Mental Post-Its

Thoughts, Notes, and General Mental Mayhem

Tag Archives: audible


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2014 Reading List

160858050I read some great books this year! I didn’t surpass last year‘s number, but I sort of also rediscovered listening to music for a couple months. Still, I guess 28 books isn’t too shabby.

A lot more fiction has seeped into my reading list the last two years, which still kind of surprises me. But Audible just makes it so much more easy to fit books into my schedule, and enjoy them, so I’m welcoming it.

Here’s my 2014 reading list:

I was sort of in a “classics” mood this year and tried to also do A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. Um, maybe I’ll revisit them in the future, but they’ve been abandoned for now. Is it me, or is Dickens hard to read outside of A Christmas Carol? Will I have better luck with David Copperfield (book, not magician 😉 ). And I remember liking Tom Sawyer, so maybe Huck’s just not for me. Or maybe I’ll just stick to the movies and plays.

Anywho, this is the list of who had my ear the past 12 months. What about you? Anything I should add to my 2015 list?

 

(Note: Amazon links are affiliate links.)


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Comfort Music

469198881The past two months have been busy. Crazy busy. Insane busy.

And while I usually (read: almost always) listen to Audible books in the car, I just couldn’t do it the past couple of months. I typically like to listen to books that inform and educate me, because that’s probably the only way I’ll pick the book up. Sometimes I throw in a fiction book for good measure. But this time, I couldn’t take it. I couldn’t fit anything else in my brain. I didn’t even want to follow a storyline. I wanted to zone out (while driving safely, of course). So I turned on my iTunes shuffle and let the music wash over me.

I couldn’t believe how comforting it was! It was like manna from Heaven pouring out through my sound system. I rediscovered an old friend, a best friend. I listened to songs and albums that made my heart happy. I sang (way) out loud, relived old memories, cried fresh tears, laughed all over again and generally just enjoyed the moment. It was a fun surprise with each new song that popped up. And it helped get me through the last two months.

Thank you, music, for being part of so many great memories. I look forward to more of those moments.

Here are some of the songs and albums that drove me to my happy place:

  • Any album by Caedmon’s Call, especially the early stuff
  • Begin Again Soundtrack
  • Chasing Daylight by Sister Hazel
  • Continuum by John Mayer
  • Effortless by Rita Springer
  • Elizabethtown Soundtrack
  • Fly by Dixie Chicks
  • Fortress by Sister Hazel
  • Galore by Guster
  • James Taylor’s Greatest Hits
  • Heavier Things by John Mayer
  • Journey’s Greatest Hits
  • Any Broadway Soundtrack
  • Little Voice by Sara Bareilles
  • Live Under Lights by Sandra McCracken
  • North Point Live
  • Resurrection by Nichol Sponberg
  • Room for Squares by John Mayer
  • Sacred Space by Steve Fee
  • Saturday Nights and Sunday Mornings by Counting Crows
  • Saturday Night Music Club by Sheryl Crow
  • Somewhere More Familiar by Sister Hazel
  • Somewhere Over the Rainbow by Judy Garland
  • Somore by Guster
  • Together: Songs for the Soul
  • U2: 18 Singles
  • Wide Open Spaces by Dixie Chicks
  • 7:22 Live

What makes your list?