Advice About Audiobooks

This isn't the first time I've considered the benefits of listening to audiobooks but usually I give them some thought, see the price of them and then end up looking at clothes on Zappos. However I'm back in training for a half marathon and feel like the time spent on long runs could be well used listening to podcasts or to something other than music. Which brings me back to Audiobooks.... (for me it sounds like the perfect combination of two of my favourite hobbies!)

Pic Source

I have some queries though and am hoping you can help:

1. What are your experiences with audiobooks?
2. Is it worth buying into a subscription service such as audible.com or just buy per book from amazon or itunes?
3. Bearing in mind I like mostly legal thrillers, mysteries, police procedural, (and the occasional fantasy book if it's not tooooo weird) have you got any recommendations of audiobooks that you have really enjoyed? 
4. Is there anything I should be cautious or wary of? 

I know I'm not the only running crazy girl that loves to read ... I'm hoping one of you can shed some light on the subject and help me make a sensible move into awesome multitasking.

A Surprising Discovery

I'm a massive fan of my Kindle and couldn't live without it, but despite this I always thought deep down that part of me agreed with people that said they will always love an actual book more. However this week I realised this may no longer be the case.

I had an appointment at the American Embassy in London a couple of weeks ago. It's forbidden to take any electronic devices into the building so I bought a book on my way to keep me entertained while I waited for my appointments. On the day it turned out there was a lot going on so it was difficult to focus on reading but having bought it, typically for me, I was determined to read it at some point.

As I was reading I realised that I was no longer a fan of the good old fashioned paperback. Other than the smell (mmm book smell) I found myself struggling to get comfortable while reading. Somewhere along the line I've got super lazy... I like holding my Kindle with one hand, not moving to turn a page and not getting achy arms. I also hadn't realised how much I used the dictionary feature built into the Kindle. Added to the comfort factor is the cost ... the same book was half the price on Amazon than it was in the book shop, plus having a whole store instantly available at my fingertips 24 hours a day means I'm never short of something new to get into.

So after several years of reading on a Kindle I've finally realised, much to my surprise, that I'm not just a bit of a fan but really I'm 100% converted!!
Do you read on an e-reader or still enjoy a paperback? Please share your thoughts and leave a comment :)

Book Review #3

This week I finished May Day: A Murder-By-Month-Mystery by Jess Lourey....

Minneapolitan Mira James has been taking it easy since college graduation--too easy. Due to a dead-end job and a cheating boyfriend, the Twin Cities have lost their charm, and Mira decides to begin a new life in rural Battle Lake. Right away she is offered jobs as an assistant librarian and part-time reporter, and falls into an unexpected romance with a guy who seems to be the perfect man until he turns up dead between the reference stacks her tenth day on the job. Anxious to learn more about the man who had briefly stolen her heart, Mira delves into the hidden mysteries of Battle Lake, including a old land deed with ancient Ojibwe secrets, an obscure octogenarian crowd with freaky social lives, and a handful of thirtysomething high school buddies who hold bitter, decades-old grudges. Mira soon discovers that unknown dangers are concealed under the polite exterior of this quirky small town, and revenge is a tator-tot hotdish best served cold.A hip, humorous, and gripping account of small-town murder, this novel is the first in a series of cozies featuring Mira James, an urban woman with rural Minnesota roots.

I got this book when it was a freebie from Amazon on my Kindle. As you probably know by now I'm a fan of murder mysteries so I figured I should give it a try. I have to be honest, I don't know if I liked this book or not. Part of me did because at points it actually made me laugh out loud, but on the other hand it really wasn't my type of book as the characters were just a bit too odd and it was a little bit too light-hearted for me. It was an easy read and I was interested enough to stick with it to the end but I probably wouldn't have been too happy if I'd paid the £13.50 list price or £7.43 kindle price. There are several more books in this series but to be honest I think I'll pass. If another comes up for free I would consider it but if not I won't be adventuring any further into the life of Mira James.

 

Wishlist Wednesday #7

Welcome to my seventh Wishlist Wednesday post for the awesome blog hop hosted by Dani at Pen to Paper

So here's my WW selection for this week is Pattern of Wounds by J.Mark Bertrand.

For Detective Roland March, his latest case has become personal. March doesn't know the young female who was stabbed to death, but he thinks he recognizes the crime scene. Nearly ten years ago, March gained national fame as the subject of a true-crime book. But now this crime scene bears eerie similarities to that one. And whispers begin to emerge that March may have put the wrong man behind bars. Worse, Houston may now have a serial killer on the loose. As more cases emerge that seem connected, and threats against March and those closest to him build, he must solve the case--rescuing not only the city but his own reputation as a homicide cop.



I've just finished the first in the Roland March series and was really impressed by it. I like that they are set in Houston and that I understand the references to places and people which I may not have done before I started spending time there. I enjoyed the character development and way that Bertrand linked storylines in the first book so would be interested to give this a go too.

Want to join in??

• Follow Pen to Paper as the host
• Pick a book from your wishlist that you are dying to get your hands on and read
• Wrote a post telling your readers about the book and why it's on your wishlist
• Add your blog to the linky at the bottom of her post
• Put a link back to Pen to Paper somewhere on your post with a note about the host
• Visit the other blogs, follow and enjoy :)

What's on your wishlist this week? Comment below and share or share a link to your post :)

Book Review #2

Back On Murder (A Roland March Mystery Book #1) by J. Mark Bertrand

Det. Roland March is a homicide cop on his way out. But when he's the only one at a crime scene to find evidence of a missing female victim, he's given one last chance to prove himself. Before he can crack the case, he's transferred to a new one that has grabbed the spotlight--the disappearance of a famous Houston evangelist's teen daughter.With the help of a youth pastor with a guilty conscience who navigates the world of church and faith, March is determined to find the missing girls while proving he's still one of Houston's best detectives.


I really enjoyed this book, in part because it was set in Houston so I knew many of the references that the author made to places and people which I wouldn't have understood a few years ago. I liked the character development that the author put into this book, not explaining everything straight off but letting things fall into place over time, although there are quite a few people to keep track of which I sometimes have difficulty with! With it being a mystery I'm not going to go into detail about plots and whether there are or aren't twists and surprises because that's why you read them in the first place! All I will say is that I love a good murder mystery and this doesn't disappoint. It's J.Mark Bertrand's first mystery and he's clearly got a talent for it, I'm really tempted to check out the second in the series.

Wishlist Wednesday #6

Welcome to my sixth Wishlist Wednesday post for the awesome blog hop hosted by Dani at Pen to Paper

So here's my WW selection for this week... Chasing the Dime by Michael Connelly

Henry Pierce has a whole new life - new apartment, new telephone, new telephone number. But the first time he checks his messages, he discovers that someone had the number before him. The messages on his line are for a woman named Lilly, and she is in some kind of serious trouble. Pierce is inexorably drawn into Lilly's world, and it's unlike any world he's ever known. It is a nighttime world of escort services, websites, sex, and secret identities. Pierce tumbles through a hole, abandoning his orderly life in a frantic race to save the life of a woman he has never met. Pierce's skills as a computer entrepreneur allow him to trace Lilly's last days with some precision. But every step into Lilly's past takes him deeper into a web of inescapable intricacy - and a decision that could cost him everything he owns and holds dear...


The reason I've chosen this book this week is to get back on track! As part of my Day Zero Project I decided I would read all the books written by an author. I chose Michael Connelly and was making great progress but got a bit sidetracked (I think I needed a break from some of his regular characters). If I picked up again with something like this I think I could get back on track!

Want to join in??

• Follow Pen to Paper as the host
• Pick a book from your wishlist that you are dying to get your hands on and read
• Wrote a post telling your readers about the book and why it's on your wishlist
• Add your blog to the linky at the bottom of her post
• Put a link back to Pen to Paper somewhere on your post with a note about the host
• Visit the other blogs, follow and enjoy :)

What's on your wishlist this week? Comment below and share or share a link to your post :)

Wishlist Wednesday #5

Welcome to my fifth Wishlist Wednesday post for the awesome blog hop hosted by Dani at Pen to Paper

This week I'm adding The Ophelia Cut by John Lescroart to my wishlist...

Here's the Amazon description...

Brittany McGuire is the beautiful, twenty-three-year-old daughter of Susan Weiss and Moses McGuire - and the niece of defense attorney Dismas Hardy. Popular and pretty, Brittany has always moved easily from one boyfriend to the next, but her most recent ex, a young man named Rick Jessup, can't seem to get over her. His abuse escalates, culminating in a terrible night when Brittany is raped.
Within twenty-four hours, Rick Jessup is dead, Moses McGuire is the prime suspect in the investigation, and Dismas Hardy has been hired to defend his old friend  Making things even more complicated, this case threatens to bring to light old secrets that could destroy the careers of Hardy and the police lieutenant Abe Gltsky.
As the overwhelming evidence against Moses piles up, Dismas Hardy focuses on planting doubt in the minds of the jurors - until, in a feat of legal ingenuity that is staggering in both its implications and its simplicity, Hardy sees a new way forward that might just save them all. But at what price?

I like the sound of this book as I love good legal dramas. The Ophelia Cut hasn't been released yet and I've never read anything by this author before but it's the 14th in the Dismas Hardy series. I'm assuming if he's still writing about this protagonist that he's fairly popular so while I'm waiting for this to be released, maybe I should start at the beginning!

Want to join in??

• Follow Pen to Paper as the host
• Pick a book from your wishlist that you are dying to get your hands on and read
• Wrote a post telling your readers about the book and why it's on your wishlist
• Add your blog to the linky at the bottom of her post
• Put a link back to Pen to Paper somewhere on your post with a note about the host
• Visit the other blogs, follow and enjoy :)

What's on your wishlist this week? Comment below and share or share a link to your post :)

Wishlist Wednesday #4

Welcome to my fourth Wishlist Wednesday post for the awesome blog hop hosted by Dani at Pen to Paper

This wishlist Wednesday I'm adding two books in a series by Mari Hannah. The first book is The Murder Wall  

Eleven months after discovering a brutal double murder in a sleepy Northumbrian town, Detective Chief Inspector Kate Daniels is still haunted by her failure to solve the case. Then the brutal killing of a man on Newcastle's Quayside gives Daniels another chance to get it right, and her first case as Senior Investigating Officer. When Daniels recognises the corpse, but fails to disclose the fact, her personal life swerves dangerously into her professional life. But much worse, she is now being watched. As Daniels steps closer to finding a killer, a killer is only a breath away from claiming his next victim....





This book is followed up by, Settled Blood, which has the same protagonist. I can't say for sure until I've read the first if I will want to read the second but it has been well reviewed and again is in the right genre with an interesting plot.

When a young girl is found dead at the base of Hadrian's Wall, it's not long before Detective Chief Inspector Kate Daniels realises her death was no ordinary homicide. She was thrown from a great height and was probably alive before she hit the ground. Then a local businessman reports his daughter missing, has Daniels found the identity of her victim, or is a killer playing a sickening game? As the murder investigation team delve deeper into the case, half truths are told, secrets exposed, and while Daniels makes her way through a mountain of obstacles time is running out for one terrified girl.






I like the sound of Mari Hannah's books for several reasons. It's going back to my usual genre of crime and police investigation and she's had some great reviews. I haven't read many books that are set in the north of England so I'm interested to see how I feel about the settings being familiar to me. Finally the protagonist shares her name with a friend of mine though I'm not sure if that's going to help or hinder as I imagine my teacher friend solving crime!

Want to join in??

• Follow Pen to Paper as the host
• Pick a book from your wishlist that you are dying to get your hands on and read
• Wrote a post telling your readers about the book and why it's on your wishlist
• Add your blog to the linky at the bottom of her post
• Put a link back to Pen to Paper somewhere on your post with a note about the host
• Visit the other blogs, follow and enjoy :)

What's on your wishlist this week? Comment below and share or share a link to your post :)

Wishlist Wednesday #2

Welcome to my second Wishlist Wednesday post fro the awesome blog hop hosted by Dani at Pen to Paper

This week my wishlist book is Fatal Flaw by William Lashner. I had a look through my kindle wishlist and found several of this author's books on there though I have never read any of his before (and to be honest have no recollection of when I added them to the list!). This sounds just up my street as it's a legal drama. Here are the details...

Some victims deserve nothing less than the truth...  Ethically adventurous Philadelphia lawyer Victor Carl usally does the right thing, but often for the wrong reasons. When old law school classmate Guy Forrest is accused of murdering his beautiful lover, Hailey Prouix, in their Main Line love nest, Carl agrees to represent him while keeping silent about his own prior romantic involvement with the victim, and his present determination to see that his client is punished for the brutal crime. But once Carl sets the machinery of retribution in motion, it may be impossible to stop it, even after his certainty begins to crack. Now Victor Carl must race across the country to uncover shocking truths: Who, really, was Hailey Prouix? And why is a killer still waiting in her shadow?

Want to join in??

• Follow Pen to Paper as the host
• Pick a book from your wishlist that you are dying to get your hands on and read
• Wrote a post telling your readers about the book and why it's on your wishlist
• Add your blog to the linky at the bottom of her post
• Put a link back to Pen to Paper somewhere on your post with a note about the host
• Visit the other blogs, follow and enjoy :)

Thanks for reading! Please comment below and tell me what's on your wishlist this week....

Wishlist Wednesday #1

In my search for new reading material I've come across 'Wishlist Wednesday' - a blog hop where you write about one book that's on your wishlist to read. It can be something that's been there for a while or something that you've just added. I've not taken part in many blog hops before but I can see myself doing this regularly as there are a lot of books out there I want to read and taking time to write about them might encourage me to get them off my wishlist and onto my Kindle!

The blog hop is hosted by Dani @ Pen To Paper

The book that has made my wishlist this week is Carnage by Maxime Chattam:

When a massacre takes place in a Harlem school, Lamar, A New York detective for twelve years, is called to the scene. A student, aged seventeen, has shot everyone in his path before shooting himself. Having collected all the evidence, Lamar reconstructs the blood-soaked morning of the killer. Ten days later, a second massacre occurs at a school in Queens. Once more, a student kills multiple victims before turning the gun on himself. A new massacre occurs elsewhere. Three sets of killings in three weeks, all the same with the perpetrators committing suicide. It isn't just a coincidence...

The book looks pretty short and has been translated from French so I'm interested to see how well the author can squeeze all the twists and turns needed for a good thriller into a short story and I hope that nothing is lost in translation. I'm definitely looking forward to getting into this one ... I love a good thriller!

Want to join in??

• Follow Pen to Paper as the host
• Pick a book from your wishlist that you are dying to get your hands on and read
• Write a post telling your readers about the book and why it's on your wishlist
• Add your blog to the linky at the bottom of her post
• Put a link back to pen to paper (www.pentopaperblog.com) somewhere on your post with a note about the host
• Visit the other blogs, follow and enjoy :)

Thanks for reading! Please comment below and tell me what's on your wishlist this week....

What to read?

I'm turning to you, the imaginary people that live in my computer, for some help.

I love to read but since I came back to England I've hardly turned a page (or clicked the > button on my kindle). I'm hoping you can help me find something to change that.

To be a little bit more specific, I'm not one for soppy romances or very girly books that are about gossip or shopping (or whatever it is that girly books are about). Similarly though I'm not into very blokey books (I'm stereotyping here!) like war stuff. I'm not great at things that are set too far back in history (sorry if that's not very cultured of me but it's just not my type of thing!). Enough of what I don't like, what I do like are crime, mystery and courtroom dramas. I've enjoyed a lot of books by Michael Connelly and I also really liked the Stieg Larrson Millennium Trilogy as I could hardly put those books down!

So I'm looking for some inspiration to start reading again in the form of an exciting, gripping book! Please help and leave a comment with any recommendations you have of books and/or authors

Thank you