Audio Challenge Update! Halfway to December- #AudiobookChallenge

This is a little belated, so I'm glad I've remembered to get this post up!  It's time for my midyear Audiobook Challenge check in!  The 2021 Audiobook Challenge is being run by Caffeinated Reviewer, you can check it out here and join us! 

My goal for this challenge is Marthoner level (no surprise there) and that means 50 audiobooks over 2021. Where am I at?  Great question... I went back through my posts from this year and so far I've listened to 22 audiobooks. So I'm only about 4 books behind where I should be at this point of the year. 

Lucky for me it's easier to catch up on a listening challenge than it is actual marathon training.  Lately I have not found myself absorbed by an audiobook. I have three books currently in progress.  Nothing has been catching my ear lately!  On the plus side, in a couple days I'll have 2 credits added to my Audible account and I'll be able to pick up a new release or two with those credits. 

The garden is starting to really produce zuchinni and I'm trying to get creative in ways I can shred zuchinni and add it to meals. Tonight I put a cup of shredded zucchini with a pound of ground turkey and 1/4 cup of Bacon Pepper Jam mixed that together to make burgers.  They turned out very well and now I have a new way to use up my produce.  Next up, zuchinni shredded and added to pasta sauce. 

Two! Two! Reviews in One Post! Happy Monday!

 I wanted to get back to give a proper review of One Perfect Lie by  Lisa Scottoline.  I listened to this while running, shopping at Aldi, and doing dishes.  It was an audiobook that kept me doing chores so I could listen longer, so a real win, win for the cleanliness of my cozy abode! 

The book had unexpected but earned twists and I really enjoyed how the story concluded.  I was completely wrong about where it ended up.  There are multiple POV characters in addition to Chris Brennen.  This is a suspenseful thriller,  but it isn't a graphic psychological thriller, so I would recommend this book as one to read if you are new to thrillers or if you like TV shows like 911 on the Fox Network.  

3.5 stars for this book- it's got some good twists!

And now for something completely different.  This is a romance, so there will be a happy ending, it's just how are we going to get there? Well, this time it's going to be through a reality TV show.  Yes, this book is like an alternative Bachelorette.  In this book, unlike the show, for once the Bachelorette isn't a size 2. Bea is a successful plus-size fashion blogger whose scathing critique of the fictional show "Main Squeeze" goes viral and she winds up being the next main squeeze. 

I used to watch the Bachelor franchise but gave it up a few years ago when I realized it was always going to be a parade of thin young women and men who were on the show more often than not to up their social media profiles so they could translate that into endorsement deals. This fiction version of the show will ring true to watchers of the actual show, and also gives the show true romance. 

I borrowed this book from my library's Libby App because I need distractions while I train for the marathon.  This book was a good distraction! A must listen if you are part of #BachelorNation 

3.5 stars for this book as well! 

Tomorrow we head back to the DMV for Youngest Child's second attempt at passing the road test.  Please send good vibes!

#AudioBook Challenge! A Thriller with an Unreliable Narrator for a Humid week in June!

 We have some thunderstormy, cloudy, humidity-filled weather this week, and I was looking for something to listen to as I go about my day.  I saw that this was available via the Libby App from my library system so I borrowed it.  It's on the shorter side, which worked for me. I listen to it at 1.65 speed.  I found the reader to be engaging, his name is George Newbern.  

If you don't like audiobooks, I would still consider picking this one up, it's a good travel book if you have a vacation planned and are going to be sitting in an airport or in a car, or on a train, this will make the time fly. 

This was my first time reading a book by Lisa Scottoline. It turns out she has had over 30 books published so I was really late to learn about this author! 

Great smelling tree on my run!  

* * * * *

I was hoping to have a full review of the book ready today, but yesterday I spent 8 hours in line outside the local department of motor vehicles with Youngest Child.  In the hot sun, standing in line waiting and waiting for her to be able to take her road test. We arrived at the location when it opened and the line was already hundreds deep and blocks long.  No bathroom, no water, and worst of all, no headphones.

Wait, I take that back, the worst of all was after standing in the sun all day, the instructor failed Youngest Child.  I felt terrible and also was so dehydrated I don't think my tear ducts worked anymore. I think the failure was due to nerves, hours, and hours waiting.  When we go back for the second time around, I have high hopes Youngest Child will pass, the irony is, of everyone in our household she's had the most on-the-road experience prior to taking the test. 

It really stinks for her, and yet, it is when we have failures that we have growth.  Additionally, I  know when she gets her license it is going to be that much sweeter. For my part, I think I did an excellent job shutting up and letting her vent and feel her feelings.  I know she didn't want to hear platitudes or examples of how things could be worse. 

Now today, I have my headphones charged and ready to go and listen to more of One Perfect Lie which is a solid thriller so far, the main character is so terrible. I don't know yet if I will be getting another POV or if this entire book will be told from the villain's perspective!