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Mary

Waterloo, ON, Canada | Member Since 2010

11
HELPFUL VOTES
  • 13 reviews
  • 13 ratings
  • 0 titles in library
  • 4 purchased in 2013
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FOLLOWERS
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  • The Time Keeper

    • UNABRIDGED (4 hrs and 42 mins)
    • By Mitch Albom
    • Narrated By Dan Stevens
    • Whispersync for Voice-ready
    Overall
    (374)
    Performance
    (335)
    Story
    (338)

    From the author who's inspired millions worldwide with books like Tuesdays with Morrie and The Five People You Meet in Heaven comes his most imaginative novel yet, The Time Keeper--a compelling fable about the first man on earth to count the hours.

    Karen Fairbrother says: "Intriguing and thought provoking story"
    "Albom always has a lesson to share"
    Overall
    Performance
    Story

    I love Mitch Albom and the way he writes and the messages he has to share. This book does have a good message though I felt this one was not as effective as his others have been. The narrator was excellent and his voice for each character was perfect. It is a short book and certainly well worth the time.

    4 of 4 people found this review helpful
  • Lone Wolf

    • UNABRIDGED (12 hrs and 56 mins)
    • By Jodi Picoult
    • Narrated By Natalia Payne, Louis Changchien, Celeste Ciulla, and others
    • Whispersync for Voice-ready
    Overall
    (614)
    Performance
    (496)
    Story
    (497)

    In the wild, when a wolf knows its time is over, when it knows it is of no more use to its pack, it may sometimes choose to slip away. Dying apart from its family, it stays proud and true to its nature. Humans aren’t so lucky. Luke Warren has spent his life researching wolves. He has written about them, studied their habits intensively, and even lived with them for extended periods of time.

    Elle in the Great NorthWest says: "Typical Jodi Picoult plot, chik lit but good"
    "Jodi Picoult at her best!"
    Overall
    Performance
    Story

    I regularly listen to Jodi Picoult. Though her books have some similarities, they are extremely well researched and very informative on their subjects. This book I found to be one of the most enlightening and interesting ones to date. The story of the wolves is fascinating and the way she intertwines it with the delicate situation at hand is genius. I always like to hear what this author has to say and love the ways she tells her stories. This is one of her best.

    0 of 0 people found this review helpful
  • Beautiful Ruins

    • UNABRIDGED (12 hrs and 53 mins)
    • By Jess Walter
    • Narrated By Edoardo Ballerini
    • Whispersync for Voice-ready
    Overall
    (3815)
    Performance
    (3283)
    Story
    (3263)

    The story begins in 1962. On a rocky patch of the sun-drenched Italian coastline, a young innkeeper, chest-deep in daydreams, looks out over the incandescent waters of the Ligurian Sea and spies an apparition: a tall, thin woman, a vision in white, approaching him on a boat. She is an actress, he soon learns, an American starlet, and she is dying. And the story begins again today, half a world away, when an elderly Italian man shows up on a movie studio's back lot - searching for the mysterious woman he last saw at his hotel decades earlier.

    Cindy says: "Best Mistake I Ever Made On Audible..."
    "Great Book!"
    Overall
    Performance
    Story

    This is a very entertaining book whose story covers many time periods and topics. This all fits together perfectly for the listener's pure enjoyment. I like to listen to a variety of types of books and this one is great for such a fun and inventive fictional journey. Have fun.

    0 of 0 people found this review helpful
  • The Cookbook Collector: A Novel

    • UNABRIDGED (15 hrs and 43 mins)
    • By Allegra Goodman
    • Narrated By Ariadne Meyers
    Overall
    (258)
    Performance
    (64)
    Story
    (63)

    Emily and Jessamine Bach are opposites in every way: 28-year-old Emily is the CEO of Veritech; 23-year-old Jess is an environmental activist and graduate student in philosophy. Emily is making a fortune in Silicon Valley, Jess works in an antiquarian bookstore. The Cookbook Collector is a novel about getting and spending, and about the substitutions we make when we can’t find what we’re looking for. But above all, it is about holding on to what is real in a virtual world: love that stays.

    Freida says: "An engaging read"
    "Loved this story!"
    Overall
    Performance
    Story

    This book has a cast of very contrasting characters with opposite stories and lives that eventually interweave and come together for a very satisfying read. I had a very hard time getting used to the narrator as she made the lead female characters sound like they were whiney thirteen year olds. Enjoyable from start to finish.

    0 of 0 people found this review helpful
  • The Informationist: A Vanessa Michael Munroe Novel, Book 1

    • UNABRIDGED (12 hrs and 22 mins)
    • By Taylor Stevens
    • Narrated By Hillary Huber
    • Whispersync for Voice-ready
    Overall
    (1155)
    Performance
    (587)
    Story
    (594)

    Vanessa “Michael” Munroe deals in information - expensive information - working for corporations, heads of state, private clients, and anyone else who can pay for her unique brand of expertise. Born to missionary parents in lawless central Africa, Munroe took up with an infamous gunrunner and his mercenary crew when she was just fourteen. As his protégé, she earned the respect of the jungle's most dangerous men, cultivating her own reputation for years until something sent her running. After almost a decade building a new life and lucrative career from her home base in Dallas, she's never looked back. Until now....

    Readinista says: "Why is this the Audiobook Tournament?! Terrible!"
    "Champion of Audiobooks?"
    Overall
    Performance
    Story

    I got to this book as an email was sent saying it had won the Champion of Audiobooks. Well, I wonder what the criteria was in this competition. The narration was great, so that wasn't the issue, but the story, which started off kind of fun and interesting just turned into being the most completely ridiculous and unbelievable tale I've experienced in a long time. Really not worth the time.

    0 of 0 people found this review helpful
  • The Kitchen House: A Novel

    • UNABRIDGED (12 hrs and 55 mins)
    • By Kathleen Grissom
    • Narrated By Orlagh Cassidy, Bahni Turpin
    • Whispersync for Voice-ready
    Overall
    (5251)
    Performance
    (3359)
    Story
    (3344)

    Orphaned while onboard ship from Ireland, seven-year-old Lavinia arrives on the steps of a tobacco plantation where she is to live and work with the slaves of the kitchen house. Under the care of Belle, the master's illegitimate daughter, Lavinia becomes deeply bonded to her adopted family, though she is set apart from them by her white skin. Eventually, Lavinia is accepted into the world of the big house, where the master is absent and the mistress battles opium addiction.

    Margaret says: "For the love of all things Holy, READ THIS!!!"
    "Worthwhile Read"
    Overall
    Performance
    Story

    This book is a great read. Wonderful characters, good plot, and insightful into the world of slavery. And yes, some of the content is not easy to stomach but the history of this subject is not pleasant either. It is interesting to observe our leading lady, Lavinia, as a child who sees no difference between black and white, she only responds to love, and how this difference is taught to her as she grows up and is separated from her black family because she is white. Both narrators are great in their roles. Loved this book.

    0 of 0 people found this review helpful
  • State of Wonder: A Novel

    • UNABRIDGED (12 hrs and 25 mins)
    • By Ann Patchett
    • Narrated By Hope Davis
    Overall
    (3475)
    Performance
    (2407)
    Story
    (2397)

    Research scientist Dr. Marina Singh is sent to Brazil to track down her former mentor, Dr. Annick Swenson, who seems to have disappeared in the Amazon while working on an extremely valuable new drug. The last person who was sent to find her died before he could complete his mission. Plagued by trepidation, Marina embarks on an odyssey into the insect-infested jungle in hopes of finding answers to the questions about her friend's death, her company's future, and her own past.

    F. B. Herron says: "Do yourself a favor and listen to this book!"
    "A Lot of Time to get to the Good Part"
    Overall
    Performance
    Story
    Any additional comments?

    Before purchasing an Audible book I like to read listener reviews and this book got an overwhelming number of great ones. The overall plot leads to the leading lady, Marina, going to the Amazon and this takes the entire first half of the book to happen. Kind of a long boring plod for me. Once in the Amazon there are some cool scenes of the actual environment and the story has some interesting developments and twists. But when the events reach the point of being so unlikely and unbelievable this book lost me as a reader/listener. I finished it but with my eyes rolling. But I must note that Hope Davis does a wonderful job as narrator.

    1 of 1 people found this review helpful
  • The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

    • UNABRIDGED (10 hrs and 57 mins)
    • By Junot Diaz
    • Narrated By Jonathan Davis, Staci Snell
    • Whispersync for Voice-ready
    Overall
    (1817)
    Performance
    (572)
    Story
    (573)

    Things have never been easy for Oscar, a sweet but disastrously overweight, lovesick Dominican ghetto nerd. Oscar dreams of becoming the Dominican J. R. R. Tolkien and, most of all, of finding love. But he may never get what he wants, thanks to the Fuku: the curse that has haunted Oscar's family for generations, dooming them to prison, torture, tragic accidents, and, above all, ill-starred love. Oscar, still waiting for his first kiss, is just its most recent victim.

    Kathleen says: "Fabulous listen"
    "Informative on the Dominican Republic"
    Overall
    Performance
    Story
    Would you listen to The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao again? Why?

    This book is very informative and offers lots on the history of the Dominican Republic. In this respect the book is good. As far as the general plot, the story of Oscar, I found it to be quite depressing and somewhat boring. The stories of the other characters were much more interesting to me. If I was


    Would you be willing to try another book from Junot Diaz? Why or why not?

    I can see why this book won prizes. I have the utmost respect for the knowledge and skill this author has, to have written such an extensive historical, and fictional and really finely crafted novel. Just a bit heavy on the history for my reading pleasure.


    Have you listened to any of Jonathan Davis and Staci Snell ’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

    I'm actually not sure if I've listened to these narrators before. Loved Jonathan Davis! Staci was really miscast for the character she was reading for.


    3 of 4 people found this review helpful
  • The Kite Runner

    • UNABRIDGED (12 hrs and 2 mins)
    • By Khaled Hosseini
    • Narrated By Khaled Hosseini
    Overall
    (5655)
    Performance
    (1067)
    Story
    (1073)

    Why we think it’s a great listen: Never before has an author’s narration of his fiction been so important to fully grasping the book’s impact and global implications. Taking us from Afghanistan in the final days of its monarchy to the present, The Kite Runner is the unforgettable story of the friendship between two boys growing up in Kabul. Their intertwined lives, and their fates, reflect the eventual tragedy of the world around them.

    Joseph says: "A storyteller's story"
    "Very Over Rater"
    Overall
    Performance
    Story
    What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

    Different narrator. I know authors typically don't make good narrators and this was no exception for me. Yes, it was nice to have the proper pronunciations of words but I other wise found him quite difficult to understand and felt his reading was quite cold.


    Has The Kite Runner turned you off from other books in this genre?

    No. In fact there are other Afghanistan specific books that I have loved. The Swallow of Kabul and the Bookseller of Kabul both great reads and way more informative on the Afghan situation.


    Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Khaled Hosseini?

    Any one who is a professional narrator could have done a better job.


    If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from The Kite Runner?

    If I was editor, I would have guided the writer to make his foreshadowing and symbolism a little less predictable. For example, when Amir is in the big fight, he gets his lip split, and if it wasn't obvious enough, the writer has to tell us it's just like Hussin. Also, the fact that this big fight is with Osef, how coincidental, was the breaking point in the story for me. (Sorry about spellings and it was an audio book I may not have them correct). And of course, the second we hear there is a child, we know he is going to America with the barren couple. Hello, hey reader did you get that??


    Any additional comments?

    I'm very surprised this book is as popular as it is. I think it is clumsily written, very predictable and pretty sappy, even for a book where nothing pleasant happens.

    0 of 0 people found this review helpful
  • Cutting for Stone: A Novel

    • UNABRIDGED (23 hrs and 58 mins)
    • By Abraham Verghese
    • Narrated By Sunil Malhotra
    • Whispersync for Voice-ready
    Overall
    (4019)
    Performance
    (1461)
    Story
    (1466)

    Marion and Shiva Stone are twin brothers born of a secret union between a beautiful Indian nun and a brash British surgeon at a mission hospital in Addis Ababa. Orphaned by their mother's death in childbirth and their father's disappearance, bound together by a preternatural connection and a shared fascination with medicine, the twins come of age as Ethiopia hovers on the brink of revolution. Yet it will be love, not politics - their passion for the same woman - that will tear them apart.

    Robert says: "An Epic Medical Novel"
    ""The Perfect Novel""
    Overall
    Performance
    Story

    I LOVED this book. Educational, informative, historical, but most importantly never at the expense of great characters and plot. The story covers many decades and the tension builds so perfectly it is impossible to stop listening. The narrator is just perfect and so gentle in his story telling. This is the best book that I've "read" in years.

    1 of 1 people found this review helpful

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