Acoustic

You know how when you find something seriously awesome and you want everyone else to share in the awesomeness? Well buckle up.

A couple of months ago I was getting ready for a road trip to visit my BFF who lives 5 hours away and decided to look up books on CD to make the long drive a bit more enjoyable. Only I kept calling it "books on tape" because I'm old and that's the only kind of book that didn't appear on the written page or my Kindle that I was familiar with. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that Amazon has an audio book division called Audible. Insert angels singing. What isn't Amazon involved in? They offer a one month free trial so I promptly signed up and searched for my first book. I wanted something light, on my "to read" list and long enough to cover both to and from BFF's house. I chose Diane von Furstenberg' s memoir, The Woman I Wanted To Be. It was a good first choice in my humble opinion. Read by the author it was a little saucy and very interesting. I wondered if it was being read to or her accent that put me in a coma-like state ... so much so that it seemed like the drive was over in a flash. I was hooked! This has made my workday commutes downright pleasurable. It's a little more money than I would have thought I'd spend ... $15 a month with a credit for a "free" book (so you're buying a book a month). I like it so much though that it's worth it. I recently purchased three extra credits for $33 because I'm going through them so fast.

In the past three months I've also listened to:

• Trading Up by Candace Bushnell - This is the author behind Sex and the City. Light read / okay. I thought it ended abruptly.
• The Knockoff by Katherine Kellgren - Light read / okay. A lot like The Devil Wears Prada.
• The Accidental Empress by Alison Pataki - I love history and light romance, but it was my fascination with royals that caught my attention. This was on some summer reading lists I had perused via the inter web (blogs, etc.) so into my queue it went. Awesome! Great story, character development and well read. I walked the dog around the lake three extra times one day because I couldn't "put it down". 
• Luckiest Girl Alive by Jessica Knoll - Awesome! This one kept popping up as a recommendation and was also on summer reading lists. I went for it because it was read by the same person who did The Accidental Empress. It did not disappoint. Very Gone Girl-esque.
• Bossypants by Tina Fey - I'm reading this now and laugh aloud constantly. My only comment is Tina tends to trail off at the end of her sentences ... speak up Tina, I'm deaf and don't want to rewind!

On my wish list:

• The Traitor' s Wife by Alison Pataki - A fictionalized history of Benedict Arnold's wife
• The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins - I don't know what this is about, but it seems to be on everyone's summer reading list and it's a bestseller
• Yes Please by Amy Poehler - I have a thing for funny girls
• Sometimes I Feel Like a Nut by Jill Kargman - I like her TV show Odd Mom Out - quirky and a little dark. Fun fact - her brother is married to Drew Barrymore!
• A Fine Romance by Candice Bergen - What can I say, I like memoirs
• Watch Me by Angelica Huston 
• The Book of Joan by Melissa Rivers
• The Children Act by Ian McEwan - I have no idea what it's about, but it keeps popping up on lists I peruse so I better see what all the fuss is about
• Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action by Simon Sinek - I'm also a sucker for leadership/inspirational books and I am a behavioral scientist at heart ... I love to explore why people do what they do.
• More -- The Power of Habit, Good to Great, Nudge, The Tipping Point, Daring Greatly

I have another road trip coming up so I had better start planning ... nerd looking for a 9ish hour good "read".