found guilty, and sentenced to hanging with no mercy despite coming forward about his mistake and telling the truth about who also played a part in the situation. The other two, whose idea it was to rob the home in the first place, are released. According to the judge, even though Absalom had told the truth about the entire event, and he believed him, Absalom’s word could not be taken seriously in implicating his accomplices and he had to let them go.

Kumalo does find his sister as well as Absalom’s pregnant girlfriend along his journey and brings them to where he is staying during his search for his son. After Absalom’s trial, when Kumalo is to head back home with his sister, nephew, and pregnant daughter-in-law (she and Absalom married immediately after his trial), his sister decides she needs higher intervention for her unacceptable lifestyle and presumably runs off to be a nun (she’d mentioned the thought but not the decision and just disappeared one night instead of returning to Ndotsheni with her brother and child).

At some point, Kumalo runs into Jarvis—the father of the man Absalom killed—while fulfilling his promise to someone else to inquire about a young woman who’d gone missing from her place of work (with Jarvis’ sister). The interaction is awkward. Kumalo instantly knows who Jarvis is and then explains to Jarvis who he is (the father of the man who killed his son). There isn’t an altercation.

After returning to Ndotsheni, Jarvis’ grandson begins visiting Kumalo. On his first visit, he asks for milk and Kumalo says there is no milk because there are no cows because there is no rain because of the drought. The boy asks what happens to the little children who need milk, and Kumalo responds “they die.” The next day, milk is sent from Jarvis to the village to feed the babies, one in particular who was very close to death.

Eventually, more people show up, including a man who specializes in agriculture. Jarvis’ big ol’ heart has decided he wants to save Kumalo’s village, improve their agricultural practices, build a damn so they have more consistent access to water, and rebuild the church.

Other minor things happen along the way. There’s a lot of talk about the condition of Johannesburg. There are a couple chapters about mining and finding gold and how greedy people can be. There are threats by Kumalo’s brother toward him, and a big speech about how the native population should be paid more for their labor in the mines instead of just making white men rich.

Basically, there’s a lot of space-filling.

There is no mercy for Absolom from the higher court, and we are made to believe he is killed for his crime. There is no description of the event, thankfully.

I did not enjoy this book. I am glad that it’s over and will be donating it to my local thrift store as soon as I get the chance. Maybe someone else will enjoy it.

Next up, finishing How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents—another taking-to-long-to-get-through read.

I’ve also been reading Jurassic Park, which is great!

Until next time,

Happy Reading!

🖤

2024 Reading List

Published on by Christine Gabriélle4 Comments

I’ve said it before, and I’ll lie to myself again: I will finish the books on my shelf before buying new books this year!

I wasn’t going to make a TBR list for the year, but the book club subgroup in my small group group chat (so many “groups”!) asked us to post our reading list for the year.

Naturally, I had to redact my list—this is a religious group chat and my reading tastes are indiscriminate and not particularly religious-leaning—but it caused me to be intentional about a reading plan (of sorts) for the year.

As always, you can find my reading list history on my Reading List page.

My intent is to begin 2024 by finishing the following (some of which I’ve been reading for years):

How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents - a somewhat interesting, but still slow read.

Cry, the Beloved Country – a very slow read. I’ve talked about my issues with this book, but I’m determined to see how it ends. Still keeping this one as a bedtime read. Nothing particularly exciting happens, so it doesn’t overly stimulate my brain before sleeping.

Creep – I’ve only read two or three pieces in this collection. So far, they have been tough to get through. I want to know this book is as interesting as it sounded in the blurb on the back cover.

The Source of Self-Regard – I don’t even know how far I got in this book before I stopped reading it. I like Toni Morrison, though, so I want to read more of her non-fiction pieces.

Drawing Near – I was reading this as a morning devotional before I stopped to read Holier Than Thou instead. I’m now going through Jackie Hill-Perry’s devotional Upon Waking and will return to Drawing Near afterward.

Some Kind of Animal – this is the first book I’m reading from my newest stack of Dollar(25) Tree books. This is the book I take when I know I have to wait somewhere (Dr. Appt, tire rotation, etc.) and it has provided decent company thus far.

As usual, the reading of these books will likely be interrupted by something more interesting that comes along (including other books I already own but haven’t cracked open yet). I don’t usually include actual devotionals (as opposed to spiritual books I’m reading during my devotional time) in my reading list—it’s reading, but not reading, you know—but maybe I will.

What are you reading this year? Don’t worry, you can give me your unredacted list. 😉

🖤