Julie Gray
My Ridiculous Audible Listening List

I sometimes refer to myself as a "bookworm," a term I am not crazy about, but if a bookworm reads books constantly - well, yeah, that's me. Mind you, I read manuscripts several days a week as well, in my role as an editor, so yeah, I guess you could say that I read quite a bit. Being an absolute junkie, I read books in any format, too. Audiobooks, Kindle, and of course, ye olde print book - all are fair game. I'm usually reading several books at once and have dozens of samples on my Kindle. I like to know what's going on. I'm terribly curious, I read voraciously, and it definitely helps me keep up as an editor when I know what's great and what's not so great out there in the world of books - in any format.
When I have time, which is less and less often these days, I write reviews of these books on GoodReads or Audible.com. But, unfortunately, I haven't been doing that so much lately. I'm awful busy writing up reviews and feedback for clients, so... it's not a big priority.
However, in the past few days, I realized that my Audible library is quite sprawling and startlingly varied. My tastes run from Russian novels to Audible sci-fi originals and everywhere in-between. Making this list was interesting for me; it shows how far and wide my interests range in black-and-white. I trace this variability back to my childhood, which was spent in a very (very) rural town (now prone to terrible wildfires), during which time my father had a "library" (the spare bedroom) filled with books. I had nothing else to do to. So I read whatever title was next on the shelf. This led me to read stuff like The Count of Monte Cristo at an early age, and my nerdiness only increased.
Many years later, I spent a few years working as a story analyst in Hollywood, and in this illustrious job, we lowly readers are not given a choice as to what we read, when, or why. All genres, all levels of writing, all due as of yesterday. I read work by William Goldman and by writers you've never heard of and writers you later did hear of. I read dusty old books and brand new books too. I had to be able to read whatever was given me, tout suite, and write up a synopsis and analysis of the work, including how expensive it might be to make, whether the writer was someone the agency should be in touch with for other work, whether actors might take an interest in any of the roles and if so, who. It was inglorious work, but it beats working in a shoe blacking factory.
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