Audiobooks I've Been Reading

Finished Reading: November 9, 2020

Summary: Growing up in a mostly white California town as a queer Mexican American woman, Myriam Gurba learned early in life about the long-term devastating harm of racism, sexism, and xenophobia. In this Scribd Original, Gurba directly addresses the mayor of her hometown, calling him out for allowing bigotry to flourish. Like her true-crime memoir “Mean,” this unnervingly candid piece is a rallying cry to shatter the status quo, from a woman who has a hard-won understanding of the costs of complacency.

Review: This incredible, scathing letter to a racist mayor explores racism, white supremacy, and misogyny through colorful language and disturbing real stories. You can feel the impact of the verbal lashing the author gives this man and it leaves an impact after you finish it.

Finished Reading: November 27, 2020

Summary: Peter Parker's life has hit a peaceful stretch. No evildoers have tried to flatten him in weeks, his marriage to Mary Jane is stronger than ever, and he's enjoying his job as a high school science teacher. Life is good.

Naturally, that doesn't last.

When Peter learns that his old enemy the Rhino is on a rampage in Times Square, he suits up as Spider-Man to stop the destructive villain in his tracks. But he's unexpectedly foiled in his attempts by the Black Cat, a former ally and old flame. The Cat informs Peter that the Rhino is just a distraction -- the real threat comes from a group of Ancients, members of the same race as the being called Morlun, who Spidey defeated in battle years earlier. The Ancients are now looking to exact revenge -- and hope to steal Spider-Man's life force in the process.

To defeat such powerful beings, Spider-Man is going to need all the help he can get, especially from the Black Cat. But what will Mary Jane Parker have to say about that? Peter isn't sure which is worse -- the Ancients trying to drain his life force, or the wrath of a jealous wife....

Review: As a huge Spider-Man fan and as someone who was interested in reading Jim Butcher’s work, I found this to be the perfect book to start with. I have not yet read “The Dresden Files”, although I am interested in doing so eventually. But I have to say he does a really good job writing this Spider-Man story. There’s nothing particularly grand about this book but this was certainly a fun read. The best thing about this book is how well Jim Butcher conveys Spider-Man’s distinctive voice. The book is presented from Spider-Man’s first-person perspective and, from the snarky inner monologues to the fast quips, Jim Butcher really shows how well he writes the iconic well-crawler.

I have not read the Morlun storyline from the comics so I wasn’t familiar with some of the characters mentioned here that relate to that part. But you don't really need to be familiar with that storyline to enjoy the story since the book does a good job explaining those details to a first time reader. But I did like Jim Butcher’s use of other well-established characters like the Black Cat, the Rhino, and Mary Jane. In particular, I loved Peter Parker and Mary Jane’s dynamic. Jim Butcher portrays Mary Jane as a real three-dimensional character and in turn, their relationship is shown to be healthy while still having its struggles as to be expected when you’re married to a superhero whose life is threatened everyday. Heck, he even made the Rhino an intriguing character.

In terms of critiques, I didn’t find the villains, the Ancients, particularly interesting. They served more as a physical threat to our heroes than the monstrous, intimidating figures they’re supposed to be presented as. Also, I felt the subplot of Peter Parker helping a high school basketball student, while definitely an appreciated element that helps ground Spider-Man within the New York community just like in the comics, to be the weakest part of the novel as I wasn’t really that invested in the basketball player as a character.

Overall though, I found this book to be a really fun, enjoyable read that I would recommend any Spider-Man fan pick up.

Finished Reading: June 17, 2021

Summary: Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl...

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.

Review: What first got me into reading Cinder and the “Lunar Chronicles” in general was my love of old-school fairy tales. I had been on the lookout for interesting retellings of classic fairytales so this definitely got my interest. I actually started reading this book in April of last year. Just been busy with stuff before I could properly finish it. But now that I have finally finished, I have to say I really enjoyed this book.

I found this to be a super fun sci-fi inspired take of the original Cinderella story. The story applied interesting twists to the classic archetypes of the story: the prince, the evil stepmother and stepsisters, the pumpkin carriage, and Cinderella herself. I think Linh Cinder is a fascinating character in her own right: dealing with the prejudice and self-loathing that comes with being a cyborg while still retaining a lively, snarky attitude and a warm, compassionate heart. The book definitely succeeded in providing a main character you can emphasize with. Overall, I found the futuristic Asian-fusion world the book takes place in to be super intriguing. Also, because I read this in April 2020, I found the stuff dealing with letumosis to be closer to home than originally intended. I don’t think it was an issue persay. I just wasn’t expecting to read about a worldwide pandemic whilst in the beginnings of an actual worldwide pandemic.

While I did enjoy the story, I also had some issues with it. I found some of the characters to be a little too archetypical for this kind of story and more two-dimensional than I would’ve liked (characters like the evil stepmother, the stepsisters, the evil queen, and even the prince on occasions). It wasn’t a huge issue for me but it did mean I didn’t have quite the emotional impact when one of the major characters died. Also I felt the beginnings of Cinder and Kai’s relationship bordered on “insta-love” for my taste, which I guess would make sense for a world inspired by fairy tales that upholded “love at first sight”. However, I didn’t feel the beginnings of Cinder and Kai’s relationship started realistically and the two were already head-over-heels with each other before they really got to know each other. They did make for an adorable couple though. I always enjoy seeing the usually serious Linh Cinder getting tongue-tied over a cute guy. Also, I found the Prince Kai chapters not as interesting to read compared to the Cinder chapters. And while Queen Levana, the main antagonist of the novel, had her effectively cruel moments, I felt she wasn’t quite a dynamic villain yet. None of this really detracted from the story itself. But I felt it was worth mentioning.

I also found the audiobook itself to be very well-done. I think Rebecca Soler did an incredible job in narrating the book. She successfully captured Cinder’s character through her voice. I can’t imagine anyone else talking as Linh Cinder. She also did a good job adjusting her voices to reflect the different characters (a more strict and cruel tone for Adri and Queen Levana, the adorable, robotic tone of Iko, the heavily-accented voice of Dr. Erland, etc.). If you want to read this story for the first time or reread it, I would suggest checking out the audiobook by Rebecca Soler. Phenomenal stuff.

Overall, for anyone who enjoys fun YA sci-fi worlds and likes different fairytale retellings, I would definitely recommend this book. I’m looking forward to continuing the series.

Finished Reading: June 30, 2021

Summary: Through this story of his parents and grandparents and his own departure from both a town and a way of life, Pulitzer Prize–winning author Richard Russo declares himself a poster boy for the American Dream and also a well-placed critic of it and of this country’s “brutal contradictions.” His dark-skinned father was the son of Southern Italian immigrants, never quite like the other guys, and yet he was like any other G.I. home from World War II: He did backbreaking work on a road crew, and at night he left his family at home to frequent the local poker rooms. He did not believe that his son, whose name ended in a vowel, would ever be “allowed” to succeed. His mother, the more hopeful of the two, believed hard work and education were the answer to everything that ailed the working class and immigrants alike, refusing to concede to the systemic inequities and disadvantages of ethnicity, race, class, and gender that often made the obstacles to climbing the ladder too great, as they did, in many ways, for her.

A touchingly personal and peculiarly American tale, as topical as it is timeless, Marriage Story speaks directly to the raw material from which so much of today’s divisive political climate has been forged. During the most recent election, the author writes, “many of my friends talked about leaving the country.” But not Russo. “I’ve learned that leaving your home is tricky. If I left my country now, I’d just be repeating myself, having already physically left a place that refused to leave me.” His parents would not have left either, “despite not being able to agree on what America really meant.”

“Maybe it comes down to this,” he writes. “In the end, what do we do with love?”

Review: Looking at the description and premise of the book, a memoir that is focused on the divorce of the author’s parents, I was expecting this work to be depressing, tragic, and the like. And while I wouldn’t exactly call this book a bundle of rainbows or anything like that, I will say I was surprised by how uplifting and compelling the book was to read through.

First off, let me say this right off the bat: Richard Russo is a phenomenal writer. I don’t know how he does it but the way the man weaves sentences, metaphors, and imagery together through his prose is simply impeccable. You’ll be so compelled by the man’s writing that you could go through this book in a single sitting. It helps that the memoir itself is only an hour long which makes such a task easier. But still, in that hour, Richard Russo packs the story of his parents, his grandparents, and America itself.

Hearing the stories of his parents was fascinating because of their different perspectives on America: his mother’s optimistic and sometimes delusional faith in the American Dream and the ideals of its meritocracy vs. his father’s cynical take of America as a country that will push you down if you aren’t white, male, and wealthy. Russo goes into the backstories of his parents to explain how they came to possess such disparate worldviews: his father experiencing the horrors of war serving in WWII, his mother’s desire for independence whilst dealing with a sexist world and her own impulsive failings. Russo does an incredible job establishing these people in his memoir that you truly feel like you know them personally. Russo gives you enough to truly empathize and sympathize with these people even whilst not being afraid to show the flaws in their characters and personal philosophies.

The same amount of detailed character work is also applied to his grandparents as well. While they are less prominent in the memoir compared to his parents, you still get a lot of important details about them that adds context to Russo and his mother’s life. In particular, Russo’s grandmother who was dealing with extreme anxiety from her husband leaving for WWII that left her borderline agoraphobic. With the grandparents, Russo is able to go in depth about mental illness, the price of war, religion, and the roles women played back in those days.

And through the stories of himself and his family, Russo also explores how their stories connect to the story of America. Both of Russo’s parents died believing they were right about America. In the end, Russo sees merits in both ideas but leans more towards his father’s cynical take. Indeed, Russo is not sparse when it comes to detailing the problems with America. But despite that, it is not a completely hopeless read. Similar to what he thinks of his parents, Russo loves his country even though it is a complete mess.

Going off the editor’s note on Scribd, I was expecting more stuff about the Trump era. But there were really only a few mentions of Trump and his followers. I’m sure people going in wanting to hear the author’s take on the Trump era will be disappointed. But I felt the discussions of our present-day issues including racism, income inequality, and the pandemic were brief enough to leave an impact without completely bogging down the story. I believe the stuff we did get worked well with the story Russo was trying to tell.

I’ll admit I wasn’t expecting the first audiobook I give a 5/5 to be a one-hour memoir talking about a messy divorce, the delusional fantasy of the American Dream, and our current political hellscape we’re living through. But this memoir, in my eyes, truly deserved all five stars. Special mention has to go to the audiobook narrator, Adam Grupper. His voice fits this book so well. It had a gruff, raspy quality that matched with the hardened, experienced, and worldly-wise perspective of the author. Honestly, his voice went so well with the author’s words I was sometimes convinced this was the author speaking himself. If you haven’t checked it out yet, I’d highly recommend listening to it on audiobook.

And in general, I recommend you check this book out if you’re a fan of memoirs. And even if you’re not, you might enjoy this particular memoir. There are certainly many ways to spend an hour of your time. So why not check out an incredible memoir.

Current Reading

Summary: Discover how American politics became a toxic system, why we participate in it, and what it means for our future--from journalist, political commentator, and cofounder of Vox, Ezra Klein.

After Election Day 2016, both supporters and opponents of the soon-to-be president hailed his victory as a historically unprecedented event. Most Americans could agree that no candidate like Donald Trump had ever been elected President before. But political journalist Ezra Klein makes the case that the 2016 election wasn't surprising at all. In fact, Trump's electoral victory followed the exact same template as previous elections, by capturing a nearly identical percentage of voter demographics as previous Republican candidates.

Over the past 50 years in America, our partisan identities have merged with our racial, religious, geographic, ideological, and cultural identities. Those merged identities have attained a weight that is breaking much in our politics and tearing at the bonds that hold this country together.

In this groundbreaking book, Klein shows how and why American politics polarized around identity in the 20th century, and what that polarization did to the way we see the world and each other. And he traces the feedback loops between our polarized political identities and our polarized political institutions that are driving our political system towards crisis.

Neither a polemic nor a lament, Klein offers a clear framework for understanding everything from Trump's rise to the Democratic Party's leftward shift to the politicization of everyday culture. A revelatory book that will change how you look at politics, and perhaps at yourself.