Chaletmomma

I’ve come to the realization I rarely crack the spine of a book these days. If I have time to sit for a spell I end up on Instagram scrolling or I’m chatting with friends. I find more and more of you tell me the same thing. So here’s a list of some of my favorite audio books.

My favorite listen of all time is Daisy Jones & The Six: The actors brought this incredible novel about the meteoric rise of an iconic 1970s rock group and their beautiful lead singer to life - I saw the entire film in my head - and I don’t think I will ever watch the series or any film version for this reason.

The Nightingale: A extraordinary tale of the french resistance during WWII. I could not stop listening… I stayed up late sitting in the dark - it’s that good.

The Shoemakers Wife: The majestic and haunting beauty of the Italian Alps is the setting of the first meeting of Enza a practical beauty and Ciro, a strapping mountain boy, who meet as teenagers. Both end up in America unbeknownst to each other - Ciro in NYC where he master shoemaking and Enza in Hoboken. She ends up with an impressive career as a seamstress at the Metropolitan Opera House. I can’t express how much I enjoyed these characters. I was really sad when it was over.

Fly Girl: A Memoir: When Ann Hood was young her family would pile into the car and visit the construction site of what became Washington Dulles International Airport which opened in 1962. Ann decided planes and travel were where she wanted to be. Graduating from college in 1978 Ann began the interview process and landed a coveted spot with TWA. She survived TWA’s rigorous Breech Training Academy where she learned to evacuate seven kinds of aircraft, deliver a baby, mix proper cocktails, administer oxygen and stay calm no matter what the situation. I remember flying on TWA in the mid 1970’s with my parents. This book is a great bit of nostalgia.

The Dutch House: This Ann Patchett title is wonderful. This book carries with it all the meaning of home and asks what does a building hold of a family when you don’t have either. I originally read the book in March 2020 and first listened in February 2021 and I found it incredible - if possible more impactful than when I originally read it. I re-listened to it in March of 2022 and again in summer 2024. This is my favorite work of modern fiction. The hardcover book is prominently displayed on the top of a stack in the Chalet livingroom.

Tom Lake: Another amazing tale by Ann Patchett. When Lara’s three grown daughters return to the family’s Orchard in Northern Michigan during the pandemic to help pick cherries they beg her to tell them about Peter Duke, a famous actor with whom Lara shared both a stage and a romance years before at a theater company - Tom Lake. Lara shares much but, also keeps things to herself about the summer she was 25. Tom Lake is a meditation on youthful love, married love, and the lives parents have led before their children were born. Both hopeful and elegiac, it explores what it means to be happy even when the world is falling apart. This book riveted me. I stayed up late listening. Meryl Streep is masterful at acting each character with pinpoint accuracy. Ann Patchett is my favorite author - she’s a master at drawing you in slowly.

Bad Summer People: Jen and Lauren rule the town of Salcombe, every summer. They’re adept at manipulating people to get what they want. Their husbands, Sam and Jason, have summered on the island since childhood. This season starts out as quietly as usual until a body is discovered, face down off the side of the boardwalk. None of them would claim to be a particularly good person. But who among them is actually capable of murder? This is a deliciously smart and entertaining read.

Sometimes I find the narration so enjoyable I look up what other titles this person has narrated and I usually find myself listening to them as well. Case in point Marin Ireland. Marin is an actress and brings something so wonderful to the stories. I have listened to: The Beartown series, This Time Tomorrow, Pineapple Street, Nothing to See Here, Remarkably Bright Creatures and Good Company.

Summer Rental: I continue to share this title with friends. I really like these three gals Ellis, Julia, and Dorie friends since grade school; now in their mid-thirties are all at crossroads. Ellis, recently fired from a job she gave everything to, is beginning to question the choices she's made. Julia, whose caustic wit covers up her wounds has a man who’s offering her the world. And Dorie, who was betrayed by the man she loved. A month in North Carolina's Outer Banks is just what they each of them needs.

Have you ever read a book or watched a film that you can’t stop talking about? Well there are two books that touched me this way. I wish I could encounter these stories for the first time all over again!

The first is -

The Reading List: Aleisha is a bright but anxious teenager working at the local library for the summer when she discovers a crumpled-up piece of paper in the back of To Kill a Mockingbird. It’s a list of novels that she’s never heard of before. Intrigued, and a little bored with her slow job at the checkout desk, she impulsively decides to read every book on the list, one after the other. As each story gives up its magic, the books transport Aleisha from the painful realities she’s facing at home. When widower Mukesh arrives at the library, desperate to forge a connection with his bookworm granddaughter, Aleisha passes along the reading list… hoping that it will be a lifeline for him too. Slowly, the shared books create a connection between two lonely souls, as fiction helps them escape their grief and everyday troubles and find joy again. I have recommended this book to so many people. Readers love to connect over the joy of a shared title and this is what the basis of this story is about. Connection and Stories.

and the second is -

None Of This Is True: Another Lisa Jewell book I loved…. This is a thriller about a woman who finds herself the subject of her own popular podcast. While out celebrating her birthday podcaster Alix Summers crosses paths with Josie Fair. They are, in fact, birthday twins. A few days later, Alix and Josie bump into each other again, this time outside Alix’s children’s school. Josie has been listening to Alix’s podcasts and thinks she might be an interesting subject. She is, she tells Alix, on the cusp of great changes in her life. Josie’s life appears to be strange and complicated, and although Alix finds her unsettling, she can’t quite resist the temptation of the podcast. Slowly she starts to realize Josie has been hiding some very dark secrets, and before she knows it, Josie has pushed herself into Alix’s life and into her home! It’s so good - you won’t be able to stop listening!

Hoping you find a title or two! I listen through - Hoopla, Libby or Chirp. Til next I’ll see you over on Instagram. For more of my favorite titles check out Get Your Read On!