Joyride by Susan Orlean (Narrator)

I have been going through a lot of Orlean’s books the last few years. The Library Book was great and I liked a lot of the articles in On Animals. I really like her style of literary journalism. This was a long memoir around 14 hours and chronicled her writing and creative life. I found it fascinating. She became a writer out of college starting off at small newspapers and magazines and finding her way to her dream job at the New Yorker. I wonder how attainable that would be now since so much of nonfiction writing is now online. I found value in listening to her discuss her writing process and lessons particularly the idea of “Report. Think. Write.” First reporting and researching, then reflecting on it before even starting to write. Writing itself is usually not the issue as much as the first two steps. I hope she continues to write more essays and interesting articles which I can keep reading and listening to for many more years.

April 19-May 1, 2026.

The Murder on the Links by Agatha Christie with Hugh Fraser (Narrator)

The second Poirot novel. I liked this one more than The Mysterious Affair at Styles. It was set in France which set it apart from most of the other Christie stories. Poirot had a French rival named Monsieur Giraud who was competent enough but not to Poirot’s level. The rivalry made Poirot annoyed and added another dimension to the case. Hastings acted like a lovesick fool. At least his love interest was interesting. Onwards to the next Poriot.

April 27-May 2, 2026.