The Joy of Listening

I love audiobooks.  I do a lot of traveling in my jalopy and having a book for a companion on my journeys from point A to point B is a truly wonderful thing to be transported to another place while, well, being transported to another place.  It also avoids the awful mess of flipping pages while driving which, I might add, eliminates the possibility of losing one’s place in the story.  

I just listened to an interesting collection of short stories about supernatural beings who go on vacation called, "Death's Excellent Vacation".  Hey, everyone needs a break now and again – including vampires, demons, & werewolves.  This is the third short story analogy from Charlain Harris and Toni L. P. Kelner, the other’s being supernatural tales revolving around Christmas, “Wolfsbane and Mistletoe” and another that centers on vampires called, “Many Bloody Returns”.  I haven’t read / listened to those yet but after, “Death’s Excellent Vacation” I plan to track them down. 

   

As with any collection of short stories, there are some that you may like better than others but, “Death’s Excellent Vacation”, is pretty solid.  The tales that stand out in my mind are, “The Boys Go Fishing” by Sarah Smith, “Meanwhile, Far Across the Caspian Sea…” by Daniel Stashower, “The Innsmouth Nook” by A. Lee Martinez, “The Demon in the Dunes” by Chris Grabenstein, and “Home from America” by Sharan Newman.   

Grab some R & R.  Find yourself a copy and discover what your favorites are for yourself.  “Death’s Excellent Vacation” is worth the excursion.