Audiobooks I listened to during Scribd’s free 30 days trial! | Mini-Reviews

Yesterday was the last day of my Scribd free trial. I’m feeling rather sad that it’s over, but at the same time, I feel almost relieved that I don’t need to search for things to do that would allow me to listen to books. I’m not a natural audiobook listener. Yes, it’s a great tool that makes multitasking possible, and also makes all house chores WAAAY more fun to do. But I still prefer reading a book rather than listening to it. 

As I planned to take full advantage of that 30-days free trial, I listened to a bunch of books that I don’t feel like reviewing separately. 😀 That’s why we are here today. I thought it would be fun to (1) count the hours I spent listening to audiobooks in the last 30 days and (2) talk about books! 

<insert gif>

My very first audiobook was «The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo» by Taylor Jenkins Reid. This choice was dictated solely by the fact that it was one of the books featured on the main page and I’ve been meaning to buy and read it for a long time now. No brainer, really. 

BOOK #1

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

[12 hours]

4 ★

You probably already know what this book is about. It’s a life story of Evelyn Hugo, a famous actress, as she is telling it to a journalist. She doesn’t hide any ugly details, spilling all the truth, everything as it happened.

I was very hoping to like it, and while I was fascinated by the character Taylor Jenkins Reid created, I didn’t like where the story went. Evelyn Hugo’s life was an emotional rollercoaster and it was very interesting to see what she went through. We got a lot of tea from her story, but it felt like I still didn’t get to know Evelyn as well as I wanted to. 

BOOK #2

Down Among the Sticks and Bones (Wayward Children, #2) by Seanan McGuire

[4 hours]

3 ★

Remember me saying that I wasn’t going to continue reading the Wayward Children series? Because I do… In my defense, the audiobook was only 4 hours long and I needed something short to help me with the reading slump. 

I actually liked this book, which follows Jack and Jill, much more than the 1st one. It was very dark, much darker than I expected! Jack and Jill were the two characters I wanted to know more about, and seeing them travel into this brutal world, experience horrible things, really showed why and how they became the characters we met in «Every Heart a Doorway». 

Sadly, Scribd decided to play a trick on me and put the other books in this series as “unavailable” until the day after my trial ended. Great job, Scribd! 🙄

BOOK #3

The Grace Year by Kim Liggett

[11 hours]

4 ★

This was one of my favorite audiobooks of March ❤ I’ve been eyeing this book for a couple of months now, and I’m so glad that I finally read it!

I love dystopian books (no matter what is happening in the world), but if you want to stay away from this type of reads, for now, I totally get it! In «The Grace Year» we see the world dominated by men, the world where women are feared and despised. Every single one of them needs to go through her grace year, break the curse, only then she can be a wife and continue living her life. 

The only con of this book, for me, was the romance. Once again, I just wasn’t a fan of how quickly it all happened. Other than that, I loved the dark story, the gruesome and chilling atmosphere, and the underlining message of women empowerment. 

BOOK #4	City of Ghosts (Cassidy Blake, #1) by Victoria Schwab	[5 hours]	5 ★
BOOK #5:	Tunnel of Bones (Cassidy Blake, #2) by Victoria Schwab	[5 hours]	4 ★

At the end of March, I was determined to get over my reading slump and started to read more middle grade. I saw that Rafaela @ThePortugueseBibliophile listened to the 2nd book in this series on Scribd and decided to give it a go as well! 

It was so much fun! I love middle grade for that feeling of coziness it always brings, and the Cassidy Blake series wasn’t an exception. It reminded me of the Phantom Files middle-grade series by William B. Wolfe. There we follow a boy who can see ghosts and goes on little adventures trying to help them.  

The narrator of the first book was incredible and I loved hearing her Scottish accent and imagining all these haunted places in Edinburgh. I’ve always wanted to visit Edinburgh, so it was a perfect read for this time when we aren’t allowed to travel anywhere. 

I loved the first book so much, that I immediately listened to the second one – «Tunnel of Bones» set in Paris. ❤ 

BOOK #6

My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite

[4 hours]

3 ★

As part of my O.WL.s Herbology exam, I needed to read a book that starts with an “M”. «My Sister, the Serial Killer» came out in 2018, but I feel like it got lots of attention last year. The audiobook is great and I highly recommend it if you’re looking for something to listen to while doing household chores! It’s only 4 hours long, and I usually listen to books at 1.8 speed, so this took me no time to go through. 

On Saturday, the 4th of April, I began my 24-hours magical read-a-thon by dinner prep, baking banana bread and listening to this book. 

This is a short read, but it’s dark and very engaging! I feel like the length is actually perfect for this story and I wasn’t left with a feeling that I wanted to know more. I do want to read more stuff from the author, but this particular story was nicely wrapped up.

I loved the first book so much, that I immediately listened to the second one – «Tunnel of Bones» set in Paris. ❤ 

BOOK #7

Dear Ijeawele, or a Feminist Manifesto in 15 Suggestions by Ch. N. Adichie

[1 hour]

5 ★

And thus began my obsession with short audiobooks. This one was MAGNIFICENT!  The only downside of listening to this was that I couldn’t highlight passages, and there were so many I wanted to highlight, to write down for later. 

This is a non-fiction that contains 15 suggestions on how to raise your daughter as a feminist, and they are so valuable. In fact, I think that this book should be mandatory reading in school when the kids are old enough to understand the consequences of their actions and thought. In fact! I think this book is a mandatory read for everyone, especially parents, and not only when you’re raising a baby girl because Adichie pointed out very important flaws in our society that would largely benefit men and women if they were to be corrected. 

BOOK #8

You’re Never Weird on the Internet (Almost) by Felicia Day

[6 hour]

5 ★

The best Nonfiction I’ve ever read! I haven’t read that many, but Hey! That’s Felicia Day! The creator of the web series «The Guild», which I watched a hundred million times, and after listening to her books I want to rewatch all of the seasons again. ❤

TOTAL:

47 hours

I’ve experienced my free Scribd trial to its fullest potential. With a total of 47 hours, this means that I listened, on average, to 1.5h per day. There were weekends and days I could have listened to more audiobooks, but as I said, I will always prefer physical or even ebooks to audiobooks. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

All of these were amazing and I highly recommend all of them if you’re looking for an engaging and short audiobook to listen to while doing various chores.

What are your favorite audiobooks? Leave your recommendations in the comments below!

Connect with me on GoodReads | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook

Advertisement