Yeah you read that title correctly. This is a collective, overall list of everything I’ve listened to so far. You can ignore the older posts because I’ve put it all in this one, and this is the one I’ll be keeping updated.
If you’ve been following me for a bit, you’ve probably noticed that I never actually stick to my Next Up list. Ever. I keep it to remind myself of what I want to listen to, even if I find a different book I want to listen to first.
My Current Listen:
- Frankenstein: Prodigal Son – Dean Koontz
Next Up:
- A Clash of Kings (Game of Thrones book 2) by George R. R. Martin
- Blood of Elves (The Witcher Saga book 1) by Andrzej Sapkowski
On Hold:
- Einstein’s Relativity and Quantum Revolution by Richard Wolfson
- The Neil Gaiman Reader by Neil Gaiman
- Revelation by Russell Brand
- Limitless – by Jim Kwik
- The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice
Completed:
- Darkfall by Dean Koontz – I’m a fan of Dean Koontz. I like the suspense and the twists and turns of his novels. This one was no different, however, I disliked the ending. The ending wasn’t bad… I just wish it wasn’t so abrupt. I wanted a little more final detail.
- The Island of Dr. Moreau by H. G. Wells – I’m not sure how I feel about this book. As an animal lover, it was hard to listen too. I’ll have to think on it and update when I have more to say.
- Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne – Ok. So. While I did really like this book (how can you not? It’s a classic, right?), I was actually really disappointed with the way it progressed. It’s hard to explain why without giving anything away. I’m not sure I can do more but leave it at that. It lacked suspense. It lacked any sort of turmoil that I would expect to go along with a journey to the center of the Earth. It has some moments where you’re like, “oh crap… well that’s no good.” but it didn’t make me feel any particular way about it. Even now, as I think back on it, I’m completely neutral on my feelings. Was it worth the listen? Of course! Would I listen again? Nah…
- The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains by Neil Gaiman – I loved this story. It was fairly short, but it was as long as it needed to be. Nothing was cut off; I didn’t feel like it was lacking detail and it ended perfectly. And in a very unexpected way.
- The Sandman: Act II by Neil Gaiman – 5 stars. As Usual. If you haven’t noticed by now, I’ll just say it. Neil Gaiman is my favorite author.
- Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice – This was better than I expected it to be. I don’t have much to say about it because I’m sure a good bit of you have seen the movie. All I can say is, it was worth the listen.
- The War of the World’s by H. G. Wells – This book was great. It had me worried, it had me shedding tears of joy, it creeped me out… I think a lot of us have seen at least one of the movies, but the book is still worth listening to or reading. It follows a man on his survival journey after the Martians arrive and begin their assault. He has no idea if his wife has survived after he leaves her with a relative to return a horse to an inn keeper, but he himself is determined to stay alive… for a while. This book had me looking at the sky differently… because who says it can’t happen one day?
- Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea by Jules Verne – I just don’t have enough to say about this book. It’s a classic, and if you’ve never read it, I highly recommend it. It’s suspenseful, it’s sad, its vivid imagery is absolutely captivating. It follows a well-educated French gentleman as he joins a quest to capture a monster which is plaguing ships as they cross the ocean. His journey takes a tragic and unexpected turn which leads to an adventure unlike any other. This book is one of the few that makes my commute pass with incredible ease. I will inevitably listen to it more than once.
- Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman – Full cast production – I read this book a while ago, listened to it narrated by Neil Gaiman, then listened to it again, this time narrated by a full cast. This is probably my favorite book by Neil Gaiman. I highly recommend it if you like fantasy tales.
- A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin – book 1 – (we’ve almost all seen the show, right?) So, I’m assuming you’ve seen the show. If you haven’t, the book follows various persons through numerous plights and situations of disaster. Chaos usually ensues at every turn and there is, if you didn’t know, treachery, incest, backstabbing, plotting, scheming, killing, pillaging, raping, poison, and all of the other things that go along with older times before people bathed regularly and all of these things became frowned upon and/or illegal.
- The Sandman by Neil Gaiman Narrated by a fantastic cast of people. Great listen. This story follows Morpheus, the king of dreams and his siblings, The Endless. The Endless consist of Dream, Death, Destiny, Desire, Despair, Destruction, and Delirium. If you’ve never read the graphic novels, you won’t hear about most of these Endless in this book as it’s book 1… of a lot.
- Watchers by Dean Koontz. Narrated by Edoardo Ballerini……… You guys, I can’t even… I just can’t. I have no words for this book. I… LOVE…IT… It was SO good… It’s a suspenseful book and really does keep you on the edge of your seat the entire time. The narrator was exceptional as well. It’s a beautiful depiction of the power of companionship, or lack of. I was afraid, I chuckled, I cried sad tears, I felt pity, I felt anger, I cried happy tears. It was all over the board. It’s the story of a young man who comes across a dog in the forest. The dog saves his life, and he takes the dog in as his own and they find they have a lot to learn from one another. Einstein is no ordinary dog. After having escaped from a lab, he’s a fugitive from the government… and he’s not about to go back.
- Cabal by Clive Barker. Narrated by Chet Williamson – Interesting listen. The book itself was great. The story line was intriguing. The narrator was, meh. He seemed uncomfortable with the language in the book which had its moments of being a bit intense with sexual content. I find myself having a hard time describing this book. Like, part of me liked it, and part of me doesn’t want to like it? Overall, I think my problem really was just the narrator. The book itself is about a young man who has nightmares of a place called Midian. Midian is where the monsters live. His therapist is schizophrenic, and his girlfriend proves that love can both break, and save someone.
- The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, Narrated by Russel Tovey. This book… is beautifully written and narrated. I’m in love with it. I was completely absorbed in the story and the narration. It paints a stunning picture of how vanity can infect the soul… The story follows Mr. Dorian Gray through his life after Basil Hallward has painted his portrait and given it to him… and it makes you wonder… what does my own soul look like? If it was on a canvas, would I be afraid to show it to the world?
- Astrophysics for People in a Hurry by Neil DeGrasse Tyson (this book is pretty good if you can listen to what it’s saying. It’s educational, obviously, so having it as an ambient listen is a little tough). Pretty self-explanatory book.
- Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman (Neil Gaiman is my favorite author. Hands down. I recommend every book I’ve read so far… probably all of the future ones too). This book is narrated by the author and focuses on actual Norse myths that were passed down through the ages.
- Dune by Frank Herbert (fantastic book about addiction, greed, politics and destiny. it’s a fictional book that takes place in the future when space travel is a thing and I recommend it to everyone.) I actually read this book when I was in high school as part of the reading list we were given. I loved it then too. There is also a movie, and mini-series out about the book, both of which are good watches.
- The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman (LOVE this book. I wish it was longer and had a different ending, but I love it all the same). This book is about a man who can’t quite put his finger on the truth. As an adult, he visits the home of an old friend, and the story follows him through his memory of the fantastically unrealistic journey he had as a child.
- 1984 by George Orwell (I highly recommend this listen whether you have or haven’t read this in the past). While it’s not a scary book, with the current state of the world it sort of hits home. More than that, the deeper into it I go, the more anxiety I get. There is a lesson in it even though its fiction.
- Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling – The entire series. So many of us have read the books and seen the movies. Listening to the books is just as good. Needless to say, I doubt I have to talk about this book because you probably already have a clue.
- The Dark Tower by Stephen King – The entire series. Umm… What to say here… Just don’t. If you do, stop after book 3 or 4 and make up your own ending. King royally sucks at endings. He should have ended the series after 4 books instead of 7. The storyline got so ridiculous it wasn’t worth the time. And when I got to the end, I wanted to scream and write him a nasty-gram telling him just how much I hated the last 3 books. I LOVED the first 3 books… 4 was a stretch…. the rest can just go somewhere other than my library.
- The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman – Neil is always a favorite. I never have anything bad to say about his books. I love this book as much as I love the others. This book is about a little boy who escapes assassination and is raised by ghosts in a graveyard. Marvelous.
The Craftie Gnome 