I’m on my second reading of this book. I read the actual hardback the first time. Now the eyes wouldn’t be able to. So I chose to listen to Jim Dale read the book to me. For the most part, he is a good narrator, but ugh, for the females. He makes them sound like he’s making fun of them. And he seems to use the voice of Hagrid for another character making it a bit confusing.
Still, I am raising my rating from three stars to four as I found this more pleasant this time. I don’t know if it is my interpretation of the book versus how Jim Dale portrayed it. I just remembered this book as scary and dark. Yet this time, I found it lighter and happier. Maybe I knew where it was going, so I didn’t shake in fear?
As with the first two books, I find them male-heavy, which is disappointing because it is a female author. Seeing that she chose to be more acceptable to males by having a male pseudonym makes me admire her less. But maybe now, she might not choose that path.
Since I have the collection on Audible, I plan to continue listening. I do wish there was another actor to play the females. Still, how many can say, “Buckbeak’s back” multiple times without tripping over their tongues? Jim Dale got points for that!
Well, there are a couple of weeks I won’t get back.
Okay. Some people will love this and climb down my throat about this epic adventure. These may be the same ones who hate my opinion of the Lord of the Rings series and the Star Wars series. Those people are more likely males or still haven’t shaken free of forgiving male-heavy reads or shows. Look. I get it. We had no choice of what to reading when I was a kid. All the adventures were about guys. But for the adventure, I’d read.
‘Oh, but you had Nancy Drew!’ I hear them say. Yes, a girlie girl who took time to straighten her nylon seams, donned lipstick and could run like the wind in heels. No, thank you! Sure I enjoyed looking like a girl, but the reality is, let’s have the adventure without vanity like most of the guys could.
Ahem. Sorry, here’s me stepping off the soapbox.
This read was the Libby audio version. The narrator, Michael Kramer, was hard to take. His female voices were demeaning. And though it says there was a female narrator, Kate Reading, I don’t remember hearing her voice until the end of the book.
I remember when they were giving this first book away to entice folks into reading the series. It was EVERYWHERE. I refused. I hate coercion like that. The only reason I gave in now was that the television show is coming up, and I wanted to compare. My husband has watched a bit of the series, and he loves it. I hope they have learned since the writing and the show will be equal in adventure.
This is my second reading of the series. I noticed I haven’t changed my star rating. I’m still only giving it three stars. Jim Dale is part of the reason for this rating. His voice is suitable for all the males in the book but is horrid with the females. I do feel the grumpiness of Professor Minerva McGonagall and the hyper-energy of Hermoine. But for the most part, Mister Dale’s females sound demeaning and whiny.
But things I love about the book are the basilisk and the phoenix. These are two very fantastic beasts. Oh, and I love the idea of a diary that talks to you from someone else. I don’t like the Tom Riddle part or Voldemort parts, but I suppose we need the bad guy. I did like getting to know Tom’s back story.
When I read the tome about a decade ago, I thought it was a slower slog. This book was over quickly. And for these stressful days having something I know and enjoy, helps the sleep come faster at night.
I’ve already started book three. And I remember how each book gets darker. Maybe by the end, I won’t use these as bedtime books.
I can’t remember who recommended this book to me first. It might have been my church. Or one of my best friends. In either case, thank you! You see, I have always hated history classes. You had to remember men’s names dates and the wars they started or ended with men’s bigger guns. I did have a fantastic History teacher in college. He included music and arts in his lectures. Even still the history was just that HIStory. And only with this book did I see that it was white men’s HIStory.
This audiobook from Libby was all-inclusive. I think I need to add the book blurb.
Duration: 18 hours and 57 minutes <– Just in case you have limited time.
“A dramatic expansion of a groundbreaking work of journalism, ‘The 1619 PROJECT: A NEW ORIGIN STORY’ offers a profoundly revealing vision of the American past and present.
In late August 1619, a ship arrived in the British colony of Virginia bearing a cargo of 20 to 30 enslaved people from Africa. Their arrival led to the barbaric and unprecedented system of American chattel slavery that would last for the next 250 years. This is sometimes referred to as the country’s original sin, but it is more than that: It is the source of so much that still defines the United States.
‘THE 1619 PROJECT: A NEW ORIGIN STORY’ builds on one of the most consequential journalistic events of recent years: The New York Times Magazine’s award-winning “1619 Project,” which reframed our understanding of American history by placing slavery and its continuing legacy at the center of our national narrative. This new book substantially expands on the original 1619 Project, weaving together eighteen essays that explore the legacy of slavery in present-day America with 36 poems and works of fiction that illuminate key moments of oppression, struggle, and resistance. The essays show how the inheritance of 1619 reaches into every part of contemporary American society, from politics, music, diet, traffic, and citizenship to capitalism, religion, and our democracy itself. This legacy can be seen in the way we tell stories, the way we teach our children, and the way we remember. Together, the elements of the book reveal a new origin story for the United States, one that helps explain not only the persistence of anti-Black racism and inequality in American life today but also the roots of what makes the country unique.
The book also features a significant elaboration of the original project’s Pulitzer Prize-winning lead essay, by Nikole Hannah-Jones, on how the struggles of Black Americans have expanded democracy for all Americans, as well as two original pieces from Hannah-Jones, one of which makes a profound case for reparative solutions to this legacy of injustice.
This is a book that speaks directly to our current moment, contextualizing the systems of race and caste within which we operate today. It reveals long-glossed-over truths around our nation’s founding and construction – and the way that the legacy of slavery did not end with emancipation, but continues to shape contemporary American life.”
There are so many contributors and voices throughout. It is poetry and prose of beauty included in the ugliest of actions against people.
I found I couldn’t read it as a bedtime book. I would either aim to keep reading or have nightmares/ So I used this as the background as I worked on my Diamond Painting. My hands were busy so my mind could engage.
I highly recommend this book. I would love it to be used in schools as inclusive his/herstory.
I bought and read the hardback over ten years ago. Somehow my collection went away. Did I sell it before moving? I can’t remember. But I remember enjoying the story and the movies. But one thing I hated about the whole enterprise was how male-heavy it was. With it written by a woman, you would think that she could have brought it around to a female point of view instead of making fun of the most brilliant girl in the room and making McGonagle mean.
I listened to this Audible version because I needed a light read for bedtime. I’ve been reading some pretty heavy non-fiction during the day that I knew I couldn’t read before bed.
The narrator, Jim Dale, did a reasonably decent job of most of the voices. But he was not good at the female voices. As seems to be the case, males doing female voices always sound like they are making fun of the females.
All in all, though, it did make going to sleep easier. I knew where the story was going, so it soothed me to sleep.
This book will stay with me for a while. Erin Spencer (Narrator) made me feel like I was right there, on the trail, soaking wet or extremely tired. Sometimes a narrator is so good that you think it has to be the author as they seem to maintain the cadence of the written speech as if it were their own. It was fantastically done.
That means the writing was natural and felt genuine. This was a journal of sort of the hiker, Carrot Quinn. She was honest and told the good and the bad of her travels. There were times that I laughed out loud at what happened. And there were tears of seeing the incredible scenery and tears of hurt along the way.
I have to admit I want to do this. But it seems so far away from possible when just getting the dog and I out for our mile walk is tough. A windy day will keep us in. Rain is my dog’s least favorite. She won’t go out, yet I have the raincoat and boots and plenty of umbrellas. Snow is my favorite, but my dog can’t handle it very long, even with coat and pad coverings, so we walk around the yard. So much for my trek.
So it is fun to live vicariously through those who do the long hikes or marathons. Inspiration helps with daily life and gives hope for more.
This book gives the phrase “looking at the world through rose-colored glasses” a whole new meaning.
I picked up this book for free on Kindle Unlimited because of the blurb. Okay. I’ll share it.
“When Mariia storms out of her boyfriend’s Kyiv apartment forever, she has no idea what is awaiting her. She is handed a pair of ‘magic’ sunglasses by a mysterious cabdriver on her way to Berlin, and what begins as a journey to get over her breakup turns out to be the adventure of her life. The sunglasses become her secret helper, always showing her an escape route as Mariia is chased by a trio of rich, vindictive women who want a compromising flash drive back from her, going from Berlin to Düsseldorf to Paris and then on to Abu Dhabi and Ras Al Khaimah.
Combining urban fiction and self-help with a dashing tale of adventure, Mariia Manko’s Through the Magic Sunglasses is an enchanting story about independence, strength, and believing in yourself.”
And yes, it was an adventure. But the most challenging part for me was how the main character couldn’t stop thinking about her ex and get on with the magic she had been given. I think that was the part that ruined it for me. The rest of the book was fun. And it was upbeat and a bit of a self-help book.
I don’t often share the blurb, but since it isn’t on GoodReads, this is the one I found on Amazon:
“Apsara is the story of a young girl in a remote village in 12th century Cambodia who loves to dance. She is chosen to train as an Apsara for King Jayavarman VII. Apsaras dance to bring heaven to earth, blessing the land with prosperity. Bopha walks from her home to Angkor Wat, and begins a life she could never have imagined.”
I was so happy to pick this book up on Kindle Unlimited. That way, I could listen to the story in text-to-speech. As the author was writing it, I heard parts of the story. I often missed the chance to listen to more. That broke my heart. Still, I could hear the author’s voice in my head as I listened to the British representative of TTS. I would love to have this story on Audible so that the pronunciations of non-English words and names would be proper.
The story itself is so riveting. I had a hard time putting it down when it was time to sleep. Ms. Whitfield managed to keep the story interesting while throwing in the history, culture, language, religion, and dance of the people of 12th century Cambodia. I loved the main character, Bopha, and wish there was more. I’d love to know more about the teen twins and the daughter.
How do you prove that your time machine works? Prove something exists, then vanish it by changing events. Then hand over proof. It’s more complicated than it sounds. In this case, no Disneyland is proof the time machine is working.
I love time travel books. They always make you think. Could this work, and what if it could? What would happen if…? This book fulfilled and kept my curiosity going. Because of the Disney monopoly, I had mixed feelings about reading a book about Walt and the beginnings. At the same time, though broke most of my life, our family did have some fun times at Disneyland. I would cry at the end of every Mickey Mouse Club and Wonderful World of Disney as a girl. So Disney impacted my life. Without those memories, how would I know if I didn’t have them? Maybe other memories would be as sweet?
And this book continues the adventures set up in previous A Thief In Time books. So you get to see how old friends are doing.
I highly recommend this and all Cidney Swanson series.
Though gruesome in content, this was a beautiful book. I love how the author portrayed the main characters and historical content. I must admit to not knowing this part of history at all. This story gave me a better understanding of what happened.
Emily Klein narrated the story flawlessly. She varied the voices enough I knew who was who.
This story is a movie. I plan to watch it soon. Meanwhile, I won’t soon forget this family’s struggle, and no doubt thousands of others went through it. And the messages of what could happen to people when life gets to the point where neighbors are not trusting neighbors. When bigotry gets power, it isn’t good for anyone. And when love is involved, you see that life can be a bit better even in the worst situations.
Working on my series: Haven.
Doodler (zendoodle.com)
Music major: voice and piano
Mom of four great adults
Reiki II practitioner
I have been on disability/retired for 10 years now from depression, anxiety and fibromyalgia.
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