Dear reader, within the last several years I have really grown to appreciate audiobooks. I began listening to them when I first started going on vacation with my brother and one his friends, utilizing them as an effective way to fill up the many hours – some of them very monotonous – of staring out the window at freeway scenery. Since I have moved out into my own apartment, however, I have come to appreciate audiobooks even more! I listen to them mainly while I’m cooking dinner, cleaning, or putting together a puzzle.

Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate the sometimes total silence of my apartment, especially since back at my parent’s house the TV seemed to be on almost constantly, but every once in a while I feel a need to fill that silence, and not with music. I’ve had people tell me they’ll put on a TV show in the background while they’re doing something, but I’ve never been in that habit. Audiobooks strike that perfect balance of filling the void of silence, while also engaging my brain. They also have the added benefit of making it seem like the people are right in my apartment with me, giving the illusion of companionship. Maybe that sounds weird, but as someone who is living on her own for the first time in her life, I find it comforting.

The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R Tolkien

Inspired by The Hobbit and begun in 1937, The Lord of the Rings is a trilogy that J.R.R. Tolkien created to provide “the necessary background of history for Elvish tongues”. From these academic aspirations was born one of the most popular and imaginative works in English literature.

The Fellowship of the Ring, the first volume in the trilogy, tells of the fateful power of the One Ring. It begins a magnificent tale of adventure that will plunge the members of the Fellowship of the Ring into a perilous quest and set the stage for the ultimate clash between the powers of good and evil.

Dear reader, The Lord of the Rings trilogy was one I have always wanted to read, but knew I would never be able to get through the actual books, so I turned to the audiobooks. What an adventure those were! The ability of the narrator, Rob Inglis, to embody all the different characters really brought them to life. That is one of the true superpowers of audiobooks, I believe. They can immerse you in books you never would have read otherwise. I knew the physical books would have been too dense and plodding for me because I’m not much of a fantasy fan, but the audiobooks struck a perfect balance of variety with the differently voiced characters, and a densely layered story that was brought to life.

Clocking in at 20 hours, this remains one of the longest audiobooks I’ve ever listened to, but it was a joy to listen to from start to finish. I would highly recommend the audiobooks if you’ve always wanted to read The Lord of the Rings trilogy but have been intimidated by it, as I was. Audiobooks have a way of making accessible to all readers the stories that once seemed out of reach, or unconquerable.

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A Horse Called Wonder by Joanna Campbell

Ashleigh Griffen swore she’d never give her heart to another horse — not after a terrible disease wiped out her family’s breeding farm, along with Ashleigh’s favorite mare, Stardust.

Now the Griffens are starting over as breeding managers at Townsend Acres, and Ashleigh’s sure she is going to hate living there.

Then a small, sickly foal is born — a beautiful copper filly that looks like Stardust. No one thinks the foal will live or that it’s worth trying to save. No one but Ashleigh.

Can one girl’s love alone work miracles?

First of all, there is no link to the catalog for this particular book because it isn’t in the catalog at all. However, various other books in the series are in the catalog, so you’re in luck!

This series ran from 1991 to 2005, with the original series running from books 1-23 and then 23-72 completing the series with the focus shifting to a different girl and the subject matter of eventing, rather than racing. I remember just devouring these books, and since they came out in the 90’s there a good possibility I started reading them in elementary school. One of my core memories is reading that pivotal book number 23 and becoming so incensed at the drastic changes that I threw the book across the room! Dear reader, that may well have been my first rage over a book. I remember it distinctly to this day!

To hear my mom tell it, my horse crazy self was kickstarted when I got a kid’s meal at Hardee’s in, you guessed it, the 90’s, and I received a white plastic horse toy. I still have that toy in one of my dresser drawers. I also had a plush horse stuffed animal that I slept with at night. His name was Clip Clop, named for the little noisebox in his stomach that made sounds like horse hooves walking. I slept with him so much the stuffing had to be replaced in his stomach! I still have him as well.