Some books I listened to this summer

Most of my summer "reading" has been audio books - which makes it difficult to write proper reviews, as one can't go back and check details the way one can with text. But I thought I'd mention some of the books I've been listening to through May-July; making use of quotes from official publishers' summaries.

  

In May I listened via Audible to a new book by one of my favourite authors, Kate Morton: Homecoming (read by Claire Foy). Have to confess that even when re-reading the publisher's summary now, three months later, I don't really remember much of it myself... I should probably listen to it again! ;-)

"--- Jess is a journalist in search of a story. Having lived and worked in London for nearly two decades, she now finds herself laid off from her full-time job and struggling to make ends meet. Until a phone call out of nowhere summons her back to Sydney, where her beloved grandmother, Nora, has suffered a fall and been raced to the hospital. At Nora’s house, Jess discovers a true crime book that chronicles the police investigation into a long-buried event: the Turner Family Tragedy of Christmas Eve, 1959. It is only when Jess skims through the pages that she finds a shocking connection between her own family and this once-infamous scandal – a murder mystery that has never been resolved satisfactorily."

Earlier books by Kate Morton have left me with deeper impressions, and after having finished Homecoming, I went back and re-listened to The Forgotten Garden, which I read for the first time in 2012. The link goes to the review on this blog that I wrote back then.

Inspired by a review on Meike's blog of Michelle Obama's book The Light We Carry, I listened to that as audio book in Swedish via my library. Not quite the same as listening to her read it herself in English, but still worth the time.

In June and July I listened books 2 and 3 in the Amelia Peabody series by Elizabeth Peters, which I found included in my Audible membership. I remembered reading the first one (Crocodile on the Sandbank) on Kindle some time in the past.

These books are set against the backdrop of exploring Egyptian pyramids and graves back in in the late 19th / early 20th century. The author has a Ph.D. in Egyptology at the University of Chicago, and authentic historical background details is really what I liked best about the books. As for the characters... A bit exaggerated and not quite as believable, perhaps...

"If Indiana Jones were female, a wife, and a mother who lived in Victorian times, he would be Amelia Peabody Emerson."--Publishers Weekly

In the first book Amelia is single. In the next two (The Curse of the Pharaos, and The Mummy Case), i.e. the two I listened to now, she's married to another archaeologist; and in the third one their young son proves extremely 'forward' for his age. Now having realised that this series just keeps going on and on and on (20 books so far), I don't really feel tempted to continue to read them all, as that seem likely to get very repetitious. But who knows... Perhaps I'll return to read another one some day, even if not in the very near future.

I also listened to C.S. Lewis' book Mere Christianity read by Geoffrey Howard, also "included" in my Audible membership. I have it in paperback since long ago and have read it before, but enjoyed listening to it now. I've read most of his books, both fiction and theological (+ biographies about him by others), and he's no doubt the Christian author that has influenced me the most, and that I keep coming back to.

"First heard as informal radio broadcasts and then published as three separate books --- Mere Christianity brings together what Lewis sees as the fundamental truths of the religion. Rejecting the boundaries that divide Christianity's many denominations, C.S. Lewis finds a common ground on which all those who have Christian faith can stand together --- "

   

I also listened to a series of lectures (12 x 30 min) about The Life and Writings of C.S. Lewis by Louis Markos. Interesting for the same reasons as above.

I also listened to a classic children's book, Little Lord Fauntleroy by Frances Hodgson Burnett, read by Donada Peters. (Another one "included" in my Audible membership.) I've read it in the past, but I really enjoyed rereading it again (more than thought I would!) 

Young Cedric Errol lives in poverty in New York with his mother. When his father, who was disinherited for marrying an American, dies, Cedric is summoned to his grandfather's English estate. While the crotchety old Earl planned to transform the boy into a docile, traditional lording, it is Little Lord Fauntleroy who does the converting. Through his goodness and innocence, he wins the hearts of his English relatives who welcome his mother with open arms, and he teaches the Earl some valuable lessons about the true meaning of nobility. - This classic tale embodies the author's belief that "Nothing in the world is so strong as a kind heart". 

I very much appreciate the possibility to reread old favourites and classics as audio books (while "resting my eyes"...) There are several in my "audio collection" that I keep returning to more than once, in between adding new ones.