Kristen’s Favorite Audiobooks

The month of June is National Audiobook Month and Jen at Devourer of Books is hosting daily discussions of audiobooks all this week. I’m a huge audiobook addict and you might have noticed that many of the book reviews Jose and I do are of audiobooks. We started listening to them a few years ago to make our respective commutes to work go by faster. Since then, I’ve also started listening to them on the treadmill or while doing chores. I love them because they allow you to do two things at once and they make boring tasks a lot more fun. In honor of Audiobook Week, I thought I’d share some of my all-time favorites: Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris I consider David Sedaris’ audiobooks to be some of the best out there, and I think they are a great starting point for a [...]

Read More »

Is Stephenie Meyer the Author of the Decade?

Read Street, the book blog of the Baltimore Sun, has declared 2000-2009 the decade of Stephenie Meyer. Their reasoning for this bold declaration is that: Meyer’s novel “Twilight,” released in October of 2005, hit the top of the bestseller lists and has hardly budged since — while being joined by others in the series. In the comment section the author clarifies: I’m not saying she’s the best author if the decade, but her emergence is one of the biggest trends since 2000. There’s no doubt about that. It’s true, vampire books have been a huge trend in the past few years and Stephenie Meyer’s success has spread to other authors like L. J. Smith and Charlaine Harris. On the other hand, while recent years have been all about vampires, I would argue that J. K. Rowling dominated most of the decade. The first Harry Potter book was published in the [...]

Read More »

THE TALES OF BEEDLE THE BARD Review

THE TALES OF BEEDLE THE BARD by J.K. Rowling I was completely devastated when I finished the final Harry Potter Book as it meant I had no more Potter books to look forward to. The remaining 2 movies helped lessen the blow a little bit, but what I’ve really been hankering for is a new book by Rowling. This winter, I was temporarily comforted by the release of The Tales Of Beedle The Bard. If you haven’t checked it out yet, don’t get too excited. This is not a new Potter book. It’s also not a novel, but rather a collection of short stories with some footnotes by Dumbledore, that clocks in at around 100 pages (with large print and pictures). All that being said, it’s an excellent book. Rowling has the great ability to open up one’s imagination and create worlds where anything is possible. So, it only made [...]

Read More »

HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE Book Review

HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE by JK Rowling The movie Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince opens this week so if you haven’t read the book yet, now is the time. Most fans of the series read the book a few years ago, so read on for a quick refresher. If you recall, the fifth book, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, ended with the wizarding world finally becoming aware that Lord Voldemort had returned. The sixth book begins with the magical world at war and a new minister of magic taking office, now that the bumbling Cornelius Fudge has been relieved of duty. As the story of his battle with Voldemort spreads, Harry is once again everyone’s hero, the chosen one who will defeat Voldemort forever. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince opens with Harry spending his summer at the Dursley’s, until Dumbledore arrives and asks [...]

Read More »