These Books Aren’t New, But They Are New To Me, And I Love Them!
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When I started making chainmaille in 2002, I also started listening to audiobooks. Over the years I’ve gone through phases, sometimes preferring to listen to news radio or podcasts over audiobooks. But this past summer, the audiobook bug bit hard!
I tend to listen to nonfiction (mainly social science, cognition, cosmology, and biographies) and science fiction. For the past few months I’ve been on a HUGE Young Adult dystopian fiction kick. My 13-year-old self would’ve been absolutely obsessed with some of these books, and my adult self is enjoying them too.
Sidenote: If you’re curious, I use the Libby/Overdrive app to listen to audiobooks from my local library … because libraries ARE AWESOME, duh. 😉
Of all the books I listened to during the final months of 2019, there are a couple of Sci Fi books that stand out, because I completely, unashamedly binged them. Usually I only listen to audiobooks while weaving or maybe while walking to the Post Office. But these books, I couldn’t get enough of. I listened to them pretty much nonstop. Once, I even turned into a live meme, eating popcorn while I listened. (Until, 4 or 5 chomps in, I realized I immensely disliked the sound of me chewing while trying to listen to a book. Ha.)
I’ll provide links to the books on Amazon, if you’d like to check out more information or reviews.
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Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
Lots of people know about this book because of the movie. I didn’t see the movie when it came out, because I wanted to read the book first, and boy am I glad I did. Its narrated by Wil Wheaton and he is absolutely fantastic. I honestly just felt like I was hanging out with someone from my nerdy Dungeons & Dragons crew, who was filling me in on his epic video game adventures. (In fact, I loved Wil’s narration so much, I quickly followed up by listening to him narrate one of his own books, The Happiest Days of Our Lives—which, despite the name, had me crying multiple times.) Some readers complain that Cline belabors a few points, providing copious details about, well, everything. But I loved it. I know that when people are passionate about their hobby, they can and do provide all sorts of details! It really was just like hanging out with a friend, and I was rooting for the protagonist the entire way.
AMAZON:
Dark Matter by Blake Crouch
I don’t know how this author flew under my radar for so long, but I’m now hooked and plan on reading his other works. At the very beginning of Dark Matter, I was reminded of the short-lived TV series Awake, and I was wondering if the books was a “dream world vs reality” situation. Then I realized what was going on. But then…plot twist! And then, another plot twist! Everything was conveyed in such vivid detail; my brain really enjoyed bringing this world to life. All in all, it was an excellent ride and it certainly took me places I wasn’t expecting. Oh, and bonus, it takes place in Chicago, and I always love it when writers throw in street names and neighborhoods that I know!
AMAZON:
Those are my top 2 Sci Fi recommendations from Fall Quarter 2019. The next book in my queue (it finally showed up this morning, after being On Hold for 12 weeks!) is Fifth Season (Broken Earth Trilogy) by N.K. Jemison.
Now that you know a bit about my taste – do you have any Sci Fi audiobooks you’d recommend? Let me know in the comments below!
UPDATE: See all the great suggestions on the Facebook thread about this post, too!
I’d recommend Outlaw and Enemy by K. Eason unfortunately Ally (the 3rd book in the series) does not have an audio book version.