Once Upon a Time There Was an Audiobook

Once Upon a Time There Was an Audiobook.  And Brendan Fraser's voice was reading it to me.  The book was called Dragon Rider by Cornelia Funke.  It was a Fantasy book.  With dragons.  And an orphaned boy named Ben.  I fell in love with the tale.  But I wasn't the only one...

"Firedrake, a young dragon, receives a frightening warning one night: Humans are planning to destroy the valley in which he lives! All the dragons must flee. Their only refuge is a place above the clouds called the Rim of Heaven -- which may not even exist. Firedrake boldly volunteers to go ahead first. As he embarks on his journey, he meets Ben, a runaway boy. Together, the boy and the dragon make their way toward the Rim of Heaven, all the while running a step ahead of Nettlebrand, a monster who will stop at nothing to hunt down Firedrake. Their quest will truly become an adventure like no other."


The year was 2008 and my daughter was in 1st grade.  I borrowed the audiobook from the library so that we could listen to it everyday on the way to and from school.  We both got so entangled in the story, that sometimes we would get to our driveway and she would ask me "Wait mom, let this chapter finish!"  My intention was to instill a love for books in her.  Show her that books are magical.  

Mission accomplished.

Fast forward to 2018.

I recently changed jobs and my commute became much longer than what I was used to, so audiobooks became a blessing in disguise.  I like to think that I found the perfect solution for my dreadful commute.  

Granted, Brendan Fraser did a fantastic job narrating Dragon Rider.  A narrator can easily flop the book.  I just recently listened to one that made the book so boring (it was probably already boring, who knows) that I felt sleepy while driving, so I pressed STOP.

There have also been many wonderful audiobooks that I have listened to.  

Here's a list of the 5 most recent ones:

The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty, read by Caroline Lee.  

Imagine that your husband wrote you a letter, to be opened after his death. Imagine, too, that the letter contains his deepest, darkest secret - something with the potential to destroy not just the life you built together, but the lives of others as well. Imagine, then, that you stumble across that letter while your husband is still very much alive....

This novel is full of "what ifs" situations and it really makes us think about all the possibilities and consequences of the choices we make. How far would you go to protect a loved one? Can you forgive a mistake from over 20 years ago? 

Liane Moriarty's writing is exceptional and Caroline Lee, did an incredible job bringing the characters to life!  

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, read by Jim Dale

The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night. 
But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway—a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them, this is a game in which only one can be left standing, and the circus is but the stage for a remarkable battle of imagination and will. Despite themselves, however, Celia and Marco tumble headfirst into love—a deep, magical love that makes the lights flicker and the room grow warm whenever they so much as brush hands. 

Dark and extravagantly imagined. 15 minutes into it and I was hooked. The story takes you in as if in a dream and we all know that in dreams anything can happen...

A Good Marriage by Stephen King, read by Jessica Hecht

When her husband of more than 20 years is away on one of his business trips, Darcy Anderson looks for batteries in the garage. Her toe knocks up against a box under a worktable and she discovers the stranger inside her husband. It's a horrifying discovery, rendered with bristling intensity, and it definitively ends a good marriage.

I quite liked this short story from Stephen King. The audiobook was only 3.5 hrs but let me tell you, they were 3.5 hrs of OMG! Could that possibly be what I'm thinking it is?  

What Was Mine by Helen Klein Ross, read by Julia Whelan, Amanda Carlin, Cassandra Campbell, Rebekkah Ross and Jonathan Todd Ross

A good story with well-developed characters. One mistake made by a mother, Marilyn, at a big store, gives another woman the chance and answer she has been waiting for. That woman, Lucy, takes the 4 month old baby from the store and raises her as her adopted daughter. The baby, Mia, eventually discovers the truth and is filled with anger and identity issues. At first, it's easy to think it's just a right/wrong type of situation. Lucy is a criminal, is she not? She kidnapped a baby. She knew all along that what she did was wrong, yet, the author takes us on a beautifully crafted roller-coaster ride of emotions with each character's point of view.   Different narrators give life (and voice) to the story. The ending is a cliffhanger, which I didn't expect, but understood the purpose of it.

Sounds Like Me: My Life (so far) in song by Sara Bareilles, read and sung by Sara Bareilles 

With refreshing candor, five-time Grammy nominated singer songwriter Sara Bareilles reads her revealing and down to earth collection of essays on songwriting, soul searching, and what she’s discovered along the way.

I loved this audiobook! Of course the fact that it was narrated by none other than Sara Bareilles herself, made it really sound like her :-)
I already liked her as a singer/songwriter (have all her albums) and then I went to see Waitress the Musical and realized she was even more talented than I thought, now with this book I know for sure she is the real deal.

There you have it.  If you never listened to an audiobook, you should try it.  Who knows, maybe you'll find your own Dragon Rider, that will magically transport you to a different world...

Oh, but don't forget to leave me a comment when you have a chance.