Kathleen

Unique, scientific, concerning

I have read many books by Barbara Kingsolver and have thoroughly enjoyed most of them.
I liked the basic story of Flight Behavior, particularly the characters, but I did find it a bit preachy and that, in some sections, the scientific information was heavy-handed. I would have to really look at the next book before I decided to read it or not.

Her intonation and expression helped me understand the characters better. Because she had created these characters, she was able to give them more life and passion when she read the story.

The conversation between Dellarobia and her mother-in-law Hester towards the end of the book, where Hester finally opens up to Dellarobia, was the most moving for me as it gave Hester real humanity and explained why she had always been stand-offish.

I liked the story in general but it was obvious that Kingsolver was on her soap-box about climate change. The ending was not very satisfying as it left the me hanging as to what happened to the Turnbow family and was rather apocalytic.

The story line seemed okay but I had to stop listening to the story because Jayne Entwistle's voice drove me crazy.

I might try another another Alan Bradley book but only if someone else is narrating it. I might go to the public library and see if they have a print copy of the book/series so I can read the story without having to listen to the high whiny voice of Jayne Entwistle.

If Entwistle had spoken like a normal young girl instead of adopting such a high whiny voice, it might have been tolerable. I know many young girls and none of them talk like that. If they did, their parents would tell them to stop whining and say what they want in a proper tone of voice.

I couldn't say because I didn't get that far into the book because of the performance.

I was looking forward to this book because of an interview with Alan Bradley on CBC with Shelagh Rogers. I thought that the book sounded interesting because of the characters and the plot but I was very disappointed in the performance.

The narrator made this book come alive for me. I could imagine the landscape and the characters because of Cather's description but also because of the way Jeff Cummings read the story. Somehow Cummings' voice seemed like part of the environment and kept me listening for hours.

W.O. Mitchell's "Who Has Seen the Wind?" has many of the same qualities - the young boy who is learning about the hard life on the prairie and who can observe others who are struggling through hard times. Both Jim and Brian have families who give them security and ground them. Both authors love the prairie landscape as well.

Not that I am aware of.

I found I wanted a break to savour some of the images and characters but I looked forward with anticipation to the next time I could listen the rest of the story.

I chose this book because of listening to Michael Enright on CBC's Sunday Edition where he described of the effects that this book had on him. As I enjoy listening to Mr. Enright who makes me think and challenges me, I wanted to hear this book so that I could understand what made him so excited. I am glad that I did.

Inspirational, moving, entertaining

I liked that although the book club was the basis of the story, it was really about the relationship between a son and his dying mother. The honesty and candor with which Will Schwabe told the story made these two people and their experience very real. They became people that I wished I could meet. The courage that Mary Ann Schwabe showed in facing her illness and her impending death was inspirational. I also loved listening to which books they chose and what they found that inspired them about each of these books.

I have not listened to any other story that Jeff Harding has recorded but I will definitely look for other stories that he has narrated.

This book made me both laugh and cry. Like any relationship between two people this srory has both its funny moments and its sad, sentimental moments. It also inspired me to find out more about the organizations that she was involved with and to research her life more.

I am glad that I bought this book and that I had the opportunity to listen to this story. It reminded of some of my favorite books that I hadn't read for awhile and it allowed me to share in the time that this mother and son spent together.

I enjoyed listening to this story because of the emotion and insight Jim Broadbent gave to the characters in this reading.

The plot line was different than any other story I have read/listened to. The characters that Harold Fry met on his journey were interesting and very human. I liked the ending of the story was different than I had expected. It had a good twist at the end.

His reading gave Harold and the other characters real life. I could relate to Harold and several of the other characters because Jim Broadbent made them "come alive" for me.

Harold was definitely the most memorable character but I also really came to like Maureen, his wife, as well. Not only was Harold on a physical pilgrimage but also an emotional one as well. Although Maureen doesn't go on a physical journey, she certainly made a personal and emotional one as well.

I was driving through the country-side while listening to this story and kept imaging Harold walking on the roads that I was on and what he was experiencing as he went. Although the Canadian prairie is very different than the English country-side, the fact that both the character of Harold and I were travelling through vast areas of open country made him much more real to me.

I would definitely recommend this audiobook to a friend especially if that friend likes mysteries and has an interest in World War I. The characters and the plot were interesting as well as the details about the time and the people living through WWI.

Any of the other Charles Todd books that deal with the same time period. The other series that comes to mind is the Inspector Foyle programs on PBS. They deal with a changing society during the two World Wars and the changing role for women in that society.

She portrayed the characters very well and was extremely easy to listen to.

I loved the end of the book when Bess Crawford was able to give the murdered soldier's family the comfort in knowing that he had not committed suicide and restored his honour.

Loved the audio version of this book because I felt that Carolyn McCormick managed to make the character of Katniss become real to me. She also did a very job a portraying the personalities of the other characters.

Although the story line was similar to a few old classics like Shirley Jackson's

As stated above, she made the character of Katniss real to me while still giving personality to the rest of the story's characters.

No as I wanted to absorb some of the details before I went on to listen to the rest. This was a good thing.

This book isn't just of interest to the young adult audience that it was written for, it is a good story and therefore interesting to a wide variety of age groups.

I have read/listened to all of Louise Penny's Inspector Gamache books and up until now have enjoyed the quaint characters and interesting plots. "The Brutal Telling" left me much less satisfied, however. All the familiar characters were there with a few new ones. I enjoyed the characters and actually laughed out loud with the description of some of their actions.

The problem for me was the plot. It was too complicated and Penny tried to put in too many twists. She seemed to be trying to put in too many characters who revolved around famous Canadians - Emily Carr and Jean Vanier. Nothing seemed to connect. Why did Gamache go to Haida G'wai? That part of the story was interesting but didn't really connect to the plot. At the end of the novel, the listener still doesn't know who the victim was or why he had all these treasures. It didn't seem realistic to me that the person identified as the murderer, was the murderer. I felt she just didn't know how to end the story. I felt that she had two, if not three, plots that she was trying to develop in one novel. It just left me with more questions than answers.

I am disappointed in this book because I liked her others so much.

If you want to hear/read a book with quirky, interesting characters and enjoy mysteries then this is the book for you. I thoroughly enjoyed it as I have enjoyed all the other Fforde books that I have read. I love how he uses characters from classic pieces of literature to integrate into his stories and how he expands their personalities to make them funny and unique. The main character Tuesday kept me interested and entertained on a very long drive. This was a fun listen.

I am an Ian Rankin fan and one day, when I couldn't find an Ian Rankin book that I hadn't already read, another customer in the bookstore told me to read Peter Robinson. I would like to thank that woman because she turned me on to another well-written, unconventional British cop series.

"Cold Is The Grave" is a story that kept me involved with not only an interesting plot but interesting characters, as well. The characters are very real. Alan Banks, a small town English policeman, doesn't solve the mystery because he is smarter than everyone else. He does it by hard work and an understanding of how people think. The story has Banks solving a problem for one of his commanders who doesn't normally like Banks' methods but realizes, that in difficult circumstances, Banks is the best man for the job.

Banks comes to some conclusions about his own life when he sees it in contrast to that of his superior officer. He is fallible but very human and, therefore, very likeable.

Although Robinson is a Canadian writer, he captured the essence of life in both a small English town and London very well.

This was a good book to listen to and I wanted more when it was finished.