Why Audiobooks?

I am a fairly recent convert to audiobooks - I listened to my first audiobook about 2 years ago during a commute.  I have to admit - prior to that I had been pretty dismissive of audiobooks.  I considered them "less than" print books and felt a serious reader would not listen to the audiobooks - oh, how wrong I was!

I turned to audiobooks at a point in my life where I was working crazy hours and commuting 2+ hours per day by car - I was overworked and missed my downtime with books that had been part of my nightly ritual since I was a child.  A friend lent me an audiobook and I started listening to and from work - by the end of that first week, I was sitting outside my building in the car each night just trying to finish that last chapter!  I was completely sold on audiobooks and they made my commute so much more bearable - I looked forward to to drive home every night (even the Tunnel Traffic!)

Even with my new found love for audiobooks, I waded in very carefully - I only listened to non-fiction at first and tried to listened to books that I felt might be too dry or long/intimidating to read.  I soon had the realization that audiobooks are a bit like wine - if you wouldn't drink it, don't cook with it . . . if you wouldn't read it, you probably won't enjoy listening to it either!  I still listen to mostly non-fiction but have branched out to fiction and love being "read to"!

Why audiobooks - they allow me to read while I am otherwise occupied (walking, driving etc) and it is brings books alive and entertains me in a different way than reading.  It is certainly not an "either/or" proposition for me  - I still read many books in print but I use audiobooks to augment my reading.  If you are skeptical, jump in and give them a try - you might find yourself a convert!  If you are interested in some audiobook recommendations, here are a few audiobooks I have enjoyed recently:

You Can't Drink All Day If You Don't Start in the Morning (review here)

Notes From A Small Island (review here)

David Sedaris: Live For Your Listening Pleasure (review here)

Review: Brava Valentine by Adriana Trigiani

 
Brava, Valentine: A Novel by Adriana Trigiani is the second in the Valentine  series.  I reviewed the first is the series, Very Valentine: A Novel, here.  As you can see in that review, I fell in love with the characters so I was anxious to move onto the next book in the series and see what happens to Valentine, Alfred and the entire crazy Roncalli clan.  Brava, Valentine definitely did not disappoint and now I am waiting for the final book in the series, due out in February 2011!

Valentine Roncalli works at her family's custom show company in New York's West Village (love that neighborhood!) and this novel follows her pursuit of a career in the family business and her efforts to take the helm of the business and grow it in new directions as her grandmother exits.  Her ascent to head of the company is complicated by her brother, Alfred, and his lack of faith in her business skills and inability to understand her need to keep the "family" in family business.  Beyond their divergent views on business, they also view families and relationships very differently and that makes for some interesting tension in their work life and in their family's gatherings.

Valentine really begins to grow into herself in this book and takes ownership of her role as creative head of the family business.  I liked seeing this evolution in this character - in Very Valentine, she seemed reluctant to own that role and see her talents as a shoe designer whereas in this book she is almost empowered by her talent and takes the lead more naturally.  With her growing career, come questions about work/life balance and whether she wants a family and how to have that family and dedicate the time necessary to build her business - a never-ending dilemma to which most readers can relate.  Her challenged love life from book one continues and I found myself hoping she would get out of her own way and just let love happen to her!

There is so much more to this book than the snapshot I have offered above in the plot summary - Valentine uncovers a long lost family secret and travels to Buenos Aires to learn more about it, she faces infidelity in her family and the loss of a close friend.  The book is fantastic and offers a deeper dive into the characters from book one.  In fact, in her Blog Talk Radio interview about Very Valentine, the author talks about how she enjoys writing books in series of threes so that she can really "crack" a character and develop them more fully.  I saw that in this book as she offers more insight into Valentine's brother Alfred, and what makes him tick - he moves from relatively one dimensional in book one to much more complex in book two. 

Adriana Trigiani is an artful storyteller and she creates characters that are easy to love- I discovered her The Big Stone Gap series years ago and loved it and am so happy to have found another series to fall into!  You can listen to Adriana Trigiani talk about Brava Valentine in her second Blog Talk Radio interview where she offers insight into where some of the twists in the novel came from and her book recommendations for non-fiction and fiction.  It's good to have some recommendations to tie me over until the release of the third Valentine book in February 2011!

Thank you to TLC Book Tours for providing this book for review

Review Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder

Wow. I loved this book - it is engaging, educational and, above all, inspiring! Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure the World by Tracy Kidder tells the story of Dr. Paul Farmer, the founder of Partners in Health which is an organization that fights disease and poverty among the globe's poorest and sickest in countries such as Haiti, Rwanda and Peru. His personal quest to treat patients one by one, improve their lives and fight for global health equality is impressive.

A Preferential Option for the Poor
Paul Farmer's commitment to public service started while at Duke where he worked became interested in migrant labor camps near the University. He was struck by how wretched the conditions were for these mostly Haitian workers and wanted to learn more about the country they left behind to toil on these farmers as migrant workers. He went to Haiti to volunteer his time while he awaited responses from the medical schools to which he had applied. His life was never the same - from that point on, he traveled to and fro Haiti (even while completing medical school) providing care to the country's sick who were desperate for even the most basic treatment. He quickly realizes, however, that he will never staunch the spread of disease just by treating the patients as they present - the key is in prevention and the institution of some basic public health measures such as clean water and sanitation.

Farmer founded Partners in Health initially to fund a clinic he and others had opened and through which they provided free medical care in Cange, Haiti. He soon became interested in the treatment of TB since it plagued so many of the clinic's patients and he discovered that in addition to primary TB, many patients presented with MDR TB (multi-drug resistant). MDR threatened to cause a catastrophic health crisis and Farmer became impassioned about bucking the traditional public health and infectious disease paradigms for treating TB in impoverished communities. This work expanded PIH's efforts into Peru and Russia where MDR was flourishing and putting the poor population at risk.

"Pathology, social medicine, politics, anthropology. My Model."
Farmer is first and foremost a physician - although he becomes increasingly involved in public health policy and fundraising as his organization expands, he is happiest when he is treating patients in The Brigham in Boston or in any of the clinics throughout the world where he provides essential care to the world's poorest. He meets patients "where they are at" and tries to meet their basic needs as part of their medical treatment - this integration of social medicine and clinical medicine is Farmer's signature and what has made his work for the poorest patients so successful. There are many stories throughout the book of Farmer treating patients both in the first world of Mass General and in the third world of the people's roofless homes in the mountains of Haiti. Within each story, a few things are evident - Farmer has a passion for medicine and the deductive process of diagnosis and he cares deeply for each and every patient. In fact, this became a criticism levied against him and PIH - those in public health circles felt Farmer and PIH focused more on the patient in front of them than on developing sustainable health solutions. While I see the argument that sustainability is important in any public health endeavor and that you can do more harm by swooping in to help and then needing to abruptly leave because your methods were not sustainable, Farmer's brand of personalized medicine is appealing if only because it deals directly with the problem at hand.

My Thoughts
This book appealed to me on so many levels - I work in a scientific field so the parts of the book that dealt with patients and the treatment of disease were very interesting for me. In addition, I have a Masters in Public Health and took courses on healthcare inequities, issues in global health and the principles of public health policy and I feel as if this book could have been taught in any of those courses! Finally, I have always harbored a desire to work for an NGO focusing on healthcare in a underdeveloped country and this book has fueled that desire. My company offers a unique opportunity that would allow me to do this and I am now committed to pursuing it. This book truly affected me and I am happy to see their are unselfish, dedicated and inspiring people such as Dr. Paul Farmer in the world.



I was inspired to read this book by a post from Mel at lit chick following the earthquake in Haiti earlier this year - PIH has been doing work in Haiti for more than 20 years and was one of the charitable organizations able to do the most on the ground immediately following the quake. You can make a donation to PIH here to fund their work in Haiti or in a number of other needy communities.
I read this book for the Social Justice Challenge (AIDS crisis month); it also meets the criteria for the Bad Blogger category of the TwentyTen Challenge and the Non Fiction Five Challenge

In My Mailbox/Mailbox Monday: June 14, 2010

Story Siren hosts In My Mailbox where book bloggers offer a peek into the books that arrived in their homes over the past week. Mailbox Monday hosted by Marcia at the Printed Page has the same objective. These memes are great in that they offer us a chance to see what others are reading- it's like candy for book addicts!

Here's what arrived this week:

Midnight's Children: A Novel
Whistlin' Dixie in a Nor'easter
Let the Great World Spin: A Novel





























What came into your home this week?

Bloggiesta: Wrap Up Post

What a blogging weekend!  It was Bloggiesta hosted by Natasha at Maw Books Blog  -
she has once again been the fabulous host of this event bringing more than 160 book bloggers together to work on their blogs and share information and tips!

Here is what I set out to accomplish this weekend:

• Finish questionnaire for feature at Page Turners

• Assess blog and set goals for the Blog Improvement Project Challenge hosted by Kim of Sophisticated Dorkiness and Jackie of Farm Lane Books
• Back-Up My Blog - this was surprisingly easy
• Finish some posts that I can use in the future   - I didn't finish as many as I would have liked but did get some key ones finished
• Get a gravatar (actually did this one last night)
• Finding and showing off the best content - I always find it hard to "toot my own horn" but I did identify the following as my "best" posts: (let me know what you think!)

• 10 Great Places to Read in NYC
• My Irish Heritage, St. Patrick's Day and Irish Authors
• Review: The Anglo Files

• Analyze/grade my blog  I got an 89 which is up from 37 when I did it during the last Bloggiesta 6 mos ago!  I was so excited!
• Organize the feed reader
• Participate in the commenting mini-challenge by Cass at Bonjour Cass 
• Nail a post template to make future posts easier - DNF
• Expand review policy beyond "What I Don't Read" - DNF
• Explore Stats further (I use histats but want to check out google analytics to see if it tells me something different - "data, baby, data") - I looked into google analytics but panicked when they asked me to paste code into my blog so I decided to further analyze what I had from histats.com :)

All in all, this has been a VERY productive weekend  - I spent approximately 26 hours (wow!) on Bloggiesta activities.  I am so glad I got to participate in another Bloggiesta! Now  . . . siesta-time!

PS  - Don't forget about my Bloggiesta Giveaway - it ends at 8 am tomorrow (Monday 6/14)

Book Recommendations for Dad [TSS]

For today's Sunday Salon, I am going to feature some book options for Father's Day gifts. As a reader, I always like to give books as gifts and my Dad is no exception. My Dad is not a big reader at all - his tastes can be narrow and he certainly is not one to always have a book in hand but when he does find something he likes, he throws himself into it wholeheartedly and doesn't stop until he has finished it! I enjoy the challenge of finding something that elicits that kind of reaction! So here are some of my successes (and some recommendations for other, less difficult to please, Dads! :)

Sorry about the pics - I am having problems with my Amazon Associates blogger integration and I just couldn't get all the pics to load!

Finance
My Dad is a finance junkie - CNBC is a constant soundtrack in my parents' house - so this genre is usually a sure-fire hit.

1. On The Brinkby Henry Paulson is the former Secretary of the Treasury's account of the economic collapse of 2008 - it is more about the people and politics involved then just a rehash of the facts and figures of the collapse.  Interestingly, JP Morgan has a "Billionaire Summer Reading List" which is sent to clients and this one is on there.  There are also other finance books on the list  - I will be using this as a reference for future gifting opportunities! (click here for my giveaway of the audio and HB versions of this book)
2. Lords of Finance by Liaquat Ahamed is another tale of the famed economic collapse (finance junkies can't seem to get enough of this!); the one won the 2010 Pulitzer for History
3. Snowball by Alice Schroeder is a biography of Warren Buffett.  Buffett has had unprecedented success in the market but has remained remarkably unaffected by his wealth..  I think Dad will appreciate his legendary frugality!

Sports
My Dad's sport of choice is golf but I include some selections from other sports as well:

1. Moment of Glory: The Year Underdogs Ruled Golf by John Feinstein.  Feinstein has authored two of the best-selling non fiction sports books in history (Dad was a big fan of one of them - A Good Walk Spoiled: Days and Nights on the PGA Tour).  If Dad likes golf, I am sure he will enjoy this one! (click here for my giveaway of this audiobook)
2. Simple Courage: The True Story of Peril on the Sea by Frank Delaney - I had the pleasure of meeting this author earlier in the week (more on that in another post) and he told me about this non-fiction book of his (didn't even know he wrote non-fiction!) The story sounds fascinating and I think those who like sailing (and even those who do not) would enjoy this!
3. The Game from Where I Stand: A Ballplayer's Inside View by Doug Gianville - a sports list would not be complete without one about the Great American Pastime - baseball!  I like how this books captures a ball player's observations on the game, its history and its future

Memoir/Biography
I love a good memoir and so does Dad (although we rarely like the same ones!)
 

1. Manhood for Amateurs: The Pleasures and Regrets of a Husband, Father, and Son (P.S.) by Michael Chabon.  Chabon is a favorite fiction writer of mine but I think this memoir sounds like a great "growing into fatherhood" story
2. Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation by Joseph Ellis - this is one we did agree on - its slim and provides just enough about the founding fathers so that even if you are not a history buff, you will enjoy it.  Ellis is a fellow William and Mary alum which doesn't hurt either!
3. The Council of Dads: My Daughters, My Illness, and the Men Who Could Be Me by Bruce Feiler - this one sounds gut-wrenching but a perfect Father's Day book - Feiler is diagnosed with a rare cancer and assembles a group of male friends who can provide advice and support for his daughters in the event he does not survive

Fiction
My Dad is not a fiction reader AT ALL but I know many are - here are some suggestions:

1.   The Given Day: A Novel by Dennis Lehane.  Lehane is the author of Shutter Island and Mystic River and his detective novels are supposed to be quite engaging
2. That Old Cape Magic: A Novel (Vintage Contemporaries) by Richard Russo.  Russo is a fabulous storyteller and his books appeal to both men and women.  His latest is out this month in paperback - just in time for Father's Day
3. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson - ok, ok, I know it seems as if everyone has read this (I haven't, unfortunately) but if Dad read the first two and loved them, why not give him the final book in the series and make his day!  If he hasn't read the books yet, give him the Stieg Larsson's Millennium Trilogy Bundle: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest - he'll be busy for a week at least!

Children's Books
I love to mark holidays with books for children including my young niece and nephew - books add meaning to holidays for children and celebrate them in a way that makes sense to kids!  It is great when Dad's share reading with their kids and these books about Fathers and Grandfathers are perfect for kids to share with Grandpa and Dad!

1. The Night Worker by Kate Banks  - Dad takes his son to his night job at a construction site and his son learns about where Dad goes every night after he tucks him in to bed.
2. Grandpa Loves Me (Beginner Boards) by Marianne Richmond - Board books are great for very young kids and foster an early love of reading
3. It's the Best Day Ever, Dad! by Brooke Shields  - in this children's book by the famous model/actress, kids spend a fun filled day with Dad

What are your favorite Father's Day book recommendations?