-
The Bloater
- Narrated by: Stewart Lee, Florence Howard
- Length: 4 hrs and 20 mins
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Prime members: New to Audible?Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
The Bloater
Buy for $13.07
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
The Upstairs Delicatessen
- On Eating, Reading, Reading About Eating, and Eating While Reading
- By: Dwight Garner
- Narrated by: Christopher P. Brown
- Length: 6 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 9
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 6
-
Story3.5 out of 5 stars 6
Reading and eating, like Krazy and Ignatz, Sturm und Drang, prosciutto and melon, Simon and Schuster, and radishes and butter, have always, for me, simply gone together. The book is a product of these combined gluttonies.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
A river of a book
- By Robert B Lower on 03-04-24
By: Dwight Garner
-
Ladies’ Lunch
- And Other Stories
- By: Lore Segal
- Narrated by: Callie Beaulieu
- Length: 2 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 5
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 5
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 5
Beloved New Yorker writer Lore Segal, at ninety-five years old, is a national treasure. Working at the height of her powers, in this story collection she turns her gimlet eye and compassionate humor on aging and life in the slow lane. From the master of the short short comes a collection of sixteen new stories featuring old friends who have loved and lunched together for over forty years. These erudite, sharp-minded nonagenarians offer startling insights into friendship, family and aging.
By: Lore Segal
-
North Woods
- A Novel
- By: Daniel Mason
- Narrated by: Mark Bramhall, Michael Crouch, Jason Culp, and others
- Length: 11 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,363
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 1,276
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,276
When two young lovers abscond from a Puritan colony, little do they know that their humble cabin in the woods will become the home of an extraordinary succession of human and nonhuman characters alike. An English soldier, destined for glory, abandons the battlefields of the New World to devote himself to growing apples. A pair of spinster twins navigate war and famine, envy and desire. A crime reporter unearths an ancient mass grave—only to discover that the earth refuse to give up their secrets.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
An American Masterpiece
- By Psumissyh on 09-21-23
By: Daniel Mason
-
When We Cease to Understand the World
- By: Benjamin Labatut, Adrian West - translator
- Narrated by: Adam Barr
- Length: 5 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 761
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 625
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 619
When We Cease to Understand the World is a book about the complicated links between scientific and mathematical discovery, madness, and destruction. Fritz Haber, Alexander Grothendieck, Werner Heisenberg, Erwin Schrödinger - these are some of the luminaries into whose troubled lives Benjamín Labatut thrusts the listener, showing us how they grappled with the most profound questions of existence.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
the true heir w.g. sebald
- By Thomas on 12-23-21
By: Benjamin Labatut, and others
-
The Vaster Wilds
- A Novel
- By: Lauren Groff
- Narrated by: January LaVoy
- Length: 7 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 354
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 316
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 316
A servant girl escapes from a colonial settlement in the wilderness. She carries nothing with her but her wits, a few possessions, and the spark of god that burns hot within her. What she finds in this terra incognita is beyond the limits of her imagination and will bend her belief in everything that her own civilization has taught her.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Slow torture written too hastily
- By Jennifer on 09-23-23
By: Lauren Groff
-
Happiness Falls (Good Morning America Book Club)
- A Novel
- By: Angie Kim
- Narrated by: Shannon Tyo, Sean Patrick Hopkins, Thomas Pruyn, and others
- Length: 13 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 471
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 429
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 428
Mia, the irreverent, hyperanalytical twenty-year-old daughter, has an explanation for everything—which is why she isn’t initially concerned when her father and younger brother Eugene don’t return from a walk in a nearby park. They must have lost their phone. Or stopped for an errand somewhere. But by the time Mia’s brother runs through the front door bloody and alone, it becomes clear that the father in this tight-knit family is missing and the only witness is Eugene, who has the rare genetic condition Angelman syndrome and cannot speak.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
A mixed review, but recommend
- By Andrea B. on 09-07-23
By: Angie Kim
-
The Upstairs Delicatessen
- On Eating, Reading, Reading About Eating, and Eating While Reading
- By: Dwight Garner
- Narrated by: Christopher P. Brown
- Length: 6 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 9
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 6
-
Story3.5 out of 5 stars 6
Reading and eating, like Krazy and Ignatz, Sturm und Drang, prosciutto and melon, Simon and Schuster, and radishes and butter, have always, for me, simply gone together. The book is a product of these combined gluttonies.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
A river of a book
- By Robert B Lower on 03-04-24
By: Dwight Garner
-
Ladies’ Lunch
- And Other Stories
- By: Lore Segal
- Narrated by: Callie Beaulieu
- Length: 2 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 5
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 5
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 5
Beloved New Yorker writer Lore Segal, at ninety-five years old, is a national treasure. Working at the height of her powers, in this story collection she turns her gimlet eye and compassionate humor on aging and life in the slow lane. From the master of the short short comes a collection of sixteen new stories featuring old friends who have loved and lunched together for over forty years. These erudite, sharp-minded nonagenarians offer startling insights into friendship, family and aging.
By: Lore Segal
-
North Woods
- A Novel
- By: Daniel Mason
- Narrated by: Mark Bramhall, Michael Crouch, Jason Culp, and others
- Length: 11 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,363
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 1,276
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,276
When two young lovers abscond from a Puritan colony, little do they know that their humble cabin in the woods will become the home of an extraordinary succession of human and nonhuman characters alike. An English soldier, destined for glory, abandons the battlefields of the New World to devote himself to growing apples. A pair of spinster twins navigate war and famine, envy and desire. A crime reporter unearths an ancient mass grave—only to discover that the earth refuse to give up their secrets.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
An American Masterpiece
- By Psumissyh on 09-21-23
By: Daniel Mason
-
When We Cease to Understand the World
- By: Benjamin Labatut, Adrian West - translator
- Narrated by: Adam Barr
- Length: 5 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 761
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 625
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 619
When We Cease to Understand the World is a book about the complicated links between scientific and mathematical discovery, madness, and destruction. Fritz Haber, Alexander Grothendieck, Werner Heisenberg, Erwin Schrödinger - these are some of the luminaries into whose troubled lives Benjamín Labatut thrusts the listener, showing us how they grappled with the most profound questions of existence.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
the true heir w.g. sebald
- By Thomas on 12-23-21
By: Benjamin Labatut, and others
-
The Vaster Wilds
- A Novel
- By: Lauren Groff
- Narrated by: January LaVoy
- Length: 7 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 354
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 316
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 316
A servant girl escapes from a colonial settlement in the wilderness. She carries nothing with her but her wits, a few possessions, and the spark of god that burns hot within her. What she finds in this terra incognita is beyond the limits of her imagination and will bend her belief in everything that her own civilization has taught her.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Slow torture written too hastily
- By Jennifer on 09-23-23
By: Lauren Groff
-
Happiness Falls (Good Morning America Book Club)
- A Novel
- By: Angie Kim
- Narrated by: Shannon Tyo, Sean Patrick Hopkins, Thomas Pruyn, and others
- Length: 13 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 471
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 429
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 428
Mia, the irreverent, hyperanalytical twenty-year-old daughter, has an explanation for everything—which is why she isn’t initially concerned when her father and younger brother Eugene don’t return from a walk in a nearby park. They must have lost their phone. Or stopped for an errand somewhere. But by the time Mia’s brother runs through the front door bloody and alone, it becomes clear that the father in this tight-knit family is missing and the only witness is Eugene, who has the rare genetic condition Angelman syndrome and cannot speak.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
A mixed review, but recommend
- By Andrea B. on 09-07-23
By: Angie Kim
-
Birnam Wood
- A Novel
- By: Eleanor Catton
- Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld
- Length: 12 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 610
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 499
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 498
A landslide has closed the Korowai Pass on New Zealand’s South Island, cutting off the town of Thorndike and leaving a sizable farm abandoned. The disaster presents an opportunity for Birnam Wood, an undeclared, unregulated, sometimes-criminal, sometimes-philanthropic guerrilla gardening collective that plants crops wherever no one will notice. For years, the group has struggled to break even. To occupy the farm at Thorndike would mean a shot at solvency at last. But the enigmatic American billionaire Robert Lemoine also has an interest in the place.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Outstanding thriller w/ exceptional character development
- By Bradley T. Collins on 04-21-23
By: Eleanor Catton
-
The Years
- By: Annie Ernaux
- Narrated by: Anna Bentinck
- Length: 8 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 195
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 173
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 174
The Years is a personal narrative of the period of 1941 to 2006 told through the lens of memory, impressions past and present - even projections into the future - photos, books, songs, radio, television, and decades of advertising and headlines, contrasted with intimate conflicts and written notes from six decades of diaries. Local dialect, words of the time, slogans, brands, and names for ever-proliferating objects are given a voice here. The voice we recognize as the author's continually dissolves and re-emerges.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Mixed Feelings
- By Elin VanD on 05-10-20
By: Annie Ernaux
-
The Philosophy of Modern Song
- By: Bob Dylan
- Narrated by: Bob Dylan, Jeff Bridges, Steve Buscemi, and others
- Length: 6 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 248
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 211
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 208
Dylan, who began working on the book in 2010, offers his insight into the nature of popular music. He writes over sixty essays focusing on songs by other artists, spanning from Stephen Foster to Elvis Costello, and in between ranging from Hank Williams to Nina Simone. He analyzes what he calls the trap of easy rhymes, breaks down how the addition of a single syllable can diminish a song, and even explains how bluegrass relates to heavy metal. These essays are written in Dylan’s unique prose. And while ostensibly about music, they are really meditations on the human condition.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Needs chapter headings
- By kaon on 12-22-22
By: Bob Dylan
-
Slow Days, Fast Company
- The World, The Flesh, and L.A.
- By: Eve Babitz
- Narrated by: Mia Barron
- Length: 5 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 93
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 77
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 77
Eve Babitz captured the voluptuous quality of LA in the 1960s in a wildly original, totally unique voice. These stories are time capsule gems, as poignant and startling today as they were when published in the early 1970s. Eve Babitz is not well known today, but she should be. Her firsthand experiences in the LA cultural scene, translated into haunting fiction, are an unforgettable glimpse at a lost world and a magical time.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
obsessed with Eve
- By Debbie L. Smith on 06-25-20
By: Eve Babitz
-
Forbidden Notebook
- A Novel
- By: Alba de Céspedes
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 10 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 43
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 36
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 36
Valeria Cossati never suspected how unhappy she had become with the shabby gentility of her bourgeois life—until she begins to jot down her thoughts and feelings in a little black book she keeps hidden in a closet. This new secret activity leads her to scrutinize herself and her life more closely, and she soon realizes that her individuality is being stifled by her devotion and sense of duty toward her husband, daughter, and son.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
UNSETTLING
- By Susan on 02-02-23
By: Alba de Céspedes
-
My Phantoms
- By: Gwendoline Riley
- Narrated by: Hannah Curtis
- Length: 4 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 12
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 10
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 10
Helen Grant is a mystery to her daughter. An extrovert with few friends who has sought intimacy in the wrong places, a twice-divorced mother of two now living alone surrounded by her memories, Helen (known to her acquaintances as “Hen”) has always haunted Bridget. Now, Bridget is an academic in her forties. She sees Helen once a year, and considers the problem to be contained. As she looks back on their tumultuous relationship—the performances and small deceptions—she tries to reckon with the cruelties inflicted on both sides.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Brilliant Fiction
- By CB on 08-22-23
By: Gwendoline Riley
-
The Nothing Girl
- The Frogmorton Farm Series, Book 1
- By: Jodi Taylor
- Narrated by: Lucy Price-Lewis
- Length: 9 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,495
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 3,212
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,209
Getting a life isn't always easy. And hanging on to it is even harder.... Jodi Taylor brings all her comic writing skills to this heartwarming tale of self-discovery. Known as The Nothing Girl because of her severe stutter and chronically low self-confidence, Jenny Dove is only just prevented from ending it all by the sudden appearance of Thomas, a mystical golden horse only she can see. Under his guidance Jenny unexpectedly acquires a husband - the charming and chaotic Russell Checkland.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
So much better than I expected
- By MarilynArms on 07-25-15
By: Jodi Taylor
-
I Capture the Castle
- By: Dodie Smith
- Narrated by: Jenny Agutter
- Length: 12 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,799
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,603
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 1,603
In this coming of age story, Dodie Smith introduces the visionary and eccentric character of seventeen-year-old Cassandra Mortmain. The youngest daughter in a family of impoverished artists, it is her imagination and writing that takes us away from the ramshackle old English castle where they live, and towards an intriguing tale of husband-hunting and light-hearted sibling rivalry.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Well, that was a surprise
- By Matthew on 12-16-13
By: Dodie Smith
-
The Killing Doll
- By: Ruth Rendell
- Narrated by: Ric Jerrom
- Length: 7 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 32
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 27
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 27
No one would have described Manningtree Grove as fashionable. Few would have found it especially interesting. But it was not an unpleasant place to live: the old railway line lay in a valley, and the gardens looked onto it. It was the kind of place where nothing ever happened. Yet it was here that Peter Yearman first sold his soul to the devil....
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Suspenseful, unexpected, brilliant
- By Linda C on 12-14-21
By: Ruth Rendell
-
Star Gazing
- By: Linda Gillard
- Narrated by: Cathleen McCarron
- Length: 9 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 41
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 35
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 36
Blind since birth, widowed in her 20s, now lonely in her 40s, Marianne Fraser lives in Edinburgh in elegant, angry anonymity with her sister, Louisa, a successful novelist. Marianne's passionate nature finds solace and expression in music, a love she finds she shares with Keir, a man she encounters on her doorstep one winter's night. Whilst Marianne has had her share of men attracted to her because they want to rescue her, Keir makes no concession to her condition.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
What a beautiful and wonderful story...
- By Shanna on 09-13-17
By: Linda Gillard
-
How the Penguins Saved Veronica
- By: Hazel Prior
- Narrated by: Helen Lloyd, Andrew Fallaize, Mandy Williams
- Length: 10 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 794
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 702
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 700
Eighty-five-year-old Veronica McCreedy is estranged from her family and wants to find a worthwhile cause to which to leave her fortune. When she sees a documentary about penguins being studied in Antarctica, she tells the scientists she's coming to visit - and won't take no for an answer. Shortly after arriving, she convinces the reluctant team to rescue an orphaned baby penguin. He becomes part of life at the base, and Veronica's closed heart starts to open.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
A mostly pleasant story
- By Kristyn Rose on 02-28-21
By: Hazel Prior
-
Odd Girl Out
- By: Elizabeth Jane Howard
- Narrated by: Eleanor Bron
- Length: 9 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 32
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 26
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 28
Anne and Edmund Cornhill have a happy marriage and a charming house. They are content, complete, absorbed in their private idyll. Arabella, who comes to stay one lazy summer, is rich, rootless and amoral - and, as they find out, beautiful and loving.With her elegant prose the author traces the web of love and desire that entangles these three; but it is Arabella who finally loses out.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Tedious story, but worth it to hear Eleanor Bron .
- By Susan M on 08-05-16
Publisher's summary
Brought to you by Penguin.
Min works at the BBC as an audio engineer, where she is struggling to replicate the sound of a heartbeat. At home, other matters of the heart are making a mockery of life as Min knows it.
Min has found herself the object of her lodger's affection. An internationally renowned opera singer she's nicknamed 'The Bloater', Min is disgusted and attracted to him in equal measure. But with a husband so invisible that she accidentally turns the lights off on him even when he's still in the room, Min can't quite bring herself to silence The Bloater's overtures.
Vain, materialistic, yet surprisingly tender, The Bloater is a sparklingly ironic comedy of manners for all flirtatious gossips who love to hate and hate to love.
Critic reviews
"Should The Bloater be republished? Oh God, absolutely, it's fantastic." (Stewart Lee)
"It is the perfect aperitif, makes you feel warm and careless and much, much happier." (The Times)
"Brittle, spry, spiky, amusing, a comedy of love...an original and distinctive flavour." (Sunday Times)
More from the same
Narrator
Related to this topic
-
Fire and Hemlock
- By: Diana Wynne Jones
- Narrated by: Gemma Dawson
- Length: 11 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 92
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 80
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 78
Polly has two sets of memories.... One is normal: school, home, friends. The other, stranger memories begin nine years ago, when she was 10 and gate-crashed an odd funeral in the mansion near her grandmother's house. Polly's just beginning to recall the sometimes marvelous, sometimes frightening adventures she embarked on with Tom Lynn after that. And then she did something terrible, and everything changed. But what did she do? Why can't she remember? Polly must uncover the secret, or her true love - and perhaps Polly herself - will be lost.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Engrossing
- By Gypsi on 02-10-22
-
Cocaine Blues
- By: Kerry Greenwood
- Narrated by: Stephanie Daniel
- Length: 5 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 4,012
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,467
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,458
It's the end of the roaring twenties, and the exuberant and Honourable Phryne Fisher is dancing and gaming with gay abandon. But she becomes bored with London and the endless round of parties. In search of excitement, she sets her sights on a spot of detective work in Melbourne, Australia. And so mystery and the beautiful Russian dancer, Sasha de Lisse, appear in her life. From then on it's all cocaine and communism until her adventure reaches its steamy end in the Turkish baths of Little Lonsdale Street.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
A series that just gets better
- By Barbara Kindle Customer on 02-01-11
By: Kerry Greenwood
-
Kiss
- By: Jill Mansell
- Narrated by: Gabrielle Baker
- Length: 16 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 41
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 36
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 36
When aspiring musician Izzy is knocked off her motorbike, she doesn't just lose her dignity - she loses both long-term boyfriends, her job, and her beautiful apartment. Gina, who caused the accident, has more important things to worry about: Her husband has just deserted her for his pregnant mistress. Why should she care about Izzy? Yet, somehow, Gina finds herself opening her home to Izzy and her spirited teenage daughter.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
The story went on and on and on…
- By Karen S on 07-30-23
By: Jill Mansell
-
Keep the Aspidistra Flying
- By: George Orwell
- Narrated by: Richard E. Grant
- Length: 9 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 218
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 195
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 191
Gordon Comstock loathes dull, middle-class respectability and worship of money. He gives up a 'good job' in advertising to work part-time in a bookshop, giving him more time to write. But he slides instead into a self-induced poverty that destroys his creativity and his spirit. Only Rosemary, ever-faithful Rosemary, has the strength to challenge his commitment to his chosen way of life.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Gordon's Grey World is Colored with Grant
- By Timothy on 09-25-11
By: George Orwell
-
Lady Oracle
- By: Margaret Atwood
- Narrated by: Lorelei King
- Length: 11 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 90
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 81
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 80
From fat girl to thin, from red hair to mud brown, from London to Toronto, from Polish count to radical husband - Joan Foster is utterly confused by her life of multiple identities. She decides to escape to an Italian hill town to take stock of her life. But first, she must organize her own death.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A Feminist Romp
- By annkpowers on 07-02-22
By: Margaret Atwood
-
The Nothing Girl
- The Frogmorton Farm Series, Book 1
- By: Jodi Taylor
- Narrated by: Lucy Price-Lewis
- Length: 9 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,495
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 3,212
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,209
Getting a life isn't always easy. And hanging on to it is even harder.... Jodi Taylor brings all her comic writing skills to this heartwarming tale of self-discovery. Known as The Nothing Girl because of her severe stutter and chronically low self-confidence, Jenny Dove is only just prevented from ending it all by the sudden appearance of Thomas, a mystical golden horse only she can see. Under his guidance Jenny unexpectedly acquires a husband - the charming and chaotic Russell Checkland.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
So much better than I expected
- By MarilynArms on 07-25-15
By: Jodi Taylor
-
Fire and Hemlock
- By: Diana Wynne Jones
- Narrated by: Gemma Dawson
- Length: 11 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 92
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 80
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 78
Polly has two sets of memories.... One is normal: school, home, friends. The other, stranger memories begin nine years ago, when she was 10 and gate-crashed an odd funeral in the mansion near her grandmother's house. Polly's just beginning to recall the sometimes marvelous, sometimes frightening adventures she embarked on with Tom Lynn after that. And then she did something terrible, and everything changed. But what did she do? Why can't she remember? Polly must uncover the secret, or her true love - and perhaps Polly herself - will be lost.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Engrossing
- By Gypsi on 02-10-22
-
Cocaine Blues
- By: Kerry Greenwood
- Narrated by: Stephanie Daniel
- Length: 5 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 4,012
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,467
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,458
It's the end of the roaring twenties, and the exuberant and Honourable Phryne Fisher is dancing and gaming with gay abandon. But she becomes bored with London and the endless round of parties. In search of excitement, she sets her sights on a spot of detective work in Melbourne, Australia. And so mystery and the beautiful Russian dancer, Sasha de Lisse, appear in her life. From then on it's all cocaine and communism until her adventure reaches its steamy end in the Turkish baths of Little Lonsdale Street.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
A series that just gets better
- By Barbara Kindle Customer on 02-01-11
By: Kerry Greenwood
-
Kiss
- By: Jill Mansell
- Narrated by: Gabrielle Baker
- Length: 16 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 41
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 36
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 36
When aspiring musician Izzy is knocked off her motorbike, she doesn't just lose her dignity - she loses both long-term boyfriends, her job, and her beautiful apartment. Gina, who caused the accident, has more important things to worry about: Her husband has just deserted her for his pregnant mistress. Why should she care about Izzy? Yet, somehow, Gina finds herself opening her home to Izzy and her spirited teenage daughter.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
The story went on and on and on…
- By Karen S on 07-30-23
By: Jill Mansell
-
Keep the Aspidistra Flying
- By: George Orwell
- Narrated by: Richard E. Grant
- Length: 9 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 218
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 195
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 191
Gordon Comstock loathes dull, middle-class respectability and worship of money. He gives up a 'good job' in advertising to work part-time in a bookshop, giving him more time to write. But he slides instead into a self-induced poverty that destroys his creativity and his spirit. Only Rosemary, ever-faithful Rosemary, has the strength to challenge his commitment to his chosen way of life.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Gordon's Grey World is Colored with Grant
- By Timothy on 09-25-11
By: George Orwell
-
Lady Oracle
- By: Margaret Atwood
- Narrated by: Lorelei King
- Length: 11 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 90
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 81
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 80
From fat girl to thin, from red hair to mud brown, from London to Toronto, from Polish count to radical husband - Joan Foster is utterly confused by her life of multiple identities. She decides to escape to an Italian hill town to take stock of her life. But first, she must organize her own death.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A Feminist Romp
- By annkpowers on 07-02-22
By: Margaret Atwood
-
The Nothing Girl
- The Frogmorton Farm Series, Book 1
- By: Jodi Taylor
- Narrated by: Lucy Price-Lewis
- Length: 9 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,495
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 3,212
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,209
Getting a life isn't always easy. And hanging on to it is even harder.... Jodi Taylor brings all her comic writing skills to this heartwarming tale of self-discovery. Known as The Nothing Girl because of her severe stutter and chronically low self-confidence, Jenny Dove is only just prevented from ending it all by the sudden appearance of Thomas, a mystical golden horse only she can see. Under his guidance Jenny unexpectedly acquires a husband - the charming and chaotic Russell Checkland.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
So much better than I expected
- By MarilynArms on 07-25-15
By: Jodi Taylor
-
East of the Sun
- By: Julia Gregson
- Narrated by: Tania Rodrigues
- Length: 19 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 157
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 108
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 109
Autumn 1928. Three young women are on their way to India, each with a new life in mind. Rose, a beautiful but naive bride-to-be, is anxious about leaving her family and marrying a man she hardly knows. Victoria, her bridesmaid couldn't be happier to get away from her overbearing mother, and is determined to find herself a husband. And Viva, their inexperienced chaperone, is in search of the India of her childhood, ghosts from the past and freedom.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Indian history takes a back seat to 3 young women
- By Richard on 05-24-16
By: Julia Gregson
-
The Other Side of the Door
- A Novel
- By: Nicci French
- Narrated by: Imogen Church
- Length: 11 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 95
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 89
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 89
When Bonnie Graham arrives at her boyfriend’s apartment in London, she is horrified to discover a dead body in a pool of blood on the floor. But she doesn’t call the police. Bonnie hides the corpse and then carefully wipes away any evidence she was ever there. Bonnie is a music teacher who spent a long, hot summer in London rehearsing with a band to play at a friend’s wedding. It was supposed to be fun, but the band members find the complicated knots of their friendships - some old, some new - unraveling as the days themselves unwind.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Pass
- By Jessica Tenorio on 04-29-21
By: Nicci French
-
I Capture the Castle
- By: Dodie Smith
- Narrated by: Jenny Agutter
- Length: 12 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,799
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,603
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 1,603
In this coming of age story, Dodie Smith introduces the visionary and eccentric character of seventeen-year-old Cassandra Mortmain. The youngest daughter in a family of impoverished artists, it is her imagination and writing that takes us away from the ramshackle old English castle where they live, and towards an intriguing tale of husband-hunting and light-hearted sibling rivalry.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Well, that was a surprise
- By Matthew on 12-16-13
By: Dodie Smith
-
London Fields
- By: Martin Amis
- Narrated by: Steven Pacey
- Length: 21 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 200
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 169
-
Story3.5 out of 5 stars 168
The murderee is Nicola Six, a "black hole" of sex and self-loathing who is intent on orchestrating her own extinction. The murderer may be Keith Talent, a violent lowlife whose only passions are pornography and darts; or the rich, honorable, and dimly romantic Guy Clinch. As Nicola leads her suitors towards the precipice, London--and, indeed, the whole world--seems to shamble after them in a corrosively funny novel of complexity and morality.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Big chewy novel, excellent narration
- By Sand on 08-21-14
By: Martin Amis
-
The Billionaire's Defiant Acquisition & The Sicilian's Stolen Son
- By: Sharon Kendrick, Lynne Graham
- Narrated by: Ione Butler
- Length: 9 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 132
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 116
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 116
Conall Devlin is a ruthless man ready to achieve ultimate success. So, to acquire the missing piece of his property portfolio, he's willing to accept an unusual term of the contract - taming his client's wayward daughter! Party girl Amber Carter appears to live a life of luxurious frivolity, but deep down she feels lost and alone in her material world. Until one morning her new landlord turns up, every inch of him pinstripe-clad perfection, offering her an ultimatum.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
The narrator elevated a 4* story to a 5* listen
- By Bay Area Girl #5 on 12-09-16
By: Sharon Kendrick, and others
-
Please Don't Eat the Daisies
- By: Jean Kerr
- Narrated by: Marni Webb
- Length: 2 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 57
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 50
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 49
This collection of essays observes the perils of motherhood, wifehood, selfhood, and other assorted challenges. Since its publication in 1957, it has sold millions of copies and has been adapted into a Broadway play, a film, a TV series, and now an audiobook. Jean Kerr's parodies of the clichéd 1950s prescription for glamorous or maternal feminine behavior still resonate today as we enter the 21st century.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Poor narration of smart, dry, funny essays
- By Buyseverythingonline on 04-30-16
By: Jean Kerr
-
Don't You Forget About Me
- A Novel
- By: Mhairi McFarlane
- Narrated by: Madeline Gould
- Length: 10 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,624
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,459
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,450
If there’s anything worse than being fired from the lousiest restaurant in town, it’s coming home early to find your boyfriend in bed with someone else. Reeling from the humiliation of a double dumping in one day, Georgina takes the next job that comes her way - bartender in a newly opened pub. There’s only one problem: It’s run by the guy she fell in love with years ago. And - make that two problems - he doesn’t remember her. At all. But she has fabulous friends and her signature hot pink fur coat...what more could a girl really need?
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Helpful for Sexual Assault Victims
- By Katie Best on 12-05-20
By: Mhairi McFarlane
-
Nausea (New Directions Paperbook)
- By: Jean-Paul Sartre
- Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini
- Length: 8 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 175
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 157
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 156
Sartre's greatest novel and existentialism's key text, now introduced by James Wood, and read by the inimitable Edoardo Ballerini. Nausea is the story of Antoine Roquentin, a French writer who is horrified at his own existence. In impressionistic, diary form, he ruthlessly catalogs his every feeling and sensation.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Glad to have existed to enjoy reading this book!
- By mohammed on 08-11-21
By: Jean-Paul Sartre
-
The Darling Buds of May
- The Larkin Novels, Volume 1
- By: H. E. Bates
- Narrated by: Philip Franks
- Length: 4 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 56
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 52
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 53
When Cedric Charlton, an unsuspecting tax inspector, arrives at the door of the Pop Larkin farm, he soon forgets the purpose of his visit: The fun-loving Ma and Pop Larkin distract him at every turn with strawberries, cream, alcohol, and their attractive young daughter, Mariette. Well known by the popular TV series starring David Jason and Catherine Zeta-Jones, The Darling Buds of May is the quintessential feel-good country romp.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Even better read aloud
- By Amazon Customer on 04-05-20
By: H. E. Bates
-
The Lost Weekend
- By: Charles Jackson
- Narrated by: Donald Corren
- Length: 9 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 82
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 77
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 74
It is 1936, and on the East Side of Manhattan, a would-be writer named Don Birnam decides to have a drink. And then another, and then another, until he's in the midst of what becomes a five-day binge. A classic tale of one man's struggle with alcoholism, this revolutionary novel remains Charles Jackson's best-known book - a daring autobiographical work that paved the way for contemporary addiction literature.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
What a terrific audiobook!
- By Bill on 11-10-14
By: Charles Jackson
-
A Bride for the Prizefighter
- Victorian Prizefighters Series, Book 1
- By: Alice Coldbreath
- Narrated by: Carmen Rose
- Length: 11 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 233
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 210
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 210
Mina's well-ordered life is thrown into disarray when her father drops a bombshell on his deathbed: She has a brother she never knew of. Not only that, he is on his way to rescue her from the collapse of their school under a mountain of debts. A wild journey across country later, Mina finds herself thrown at the feet of the brutish William Nye, prize-fighter and owner of a disreputable inn, The Merry Harlot. Respectable Mina is appalled to find herself obliged to wed this surly stranger.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Absolutely Wonderful
- By Elly Strang on 07-15-21
By: Alice Coldbreath
-
Cold Hand in Mine
- By: Robert Aickman
- Narrated by: Reece Shearsmith
- Length: 8 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 85
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 74
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 75
Cold Hand in Mine stands as one of Aickman's best collections and contains eight stories that show off his powers as a 'strange story' writer to the full. The listener is introduced to a variety of characters, from a man who spends the night in a Hospice to a German aristocrat and a woman who sees an image of her own soul. There is also a nod to the conventional vampire story ("Pages from a Young Girl's Journal") but all the stories remain unconventional and inconclusive, which perhaps makes them all the more startling and intriguing.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Aickman is unique
- By Stark on 08-19-23
By: Robert Aickman