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D. Jacobsen

7
HELPFUL VOTES
  • 5 reviews
  • 47 ratings
  • 0 titles in library
  • 116 purchased in 2013
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  • The Buddha in the Attic | [Julie Otsuka]
    The Buddha in the Attic
    UNABRIDGED

    The Buddha in the Attic

    • UNABRIDGED (3 hrs and 55 mins)
    • By Julie Otsuka
    • Narrated By Samantha Quan, Carrington MacDuffie
    • Whispersync for Voice-ready
    Overall
    (90)
    Performance
    (76)
    Story
    (75)

    In eight incantatory sections, The Buddha in the Attic traces the extraordinary lives of young Japanese brides, from their arduous journey by boat, where they exchange photographs of their husbands, imagining uncertain futures in an unknown land; to their arrival in San Francisco and their tremulous first nights as new wives; to their backbreaking work picking fruit in the fields and scrubbing the floors of white women; to their struggles to master a new language and a new culture; to their experiences in childbirth, and then as mothers....

    Lydia says: "Fascinating topic, irritating writing style"
    "Mixed bag"
    Overall
    Performance
    Story
    Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

    I would have to say take it or leave it. You might get into it and be able to finish.


    Any additional comments?

    I didn't have any trouble with the beginning of the book. I actually started it twice, thinking that the second time I'd be prepared and would be able to stay tuned. It is good. However, the unending LISTS made the voice very predictable, and to me, a little maddening. The plot and messages are good, and I will probably fast forward to the end to see what happens, but I'm skipping the meat

    0 of 0 people found this review helpful
  • Not Taco Bell Material | [Adam Carolla]
    Not Taco Bell Material
    ABRIDGED

    Not Taco Bell Material

    • ABRIDGED (7 hrs and 59 mins)
    • By Adam Carolla
    • Narrated By Adam Carolla
    Overall
    (622)
    Performance
    (572)
    Story
    (565)

    Funnyman Adam Carolla is known for two things: hilarious rants about things that drive him crazy and personal stories about everything from his hardscrabble childhood to his slacker friends to the hypocrisy of Hollywood. He tackled rants in his first book, and now he tells his best stories and debuts some never-before-heard tales as well. Adam Carolla started broke and blue collar and has now been on the Hollywood scene for over 15 years. Yet he never lost his underdog demeanor.

    Ron says: "Must have for any Adam Carolla Fan!"
    "Big disappointment"
    Overall
    Performance
    Story
    What would have made Not Taco Bell Material better?

    Being left in its submission envelope


    What could Adam Carolla have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

    He could have made his jokes funnier by not trying so hard to be crass


    How could the performance have been better?

    Didn't listen long enough to comment


    What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

    Total blah


    0 of 0 people found this review helpful
  • Escape from Camp 14: One Man’s Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West | [Blaine Harden]
    Escape from Camp 14: One Man’s Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West
    UNABRIDGED

    Escape from Camp 14: One Man’s Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West

    • UNABRIDGED (5 hrs and 31 mins)
    • By Blaine Harden
    • Narrated By Blaine Harden
    • Whispersync for Voice-ready
    Overall
    (239)
    Performance
    (208)
    Story
    (211)

    North Korea is isolated and hungry, bankrupt and belligerent. It is also armed with nuclear weapons. Between 150,000 and 200,000 people are being held in its political prison camps, which have existed twice as long as Stalin’s Soviet gulags and twelve times as long as the Nazi concentration camps. Very few born and raised in these camps have escaped - but Shin Dong-hyuk did.

    Amanda says: "Worthwhile, but difficult on many levels."
    "Geat Memoir"
    Overall
    Performance
    Story
    Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

    I love personal memoirs, and this one is particularly well done and engaging. There is a good balance of Shen's personal story and the overall politics of North Korea and how it fits into the world.


    What did you like best about this story?

    The pace of the story and its editing are very good. The story kept my attention and the reader/author is better than most. I was leery, because I find that authors who read their own works are usually not the best narrators.


    What???s the most interesting tidbit you???ve picked up from this book?

    Although many memoirs are touching and emotionally provoking, I found this book to really hit a chord about understanding the impossibility of growing up to be a normal functioning human when one is raised under inhumane conditions. PTSD to the nth degree. Shen and similarly neglected and abused persons, I think, require much support to live in the world at large, with all of its sensory overload and social complexity. Although I knew about North Korea and many of its deplorable conditions, the people of North Korea now have a daily place in my heart, and I pray for them, each and every one.


    6 of 6 people found this review helpful
  • Shantaram | [Gregory David Roberts]
    Shantaram
    UNABRIDGED

    Shantaram

    • UNABRIDGED (43 hrs and 9 mins)
    • By Gregory David Roberts
    • Narrated By Humphrey Bower
    Overall
    (2812)
    Performance
    (1169)
    Story
    (1167)

    This mesmerizing first novel tells the epic journey of Lin, an escaped convict who flees maximum security prison in Australia to disappear into the underworld of contemporary Bombay. Accompanied by his guide and faithful friend, Prabaker, Lin searches for love and meaning while running a clinic in one of the city's poorest slums and serving his apprenticeship in the dark arts of the Bombay mafia. The keys to unlock the mysteries that bind Lin are held by two people: his mentor Khader Khan, mafia godfather and criminal-philosopher; and the beautiful, elusive Karla, whose passions are driven by dangerous secrets.

    Richard says: "Do Not Miss This"
    "Shantaram"
    Overall
    Performance
    Story

    I gave this only two stars because of poor editing. It is worth a listen, but there are parts that could have been pared down. After starting to listen three times, I finally made it through the whole book. Once I got to the meat of the story, I stayed interested, although I was often thinking to myself that excessive histories and descriptions detracted from the plot.

    0 of 1 people found this review helpful
  • Song of Survival | [Helen Colijn]
    Song of Survival
    UNABRIDGED

    Song of Survival

    • UNABRIDGED (7 hrs and 7 mins)
    • By Helen Colijn
    • Narrated By Nadia May
    Overall
    (8)
    Performance
    (1)
    Story
    (2)

    Helen Colijn's account of her wartime experiences is a window into a largely overlooked dimension of World War II, the imprisonment of women and children in Southeast Asia by the Japanese and how these prisoners of war responded to their dire circumstances. The conditions were harsh, terrible. Food was scarce, medicine unavailable. Held in captivity for three and a half years, more than a third of the women in Helen's camp died of disease or starvation.

    D. Jacobsen says: "I listened to all of it"
    "I listened to all of it"
    Overall
    Performance
    Story

    The story was interesting enough to listen to all of it. Having said that, I thought parts of the book dragged a bit.

    1 of 1 people found this review helpful

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