Author: Ann Patchet Title: Bel Canto Narrator: Anna Fields Publication Info: Blackstone Audiobooks, 2001. Summary/Review: This novel is set in an unnamed Latin American nation that lures a powerful Japanese business man to a birthday party in his honor with an intimate performance by his favorite operatic soprano. A group of revolutionaries attacks the mansion and takes…
Tag: Audiobook
Book Review: The Great Bridge by David McCullough
Author: David McCullough Title: The Great Bridge Narrator: Nelson Runger Publication Info: Recorded Books (2006) Previously Read by the Same Author: John Adams, 1776, and The Wright Brothers Summary/Review: What’s the longest period that a book has been on your “to read” list before you actually read it? For me, it may be 33 years as I got a copy…
Book Review: Amsterdam : a history of the world’s most liberal city by Russell Shorto
Author: Russell Shorto Title: Amsterdam : a history of the world’s most liberal city Narrator: Russell Shorto Publication Info: Random House Audio, 2013 Summary/Review: Shorto’s history of the Dutch city of Amsterdam is built on a principle that the city defines liberalism in both senses of the word. There’s economic Liberalism – the principle of laissez-faire in free…
Book Review: The Know-It-All by A.J. Jacobs
Author: A.J. Jacobs Title: The Know-It-All: One Man’s Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World Narrator: Geoffrey Cantor Publication Info: Highbridge Audiobooks (2004) Books Read by the Same Author: The Year of Living Biblically Summary/Review: A.J. Jacobs sets out to “become the smartest person in the world” by reading the Encylopedia Britannica in its entirety from…
Book Review: The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
Author: Oscar Wilde Title: The Picture of Dorian Gray Narrator: Paul Lincoln Publication Info: Dreamscape Media, LLC (2016) [Originally published in 1890] Summary/Review: Sometimes you decide that you should make up for having never read any works of Oscar Wilde and learn that this book is far weirder than you ever imagined. The Picture of Dorian…
Book Review: The Fever of 1721 by Stephen Coss
Author: Stephen Coss Title: The Fever of 1721: The Epidemic That Revolutionized Medicine and American Politics Narrator: Bob Souer Publication Info: Simon & Schuster (2016 Summary/Review: I received a free advanced readers copy of this audiobook through the Library Thing Early Reviewers program in exchange for an honest review. 1721 is a pivotal year in Boston history….
Book Review: Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offill
Author: Jenny Offill Title: Dept. of Speculation Narrator: Jenny Offill Publication Info: Holland, OH : Dreamscape Media, LLC, [2014] Summary/Review: This work is an experimental novel about a writer in Brooklyn, her marriage, and parenthood. It’s written in a series of short chapters and vignettes. Sometimes it feels like the narrator is going on about little things,…
Book Review: The Inventor’s Secret by Andrea Cremer
Author: Andrea Cremer Title: The Inventor’s Secret Narrator: Leslie Bellair Publication Info: Listening Library (2014) Summary/Review: This is the first in a series of an alternate universe dystopia in which Great Britain suppressed the revolution in the American colonies and have created a deeply stratified industrial tyranny. I actually thought it was supposed to be set sometime in the…
Book Review: The Secret History of Wonder Woman by Jill Lepore
Author: Jill Lepore Title: The Secret History of Wonder Woman Narrator: Jill Lepore Publication Info: Random House Audio (2014) Previously Read by Same Author: Book of Ages: The Life and Opinions of Jane Franklin Blindspot The Whites of Their Eyes Summary/Review: The story of Wonder Women begins as a creation of William Moulton Marston, a something of a…
Book Review: Moriarty by Anthony Horowitz
Author: Anthony Horowitz Title: Moriarty Narrator: Julian Rhind-Tutt and Derek Jacobi Publication Info: HarperCollins Publishers and Blackstone Audio (2014) Summary/Review: Horowitz follows up on his authorized Sherlock Holmes novel House of Silk with this mystery set in 1891 immediately after Sherlock Holmes and James Moriarity are believed to have fallen from Reichenbach Falls. The narrator is Frederick Chase,…
Book Review: Bottom of the 33rd by Dan Barry
Author: Dan Barry Title: Bottom of the 33rd Narrator: Dan Barry Publication Info: [New York] : Harper Audio, 2011. Summary/Review: I’ve long been aware that Pawtucket’s McCoy Stadium hosted the longest professional baseball game in history, a 33-inning affair between the Pawtucket Red Sox and the Rochester Red Wings in 1981. I knew that the game featured two…
Book Review: A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin
Author: George R.R. Martin Title: A Clash of Kings Narrator: Roy Dotrice Publication Info: Random House Audio (2011) Previously read by the same author: A Game of Thrones Summary/Review: The second installment of A Song of Ice and Fire was gripping to my ears as I plowed through the audiobook. Despite the title, there is not much clashing…
Book Review: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Author: Suzanne Collins Title: The Hunger Games Publication Info: Scholastic Audio Books (2008) ISBN: 0545091020 Summary/Review: I heard a lot of hype about this book and when I saw it available for download as an audiobook from my library, I decided to give it a listen with no knowledge of the plot. The book is…
Book Review: The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen
Author: Jonathan Franzen Title: The Corrections Publication Info: Simon & Schuster Audio (2001) ISBN: 0743510003 Summary/Review: I’ve avoided reading Franzen and if it weren’t for my book club, I wouldn’t have read this book but I was pleasantly surprised. Pleasant may not be the best word for this novel as it is an unpleasant story…
Book Review: Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson
Author: Greg Mortenson Title: Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Journey to Change the World… One Child at a Time Publication Info: Tantor Media (2006), Edition: Unabridged, Audio CD ISBN: 1400102510 Summary/Review: I’m probably the last person in the United States to read this book but here is my review anyway. This memoir/biography tells the…
Book Review: Anne of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery
Author: L.M. Montgomery Title: Anne of Avonlea Publication Info: Books in Motion (1992) ISBN: 1596077328 By Same Author: Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery Summary/Review: I read (listened) to this Anne of Green Gables sequel for the first time. It picks up where the first book left off. Anne is still getting into scrapes…
Book Review: Dancing in the Streets: A History of Collective Joy by Barbara Ehrenreich
Author: Barbara Ehrenreich Title: Dancing in the Streets: A History of Collective Joy Publication Info: [Ashland, Or.] : Blackstone Audio, 2007. ISBN: 9780786157686 Other books I’ve read by the same author: Nickel and Dimed On (Not) Getting By in America and Bait And Switch: The (Futile) Pursuit of the American Dream. Summary/Review: I’ve enjoyed other…
Book Review: The Gathering by Anne Enright
Author: Anne Enright Title: The Gathering Publication Info: RecordedBooks (2007), Audio CD ISBN: 1436102650 Summary/Review: Dreary, overwrought, cliche-ridden, mawkish, pretentious, self-absorbed … these are just a few adjectives to describe this novel selected by my book club. Veronica Hegarty is the first-person narrator of this story who uses the suicide of her brother Liam as…
Book Review: Fallen Founder: The Life of Aaron Burr by Nancy Isenberg
Author: Nancy Isenberg Title: Fallen Founder: The Life of Aaron Burr Publication Info: Penguin Audio (2007), Edition: Unabridged, Audio CD ISBN: 0143142283 Summary/Review: This biography attempts to make up for two-centuries of scholarship on Aaron Burr that’s been informed by myth and fiction. Isenberg makes Burr’s case – while not ignoring his mistakes and flaws…
Book Review: The Ionian Mission by Patrick O’Brian
Author: Patrick O’Brian Title: The Ionian Mission Publication Info: Blackstone Audiobooks (2005) [Originally published, 1981] ISBN: 0786179333 Summary/Review: This book is a bit of a return to form after the domestic and on-shore dramas of the previous two books in the series. Aubrey and Maturin head east to Turkey to fight (or not) the French…
