Modern Mrs. Darcy's Audiobook List for Kids

And, of course, they'd be great reads as well:

Here's her list. 

We are getting through Jim Dale's versions of Harry Potter (which are marvelous), but I'm always on the lookout for good suggestions.

Quiet by Susan Cain, ah it's lovely

I finally read Quiet by Susan Cain all the way through. I'd been dipping in my reading toes here and there and when I had the flu a few weeks ago I could finally read it all the way through.

Quiet is about introverts. The way they process, the way they work, the way they are children, and the way they are adults.

The book was extremely validating, because I have always been and still am definitely introverted. I'm also social and friendly, and I used to be louder and very funny (now I'm just moderately funny. It's a Mom thing. I'm sure the rest of the funny will come back. It's in there.) which means that I can come off way more extroverted than I really am. But as I've said before on another blog: I've never wanted to be Cinderella on display as the center of attention all the time. I want to be the fairy godmother who gets to do her fabulous job and then go home, preferably to a cozy place with a hot bath and rooms with lots of books. And some quiet. Lots of quiet.

And that is classic introvert.

So this book was like finding my people. It spoke to truths I've already discovered for myself and how I navigate valuing people but needing alone time to stabilize.

One of the most fascinating part of Cain's analysis was that she linked children who are highly sensitive to adults who are introverted. As a mom of kids who veer more introvert than extrovert, this was very insightful.

All together just an interesting read. Cain isn't a researcher by training and so some of her conclusions are a bit of a stretch, but she is engaging and interesting. I bet she'd do better another time writing time around, but she did fairly well for this one.

Mariann, have you read this one yet?

Another Year, It's a Thinker

If you are in the mood for a thinking movie, try Another Year with Ruth Sheen and Jim Broadbent. The acting is marvelous, and the themes are timeless. It's slllllooooooowwwww. It's all dialogue and very little action.

There is language, though, and to watch it you'd think that everyone just drinks all the time. (Which is my complaint about the book The Girl on the Train which I can't and don't recommend. To read it, you'd think everyone is drunk all the time, lying about something, and being unfaithful to their spouse. Pretty dreary.)

But if you are a thinker for this movie, and can see drinking as a method to escape reality and a symbol of loneliness and desperation, then you can think your way out of the drinking scenes.

I've mentioned before that if you had a core group of smart people who didn't have time to read a whole novel but wanted fodder for a good discussion, a movie could do that.

This movie could do that. I'd actually like to discuss the themes with someone because I've been thinking about them all day. On topics like aging and loneliness and grief. Personal responsibility and the boundaries of friends/family. When is helping helping and when does it enable?

Ruth Sheen is marvelous. I've never seen her better than in this movie.

Anyone?