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Annie's got bad news for her ex-boyfriend, curator Ernst Pettigrew: the snooty Brock Museum's new 15-million-dollar Caravaggio painting is as fake as a three-dollar bill. And the same night Annie makes her shattering appraisal, the janitor on duty is killed - and Ernst disappears. To top it all off, a well-known art dealer has absconded with multiple Old Master drawings, leaving yet more forgeries in their places. Finding the originals - and pocketing the reward money - will get Annie's new landlord off her back.
In search of adventure, 29-year-old Conor Grennan traded his day job for a year-long trip around the globe, a journey that began with a three-month stint volunteering at the Little Princes Children's Home, an orphanage in war-torn Nepal. Conor was initially reluctant to volunteer, unsure whether he had the proper skill, or enough passion, to get involved in a developing country in the middle of a civil war. But he was soon overcome by the herd of rambunctious, resilient children.
The Shape of Water is set in Cold War-era Baltimore at the Occam Aerospace Research Center, which has recently received its most sensitive asset ever: an amphibious man captured in the Amazon. What unfolds is a stirring romance between the asset and one of the janitors on staff, a mute woman who uses sign language to communicate with the creature.
Joe King Oliver was one of the NYPD's finest investigators, until, dispatched to arrest a well-heeled car thief, he is framed for assault by his enemies within the NYPD, a charge which lands him in solitary at Rikers Island. A decade later, King is a private detective, running his agency with the help of his teenage daughter, Aja-Denise. Broken by the brutality he suffered and committed in equal measure while behind bars, his work and his daughter are the only light in his solitary life. When he receives a card in the mail from the woman who admits she was paid to frame him those years ago, King realizes that he has no choice.
Meet Eleanor Oliphant: She struggles with appropriate social skills and tends to say exactly what she's thinking. Nothing is missing in her carefully timetabled life of avoiding social interactions, where weekends are punctuated by frozen pizza, vodka, and phone chats with Mummy. But everything changes when Eleanor meets Raymond, the bumbling and deeply unhygienic IT guy from her office.
Why we think it’s a great listen: Some books are meant to be read; others are meant to be heard – Water for Elephants falls into the second group, and is one of the best examples we have of how a powerful performance enhances a great story. Nonagenarian Jacob Jankowski reflects back on his wild and wondrous days with a circus. It's the Depression Era and Jacob, finding himself parentless and penniless, joins the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth.
Annie's got bad news for her ex-boyfriend, curator Ernst Pettigrew: the snooty Brock Museum's new 15-million-dollar Caravaggio painting is as fake as a three-dollar bill. And the same night Annie makes her shattering appraisal, the janitor on duty is killed - and Ernst disappears. To top it all off, a well-known art dealer has absconded with multiple Old Master drawings, leaving yet more forgeries in their places. Finding the originals - and pocketing the reward money - will get Annie's new landlord off her back.
In search of adventure, 29-year-old Conor Grennan traded his day job for a year-long trip around the globe, a journey that began with a three-month stint volunteering at the Little Princes Children's Home, an orphanage in war-torn Nepal. Conor was initially reluctant to volunteer, unsure whether he had the proper skill, or enough passion, to get involved in a developing country in the middle of a civil war. But he was soon overcome by the herd of rambunctious, resilient children.
The Shape of Water is set in Cold War-era Baltimore at the Occam Aerospace Research Center, which has recently received its most sensitive asset ever: an amphibious man captured in the Amazon. What unfolds is a stirring romance between the asset and one of the janitors on staff, a mute woman who uses sign language to communicate with the creature.
Joe King Oliver was one of the NYPD's finest investigators, until, dispatched to arrest a well-heeled car thief, he is framed for assault by his enemies within the NYPD, a charge which lands him in solitary at Rikers Island. A decade later, King is a private detective, running his agency with the help of his teenage daughter, Aja-Denise. Broken by the brutality he suffered and committed in equal measure while behind bars, his work and his daughter are the only light in his solitary life. When he receives a card in the mail from the woman who admits she was paid to frame him those years ago, King realizes that he has no choice.
Meet Eleanor Oliphant: She struggles with appropriate social skills and tends to say exactly what she's thinking. Nothing is missing in her carefully timetabled life of avoiding social interactions, where weekends are punctuated by frozen pizza, vodka, and phone chats with Mummy. But everything changes when Eleanor meets Raymond, the bumbling and deeply unhygienic IT guy from her office.
Why we think it’s a great listen: Some books are meant to be read; others are meant to be heard – Water for Elephants falls into the second group, and is one of the best examples we have of how a powerful performance enhances a great story. Nonagenarian Jacob Jankowski reflects back on his wild and wondrous days with a circus. It's the Depression Era and Jacob, finding himself parentless and penniless, joins the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth.
Harper Lee’s Pulitzer prize-winning masterwork of honor and injustice in the deep south - and the heroism of one man in the face of blind and violent hatred, available now for the first time as a digital audiobook. One of the best-loved stories of all time, To Kill a Mockingbird has been translated into more than 40 languages, sold more than 30 million copies worldwide, served as the basis for an enormously popular motion picture, and was voted one of the best novels of the 20th century by librarians across the country.
Frank W. Abagnale was one of the most daring conmen, forgers, imposters, and escape artists in history. In his brief but notorious criminal career, Abagnale donned a pilot's uniform and copiloted a Pan Am jet, masqueraded as the supervising resident of a hospital, practiced law without a license, passed himself off as a college sociology professor, and cashed over $2.5 million in forged checks, all before he was 21. His story is now a film starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks.
Before John Glenn orbited the Earth or Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, a group of dedicated female mathematicians known as "human computers" used pencils, slide rules, and adding machines to calculate the numbers that would launch rockets and astronauts into space. Among these problem solvers were a group of exceptionally talented African American women, some of the brightest minds of their generation.
Balram Halwai is a complicated man. Servant. Philosopher. Entrepreneur. Murderer. Balram tells us the terrible and transfixing story of how he came to be a success in life - having nothing but his own wits to help him along. Through Balram's eyes, we see India as we've never seen it before: the cockroaches and the call centers, the prostitutes and the worshippers, the water buffalo and, trapped in so many kinds of cages that escape is (almost) impossible, the white tiger.
With a charisma as undeniable as it is unexpected, Balram teaches us that religion doesn't create morality and money doesn't solve every problem.
At the age of 22, Jennifer Worth left her comfortable home to move into a convent and become a midwife in postwar London’s East End slums. The colorful characters she met while delivering babies all over London - from the plucky, warm-hearted nuns with whom she lived to the woman with 24 children who couldn't speak English to the prostitutes and dockers of the city’s seedier side - illuminate a fascinating time in history.
Hoping to improve their social standing, May and Pearl's parents arrange for their daughters to "Gold Mountain men" who have come from Los Angeles to find brides. But when the sisters leave China and arrive at Angel's Island (the Ellis Island of the West, where they are detained, interrogated, and humiliated for months) they feel the harsh reality of leaving home. And when May discovers she's pregnant, the situation becomes even more desperate. The sisters make a pact that no one can ever know.
With her inquisitive mind, Charlotte Holmes has never felt comfortable with the demureness expected of the fairer sex in upper-class society. But even she never thought that she would become a social pariah, an outcast fending for herself on the mean streets of London. When the city is struck by a trio of unexpected deaths and suspicion falls on her sister and her father, Charlotte is desperate to find the true culprits and clear the family name.
Bring meaning and joy to all your days with this internationally best-selling guide to the Japanese concept of ikigai - the happiness of always being busy - as revealed by the daily habits of the world's longest-living people.
People start dropping dead around Charlie, giant ravens perch on his building, and it seems that everywhere he goes, a dark presence whispers to him from under the streets. Strange names start appearing on his nightstand notepad, and before he knows it, those people end up dead, too. Yup, it seems that Charlie Asher has been recruited for a new job, an unpleasant but utterly necessary one: Death.
This powerful and breathtaking novel is the story of four cadets who have become bloodbrothers. Together they will encounter the hell of hazing and the rabid, raunchy and dangerously secretive atmosphere of an arrogant and proud military institute. They will experience the violence. The passion. The rage. The friendship. The loyalty. The betrayal. Together, they will brace themselves for the brutal transition to manhood... and one will not survive.
Lady Emily Hardcastle is an eccentric widow with a secret past. Florence Armstrong, her maid and confidante, is an expert in martial arts. The year is 1908 and they've just moved from London to the country, hoping for a quiet life. But it is not long before Lady Hardcastle is forced out of her self-imposed retirement. There's a dead body in the woods, and the police are on the wrong scent. Lady Hardcastle makes some enquiries of her own, and it seems she knows a surprising amount about crime investigation...
The world as we know it is ending. Evolution has reversed itself, affecting every living creature on earth. Science cannot stop the world from running backward, as woman after woman gives birth to infants that appear to be primitive species of humans. Thirty-two-year-old Cedar Hawk Songmaker, adopted daughter of a pair of big-hearted, open-minded Minneapolis liberals, is as disturbed and uncertain as the rest of America around her. But for Cedar, this change is profound and deeply personal. She is four months pregnant.
It is hard to believe that a poor orphan who has never read a newspaper or gone to school could win such a contest. But through a series of exhilarating tales, Ram explains to his lawyer how episodes in his life gave him the answer to each question. In his warm-hearted tale lies all the comedy, tragedy, joy and pathos of modern India.
Hear the whole story behind the Academy Award-winning film Slumdog Millionaire!
This audiobook is masterfully read by Christopher Simpson, who is absolutely outstanding given his vast array of accents and vocal gymnastics. His reading adds an ingredient that would have been sorely missed without him. Having just visited India, I found I was pulled right into the vivid storyline.
I loved the movie but I found the stories in the book far more moving. It's originally entitled Q&A which is actually the story's format. I haven't been teary-eyed over many stories, but this one really touched my heart. The narrative jumps around a bit, but it all still plays out quite powerfully. The movie is based on the dynamics from this book, but I wish it used a few more of these stories (while politically, I can understand why they didn't). Ram Mohammad Thomas (Jamal in the movie), is still quite unforgettable. Salim and the host of other good and bad guys and all of their stories will stay with me for a long time. Even the charismatic TV show emcee has important history; I loved it. It's heavy at times, but a powerful read.
Highly recommended.
22 of 22 people found this review helpful
I like this kind of book. There's a huge mystery to be solved. Hints and details are given in *unchronological order* (If you like that style of presentation, Google search: "Haruhi novels"). Those hints/details are told with believable amounts of embellishments by the unreliable narrator who is at the center of this huge mystery. (Since I can only listen to audiobooks a chapter at a time, I found myself mulling over possible clues scattered throughout the novel and was rewarded for my analysis efforts in the end). Decent and lovable characters die horrible deaths just as easily as random NPCs from the street. Oh, and the story takes place in India. India! How many books on Audible take place in India? From someone who really knows India? Sure, Vikas Swarup may be yet another US-born Indian, but the details he writes in sounds credible enough.
16 of 16 people found this review helpful
Q and A (the book's original title) is a novel of vast scope and tremendous depth, full of irony amid tragedy, and hope surrounded by despair. The "story" of its main character, "Ram Mohammed Thomas," is the equivalent of at least a dozen stories, and gives the reader/listener SO much more than the movie, Slumdog Millionaire, could ever hope to do. For those who saw the movie, listening to the novel will be an entirely different experience.
There is something in this novel for everyone to relate to, I believe, and what makes it all so marvelous is the writing talent of its first-time novelist, Vikas Swarup. Mr. Swarup has given us all a look into contemporary life in the big cities of India, through the eyes of a boy badly used by that life. In doing so, he educates while entertaining us with a plot filled with incredible coincidences, and surprise conclusions that keep us on edge, and eager for more. That's what I can say about the book alone; add Christopher Simpson's amazing array of voices and accents that match up with characters coming from various social classes and regions, and this Slumdog Millionaire becomes an un-put-down-able "listen."
26 of 27 people found this review helpful
I have been disappointed in many over-hyped best sellers so I am not quick to pick them up most of the time. However, when Audible made this book available on The Deal of the Day, I was curious to see what the fuss was about. As a debut novel, Slumdog Millionaire, is quite an achievement for Vikas Swarup. Ram Mohammad Thomas is arrested for cheating on a game show in which he won 1 billion rupees and what follows then is his first person account of his life story detailing how this poor, unsophisticated boy came to know all the answers for the game show without cheating. Much like Forrest Gump, Thomas is naive, even stupid at times, and has no financial resources, yet through strange twists of fate, a good and mostly honest heart, and dumb luck, he encounters people from all walks of life and repeatedly falls into excrement yet comes up smelling like a rose.
In telling the tale Swarup gives us thumbnail sketches of the sadder side of the lives of the 1.2 billion people that populate India especially many of the children - hunger, prostitution, thievery, gangs, and physical and sexual abuse. I have read several novels about modern day India before (the best being A Fine Balance, Rohinton Mistry) so I didn't find the stories shocking, but did find many of them quite poignant. However, Swarup has given his protagonist an almost indefatigable sense of optimism and has woven some nice ironic humor into most of the narrative so the book is touching without being overwhelmingly depressing.
There are some common minor problems of the debut novel - Slumdog sometimes seems to "cram in" so much that it loses focus, and although the narrative is not intended to be totally linear, there are some mis-steps in the timeline that can be confusing to the listener.
Christopher Simpson's narration is first class. His acting talent is useful in bringing the listener "up close and personal" with this First Person account and he does amazingly good accents - Indian, Irish, Australian. (The voice he uses for the game show host is so perfectly smarmy - I loved it!)
This book wasn't over-hyped - it really is a very good debut novel.
10 of 10 people found this review helpful
Nothing like the movie in the sense that the story doesn't follow the same line through telling the story -- at least not focusing so much on the game show theatrics like the movie.
This is a sad but triumphant tale, and it was amazing how the story progressed and how the life of the main character seemed to develop. Actually, I enjoyed this story a lot, but I expected it to be more like the movie, and it wasn't. I thought it was much better.
6 of 6 people found this review helpful
I loved this book. Great Narrator. Great Story. I havent seen the movie yet (wanted to read the book first) but can understand why a screenplay was written based on this book. The story has terribly sad moments but is injected with humor at the same time and is definitely one of those "feel good" types of stories.
6 of 6 people found this review helpful
Emotional adventure, educational regarding the life conditions of many in India. A brilliant and original concept for telling this amazing story. This story describes an extraordinary child's overcoming of political, social, and moral corruption in India.
6 of 6 people found this review helpful
At times I was going to award this book three stars. At other times, it was five. I finally settled on four because the story and characters were riveting but the narration left me missing phrases at a time. Accents can certainly contribute to the atmosphere of a reading but when they compromise understanding, they've gone a bit overboard. A major plot revelation very near the end caught me by surprise and it probably should not have. In my mind that gave Swarup some extra points and pushed the stars to four. With the exception of that surprise, most of the rest of the book was pretty easy to predict. The author made it easy for the listener to put himself/herself in Thomas' place and that meant some good listening. I look forward to seeing the movie adaptation of this book.
12 of 13 people found this review helpful
This novel is about a man being accused of cheating on a trivia type game show. It is presented in an interesting fashion; each chapter details a life experience which helped the main character answer one of the trivia questions. I found the book to be well written and interesting although a little bit sad to see the hardships that the main characters and his friends experience. The novel is quite different from the movie, although the idea is similar.
The narration was very good. I was very impressed with all of the accents and voices expressed by the narrator.
5 of 5 people found this review helpful
As others have noted, the book is longer, different, and more interesting than the movie. The characters are more thoroughly drawn out, and the link between each story and the money that Ram wins from each question in the contest is more clear.
In each story, Ram loses something. Or more specifically, he voluntarily gives up something in order to help someone else. The contest is how he gets paid back for his lifetime of suffering and generosity.
The narration is interesting, with a variety of Indian accents. I enjoyed the movie for the images of India, but I enjoyed the book for the characters and the morality play among them.
10 of 11 people found this review helpful