Tim Bishop

I enjoyed this work. I think there may have been some items ("A Book you shouldn't read" for example) that made more sense in paper form but it was very well read and interesting throughout. I'm entirely unfamiliar with the subject matter and can't opine on whether the book is scholarly or accurate, but it certainly seemed so. Someone unfamiliar with this interesting topic and who is looking for an answer to the question "What is a Muslim extremist?" might enjoy this book as much as I did. It will make you come away with equal parts respect and apprehension.

The write-ups on this inferred a plot of some sort, perhaps some intrigue and maybe some excitement. This was an overly washed collection of journal entries from two people who hooked up in the CIA. The most interesting part of the book was...(spoiler alert) when she wanted to buy a rabbit. I'm sure the publisher made money on the piece by playing it up to be something it absolutely was not, but I wouldn't recommend this to anyone except an insomniac. It was opaque.

They didn't tell their story. If they did, then they have the most boring lives ever. Missing a plane, shopping for a rabbit and not getting along with family is hardly the type of spy-intrigue promised by the write-ups for this one. I'd bet two accountants hooking up at a company Christmas party would have more drama and intrigue than this story.

I would not have written this one. There was no story, nothing to write about. The write-ups for this one intentionally misled listeners into thinking something actually happens when nothing ever does. It was a solid waste of time and energy for the listener and a cheap money grab by the authors and publisher.

Betrayal. I was cheated and lied to about what this book was all about.

I enjoyed the humbleness of the author as he encountered various characters. I was disappointed that there was so little info on his actual experience as a hiker (what equipment he used, what pace he tried to maintain, what he ate on the trail,etc., and how he managed weather, wildlife and nature. This is a preacher's collection of notes on people he met when he was in town (and a few on the trail). He could have been encountering people in the mall and the story would not have been much different.

I think the author sounds like a decent guy with a big heart who enjoys making new friends and being accepted by strangers. He has humor and wit and his ramblings are interesting for a short listen. This work is exactly the correct length. Any longer and it would have been tedious.

The least interesting part of the story is the part about the trail itself. There is so little definitive info, so few experiential anecdotes and almost no detail on what it takes to successfully navigate the trail that it is hard to believe he actually hiked it. I was hoping for some real detail on what it is like to do the various sections of the trail. This work is a collection of people who gave him rides and let him take a shower, as well as what he ate in the various towns and how much it cost. Clearly he copied out his diary and strung the notes together with a few extraneous sentences from memory.

There was really only one character.

Definitely not. There wasn't enough info to justify this book!

If you want a real book about the trail, read Bryson's A Walk in the Woods. Better humor and humility and much more detail about the trail itself.

Perhaps the performance by Entwistle who so thoroughly captures the "voice" of young Flavia. She is entirely believable and the story is definitely capable of holding a listener's attention.

Flora Segunda. Both employ the use of a spirited, unusual girl in a world of adults poorly tooled to contend with her talent. The creativeness of the authors help the stories unfold as the characters grow, while the loss of innocence is not quite complete despite a series of tragic experiences.

Flavia, of course

Absolutely. I didn't, but I had a hard time putting it down.

Every book in this series is exceptional! Get them all!

Nothing. This was such a disappointing follow up to Hunger Games. Collins clearly wrote it fast to try to capture sales while the Hunger Games was still hot. This could have been a short story after deleting senseless, repetitive scenes.

She could have waited a year or two before writing it. There was almost no imagination and absolutely no character development. The plot was a poor re-hash of Hunger Games a la Harry Potter or Twilight follow-ons. If she had taken the time to develop a real plot with real characters and perhaps even a point at the end she would have maintained and even improved her credibility as an author vs. someone looking to sell something.

Just as good. McCormick does a fine job.

Huge disappointment.

I thought the narrator did a fine job. The plot was an interesting twist on the age old totalitarian oppressor (1984) genre. This was a fine product.

There are so many. Pretty much any of the genre where a futuristic totalitarian society is set on its ear by an inspiring youthful character who refuses to accept the destiny assigned to him/her.

Ru. It was so sad but also the most original scene in the story.

No, not really. It would have been suitable for one sitting but I didn't block out the time for that. It was enjoyable broken up into a few sessions.

Collins, no. McCormick yes. The story was thin from every perspective. It seemed like Collins was rushing out a book to meet a commercial objective rather than produce something worthy of reading. It was the worst combination of soap opera, over-saturation of marginally useful characters and entirely irrelevant plot devices. I couldn't wait for it to end, although the narration was very good.

It was a very poorly organized and pointless story, the most interesting parts of which were overused by other authors decades earlier.

Underground

Peter

Definitely yes. I like Haddon's treatment of juvenile characters and his juxtaposition of their depth and the shallowness of officious adults they interact with.

The Curious Incident... Another Haddon work and still my favorite from him. It is hard not to love his young characters struggling to find answers in a complex and sometimes absurd world.

(Spoiler) The cafeteria scene in space.

No extreme reaction.

The reader sounds like he's explaining a normal observation to a simpleton or small child. If you have any intelligence at all it's annoying. It's preachy and poorly written. After getting halfway through I had just had enough and turned it off. This is the first time I've ever not finished a book from Audible. I've listened to several on this subject matter and enjoy theology, philosophy and religious writings. This one was sappy and trite. I hated it, hated the reader and the author and would recommend that anyone other than those who enjoy the 700 Club take a pass on it.

Quite interesting, but in my view it failed to deliver on the promise to prove the absence of a deity. I was really looking forward to more on that point, rather than a systematic dismantling of the arguments for. On the other hand the dismantling was done with spirit and humor. This program is not for people who cannot enjoy a logical exposition of an emotional subject! Personally, I enjoyed the numerous discussions of historical and theoretical arguments for and against, as well as the manner in which it was presented. The readers were both excellent. I would certainly recommend this program and look forward to others by this author.