Superfudge by Judy Blume

Peter and Fudge are about to have some major life upheavals. First, their mother is pregnant. Second, they're going to be living in Princeton (NEW JERSEY!) for a year while their dad takes a sabbatical to write a book. 

Peter is NOT happy. And finding out he's going to be in the same school as Fudge makes it even worse, especially when he's called into the principal's office on the first day to help deal with Fudge. But he does make a new friend, Alex, so that's not so bad.

Is this book a little dated? In some ways. As with many of Blume's books, though, the overarching themes stand the test of time. 

Four stars

Fudge #3

This book came out in 1980

Follows Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great

Followed by Fudge-a-Mania

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

The Book of Sheen by Charlie Sheen

An interesting listen. Sheen did a good job as narrator and hearing the stories in an author's own voice always makes it a little more real.

We get to hear about his childhood, a little bit about working on various films, and a lot about his drug use. His many varied types of drug use. We also hear about his attempts at getting sober. 

There is also some frank discussion about his... relationships (?) with women. He's up front and fairly honest about who he dated, who he just had sex with, and the scandal in the nineties when he was tied to Heidi Fleiss. 

Four stars

This book came out September 9, 2025

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Entitled by Andrew Lownie

An interesting look at the relationship of Prince Andrew and Fergie. There was a lot of information but it felt somewhat surface level (which it probably will be unless you get to interview the people themselves.) I think part of my fatigue in listening is that thewriting followed a specific, rather repetitive pattern that I don't think I would have minded if I had read the book as  a hard copy. It was interesting how much there was about Prince Andrew and Jeffrey Epstein. 

Three stars

This book came out January 1, 2025

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great by Judy Blume

Sheila Tubman was a side character in Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing. Now, she's front and center. She has a little bit of a lying problem along with a fear of swimming and dogs. Her family is getting out of the city for the summer and watching another family's house. And dog...

She's going to make some new friends this summer, including Mouse who isn't going to put up with Sheila's lies, but is surprisingly good at not calling her out on it. 

Four stars

Fudge #2

This book came out in 1972

Follows Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing

Followed by Superfudge

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

A Very Punchable Face by Colin Jost

Arguably, the things people best know Colin Jost for is being on SNL and marrying Scarlett Johansson. This book gives him a little more depth. Including a bit about how he tried to murder his younger brother and treated him fairly horribly, at least based on the stories in the book. It would be interesting to hear it from the other side. 

Overall it's a celebrity biography. A little bit about the behind-the-scenes of SNL through Jost's lens. But most of it is fairly bland and skates over a lot of the stories. Interesting but not much in depth.

Three stars
This book came out July 14, 2020

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Unreasonable Hospitality by Will Guidara

Will outlines his moves throughout the restaurant industry, even working for Danny Meyer who is famous for his own book about hospitality.

Leader's job is to find the strengths of everyone on their team, no matter how buried those strengths might be.

Talks about the 1-Minute Manager

Chapter 7 really speaks to me and my work. Our managers/employees both live and work together so it can be really hard to address problems with people, because you like them and you want them to like you. But suddenly, one small problem becomes a thorn in the manager's side when the employee never knew that the problem was an issue. 

Not everyone can (or should) read their own story, but Will did an amazing job on narrating this book. 

Four stars

This book came out October 25, 2022

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume

This book actually holds up from my childhood and hearing Judy Blume read it herself was... just so amazing. 

Peter Hatcher is nine years old and is figuring out his life, especially having to navigate it with his two-year-old brother who everyone calls Fudge. Both are a little precocious but hearing about Peter's book report, and how others rely on him to help not only navigate the world (Fudge's birthday party and then Dad taking them to the moview) but to demonstrate to Fudge how he should be acting. Then there's navigating having a little brother who breaks into his room, destroys his homework, and eats turtle.

Four stars

Fudge #1

This book came out in 1972

Followed by Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Mary Jane by Jessica Anya Blau, Caitlin Kinnunen (Narrator)

Fourteen-year-old Mary Jane is growing up in 1970s Baltimore. Her family seems "normal" for the time, stay at home, perfectionist mother, emotionally distant working father. But her life is about to be turned upside down when she becomes the nanny for three-year-old Izzy Cone. 
Izzy's parents are nothing like Mary Jane's. They shout, they show public affection, and their house is not organized to within an inch of its life. But there is a lot of love and some famous stars. Dr. Richard Cone is a psychiatrist and has cleared his whole schedule to help Jimmy work on his addictions. Jimmy is married to the electric Sheba who was on a television variety show and has many brothers. 
In a house of chaos, Mary Jane becomes the most stable person. As she tries to bring order into the swirling emotions of the people in the Cone house, she learns exactly how fallible adults can be and starts to see flaws, even in her own family. She also learns that there is no one lifestyle that is going to provide perfection. 
This is very much a book that reflects the values of the time including both casual and fairly blatant racism. Mary Jane is figure out how to navigate feelings that are suddenly bigger than what she is used to. A very familiar feeling for almost anyone who has been a teenager.

Four stars

This book came out May 11, 2021

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

The Age of Magical Overthinking by Amanda Montell

I was really expecting more with a subtitle like "Notes on Modern Irrationality." Really, most of this boiled down to concepts that have been around for... quite awhile. Like "Sunk Cost Fallacy" or the "Recency Illusion." Neither are new in the scope of humankind. 

Montell is a good writer but I wish there had been either a warning that this was more memoir than I was expecting or a deeper dive into some of these concepts. Montell generally defines them but doesn't give the same rigor to these as she had in previous books. 

Three and a half stars

This book came out April 9, 2024

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Find Your Why: A practical leadership book to bring purpose to your team by Simon Sinek, David Mead, Peter Docker

This is a companion book to Sinek's "Start with Why." This book helps you to define and refine your why. It's a long process (estimated needing at least 3 hours for individuals, 4 for teams.) It starts with stories and discovering what themes are in the stories you remember the most, what gives you pride or regret. This is best done with a facilitator and there are notes throughout the book to help them. 

One thing that stuck with me is that people's whys may sound the same on the surface and that's okay. Hows and whats will provide variety to everyone. 

Three and a half stars

This book came out September 5, 2017

Connect to Start with Why

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Cher: The Memoir, Part One by Cher, Stephanie J. Block (Narrator)

There are very few people who are mononyms and Cher is possibly the most famous. She has had hits that span multiple decades, had a hit TV show, and won an Oscar for her movies. This book covers a bit of her grandmother's story, some of her mother's, and then into her own birth. 

She had a peripatetic childhood, moving with her  mother as she married and divorced and married and divorced... quite a number of times. At one point, Cher was even left in an orphanage for months after her father ghosted the family.

Her story is fascinating and she is an incredibly strong woman to have made her way through so many hardships in life. I'm looking forward to Part Two. 

Four stars

This book came out November 19, 2024

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss

A coworker mentioned reading this book but that she was having a hard time getting through it. I've been on a streak of business-related books and the parts that she described sounded interesting. 

I totally get it what she means about the slog. It took me a long time to get through this book. It's not just the fact that this book is almost 20 years old and that life has changed so much. While Ferris has a number of thoughts that sound good on the surface, it's like listening to a car salesman. It's all too good to be true. Ferris has a giant blindspot in regards to his own privilege that makes it hard to think that everyone could follow his suggestions and get to where he is. 

Is anything imminently wrong? No, but hindsight (and probably even a bit of thought at the time) shows that most of his suggestions aren't going to work in the ways that he is promising.

Two and a half stars

This book came out January 1, 2011

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

The Infinite Game by Simon Sinek

Sinek argues that we think of too many things in life, including life itself, as a finite game. As if there is a goal to get to and then you're done. He argues that we should, in fact, be thinking as if there are things in life that are infinite, that we are going to be continiually working towards goals that may be moving. 

This is a typical business-type nonfiction book with stories carefully picked to ensure that they are going to support the author's versioni of how we should be working. An interesting read and somewhat atypical in that it's not asking businesses to set a specific goal but it is another in a set of books that could have been done as a Ted Talk and didn't need to try and force an expansion.

Three stars

This book came out January 1, 2017

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

These Summer Storms by Sarah MacLean, Julia Whelan (Narrator)

Alice Storm is the third child of a billionaire tech family. She is the only one who walked away. So when her father dies and she's summoned back to the family manse. Well, their private island (coincidentally called Storm Island.) 
On the way there, she meets an attractive man and has a one night stand. It's just too bad that Jack Dean ends up being the man who's going to make sure that Alice, her mom, and all three siblings fulfill the tasks that their father left behind. And they are some odd tasks. Her mom has to say one nice thing about her father every day. Her older sister has to break off the years long affair she's been having with her father's employee, her brother has to do manual labor and can't talk on odd hours, and Alice... Alice has to stay. 
Most of the story is third-person omniscient from Alice's point of view, but we do get some of the other characters as well. Because of that, it was easy to feel so frustrated for Alice that no one else seems to see her point of view. 

Four stars

This book came out July 8, 2025

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey

A friend of mine REALLY enjoyed this as an audiobook. I am a little more lukewarm. McConaughey is definitely an actor, not an audiobook narrator. His reading often sounds almost like he is singing with the cadence that he gives his stories. That being said, I do often enjoy the authors reading their own books, especially when it's a biography so I tried to immerse myself in it. 

It is very raw, honest, and real, based off the journals McConaughey has been keeping his whole life. There are definitely interesting stories here (including the infamous bongo incident) and his voice definitely lines up with the experiences my friends had when he visited our town. 

Three stars

This book came out October 20, 2020

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

The Irresistible Urge to Fall For Your Enemy by Brigitte Knightley with Thomas Judd (Narrator), Heather Long (Narrator)

I listened to this as an audiobook and it took some time to get into the worldbuilding. There was a glossary to start off with but I didn't really retain that information. However, as the story kept moving along I was able to pick up more of the language and understand the world that Osric and Aurienne inhabited. 

Going in, I knew this was a duology so I was expecting a cliffhanger... but there wasn't one which was so refreshing. Also refreshing? The banter between the two main characters. 

Then general set up is that Osric is a bad guy. But he's a bad guy whose life force is failing him and soon he won't be able to do "bad guy stuff" any more. When that happens, his crew will kill him. So he needs a way out. Unfortunately, the only person who can help him is a certified do-gooder meaning she will in no way want to help him. So, he decides to bribe her. It doesn't work on her, but it works on her mentor. The children in their area have a pox that they've been unable to create a vaccine for. He has the money, she has the talent. Together, nothing will be resolvedin this book but it's a wonderful start. 

Four stars

Dearly Beloathed #1

This book came out July 8, 2025

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinons are my own

The Nordic Theory of Everything: In Search of a Better Life by Anu Partanen with narrator Abby Craden

This is one of the books that probably could have been a Ted Talk (and maybe it was.) Partanen has personal experience with moving from a Nordic country and now living in the United States and her comparisons are very interesting. When they're initially stated. But then there's not much depth. It seems like some sentences and ideas are just restatements. 

I enjoyed her explanation of the Nordic theory of love.

Three stars

This book came out June 28, 2016

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

We Solve Murders We Solve Murders by Richard Osman with narrator Nicola Walker

Amy Wheeler enjoys her life. Yes, being the bodyguard for wealthy people can be boring and annyoning but she enjoys the job. She's really enjoying working for author Rosie D'Antonio. But something is going on at the firm she works for. One of the owners recently left and the other has shown up at her father-in-law's house. Someone may or may not be trying to kill him (there's been a number of deaths lately, including one of their clients) and someone is trying to frame Amy for the murder.

Suddenly, Amy and Rosie are traveling around the world trying to avoid being killed. And the only one they can trust is retired policeman Steve who has quite nicely settled into his rut. 

I tried to read this as an ebook but couldn't get into it. As an audiobook, however? I quite enjoyed it. 

Four stars

This book came out September 17, 2024

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

The Highgate Cemetery Murder by Irina Shapiro with narrator Imogen Church

As a nurse who worked with Florence Nightingale during the Crimean War, Gemma has seen a lot of death. But she wasn't expecting to have to deal with the death of her twin brother in a carriage accident. This changes the trajectory of her life in major and unexpected ways. It's especially strange that he left two odd sentences in his reporter's notebook. She takes his notes to the police. They're not interested until she gets to talk to Sebastian. 

An inspector on the force, Sebastian was rocked by the death of his wife. These days he's getting by through copious applications of alcohol and opium. He knows it's interfering with his life, and he's definitely going to quit. Tomorrow. 

The two team up to solve the murder of not only Gemma's brother but the young woman who was hung up on a cross in the cemetery with a pig's heart strung around her neck. 

This was darker than I was expecting with more explicit violence. Not a series I'd want to read at night, but an interesting start.

Three and a half stars

Tate & Bell #1

This book came out February 29, 2024

Followed by Murder at Traitor's Gate

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

There Should Have Been Eight by Nalini Singh, narrator Saskia Maarleveld

 The Great Eight. That's what they called themselves. Until one of them died at their own hand. Now, years later they're getting together again to celebrate one of their friends getting married. They're gathering at the family home of the sister of the woman who died. 

The story is narrated by Luna. She is a photographer who is slowly losing her sight. She is also a narrator who is very caught up in her own memories of Bea.  But can we trust her memories? They seem awfully halcyon? 

The first two thirds of this book were great. Suspense built; characters were fleshed out. I generally enjoyed that part book, but had really, really hoped the twist would be different. The end dragged out too long. 

Three and a half stars

This book came out November 21, 2023

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own