Katalin

As I have not seen the print version, I cannot say for sure, but I enjoyed the audio edition immensely.

The way the author interpreted and talked about Austen's books without giving too much away (in case the reader was not familiar with a particular book) was great. It made me think about things I missed from the first time around.

As this book is written from the author's point of view, there was really only one character in there to perform. I thought the narrator did a great job with timing punchlines and showing emotion, though.

It made me laugh a few times, but I'm not sure if that would be the same for someone who is not really familiar with Austen's works.

I would recommend this book to any Austen fan for a light read, and also to people who have yet to read any of her novels, as I think this just might be the hook they need.

One of the best. It was really fun and interesting.

There were no characters in the book per say, but I liked Henry's last wife, Catherine, best.

No, I had not had the pleasure, but I enjoyed his narrating quite a bit with this book.

Not quite, but only because of the sheer length of the book.

A great book to listen to for anyone interested in Henry VIII. Alison Weir wrote a splendid book, and Simon Prebble narrated it superbly.

Having a different narrator. The author's reading is just too slow and awkward.

Speed up, or better yet, have someone else narrate it. It almost felt like the author never read the book in his life before recording it, forget about actually writing it.

The content of the book seemed slow enough, but the narration made it ten times worse.

To be honest, I gave up after an hour or so of listening. Within that time, I didn't learn anything new, because even the book itself seemed too slow, wasting time on establishing credibility and examples of people's problems with procrastination, which I didn't care about. Other listeners said the information is great, so maybe I'll look into the paperback version. I hate quitting on a book, but this might just be one of the very few.

Don't waste credit or money on this. Go to a bookstore, and sample the paperback instead if you can.

Colin Firth, of course. He was absolutely amazing!

I got this book purely because Colin Firth read it, so I don't have anything I can compare it to.

Everything! His timing, his voice, .... He made the book great!

Missed Opportunities...

I don't think I would have bought this book, would the narrator not been Colin Firth. That said, I'm glad I did, because it's not a story or genre I generally read/listen to, but it was a pretty good one. I think this might become one of those rare books that I will listen to again sometime in the future.

It had some great pointers on how to become more productive.

That's hard to say. I guess I liked his positive approach to getting things done faster.

Just for the sake of him, no. He wasn't a very good reader. I could hear him turn pages and he stopped at awkward places within a sentence. However, I could still follow him, so if the book content was worth it, I might.

Making lists and prioritizing.

While the author wasn't great at narrating, this recording also wasn't horrible as some reviews suggested. I'd recommend this book for someone else for sure.

I really liked how the reader's subtle change in accents helped made the characters come even more to life. I'm sure I enjoyed this much more because I listened to it.

All the "behind the scenes" moments of Anne before she got married to Henry. I've never realized (even when I saw the movie or the TV series a few years ago), just how much of a toll it must have taken on her to do what she had to, to reach her goal.

The scene where Mary was with the Queen, and as Henry and Anne departed, the Queen received a letter from Henry... It was quite powerful to me.

I'm not clever or witty enough to come up with a tag line, but I thought the way women were viewed by society, as well as the sacrifices they were forced to make, was quite fascinating, and it would be along these lines.

I really would like to find out more about this time period. I wish there would be a short summary at the end of the book, detailing just how accurate the novel was compared to history (or as much as we know of it).

The reader, though the story was an interesting glimpse/teaser of the world the story takes place in.

No. It was a nice little break between longer books.

There was something about his voice... it suited the story.

Not particularly, but it wasn't boring either.

This book made me wonder about other books in the series. Overall, I'm happy I downloaded it.

I think I probably would have used more emotion, played up things more, would I have read this instead of listening to it. The author read it pretty emotionless, which is what can be expected I guess.

I don't think I have ever read anything quite like it before.

Distant, emotionless, flat... but it suits the story.

I neither laughed nor cried, but it was quite emotional nonetheless. It's a tough subject to listen to.

I admire the authors strength...

I have yet to see the print version, but I liked the audio edition a lot.

The story when Bill became a man was very moving.

Only when he performed as a comedian. This was very different in a way that his purpose didn't seem to be to make the reader laugh... if it happened, great, but it wasn't the point. So this book wasn't better or worse than his shows, just different.

Not really. It was a nice relaxing, light-hearted book, that I could put down when necessary, and pick right up again without loosing a beat when I was free once more.

This is a book about Bill Engvall's life, not a comedy sketch. If that's what you're interested in, you'll be happy with your purchase.

There were so many characters, names of places, and general history, it was hard to keep track of who did what to whom and why... Made it easier for me to "forget" to listen. Other books (like Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay) do deep/complicated intrigue much better, by keeping things simpler and easier to follow.

I could see where the story plots were headed from a mile away, so in that respect the story wasn't all that interesting, as it kept confirming my guesses.The most interesting element I guess was the religious aspects of the world. It was an interesting idea.

No, this was my first time listening to her. I think her voice suited the main character well.

It doesn't *need* one, but there were a few story elements that were left open, and indeed there's a follow-up book already.

The story felt a bit slow and the steamy parts (the reason why a friend recommended the book to me) weren't great. Not a bad read, but not a great one either. I'm glad the story concluded as it did, because it left me with the certainty that I don't need to read the next book of the series... reading the publisher's summary was enough.