East Bay Bookshelf

Happy Friday! This week I’m sharing a hidden gem in the East Bay, a list of best-selling audiobooks under 10 hours, the books my son can’t get enough of, the album I have on repeat, and the results of my night-stand book stack clean-up!

Story Walk

This past week my husband and I discovered the Story Walk in The Gardens at Heather Farm. We walked through the gardens while we were each listening to our own audio books – this is 10 years of marriage!

Best Selling Audiobooks Under 10 Hours

I took a look back at the NY Times Best Sellers in the Audiobook Fiction category and compiled a list of those that you can listen to in less than 10 hours. I’ve heard great reviews of James by Percival Everett and I read Verity a few years ago in one day (it was December 31st and I was trying to get in one more book before the end of the year!). Click here to see the length of each book.

He’s Reading

My son in first grade is a non-fiction lover and one of his favorite series is Who Would Win? He asks me to read the “Alligator vs. Python” story most often. Before it gets to the battle scene, the book has really interesting facts about both animals and includes great maps! We like to play “did you know” guessing game while reading these books.

Currently Listening

This week I was listening to Lady Gaga’s Mayhem album on my walks. A few of my immediate favorites are “How Bad Do U Want Me” and “Shadow of a Man.”

Nightstand Book Stack

I have some bookcase space in our house, but what generally happens when I get a new book is I put it on the shelf under my nightstand adding it to my “to be read” pile. Last weekend, I cleaned it out. Let’s take a look at what I found:

First up, a literary sin. I have two of the same book: Someone Else’s Shoes by Jojo Moyes. Don’t get me wrong, I love her books, but I don’t need two of these. I think I bought the paperback in an airport bookstore and the hardcover from a local book sale at a deep discount.

Next: Two books I’ve already read for book club at Rakestraw Books: Yellowface by RF Kuang and The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon. Both were excellent. Keeping.

And now to the TBR pile:

• I keep hearing about Sally Rooney’s writing style, so bought Normal People at a local book sale.
• Can you believe I’ve never read a Christina Lauren book?
• The Love of my Afterlife and How the Penguins Saved Veronica were both bought for book club discussions that I wasn’t able to attend. Oops!
• I have read other books by Fredrick Backman and want to get started on the Beartown series.
• VE Schwab wrote my favorite book of all time but I haven’t read anything else she’s written!
• The Women is a best seller on almost every single book list, so of course I need to read it!
• I bought Great Circle at a local book sale!

That’s it for this week! Some questions for your weekend:

• What’s your favorite short audiobook?
• What album do you currently have on repeat?
• Where do you keep your physical TBR pile? Is it separate from the books you have read?