Category: audio review

In 1948, in a small town in Virginia, not much happened and the people liked it that way.  Your mail, your routines, were predictable and comforting, and no one….not one person had any inkling as they sipped their coffee and enjoyed their newspaper; that all… was about to change.

Charlie Beale arrived in this very small town, yes, the one I just spoke of above, with two suitcases.  One was filled with his earthly possessions.  The other, with money.  Charlie is self-assured, fairly good-looking, well-mannered and clean.  He has no trouble securing a job at the local butchers with his amazing skills of butchering just right and every cut is mouth-watering tender.  Charlie feels welcomed and soon buys himself a home and spends his free time fishing and playing ball with his bosses son Sam.

Elsewhere in town, Harrison Glass, the richest (and possibly the meanest) man in the area, has “saved” a poor family from loosing their homestead by offering to buy their pretty daughter to become his wife.  Sylvan is only 17 years old, she is a beautiful long-legged creature with little education.  Once married to  he much older Harrison, she takes a liking to picture shows and magazines filled with glamorous dressed women.  Sylvan finds a local woman to sew her the fine garments that she sees in the movies and in the magazines, and while the whole town finds her ridiculous dressed in such finery and going nowhere…. one person, finds her irresistible.  Charlie Beale.

When Charlie first lays eyes on the beautiful Mrs. Glass he can not stop thinking about her.  Soon he is finding excuses to stop by her home, bringing along Sam and his new dog Jackie Robinson to keep the visits looking innocent.  Sylvan has no love lost between herself and her husband.  Harrison merely wanted a trophy wife but she easily annoys him and he is quick with his fists.  In Charlie she finds a much gentler man, one she never knew existed.

Of course, small towns do not miss much and it is only a matter of time until there are whispers of Charlie’s truck parked at the Glass house mid day while Harrison is away.  And a young boy and a dog may make it seem all so innocent… but truth has a way of climbing and crawling to the surface…

Why did I want to read this book?  I had seen the buzz about it on the blogs and thought the story line sounded wonderful.  When I was able to pick it up on audio thanks to Audio Jukebox, I was excited to give it a try.

 

Heading Out To Wonderful was narrated by Norman Dietz.  Norman had a great voice for this novel, soft and crackly at the edges, he tells the story smoothly and gave me visions of an elderly man sitting on a front porch sharing a tale. 

Heading Out To Wonderful was a well written book that moved smoothly through Charlie coming to town to Harrison’s purchase of a wife, back and forth the two story lines swing as though on a pendulum, keeping time and never losing me as each story heard steadily towards the other.  I don’t think author Robert Goolrick missed a beat when he wrote this.  Usually in a book with so many details and happenings a loose end lays to the wayside and as the book closes I think about the loose end… where should it have went?  Why was it not tied up?  That was not the case here.  Even as I think back fondly on this story for this review, I can not think of one thing that did not come into closure. 

And really people, what a story.  If you can imagine, Charlie Beale, the man that everyone in town has come to love (for reasons I can not mention in this review to avoid spoilers) falling for the girl who no one really knows or likes because of her odd sense of dress, her inability to socialize with the other women in town, and of course the man she is married to. 

Never dragging, never dull, there are plenty of small town happenings to keep our readers minds busy throughout and then at the end… at the end… when all comes to a head… I was shocked, and yet it made sense after I let that initial emotion run its course… as the audio came to an end, I breathed in deeply knowing I had indeed just experienced something wonderful. 

I suggest treat your self to the book or the audio, I suspect both are amazing.

Amazon Rating

Goodreads Review

Thank you audible Jukebox for connecting me with this audio book!

Ruth Saunders is 23 and the writer and creator of The Next Best Thing tv show.  When the phone call comes in that the studio is interested in picking up her show (insert SSSQQQUUUEEEEE’s here), she hauls herself and her 70-year-old grandmother cross-country to start production.

Dreams of making it big are not always as they seem as Ruth soon finds the demands of finding actors who fit her vision for the show is not as glamorous as one would think…  the actors are opinionated and hard to keep track of, executives are trying to change what made the show what Ruth envisioned, her Grandma has up and decided she is getting married (MARRIED???) and well… of course there is that one hot and unreachable guy…

Seriously… why didn’t Ruth just take up a safer career path, like ski diving?

 

 

Why did I want to read this book?  I have followed Jennifer Weiner’s books in a sort of offhand way.  It seems that while I do not necessarily seek them out, they do find their way into my hands or into my book club.  She is the author of In Her Shoes (enjoyed that one!) and Good In Bed (have not read it) I also seen Jennifer in New York this year, she was one of the speakers. 

 

The Next Best Thing is an ok read.  It seems I have read several books this year that deal with mid twenties women and their grandmothers.  I think that is interesting… and wonder why that seems to be a theme.  Is writing about a young woman tamed down by pairing her close to her grandmother?  I am not saying the idea is a bad one… just curious that several books like that have found their way to me. 😀

While The Next Best Thing is funny, quirky and enjoyable, that is about where I would leave it.  There was no big “OH!  NO WAY!” moment, just a few… speed bumps along the way.  I enjoyed the narration  and the storyline to the end, there are some great laughs and as I can imagine, a little insight as what it must really be like to work with actors on a set… things I did not think about like how they need to maintain a certain weight, stay sober, not make drastic changes to their bodies…   The grandma of course is funny and wise and Ruth’s rock.

A good easy summer read. 

 

From grade school on, Colin Singleton has had a thing for girl’s names Katherine.  And it would seem that Katherine’s have a thing for Colin as well – except…

he always winds up getting dumped. 

After the 19th Katherine (henceforth known as “K19”) drops Colin, he and his best friend Hassan (picture a quite overweight high school graduate who LOVES Judge Judy) decide to take a little road trip to anywhere, just a chance to get away one summer.  They find themselves in Tennessee in a town called Gunshot where they meet a girl names Lindsey and wind up getting jobs from her mother. 

While Colin works on a mathematical theory on who will be the dumpy in any relationship, he encounters another Colin (henceforth known as the “other Colin”), a wild boar, and many interesting characters that keep this book moving forward to a place where Colin finally finds his way through the enigma that is a Katherine.

 

Why did I read this book?  I listened to this on audio as I have been doing all summer with John Green’s books.  I have found him to be such a an interesting author and I am loving his stories…. An Abundance Of Katherine’s was next on my list :D.

 

An Abundance Of Katherine’s was a typical smartly worded read by John Green.  I find that this characters are usually a smarter than the average bear breed, and usually borderline geeky as well.  (These are the characters I love).  Colin in this book is a child prodigy, he is word smart and makes anagrams constantly out of names and places.   Author John Green I have notices has a way of taking his characters and giving them brains and fun facts that are sprinkled casually throughout the books he writes so by the last page you actually come out having learned something.  I also love that his characters are usually bookish and book references really… make my day.  😛

I have to say – I thought the idea of this book was a bit silly…. a boy who has dated only girls named Katherine?  BUT – at the same time John Greens typical witty humor made me overlook the improbability of this book and just read it and enjoy.  (Don’t judge me… you know you have overlooked realism a book or two just for the sheer fun of reading!)

In the end – while not a favorite John Green book, a worthy one that I did enjoy.  John Green has a way of taking several characters and making them all 3D, so much you feel that you could pick them out of a line up and chat with them on the street. 

My recommendation – if you have not read John Green, you are missing out.  I would recommend, Will Grayson, Will Grayson (do this one on audio!) and The Fault In Our Stars ( a definite favorite read of this year!)

 

Purchased off audible.com

Maureen McCormick was the eldest daughter on the hit TV show, the Brady Bunch (aired 1969 – 1974).  Most of us know her as Marcia Brady, or as the famous line goes, “Marcia! Marcia! Marcia!”  Maureen, a pretty blond, comes from the generation of “teen idols” and all the girls her age wanted to be her and the boys wanted to be her boyfriend. 

But all was not as it would seem on the hit show.  Maureen’s home life was hard, at best.  Her mother hid many insecurities that later would transfer to Maureen, her father once the man who took classes on how to be a better father to Maureen’s mentally handicapped brother, later puts him in a home.  Her brother Kevin, is a mess of emotional highs and lows, involved in drugs and alcohol abuse….

Maureen McCormick reveals in this tell all that was also not the sweet girl she portrayed on TV, all innocent and naive, instead Maureen dabbled with cocaine addiction, troubled relationships, depression and more.

Here is the story.

Why did I want to read this book?  While Maureen McCormick’s role as Marcia Brady was a little before my time, (I was more the Little House On The Prairie tv era) I knew enough about her through Brady Bunch reruns and later movies to know who she was.  I had watched the Celebrity Fit Club that aired a while back where she admitted battling with depression and subsequently weight gain and was interested in her story then.  And really… who wouldn’t want the inside scoop on the Brady who had a little fling with her on tv brother, Greg?  😛

Here’s The Story was a memoir I wanted to read, but in reality I was not prepared for.  I had no idea the level of pain and issues that Maureen faced at a young age.  I think often we watch people on TV and we forget that they are real people outside of their performance and they have real lives and real battles just like the rest of us.  While many people envied the on tv persona of Marcia Brady, no one would have envied the child hood of Maureen McCormick.

I have to admit, at times, this audiobook made me angry.  Maureen’s decisions at time are so bad that I wanted to shake her.  I also took a little issue with her referring to her handicapped brother as ‘retarded’ which seems like such a cruel word.  I know that is not a fair assessment, and I apologize for that.  I have not walked in her shoes and on the flip of that, kudos, really, for her willingness to share such personal truths. 

Overall, I did enjoy learning about Maureen’s life behind the mask of Marcia.  She admits it took a long time to shake off Marcia, she was like the alter ego, always mocking Maureen into believing she was not good enough.  I thought that she would talk more about her time on Celebrity Fit Club, which if you seen that season, Maureen was on with Dustin Diamond (the guy who played Screech in Saved By The Bell) and he was a real jerk.  For me, it was a show I loved to hate because of his awfulness.  Maureen however touches on this period of her life only briefly towards the end of her book. 

The heart of this book is really the time Maureen spent on TV as a Brady, the years afterwards trying to find work as she met up with poor relationship after poor relationship, her battle with drugs, eventually becoming a Christian, and finding her way to happy and healthy. 

An interesting listen, narrated by the author.

In 1998 a young cheerleader is presumably murdered after she disappears one night never to be seen again.  Donte’ Drumm, a college football star is jailed and then after much prodding by the police, confesses that he indeed killed the pretty cheerleader, Nicole.

Flash forward to 2007, mere days before Donte’ Drumm’s execution.  Kansas Minister Keith Schroeder is working in his office when a man by the name of Travis Bronte enters with a story that is shocking and frightening.  Bovette, is a multi sex offender who has been in and out of jail his entire life.  Now dieing from a brain tumor, he shares that he is Nicole’s true killer and can prove it as he knows exactly where her body is.  Boyette wants to end his life by doing something right for a chance.

Keith suddenly finds himself on a mission he never intended to be on.  With his wife telling him he was crazy to get involved, Keith drives Boyette to the scene of the crime, far away from where they are now.  With the clock ticking on Drumm’s execution, and Boyette refusing to confess tot he public until he sees Nicole’s remains one more time so he can say he is sorry… it really is a race against time and the truth.

Why did I want to listen to this book?  I have enjoyed Grisham for many years.  He was probably one of my very first go to authors (along with Dean Koontz, and Harlan Coben).  Going into this one, for some reason I was thinking this was more of a YA read… yeah, that is not true….

The Confession is a book that surprised me time and again.  This fictional book reads like non-fiction.  Several times throughout listening to this book I went on-line to check to make sure I was not reading a true story.  As far as I am aware, John Grisham’s only non fiction book is Innocent Man which was pretty amazing.  The details of police action (or lack there of) in this one felt so real, the layout of the crime, and the trek cross-country to find the body and see if Boyette was telling the truth or just messing with people’s lives felt genuine. After checking and rechecking, The Confession is just a very well written fiction read.

The book had just the right level of creep factor for me.  Never gory, but as I mentioned above, shockingly real.  All throughout this read I was wondering if they really would find Nicole’s body.  Boyette’s back and forth wanting to confess and then backtracking and wondering why should he after all this time was mind boggling.  I wanted to read through the speakers and choke him.  Meanwhile, Donte Drumm sits in jail as the clock ticks down, wondering if a miracle will come in time….  it has been 9 years of jail for Drumm…. what do you think 9 years of jail can do to a person’s state of mind?

In the end, I enjoyed The Confession much like I would if I had read a true crime book. I wanted to know the truth, I wanted justice to be served…  I questioned who was telling the truth… and when all was done… while it was not everything I had hoped for, it was most likely the way it should have been

Fans of true crime and Grisham’s knack for detail when it comes to crimes and the law will enjoy this one.  This would make a fantastic movie.

Amazon Rating

Goodreads Review

Audible.com (listen in to a sample here)

Quentin, “Q”, has quite literally spent his life coveting the girls next door.  Literally, because Margo Roth Spiegelman is his next door neighbor and has been since they were both in grade school.  Once close, Q and Margo now in their senior year of High School have been separated by social status, Margo having taken on the role of popular girl and living life on the edge, and Q is a brainiac, playing by the rules and spending most of his evenings studying.

Imagine Q’s surprise when Margo climbs into his bedroom window one evening dressed as a ninja and asking Q to join her on an all night revenge adventure that comes complete with a list of where they are going, and what they need to shop for to prepare for their night.  At first Q balks at the idea but spending time with Margo is too appealing to pass up.  What follows in a night of adventure and risk taking that becomes the best night of Q’s year and maybe his lifetime…

And then, Margo disappears.  The next day she is gone, missing from her home and from Q’s life…. once again.  Her parents seem to be fed up with her actions and feel she is close enough to graduation that she can just be on her own if that is what she wants so badly.  Q however feels differently.  Through a favorite book of Margo’s, that seems to hold clues to her whereabouts, Q and his close friends Ben, Radar, and Lacy, embark on an adventure of finding Margo…

but what will these clues lead them to… and is Margo even still alive? 

Why did I read/listen to this book?  Hello!  It’s John Green and I have enjoyed him so much this summer, why stop now?

John Green has a talent for breathing life into characters that I want to hang out with.  Paper Towns is no exception… Q is a wonderful Protagonist and I have to say, Ben became a fast favorite in this audio (and if you do listen to the audio you will get what I mean.. Ben is HILARIOUS!).  I also once again love the language of the books that John Green Writes… I could write a book of John Green quotes because seriously the man has a gift of words.

While I enjoyed Paper Towns I am glad this was not my first John Green read.  For the most part I thoroughly enjoyed the book, it was Margo who I struggled with.  Paper Towns has elements of Looking For Alaska sprinkled within the character of Margo – a strong Independence woman, but where Alaska was strong and driven with a cause… I never felt I knew the cause of Margo’s angst.  And you know, maybe it wasn’t even teenage angst… but a need to escape to the escape of causing pain to others and not really seeming to care. 

Really though – that is my only peeve.  Paper Towns is interesting and the title itself as the book explains it was also quite interesting.While Margo annoyed me, Q and Ben and Radar made up for her… these three were buddies through and through and I really enjoyed the memory og high school friends who would go out and do anything for you, and as you discover in this book.. they all sacrifice greatly for the sake of friendship.

I do recommend Paper Towns, I am glad I read it and I hope you give it a chance as well.

 

Imagine you are a little girl and you are out walking with your family along a country road on a summer day.  Now imagine that a strange man comes out of nowhere, and wielding a knife he kills your mom, and siblings.  You, Joanna are the only survivor of that tragic day.

Flash forward thirty years.  Joanna is now a doctor and married with her own baby.  Reggie is Joanna’s nanny and loves her job.  She loves that Joanna calls home every day to talk to the baby and to the dog, she loves how attentive Joanna is to the baby when she comes home and how carefully she plans out what the baby will eat. 

Things appear to be going as planned and leading to a wonderful rest of their lives…

But…

The man put away for the killing of Joanna’s family is up for parole.

 

 

 

Why did I want to read this book?  I won this audio quite a while ago and finally decided it was time to listen to it.

 

*sigh*.  I think I am going to be in the minority on this one.  I did not know going into this audio that the detective and other characters were from other Kate Atkinson books.  And maybe, that doesn’t even matter… but later on when I talked to people about the book and they discussed the reappearing characters I wondered if that is where my disconnect started….

Yes, disconnect.

This is one of those books that I am wondering if it would have been better for me to have read as opposed to listen to on audio.  I never felt connected to the story line… in the audio it felt “piecey” to me and I spent way too much effort trying to figure our Joanna’s story and then Reggie’s and then a detective Brody as well as a boatload of others.  Never a big fan of bunches of characters as I find them too hard to keep track of.

Throughout this audio I never felt connected to anyone… and honestly, this may have been more me than the audio/book.  It is not always easy to pick up all the details in audio – especially when I listen to the audio in my kitchen player which is by far where I am the most active while listening (cooking, cleaning…). 

In the end, I was not a fan of the audio.  I felt lost most of the way through.  Plot wise it was too overloaded, too over detailed… and for me just too much.

 

Other reviews from trusted book lovers:

Rhapsody In Books Weblog

Farm Lane Books Blog

Reviews By Lola

A Bookworm’s World

 

 

When sixteen year old Miles Halter leaves his home to go to a boarding school in Birmingham, Alabama he had no idea how his life would change.  He left a minor life in Florida, one that had little friends and little significance…. Miles own words.  He first meets his roommate Chip who what he lacks in statute he makes up for in attitude.  Instantly Miles is dubbed the nickname “Pudge” even though he is quite the opposite and Chip asks to be called The Colonel,  .  While things seem to be off to a good start in Miles, errr… Pudge’s new adventure, he was unprepared to meet Chips, best friend Alaska Young. 

Alaska is a free spirit, she is smart, beautiful, witty and reckless.  She has books everywhere called her life books, the books she hopes to read in her life time.  She smokes on campus which is strictly taboo, and drinks in her room long after lights out.  Miles is instantly infatuated with all that she is. 

That was 136 days before….

 

 

Why I wanted to read/listen to this book:  If you read me, you know I am on a John Green binge.  After my heart exploded listening to The Fault In Our Stars, I joined a John Green “in my mind” fan club.  I am so enjoying his writing and honestly, I am devouring his writing through audio because oh my gosh…. they are good.  REALLY GOOD.

 

In Looking For Alaska, Miles is looking for something more.  He is a huge fan of “famous last words” and wants to make sure his own life has some sort of significance worthy of his own last words. 

I am stopping here to say, I really like Miles.  He is just the level of geek that I can appreciate because I am one too.  He is looking for the meaning of his life, in fact, due to an assignment he is given by a teacher regarding the after life, this is a small background theme in the book, so small and smoke screen like, you can easily miss that it is there at all.

Anyhoo…. as much as I enjoyed Miles/Pudge’s straight-laced life…. I just as much enjoyed Alaska’s free will “lets try anything” attitude.  I think… some of both live in me. 

As you may have picked up, our story starts out 136 days before.  You may be wondering “before what?” and that… I can not share as that is really a huge part of the story… as the book counts down, you can have a sense of the foreboding… what are we counting down to.  Is it good?  Is it bad?  What happens at day 0?  Is there an after?  That is the beauty of John Green.

I loved this book on audio.  The narration by Jeff Woodman was good…. really good and captures the teen voices well. 

I really enjoyed this book and had a hard time shutting it off as I wondered what would happen and where do they go from there?  I highly count this read/audio as gush worthy and recommend if you have not yet experienced the greatness of John Green please do so soon so you can gush with me…. we will chat on-line, drink coffee or iced tea and gush Green!  😀

Amazon Rating

Goodreads review

Audible.com (listen to a sample here)

Will Grayson has been best friends with “Tiny” Cooper since 5th grade.  They make for an odd friendship. For one thing, Tiny is anything but Tiny.  Tipping close to 300 pounds, he is quite the opposite of his thin friend, Will.   Also, Tiny is gay.  Scratch that, Tiny describes himself as really, really gay.  And sings it out loud.  Really, he does.  Will, is not gay.   Now in high school, Will enjoys life as it comes to him, not really pursuing a girlfriend, life, can be complicated enough at this point without adding relationships to the mix.  That is… until recently… because now there is this girl, who he doesn’t want to like… doesn’t want to be in a relationship…but cant stop thinking about her.

Then, there is Will Grayson.  Not the Will Grayson, mentioned above.  This Will is also in high school.  He has a harder personality and not a lot of close friends.  He has a secret from everyone.  He likes a guy he met on line, Isaac. 

ISAAC  ISAAC ISAAC ISAAC ISAAC ISAAC ISAAC ISAAC ISAAC ISAAC ISAAC ISAAC ISAAC ISAAC…

It really is all Will (hence forth known as the “OWG” , other Will Grayson, thinks about, waiting for him to be on line, waiting to read what he will say… and one day he says the magic words…  “Let’s meet.”

A random change encounter puts both Will Grayson’s in the same place at the same time, and this encounter changes both of their lives forever.

 

Why did I want to read/listen to this book?  I am having an author crush on John Green.  After listening to The Fault In Our Stars ( SUPERB narration – highly recommended!)  I had to listen to another audio by him, and this one sounded like a really interesting one.

 

Will Grayson, Will Grayson is told in alternating chapters by the two Will Grayson’s.  At first, this confused me on the audio as chapter two opened it took me a minute or two to realize that this rougher, angrier Will Grayson was not the gentle fun Will I had just met in the previous chapter.   After that, the book just flowed.

While I enjoyed the original Will, I think it is safe to say that Tiny is the adored character.  Obviously he is a really big guy.  And he is gay, so he is used to a little harder lifestyle, a little more jokes and cruelty than most.  But Tiny …. shines.  He doesn’t care what you think of him.  He knows he is BIG.  He knows he is gay.  And… he is about to write a musical about his life.

Yup.

Another beauty of listening to this in audio is yes, it does involve a musical and I am not sure how that translates on paper, but on audio…. it is not only all sorts of awesome, it is hilarious.   Narrated by Nick Podehl is a real treat to the ears.  (Nick also narrates The Knife Of Never Letting Go series, Wonder, and several Harlan Coben books).  I seriously not only fell in love with a sweet story, I laughed a lot, and received strange looks form my husband if he entered a room where my audio was cranking out a song about Tiny. 

Note that if the sound of a musical makes you scrunch up your nose like you smelled something bad, don’t worry – the musical is not all through the story.  It shows up towards the end and by that time you love these characters so much you want to see how they are going to pull this off.

I recommend Will Grayson, Will Grayson.  It is a 9th grade and up read and I think that is appropriate.  There is nothing in this book to cause a young reader alarm.  If anything, it may help them understand others better, and perhaps… even themselves. 

Purchased from audible.com