How to review this book without preaching to the choir and putting off the naysayers to climate change. Maybe those numbers are fewer now but this story is a call to action for all of us. Cloaked in the engaging tale of a smart woman stuck in Podunkville USA and longing to get out is the amazingly accessible theme of what is happening to our planet and why. The author is the narrator and does her heroine, Dellarobia, and her other characters proud. She doesn't ladle on the Southern accent as she inhabits the voices of the local folk. Refreshingly, they are not painted with the all-to-often broad brush of ignorance but as people struggling to make ends meet as best they can. Because they get their strength from their faith they consider the unexpected convergence of millions of butterflies to their Tennessee mountain as a blessing from God. This story offers a respectful conversation between those seeing the alarming aspects of it from a scientific point of view with those who have little information about the usual habits of these beautiful creatures. There is hope for our future in the heartbreakingly real kindergartener, Preston, who longs to know about nature and the world. But every flawed character becomes dear as the listener is given time to get to know them.

I wish I could give this book to everyone I know.

Once again, Barbara Kingsolver strikes gold with this timely novel about both our planet and ourselves. Threads of humor and wit run through this wonderful novel. She is an astute observer and subtle social commentator. I love her writing, stories, and reading. This book is a great read.

I love how Barbara Kingsolver developes her characters, so vivid and complex. She has a way of giving us insight into who people may really be. She always makes a statement that is a contribution to humanity.
I love her work and recommend this book.

I love Barbara Kingsolver, and it is a wonderful journey to listen to her read her own stories. She is a spectacular writer, and has a wonderful narrative voice.

very well done! right from the start-a very relateable story that brings important topics to the forefront and maybe get us all thinking about it...

Barbara Kingsolver is one of the great writers of her generation. Why does she insist on recording her own audiobooks?! Her voice is monotonous and causes the reader (or at least this one) to loose the thread of what is almost always an engaging storyline.

Each time I download a new Kingsolver book I hope I will have a more positive response to her narration. Instead I find these are great narrations for easing me into my Sunday afternoon nap.

We should all play to our strengths, and allow others play to theirs. Dear Ms. Kingsolver please spend your valuable time writing more books, and allow narrators and actors to record them.

Sincerely,
A fan of your writing.

I read everything by Barbara Kingsolver and will keep doing so.

I enjoyed learning about the way butterflies are studied in the field. But also, among the most enduring images was of the butterflies en masse in flight, streaming around obstacles like flowing water.

Barbara Kingsolver has the sweetest voice, the pleasantest of southern accents. I don't know if this is her normal accent but it was perfect for the story. It captured not only the cadences that are likely appropriate to the folks of Appalachia, but all the frustration, ambivalence, and finally gentleness and hope of the main character. She also did Ovid Byron's Caribbean accent pretty convincingly.

I can't think of any that didn't fit into and contribute to the story.

great writing, wonderful story

I love the way that Kingsolver threaded concepts of science and public policy into a compelling story

I enjoy Kingsolver's voice and reading of the material

Prodigal Summer is probably most like this book.

Her wonderful voice.. and of course, being the author, an intimate understanding of the material.

I wouldn't

If you like Kingsolver, then you'll enjoy this book.

Believable, down to earth, and real.

Barbara Kingsolver is an exellent narrator. I love to hear her read her own work. The story is so real and believable. You feel like you could know these characters, and live in rural Tennessee with Dellarobia and her family. I love that she took a real issue facing our population and made it in to a wonderful story, with delicious facts, and bits of reality woven in to her fictional plot.