Kat

Curse of the Blue Tattoo is the sequel to Bloody Jack, and I enjoyed it even more than the first one. Don't read on if you haven't listened to Bloody Jack! - after Jackie is kicked off the Dolphin, she winds up at a finishing school for young ladies and experiences more ups and downs than possibly imaginable throughout Curse of the Blue Tattoo! Everything is told in Jackie's emotive voice, and the narrator keeps up the great tradition of voicing a number of characters all with great depth.

This was a great follow-up and I recommend this series to anyone looking for a great listen.

I love the way that Jill McCorkle paints the characters in all of her books, and Life After Life is no different. I loved that this was a great story with some amazing character studies woven in.

Holly Fielding is a great storyteller, and really picks up on the subtleties of McCorkle's characters.

I really liked listening to Life After Life broken up in pieces on my commute - each time, I felt like I was digging into a different character's story.

Sarah Vowell's never fails to make me fall in love with her all over again!

Unfamiliar Fishes is the story of the Americanization of Hawaii, and Vowell uses her storytelling - complete with historical facts, stories and personal anecdotes of her travels - to make the tale interesting and memorable. I can't imagine hearing this story read by anyone other than the author - her unique voice, along with the interjections from other celebs, makes a great book a truly spectacular listen.

An Object of Beauty is a really appealing book for a number of reasons:
Campbell Scott is a masterful narrator. He has a great range of voices at his disposal, and uses them very appropriately.
The story itself is well-written, with interesting characters.
Steve Martin's knowledge of the art world is thorough. He is able to weave real and fictitious artists through the narrative in a way that feels fluid, never forced.

This book is a really great listen, and I would recommend it for anyone who's a fan of good fiction, the art world or a character-driven book.

Slummy Mummy is well-known in England, and I'm glad the audiobook made it here! The story is one of Lucy, a really disorganized stay at home mom and the chaos she turns her life into through various missteps. Lucy is still a lovable character and her interactions with her husband, kids, and the other parents at school and in the neighborhood are hilarious.

The reader gives Lucy a great voice and tells her story in a relatable way which makes you sympathize with her (rather than finding her annoying, like some other chick lit characters). I can't wait to listen to the next book in the Slummy Mummy series now!

I really enjoyed listening to Bloody Jack - it's a great story about Jacky Faber, an orphan who disguises herself as a boy to get aboard an 18th century sailing ship. The book is well written, exciting and engaging. There are a lot of characters, and the reader does a great job of giving them all their own voices.

I'd highly recommend this book for a listen with kids - it's entertaining for all ages.

Cocktails for Three is a great story about 3 women working at the Londoner magazine who meet in a great bar each week to talk over their lives. In comparison to Sex and the City (which, really, sets the bar for all of these books), Roxanne's life is much like Samantha's and Maggie is Charlotte WITH a baby. The most compelling story, though, centers around Candice and an old acquaintance she runs into in the bar near the beginning of the book. All of the characters are well-developed, some more likable than others. The narration is tops - the reader has an authentic accent and gives this book a great voice!

This book is called the "black sheep" of the 33 1/3 series (the rest of the books are about the making of the title albums) but often times the black sheep can be the most interesting.

Meat is Murder is a narrative about figuring out relationships, death, high school, friendship, and music in 1985. Joe Pernice paints a really accurate picture of the kind of kid who would listen to Meat is Murder when it first came out. Any fans of indie music in the 80's would definitely appreciate the story. The audiobook is read by Neal Huff, who I know from watching The Wire. His narration is convincing (I think he's about the right age to read for the main character) and gives the characters depth without taking away from the underlying narrative about the album.

I was a little skeptical about listening to Mira Sorvino for a whole 5 hours, but she turned out to be a great narrator! Trading Up is a pretty standard chick lit book, with fun details about couture clothing and posh Hamptons parties (everything you'd expect from Candace Bushnell), but it also includes a hunky polo player and a great main character. Sorvino gives all of the characters great voices and she's a pleasure to listen to. Two thumbs up for an escapist listen!

This audiobook is a really fun story for kids, read by the author Roscoe Orman, who is well known as Gordon from Sesame Street!

The story is short and sweet, focusing on a child (Ricky) and his toy horse (Mobo), and the neighborhood race they run together. A really fun story with good music and a good moral for kids.