Possibly a Secret Genius

Jenn Northington Jun 23, 2016

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Amanda and Jenn recommend audiobooks for summer reading, books about menopause, Antarctic stories, and more!

This episode is sponsored by The Great Detective: The Amazing Rise and Immortal Life of Sherlock Holmes by Zach Dundas and Book Riot Live.

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Questions

1. Hi Amanda,
I listen to audiobooks every moment I can, but I almost exclusively listen to non-fiction. Whenever I’ve tried to listen to novels, I haven’t enjoyed them nearly as much.

Would you please recommend some fiction audiobooks that might translate well for someone used to listening to non-fiction? Note that I’m also focused on reading diversely, and I listen to most of my audiobooks through Scribd and my library system, so it would be wonderful if some of your recommendations were available on Scribd.

Many, many thanks for the recommendations, and for starting the Get Booked podcast!
–Rayna

2. I belong to a very active community of readers, the Goodreads Ireland group. We have monthly reads, quarterly Irish reads, and numerous discussions on various other topics. This year, we’re doing a Continental Challenge where we read one book set on each continent. We’ve reached Antarctica, and I’m struggling with what to read. I’m not a big fan of “explorer” type books, whether fiction or nonfiction. Any advice?

P.S. This section of the challenge runs through July 16th.

P.P.S. I love your podcast and have gotten at least one friend hooked on it.

Sara

3. Hi Amanda and Jenn!

This summer, starting Victoria Day Weekend (I’m Canadian, it’s basically our Memorial Day) I will be making several weekend train trips to my hometown for various extended family obligations. I’m looking for stories that will consume me for the rides there and back, something I can just dedicate to that time. I am looking for something that is going to completely suck me in. I do enjoy just about anything but would like to stick with something perhaps kind of genre and fun. The round trip is approximately 8 hours so something in the 300-400 page range would do well for me to complete during the trip. Bonus points if it has an audio version. While I generally do prefer reading on paper/ebook, sometimes it’s nice to just stare out the window for an hour and listen. All ideas welcome! Thanks in advance.

Ashley

4. Hi Amanda and Jenn,

First of all, thank you for a great podcast – I am a fan all the way from Denmark!

I am looking for book recommendations for my mother-in-law’s upcoming birthday. She is currently going through an emotional roller coaster-ride, as she is going through menopause and finds it difficult to 1) find relevant information about the bodily changes and 2) to find emotional support. She is such a fun and loving Filipino mother-in-law, and I find it so hard to see her going through this alone and I therefore want to find some great books that can take her through this stage of her life so she can better cope. I hope there are some good fiction and non-fiction books out there.

Thank you for your help.
–Kristina

5. To the ladies who consistently help my TBR list expand,

I’m going to be traveling here and there starting in July and in need of a book or four, for my summer travels. I’m 19, about to be out of a job that sucked the life out of me, and now contemplating going back to college. I’ve been delving into the world of nonfiction, after usually only gravitating towards fiction. Recently I read Tiny Beautiful Things by Cheryl Strayed. And I’m currently reading When Women Were Birds by Terry Tempest Williams. I also love Patti Smith’s, M Train and Just Kids. These books have been a gift to my soul. I need replenished! I need more women telling their stories. Profound, poetic, or mundane. Books about women finding themselves, or having no idea what they’re doing with their lives. Books to make me see things differently or not feel alone in my unknowing of where to turn when I’m unsure of what career path to go down.

Sincerely,
Leah

Books Discussed

New audiobooks newsletter!

The Cutting Season by Attica Locke

The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien (read by Bryan Cranston)

Where’d You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple (read by Kathleen Wilhoite from The Gilmore Girls)

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz (read by Lin-Manuel Miranda)

My Last Continent by Midge Raymond (out June 21)

Our Lady of Ice by Cassandra Rose Clarke (rec’d by Swapna Krishna)

All Around the World: Women Writers from Every Continent by Alison Peters

We Mammals in Hospitable Times by Jynne Dilling Martin

Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing