Tag: audiobook

WWW Wednesday: 28th October, 2020

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted at Taking on a World of Words. Anyone can take part and it is a great way of sharing what you have just finished reading, what you are currently reading and what is next on the TBR.

Links are provided for books already published – thanks for supporting my blog with any purchases (at no extra cost to you!)

Hurrah! The reading slump appears to be at an end! I’d not read much in the past few weeks, despite having excellent books (and ones I’ve really enjoyed).

No more! It is no coincidence that this coincides with half term holidays, but I’ve managed to read a lot this week and I’ve LOVED what I’ve read.

What have you recently finished reading?

My kids and I finished our ‘reading’ (via audiobook) of Roald Dahl’s ‘Boy’. They both absolutely loved the stories and the narration by Dan Stevens (who brings the anecdotes to life with some great accents and voices).

I have also just finished ‘The Phoenix Project’ by Michelle Kidd, the first in a series featuring DI Jack MacIntosh. It’s a page-turner of a thriller on a huge scale with twists that just keep coming! This is for a blog tour in November so keep an eye on the blog for my stop on the tour.

Next up was ‘The Princess and the Prick’ by Walburga Appleseed, a collection of feminist retellings of fairy tales, nursery rhymes and myths. It’s clever and funny, although I anticipated a few more words – each story is encapsulated in a few sharp and to-the-point sentences and accompanied by some brilliant illustrations. It’s thought provoking about sexism, dodgy moral codes and issues around consent among other things and definitely worth a read!

Then I read ‘Essex Girls’ by Sarah Perry, a book I was really looking forward to as I am an Essex girl by birth. It was exciting to read Perry’s comments on Chelmsford, my home town, which is where she grew up too. I loved the feminist take on the notion of the ‘Essex girl’ as someone who is outspoken and fearless and unconventional. At only about 80 pages, this is a short but fascinating read about some historical Essex girls and their impact on the world. You can read my full review here.

Finally, I read ‘Practically Perfect: Life Lessons from Mary Poppins’ by comedian Katy Brand. I read this in one sitting, absolutely loving the nostalgic tone of the writing combined with some really incisive ideas about the film and its messages. You can read my review here.

What are you reading now?

I’m still reading (or have started reading) an awful lot of books and I cannot decide what to finish first as they are all great!

I’m still reading ‘The Devil and the Dark Water’ by Stuart Turton, a fabulous historical murder mystery – I’m rattling through this now and it is gripping.

My reading of ‘Pandora’s Jar’ by Natalie Haynes is also still ongoing – I love the depth of analysis of the women from mythology.

I’m also nearing the end of my audiobook, Bill Bryson’s ‘The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid’ – this autobiography about growing up in 1950s small-town America is fascinating, funny and read by Bryson himself.

Finally, I’ve also started ‘Books for Living: A Reader’s Guide to Life’ by Will Schwalbe which someone on Twitter (sorry, I can’t remember who!) recommended when I wrote my post on The Best Books about Books. It’s very promising so far – I love reading about other people’s reading experiences.

What do you think you will read next?

As my book buying habits haven’t taken into account the reading slump, I have plenty of options!

I’m looking forward to moving onto the audiobook of ‘Let’s Do It’ by Jasper Rees, the biography of the late, great Victoria Wood.

I’m also hoping to clear some of the NetGalley shelf over half term – Laura Purcell’s ‘The Shape of Darkness’ and Cara Hunter’s ‘The Whole Truth’ still await, as does ‘Hyde’ by Craig Russell which looks amazing – I loved his previous book, ‘The Devil Aspect’, so I am looking forward to this.

I don’t know why I even try and predict what I’ll read next…I’m such a mood reader that it is impossible to tell where I’ll end up. I am quietly craving a vampire book though… (*buys ‘The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires’ by Grady Hendrix*)

‘A Theatre for Dreamers’ by Polly Samson (AUDIOBOOK)

Something a bit different for me today – an audiobook!

I’ll admit to not always getting on brilliantly with audiobooks at times in the past, but I really couldn’t resist the sound of this one after I saw Polly Samson read sections of it during a Hay Festival online event. I found she had a really soothing voice and I was intrigued by the story that she described, plus the fact that she had written music to accompany the novel with her husband, Dave Gilmour.

The story is told by a fictional character, Erica, who arrives on the Greek island of Hydra in 1960. Her mother has died and she is visiting her mother’s friend, Charmian Clift, who lives on the island with her husband, George Johnston (a writer) and their children. Erica arrives with her boyfriend, Jimmy, and what follows is a glorious time in which Erica learns about love, loss, her mother’s past, art and writing.

Erica’s time on Hydra introduces us to a massive cast of characters, some of whom were real people – including Charmian and George, Leonard Cohen, Axel Jensen and Marianne Ihlen. This is one book where you will be constantly googling the people to find out the reality behind the fiction! The only issue I had was the fact that the novel serves us with a massive cast and I couldn’t always remember who was who!

Thanks to Nemanja .O. for sharing their work on Unsplash.

One of the main stars of the novel is Hydra itself and the reader is treated to the sun-soaked, heady, irresistible charms of the island throughout. It sounds like a beautiful place and absolutely perfect for this tale of 1960s free spirits in what was essentially a big artistic community of expats.

Another draw for the novel is Charmian Clift herself who becomes a mother-figure to Erica but is hiding her own secrets. Indeed, it is Erica’s relationship with Charmian that drives a lot of the narrative, so it was no surprise to learn that it was Charmian’s own writing that led Polly Samson to write this book.

I think this is a novel definitely enhanced by the audiobook format. It was lovely to hear Polly Samson read the book as I got a real sense of how she imagined the characters to speak. I also thought that the little musical interludes between chapters and the song at the end enhanced the narrative – it gave more of a taste of the time and music and added depth to the novel. As already mentioned, Polly Samson’s voice is extremely relaxing to listen to and I really enjoyed being caught up in her world of artists, poets and novelists on Hydra as related to me in her hypnotic voice! Although I found the narrative a bit sprawling and long in places, I found I enjoyed the way it was presented.

I would highly recommend this audiobook – it really does offer more than just an audio recording of the novel and I liked the story of the intertwined lives and the lasting impact of the events of 1960.

With thanks to NetGalley who gave me a copy of the audiobook in return for an honest review.

If you’d like to buy a copy, the Amazon link is below – I may receive commission on any purchases at no extra cost to you (excellent!)

Header image with thanks to Dominik Gawlik for sharing their work on Unsplash.