Moving on

This morning I finished listening to The Casual Vacancy. I had borrowed this audiobook from the library and could only renew it once so I was anxious to finish it before the due date. I learned a couple of things about myself and books on tape/CD. One, I really have to just listen to the story-not multi task as I tend to forget or not process what I am hearing. Two, car rides, long car rides, are best for me to listen to an audiobook. Captive audience. So I was able to listen to several CDs on Saturday when my husband and I drove to Boston to have dinner with our daughter, her roommate and her roommate's parents who were visiting from Charleston. I was advised to listen to The Casual Vacancy instead of reading it and I think I agree with this advice. It was okay- maybe JK Rowling was trying a little too hard to make a novel really different from Harry Potter and to make sure it was adult in content. Lots of adult themes- sex, substance abuse, angst, infidelity, teen issues (bullying, acting out,growing up,cutting, drinking, smoking, etc). The story takes place in a small English town and tells what happens when a member of the town council suddenly dies leaving his seat vacant. A real domino affect on the lives of several families. Things escalate and spiral out of control until the rather sad and dramatic end. I think I would have had a difficult time staying focused and interested in the print version but when listening (and it was well done) it was more captivating. Dinner was nice at The Melting Pot. The restaurant is fondue themed- so we started with a cheddar cheese fondue, followed by a house salad, beef fondu (coq au vin style to cook the beef) with vegetables and ended with a flaming chocolate turtle fondue (marshmallows, fruit, rice krispy treats etc to dunk). Very good. We always have a great time with our daughter and enjoyed meeting her roomie's parents. Now to finish my Cleo Coyle book so I can then move on to My Beloved World the next book club selection. Oh and book club meets tonight to discuss Salvage The Bones. I did watch Beasts of the Southern Wild which is a similar story. Just not my cup of tea.