I think the Audiobook industry is going to boom! Or at least I hope it does.

With electronic devices becoming increasingly more popular, it is my hope that Audiobooks will continue to become more popular. You might wonder why I’d want this…

Well it’s mostly because of the narrators. There are many things that make up a good Audiobook, the story, the writing, the characters – all these things are true of a good book too. But what makes a GREAT Audiobook is the narrator. I’ve listened to books that are wonderful! And while I can honestly say that the books are really great, I must give credit where it’s due. The narrators of the following books are what do it for me the most:

• The Highlander Series by Karen Marie Moning Narrated by Phil Gigante
• The In Death Series by J.D. Robb (Nora Roberts) Narrated by Susan Ericksen
• The Help by Kathryn Sockett Narrated by Janna Lamia, Cassandra Campbell, Bahni Turpin, and Octavia Spencer
• The Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling Narrated by Jim Dale

There are also many, many books I’ve started listening too and then decided that I just didn’t like the narrators and couldn’t listen to anymore. Two series in particular that I LOVE, and really had a hard time listening to on audio would be The Twilight Saga, and The Hunger Games Series. In both instances, I found the narrators to be stiff and not convincing. I mean, I want the story to be read as if it really IS the characters. They have to act out the part, not read and change the voices slightly for character changes. I really hope that eventually there will be a competitive market for Audiobooks, and that the productions will be a competition for who does it best. Wouldn’t that be fun?

Of course that will likely mean they will cost more, and that is something I DO NOT want to happen!

I’m here. I’m alive. I’m currently reading Music and Silence. I read a review on another blog about this book and decided I wanted to give it a try. I like it okay so far…..but I’m not going to go into that right now. 🙂 I’ve just got a lot of stuff going on that is preventing me from getting some reading done. Good news is, I believe I have a job! I say “believe” because it’s pending a reference/background check. I have confidence I’ll make it through that well enough.

Can’t can’t wait for November 21st. Twilight, here we come! I was in Wal-Mart today and was stopped right in my tracks when I saw a poster of “Edward” and another of “Edward & Bella.” Hello – 28 year old mother wanting to scream like a school-girl here. Crazy, I know.

SO that’s, that. I’m going to get reading so I can get back to reviewing. Don’t forget about my “Water for Elephants” giveaway!

Ok Readers,

I have a love/hate relationship with the internet, social media, and pretty much anything on TV.  I have struggled, still struggle with my appearance.  At  moments I think I’m a pretty girl, other times I think I look tired and like I’m starting to show my measly 35 years.  As you know, I lift weights, and do things to stay fit – but when I look at my body in the mirror I still see the body that had three kids back-to-back-to-back.  Add in breastfeeding all three, and one of them for about 20 months and…well I’m sure I’m painting a pretty picture, right?

Enter in social media.  I see these “20 minute work-outs” you can do at home on my Pinterest wall, and do you know what picture they use?  The super-toned, zero percent body fat chick with a 6 pack.  You turn on the TV to watch a new show, and all the ladies have a nice trim waist and they are all attractive, and I’m not even going to address commercials.   Even book covers are guilty of this; you’ve got the beautiful girl with long flowing hair that is perfectly placed, usually paired up with a handsome fellow, and they are smiling into each other’s eyes.

I do believe these things are a major part in making us ladies feel inferior and insecure. I know for absolute sure I’m not alone in this because I hear ladies talk about it at work or at church; I see posts about how frumpy ladies feel, or how they are fed up with their baby fat and are going to start eating 500 calories a day.

I think I had reached a low point when I started to look around, really look around at other ladies in my every day life.  Do you know what I noticed?  I noticed that not everyone looks like they do on TV (DUH, and of course I knew that, but I think I had to realize it), but that didn’t mean that they weren’t beautiful.  I know ladies who are overweight, obese even, and while I do think it is important to recognize when our bodies are sick and we need to do something about it (exercise, eat healthier, etc.), I also realized when I talk to these ladies never once did I think they were anything but beautiful.  If I had to guess, I would say that they probably felt the same about me.

So why is it that we feel like we have to look like we should pinned on someone’s Pinterest board?  Well, let’s take a look at that.

The aforementioned Pinterest ad: its purpose is to motivate you to get moving, but there is a secondary purpose of convincing you that the advertised workout really works. (there is NO way that the girl in the attached photo got that fit by doing just those exercises every day.  No way. In fact, she’s probably kind of that fit, but mostly photo-shopped.)

The Commercials:  the concept is usually similar.  If it’s selling beer or something of the sort, it’s just to catch a male’s attention, but if it’s for shampoo or makeup, it’s to convince you that somehow using these products will transform us into these photoshopped prototypes.