Ellie

A few years ago, I'd seen the movie version of this novel (which is also excellent, by the way), and I'd put it on my mental list of things to do to read the book. And then, of course, I promptly forgot about it...until I saw this Audible.com version with COLIN FIRTH reading it! What a treat!

The story is fascinating and dark and wonderful, and Colin Firth's reading of the novel is exceptional. As usual, his voice is wonderfully nuanced and emotive, and the timbre of his speaking style pairs especially well with the nature of this story. The voices he does for the different characters are not incredibly differentiated, but all of the voices seem to subtly evoke the deep emotions of each person.

Overall, it is just a fantastic listen--I highly recommend it!

I am probably one of the only children in America who never read The Wonderful Wizard of Oz as a child. So, as an adult, I figured it was time to experience it now. The story is a good one--very different from the movie, but fantastic and fun and complex in so many interesting ways. But the real stunner here is Anne Hathaway's reading of the story. She does a phenomenal job of bringing the different characters to life, all of them with fanciful, beautiful, spirited voices. I absolutely loved listening to her read this lovely story. I think her reading does an amazing job of making a story that seems more fitted to young people really wonderful and exciting for readers (and listeners) of all ages. Highly recommended.

Okay, I'll admit it: I have now become completely addicted to audiobooks. And THIS BOOK is the main reason why. This book is so hilarious, while also being really insightful--in a word: spectacular. I'm sure reading the book would be excellent as well, but the amazingness of the text is really complemented by Tina Fey's fantastic reading of it. She is so hilarious and wonderful, and hearing her say everything really adds a lot to what I got out of the book. I would highly recommend this book for pretty much everyone. Get it now!

This book was really interesting--a combination of scientific examination of different kinds of poisons (cool!), CSI-type mystery solving, and interesting NYC history. It's a really cool idea and I really loved the content! The reader, on the other hand, was a bit weird. She seemed to mispronounce some words and she did a lot of kind of strange voices (over-wrought accents, not saying sentences properly, etc.). I liked the book nonetheless, though, and I'd recommend it for anyone interested in these types of "true crime" topics.

I've long been fascinated by the history if Nazism and the Third Reich, but I'd never gotten around to reading this iconic work on the topic (probably because it is over 1200 pages long). And, indeed, this is a long listen--about 40 hours!!!--but it is *completely* worth it. The historical research that went into this book is excellent and incredibly detailed, and the reading of the book is evocative, accurate, and amazing. Some of the pithy asides from the author are a bit ideologically dated, but it's well worth it. I highly recommend this fantastic listen for anyone who is interested in history and wants a really detailed portrait of this fascinating and dark period.

So, of course, around Christmastime when this novel came out, I thought it would be fun to listen to, since I hadn't read the book itself in a very long time. And WOW, this listen is fantastic! Tim Curry is a master reader and does amazing voices for all the characters. I loved it and I would *highly* recommend this book for anyone who loves Charles Dickens and/or Christmas :)

This book was very well-written and the performances are marvelous. I have pretty high standards for giving books 5 stars, hence the 4 star rating for this book, but it's really excellent. It's a great mixture of complex, subtle literature and wonderfully-developed suspense. The story evokes Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre, and elements of it have the same beautifully dark nature of those novels; yet at the same time, the novel brings in many new, creative, and surprising elaborations of those classic Bronte-like themes. Great read/listen! Definitely check it out!