Cathy

I made the mistake of listening to this after an elegant piece of literature (The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet). The story line is extremely simple bedded in a rambling series of excursions into the past to participate in first-person experiences straight out of a textbook (civil rights march, Ben Franklin, Greek figures, presidents, authors, etc.) This is good fourth grade entertainment. I did manage to make it through the book, but the never-ending series of 'he said' and 'she said' combined with lusterless reading made it a trial.

I have become quite impressed with the writing of Louise Erdrich, so when I saw this small older offering with no reviews I gave it a try. It is a young adult book, with a poor reader. The story is simple, not particularly well constructed and a bit jumpy as it does not follow emotional threads or action threads through for a "reader"s complete understanding. If you, like me, are an admirer of Ms Erdrich's novels, don't bother with this little, inexpensive offering. It bears no resemblance to her writing of the last decade, except it concentrates on Native American life.

Loved this! There have been tragic events in my life that left me completely ready for the elements of the story - that of a bright girl tumbled into a new, unsought life through a series of life events which were sad, and troubling, but unremarkable due to the frequency of these very events maybe in your life, or certainly the life of someone you know. That was a long sentence for a three sentence review of why I enjoyed Ceecee.

Read the other reviews - they pretty much sum it up. The story is well written but formulaic. Maybe this was written for a much younger listener, but I certainly think this book was painted not with the full rainbow, but with black and white. My world is in shades of color - people are not just good and bad.

As for the music, I found it not only distracting but awful. After listening to the first half of the first performance, I tried the first quarter of the second (just in case it was better - It Was Not) and just forwarded through the rest of the singing spots for the rest of the book. If I wanted to listen to music I'd listen to music. I want to listen to writing. That's why I like Audible

I wouldn't try another from the author, but definitely would from Ms Dunne.

The idea of hearing about her adventures on the Pacific Crest Trail was exciting, but the book was really about her relationship with her family, personal exploration and coming to terms with grief.

Ms Dunne is a solid performer to whom I would listen again. I've enjoyed her reading in the past, and look forward to it in the future.

This book needs an editor. I'm not sure who the audience should be, but as an outdoors person it wasn't directed to me. Ms Strayed's experiments with heroin use lent color to the story, and contributed to a general understanding of her as a character. With that said, I bought the book for the story of her encounters with nature, and that was covered in this book with no need for follow-up.

I reviewed this book after listening to several interviews with the author. I was considering it as a book we might offer to customers in our park visitor centers. I was interested enough to have my attention held by the book, but found it unsuitable as an offering in a nature-related book store. The author's language is colorful (I consider four-letter words colorful when used in context), but her sexual exploits and drug experiments take the course of the book from a wilderness, nature experience to one describing personal awareness as the central theme.

The story is enticing, and, if it wasn’t an Audible version, I’d call it “a real page turner.” Thirty plus hours was not a minute too long to tell the complex tale of interwoven lives, braided time, and resonance. It’s not difficult to follow, even with its complexity. I thoroughly recommend this book to people who love a well-told story, and can stand suspense but step back from horror.

I've never before listened to Mr. Wasson, but I'll look for other books he's read. He was adept at keeping his characters different and identifiable (even if he did slip into a Jimmy Stewart drawl for several of them).

I may have wanted to (because it was hard to turn of my MP3 player and get my mind on something else), but at 30 plus hours it would hardly have been possible.

In my mind Stephen King is one of the truly brilliant story tellers of our time. That amazing ability of his to bring a mundane scene to Technicolor is both a huge plus and a huge minus to me. When I read “Cujo”, the story of a family pet, the writing was riveting and horrifying, but (just barely) acceptable to me, as was “Christine” and “Thinner”. However, “It”, “The Tommyknockers” and “Misery” put me over the edge into places my mind did not want to dwell (who can really love a clown after they’ve thoroughly read King?) and as a result I quit reading every King novel. I tried “Lisey’s Story” a couple of years ago thinking Mr. King had ventured from terror into telling a good yarn, but it turned out to be a bit much for me. Then I found “11-22-63: A Novel.” I am again enamored of Mr. King, and look forward to enjoying his prowess as a weaver of the threads of fiction.

I have read at least four of Ms. Picoult's books and really enjoyed them. Even after reading this one I have to say she can tell a story that keeps you listening/reading to the end. This selection is a strange combination of ghost story, science fact, science fiction, history, wildly-fictional imagination, anthropology review, love story, loss story, and (did I mention?) ghost story. It is mildly entertaining and the narration is brilliant. As a previous reviewer mention it is packed with every simile Ms. Picoult ever jotted into a notebook as something to use some day. All round, an odd book. I'm glad it wasn't the first of hers I'd ever read because I probably never would have tried the others which deserve higher rating.

I read lots of the reviews from people who said the reading was awful, and I wondered how distracting bad narration would be. Well, pretty distracting it turns out. I think Geraldine Brooks is a really readable author. Poor Edwina Wren should stick to just reading, not trying to act out the characters with distinct voices - someone should tell her that a lisp is not an accent. Even with that said, I enjoyed the book and the thread of stories. I would have rated it higher, but the narration brought my rating down to three solid stars.

I read all the other reviews, and there seems to be an overwhelming dislike for Dick Hill's delivery in this book. I thought it was fine. Really. They story was really well developed, as I've heard Henning Mankell's stories are. The story felt familiar, so I think it may have been one of those produced by the BBC for television, but I'm glad I read it anyway. Don't be put off by my three star review, I consider three to be a sound approval rating (four has to be a really great pairing of author and narrator, and five, well that would just be excellent!)

You can tell what this book is about from the synopsis and the other reviews, so I'll just tell you what I think that others may have not already said. The character development appears meticulous, until afterward when you think back on the individual characters and the completed story and realize you don't know them as well as you may have thought. This may be intentional on the part of the author - considering the abrupt end, it probably is. For those of us who grew up on Pearl Buck's view of the orient, this is an interesting viewpoint, and the voices of the girls-who-become-women ring true. I feel like I'd have been more nourished by this colorful feast if I knew why certain plot turns were made - for instance during the flight from Shanghai - but this book is the stuff book club discussions are made for. Look at the other books I've reviewed and if you like any of the ones I rated highly, you will probably like this selection, too. I'm glad I read it. So close to four stars. . .