Tag Archive: audible



Relatively Normal Secrets (The Falinnheim Chronicles, #1)Relatively Normal Secrets by C.W. Allen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Want a little reprieve from the heavier material you’ve been reading lately? This is the book. It is so much fun and a quick read. After all, it is a chapter book for middle grades. But I don’t quite know how to intrigue you without giving spoilers. Here is the blurb, even it has spoilers I wouldn’t have included.

“Tuesday and Zed Furst are perfectly normal children with perfectly strange parents. Their father won’t discuss his job, their mother never leaves the house without her guard dog, and the topic of the family tree is off limits.

When a last minute “business trip” gets the adults out of the way, Zed and Tuesday decide to get to the bottom of things once and for all. Too bad some thugs with shape-shifting weapons have other ideas. Their escape leaves them trapped in the modern-meets-medieval Falinnheim, where everyone insists their father is a disgraced fugitive. They hope whoever is leaving them coded clues may have some answers, but they’re not sure they’re going to like what they learn.

If they ever want to see their parents again, they’ll need the help of a smuggler with a broken compass, their unusually talented dog, some extremely organized bandits, and a selection of suspiciously misquoted nursery rhymes.

Zed and Tuesday may not have all the answers, but one thing is certain: when it comes to normal, everything is relative.”

Add to the adventure the great narration by Ivy Tara Blair in this Audible version, and you will be in a place of pure enjoyment.

I don’t remember how I heard about these books, but I am already reading the second. I love the characters and how they go about solving the mysteries around them.

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Faerie Knitting: 14 Tales of Love and MagicFaerie Knitting: 14 Tales of Love and Magic by Alice Hoffman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

What a delightful bedtime book! Especially the Audible version with January LaVoy narrating. The stories are short enough to do one a night. Normally, I don’t like short stories. But after reading Braiding the Sweetgrass, this felt similar enough not to feel a shock but an excellent way to hear stories of love.

AND the book comes with knitting patterns—even the Audible. I picked up the PDFs and printed them to my knitting folders. I can’t wait to try some of these. Although, I think a few are way beyond my abilities. But the way knitting is woven into the stories is captivating. I’m sorry to be finished with the reading.

If you are unaware of Alice Hoffman, she is the author of Practical Magic, among many others. She writes with the pen of a poet. This particular book is co-authored with her sister. What fun that must have been.

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Live Wire: Long-Winded Short StoriesLive Wire: Long-Winded Short Stories by Kelly Ripa
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was a fun book. Sure, Kelly comes to our living room before coffee, way overdressed for our sloppy morning PJs. I think she had coffee way earlier than we did. Especially here on the west coast. Just a quick aside: Aren’t you tired of waking up to New York if you live here in the west?

Anyway, back to the book. I had the Audible, and I highly recommend ‘reading’ the book this way. Ms. Ripa narrates with the occasional Mark Consuelos addendum. In his voice. You miss that fun interaction between husband and wife in the paper copy.

Not many books hit on the empty nest issues. When you are young and pregnant, there are times when you are overwhelmed by books about expecting or dealing with kids. But the issues of offspring moving into adulthood and how it affects the people left behind are few.

I love that the story is broken into many little stories rather than a point-by-point history autobiography. I highly recommend this bit of entertainment.

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In Falling Snow: A NovelIn Falling Snow: A Novel by Mary-Rose MacColl
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Despite my brain’s inability to go with the author, Mary-Rose MacColl, and Orlah Cassidy (Narrator) between past and present for the characters’ present embodiment, I still loved this book. No matter past or present, the characters were exciting and lovable.

Maybe if you have the written word to look at and help orient whose point of view and when this story
progresses might be more accessible. Ms. Cassidy did vary her voice to inform the listener. Even still, I had managed about 50% of the story when I felt so totally lost that I started over. I found myself confused. But I relaxed, let the story take me where it would, and soon, I found the end. I hated that it was over. I did love the characters and voices so much!

It was interesting to read about the women of the first world war. I highly recommend this read.

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Dava Shastri's Last DayDava Shastri’s Last Day by Kirthana Ramisetti
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I spent the first half of this book wanting to throw it across the room or just quit reading. The main character was interesting, and I wanted to get more into her head. But her offspring were horrid. They were supposed to be attending to their mother’s deathbed, but all they could do was fight and be hateful.

I guess that is credit to the author to have written such strong characters. Soneela Nankani (Narrator) was fun to listen to, her acting chops showing regardless of which person she was playing.

In the end, I found I liked the book and was happy to read it. And redeeming of beings took place.

I learned about this book on Good Morning America one day. At first, I couldn’t see how it even got featured. But soon, I could see a lot of lessons to be learned with a deeper reading, like in a book club. It was nice to read about a strong woman who obtained everything in the end. But that was at the beginning of the book. It is very worth the read!

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Improbable Magic for Cynical WitchesImprobable Magic for Cynical Witches by Kate Scelsa
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I don’t know who recommended this, but it was an insightful read. Kate uses Tarot Major Arcana to tell a piece of a teen’s confusing life. I love how we learn the cards as a story unto themselves and how it applies to Elenor’s past.

Kate Sclesa is a young adult novel, and the romances cause angst. But I loved climbing into Elenor’s thoughts and seeing how she caused her worries to grow.

Stacey Glemboski (Narrator) brought this Audible version alive with her voice acting.

Quite an enjoyable and inspiring read.

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The Galaxy, and the Ground Within (Wayfarers, #4)The Galaxy, and the Ground Within by Becky Chambers
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I have just decided that Becky Chambers is my new favorite author. This, the fourth book in the Wayfarers series is such a fun book. I love the amount of philosophy, psychology, and mythologies of other beings from other planets. And yet, through those beings, Ms. Chambers guides the reader to examine their own current beliefs.

Rachel Dulude (Narrator) keeps the reader engaged in stories within a story. Her voice acting was so great, each creature a new voice and nuance.

I finally own each of the four books, so I can read them whenever I want to. I foresee many more immersions into Becky’s universes.

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Record of a Spaceborn Few (Wayfarers, #3)Record of a Spaceborn Few by Becky Chambers

This is my second reading of the series thus far. In fact, I just read this book a month ago and decided I needed to read the whole series again. So here I am again. Below is the first review I wrote on this book, and I am sticking with it.
***
This is my favorite kind of science fiction! So many questions about what might happen if we were to get out among the stars! Patricia Rodríguez (Narrator) made the story even better! Becky Chambers writes such different and intriguing books!

I am still feeling the charm, so I have downloaded the first two books to read again. I just didn’t want to leave Ms. Chambers’s universes.

What if we left Earth? What if it were doable to save as many as possible and fly through space? What if other worlds were found? What if other beings were found and able to learn from us and vice versa? What if whole generations lived, died, and were born on a spaceship of some kind? How do we deal with the dead? How do we document life and death to make it understandable for us and others? How do religion and politics play a part? Sexuality? So many questions!

So many characters. A friend mentioned keeping track of the characters. I may need to do that on the next read. I think I’ll need to dedicate a whole notebook for this next read!

Don’t worry. No matter that you don’t know who or what is speaking, it all works out that you realize you did follow it and are so happy to have been there with the author in the end.

I can’t wait to start again!
***
And I intend to read this another few times. I still loved it!

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The Orphan’s Mother by Marion Kummerow


The Orphan's MotherThe Orphan’s Mother by Marion Kummerow
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I hated to end the reading or listening to this book. Sarah Durham narrated the story with all the acting skills needed to do the many parental and child voices. She managed the German and Polish names and words; at least, I thought they sounded right. It is one of the reasons I love Audiobooks so much. Other languages, if read by my voice and eyes, would probably be wrong.

I love books about women during the wars. You know there must have been situations like this. There must be even now with COVID19 orphans, earthquake orphans, etc. The news rarely brings the stories to life. But people get misplaced and have to survive somehow.

This is more than just one mother. Watching all the moving parts turn the story deeper and deeper is intriguing. Amazing writing!

My only objection is the missing parts of the orphan’s life. I wanted more.

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I’m sticking with my first review below only to add that I want to read this a third time.  Rachel Dulude (Narrator) was fantastic!

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Because of this review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show… by my friend, Cheryl, I couldn’t wait to read this book! And it was everything she said it was and more!

I picked up the Kindle copy from Amazon and the Audible version to go with it. It made a perfect go to sleep book at night. I was able to have my girl dreams of space travel and meeting new creatures. Oops! If there’s one thing I learned from this book is that we don’t consider the aliens creatures. They are just beings that are different than us. Often in many ways, they are superior to us that we should expect that. But as the author points out just because beings that look like, maybe, um, a giraffe from earth, doesn’t mean it has the intelligence of a giraffe from earth. It may actually have the abilities to move back and forth in time or travel in a different dimension. This was a good lesson for me as I like to write science fiction about other beings on other planets.

The narrator, Rachel Dulude, brought this book to life in ways I don’t think could have been possible to just read or even with the text-to-speech. She was able to separate the characters and beautiful ways, so you knew exactly who is talking without even reading it.

I do want to read this book again. Maybe when I’m more awake, to see how it is she actually built these characters and her plot and her worlds. It was very well written! And I can hardly wait to be able to afford and read her next book in the series!

If you like science fiction that isn’t all men and war. If you like science fiction that uses imagination with science possibilities, this book is for you! Well done, Becky Chambers!



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