November & December 2021 Books

•November•

* Storyteller ¹ by Dave Grohl - The first three-quarters of this book were so good, then it got to the part where he was talking about celeb pals like Paul McCartney and he went overboard with how cool they are and how grateful he is to have them in his life. I had to skip it. Then it got to the Daddy-Daughter dance chapter and about what a great dad he is (which I'm sure he is, don't get me wrong, I genuinely believe that Dave Grohl is a really good guy) and it just irked me. Yeah, yeah, we get it, Dave, you are perfect and adore your kids. It just annoyed me because honestly, most fathers I know don't relish the idea of spending time with their kids, let alone their daughter. Going for car rides with them for no reason, get dressed up for dances, talking with them, etc. I don't disbelieve him, it just annoyed me. I guess cause it would have been nice if I had a Dad that wanted to hang out with me for no reason other than to just chat and be friends.

The Beauty of Living Twice ¹ by Sharon Stone - Clearly I love memoirs. I'm not even a fan of Sharon Stone but ever since seeing her years ago on Inside the Actor's Studio I found her to be kind of interesting and not a typical starlet. Plus I like that she rocked out in a pixie cut. I've always admired beautiful women that don't hang their looks solely on the length of their tresses. The best part about this book was when Ms. Stone narrated she did so with emotion and feeling, as opposed to someone just reading the words on the page. I was hooked on this until halfway through where I grew tired of name dropping and just became utterly bored and annoyed. 

This Much Is True ¹ by Miriam Margolyes - Miriam is an absolute riot and her book was good but it was mostly stories that I had already heard from her appearances on The Graham Norton Show.

♥ Warren the 13th and the All-Seeing Eye by Tania del Rio & brilliantly illustrated by Will Staehle - after three disappointing memoirs I was grateful to crack open this book and follow Warren on his duties around the Warren Hotel and watch him on his quest to locate the All-Seeing Eye. I'm hoping to pick up the second book in this series when I take myself out on a date on Valentine's Day.

♥ The Black Stallion ¹ by Walter Farley - The film version of this novel was in heavy rotation during my childhood and fueled my fantasy of one day owning a gorgeous horse like The Black. The film and the book don't follow eachother exactly, but I was not disappointed at all and simply adored the book. 

♥ The Haunted Bridge by Carolyn Keene - I am hooked on the Nancy Drew novels that were written by Mildred Wirt Benson. This one was fantastic and I looked forward to every time I could soak into a hot tub and crack it open. 

♥  Life and Laughing ¹ by Michael McIntyre - This man is an absolute hoot and his memoir was utterly fantastic. His narration was perfection and I will definitely be listening to this again.

♥ Dropped Names ¹ by Frank Langella - I had a long, long drive ahead of me from Jersey to Ohio and I wanted to listen to something that would keep me awake, alert, intrigued, and that I knew would not disappoint. Dropped Names was the perfect choice for a seven hour drive halfway-ish across the country.

•December•

♥ Santaland Diaries ¹ by David Sedaris - I really only like this part from Sedaris' Holidays on Ice as it talks about his time as an elf at Macy's Santaland in New York. So funny it brings tears to my eyes.

A Christmas Carol ¹ by Charles Dickens - read by Simon Prebble - I had put the Jim Dale version on hold through Libby but whoever had it out was taking fucking forever to listen to a three hour audiobook and I was worried I wouldn't get it before Christmas. I went to YouTube, typed in A Christmas Carol read by Jim Dale and a result popped up! I listened to it and was not loving it like I had Tim Curry's version and was going to stop but figured I'd see it through. Then I got to the end where it said "read to you by Simon Prebble". What??! Talk about a disappointment

* How Did All This Happen? ¹ by John Bishop - I had such a good time listening to Michael McIntyre's book that I decided to give John Bishop's a try. Oh it was really good! Loved his stories about cycling and of course about his wife and family. Just a really cool, cool cat.

♥ Windswept and Interesting ¹ by Billy Connolly - As soon as I learned that Billy Connolly had an autobiography and he narrated it I was dashing to Audible to buy it. He's a fascinating fella and the book flew by so quickly. He's really inspiring in so many ways.

* A Christmas Carol ¹ by Charles Dickens - read by Jim Dale - So it finally became available a day or so before Christmas and sadly, I still prefer Tim Curry's narration. Note to self: December of 2022, don't try anything new, stick with the Curry version.

♥ Around the World in 80 Days ¹ by Jules Verne - One of my absolute favourite audiobooks. I've listened to it at least four or five times and it's still so fresh and exciting when I hit play again. 

*Note: there is no hot air balloon anywhere in this story and it annoys the hell out of me that it's on nearly every cover of every version of the book!

¹ - audiobook
² - abridged version
* - liked
♥ - loved
Any unmarked titles were, in my opinion, so-so.