"Illuminating"
Okay, as a female musician, I may be biased; I think Ann Wilson is one of the greatest singers in rock, and the songs Heart wrote in the 1970s are amazing. I recently saw Heart play live. These sixty-year-old women are still strong musicians and they can ROCK. So, I was prepared to really enjoy this book.
I loved learning about the music industry, and hearing the stories behind my favourite Heart songs -- all narrated by the actual Wilson sisters!
I am not a fan of Heart's 80s music, and it was particularly gratifying to learn that they didn't particularly care for some of those songs either -- it was the coke-fueled 80s 'star maker machinery' that was responsible for that egregious period. I could never correlate the talent that wrote the powerful "Barracuda" with the drivel that is "All I Want To Do Is Make Love To You". Makes sense now.
My only complaint was that I would have liked to have heard more about how the sisters' became musicians in the first place -- because the story begins when they are already in the fledgling incarnation of Heart.
A good listen.
"Wow!"
What a fantastic book. I enjoyed it from start to finish, and now I want to hit the trail myself!
I think what made Cheryl's story particularly endearing to me was the fact that we are the same age and have similar backgrounds. I enjoyed hearing about her taste in music in the 90s -- bands like Lucinda Williams, Uncle Tupelo, Wilco -- really took me back.
A good read that I highly recommend.
"Kids Book"
Due to the Audible web site's information architecture/information design, it is impossible to tell the genre of a book from the book's page iteself. Unless you navigate to the book page using "audible categories" eg, you click a link from the home page, there is no way to tell the book's genre. (Unless I am missing something?)
Because of this design flaw, I have downloaded a few Romances, Young Adults and Kids books by accident. Actually, this is a good way to serendipitously discover books outside my comfort zone (well, except in the case of the Romances), but on the whole I find it a drag to invest time into a book only to find the writing is better suited to teenagers.
In the case of The Graveyard Book (unlike the Night Angel Trilogy series), the story is engaging, and the writing of a calibre that held my interest. It's a good book and I recommend it.
"Not as good as Kitchen Confidential"
Don't get me wrong, Anthony Bourdain is an excellent writer. This isn't a bad book. Many of the topics are interesting, and -- as a fellow parent of a daughter and advocate of 'slow food' over fast food -- the topics are relevant to me.
However, each chapter has too much of a strident tone in its writing and narration. I found I could take it in only short doses.
"Brilliant writing"
Anthony Bourdain is a gifted and very honest writer. This book sucked me right into the world of professional cooking culture; the sounds, smells and chaos vividly portrayed.
"Love Mary Roach!"
This book takes you on an end-to-end tour of the alimentary canal, and it's a very satisfying read. I'm a big fan of Mary Roach's work, and her latest book does not disappoint. I love facts about science, and Mary Roach's inquiries go where standard science writers fear to tread!
The narrator also does a fabulous job. Her wry, bubbly style matches the tone of the book perfectly.
"Riveting!"
What an amazing story. I picked this up to 'get in the mood' for an upcoming diving trip, but I don't think I'll be deep diving in this lifetime! There were passages in this work of non-fiction had that filled me with more terror and dread than any fictional horror book.
An absolutely fascinating story. I recommend it highly.
"Cancertastic!"
This book had me laughing... and crying.
The antics of Hazel and Gus had me in stitches. I found them to be very likeable characters with their sarcastic, highly literate wit. I greatly enjoyed the story of their romance.
However, as the mother of a teenage girl, I could not help but identify with the parents, and reading about how they coped with their daughter's illness literally had me sobbing. But then again, I cry at diaper commercials.
While listening to this book, I was continually amazed at the facility and power of John Green's writing, how it was capable of stirring emotions; the erudite quotes and references; the ability to create entire, believable worlds with living, breathing characters. Good writing is truly an amazing craft.
This is a superbly written story and I recommend it highly.
"Not bad, but not for me"
I bought this book immediately after reading Green's "The Fault in Our Stars". This book didn't captivate me quite the way "Fault" did. It is still a competent piece of writing, and the narrator did a great job, but I could not relate to the characters.
"Enjoyable Read"
I enjoyed this book. The story held my interest, and some of the characters, especially Ghosh, were very endearing.
I learned a lot about Ethiopia, and especially enjoyed learning small details about personal life there, such Ethiopian foods. I was craving injera and wat throughout the story. I also enjoyed learning about 1st world / 3rd world medicine and surgery.
What kicked the story up a notch for me was Sunil Malhotra's brilliant narration. Some narrators are distracting because they are so bad. Other narrators do a great job of invisibly letting the story shine through. Still other narrators, such as Sunil Malhotra, are distracting in a good way: his accents were so masterful, that I found myself wondering if he was a native Ethiopian of Indian decent, like the protagonist; or native to India, due to his subtle rendering of the many dialects of that subcontinent; or if he grew up in the USA, because his many regional American accents were SPOT ON. I'm a huge fan of Humphrey Bower, and think he is the best at rendering accents, but his American/Canadian accents all sound like John Wayne impersonations to me. I think Sunil Malhotra is even better than Bower at American accents.
*** Spoiler alert: I did, however, think the story became rather implausible at the end.
"Loved it!"
What a fantastic story! I was completely transported into wartime Russia. The characters were very likeable. The story was well written and wrapped up nicely, but I wish it were longer because I didn't want it to end!