March Audiobooks

What a great book month! Aside from one book that I DNFed early, I enjoyed all of them. I'm back to reading some good non-fiction this month with 2 entries. 

What good books have you read this month?

DNF:
​The Creative Act by Rick Rubin - I enjoy Rick Rubin's podcast but this book bored me quickly.

Last Words
By Michael Koryta, Read By Robert Petkoff

Marcus Novak works for a non-profit legal firm that defends death row inmates that they think are innocent. Marcus has had difficulties since his wife was murdered and it has not been solved. He's been resorting to some not-so-legal means to get at the killer. To get him out of sight for a while, his boss sends him to Indiana to assess a cold case that doesn't fit the organization's profile. He thinks it's a waste of time.

Ten years ago Sarah martin disappeared in a vast underground cave system among rural farmland in Indiana. Days later, an experienced caver emerged with her lifeless body. Ridley Barnes has no memory of finding her and he's not sure if he's the one who killed her. That's why he wrote to Novak's organization for help.
I enjoy all of Koryta's books and this was no exception. At one point there was a scene in the cave that actually made me feel claustrophobic. I had to stop the book for a bit and get my bearings before continuing. That's a sign of pretty good writing, in my opinion!
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Daughter of Australia
By Harmony Verna, Read By Brigid Lohrey

This story unfolds in 1898 in Western Australia. A young girl is found in the desert by a miner and she's barely alive. She's given the name Lenora and is sent to an orphanage run by a kind priest. She's mute but eventually forms a bond with another orphan, James, and comes out of her shell. Eventually she is adopted by a very wealthy family from the United States.

Leonora never forgets Australia and she makes a painful "deal" to return one day and eventually reconnects with James.

This book is a mix between family saga and romance. I usually don't like romance novels but this one has more depth than a typical romance novel. It's a really beautiful story and the characters were believable and well developed. I enjoyed it.

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The Paper Daughters of China
By Heather B. Moore, Read By Nancy Wu

This was a very interesting historical fiction account of Donaldine Cameron and her time running the Occidental Mission Home for Girls in San Francisco. Around the turn of the 20th century there was a active slave trade for young Chinese girls in California, especially San Francisco. Donaldine was a well known as a champion for these slave girls and was instrumental in ending the practice.

At the age of 27, in 1897, she became the superintendent of the Presbyterian-run home. She worked with Tien Fuh Wu who was rescued as a young girl and worked tireless her whole life at the home. It's a very interesting story and a very important one.
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Half Broke Horses
By Jeannette Walls, Read By Jeannette Walls

​When working the primary election earlier this month we had a lot of down time and chatted quite a bit about books. This is one that was recommended by one of my co-workers. This author's most well-known book is The Glass Castle about her own life with her wandering parents. My coworker recommended both but suggested that I start with this one as it's about her grandmother.

It's a novel but it's based on the true story of her grandmother, Lily Casey Smith, who lived a touch but vibrant and very independent life. She was raised on a ranch where she had a talent for breaking horses but she left home at 15 to begin a teaching career. She goes from West Texas to Chicago to Arizona, unknowingly marries a man who already has a wife and kids, is a crack poker player, sells prohibition liquor and loves teaching. She's a fascinating woman and the author is the perfect narrator for this wonderful tale. I wish I could meet Lily.

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The Return
By Michael Gruber, Read By Jonathan Davis

Richard Marder has received a medical death notice and he decides to leave is comfortable life and do something totally out of character. He's going to Mexico to avenge the murder of his long-dead wife's parents. Due to a very savvy investment, he has enough money to do anything. 

Along the way his Vietnam veterans friend, Patrick Skelly decides to join him. They served together along the Ho Chi Minh Trail doing some very unpleasant assignments that changed both men forever. 

Richard's daughter, an engineer, has figured out that her dad is up to something out of character and she sets out to find out where he is. What follows is an action packed roller coaster of a story as Marder tries to fight the local drug lords.

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Clean
By James Hamblin, Read By Barrett Leddy

This is an interesting book. It was published in 2020 but I feel that the information in it is up to date. It covers the history of hygiene habits, skin cleansers and skin care products. The chapters on the ineffectiveness and toxicity of skin care products was worth it alone. The last chapters were about current research on the skin microbiome and was very interesting and we are already seeing some of the fruits of this research in the marketplace. It's not a long book and I learned a lot.

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The Mysterious Case of Rudolf Diesel
By Douglas Brunt, Read By Scott Brick

I always prefer my history lessons to come from reading biographies. For some reason, I absorb the timelines better. The book that got me hooked on biographies was The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Rise and Fall of New York. It is the history of the development of New York City in the life of one man.

This book had a similar impact on me. I learned more about World War I from this book than in any book or history class previous. 

On September 29, 1913, Rudolf Diesel was one of the most famous men in the world. His engines had become the standard engine for ships and trains. It was the eve of the start of the war and Diesel was on a steamship between Brussels and England when he disappeared from the ship. Eleven days later a body was found by fishermen and several items belonging to Diesel were recovered. The body was released into the water.

This book tells the story of Diesel's life, the development of his engine technology and the story of other developments that were happening concurrently, especially once the war effort was gearing up. One interesting part of the story is how the Diesel engine threatened the businesses of John D. Rockefeller. The ending of the book explores, in depth, the possible outcomes of Diesel's disappearance. 

​It was a good read to finish off the month.

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