I'm just back from a harrowing 10-hour road trip on a snowy highway. My husband and I took turns at the wheel but mostly he drove and mostly I shouted loud warnings about trucks! Ice! Wind! Snowplow! Winter storms bring out the inner panic monster, don't they?

At least the two young men in the back behaved. I remember the days when the boys were young, and we had to strategically place four car seats based on arm span and likelihood of child to use arms for swatting, slapping, or smacking a sibling. Back then, I threatened to throw my shoes at anyone who misbehaved. Given my lousy aim, and my preponderance to wear clogs, it was an effective technique. They still talk about the time they refused to return the shoe after I flung it at them. 

Anyway, here are a few recommendations from our epic drive. And note that the charming car game is newly available in the shop. 

• We listened to this song and agreed that no matter how often we hear it, or play it in high school marching band, we simply can't help but respond to it. It's crack cocaine for our ears.

• To try and understand why this song exerts such a pull, we listened to this interview with Mark Ronson, the producer of Uptown Funk. (He says Uptown Funk came out of a jam session.) Our own baritone sax player appreciated Ronson's incorporation of a horn section and a bari solo in his work producing for Amy Winehouse.

• Like on this track:

• Then we listened to a TedTalk podcast on the question of artistic originality. Who knew that in the fashion world, there is no intellectual property aside from the designer's actual drawings. That seems so messed up!

• We downloaded the Audible app and listened to True Grit, read by Donna Tartt. (Ms. Tartt is herself an accomplished author.) The comic, David Sedaris, said that Ms. Tartt was born to read this book and he was right. Her southern drawl will mesmerize you.

• We also listened to Texts from Jane Eyre, recommended by my book club friend Renee. It made it onto Audible's Best of 2015 list and I laughed uproariously at the text messages between famous fictional characters. The kids, however, were stony-faced in the backseat. One of them said, "This is objectively not funny." Which made me laugh that much harder. And then I threw a shoe.