Feb. 4, 2025

Audiobook Reviews

Traci Dowe/Kenworth

My first three book reviews for 2025 are going to be audiobooks that I listened to while sorting out the 27k emails that I have gathered over the years. I’m in the process of letting some go and organizing others. This is what happens when you get ill and now feel loads better.

The first book is Friends, Lovers, & the Big Terrible Thing by Matthew Perry. What a heartbreaking book to read especially after his death. That poor man went through hell with drugs, alcohol, and fame. He kept trying to get better and get clean but failed over and over. Those supposedly helping him weren’t doing him any favors. At moments, it seemed he’d rise above the challenge only to fall again. From the time he was a baby, drugs were pumped into him to quiet his screaming. Why wouldn’t he get addicted to that? He fought through abandonment and the need for others to like him the majority of his life. Yes, he was excellent as Chandler Bing but it came at such a horrible cost.

The second: The Woman in Me by Brittany Spears. Brittany and Justin Timberlake were just beginning to become stars when I was getting married and having babies. Brittany went through such tragedy and anxiety in her book as well. From a public that first adored her and then turned on her to a family with questionable ethics. Listening to her agony on the bathroom floor courtesy of Justin not wanting a baby at that age and her “friend” helping her take a pill to abort the baby. He reaped the benefits in his career afterwards by tearing hers down. She was put under a harsh spotlight and judged and condemned when others around her were just as much to blame. Then to hear how her family and the stalking media drove her to act out so that her father could step in and proceed to ruin her life. If she did something he didn’t like, he sent her to an asylum. Oh, that poor girl. She was never mentally ill like her family claimed. She acted out because they refused to allow her to see her kids. What mother wouldn’t?

The third: The Conjurer’s Wife by Sara Pienner. This was a strange book to listen to. It was about a magician planning on doing one last, big final act. It was gratifying when the man’s wife turned the tables on him instead.

The Seven:

1. Nathan Bransford: The book world rallies for Los Angeles (This week in books) – Nathan Bransford | Writing, Book Editing, Publishing In a week where we have a new president and rich, evil dweebs are out doing Nazi salutes, the fight to ban books continues apace. In Utah, students can no longer even bring their personal copies of banned books to school. The list of banned books includes perennial book ban favorite Ellen Hopkins, as well as Margaret Atwood’s prescient climate change dystopia Oryx and Crake. Gee, I wonder why!!

Speaking of climate change, the book world has been amazing in support of the L.A. wildfires, which (FINGERS CROSSED) will hopefully ease with some direly needed rain this weekend. Nathalie op de Beeck at Publishers Weekly rounded up some of the ways the book world has contributed, and Justin Ray at The Guardian profiles Atladena’s Nikki High, owner of Pasadena bookstore Octavia’s Bookshelf, which quickly transformed into a mutual aid center. Inspiring stuff!

I have never been so disappointed that the leaders of a country are proposing “conditions” on helping those in the wildfires. Not everyone that lives there is wealthy. Thus their homeless problem. Take heart for your fellow man!

• Myths of the Mirror: Tale of the Seasons’ Weaver Tour, Stop #7 | Myths of the Mirror Today I’m visiting with Colleen Chesebro at her blog Sunflower Tanka where I’m sharing some of the diverse folklore origins of the magical beings, creatures, and monsters that informed the characters in the book. Colleen’s interest in Celtic mythology has planted more than a few seeds in my imagination, so I decided to share this character and her Celtic origins today: Belaphriel, the Winter Queen. But first:

This book sounds awesome!

• Annette Rochelle Roben: Angel Messages Jan 24 2025 | Annette Rochelle Aben

The Angels have a message for us!

• Sue Colletta: Do Crows Understand Recursion? – Crows are notoriously clever, and some of the smartest animals in the Natural World. Now, a new study suggests their grasp of a complex cognitive principle is better than that of macaques and young children.

Crows are such amazing birds! In my story I’m writing humans can be cursed into being humans/beast forms. One of them is a crow. I’m very happy with how he turned out.

• Smorgasbord Magazine: Smorgasbord Health Column – Cook from Scratch to prevent nutritional deficiencies with Sally Cronin and Carol Taylor – Magnesium – Coleslaw, Pumpkin Seeds, Tom Yum Soup, Morning Glory | Smorgasbord Blog Magazine Welcome to the rewind of this series from 2019 where we look at cooking and your diet from a different perspective. Usually we emphasize the health benefits of food and how they can be incorporated into your diet. But, what happens if you do NOT include them in your diet.

We wanted to share with you what happens if your body is deprived of individual nutrients over an extended period of time.

In this series we look at cooking and your diet from a different perspective. Usually we emphasize the health benefits of food and how they can be incorporated into your diet. But, what happens if you do NOT include them in your diet.

Thankfully most of us eat reasonably well, with plenty of variety, but if you take a look at a week’s worth of meals, do you find that you are sticking to a handful of foods, all the time.

Magnesium was one of the vitamins they put me on early on when I was going to do surgery for my stomach. I couldn’t lose the weight then but with the help of Mounjaro, I’ve lost 60 lbs. I still take the magnesium though.

• Unlocking Creativity, Celebrating the Milestones in Life: Unlocking Creativity: Celebrating Milestones in Life by Natalie Ducey – Natalie Ducey There is so much beauty in the wonderment of beginnings!

When I decided to step away from my profession as a Counsellor in 2014, I began to discover other ventures my heart was compelled to explore. 

With the luxury of time, that wasn’t tethered to any predetermined outcome, I knew my heart was granted a sacred gift. Time. Time to learn, time to grow, time to begin again. Time is a sacred gift. ♥

I began to write. Words formed from an internal source that I can only describe as a place divine. They flowed through me. When we allow ourselves to be still, we become open to all possibilities. The universe inspires. We just need to listen.

Time is a sacred gift. I’ve failed at most things in my life except writing and children. Those two things I held onto my entire life so far. I can’t get back the hours I wasted. I can only grab hold of the next tick of the clock and run with it.

• K.M. Weiland: The Writer’s Road to Creative Burnout Recovery – Helping Writers Become Authors Creative burnout can feel like a wall between you and your writing goals. Whether it’s the result of stress, distractions, or feeling creatively drained, creative fatigue and even injury is something many modern writers experience. Because writers are generally a solution-forward bunch, we often think we can ten-step our way out of the problem. However, when creativity itself is the problem, the resources to heal can often be counter-intuitive. Creative burnout recovery isn’t about forcing your way back to the page; it’s about holistically creating space in the rest of your life for your creativity to breathe and rebuild.

Last fall when I asked you all what you’d like me to write about this year, quite a few of you brought up challenges you were having in accessing, restoring, or implementing your creativity:

So sorry I have not

Exhaustion can get in our systems and drain us. Don’t forget to take some time out to play. Have fun. Laugh. Then the muse will flood you with joy when you’re ready.

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