Into the Uncut Grass by Trevor Noah
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I was not expecting a picture book on audio. I was expecting an autobiography or memoir. But honestly, this was a cute story. Now I wish I had seen the picture book.
Libby had it ready for me in a few weeks. It might be a fun one to read with your children. Trevor Noah did the narration, so it is worth it in every way. Take the adventure.
Battle Bond: An Urban Fantasy Dragon Series: Death Before Dragons, Book 2 by Lindsay Buroker
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Vivienne Leheny narrated this audiobook. I had attempted to read the text-to-speech Kindle version. It was difficult to stay in the story as Kindle’s TTS read a main character named Nine Inch Nails and called fingers finJa. Nin was the person’s name. She didn’t show up often, but that moniker didn’t work.
This series is a great distraction from all the worries of our day. Who doesn’t need a dragon who becomes human. I can’t wait to read the next installment.
Dare I Say It: Everything I Wish I’d Known About Menopause by Naomi Watts
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
If you are a female from young to old, this book will have something for you. Even though I am 75 and a few years beyond menopause, I found things that I might be able to help my physical and mental health even now.
Naomi Watts (Author, Narrator), Mary Claire Haver MD (Author), and Allyson Ryan (Narrator) helped the reader stay involved with the topic that could otherwise get heavy in medical jargon.
Naomi Watts keeps the book personal enough for the average woman to find common ground, even if they don’t follow the same path through the hormonal jungle. Having personal stories with medical backups helps the reader decide about her health.
I was fortunate to listen to the Libby audiobook. I need to get the paper version to research the lists of products or clinics. By the way, this would be a great book for family and friends to have a starting point for discussions. Take notes to share with your medical team.
Clarity 2: Clarity, Book 2 by Loretta Lost
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
Don’t get me wrong. This book was good. But I HATE cliffhangers. I forgave book one. But this one was way worse. The world is a mess right now. I don’t need the angst. I am quitting on this series. If you are rich enough to get all the series, enjoy. Luckily, enough of the answers are given in the blurbs, so you don’t have to continue buying to find out if it works out. But NO book is worth this nervous energy,
Still, I raised the star rating to two stars because the writing was well done. And the narrator, Elise Arsenault, did a marvelous job of acting out the characters.
Trigger warnings are all over, from rape and abuse at the top of the list. But I don’t feel the character who is supposed to help is helpful in the long run. So, read at your own risk.
Clarity by Loretta Lost
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Reaching to the bottom of my currently-reading shelf I found this at 79.
Look straight up, I will warn you. The main character is blind and experiences a rape. So you will have to decide for yourself if this is something you can handle. The author covers the situation with all her senses, as she does with the rest of the book. Though I didn’t like the rape, the next bits of the story are quite interesting.
Elise Arsenault narrated the Audible version I listened to. Her voice is a great addition to the story.
Now I have to say what I didn’t like. Say it with me? Cliffhanger! The worst! Good thing it happened at night with me awake enough to want to read more. I often don’t buy the next if that’s how the authors do it. Somehow, I moved on and am reading book two. But I feel violated when an author does that!
Still, I do like the main character and how she chooses to live her life. And I do want to read more.
Parable of the Talents by Octavia E. Butler
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I love both Earthseed #1 and #2. Octavia E. Butler gives us all something to think about. It doesn’t matter if you believe the Earthseed theories. The story holds its own as people try to survive in a world unlike ours, enough to make it nearly unbelievable. And yet. Take a moment to think, what if? What would you do living from the survivor’s point of view?
I miss the narrators Patricia R. Floyd, Peter Jay Fernandez, and Sisi Aisha Johnson of both this book and the previous one. I highly recommend this Audiobook if you can find it.
What I like about this book and such stories as The Walking Dead (which this is NOTHING like) is the human factor and how people choose their leaders and beliefs and judge others from their own standards.
I may read these books again soon. I miss the story already. Don’t you hate it when a story affects you so deeply that you can’t breathe without it happening in your head?
Sinister Magic by Lindsay Buroker
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Sorry for a repeat. I finished reading/listening to the Kindle Text-to-Speech edition a week ago. And though I liked it overall, the story was lost to me as the person named Nin was referred to as Nine-Inch-Nails, EVERYTIME! It pulled me out of the story, and I felt very distracted while attempting to read.
It is on Audible! I can’t tell you what a marvelous book it is with a narrator! Vivienne Leheny told Lindsay Buroker’s story with enthusiasm. It felt like a totally different story. Ms. Leheny acted out all the characters, making it easy to differentiate who’s who.
I don’t think I discussed location in my last review. I felt right in the story with the places, including Bend, Oregon, Seattle, Washington, and points between. I felt I was right there in the story. I hope everyone gets the chance to read this series.
Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
What an adventure!
This book takes the apocalyptic point of view from the beginning to the end. Our main character is the daughter of a preacher. She is black, but her skin color is not the point. She is a teenager in a protected community that suddenly isn’t. As a teen, she sees things her way, not like her parents or anyone else. So, it is a story of growing up in social, physical, and psychological chaos.
I have to admit to loving the story. I did get tired of the God Seed of her making against the biblical verses of her father. But it was her experience, so I accepted it as the character’s point of view, not preaching to the reader. This blended with her bringing together a group of people wandering up the California highway and byways while protecting each other and defending their rights to live in this new world.
Though the story leaves the reader in a safe place, not a cliffhanger, I feel the need to read the next and see what happens now that they have settled. My e-library had this one but not the next, so I requested that they get it.
It must be nice for black readers to have stories that reflect them. I’m not black, but I would love to see diversity more often. As much as I love seeing female authors writing strong female characters, let’s see more of the female experience in other races and experiences. Maybe our future generations of people will have books written from all points of view, encouraging the reading experience of all society! I’d love to read more about women who are in their sixties and seventies and older! Let’s ensure everyone sees the world from characters like them!
~~~~
The above review was from six years ago. I decided to read it again because a member of our church used a quote from this book for a service theme.
“All that you touch,
You Change.
All that you Change
Changes you.
The only lasting truth
is Change.
God
is Change.”
Take it how you will. I feel this one now more than ever. And maybe, having lived so long, I see how much everything I knew and know changes minute by minute. Maybe change isn’t the thing to be afraid of. Even when it is all so frightening at times, I think this is the faith to hang onto. When my children were young, and they were going through stages, I might have wanted to take credit when, say, they finally hit the toilet. But I accepted that it may have been just the change they needed. The world keeps spinning. Orbits continue. But never exactly the same. Sometimes, the change is huge, sometimes tiny. Sometimes, we influence it, and often, it influences us.
I stick with my review from the past. But I read it through Audible with the narrator Lynne Thigpen this time. She did add to the depth I feel in the book.
I highly recommend anything by Octavia E. Butler but start here. I think you might like it.
Pardonable Lies by Jacqueline Winspear
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is my favorite Maisie Dobbs mystery yet. The addition of Orlaugh Cassidy as narrator brought this story to life. Also, the author brought more depth to Maisie Dobbs. Her past resurfaces, and her life is in constant danger.
Ms. Dobbs travels in this book. That’s where a narrator who can speak dialects and other languages comes in. I can’t imagine reading this with Kindle Text-to-Speech. Or even visually, as Orlaugh Cassidy helps you feel like you are watching the movie. The France trips were a great experience.
All the Maisie Dobbs are fun so far. Jacqueline Winspear puts a lot of research into her books to help readers feel they have fallen into that era and place.
Libby had this audiobook to loan. I am so happy to be able to read these books.
Birds of a Feather by Jacqueline Winspear
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is a fun series so far. Each book is a quick read and not too deep, so great as a bedtime book. Orlagh Cassidy (Narrator) gave a bit of authenticity to the writing that simple text-to-speech could not. The British text-to-speech voice reads these stories well, but a human voice is better when it comes to different dialects. Granted, I don’t know one dialect from another, but Ms. Cassidy’s switching from formal to cockney or other voices helped keep the characters separated.
This mystery had me going. I couldn’t figure out who did it or why. But the author, Jacqueline Winspear, told the tale with intrigue. She builds the world to help readers feel they are in post-war English towns. The feathers were a curious touch. Why? Was it important? Eventually, it will all be solved by our Maisie Dobbs, who is graceful and respectful of her fellow humans and their psychological intricacies.
I was happy to find this audiobook on Libby. I think the series is quite enjoyable. I think you’ll like it, too.
Congrats! You have completed your goal of reading 100 books for the 2013 Reading Challenge! 115 of 100 (115%)
Congrats! You have completed your goal of reading 225 books for the 2012 Reading Challenge! 225 of 225 (100%)
Congrats! You have completed your goal of reading 200 books for the 2011 Reading Challenge! 204 of 200 (102%)
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