Jane Eyre 

By Charlotte Bronte

Read by Thandiwe Newton

I have to admit this one took me a long time to get into and finish out. I had borrowed an audio version from my local library that was old and just felt like the narrator was super boring.

Then I found this one on audible and started it where I left off. Thandiwe did a fantastic job of catching my attention and made it so that I wanted to finish listening to this story. 

I have also say that I didn’t know much of this story as I had only seen the movie Jane Eyre in recent years. Listening to this had made me want to watch it again.

Which is your favorite version of this movie? Mine is the 2011 version with Mia Wasikowska. 

The Mobsters Daughter

 Mobsters Daughter

by Rachel Scott McDaniel

Release Date: November 2, 2021

“Look.” He pulled his hand from the door and cupped my shoulder, my cotton sleeve a lousy barrier between me and his touch. “I need to be blunt. I’m going to be around you a lot over the following days. Maybe weeks. Stella knows I’m an investigator. She’s sure to ask questions. So I thought it wise to throw her off track by telling her I’m carrying a torch for you.”

I loved this book. It was super yummy bagging and had so many twists and turns. It was very hard to want to put this book down as I just wanted to know what was going to happen next. 

I do love mystery stories and feel like there was just enough mystery in this but not too intense to give me nightmares. (I don’t love super scary things😬😬😬)

Highly recommend this as a must read. It comes out November 2nd!!

Maid in the Stars

 Maid in the Stars

By Angela Johnson
Release date October 16, 2021

Do you ever read a book that has a good story line but because you are in a weird headspace it’s hard to read?

I started this book last week but with us moving and being so exhausted at night I really wasn’t able to finish reading it till today. 

This one you get a storyline from three different people. So it threw me off when it started a chapter using a different females name. I had to check back in the previous chapter to make sure I really had read the name correctly. 

I did feel at times it was jumpy and I wasn’t getting all the info and there were more details so that would have been helpful. I really feel like the characters were hard to connect with and that it didn't make me want to truly keep reading.  This was book three so maybe it would have been more helpful to read the others but I still feel like it would have been very choppy. 

A World Without You

 A World Without You

By Dana LeCheminant
Release Date: October 29, 2021

 “His hand rose slowly, as if he worried if he moved too quickly I would run. He would probably be right, but I didn’t give him the chance to see what would happen if he touched his finger to my cheek.

I took a step back, just out of his reach. “I have to go to work, Rohan.”

I have loved this series and being able to read each of the siblings stories and how they come to earn their inheritance. 

Sarah is not use to working but when the opportunity came up to earn her inheritance she told them that she needed to give notice at work and not leaving them hanging. Which I was very impressed with since she wasn’t use to working. 

I have loved Rohan since book 2. He is just so patient and puts up with how Sara treats him without ever expecting anything in return.

“Oh, how I loved this man. “ You have always been my center, Ro.” And that was never going to change.”

I had difficult sleeping and woke up in the middle of the night. So what better time to read and have uninterrupted time to read.

 An Unsuitable Match

by Sally Britton
Release Date: October 25, 2021

I loved this story of a very unlikely pair. They both come from different stations in life but both carry the scares of the past. 

I found Myles very endearing and I loved being able to read his story and how he came to see that Pippa truly was concerned about his well being and not doing it out of pity. 

Exited for you to all be able to read this story!

The Dutch House

 The Dutch House

by: Ann Patchett

Read by: Tom Hanks

At the end of the Second World War, Cyril Conroy combines luck and a single canny investment to begin an enormous real estate empire, propelling his family from poverty to enormous wealth. His first order of business is to buy the Dutch House, a lavish estate in the suburbs outside of Philadelphia. Meant as a surprise for his wife, the house sets in motion the undoing of everyone he loves.

The story is told by Cyril’s son Danny, as he and his older sister, the brilliantly acerbic and self-assured Maeve, are exiled from the house where they grew up by their stepmother. The two wealthy siblings are thrown back into the poverty their parents had escaped from and find that all they have to count on is one another. It is this unshakeable bond between them that both saves their lives and thwarts their futures.

Set over the course of five decades, The Dutch House is a dark fairy tale about two smart people who cannot overcome their past. Despite every outward sign of success, Danny and Maeve are only truly comfortable when they’re together. Throughout their lives they return to the well-worn story of what they’ve lost with humor and rage. But when at last they’re forced to confront the people who left them behind, the relationship between an indulged brother and his ever-protective sister is finally tested. - Description from Amazon

Who doesn't love Tom Hanks voice? He has been one of my favorite actors for a very long time. When I think of a lot of my favorite movies he is in them. He did such a wonderful job of narrating this story and really holding your attention and wanting to know what was going to happen next. 

I really did enjoy this story. It was a nice one to finish off my long drive with. It is a story that does jump back and forth between the past and the present. But hearing the description of the house truly made me wish that I could see it personally. 

Sometimes we are running from things in the past that we don't realize that we are running from and eventually we have to face them and come to term with what has happened. We can look and see what things we have learned from the past. 

A Christmas Carol

 A Christmas Carol

by Charles Dickens 

Read by: Hugh Grant

I know we haven’t had Halloween or Thanksgiving yet. But I wanted a little variety into the stories I listened to on this drive. 

A Christmas Carol is one of my favorite traditions that my husband and I have. We have seen it every Christmas Season since we got married. Which is only three but we love it. 

I haven’t ever read or listened to the story before today. But it may as well become a tradition to listen to it every Christmas season. 

Hugh Grant (I have always loved Hugh Grants voice Sense and Sensibility)did a wonderful job of narrating this story and doing wonderful voices for all the characters. Because I have seen the play so many times it was so easy to imagine what was happening in each part of it.

The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby

by: F. Scott Fitzgerald

Read by: Anthony Heald

Let me tell you if you have a long list of books to read just listen to them and drive through Texas. You can make it through a couple of them. 

I got A Christmas Carol, The Great Gatsby and started the Dutch House. So today was a pretty productive day! 

I had to read this book for High School English but that was several years ago and I didn’t remember much about it or it’s story. 

Did anyone else read this in high school?

It was a pretty fascinating story and it was fun to listen to it as it truly seemed like it was a new book to me. 

Anthony Heald really made all the characters come to life. He did a great job with the female voices and could make their whiny demanding tones. 

I haven’t ever seen the movie and may now need to see it when I get to a place that I am able to do so.

 

Romancing Lord Ramsbury

 Romancing Lord Ramsbury

by: Ashtyn Newbold

Read by: Mary Sarah

I am usually only who prefers reading a hard copy of a book. But I have been so thankful for audio books on these long days of driving. 

This was such a fun read. Lord Ramsbury had hurt Grace in the past and wanted nothing to do with him now. A wager started by her sister had her trying to romance him and then his father threatening to disinherit him had him trying to get Grace to Marry him. 

So it was hard at once Grace and Edward knew of each other’s reason for courting and the past hurt Grace experienced from him for her to truly know if it was real or not. I think too that they truly come to learn that you can't judge someone from the one encounter that you have with them. Giving them the benefit of the doubt and truly coming to know that person as they are is much needed.

But listening to this story help me make it through New Mexico. Now to find one to make it through Texas

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

 Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

By Lewis Carroll

Read by: Scarlett Johansson

I saw a list of classics that was posted here on bookstagram and realized that I hadn’t ready very many of them. I read some in high school which has been a few years. 

So I decided I was going to make an effort to either read or listen to them. As I have a long car ride this week I have several in audible to listen too. I started with Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. I had never read this one. Saw the movie maybe once or twice when I was a kid. But wasn’t a movie that I loved. 

Listening to the book I came to the same conclusion. I just felt like it was jumping around so much and there was times I didn’t know how I got to a certain part in the story.

Scarlett Johansson was fabulous though. She did such a great job at doing different voices for all the different characters. Loved listening to her read the story.

The Best-Laid Plans

 The Best-Laid Plans

By Sarah M. Eden
Read by: Luone Ingram

Sarah always does such a fabulous job of making her stories come to life. There were so many times as I read this that I would find myself laughing. 

I truly came to love Newton and Ellie and being able to see how they worked together to get out of matches their parents wanted for them, but ultimately how they came to fall in love. 

I loved also to see the friendships that Ellie made and how they all rallied around her to stand up against the bullies her family was to her but to be able to become more confidant in herself.

I am feeling that this book was a good one to listen to before reading Charming Artemis. It helps give you a look into Charlie and Artemis relationship as well.

A Lady on the Chase

 A Lady on the Chase 

By Jessica Scarlett
Release date: October 18, 2021

I loved this story so much. Stayed up much later then I should have reading this book. 

I loved how much Lady Alicia and Matthew loved tormenting each other. They found little ways to get back at each other for things that the other did to them. How we never truly knew what Matthew was thinking and feeling. 

“When I looked toward the day when this charade had to end, I was not filled with the happiness I thought I’d be. The prospect of never seeing Matthew again frightened me. Even . . . hurt to think about.

No, I didn’t hate him. In fact, I hated him so little I was in danger of falling hopelessly in love.”

Love can sneak up on you when you least expect it. Alicia wanted to marry her childhood friend and her father wanted her to marry someone else and she became engaged to Matthew. Such a crazy love triangle. But when it came down to it she realized that she was trying to hold on to her past. 

This is book three in a series and can be read as a stand alone. I am excited to go back and read the other two books. 

Copper for the Countess

 Copper For The Countess

by Sally Britton
Release day: October 6, 2021

I have to admit I haven’t read the one before this but after reading this one I fully intend to go back and read the Silver Dollar Duke. This story I felt like gave enough of a back story that I knew what was going on.

From the moment I started reading A Copper for the Countess I was hooked and couldn’t put it down. I read way to late last night and only put it down because I had to get up early this morning. 

I loved reading Chris “Frosty” and Evelyn’s story. How they came together out of necessity and for the children that they had to care for. But they grew to love and trust each other. 

Evelyn was able to move on from past hurt in past marriages. Chris was able to see that he did truly have what it took to be a father and to help his niece and nephew with the change that happened in their life. Also nice to see a cowboy have a tender side as well. 

Heart in the Highlands

Heart in the Highlands

by Heidi Kimball 

I laughed and cried as I read this story. It was so full of so much emotion and was truly a hard book to put down. 

Heidi Kimball has done such a wonderful job of getting the emotions of the character across and you just feel such a connection with Katie as she goes through the struggles and learning to be able to trust again. 

I have such a love for Scotland and loved reading this story set there. About 11 years ago I had the opportunity to go to Scotland and also see the small town that my ancestors were from. Ever since then I have felt like I left a part of me there. 

"Love is brave. And bold. It provides no guarantees. True love gives, without expecting anything in return."

"When you learn to love someone in all their imperfections, only then will your heart be full."

I love reading Kate (Katie's) and Callum's story. Seeing how they truly came to know one another and started to build that trust among each other. There was so much hurt and heartache amongst them.

If It's You

 If It's You

by Jenessa Fayeth

This was such a heart warming and charming clean read. I loved this story from the moment I started reading it. This is one of those feel good reads. Just leaves you feeling happy when you have finished reading it. 

The friction between Christian and  Maizie from the get go was so much fun to read. It was fun to find read and find out what trick they were going to play on each other next or who they were going to get even for the trick that was played on them.

I loved the Maizie had such a big, fun loving family that made Christian feel right at home. He was able to talk with her grandma and see advice from her as to what he needed to do. 

Both Christian and Maizie experienced such big loses in their lives that they were still struggling to overcome. But I love that they were able to help each other to come to see what they could learn from those and to move on with their lives.