Tag: Audio

Ok ok…. if you recently read my review of Suddenly One Summer and I said it was a bit racy for my taste this audio choice may surprise you – but let me say… this audio surprised me in a good way.  Narrated by Holly Madison herself about her time in the Playboy Mansion and beyond, this is actually way less graphic (in fact pretty much graphic free!) . Recommended – Interesting!  ~Sheila

Holly Madison was eventually known as the “#1 girlfriend” of Hugh Hefner after trying hard for quite a while to be asked to live at the Playboy Mansion.  This book is Holly’s story as told by herself, on working her way into the Playboy Mansion, the years of living with many other girls all hoping for their shot in the magazine or on TV,  and her career after.  Holly shares what living in the Playboy Mansion is really like, Hef’s very strict rules for the Bunny’s (like only two nights out a week and they had to be back by 9 pm and no boyfriends other than him- either of these two indiscretions would get you kicked out of the mansion.  Let’s just say – all is not as it seems.  Each girl had an allowance and a leased car that they paid for our of their allowance and was revoked if they decided to leave the mansion.  Plastic surgery and salon needs were unlimited.  The girls were never allowed to go out on their own or stay anywhere else but the mansion.

Holly shares what is was like living at the mansion for ten years, the girls that came and went, and the remaining three (including herself) that were the stars of the TV show, The Girls Next Door.  Down The Rabbit Hole, with fun references to Alice In Wonderland between chapters, is a tell all of one girls dreams to hit it big, what it cost her, and what she learned about herself along the way.

This choice of a read may shock you but I hope it doesn’t.  I chose to listen to this one from Audible.com and Audible has a policy that is you don’t like it, you can return it and get your credit back.

What drew me to this audio?  1.  Cover.  I have to admit I like the cover.  2.  I like true stories and I especially like them when they are narrated by the author.  3.  As long as it wasn’t crude and rude, I was curious about Hef’s amazing way to lure in these poor young girls… was it money he offered?  Was it just the prestige of being a Bunny that was the draw?  What did they all do day to day?  4. I listened to a sample of the audio and was sold.  The few reviews that were up on the audio all raved about Holly’s tell all and I thought why not?

Honestly, I really enjoyed this audio book.  I knew next to nothing about the Playboy mansion other than what it was and of course the magazine.  I didn’t know that Hugh paid rent on each of the rooms he used for himself and each of the girls bedrooms as well as the Magazine owns the mansion, not Hef.  It was also really interesting to hear about all of Hef’s odd rules and angry blow ups including stomping is feet, screaming, and faking tears when he didn’t get his way.

When you hear all of this (including how old the items in the mansion were, that money was not invested in upgrades or new carpet which was stained with dog well you know… ), and a crotchety old man who is truly full of himself, you (I) have to wonder why Holly stayed as long as she did.  Holly covers that topic well and you start to get a real picture of these young girls wanting nothing more than attention and affection and living to be a Playboy Bunny.

The audio goes on to what Holly did after she left the mansion as well including her time with The Girls Next Door (and awkward scenes after she had left Hef), and Dancing With The Stars.

I realize that this is one person’s story – but if even half of what she says is accurate… wow. Very good listen and thankfully, a clean listen.  There is only one mention of what Hef expected from the girls (not as mush as one would think or probably have heard) and it is brief and thankfully not graphic.

Memoir lovers? Like to learn new things?  Add this one to your To Be Read (listened to) list.

• Audible Audio Edition
• Listening Length: 10 hours and 51 minutes
• Program Type: Audiobook
• Version: Unabridged
• Publisher: Harper Audio
• Audible.com Release Date: June 23, 2015

Growing up, Eden was used to her father, David’s, whimsical ways.  He was always letting her stay home from school to go on adventures with him.  Eden’s mother constantly was at odds with David and his inability to hold down a job just added to the household tensions.  When Eden’s father returns home after a short stay in a mental hospital, 10-year-old Eden finds him on the floor of their bathroom having slit his wrists.  This attempt on taking his life leads to Eden’s parents divorce.

Twenty years later Eden has a successful catering business.  Since that fateful day all those years ago Eden has seen her father only on rare occasions.  She occasionally hears that he is living on the streets or staying in a shelter.  Eden, who has poor attempts at relationships with men, wonders if perhaps if she could try to repair her relationship with her father would help her be a better person for someone else.  While searching for her father, Eden meets Jack.

Jack is everything Eden would want in a man.  He is kind and thoughtful.  Jack also decides to help Eden find her father.  Yet as the two get closer to what Eden is looking for, more comes to surface than she had planned.  Secrets her mother had kept, and the question of if her father even wants to be found.

I thought the synopsis of this book was engaging.  A story centered around mental illness and what it does to the family living with it.  While the story unfolds through Eden’s eyes, you also slowly learn of what it was like for her mother to be in love with a man that just could not keep it together.

Narrators Candace Thaxton, and Corey Brill create a flawless flow throughout this read.  A book that would work well for a summer read, Outside The Lines is an interesting look into a family trying to move on.  The end comes together a little too neatly, but still worth a read or listen.

• Audible Audio Edition
• Listening Length: 10 hours and 29 minutes
• Program Type: Audiobook
• Version: Unabridged
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
• Audible.com Release Date: December 10, 2013

Steven Johnson explores six innovations over the centuries that made the world what it is today.  Interesting exploration from our fascination with selfies, how we created time, from genius, to mistakes.  The six big topics are:

1. Glass

2. Cold

3. Sound

4. Clean

5. Time

6. Light

Although I admittedly do not have scientific mind and by no means could be considered “techy”, I am still fascinated by the creative minds that brought us to today.  It is no secret that I am fully engaged with the start up of Facebook and have watched the movie an embarrassingly amount of times.  I have not only read about, listened to books on Steve Jobs, I have watched his movie as well… again fascinated how these great minds see something bigger in what we are doing and change the world forever with their nudges in the right direction.  Truly, they could not have had any idea how far their ideas would go.

How We Got To Now is another of those fascinating books that show how what happened then ties to now in ways that we could not even imagine.  The first making of glass which led to mirrors which led to seeing ourselves for the first time to the first artists that became fascinated with self portraits.  Another chapter that really blew me away was the one on time.  It is hard to think about a world without time as we are all about time and where we need to be and when.  I tried to imagine a time, without time…

Christopher Columbus:  Okay men, we are now ready that we shall sail to the new world world!

Men:  And how shall we know when to go of wise one?

Christopher Columbus:  Uhhh….. we shall know… when we know.  Be off with you until then!

Ok that was all me, I can not quote Christopher, it was just the image that came to mind.

This book is one I listened to on audio and it is a short listen at 6 hours and 11 minutes but a fascinating one for those of us who enjoy knowing where things came from and how they affect us today.

• Listening Length: 6 hours and 11 minutes
• Program Type: Audiobook
• Version: Unabridged
• Publisher: Penguin Audio
• Audible.com Release Date: September 30, 2014