April

I love Beka Cooper. She is strong, brave but very shy. This is the beginning of her journey in making a mark on the world and it's one of my favorite Tamora Peirce Series. The books are told from the first person and limited view of a young woman's diary as she documents her first year of being a Provost's Dog. Beka came from the rawest pits of the streets and has risen up to guard those who have no one to speak for them. I loved it and hope that anyone looking for an action-oriented story will be just as excited to get through this series.

Susan Denaker has a range of voices and accents that really makes Beka's story come to life. Tamora Pierce's unique style for this series is engrossing. It's very hard to hit 'pause' when you have to go do something other than listen.

I'd gotten Poison Princess in paper right when it first released in early October. The problem with reading a book and then listening to the audio is that you have an idea of how characters are suppose to sound in your head. In my head Jackson's Cajun accent is like butter over the page, melting into my bones with every delivery of backwards subject/verb endings. I knew Evie would have a very reduced southern accent, but I also knew it would be there. After all, you don't grow up in a region without picking up bits and traces of the regional language quirks. Still, I loved the story so much that I wanted to have it in my audible collection too. I craved to hear these characters come to life in audio.

First things first: I really, really, really like Emma Galvin's reading. I heard her in Veronica Roth's amazing apocalyptic YA novel Divergence and the character of Tris was brought to life by Galvin's fantastic rendering of that landscape. However, this is not her book.

Galvin's rendition of Evie strikes me off key because while Evie probably does have a southern accent, her accent would be coastal southern; not Tennessee southern. It's a small complaint in the grand scheme of things, not terrible, not by any means the worst rendition of a southern accent that I'd ever heard, but just not Louisianan Southern. Also, while her french is well pronounced, her Cajun/Bayou accent leaves a bit to be desired. Luckily, Cole wrote Poison Princess with proper dialect in the words so while Galvin never successfully pulls off the Cajun lilt, it's hard to miss the accent's language style in the story.

Story wise, Poison Princess is wonderful. If you enjoy reading about complicated love stories with an apocalyptic setting, you like watching a character go from Frau Shrinking Violet to Frau Badass with a lively cast of characters around them? Then I say go for it. It's quite the departure from Kresley Cole's usual XXX rated stories. Still, you can lower the rating on a book, but you can't take away an author's skill and talent at making believable and sympathetic characters. Give this one a listen.

Alright, so I really, really loved the trilogy that precedes the Tamuli. I got this book knowing that they had changed narrators and figured that I'd still give it a chance. It was so hard to get into this book. It's NOT that the narrator is different, it's that he pronounces everything so differently than his predecessor. The editors for this series should have listened to the first books and made sure the reader kept those pronunciations the same. Technically, Kevin's version isn't 'wrong'. After all, when we read fantasy books, we all pronounce things differently, however when you are creating an audio series there needs to be continuity so that you're not thrown from the story aspect due to a reader changing up key character names.

As stories go, this one is very different from the Elenium. Sparkhawk is older and married with a daughter. His wife has moved from the glass encased maiden to the strong willed monarch that she is. Yet there are still issues afoot in another continent and once again Sparhawk is forced to go save the world. If you want to continue the story past the Elenium, just go get the books. The jarring difference in readers really affects the way the story is heard.

Pamela Druckerman lived in France. She saw French parents doing a better job than she was and wrote a book about it.

According to Druckerman, French babies are treated like little adults and that is what makes the French wiser and better parents.

I have no children. I did full time nanny work for about two years and lived with and cared for children, but I feel like it's important to point out that I myself am not a parent.

This is an attractive book because it portrays a sort of secret code to getting your child to sleep through the night, eat their food and not to be hellions to other people.

Yet, really, its the culture and the social programs in place that seem to make the biggest difference. Americans are never going to take up the ideas of French parenting because culturally we are so different. In short? It seems to me like the whole book is a kind of utopian fairytale. Great for France, but not so applicable to America.

I did not realize that this was the first of four books when I bought it. Other than that jarring realization at the end of the reading, (causing me to scream out loud in frustration when the credits began to roll), it was amazing.

I listened to this book as I was traveling across states to attend and participate in a friend's wedding. I thought that it would be a great little romantic tale that would help keep me in the wedding mood.

While there is romance, that is not the focus of this Cinderella retelling. The main protagonist, Cinder, is one of my favorite fairy-tell characters to come onto the page since Virginia Lewis in The 10th Kingdom. Cinder has all the trappings of the poor, unloved maid about to be rewarded for her goodness with a handsome prince, but then, she takes a big wrench and throws it into the cogs of the fairy tale machine.

Cinder is amazing. She can do science, she can fix things and she kicks the idea that a girl needs to meet some type of weirdo-fashion standard in the face with her cybernetic leg. Her interactions with the Prince are slow and she doesn't fall for him because of his prince-y-ness but because of who he is as a person.

There are three more books in this series and I am going to be counting down to each one. I loved the reader as well. She kept the action going and truly seemed to care about the story she was telling. I hope that more people get this and share it with their friends. It's definitely worth the credit or the cash.

After reading the hunger games, I wanted to continue reading some edgier and darker fiction. That was why the initial story of Divergence appealed to me. Like Matched and The Giver, it is based in a dystopian, post-apocalyptic future.

Where this book stands out is the characters. Four and Tris are wonderful characters with complex developments and sincerely good chemistry. The audience is never told how they feel about one another, they are shown through every action, word and choice they make.

The reading is well done, the pacing is wonderful and the ending nearly stopped my heart. It was hard to stop listening to this book at all and I finished it faster than I meant to. I recommend this book to all who enjoy a sci-fi world with a smart and clever main protagonist.

Mao's Last Dancer is an audiobook that I've come back to over and over again. Listening to Cunxin's story of hard work and dedication leading to a life of freedom and fame is absorbing and uplifting. This is the tale of a man who has had to overcome many obstacles. He makes me grateful for my life. I'll never look at a yam the same way again.

Anyone who enjoys interesting biographies will enjoy this book. His descriptions help the listener to feel the breaks and pains of learning to dance and the heartbreak he endures brought tears to my eyes. Please, give this one a try for those days when you think your life is too hard.

I loved getting back into Evie's story. Life has changed for her and she must figure out how to balance who she is and what she wants together.

I loved the scenes with Evie and Lend. Here is a teen couple that has their issues. They fight, they make up, they break down and they miscommunicate. Yet at the end of the day they are trying to make it work. I get tired of the 'happily-ever-after' endings. This is a relationship that gives a great example of what you have to do to make love work. That was excellent writing.

I don't like to put spoilers out on my reviews, but the scenes with Evie and Jack cracked me up. Jack is a fascinating new character who gives a lot of depth to the story.

I like to stretch my listens out to make them last longer. It pulls that joy out and makes a hard drive home all the nicer.

Sometimes sequels suffer because its a different story than the first one. I thought this book was better. The stakes were higher, the characters developed and there is still so many lose ends to tie up! I can't wait for the ending of the series.

I would and have recommended this book to friends. I enjoy teen fiction and urban paranomal stories are high on my list.

In this tale, we learn about Evie, the odd and talented secret agent who tries to live her teenaged life while also trying to protect people against questionable paranormals. From the beginning to the end, we have a heroine who not only realizes the value of questioning the rules she is given but also who makes strong judgement calls that help her stay true to herself.

I have not had the pleasure of listening to Eiden outside of this series, but I really enjoyed her portrayal of Evie.

No, but not because it wasn't good. I didn't want it to end.

This is a funny, funny book. The characters are learning about themselves as they grow and they are humorous along the way. There is a good balance of the drama and comedy and I love this strong heroine.

I really loved this book in print, and again when I bought it for a road trip. The reader is wonderful and I just couldn't stop listening. If you enjoy a strong female character, then buckle down and get ready for Katniss.