10-19-2018, 11:52 AM | #2356 |
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I listened to Jodi Picoult's latest novel, A Spark of Light, narrated by Bahni Turpin, about a mass shooting/hostage situation in an abortion clinic in Mississippi.
I was hesitant about this one, but I'm glad I read it. The novel examined various viewpoints about abortion in the stories of the different characters caught up in the shooting. The story is told backwards, with each chapter focusing on a different hour-- five o'clock, four o'clock, three o'clock, etc. (the epilogue returns to the six o'clock hour, resolving the story). That structure worked for me. There are lot of POV characters, and the narrator does an excellent job differentiating them. The little surprises throughout weren't especially surprising, but I don't think they were necessarily intended to be. The story was really about the characters and how they came to be in the horrific situation. |
10-19-2018, 12:01 PM | #2357 |
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Listening to Elves of Cintra by Terry Brooks which is book 2 of Genesis of Shannara. I read it when it first came out, but now have the audiobooks of the series. I have a cold and Pandora's Star by Peter Hamilton is too hard to follow with cold medicine.
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10-21-2018, 01:27 PM | #2358 |
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Latest books: The Bad Seed and Baby Teeth, both of which feature ineffective mothers and nasty little girls with murderous tendencies.
The Bad Seed by William March has been adapted for movies/TV at least three times, including the recent rather awful version with Rob Lowe--all of which I've seen, though I never read the novel before. The novel is quite close to the original Patty McCormack film; though the narrator (Elizabeth Wiley) was good, her delivery didn't come close to the performances of Eileen Heckart and Henry Jones in their key scenes in the film. She also used a naive, girlish voice for the mother, which fit the character but was grating to listen to. But the book was creepy fun, and listening to it helped me blot out the Rob Lowe travesty. Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage, narrated by Gabra Zackman, was sometimes excellent and sometimes just dumb. Here, a seven-year-old who won't talk basically wages war against her mother, wanting her father all to herself. The story is told in alternating chapters from the mother's and the daughter's POV. Spoiler:
The Bad Seed's Rhoda Penmark is a clear winner over Baby Teeth's Hanna Jensen. |
10-21-2018, 01:55 PM | #2359 | |
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10-26-2018, 06:25 AM | #2360 |
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I’ve begun Behold, Here’s Poison by Georgette Heyer and narrated by Ulli Birvé. It’s the second in the Detective Hannasyde series but the first one I’m reading. It concerns a well-off family in the ‘30s whose patriarch (who is not married and has no children) dies suddenly. Many extended family members live with and depend on him even though no one likes him. The attending doctor, whom he didn’t like and whom his niece is engaged to marry, is ready to declare the death of natural causes until one of the deceased’s sisters insists on an autopsy, where it’s discovered he’s been poisoned.
This cast is full of characters and suspects and the family is full of colourful and mostly less than likeable characters who all squabble with and have grievances with each other, but nephew Randall is the least liked for various reasons and takes the cake in delivering withering witticisms aimed at family members’ various weaknesses. |
10-26-2018, 07:04 AM | #2361 |
Nameless Being
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Really looking forward to starting Il commisario Bordelli soon, listening along with the ebook. After that, another audiobook-ebook duet with la forma dell'acqua
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10-26-2018, 12:22 PM | #2362 | |
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Quote:
Last edited by CRussel; 10-26-2018 at 12:37 PM. |
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10-27-2018, 02:59 PM | #2363 |
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Just finished Monster Hunter Siege but Larry Correa. I thought it was better as an audiobook that as a regular book. A really good narrator can do that. Next up, an indie- Starship's Mage by Glynn Stewart. I got hooked on the writer a few weeks ago. When I bought the book, I got the audiobook fairly cheaply, so I decided to give it a try. No idea how good the narrator is, but hey, that's why I like having a playlist. If it turns out that I can't get into the narrator, I can always move on to the next book.
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11-01-2018, 11:35 AM | #2364 |
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Now I’m onto Zorba the Greek by Nikos Kazantzakis and narrated by George Guidall. The narrator is a bookish and philosophical man who hires the older, earthy, boisterous, life-loving Zorba to travel with and work for him in Crete and thus their adventures, and the narrator’s life lessons, begin.
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11-01-2018, 11:56 AM | #2365 | |
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Quote:
Meanwhile, I'm reading Sloop of War by Alexander Kent (Douglas Reeman). Narrated by Michael Jayston. Going well so far -- I've read several of these Bolitho novels, but this is my first Audible version. |
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11-08-2018, 12:15 AM | #2366 | |
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I just finished Crazy Rich Asians. Excellent narration. Completely vapid story. Wish I had just watched the movie instead. Even though it's meant to be over the top, it could have been better with editing to make it shorter. Should I continue with the series? Not sure...
I just started The Other Woman by Sandie Jones. So far so good. The protagonist thinks Snowballs are the perfect Christmas-decorating cocktail. What's not to like? [One of my English friends taught me how to make the cocktail. It's yummy and now a tradition in our house! Although I have to go hunting on the bottom shelf of a specialty store to find Advokat in the US.] From Goodreads: Quote:
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11-08-2018, 05:37 AM | #2367 |
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[semi-off-topic]
A *totally different* Snowball cocktail https://mixthatdrink.com/snowball/ based on Kahlua and Tequila Crème liqueur [/carry on] |
11-08-2018, 08:46 AM | #2368 |
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I read the ebook version before seeing the movie and completely agree with your assessment. IMO, it's one of the rare cases were the movie was much better than the book.
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11-08-2018, 09:37 AM | #2369 | |
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Quote:
Slightly spoiler-y comment--not giving the whole thing away. Spoiler:
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11-09-2018, 06:59 AM | #2370 |
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I'm listening to Mr. Mulliner Speaking by P. G. Wodehouse, read by Jonathan Cecil, as part of my long-term quest to read all of Wodehouse more-or-less in order. I listen when possible; Wodehouse is a delight in audio, depending in part on the narrator. Cecil is one of the better Wodehouse narrators and I'm in a stretch of his readings to the point where I don't expect to hear Frederick Davidson any more. However, his women leave something to be desired.
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