Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer

This was one of the first fiction audio books I listened to and the first with multiple narrators. Different voices make characters more compelling and relate-able.

A few years ago, I had a temp job in a warehouse and was able to listen to my iPod while I worked. After getting bored with music all day every day, I got into Pod Casts and then audio books. While I was listening to this book, I'd occasionally find that I'd stopped moving and was standing still, listening intently!

This book evoked an emotional response in me that few others have been able to do. It's the first (and only?) book I've read with 9/11 as a pivotal event in the story. That alone adds a certain emotional heft. The way the present is woven with the past throughout the book is beautiful.

My friend Lea, also an avid reader, warned me that she cried like crazy at the end of this book. I very rarely cry while reading, so I didn't have that response but I did have what I call an "emotional hangover" after finishing!