The Introverted Detective

 "Audiobooks aren't really reading" is an opinion I've run into at least once, despite the fact that audiobooks are everywhere on the Libby app and offline. Let's talk about the pros and cons of audiobooks, and why they are absolutely reading.  I once told one of my Bible study people that I listened to my morning Bible passage. The look I got back was a face of "well, that's not really reading" -despite her not saying those words. What she actually verbally responded with was close to that, but not exactly that. Why do people think audiobooks or listening to a book isn't reading? Let's look at that for minute.  Psychology Today has an article on this. According to them, it depends on what you are reading. Fiction is comprehended equally in audiobook and word form. Textbooks and books with complex ideas, not so much. If you are studying something, it might be better to read it physically with your eyes, rather than just with your ears (especi...

 I've been editing my next novella Morrow for a long time. The editing journey has now ended. Let's talk about my next published book and what it's about. It's not released yet, but it will be by Christmas.  I am not giving a date just yet. I have some commissions to wait on before I release Morrow. The release will be months away. I will shout it to the rooftops when it releases. I only promise before Christmas. This cover art was made by Eric Baker (who can be found at  this link on Instagram ). I am so happy with the covers he made. It's far better than I could do on my own. Eric, if you're reading this, thank you! To anyone interested in his work, go find him on Instagram and give him some attention and likes. He deserves it.  Now, onto the main plot summary. This book is a thriller/suspense novella about two young women who stay with the Morrow family for a summer internship. The internship itself is writing a family history of the Morrow family line. (I di...

 Today I did a one-shelf challenge. That means I pick a random shelf and choose a book from only that shelf. This type of challenge will have me picking up books I forgot about, and also mood reading what I want.  Courtesy of labirint.ru This one-shelf challenge is a new thing for me. I saw Emily Fox do it and I liked the idea. I like a lot of her ideas. She's awesome. Look her up and you'll see her cats, too. I want to give credit where it is due. This was not an original idea. Onto the actual book, I spun a wheel and picked a bookcase with one shelf on it. No extra spins were necessary. In my case, the only unread books on the shelf were a few mysteries, my Jules Verne set (only some unread), and some Peter Pan adaptations. I picked out From The Earth To The Moon by Jules Verne. It was short. That was part of the appeal. His stuff isn't actually that long (unless you read Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea). They come across like travel journals. I highly recommend his...

 I picked up the book Hawk (the Hawk Series, technically), which is a continuation of the Maximum Ride series. I loved the Maximum Ride series, lived and breathed it as a kid. I looked up reviews before I opened my audiobook, though, and discovered it had mixed reviews from both lovers of the series and people who didn't grow up with the series. Today I make up my own mind on whether I continue. Onward! Courtesy of pangobooks.com Plot-wise, we start with Hawk's narration. She was a kid left at a street corner and she continues to return there. The setting is brutal, a loud noise playing occasionally and an obnoxious governor running a city called "the city of the dead". It was called that because a disease wiped it out and people took the free space (as long as you were okay with throwing a body out of it before you moved in). We see incredible levels of violence in this city, as well. Gangs are everywhere. Gangs run everything. From there we meet all the weird kids a...

 I picked up A Time To Kill by John Grisham somewhere. It's among the books I don't even know where I got them, so it was a while ago. My coworker picked up the third book of that series. I'm about to read the first one to find out if I want to borrow the second. Let's get to it.  Courtesy of Amazon.com This is a crime novel with all the cheer of Law and Order SVU. It opens with the rape and assault of a ten year old black girl, the dialogue riddled with racism. Keeping that in mind, this is not a cozy, tame book. Please remember that when you open any book written by Grisham. He's not a tame author, nor is he writing cozy stuff. It's a heinous crime in progress in the opening scene.  That isn't all, though. The girl survives, after being dumped, and the father of the child takes matters into his own hands (even after the sheriff swiftly finds the culprits bragging in a bar while drunk). The court has one hearing and the child's father already tells one ...

 Laurel and Hardy are a pair of comedians I grew up watching, despite the fact they were popular in the 1930s. My dad loves their work and that era of film. Today let's look at their history. You might learn something new. I know I did. Courtesy of Fanpop Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy didn't start out working together. Stan was more of a writer than an actor and Oliver was working as primarily an actor.  Stan Laurel (Stan Jefferson) was the understudy to Charlie Chaplin in 1910. While working in Vaudeville he changed his last name to Laurel. He found success in 1920 while doing comedy, then went more into writing and directing. Hal Roach Studios signed him in 1925 and he was supposed to be more behind the camera than in front.  Oliver Hardy (Norvell Hardy) took the name Oliver in tribute to his late father. He managed a movie theatre in 1913 and said "why not" to acting. He was in 200 short films for various studios. Hal Roach signed him in 1926.  They began working t...