S. Friday

The three generals were fascinating people, each with their own agendas and personality quirks. This made for very interesting listening. The narrator did a nice job, except that he butchered the German words, making it difficult--as a German-speaker--to listen to those parts.

I cannot understand how Churchill managed to keep his dignity throughout his "banishment". He was clearly a genius, but most folks didn't realize this. Granted, he had his quirks--which I learned about in this book. I admired him in that he worked his tail off to keep his family fed and housed and going on extended trips.....but that was how the upper class lived. And I found that interesting, as was realizing that Hitler understood what a genius Churchill was and that he was going to be Hitler's greatest challenge among the allies. The book is long. Very long. But the narrator did a good job and the material kept me listening.

Please understand that I teach at the elementary level in a specialized field and am not completely focused on scientific "stuff". I'm a history buff. So on the one hand, I really enjoyed listening about the era when the flu epidemic hit. Learning about how the flu spread as fast as it did and how it can affect our population in this day and time was interesting and scary. The scientists of that era were dedicated people and I did not realize how much technology was available to them at that time. I didn't realize that the Wilson administration was in kind of a "witch hunt" mode and how much information was suppressed--as well as how many people were (think McCarthyism). But the technical information was too much for me. Try as I might, I tended to drift off during those times. But the book was interesting. I got something out of it, so that's worth it to me.

Oh my goodness, this was a great spy story! There were so many twists and turns and I kept reconsidering who was good and who was bad in the story. The narration was quite good to keep all the characters believable. The plot.....ex-CIA, the FBI, a secretive husband, cyber theft, banking (sort of).....it had it all. I highly recommend this one!

I had high hopes for this book, after reading so many good reviews about it. I'm a huge Harry Potter fan and thought that this would be a magical world for grown ups. Well, it is, nearly. The kids start out taking an entrance exam to a magical college. The book races them through college and then you end up with a bunch of angst-ridden whiners who can't seem to get it together. They end up traveling to Fillory, a magical place from a book (think Naria, sort of). By then, I quit. I just couldn't manage to listen any more. I know lots of folks really enjoyed the book, but I'm not one of them.

So this was an interesting listen. I learned a lot about warfare and the military in 1812, and about Napolean and his Russian campaign in general. Typhus and how it devastated armies was kind of the headliner here, but it was also amazing to hear about logistics, planning, and how a Russian Winter could affect everything. Oh yes--let's not forget a megalomanic general in the mix, too! I learned more about amputations from that era than I ever want to learn again and wonder if people 200 years from now will look at our medical practices of today and think we were barbaric! I would recommend this book to anyone with a general interest in history.

I've never read any of Michelle Moran's books, but I think I'll try some of her others. This one was fascinating. I know that much of the story is based on fact and one can see how much research went into this book. The story of Paris during the French Revolution became more and more horrifying to me as the story went on and I could imagine how terrifying it must have been for ordinary French citizens during that time. No one was safe. The Royal Family did too little too late, Robespierre ended up with too much power, and citizens had to adapt to the changing winds at the drop of a hat (or a head...). Something interesting about this book was the epilogue, where the listener was able to find out about the characters' fates at the end of the Revolution. Definitely worth the credit!

This was a fun listen! The dialog was witty, the plot was twisty and turny enough to keep me guessing, and the story had believable characters. I enjoyed the way the narrator portrayed character's voices and accents. My credit was well used.

My take on the book--I liked listening about modern day India. I liked all the characters EXCEPT the main character! I know that not all main characters are commanding, take-charge types, but she made me nuts with her inability to make some decent choices independently! I loved the people around her who helped, though. The story itself was decent, basically one about a sheltered small town girl moving to the big city and how confusing it can be. It was worth a listen, but I think I bought it on sale, so I don't feel like a credit was wasted.

Empire of the Summer Moon is written about the demise of the Western Native American Tribes (primarily the Comanche), the buffalo, and how the west was settled. People of all sides of the story were brutal, but I think this was primarily cultural. There were horrifying, awful examples given.BUT, it was interesting to learn about American society at the time and the Native society as well. I learned about how fast technology was growing during the era in which this was written about. It was a lesson about Cynthia Ann Parker and Quanah Parker and how she couldn't cope once returned to "her" people and how he coped once giving up his ways. A great listen, work the credit.

As a kid, I watched Carol Burnett's TV show every week with my mom. Listening to Carol talk about the show, her life outside of the show, and folks she met and worked with was just wonderful. Her book (and narration) made me feel like she was sitting with me in my living room, regaling me with lots of funny, charming, or touching stories. Anecdotes about Lucille Ball, Tim Conway, Joan Crawford, and others had me laughing out loud. Normally, I listen to my books when I'm out walking or doing housework, but this is one book where I took it in the car and listened, too.