Mama C

I already owned a different narration of "Huck Finn" when this one came out. After listening to the sample of Elijah Wood reading I had to buy this one. Was it worth it? It certainly was! What a difference an actor makes. His dialects and voices were wonderful and I was on that river with Huck and Jim.

If you haven't read Anne Frank's diary, written over a two year period by a girl in her early teens in hiding from the Nazis, the time is now! I will warn you that this is the entire diary, not the abridged version her father initially published. She talks about sex, her body, and the tension between herself and her mother. Anne gives us a glimpse into the stresses and struggles her family, and the four others in hiding with them, faced as they lived above Mr. Frank's business. Yet, it's not just a WWII story; Anne gives us a well-painted picture of a girl going through the normal conflicts of growing up. This was a book that stayed with me for days after I had finished listening.

I found the reader irritating at first because her voice wasn't the one I heard in my head for Anne, but she did a good job of expressing Anne's feelings in a teenager's voice.

I tried to read this book. I wanted to learn how to memorize the way the supermen in the book did. But, maybe a third of the way through, I felt overwhelmed and decided I would stick to notepads.

I'm not sure what persuaded me to purchase this book, although it was probably a good review. There is no question in my mind that Edmund Crispin's stories are a delight to many mystery readers, it just wasn't my cup of tea. "The Moving Toyshop" belongs to a series of stories about an Oxford don, Gervase Fen, who solves mysteries. The tone is crazy and light-hearted, especially for a murder mystery. In fact, more than once the Keystone Cops came to mind. The mystery is involving enough, but with numerous characters I had a hard time following the protagonist's movements. Towards the end I got bored and only half listened. The narrator was very good, but with many characters, and most of them men, he had a lot of voices to keep track of.

This is not the choice for readers who love a plot-driven book! Zama's story is more like a truck bumping along a dirt road: jolts are small and you get a good view of the surroundings as you pass through. It's a slice-of-life kind of story. I really loved the book and was sorry when it was over. Zama gave me an understanding of a culture I wasn't familiar with, likable characters, and a sweet story. Tania Rodrigues did a terrific job with the Indian accents.

I remembered seeing the mini-series in 1981 and finding the story unforgettable, but I had no idea it was based on a book. My book club read the book and I could hardly put it down. The story is so well told and the horrors of war are touched but not dwelt upon. Jean, the protagonist, is a strong, admirable woman who accomplishes so much during the war and after. Shute has written a sweet love story with so much more involved. The narrator did an excellent job with the British and Australian accents. Loved this book!

Before reading this book, I had never heard of Rob Lowe nor seen any of the movies in which he starred. Yet, the reviews for it were so compelling that I bought and read it. And I agree with the reviewers who encouraged me to listen. Mr. Lowe did a fabulous job of narrating; actors almost always make a huge difference. His stories were, of course, personal experiences about interesting places, people, and situations and he tells a great story. Because I am only a few years older than the author and grew up in Southern California, many of the stories he told were about places I was familiar, though anyone interested in the Hollywood culture will find the book fascinating. The foul language was off-putting, as well as the sex, alcohol, and drug culture, but Mr. Lowe weaves the story into a coming-of-age tale with himself as the protagonist, and does, fortunately, grow up.

This is very different from the books I usually read, and that's what I wanted. A gentle, summertime book to let my mind rest while on vacation. The author takes us back to the 1950s and invites you into the life of Penny, a young teenager with two very different families: her mother and her white-bread grandparents with whom she lives, and her late father's big extended, Italian family. The events of the book take place over the summer when Penny's eyes are opened to many things. There is nothing that would offend anyone in this book (it's probably a youth novel), but it's also not a page-turner. Very much like the books I read as a girl in the 1960s. The narrator does a good job with most of the characters, with the exception of the young boy cousin and Penny's grandfather, which I found slightly irritating.

D.E. Stevenson's books are not great literature, but they are the perfect antidote for a tired mind desiring a gentle book. Her characters seem like real people, both the likeable and the unlikeable, and their problems are the problems of the ordinary person. Hilary Neville did an excellent job of narrating the book and seemed to retain the feel Stevenson was after. If you like the Miss Read books, you most certainly will enjoy "Charlotte Fairlie."

This book is not about the mystery. If you are looking for a thriller, look elsewhere. This is an animal story, more specifically a dog story, told from the dog's perspective. The author has done a great job of letting us see the world through the eyes of the dog. A few times I couldn't stop laughing as he described dog behavior I recognized from my childhood pet. Story was light, a good one for right before bed. The narrator did a fine job.

The idea of a teenage girl receiving 13 envelopes that take her on a European adventure where she gains confidence in herself sounded like a great book idea, but this story didn't work. The plot was rather unrealistic (no parental involvement the whole time?) and her experiences were just not exciting enough. The narration seemed stiff, which didn't help. A big snooze.