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Cookie

Anacortes, WA, United States | Member Since 2011

175
HELPFUL VOTES
  • 45 reviews
  • 211 ratings
  • 694 titles in library
  • 45 purchased in 2013
FOLLOWING
19
FOLLOWERS
53

  • The Beautiful Mystery: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel

    • UNABRIDGED (13 hrs and 35 mins)
    • By Louise Penny
    • Narrated By Ralph Cosham
    • Whispersync for Voice-ready
    Overall
    (620)
    Performance
    (530)
    Story
    (524)

    No outsiders are ever admitted to the monastery of Saint-Gilbert-Entre-les-Loups, hidden deep in the wilderness of Quebec, where two dozen cloistered monks live in peace and prayer. They grow vegetables, they tend chickens, they make chocolate. And they sing. Ironically, for a community that has taken a vow of silence, the monks have become world-famous for their glorious voices, raised in ancient chants whose effect on both singer and listener is so profound it is known as “the beautiful mystery.”

    Sparkly says: "Engaging, entertaining, and heartbreaking."
    "A Really Beautiful Mystery"
    Overall
    Performance
    Story

    Wow, Ms. Penny hit it out of the park.
    Instead of getting stuck in Three Pines (like Cabet Cove), the good inspector is off and running in this lovely "cozy". Set in a monastery on an island in the big woods, where just like Eden, serpents abound. A monk dead, fractions split the brothers into battling groups, a very sad development in a sect devoted to prayer and singing. Mr Cosham give life and lyrics to our favorite characters. Suspend disbelief and enjoy the sun, cool shade and blueberries.

    15 of 15 people found this review helpful
  • In This Hospitable Land

    • UNABRIDGED (14 hrs and 36 mins)
    • By Lynmar Brock
    • Narrated By David Baker
    • Whispersync for Voice-ready
    Overall
    (4)
    Performance
    (4)
    Story
    (4)

    When the Germans invade Belgium in 1940, chemistry professor André Sauverin fears the worst. His colleagues believe their social and political positions will protect them during the occupation, but André knows better. He has watched Hitler’s rise to power and knows the Nazis will do anything to destroy their enemies. For the Sauverins are Jews, non-practicing, yes, but that won’t matter to the Germans - or to the Belgians desperate to protect themselves by informing on their neighbors. And so André and his brother Alex take their parents, wives, and children and flee south.

    Cookie says: "Great historical perspective"
    "Great historical perspective"
    Overall
    Performance
    Story

    First let me say that this is a great listen! If you are interested in a story of ww2 France that shows the heroism of ordinary people, you will not go wrong! I went to amazon and looked up this book, and was delighted to see six pictures of the main characters and the places they lived, that was wonderful! This is not sophisticated writing and probably could have used a little more editing, but it is a solid heartfelt story of the author's wife's family's experiences. This book is also priced so reasonably for it's length, it is a great value, so I was quite impressed by the quality of the research. I would have loved a little more of what happened to everyone at the end, but that is because I really didn't want it to end, and didn't want to leave these people just yet. But I would have thought that, even if there had been more. Get this book! You will enjoy it!

    2 of 2 people found this review helpful
  • A New Kind of War

    • UNABRIDGED (10 hrs and 48 mins)
    • By Anthony Price
    • Narrated By Dominic Mafham
    Overall
    (9)
    Performance
    (9)
    Story
    (8)

    A New Kind of War takes us back to the Greece and Germany of 1945 - as the old kind of war comes to its official end. Why has David Audley broken the British-Greek truce? And furthermore, why did his brigadier order his actions? Is it just coincidence that Audley is surprised near Delphi by Captain Fattorini of the Royal Engineers?As a result of that unfortunate encounter, Fattorini finds himself in occupied Germany as the newest member of TRR-2: a special intelligence unit engaged in a dangerous and brutal game.

    Cookie says: "just about the perfect book"
    "just about the perfect book"
    Overall
    Performance
    Story

    What do you say when you listen to the perfect book, read by the perfect narrator?
    And I am embarrassed to say, from an author I have been completely unaware of until just a few weeks ago? Words fail, and I have already given 5 stars to the predecessors so now what? Bravo Audible!
    Ww2, spies, and David Audley as a young man. The scene of the office's mess is just about the best English military scene I have ever watched (and I mean I was there!).
    The mystery (plot) Is subtle and believable, the characters full and their images clear. I said something in one of the other reviews of this series about this author being a LeCarre light and now am faced with a retraction that I am wrong, this Series has Smiley on the run. (Not that I could do without). Anyway, the only sadness is that these books are not long enough and there are only 18 of them, so savor them and delight in great audible story telling. This book may be in my top 5 ever. Okay, I will stop now, but you get the idea...

    8 of 8 people found this review helpful
  • The '44 Vintage

    • UNABRIDGED (10 hrs and 1 min)
    • By Anthony Price
    • Narrated By Dominic Mafham
    Overall
    (3)
    Performance
    (2)
    Story
    (2)

    A few weeks after D-Day, the German army in the West is retreating, with the British and the Americans in hot pursuit. But Major O'Conor, ex-liaison officer with the Yugoslav Partisans, is conducting his own private war. As he leads his hand-picked team of ruthless fighters deep behind enemy lines, it becomes clear that he regards French Resistance units and British Intelligence agents as more dangerous to his mission than the Germans.

    Cookie says: "Totally the best yet!"
    "Totally the best yet!"
    Overall
    Performance
    Story

    This book goes back to the first meeting of Audley and Butler during the last days of ww2 and give insight to their relationship going forward in the series. I am bumbling through since there is no order yet given to the books in the series. Each one is a little masterpiece and not be missed , although I sure prefer to have them in order. Mr Prices writing does get even better and his charactors just continue to develop depth and meaning as we go. This installment sets the stage for the cold war spy novels that follow. The setting is France and you can almost taste the wine. Until just a few days ago, I had never heard of Anthony Price, and as of right now, I seem to be the only one reviewing them. I truely hope that others begins checking them out. I feel like I have discovered a treasure.

    1 of 1 people found this review helpful
  • The Labyrinth Makers

    • UNABRIDGED (7 hrs and 45 mins)
    • By Anthony Price
    • Narrated By Simon Schatzberger
    Overall
    (7)
    Performance
    (6)
    Story
    (6)

    When an RAF Dakota, presumed lost at sea in 1945, is discovered in a drained lake in Lincolnshire, together with its pilot and a cargo of worthless rubble, it falls to David Audley of the MOD to puzzle out just why the Russians are so interested in the discovery - and what the plane was carrying that is important enough to kill for.

    Cookie says: "Cold War English Spies"
    "Cold War English Spies"
    Overall
    Performance
    Story

    New series, start with this one since audible does not have these numbered yet, I went to amazon to find out where to start. I have listened to three of these treasures before writing this review. I find these spy novels a little more accessible than Le Carre and less prurient than Littell (both of which I totally love). These novels are perhaps a little quieter and the characters deeper. Although the plots are no less intricate and satisfying. I find a bit of Ngaio Marsh and Margery Allingham here too. Please forgive the name dropping, but if description fails, simile seems to do the trick. If any of these authors appeal, and even if they don't, give this author a try, I do not think you will be disappointed.

    8 of 8 people found this review helpful
  • Bomber

    • UNABRIDGED (21 hrs and 22 mins)
    • By Len Deighton
    • Narrated By Richard Burnip
    Overall
    (4)
    Performance
    (4)
    Story
    (4)

    Bomber is a novel of war. There are no victors, no vanquished. There are simply those who remain alive, and those who die. Bomber follows the progress of an Allied air raid through a period of twenty-four hours in the summer of 1943. It portrays all the participants in a terrifying drama, both in the air and on the ground, in Britain and in Germany. In its documentary style, it is unique. In its emotional power it is overwhelming. Len Deighton has been equally acclaimed as a novelist and as an historian.

    Cookie says: "The original 24 hours"
    "The original 24 hours"
    Overall
    Performance
    Story

    Is it too long? I wondered halfway through. This book endeavors to put all events of a bombing raid together in a 24 hour time frame. Just like the TV series, it is nearly true to time. But it does work. All the stories are well developed and brought together. Lost one star in making every female character marginal and somewhat silly (this maybe a result the narrator, but is not helped by Mr Deighton, who has written great female characters in subsequent novels). The narrator did an awesome job of giving every one of the characters a recognizable voice and did a fantastic job except for the female ones.
    Replete with incredible detail, I feel like I was in the bomber and on the ground at the same time. Almost a perfect book, almost perfectly read. Highly recommended! I don't think there was an agenda to this story, although I felt for the victims, none of them were very sympathetic. I still feel that everything the allies did to try to win the war was justified, after all they did not know how it would end, and were really just trying to win a war they did not start, but had to see through.

    4 of 4 people found this review helpful
  • Brideshead Revisited

    • UNABRIDGED (11 hrs and 33 mins)
    • By Evelyn Waugh
    • Narrated By Jeremy Irons
    • Whispersync for Voice-ready
    Overall
    (70)
    Performance
    (64)
    Story
    (62)

    Evelyn Waugh's most celebrated work is a memory drama about the intense entanglement of the narrator, Charles Ryder, with a great Anglo-Catholic family. Written during World War II, the story mourns the passing of the aristocratic world Waugh knew in his youth and vividly recalls the sensuous pleasures denied him by wartime austerities; in so doing it also provides a profound study of the conflict between the demands of religion and the desires of the flesh.

    Renee says: "Extraordinary"
    "I just don't understand..."
    Overall
    Performance
    Story

    This may be one of my favorite books ever. But why? I don't like any of the characters. They are almost all self absorbed blighted people who hurt others with little compunction. The subject is depressing, the loss of innocence, alcoholism, divorce, lost love, death, the list goes on and on. It ends on the eve of ww2 with the house being neglected and ruined by soldiers stationed there. All is so sad, yet the prose are so wonderful, I feel I must have champagne and strawberries this afternoon. Of course, this book's narration belongs to Jeremy Irons, perfection! Listen before you see the movie (the old one, not the new silly choppy one). Get this book and enjoy Mr. Waugh's masterpiece!

    18 of 21 people found this review helpful
  • The Lieutenants: Book One of the Brotherhood of War Series

    • UNABRIDGED (13 hrs and 43 mins)
    • By W. E. B. Griffin
    • Narrated By Eric G. Dove
    • Whispersync for Voice-ready
    Overall
    (310)
    Performance
    (275)
    Story
    (282)

    They were the young ones, the bright ones, the ones with the dreams. From the Nazi-prowled wastes of North Africa to the bloody corridors of Europe, they honorably answered the call. War - it was their duty, their job, their life. They marched off as boys and they came back - those who made it - as soldiers and professionals forged in the heat of battle....

    Ron says: "Great Series!! One of W.E.B. Griffn's best."
    "potato chip warning"
    Overall
    Performance
    Story

    These books are addictive , you may even find yourself downloading the next one before you get finished the the current one. Plain great story telling. Enjoy!

    1 of 1 people found this review helpful
  • The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill, Volume 3: Defender of the Realm, 1940-1965

    • UNABRIDGED (53 hrs and 27 mins)
    • By William Manchester, Paul Reid
    • Narrated By Clive Chafer, Paul Reid
    • Whispersync for Voice-ready
    Overall
    (191)
    Performance
    (152)
    Story
    (153)

    Spanning the years 1940 to 1965, Defender of the Realm, the third volume of William Manchester’s The Last Lion, picks up shortly after Winston Churchill became prime minister - when his tiny island nation stood alone against the overwhelming might of Nazi Germany. The Churchill portrayed by Manchester and Reid is a man of indomitable courage, lightning-fast intellect, and an irresistible will to action.

    Mike From Mesa says: "A worthy final volume in a great biography"
    "Worthy third Volume"
    Overall
    Performance
    Story

    While the first two hours (introduction) is read by the author Paul Reid, the rest of the book is narrated by Clive Chafer a wonderful (English narrator).
    Mr Reid is a worthy collaborator with WM for this perfect third volume. It is as great as it's preceding first two, worth waiting for. Too bad the other reviewer did not hang in there. In my opinion, Mr Reid had the right to read his own introduction.

    5 of 6 people found this review helpful
  • The Lost Wife: A Novel

    • UNABRIDGED (10 hrs and 5 mins)
    • By Alyson Richman
    • Narrated By George Guidall, Suzanne Toren
    • Whispersync for Voice-ready
    Overall
    (244)
    Performance
    (206)
    Story
    (206)

    In pre-war Prague, the dreams of two young lovers are shattered when they are separated by the Nazi invasion. Then, decades later, thousands of miles away in New York, there's an inescapable glance of recognition between two strangers. Providence is giving Lenka and Josef one more chance. From the glamorous ease of life in Prague before the Occupation, to the horrors of Nazi Europe, The Lost Wife explores the power of first love, the resilience of the human spirit, and the strength of memory.

    DIANE says: "Never read a book so fast"
    "so close."
    Overall
    Performance
    Story

    I am writing a bad review about a book I loved. Here is an author who could have, and should have gone the extra step. That is take on the impossible challenge of writing the rest of the story, but she didn't.
    There are so many books out there covering the same ground, and even the great (War and Remembrance comes to mind, The Seamstress, even the Hiding Place) didn't handle the what happened next very well. But I feel like I made it though all that and I wanted an ending.
    Alyson Richmond has the ability to make her characters hold on to your heart, they may be you grandmother /father, you love them. I really feel cheated of the rest of the story, this is one author who could have done it, but didn't. I guess I feel like pouting, sorry but this was an epic missed opportunity, and it just makes me sad. The narrators are transcendent , awesome writing and perfect narration, just needed the last three chapters...

    5 of 7 people found this review helpful
  • Long Time Coming

    • UNABRIDGED (11 hrs and 1 min)
    • By Robert Goddard
    • Narrated By David Rintoul
    • Whispersync for Voice-ready
    Overall
    (67)
    Performance
    (35)
    Story
    (31)

    Eldritch Swan is a dead man. Or at least that is what his nephew Stephen has always been told. Until one day Eldritch walks back into his life after 36 years in an Irish prison. He won’t reveal any of the details of his incarceration, insisting only that he is innocent of any crime. His return should be of interest to no-one.

    Ramon says: "Satisfying Thriller"
    "Loved it"
    Overall
    Performance
    Story

    Just a great escape. The plot summary cover this well. Fantastic narrator, doesn't try women's voices , just his voice with a female inflection, very effective.
    Sit back and enjoy the ride.

    1 of 1 people found this review helpful

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