I wrote a post earlier this year about books that I’d like to read, and now that we’re at the end of this year, I’m here to report that I have read very little of The Apollo Murders and The Haunted Abbot and none of The Midnight Library. I even downloaded the Kindle version of The Apollo Murders to see if having the book on my phone would help. Lo and behold, it did not. I just don’t have the time and focus to sit down and read, not while my two boys are awake at least, and it apparently doesn’t matter whether the book is physical or not.

So, this calls for a new approach with two totally different and unrelated books!

The first is literally a diary, with nice, short entries that I can read one or two of at a time and still get my page-flipping fix. It’s the perfect thing to occupy my nightstand and be there for me right before bedtime. It’s called A Lady’s Life in the Rocky Mountains by Isabella L. Bird. She traveled here in 1873, alone, when she was in her forties. I just read an entry in which she mentioned my town by name, riding the train on her way to Wyoming. It’s such a fascinating time period to see described by a woman in a part of the country that I love.

The second is actually the opposite, a long tome that’s the start of a long series of fantasy books that I’m undertaking in the vain hope I’ll be caught up before the latest book comes out. And I’m trying to listen to the audiobook! That would be The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson, the first book in The Stormlight Archives series. I’m able to get some time in during the day listening to the book when I’m busy with chores and the boys are occupying themselves. It depends on the length of each chapter, but I feel like I’m making good headway. Am I going to have The Way of Kings and the next three books listened to by December? Probably not. They’re all over 1,000 pages long, so hours upon hours in audiobook form. But boy, is the story engrossing so far.

The Haunted Abbot continues to sit on my nightstand under A Lady’s Life in the Rocky Mountains, so all hope might not be lost there! And I was virtually flogged in my friends’ chat for not having read Project Hail Mary yet, meaning I’ll most likely have to download the audiobook for that, at some point. Maybe I’ll read/listen to that after seeing the movie, much like I did with The Martian.

I’ve gone through a lot of personal growth: I’m no longer a printed book snob! I really do want to get back to reading books, even if that means listening to them.