Audiobook Review Dump Volume 2

I keep moving through audiobooks like the wind. No complaints though — with how busy my life has been lately I love that I am still able to get some reading in via audiobook. Below are four different books that I listened to recently. As usual, I love picking up a variety of books and books by marginalized authors which is absolutely reflected in today’s audiobook review dump. Let me know what you are currently listening to!

30 Things I Love About Myself by Radhika Sanghani

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

This post contains affiliate links you can use to purchase the book. If you buy the book using that link, I will receive a small commission from the sale.

30 Things I Love About Myself by Radhika Sanghani
Narrator: Radhika Sanghani
Length: 10 Hours 31 Minutes
Published by Penguin on January 4, 2022
Genres: Fiction / Cultural Heritage, Fiction / Humorous / General, Fiction / Women
Pages: 352
Format: Audiobook, eARC
Source: Publisher
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When Nina Mistry's life hits rock bottom, she decides to change her stars by falling in love...with herself—a hilarious, heartfelt story from outrageously funny novelist Radhika Sanghani.

Nina didn't plan to spend her thirtieth birthday in jail, yet here she is in her pajamas, locked in a holding cell. There's no Wi-Fi, no wine, no carbs—and no one to celebrate with.

Unfortunately, it gives Nina plenty of time to reflect on how screwed up her life is. She's just broken up with her fiancé, and now has to move back into her childhood home to live with her depressed older brother and their uptight, traditional Indian mother. Her career as a freelance journalist isn’t going in the direction she wants, and all her friends are too busy being successful to hang out with her. 

Just as Nina falls into despair, a book lands in her cell: How to Fix Your Shitty Life by Loving Yourself. It must be destiny. With literally nothing left to lose, Nina makes a life-changing decision to embark on a self-love journey. By her next birthday, she's going to find thirty things she loves about herself.

I genuinely enjoyed 30 Things I Love About Myself by Radhika Sanghani. Nina Mistry has somehow started her thirtieth birthday in a jail cell after being picked up at a protest she just happened to accidentally be a part of. While in the cell, Nina realizes she doesn’t really have anyone to call. Somehow, she ends up reading this book called How To Fix Your Shitty Life By Loving Yourself which propels her on a journey of self love. Also, Nina challenges herself to find 30 things she loves about herself by her next birthday. Along the way, Nina has to confront truths about her family and her past. She also learns to gain confidence and be okay with her self as she moves her life forward — making plenty of mistakes along the way.

Nina is a British Indian woman and her culture happens to play a decent role in 30 Things I Love About Myself. I found Nina so interesting and likable. She was a dynamic character on an interesting journey. Parts of this book were quite funny too. Also, a little awkward — as you might expect. The audiobook was great as well. It is narrated by Radhika Sanghani and I was surprised how much I liked it. Normally I am not one for author narrated audiobooks, but Sanghani had such a charming way of narrating, I think she could be a professional narrator. Overall, this was a lovely surprise of an uplifting read. I very much enjoyed this book.

The Fastest Way To Fall by Denise Williams

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

This post contains affiliate links you can use to purchase the book. If you buy the book using that link, I will receive a small commission from the sale.

The Fastest Way to Fall by Denise Williams
Narrator: N'Jameh Camara, Teddy Hamilton, Denise Williams
Length: 11 Hours 21 Minutes
Also by this author: How to Fail at Flirting
Published by Penguin on February 20, 2022
Genres: Fiction / Romance / Contemporary, Fiction / Romance / Multicultural & Interracial, Fiction / Romance / Romantic Comedy, Fiction / Women
Pages: 384
Format: Audiobook, eARC
Source: Publisher
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"The perfect feel-good read."--Emily Henry, #1 New York Times bestselling author of People We Meet on Vacation

Britta didn't plan on falling for her personal trainer, and Wes didn't plan on Britta. Plans change and it's unclear if love, career, or both will meet them at the finish line.

Britta Colby works for a lifestyle website, and when tasked to write about her experience with a hot new body-positive fitness app that includes personal coaching, she knows it's a major opportunity to prove she should write for the site full-time.

As CEO of the FitMi Fitness app, Wes Lawson finally has the financial security he grew up without, but despite his success, his floundering love life and complicated family situation leaves him feeling isolated and unfulfilled. He decides to get back to what he loves--coaching. Britta's his first new client and they click immediately.

As weeks pass, she's surprised at how much she enjoys experimenting with her exercise routine. He's surprised at how much he looks forward to talking to her every day. They convince themselves their attraction is harmless, but when they start working out in person, Wes and Britta find it increasingly challenging to deny their chemistry and maintain a professional distance.

Wes isn't supposed to be training clients, much less meeting with them, and Britta's credibility will be sunk if the lifestyle site finds out she's practically dating the fitness coach she's reviewing. Walking away from each other is the smartest thing to do, but running side by side feels like the start of something big.

Denise Williams is quickly becoming one of my must read contemporary authors. I just love the way she writes and turns a phrase and how she does characterization. The Fastest Way To Fall is a stupendous read starring a plus sized woman and a fitness coach. Britta is a writer and as part of her work, begins testing a new body positivity fitness app. She is paired with a coach named Wes. Somehow the two end up continuously chatting and they go from fitness to flirting. The way they meet in real life was harrowing, I guess I would say. OH and even though this book has strong fitness themes, it is absolutely not about Britta losing weight and her life becoming better because of that. Actually, she doesn’t really lose weight, just gets more stamina with running and more confident in herself.

Okay, so yes, I LOVED The Fastest Way To Fall. I felt like Wes was such a kind and thoughtful love interest. His approach to fitness and health came across as caring and safe. And Wes and Britta together were PERFECTION. I loved the journey that Britta went on to think better of herself and to not accept being treated as lesser than. Oh and the audiobook of this was narrated to perfection. The narrators are N’Jameh Camara and Teddy Hamilton who are perfect in their roles. I find that I am eyeing this one at the store and am likely to just buy this for my personal collection ASAP.

Black Boy Joy edited by Kwame Mbalia

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

This post contains affiliate links you can use to purchase the book. If you buy the book using that link, I will receive a small commission from the sale.

Black Boy Joy by Kwame Mbalia
Narrator: Amir Abdullah, Taj Leahy
Length: 6 Hours 29 Minutes
Published by Random House Children's Books on August 3, 2021
Genres: Juvenile Fiction / Boys & Men, Juvenile Fiction / People & Places / United States / African American & Black, Juvenile Fiction / Short Stories
Pages: 320
Format: Audiobook
Source: Publisher
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THE INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • FIVE STARRED REVIEWS

Celebrate the joys of Black boyhood with stories from seventeen bestselling, critically acclaimed Black authors—including Jason Reynolds, Jerry Craft, and Kwame Mbalia!

★ "Pick up Black Boy Joy for a heavy dose of happiness." —Booklist, starred review

Black boy joy is…
 
Picking out a fresh first-day-of-school outfit.
Saving the universe in an epic intergalactic race.
Finding your voice—and your rhymes—during tough times.
Flying on your skateboard like nobody’s watching.
 
And more! From seventeen acclaimed Black male and non-binary authors comes a vibrant collection of stories, comics, and poems about the power of joy and the wonders of Black boyhood.

Contributors include: B. B. Alston, Dean Atta, P. Djèlí Clark, Jay Coles, Jerry Craft, Lamar Giles, Don P. Hooper, George M. Johnson, Varian Johnson, Kwame Mbalia, Suyi Davies Okungbowa, Tochi Onyebuchi, Julian Randall, Jason Reynolds, Justin Reynolds, DaVaun Sanders, and Julian Winters

I love that the anthology Black Boy Joy edited by Kwame Mbalia exists. When I think about books as mirrors and who typically gets left out and maybe doesn’t see themselves in books, it is Black boys. So, this book is an awesome start to meeting that need. It is comprised of seventeen short stories written around the theme of Black Boy Joy — as the title states. And the authors of these stories are heavy hitters.

So, if you want to pick up more books by Black men but aren’t sure where to start, this book is an amazing sampler. I loved that the stories did not center around trauma, but instead changes the narrative and adds nuance to stories about Black boys. The audiobook has two narrators who go back and forth with the stories — Amir Abdullah and Taj Leahy. Both are solid narrators and make the six hours and twenty nine minutes of this audiobook an absolute treat to listen to. This book is a must for any middle school classroom library or school library.

Call Us What We Carry by Amanda Gorman

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

This post contains affiliate links you can use to purchase the book. If you buy the book using that link, I will receive a small commission from the sale.

Call Us What We Carry by Amanda Gorman
Narrator: Amanda Gorman
Length: 3 Hours 31 Minutes
Published by Penguin Publishing Group on December 7, 2021
Genres: Poetry / American / African American & Black
Pages: 240
Format: Audiobook
Source: Publisher
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The instant #1 New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestseller


The breakout poetry collection by #1 New York Times bestselling author and presidential inaugural poet Amanda Gorman

Formerly titled The Hill We Climb and Other Poems, the luminous poetry collection by #1 New York Times bestselling author and presidential inaugural poet Amanda Gorman captures a shipwrecked moment in time and transforms it into a lyric of hope and healing. In Call Us What We Carry, Gorman explores history, language, identity, and erasure through an imaginative and intimate collage. Harnessing the collective grief of a global pandemic, this beautifully designed volume features poems in many inventive styles and structures and shines a light on a moment of reckoning. Call Us What We Carry reveals that Gorman has become our messenger from the past, our voice for the future.

I will never forget watching Amanda Gorman read her poem The Hill We Climb on TV during the Inauguration. Talk about awe inspiring. So, I was very eager to listen to Call Us What We Carry. After all, poetry holds a very special place in my heart and Gorman is now a part of history. Call Us What We Carry was an interesting book of poetry.

There was some playing with form which was pretty cool — especially the use of primary sources and reinterpreting those sources. The audiobook is three hours and thirty one minutes. Honestly, I felt like at times the narration came across as a little monotone. I did zone out a lot. However, I have also had so much on my mind that it has been hard to concentrate. I do think that if I decide to re-read Call Us What We Carry, it will be the print or ebook version.