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Audiobook Review – At Grave’s End – Jeaniene Frost

12 Nov

At Grave’s End
Author: Jeaniene Frost
Series: #3 in the Night Huntress series

Narrator: Tavia Gilbert
Run Time: 9hrs and 28 minutes

Book Description:
It should be the best time of half-vampire Cat Crawfield’s life. With her undead lover Bones at her side, she’s successfully protected mortals from the rogue undead. But though Cat’s worn disguise after disguise to keep her true identity a secret from the brazen bloodsuckers, her cover’s finally been blown, placing her in terrible danger.

As if that wasn’t enough, a woman from Bones’s past is determined to bury him once and for all. Caught in the crosshairs of a vengeful vamp, yet determined to help Bones stop a lethal magic from being unleashed, Cat’s about to learn the true meaning of bad blood. And the tricks she’s learned as a special agent won’t help her. She will need to fully embrace her vampire instincts in order to save herself—and Bones—from a fate worse than the grave.

Review
This is a hard book for me to review because my thoughts on the narration have completely taken over my thoughts on the book itself, and I am having a hard time separating the two. So I am going to break from my normal mode, and review the audiobook narration first and then hopefully touch on some of the book specific comments. Many of these audiobook comments can also be found on the Audible.com page for this audiobook. Having read the previous 2 books in the series on my kindle, I decided to try something different and listen to book 3 for a challenge. Going into it, I had heard varying opinions about the narration, specifically focused on the voice of Bones and after listening I would definately say that I fall into the negative. I have to wonder if my opinion would have been changed if I had listened to all of the books, but i don’t know.

Typically I like Tavia Gilbert’s narration, but something with this just didn’t work – I HATED Bones voice – he sounded like an Australian teen high on something – now admitedly based on the backstory, he did spend some time in Australia before he became a vampire and after, but he is also supposed to be British, so the voice just didn’t work for me. I imagine him more sounding like James Marsters who played Spike on Buffy way back when. My other, albiet small complaint, was about some of the word pronunciation. One of the main secondary characters is Don, but for the life of me every time I heard her say his name, is sounded like Dawn…and then on the one occurrence when Dawn is said, it sounded like Don…

But that being said, narration aside, I didn’t mind the book. Cat was a bit more whiny/clingy in this book than she had been in previous ones. She wasn’t as kick-ass as I was expecting her to be and oh the drama and the death. Without disclosing any spoilers, some serious shit went down in this book and it will be interesting to see how it plays out in later books. I can say that I will be reading the rest of them and not listening.

Overall, i’d give the narration only 2 stars, but the book itself 3.5-4. So adding them together about 3 stars over all. I do think that people who like UF should read this series if they haven’t started yet.

 
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Posted by on November 12, 2012 in Audiobook Review

 

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Review – A Thousand Lives – Julia Scheeres

10 Nov

A Thousand Lives: The Untold Story of Hope, Deception, and Survival at Jonestown
Author: Julia Scheeres

Book Description:
In 1954, a pastor named Jim Jones opened a church in Indianapolis called People’s Temple Full Gospel Church. He was a charismatic preacher with idealistic beliefs, and he quickly filled his pews with an audience eager to hear his sermons on social justice. After Jones moved his church to Northern California in 1965, he became a major player in Northern California politics; he provided vital support in electing friendly political candidates to office, and they in turn offered him a protective shield that kept stories of abuse and fraud out of the papers. Even as Jones’s behavior became erratic and his message more ominous, his followers found it increasingly difficult to pull away from the church. By the time Jones relocated the Peoples Temple a final time to a remote jungle in Guyana and the U.S. Government decided to investigate allegations of abuse and false imprisonment in Jonestown, it was too late.

Review:
I have often heard the term “drinking the koolaid” and have even said it a time or two, but until I finished this book, I didn’t know the originals of the saying. Not growing up or attending school in the United States means that things many people learned in their history classes, I am clueless about (and don’t even get my started on my lack of knowledge of politics)…but when I was listening to Ice Cold (Tess Gerritsen), the Jonestown cult and massacre was mentioned and I was intrigued. And funnily enough, I was talking to some coworkers at the same time I was reading this and one of them mentioned the phrase and I was then about to put two and two together to understand. I then found out about this book while I was trying to find a book set in Guyana for my Around the World reading challenge – so it was like hitting two birds with one stone.

I loved how the author was able to use various documents that had been released by the FBI to develop the picture of what happened – since there is very little eye-witness testimony and most of the people who did survive (not that there were many of them) have since died. I was actually surprised to see the amount of information that had been recovered from the camp after the massacre was discovered. I found that the author did a good job of weaving the tale to make it interesting, I wanted to know about what happened. It wasn’t like a normal NF book where I can read bits and pieces and be ok with stopped, in the end, I think I read this in about 3 days, which is significantly less time than most non-fiction books that I read. I will definately be looking for her other book to read and will be interested to see what more she writes in the future. 3.5 stars.

 
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Posted by on November 10, 2012 in Book Review

 

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Audiobook Review – Timeless – Gail Carriger

09 Nov

Timeless
Author: Gail Carriger
Series: #5 in the Parasol Protectorate

Narrator: Emily Gray
Run Time: 11hrs and 29 minutes
Producer: Hachette Audio

Book Description:
Alexia Tarabotti, Lady Maccon, has settled into domestic bliss. Of course, being Alexia, such bliss involves integrating werewolves into London High society, living in a vampire’s second best closet, and coping with a precocious toddler who is prone to turning supernatural willy-nilly. Even Ivy Tunstell’s acting troupe’s latest play, disastrous to say the least, cannot put a damper on Alexia’s enjoyment of her new London lifestyle.

Until, that is, she receives a summons from Alexandria that cannot be ignored. With husband, child, and Tunstells in tow, Alexia boards a steamer to cross the Mediterranean. But Egypt may hold more mysteries than even the indomitable Lady Maccon can handle. What does the vampire Queen of the Alexandria Hive really want from her? Why is the God-Breaker Plague suddenly expanding? And how has Ivy Tunstell suddenly become the most popular actress in all the British Empire?

Review
This has to probably be one of my favorite series that I had read/listened to in the recent past. I loved all 5 books and while various ones had their ups and downs, like can be expected in a series, overall, they were well worth my time. I can’t wait to see how the spin-off series featuring Alexia’s daughter is going to turn out, as well as the other series pending that is set in the same world, but 20-ish years prior. But I digress. Timeless picks up 2+ years after the end of Heartless – but not much has changed in the world. There are still vampires and werewolves roaming loose in London, but Alexia isn’t just having to cope with that, she also now has a toddler to chase after. Adding a twist to this installment, Alexia travels abroad to Egypt (and all that entails). I really want to say more, but it could easily turn spoilish and I don’t want to ruin this series for anyone.

As I was listening to Emily Gray’s narration, I realized that sometimes, it felt like the author had just reached into a hat filled with various sounds and pulled several out to make names of some of the characters. I also loved Lord Ackeldama – he has been one of my favorite characters through-out the whole series and I can’t wait to see the influence that he has had on characters in the later books. I have to admit to being a bit disappointed by the Biffy/Professor Lyall scenario – I don’t think that it really added anything to the book overall – but maybe it will be needed in the future.

Emily Gray’s narration for all 5 books was spot on – I felt that she managed to capture the British accents perfectly and I felt like I was there. Her narration of Lord Maccon was great and well, Lord Ackeldama…all I could do was laugh because it was perfect. I highly recommend her for future narrations and will be looking out for her when I pick audiobooks in the future. Overall, 4 stars and a high recommendation

 
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Posted by on November 9, 2012 in Audiobook Review

 

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Audiobook Review – Ice Cold – Tess Gerritsen

07 Nov

Ice Cold
Author: Tess Gerritsen
Series: #8 in the Rizzoli and Isles series

Narrator: Tanya Eby
Run Time: 9 hrs 51 minutes
Producer: Brilliance Audio

Book Description:
In Wyoming for a medical conference, Boston medical examiner Maura Isles joins a group of friends on a spur-of-the-moment ski trip. But when their SUV stalls on a snow-choked mountain road, they’re stranded with no help in sight.

As night falls, the group seeks refuge from the blizzard in the remote village of Kingdom Come, where twelve eerily identical houses stand dark and abandoned. Something terrible has happened in Kingdom Come: Meals sit untouched on tables, cars are still parked in garages. The town’s previous residents seem to have vanished into thin air, but footprints in the snow betray the presence of someone who still lurks in the cold darkness—someone who is watching Maura and her friends.

Days later, Boston homicide detective Jane Rizzoli receives the grim news that Maura’s charred body has been found in a mountain ravine. Shocked and grieving, Jane is determined to learn what happened to her friend. The investigation plunges Jane into the twisted history of Kingdom Come, where a gruesome discovery lies buried beneath the snow. As horrifying revelations come to light, Jane closes in on an enemy both powerful and merciless—and the chilling truth about Maura’s fate.

Review
I figure after greatly enjoying the last few books in the series, I was about due for a dud. But even saying that, Ms Gerritsen’s dud’s are still better than a good majority of other fiction out there (oh the irony). I can’t even really describe what it was about this one that made it only ehhh for me – I think it was because I had pretty much figured out the who done it early-ish in the book (like not long after the introduction of said character). I also think that it might be the fact that one of the things I love the best about the series is the interaction between Jane and Maura and that was decidedly lacking in this series as they spent 90% of the series separated by several thousand miles. It made me realize how much Jane is the dominant character in the series – while Maura has this quiet strength and perseverance, which was highlighted in this book – Jane is like the gun powder – explosive and on the go. Which is what I prefer – maybe because she is opposite to me – I definitely identify more with Maura than with Jane, which is why I like reading about Jane’s antics. The one interesting thing for me in this book was how various cult’s and the development of Cult’s were discussed. It made me want to read more about some of the ones that have become famous in history (Jonestown specifically), so I am on the look-out for books (if anyone has any ideas – let me know).

Going into the narration, I wasn’t sure what I was going to think of Tanya Eby’s work. I had heard a few negative reviews about some of her work and I was a bit worried – but I was pleasantly surprised. I can’t say that this was my favorite narration ever, because its not, and it definately wasn’t my favorite of the series (Anna Fields has that spot all tied up), but it was enjoyable. One of the comments other listeners had made was on a lisp – but I didn’t hear anything that wasn’t easily gotten used to in listening. However, I wasn’t a fan of how Jane sounded in her parts – she didn’t have the Boston Irish accent that I had gotten used to in previous narrations, so that was lacking. However, I didn’t mind her narration of Jane and thought that she did a pretty good job with the narration of the various males voices that occurred through-out.

Overall, I would give both the book and the narration 3 stars. I liked it, but didn’t love it. It will be interesting to see how I enjoy the narration in future books, as it appears that Tanya Eby may become the primarily narrator (she has done the two most recent books).

 
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Posted by on November 7, 2012 in Audiobook Review

 

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Review – The You Know Who Girls: Freshman Year – Annameekee Hesik

06 Nov

The You Know Who Girls
Author: Annameekee Hesik

Review Copy Provided by Bold Strokes Books via NetGalley

Book Description
Abbey Brooks, Gila High freshman-to-be, never thought a hellish day of shopping at the mall with her best friend, Kate, could change her life. But when she orders French fries from the flirtatious Hot Dog on a Stick Chick, she gets more than deep-fried potatoes. Abbey tries to ignore the weird, happy feeling in her gut, but that proves to be as impossible as avoiding the very insistent (and—rumor has it—very lesbian) players on Gila High’s girls’ basketball team. They want freakishly long-legged Abbey to try out, and Abbey doesn’t hate the idea. But Kate made Abbey pinky swear to avoid basketball and to keep away from the you-know-who girls on the team.

Sometimes promises can’t be kept. And sometimes girls in uniform are impossible to resist.

Review
Its hard for me to preface why I requested this book to read because I can honestly say that non-romancy LGBT fiction normally isn’t my thing. But there was just something that drew my attention in the description. And I am glad that I took the chance. It has been a while since I was in high school (but I’m not going to tell you how long…lol), but I still remember being that awkward freshman, trying to make new friends and find myself in the hierarchy that is a high school. I can’t imagine struggling with my sexuality, while going through those normal high school trials. While I was reading, I found that Ms Hesik managed to walk the fine line between the dramatic without being too angsty.

While for me the ending was only so-so, I enjoyed the vast majority of the book and I hope that she plans on writing more focusing on Abbey’s other years at Gila High, or if that isn’t possible, then maybe at least her senior year. Overall, I’d give this a solid 4 stars and will definately be looking for more by this author in the future.

 
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Posted by on November 6, 2012 in Book Review

 

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Audiobook Review – The Toll-Gate – Georgette Heyer

31 Oct

The Toll-House
Author: Georgette Heyer

Narrator: Daniel Hill
Run Time: 9hrs and 15 minutes
Producer: AudioGO

Book Description:
Captain John Staple’s exploits in the Peninsula had earned him the sobriquet Crazy Jack among his fellow Dragoons. Now home from Waterloo, life is rather dull. But when he finds himself lost and benighted at an unmanned toll-house in the Pennines, his soldiering exploits pale away besides an adventure — and romance — of a lifetime.

Review:
I have come to the conclusion that I am just one of those people who can’t appreciate Heyer’s work. In the romance community, she is the one recommendation that people come up with for realistic romances, but they just leave me feeling not quite complete. Don’t get me wrong, they aren’t bad, they just aren’t for me. In this instance, I have to admit that I preferred the mystery aspect of the story (what happened to the Toll-Gate keeper) to the romance which was a bit ehh. It almost ended up being an insta-love situation, I never truely felt like there was any romance between the 2 main characters.

In conjunction with the iffy romance in the storyline, I wasn’t a huge fan of the narrator. I think he did an ok job with the various adult male voices, but the female ones, as well as the young kid who was fairly significant in the book were only ehhh. They all just started to blend together after a while, which isn’t necessarily a good thing. I had debated actually DNF’ing this at one stage, but decided to see it out. The ending was satisfactory with how the mystery was solved, and the narrator’s voice sorta grew on me, but not enough for me to want to seek him out again in the future. Overall, i can only give the book and narration 2 stars.

 
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Posted by on October 31, 2012 in Audiobook Review, Book Review

 

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Review – Weeding the Flowerbeds – Sarah Mkhonza

30 Oct

Weeding the Flowerbeds
Author: Sarah Mkhonza

Book Description:
Weeding the Flowerbeds is a memoir of boarding school at Manzini Nazarene High School in Swaziland, a country in Southern Africa. In this book Sarah explores life in the boarding school at Manzini Nazarene High School, a school that produced many graduates. She explores life in an educational institution where growing up is takes place under strict hostel rules in the seventies. As young Swazi girls Bulelo, Sisile and Makhosi grow up learning about life and Christianity. They learn to love school and also to appreciate writing and literature. All the time they feel as if they are being pushed in a certain direction and it is one of the teachers Mr. Fields and others who come to the school and make them understand the importance of choosing to be free in ones spirit. With all that education they leave the school and go and live their lives

Review
As I continue my around the world in reading travels, I’ve found it harder and harder to find books for some of the more random countries. Swaziland is one of those countries – no, not Switzerland (I swear, I can spell), but Swaziland, a small country in southern Africa. But when I was browsing other blogs, I found someone else doing an around the world challenge and she also read this book as part of her challenge. It wasn’t an easy book to find (I eventually had to cave and buy it from Amazon), but it was an interesting read.

A fictionalized memoir of three girls in a church run boarding school, it details their adventures over several years, as they progress through the levels prior to graduation. I liked the idea of the book, however, to me the execution was lacking. There was quite a bit of redundancy in the writing (repeating the same information in multiple places in the same chapter) and some times where what is being said is contradicted in the next paragraph (for example, in one paragraph she is doing push-ups, then talking about how she did the best in that set of sit-ups and then back to talking about push-ups). I think this is something that a good editor could have fixed – but as the author is a professor herself, I don’t know how much it was edited prior to release. I do find it interesting that there are very few reviews for the book out there (zero on Amazon, 1 on goodreads – aside from mine).

I think this is a good read if someone is interested in learning about life in the smaller African countries and the role that the various religious organizations have played in the developing nations. however, because of issues that I had with it, I can’t give it more than 2 stars.

 
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Posted by on October 30, 2012 in Around the World in 80 Books, Book Review

 

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Classics Challenge Review – The Chocolate War – Robert Cormier

29 Oct

The Chocolate War
Author: Robert Cormier

Narrator: Frank Muller
Run Time:5hrs and 34 minutes

Book Description:
Jerry Renault ponders the question on the poster in his locker: Do I dare disturb the universe? Refusing to sell chocolates in the annual Trinity school fund-raiser may not seem like a radical thing to do. But when Jerry challenges a secret school society called The Vigils, his defiant act turns into an all-out war. Now the only question is: Who will survive?

Review
When I originally picked The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier to read for my 50 classics in 5 years challenge, I thought that it was because I had read it as a teen and wanted to re-read it to see how my opinion of it had changed over the years. However, I soon discovered that it wasn’t the book that I thought it was…(and unfortunately, I still haven’t figured out what that damn book it yet!!). But at the same time, I am glad that I chose to read/listen to it, but have decided that I need to pick up the second one (Beyond the Chocolate War), because I wasn’t all that impressed with the ending – it was too vague and unfinished for me.

However, the quote that continually shows up through the book – “dare I disturb the universe” is key to the events that unfolded through-out the course of the book. It is a question that so many people who engage in social protest ask themselves – is that one small action I might engage in, worth it. Will I succeed in what I am about to do? What are the consequences for me engaging in this action? It was interesting to hear, in the authors own words, how he came up with the idea for the book (his son who refused to sell school chocolates) and how his various what-if scenarios played out in the development of the various characters. Not only does the theme of social protest appear through-out but the idea of the role of bullying in society.

It was bullying by the group called the Vigils that started the chain of events that led to the events that occurred in the books; it was the bullying of Brother Leon of many of the students at the school that led to the culture where the Vigils flourished and were allowed to behave as they did. Like i mentioned above however, my main problem with how the book finished was that there was no real ending – the good guy (in this case, Jerry) didn’t prevail, we were kind of left wondering what happened or worse yet, left with the impression that evil will prevail and that it will beat good out every time. So I am curious to see what happens in the second book.

I found the narration by Frank Muller interesting – it seemed much more like a performance than the straight reading of a book. This isn’t something that I often run into when listening, so it was interesting. At first it was weird, but it kind of grew on me as the book progressed. He did have a good ability to have some fear inspiring voices like his rendition of Brother Leon. i have to say though, that since the entire cast of characters are male, there was really no way for me to judge how his female voices would sound – so I would be curious to listen to other narrations by him to find out how he renders those.

If the other books in my classics challenge are as thought provoking as this one, I look forward to reading more.

 
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Posted by on October 29, 2012 in Audiobook Review, classics challenge

 

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Audiobook Review – Anne of Green Gables – L.M. Montgomery

28 Oct

Anne of Green Gables
Author: L.M. Montgomery
Series: #1 in the Anne of Green Gables series

Narrator: Susan O’Malley
Run Time: 10 hours, 41 minutes
Producer: Blackstone Audio

Book Description
As soon as Anne Shirley arrived at the snug, white farmhouse called Green Gables, she knew she wanted to stay forever… but would the Cuthberts send her back to the orphanage? Anne knows she’s not what they expected — a skinny girl with decidedly red hair and a temper to match. If only she could convince them to let her stay, she’d try very hard not to keep rushing headlong into scrapes or blurt out the very first thing she had to say. Anne was not like anybody else, everyone at Green Gables agreed; she was special — a girl with an enormous imagination. This orphan girl dreamed of the day when she could call herself Anne of Green Gables.

Review
I think most girls growing up probably read the story of the red-haired orphan adopted by Matthew and Matilda Cuthbert, set in Canada. For me, it had been nearly two decades since i had read it, but I still had fond memories, so after listening to my previous audiobook that had me bawling, I decided that I wanted a feel-good book to listen to. (Unfortunately, I forgot how moving and cry worthy AoGG was). But this is definitely a book that to me has stood the test of time – I laughed and I cried along with Anne as she struggled to find her place in life and society.

I do have to admit that I was surprised by how much my memories of the book were jaded by the movie version that I had seen. While I have planned on writing a book to movie post, a few thoughts. Anne and her dress with the puffed sleeves – this was probably one of the parts of the book I thought that I remembered the most, but I was surprised to find that what i thought occurred in the book, was primarily in the movie. The same with how the book ended and the death of a main character (I mean, I could spoil it by saying who it was, but there are still people out there who haven’t read this classic, so I won’t).

It has been a while now since I listened to the audiobook, so I really don’t have much to say about the narrator – it wasn’t bad enough to stick out in my mind, but at the same time wasn’t one the best narrators I have listened to in the past. It was only good – I wish I had more to say about it, but I don’t. The production of the audiobook was a bit funky in that you could hear where it had been re-mastered and the quality of the book changed through-out – there were parts where it was super quiet, and others where it got really loud – I’m personally not a fan of having to adjust the volume on my ipod in the car like I was having to with this verison.

 
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Posted by on October 28, 2012 in Audiobook Review

 

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Review – Ten Girls to Watch – Charity Shumway

25 Oct

Ten Girls to Watch
Author: Charity Shumway

Thanks to Washington Square Press, Atria Books and Netgalley for providing me with a review copy

Purchase from Amazon here:
Ten Girls to Watch (Paperback)
Ten Girls to Watch (Kindle)

Book Description
Like so many other recent graduates, Dawn West is trying to make her way in New York City. She’s got an ex-boyfriend she can’t quite stop seeing, a roommate who views rent checks and basic hygiene as optional, and a writing career that’s gotten as far as penning an online lawn care advice column.

So when Dawn lands a job tracking down the past winners of Charm magazine’s “Ten Girls to Watch” contest, she’s thrilled. After all, she’s being paid to interview hundreds of fascinating women: once outstanding college students, they have gone on to become mayors, opera singers, and air force pilots. As Dawn gets to know their life stories, she’ll discover that success, love, and friendship can be found in the most unexpected of places. Most importantly, she’ll learn that while those who came before us can be role models, ultimately, we each have to create our own happy ending.

Review
I have to admit that the cover is the first thing that drew my attention on the book. I love reading magazines when I get a chance, and especially, the ones that feature the top anythings – sports stars for a year, hottest guys in each states etc. So when I read the premise, a girl assigned to track down the “Ten Girls to Watch,” I knew that I had to get a hold of it.

Dawn as a character was interesting and I can remember being that age and just starting out. But at the same time, it also showed that sometimes connections are the best way to get started or established in an industry – but at the same time, it is your work and initiative that gets you to the finish line ultimately. I also liked the variety of profiles of women that were presented through-out. One of my only complaints is that it seemed like everyone was super successful and I don’t know if that is necessarily reflective of true life, but for the purpose of fiction i guess it works. I just wish that there have been some not so successful women…

I’ll definately be on the look-out for more books by Ms Shumway in the future – and I hope that they live up to the standard that she set in Ten Girls to Watch. In the meantime, I’ll be on the look-out for any similar authors (if people have any ideas…). Overall, I gave it 4 stars.

 
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Posted by on October 25, 2012 in Book Review

 
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