The Way Home by Amanda Prowse
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
What a beautiful story! It isn’t often that stories are about elderly females. This character is so well developed. We see Lily-Bob’s past warts and all.
Amanda Prowse writes and narrates this charmer. Both excellently.
I don’t remember who recommended this. Thank you, whoever you are.
This was the Audible version. I hope you all get to give this a listen.
Any Day Now by Robyn Carr
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
As I mentioned in the review for the first book, if you like the streaming series of Sullivan’s Crossing (Netflix, I think), you’ll like these books. The same love and concern for each other, living in a tranquil place of camping and hiking, and sweet characters combine to make a heartwarming story.
Roby Carr writes a beautiful story. This second book seemed to have a bit more repetition than may be needed, but it is easy to forgive. Terese Plummer narrates the tale well. I wish she could vary the character voices better. All the men sound the same; all the women sound the same. It is hard, sometimes, to know the person who is speaking. But Ms. Plummer keeps the listener engaged.
This book has quite a lot of suspense near the end. Thank you, Ms. Carr, for leaving us in a happy place regardless.
I found this second book on Audible. I want to go camping at Sullivan’s Crossing again soon. Next paycheck, I guess.
What We Find by Robyn Carr
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Have you watched Sullivan’s Crossing? If you have you will feel like you are watching it the whole book. I love Robyn Carr’s writing style. It makes you feel comfortable. You see and smell the environment.
The narrator, Therese Plummer, is good, but it is hard to tell whose point of view she is portraying. All her males sound the same. Still she’s far better than text-to-speech.
I must admit that the order of the story is different than the show, but it works as well either way. My Audible version will be ready when I want to listen again. And now I have book two.
Self-Editing On A Penny: A Comprehensive Guide by Ashlyn Forge
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
For NaNoWriMo and Camp Nano, I have written approximately 20 books, most of them 50K or more. But here I am, the worst editor ever. But I simply love the stories as they run from my brain to the keyboard. Hence, I need to read many more books like this to reach the next step.
This was an audiobook with Sandy Vernon (narrator), Faust Kells (narrator), and Ashlyn Forge (author and publisher). With the couple of voices, the listener stays focused on the topic at hand.
Can I say that this is all the right advice? No. I am not educated enough in the publishing end of writing. It does seem to have a lot of great ideas I will try to follow as I move along. But the title feels misleading, especially if we think we can get by on a penny. Certainly Ms. Forge’s book proves it can’t be done. Sadly, this retired person can’t afford a lot of the processes described here. Still, I did learn a lot and will keep trying to find answers.
Learn Faster, Perform Better: A Musician’s Guide to the Neuroscience of Practicing by Molly Gebrian
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I started this book a while back. I loved the aspect that it was written by a musician who minored in neuroscience.
Wait! Let me start over. When I was a kid, my mom would make me play a piece ten times. I never could keep track. She gave me ten buttons. Each play moved a button to the other side of the piano. Soon it wasn’t just a song but portions of songs. Trouble spots. The yelling from the kitchen for me to play it again, ten more times. I hated it. As soon as I could, I quit lessons. But by then I was a teen busy with a teen’s life.
So the first concept Molly Gebrian suggested took that even farther. Ten times perfectly.
I’ve been back to playing piano for about a year and a half. I started back by telling myself it had to be fun, or I’d get back to fiddling around with the recorder, Uke, or violin. They didn’t hold the psychological pull over me that piano had. I’ve ‘played’ up to forty minutes, even an hour, of FUN. Then I started reading this book. Yes, I had begun to work on bits, but I wanted to.
I put the book aside. But months later I decided it was the right concept. I may hate it, but I think Mom and Molly were right. But I will have to work up to it. It will still need to be fun. I’m a retired 76-year-old. Working hard is from the past.
The rest of the book had marvelous ideas I want to start to institute in my playing. In fact, I think much of it could be applied to other habits a person might want to develop in their life.
The version I have is Audible. Ms. Gebrian does her own narration. I plan to listen to this book often. There is so much I want to put into my piano fun.
Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are? by Frans de Waal
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Thank you, Laura, I love this!
I mentioned to my daughter that I was learning to button-train my dog. She suggested I might be interested in this book. She was right.
From the time my children were born, I saw they wanted to learn about the world. I saw that they were deep in thought long before they could speak words. Just as I have noticed with my dog and cats, they saw a lot but had no way to speak in completely understandable ways. Sure, they somehow teach us when to give snacks, clean the litter, or go outside. They seem to understand our words; we understand their actions. But I will still try to find buttons to teach them to talk to us. There is a whole science about this now.
Frans de Waal addresses animal intelligence and how they communicate in their own groups. I cannot find the narrator’s information. After you get used to his way of speaking the text flows and keeps the reader’s interest. This was an Audible version so I can read it again later.
Three Sisters by Heather Morris
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
These three books were so good that I had to buy the Audible version so I can read/listen to them again and again. Heather Morris’s research and writing were fascinatingly well done! And Finty Williams’s narration just brought the characters to life. She made her voice sound different for every character. I never felt lost as to whose point of view was being expressed.
This book is about the worst and best of people, at the worst time in history. Three sisters are caught up in the worst conditions and separated after promising to stay together and protect each other. I love books about people who care for others, even for those who were seemingly on the wrong side. Even as it seems hopeless, these characters find ways to make it just one more day.
I hope everyone gets a chance to read these books. I was able to read/listen to them first from Libby, but as I said, I look forward to reading them many more times. I may yet buy the paper version, as there are a lot of facts in the afterward that I think I need to look at and absorb.
The Fallen: The Lost Girls of Ireland’s Magdalene Laundries and a Legacy of Silence by Louise Brangan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Louise Brangan narrated her book about the girls who ended up in the doomed life of doing the laundry for the Catholic nuns (a very loose description). Her Irish accent makes the dreary tale delightful. I could listen to her read the phonebook. Does anyone remember those?
My review sounds lighthearted, but this book is a serious study of a part of Ireland’s history. A part of women’s history. My husband recommended the book to me. He told me it is a subject that he finds interesting.
The author follows a few of the young women’s stories personally, from bad family starts or misguided starts, and the way they were misjudged and punished for implied sins.
Libby didn’t have it when I was looking for it, so I bought the Audible version. I highly recommend it to all of you.
I Havenโt Been Entirely Honest with You by Miranda Hart
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Since meeting Chummy on Call the Midwife, I have loved Miranda Hart. Then I watched a fun series called Miranda that had me giggling like I was twelve. This woman has the most wonderful sense of humor and depth of emotional intelligence I’ve seen in a long time.
I bought this Audible book quite a while ago and finally got around to listening to it. It was definitely worth the wait. It wasn’t just an autobiography. It was more of a self-help book for anyone who has undiagnosed issues. Ms. Hart had dealt with some bad health issues that doctors couldn’t figure out.
This book, with a little humor, helps us all find our way to healthier thinking and lifestyle. Instead of being comedic or preachy, it leads you through her thoughts and experiences to find your own truth at your own time.
I wish there were a workbook to concentrate on each item and work it through in your own life. Maybe I’ll read it again with a journal nearby.
Thank you, My Dear Lovely Chummy for this book.
Your MDLC
Artemis by Andy Weir
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Sadly, Artemis wasn’t nearly as fun and exciting as Andy Weir’s other space books. Still, it was a bit of a romp on the moon. Since the main character in this book was a feisty female, the narrator was Rosario Dawson. I think she did an excellent job acting out the parts.
We have a lot of books about naughty women. Let’s have serious women! None of Mr. Weir’s male characters would have acted like that. Sure, they had faults, but they were about the science. I am glad we are a step up from the madonna-whore-naive-giggling girl, but not much.
So, no. You tried. But still don’t get it. In fact, I doubt men would want a woman who got into that much trouble in their lives, much less protecting the moon people. WHY?!
By the way, I read/listened to this on Audible.
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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