When once I proudly proclaimed I would never read a self-help or self-awareness book, or any type of non-fiction that would steer me in any one particular direction, I now cannot put them down. I always stayed away from self-help sections in the bookstores, and now, in my early forties after battling breast cancer, with a toddler who runs my day and life chapters changing each minute (most recently for some really amazing opportunities!), I am easily drawn towards any book that will help actualize my fears, anxieties, change behaviors, learn more, deal more, live better and live happier.

It's been an interesting and absolutely challenging four years. I used to blog all the time and had a decent readership. I was excited about the books I would select to read, finish in a week or less, and then spend time putting together quality content for a thorough review. I then had a baby, was diagnosed with breast cancer when he was seven months old, went through a double mastectomy, chemo, and radiation, and two reconstructions, and while I still (obviously) take medicine every day, I'm thankfully rounding the corner to having it further and further away in my rear view mirror. I have grown more in my faith, learned a lot about patience (that's mostly because of hello, a toddler and all...!), and generally just really begun to appreciate life and living. Now. Now when I'm at the age I am now, I finally think I appreciate more things and recognize more than I ever have before on the toxic things I need to let go off, and the positive aspects I need to make more regular actions in my life.

The Power of Habit (listen to an audio sample by clicking here - the narrator was awesome, by the way) was eye-opening. Find the trigger, or the cue that makes you delve into your habit, and change that cue, and then give yourself a reward for that change. Do it, make yourself do it - even if it means tying your running shoes on first thing in the morning when you really don't want to run. Change the cue to change the routine. 

The last few chapters unexpectedly went down a different route a bit with extremely detailed examples of social habits and crowd influence, which while I found interesting, didn't relate to what I thought the general idea of the book was intending to focus on, which was how habit can be debilitating or positively life-changing, and how the smallest change in the pattern of your behavior can change any of your habits. It's an excellent overview, a fascinating peek into the whys and hows of what we do and how we do it, and I highly recommend it overall. It certainly changed my perspective on what I want to do with the rest of my life, what I want to instill in my son, and how I want to behave for my own personal growth and health. I want to enjoy this life and not be held back by any old habits that walk me down the path of fear and anxiety. I'm done with that, folks.

FTC Disclosure: I downloaded this audiobook through my membership on Audible.com

About the Author

Charles Duhigg worked at the New York Times, won a Pulitzer Prize, studied at Yale and Harvard, and is the author of a multitude of articles and books, including The Power of Habit and Smart Faster Better.

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"Because survival is insufficient."

So proclaims the tattoo on Kirsten Raymonde's arm, as she works with The Traveling Symphony, more than ten years after almost 99% of the world succumbed to a deady flu outbreak. Traveling with her fellow actors and musicians to ensure that the arts never die, Kirsten becomes one of the key figures to the description of life after.

Kirsten Raymonde once performed on stage with a famous actor from Hollywood, Arthur Leander, when she was a child. Her most vivid memory of life before is the night he died onstage of a massive heart attack. Jeevan, once a member of the paparazzi and now an EMT, rushes onstage to try to bring Arthur back to life, and Clark, an old friend of Arthur's, is the one who calls Miranda to tell her the news. Miranda, a high-powered executive in the shipping world and one of Arthur's ex-wives, is on the other side of the world, successful in both her career and in her ongoing hobby of drawing and writing her graphic novel Doctor Eleven, full of imagination and adventure in an otherworld known as the "Undersea." That very same night, a deadly flu outbreak quickly tore through civilization, frightening viewers watching the news and eventually killing nearly everyone on earth.Within a few weeks, the once beautiful life of civilization and law and order was over. 

Alternating between the years after devastation and the years before, Emily St. John Mandel's delicately detailed design of life is incredibly vivid. Focused on a few key characters, the descriptions of the flu, the desolation following it, and how survivors crafted solutions to maintain life is brilliant. And my favorite character, Miranda, and her ongoing project of Doctor Eleven, was fantastic. I am thrilled to hear that the author is working on bringing Doctor Eleven truly into the graphic novel arena. I'll certainly be first in line to check that out.

Post-apocalyptic fiction for die-hard fans can be very specific, and for me, Station Eleven was divinely sad, thoughtful, and has easily secured its place on my own personal "Best Books Read in 2015."

Kirsten Potter, the narrator, fit perfectly. Her voice smoothly fit into each of the characters well and I enjoyed listening to her tell me the story. I don't believe I've listened to her before. That can always be a little scary, trusting a voice you've never listened to before tell you a story, but Potter was exceptional. I'll look for more from her again.

We are all connected, whether by a tiny thread or stronger, but somehow, the link is undeniable. And in Station Eleven, the characters are tied together so delicately that it is incredible how Emily St. John Mandel has delightfully woven them through into an incredible adventure of lives lived after everything we've ever always trusted and believed would never change has now broken down.

FTC Disclosure: I downloaded this audiobook through my membership from Audible.com

About the Author (from her website)

Emily St. John Mandel is the author of four novels, most recently Station Eleven, which was a finalist for a National Book Award and the PEN/Faulkner Award, and won the 2015 Arthur C. Clarke Award. A previous novel, The Singer's Gun, was the 2014 winner of the Prix Mystere de la Critique in France. Her short fiction and essays have been anthologized in numerous collections, including Best American Mystery Stories 2013. She is a staff writer for The Millions. She lives in New York City with her husband. 

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About the Narrator

Kirsten Potter rocked this audio. Here is a complete list of everything on Audible.com that she has performed. I'm sure that you won't be disappointed. Click here to listen to a sample from Audible.com

I make this commitment today: I will never again listen to a book while I am running if it requires complete and total focus and concentration on each and every single word. If I learn in advance that a book requires this much attention, plus so much, much more, I will consider it another form of exercise and will instead pick up the printed version.

One of two things happened for me with this book. Either I should only have read the printed format, or I am just too feeble-minded to understand the complexities, nuances, and brilliance of this novel.

Broken into six stories from different characters in multiple time periods, David Mitchell tackles the connection one life has to another, ultimately coming full circle to the initial start. Without question, this is an extremely intelligent story, and the attempt to interweave each tale is unique.

The Six Stories

The Pacific Journal of Adam Ewing

Starting in the 19th century on a Pacific island, Adam Ewing is waiting for his ship to be repaired. While there, he meets a variety of people including Dr. Henry Goose and a slave from the peaceful Moriori tribe named Autua. Adam continues his personal documentation of his travels and while waiting for his ship, he begins to feel ill and Henry begins to take care of him.

This was a challenging introduction to the story. Written in convoluted nineteenth-century prose, I found it quite distracting with my concentration veering off a bit. It ends abruptly at the partial conclusion of Adam's journal entries, which had it not been for a note on Audible.com's site, I completely would have thought that I had a faulty copy. Apparently, David Mitchell designed it to be jarring, and he was successful with it.

Letters from Zedelghem

The story jumps to the 1930s and Robert Frobisher is in Belgium working with a famous composer. He writes letters to his lover Rufus Sixsmith, while simultaneously having an affair with the composer's wife. He finds the journal of Adam Ewing, but what he finds is incomplete.

I also found this story challenging in both the accent and the method of narration delivery, and considered taking a break from listening. I found the story interesting, but difficult to focus on.

Half-Lives: The First Luisa Rey Mystery

Jumping to 1975 in California, Luisa Rey is a journalist with a tabloid newspaper, but wants to break out of this type of reporting. She begins an investigation into the local nuclear power plant and meets Rufus Sixsmith, who was the recipient of the letters in the previous story with Robert Frobisher. He reveals to Luisa that the plant is unsafe and she begins to pursue the investigation.

This jumped out as my favorite story thus far. Narrated by favorite Cassandra Campbell, I found this to be the easiest to understand and was the most engaged in the investigation Luisa was working on. I was heartbroken when the story shifted to the next tale as I wanted to hear more about Luisa.

The Ghastly Ordeal of Timothy Cavendish

Ah, Timothy Cavendish. A publisher with considerable financial problems in the present day, Cavendish's brother helps him escape from thuggish collectors to a hotel far from home. It's only until the next day that Cavendish realizes that he is not in a hotel, but rather in a nursing home. Cavendish struggles to explain to the hospital staff, his "captors," that it's a mistake and he must return home.

This was hilarious. While it was a little all over the place, I enjoyed this part and ended up not regretting the shift from Luisa's story to Timothy's. I felt so bad for him, yet found his humor to be delightful.

An Orison of Somni-451

Jumping to the future in a dystopian world set somewhere in Korea, an interview between two people is shared. The interviewer is the archivist documenting the events of Somni-451, a cloned human being, or a fabricant. A fabricant is not truly aware of who they are and is solely created to perform menial tasks that need to be done in this futuristic society, and Somni-451 works in a fast food restaurant. She slowly ends up becoming aware of herself, but this self-awareness and the actions coming from this are not approved of.

While I completely understood this story and that the narrator was supposed to deliver the tale in a way that would convey that the speaker was not fully aware of who they were to a certain extent, it was too robotic, or monotonous, for me to be truly engaged. Granted, I felt the "hollowness" that Somni-451 was experiencing, and I was horrified by certain sections, but I wasn't pulled into this one as much as I know I should have been.

Sloosha' Crossin' an' Ev'rythin' After

Zachry is now an old man and is relaying the adventures of his youth. Living in Hawaii, the world is now in a dystopian state, after a major catastrophic event that caused those who survived to live in an extremely primitive state. Meronym, a woman who is a "Prescient," visits the island to study Zachry and his people. He regrets her visit and observation, considering it an intrusion and an insult, yet is confused with whether he can trust her or not.

While one of the more crucial tales reflecting the connections to others, this was by far my absolute least favorite.  In fact, this was PAINFUL. I so wanted it to end. The dialect and verbiage used was extremely challenging to understand, and unlike the other stories in which just when I was starting to understand what was happening, things switched to a new tale, I never quite completely felt like I "got" Zachry's story. Words were shortened for this made-up dialect, and it was annoying. Usually, when I listen to the audio format, it's much easier to understand dialect, but not in this case. "Spesh" meant special, "un'stan" (or something like that) meant "understand," etc. Given that this was the only tale to be told without interruption, I was floundering through it and praying it would just. end. already.

What's the bottom line?

While I will emphatically state that each story had a certain triggering event that would make my ears perk and I waited for more of that intrigue to continue, invariably, one story would jarringly shift to the next and I was left wistful, wishing a little more was given so that I could sink my teeth into it and really grasp the meaning.

I just couldn't get into the story, though. I found the complicated method of storytelling to be confusing and mostly abstract, and for the most part, I was perplexed by the events. I have a sneaking suspicion that I'm not bright enough for the intricacies of the tale, especially the audiobook while running! (Maybe I just don't have my wits about me? Possible.) I do plan on watching the film; perhaps the greater reveals of the story's brilliance will finally be unfolded for me then.

That all being said, it would be a book that could be read more than once, simply because so much is involved with each character; one reading is really not enough. With an abundance of themes, ranging from corporate corruption, racism, sexism, and more, for the right reader, this will keep you thinking for days. For me, it was all just a blur.

Passages of Note (both from The Ghastly Ordeal of Timothy Cavendish)

Books don't offer real escape but they can stop a mind from scratching itself raw.

Looking back, I see that Ernie tolerated my posturing because he knew Veronica was only humoring me. Ernie had never read a work of fiction in his life. "Always a radio man, me." But watching him coax the Victorian boiler system to life one more time, I always felt shallow. It's true. Reading too many novels makes you go blind.

Audio Notes
Multiple narrators always ease the listener with cues on the shift in perspective, which is helpful. This was the case with Cloud Atlas as well, and I felt most drawn to the narration of Luisa Rey and Timothy Cavendish as they were the most engaging and delivered extremely well. You can listen to a sample from Audible.com by clicking here.

Others said:
Buttery Books
Care's Online Book Club
Leeswammes' Blog
Love, Laughter, and a Touch of Insanity
The New Dork Review of Books

Publisher: Random House Audio
Release Date: 11/23/04
Audio Time: 19 hours, 33 minutes
Narrators: Scott Brick, Cassandra Campbell, Kim Mai Guest, Kirby Heybourne, John Lee, Richard Matthews

FTC Disclosure: I purchased this from Audible.com

About the Author (from his website)

David Mitchell is the acclaimed author of the novels Black Swan Green, which was selected as one of the 10 Best Books of the Year by Time; Cloud Atlas, which was a Man Booker Prize finalist; Number9Dream, which was short-listed for the Man Booker as well as the James Tait Black Memorial Prize; and Ghostwritten, awarded the Mail on Sunday/John Llewellyn Rhys Prize for best book by a writer under thirty-five and short-listed for the Guardian First Book Award. He lives in Ireland.


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The full title is key to understanding everything this book has to offer. Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen. What you don't know from that title, though, is that you do not have to be a runner to get caught up in this story and be completely fascinated.

As you all know, I started running a few months back and fell in love, to the point where I now write a separate blog (This Chick Will Run) documenting my progress. I've spent most of my time over there, and I am kicking myself that now, in my late thirties, I have taken up a sport I thought I would never enjoy. You're not supposed to regret, or wish you did something different in life, but I do. I wish I tried to understand running earlier in life, the science and spirit behind it, so I could feel that complete feeling of freedom and satisfaction of running the way I want to, with no pressures other than my own to get better, and at my own pace. It's exhilarating and I love it now.

Born to Run is known as one of *the* books to read in the running community. McDougall's tale of an unknown tribe and the athletes who wanted to keep up with them is succinct and fascinating, and no stone is unturned as he analyzes his own running techniques. Reviewing controversial insights into the "right" shoe to wear, the "right" form, and his experiences with the ultrarunning athletes who are wildly impressive (and just plain crazy) kept me up late, rapt with attention. (Ultrarunners are those who complete distances further than the marathon distance of 26.2 miles. In fact, what is normally considered a minimum ultrarun, according to Ultrarunning's site, is 31.07 miles (a 50k), and extending all the way to 100 miles. There are even events that go for days, not just distances.)

All runners experience injuries and McDougall is no different. When his foot hurt, doctors advised a break. He kept running, and with the help of the mysterious Caballo Blanco, met the Tarahumara tribe of Mexico who easily run extreme distances daily, mileages that will make your jaw drop. They blew me away, I admit. Could anyone easily run a distance from New York to Detroit within a couple of days and not be completely destroyed? Probably not. But the Tarahumra tribe can. And when they run, they wear thin soled sandals that go against everything you were taught to believe about the "right" running shoe. Sometimes, the tribe even run barefoot and still, no issues.

I listened to the audio book and let me tell you, it's a perfect choice to listen to while running, especially if you're like me and don't like to listen to music. I was motivated to get out there and feel inspired by the ultrarunning legends, and the talents of the Tarahumara tribe. Born to Run will definitely be on my list of best books read in 2012, and I will be referring to this book several times over for motivation and insight. Whether you think you are "built for it" or not, you may become convinced we really were born to run, and to run long distances at that.

Interesting fact from the book: We were faster in the 1970s. Six amateur men in a local running group could break a 2:12 marathon mark, but in 2000 we didn't have any US marathoner in the Olympics who would have been able to meet that time. In fact, for the men's marathon, we finished in 69th place. Could it be the way shoes are made nowadays? The Tarahumara go barefoot a lot.

Runners and non-runners: You can't go wrong with this incredible story of Christopher McDougall's quest to understand running that first started because he wanted to find out why his foot hurt. In fact, those who don't run may actually be inspired to go for a short run. I would recommend that. After all, you might surprise yourself.

Publisher: Random House Audio
Release Date: 5/5/09
Audio Time: 11 hours, 9 minutes
Narrator: Fred Sanders

Others said:
Chrisbookarama (Audio Review)

About the Author

Christopher McDougall is an author and magazine writer, and is also an avid runner and ultrarunner. Documenting the sport on his site and in his book, Born to Run, McDougall is now a barefoot runner in the mountains of rural Pennsylvania working on his next book.

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Audio Notes: Guys, you can't miss with Fred Sanders at the helm of this book. Click here for the sample on Audible.com. Sanders has a clean voice, easy to understand, and the right inflection on words and events in the story are properly placed. With a background on Broadway and acting roles including Seinfeld and Will and Grace, he's a joy to listen to for this book. I'd highly recommend picking up the audio book and especially listening to it while you run.