"Magical, Moody and Magnificent!"
I first experienced Brideshead Revisited as the original PBS production and thought I had fallen in love. I was wrong. I read the elegant and voluptuous prose of Evelyn Waugh and THEN I fell in love.
To hear those beautiful words and passages read by the most mesmerizing voice in the world adds about a mile of icing on an already delicious cake. Jeremy Irons, who created the character of Charles Ryder for the PBS version, narrates and gives every character the nuances and shadings they deserve, including a few I did not expect! His narration of Charles's father is sly and hilarious!
But most of all .. listen, listen, listen. To Iron's perfect narration of a perfectly written book. I know I am gushing and I don't care!
"Engrossing Listen"
I had never heard of this book and got it because it sounded interesting and because of the high rating on it. I'm glad that I did. The Kitchen House was an excellent story told by two women, who were both enslaved by others and themselves. It captured a period of time that has been written about comprehensively, but adds the dimension of a white indentured child who is raised by a black family.on a plantation
.
The narration is fantastic and both narrators deserve kudos but what struck me so forcibly about this story was how senseless the color barrier was and continues to be. Color and who was born to who dictated whether you were a slave or not, but in this story, many of the children born were fathered by white men, yet treated as slaves. It's hard to understand how they differentiated between these children, but they did and it makes no sense. I was also struck by the strength of the women in this tale. They made mistakes, some of them immense, but they handled what they were dealt and survived. Great read!
"A Great Performance of an Excellent Story"
Being a admirer of Stephen King's writing pretty much from day one, I read this in it's first printing. I absolutely loved it and have re-read it many time over the years. I almost didn't get it on Audible for that reason and I would have been making a huge mistake.
Hearing a story read, even a beloved favorite can bring out all sorts of little things that you never realized you missed. Salem's Lot is one of those stories. Read very well by Ron McLarty, the story of a town infested by vampires and it's inability to understand what is happen to it, is enthralling and chilling. Modern rationality keeps the majority of the Lot's inhabitants from realizing that The Master is among them. Only a handful of people, an alcoholic priest, an author who can't let go of childhood nightmares, a young boy with a preternatural knowledge and intensity, and a high school teacher who suspends his belief. They stand opposite of Barlow, a centuries old vampire who intends to end them.
This is Stephen King discovering his gift and using it to keep you up all night. I highly recommend it. Whether you have read it or not, you will find a story that will fascinate and scare the pants off of you!
"A Yarn for Old School Computer Geeks"
Jeffery Deaver write novels that turn your head inside out and keep you guessing. This book is no different. The difference is that this tale takes inside of the world of hackers. It's true that this world is a bit dated, but that makes no less fascinating to newbies or those who remember those days fondly.
Wyatt Gillette is addicted to computers and the internet. It lands him in prison. But there is a killer out there who speaks the language Gillette speaks and Detective Frank Bishop needs Gillette to find him. The story is fast faced and doesn't let up for a minute. It's a great read, read well by William Dufris. Check it out and enjoy!
"A Lovely Relaxing Listen"
My first experience with Cranford was the version filmed for Masterpiece Theater. I had been looking for an audible version and this is it! Davina Porter does her usual wonderful job of characterization and brings to life the charming characters of a special place known as Cranford. The story is humorous and heartbreaking. Author Elizabeth Gaskell does not make life perfect for everyone. The world of Cranford is real and pulls you in with every word. If you enjoy the novels of Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte and E.M. Forster, I guarantee that you will enjoy this!
"Grown Up Fairy Tale"
I enjoyed this story. It is a grown up tale about things and people we believe in as a child. It is the story of a witch who doesn't want to be one and a vampire who wants something of her that she doesn't know she has. In the lovely setting of Oxford, they clash and then are drawn together against their will.
The characters are interesting and flawed. At times the story feels uneven and I wasn't thrilled about the narration, but I found it interesting and mostly a rollicking, romantic tale of creatures that don't want us to know they are there.
"A Great Listen and a Great Surprise"
I downloaded this book on Kindle. I just could not get into it. I didn't know where it was going and I wasn't really enjoying the ride. So I skipped it. Several Audible sales went by that it showed up on and I passed. Finally I gave it a shot....I mean you can't beat $10.00 bucks for an audiobook even if it possibly sucks.
...It didn't suck.. it was rich and mesmerizing. It was sweeping and epic.. yet somehow intimate and subtle at the same time. The story was really interesting and the author makes you care about the Stephanidies family with all of their quirks. What made it special though was the narration of Kristoffer Tabori. He breathes life into a huge cast of characters and make you laugh with and cry for them. He made this book for me and I will be looking for more books narrated by him. The moral of this review is, sometimes listening to a book is better than reading it will ever be!
"Brilliant, Hillarious, Profane and Just Plain Fun!"
I finished A Dirty Job today and it was worth every bit of the credit I used for it. I had a 6 hour drive one way and am surprised that there wasn't a road block ahead to catch "the crazy lady laughing hysterically with no one else in the car" I bow to Christopher Moore's storytelling and wonderful characters. I bow even lower to Fisher Steven's narration, which made this book just about the best I ever listened to. Why has this man only narrated THREE novels??? He's just fantastic.
A Dirty Job got me through nearly 11 hours of driving on boring interstate and I didn't even notice being stuck in construction gridlock. I was thrilled to just listen, guffaw, and occasionally yell in triumph as Charlie, Sophie, Minty Fresh and others conquer the underworld!
Note: If you have a problem with profanity, this book may not be as enjoyable for you. There is a fair amount of it, but I found it added to the humor.
"Takes you back to a forgotten era"
I've read other stories by Kate Morton, and they are always good. I enjoyed The House at Riverton because it gave me a "fly on the wall" view of life below stairs at an English estate in the days before and during WWI. If you like Downton Abbey, you'll love this story. But that is not all there is to it. There is a mystery and a secret that Grace, the young maid at Riverton, keeps until right before the end of her life. There are surprises waiting for you!
Caroline Lee does her usual grand job of narration and gives Grace a voice that ages with her. You'll get your credits worth with this story.
"A Long Time Coming"
I've been waiting for years for the audio version of the unabridged The Stand. And I definitely wasn't disappointed. I've read King since his first novel, Carrie, came out in print. I was about the same age Carrie would have been and was amazed that some guy in Maine "got" girls my age. Stephen King "gets" a lot of things. His writing is always vivid and visceral. The Stand is my favorite of his many novels to this day.
The story was well paced and the characters are so compelling. You fall in love with Nick, Stu, Mother Abigail, Tom Cullen and many others. The narration by Grover Gardner was superb! What a job he had... and he did it magnificently.
All in all, I truly could find nothing I didn't like, and I hated to see it end. I re-read and re-listen the really good books, and The Stand is on that list forever!