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Title: Ten Cent Bill

Subtitle: The Inspiring True Story of One Man's Epic Journey from Slavery to Greatness

Author: Charles Pittman

Narrator: Andy Holton

Format: Unabridged

Length: 5 hrs and 1 min

Language: English

Release date: 11-02-15

Publisher: Tate Publishing and Enterprises, LLC

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

From the South comes a selfless former slave who became one of the most fascinating men who ever lived.

Members Reviews:

Delicious

I read this book several months ago and loved it. Bill Yopp was the epitome of a Christian gentleman and the American spirit. The story demonstrates that anyone can overcome even the most adverse conditions with vision, kindness and hard work.

I loaned this book to an African-American friend who, upon finishing it, said, "It was delicious." I heartily agree! What a wonderful world it would be if we all had the character of Ten Cent Bill.

Wonderful Story

From slavery to success. A story of devotion, friendship and kindness. I have given several copies of this book as gifts and everyone loves it.

Ten Cent Bill

This was a wonderful inspiring book. The author did a wonderful job of combining historical fact with historical fiction. The book was an easy read and very enjoyable. Adding the pictures helped the reader to see the real "Ten Cent Bill" and places in the story. I have already recommended the book to several friends.

Mesmerizing!!!

Ten Cent Bill is mesmerizing! A friend loaned me her book saying I had to read it. I'm going to buy my own copy today because it is worth reading again!

The story of Bill and Thomas held my attention to the very end...which came too quickly. The author has told a heartwarming and heart-wrenching story of the South, during trying times, of the loving and caring interaction between a master and his slave. Ten Cent Bill follows the characters from childhood through adulthood; their travels, heartaches and reunion illustrating how a slave overcame his situation and lived a full life of caring and compassion.

Charles Pittman has captured a tale worthy of more than a five star rating. My ancestors come from Georgia and the stories I've been told about my family are very similar. Mr. Pittman did an extraordinary job researching the life of Bill Yopp. I applaud him for relating an intriguing and captivating tale. I can't wait until his next book comes out!

Great Man, Not a Great Book

The book is a quick read on a complex character, Bill Yopp. While I found the content controversial and the source of hours of critical debate during our recent book club, I would not recommend the book ... and I certainly would not recommend it for young persons or as a source of reading about what I am sure is a great man, Bill Yopp. The historical references seem accurate, but there are several other historical texts that would be preferred for facts on the War Between the States and slavery.

The author chooses to depict one dimension of Bill Yopp's life: his relationship with Thomas Yopp, a former slave owner. To believe that Bill Yopp traveled the world as a free man, married twice, had a mother and father and other family members, but maintained a lifelong, seemingly single purpose to serve Thomas Yopp, his former owner, is almost fantastical. Even so, the author neglects to depict at least the inevitable transformation in thinking that occurs when one (esp a former slave) travels throughout the US and overseas.

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Título: La Princesa de Kapurthala

Autor: Elisa Vazquez de Gey

Narrador: Gladys Barriga

Formato: Unabridged

Duración: 7 hrs and 35 mins

Idioma: Español

Fecha de publicación: 10-26-15

Editor: Audible Studios

Calificaciones: 4.5 de 5 de 2 votos

Categorías: Fiction, Historical

Resumen del editor:

Madrid, 1906. Un Maharajá se enamora locamente de una joven bailarina malagueña. La muchacha se llama Anita Delgado. El riquísimo personaje es el monarca de un principado del Punjab. En 1908, Anita Delgado se convierte en la Princesa de Kapurthala. Ésta es la sorprendente narración de la vida de la única Maharaní española en la fascinante India de los Maharajás.

Please note: This audiobook is in Spanish.

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Title: Rheanon's Heart

Subtitle: Time Travel Society Series, Book 3

Author: Crystal Miles Gauthier

Narrator: Katieandrelisa

Format: Unabridged

Length: 4 hrs and 47 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-15-15

Publisher: Crystal Lynn Miles Gauthier

Ratings: 3 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

Rheanon Donatesu taught at a prestigious girls' school in London. She prided herself in being able to take a young woman under her wing to teach her about science and, mostly, how to be a leader of women. Clearly an independent woman, Rheanon had always been wild and impetuous. She could turn stone into dust and best anyone at whist, even play cards with the finest gentleman in England and win. What she couldn't do is wait any longer for the man she loved to come back to her. She tried her hardest to find out where he was, writing letters and talking to his dear mother who was her aunt by marriage.

Rheanon even tried hard to keep her special abilities a secret. There were only a few who knew about her sorcery: the Five Stars.

Her arch nemesis went missing one night during one of the card games. No one could find out who took Miss Lisbeth Ashley. That's until a Bow Street runner comes knocking on Rheanon's door asking too many questions. Then another pulls her right off of the street for questioning - this one vowed he would have her in his bed, but he would have a hard time convincing her.

Why on earth would they suspect Rheanon? Only one person knows, and that person is closer to Rheanon than anybody suspected.

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Title: Black Ajax

Author: George MacDonald Fraser

Narrator: Colin Mace

Format: Unabridged

Length: 10 hrs and 26 mins

Language: English

Release date: 09-24-15

Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Limited

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

In the spirit of Flashman, and in the inimitable George MacDonald Fraser style, comes a rousing story of prize fighting in the 19th century.

Reissued in a stunning new package, Black Ajax will attract a new generation of fans.

When Captain Buck Flashman sees the black boxer catch a fly in midflight, he realizes that he is in the presence of speed such as the prize ring has never seen.

Tom Molineaux may be crude and untutored, but if 'Mad Buck' knows anything (and, like his notorious son, the archcad Harry Flashman, he has an unerring eye for the main chance), this ex-slave from America is a champion in the making, on whose broad shoulders the ambitious captain can climb to sporting and social fame.

Under his patronage the Black Ajax' is carried on a popular tide of sporting fever to his great dream: to fight the invincible, undefeated champion of England, the great Tom Cribb.

The story of Molineaux and his eventual battles with Cribb is told through a series of superbly original and individual voices - colourful, powerful and funny. Together they create a magnificent picture of Regency England and a portrait of a flawed hero who surmounted the barriers of ignorance, poverty and race hatred to bring the prize ring a lustre it had never known before and may never again.

Critic Reviews:

"Mr Fraser is a great historical novelist and in Black Ajax he is at the very top of his form. Damme if he ain't." (Christopher Matthew, Daily Mail)

"This is not a flashy novel, wearing its learning noisily. It's rigorous, intelligent, meticulously horrifying. Wonderfully well done." (Nicci Gerrard, Observer)

Members Reviews:

Not as good as Flashman.

The Flashman novels never cease to amuse, but this just didn't do it for me. It takes an historically correct series of events and inserts a Flashman, in this case Harry's father Buckley, but the writing style is in the form of narratives from the main characters. This with rather poor narration makes for a mediocre book.

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Title: Scattered Links

Author: Michelle Weidenbenner

Narrator: Hayley Keown

Format: Unabridged

Length: 7 hrs and 16 mins

Language: English

Release date: 09-24-15

Publisher: R. Publishing, LLC

Ratings: 5 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

Thirteen-year-old Oksana lives on the streets of Russia with her pregnant mama and abusive aunt - both prostitutes. When Mama swells into labor, Oksana makes a decision to save herself from abandonment, a decision that torments her forever. But her plan fails when her aunt dumps her in an orphanage before she has the chance to say goodbye to her mama or tell her the secret that haunts her.

Scattered Links is a story of family and the consequences that come from never learning how to love. It's a story of a girl's inability to bond with her adopted family and the frustrations that follow.

How can a child understand the mechanics of forming a healthy relationship when she never had a mother who answered her cries, held her when she was frightened, fed her when she was hungry, or loved her unconditionally?

Editorial Reviews:

"Scattered Links takes you down the street of nearly any Eastern European town, arm-in-arm with the orphaned. Michelle has captured the beauty and horror millions of children live every day. The attention to detail is impressive. Having lived in a post-Soviet country for a time, visiting orphaned children, this fictional account rings with truth, from the heart-wrenching pain of abandonment to the realization of self-worth, and the love family and faith brings." (Kim de Blecourt, speaker and award-winning author of Until We All Come Home: A Harrowing Journey, a Mother's Courage, a Race to Freedom)

Members Reviews:

Awesome fast read

Awesome fast read. I came across this on Amazon, started reading the online preview and couldn't stop, so i bought the book! Very engaging and fast paced read. The characters are well developed. Excellent and historical / psychological insight into life in Russia as well as international adoption.

So good I didn't want it to end...

This book was recommended to me by a cousin who is also a published author, Ann Lee Miller. I am so glad she did! I found the story line to be believable and informative. It is interesting that until a month ago when a friend shared with me that her son is engaged to a gal who was adopted, and suffers from a mild form of RAD, I had never heard of it, and here it is addressed in Ms Weidenbenner's novel. I was also surprised to learn in reading the acknowledgments that she doesn't have first hand equine experience. She researched very well. No where in the book did I cringe at a misused term or unrealistic involvement between horse and human! My only disappointment was the story ended before I was ready. I like novels to be at least 300 pages, preferably more!!! Oh, and I did not see Olivia coming!!! Loved it!

I read this book from start to finish in an evening

I enjoyed the part the rescued horses played in the book. And the need for understanding that Oksy has was well written. I found some of the story unrealistic though. What happens at the animal shelter was over the top. And the lack of psychological support was unrealistic. A physician or a teacher, the pastor or the translator would've known to suggest or require social services and emotional support for the children as well as their new family.

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Title: Captain in Calico

Author: George MacDonald Fraser

Narrator: Mike Grady

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 1 min

Language: English

Release date: 09-10-15

Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Limited

Ratings: 3 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

The first unpublished novel from the historical fiction legend George Macdonald Fraser, featuring the unscrupulous and brilliantly entertaining pirate Calico Jack Rackham.

New Providence, 1720s. When infamous pirate Captain 'Calico' Jack Rackham returns from the high seas to ask Governor Woodes Rogers for a royal pardon, the Governor sees his chance to put his own devious plans into action.

Their agreement sets off an adventure of betrayals, counterbetrayals, plots and escapes that see Rackham join forces with the scheming but seductively beautiful pirate Anne Bonney.

Captain in Calico is a wonderfully spirited and entertaining novel which will delight fans of George MacDonald Fraser. The unscrupulous Captain Rackham is pure pleasure and shows the author's early penchant - and flair - for writing scoundrels of the highest order.

Critic Reviews:

Praise for The Flashman Papers: "Politically incorrect, lascivious and fiendishly handsome, Flashman is the greatest." (Boris Johnson)

"Flashman is drop-dead funny, unputdownable story-telling, and much better history than anybody gets taught in schools." (Max Hastings)

"Flashman is one of the great characters of modern fiction; a rogue, a lover, and always an irresistible read." (Bernard Cornwell)

"Flashman, Sherlock Holmes, Toad of Toad Hall, Bertie Wooster. Any writer would give his eye-teeth to have created a character as good as those. GMF was one of the greats." (Conn Iggulden)

Members Reviews:

Great stuff

What made the experience of listening to Captain in Calico the most enjoyable?

Easy to listen to and a rollicking adventure

Who was your favorite character and why?

Calico himself

What does Mike Grady bring to the story that you wouldnt experience if you had only read the book?

He can "do" all the voices

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Laugh in places but more usually I listened to this with a permanent grin.

Any additional comments?

As an unashamed fan of GMF I have been looking forward to this release for some time and I'm glad to say I have not been disappointed. You can see where Flashman springs from - the "hero" Calico Jack is an obvious fore-runner, and of course Fraser returned to the pirate world in Pyrates in which once again you see many similarities. Make no mistake, the book isn't perfect. It's not terribly long - I wonder if some recent editing has occurred - in which case it has been done very well. Some of the prose that is left is a tad naive, the action a bit obvious on occasion and a bit dated (the book was written in the 60s after all) but it is a right rattling good read and if published as a new novel nowadays would still pass muster. As an audiobook there is so much that depends on the narrator and I'm pleased to say that Mike Grady doesn't disappoint - he can "do" all the voices. As an overall package I am very pleased and listened to it in virtually 2 sittings.

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Title: Swords Around the Throne

Subtitle: Twilight of Empire, Book 2

Author: Ian Ross

Narrator: Jonathan Keeble

Format: Unabridged

Length: 12 hrs and 43 mins

Language: English

Release date: 09-03-15

Publisher: Lamplight Audio

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 3 votes

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

Rewarded for saving the emperor's life in battle, centurion Aurelius Castus is promoted to the Corps of Protectores, the elite imperial bodyguard, the swords around the throne.

But he soon discovers the court to be just as hazardous as the battlefield; behind the gilded facade of empire, there are spiralling plots, murderous betrayals and dangerous seductions. And one relentless enemy.

Critic Reviews:

"Hugely enjoyable. The author winds up tension into an explosion of fast paced events." (Conn Iggulden)

"Ian Ross blazes in the world of Empire and legions...This is up there with Harry Sidebottom and Ben Kane." (M.C. Scott)

Members Reviews:

not to miss... superbe narration! very envoyable.

looking foward for the next book .... well Done. more audiobooks on rome would be nice!!!!!!!como

Another great story

If you like Simon Scarrow,Ben Kane,Harry Sidebottom or Bernard Cornwell then this is the series for you.Jonathan Keeble does a wonderful job of narration.Fast paced and plenty of action.

Loved it!

Second Installment and the intrigue, treachery, brutality continues but within a different arena. Power and supremacy are everything as is loyalty and allegiance.. but who too? Who can be trusted? Is our hero just a pawn or is he shaping his own destiny?

Keeble is superb again.

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Title: Mordecai's Conversion

Subtitle: The Miraculous Misadventures of Mordecai Lincoln: Book 1

Author: Richard F Dee

Narrator: Wayne Hughes

Format: Unabridged

Length: 11 hrs and 6 mins

Language: English

Release date: 09-01-15

Publisher: Richard F Dee

Ratings: 3 of 5 out of 3 votes

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

This novel is a slightly irreverent, fast-paced, fun adventure set in the 1830s. It features a host of genuine characters including: missionaries, mountain men, Southern belles, ladies of the night, aboriginal beauties, runaway slaves, traveling troubadours, any number of scalawags, and several Indian nations. Based on actual events and several real persons of that era, it contains mortifying, hair-breadth escapes and well-deserved comeuppances throughout. The story follows young Mordecai Lincoln (prudish Baptist parson and greenhorn pilgrim) as he travels west - intent only on revenge. He is chasing after the man who so suddenly squashed young Lincoln's rising hopes for evangelical (and worldly) glory. None other than the Right Reverend Jason Lee, Methodist missionary to the Flathead and Nez Perce Indians.

Along the way our "hero" awakens to the wondrous West and learns some most valuable lessons. Among these: how to beak a Comanche mule, drop "buffaler" in their tracks, and purchase a devoted wife. Will Mordecai also survive corrupt officials, prison, hanging by border thugs, and the flux and fur trade rivalries to finally bring down the Lord's (and Mordecai Lincoln's) justice upon Jason Lee? Listen and ye shall see.

Members Reviews:

This was a very entertaining read, with a plot full of colorful characters.

In 1835, Mordecai Lincoln was saved from an unlawful hanging by Moses Harris and Ben Hammond. Mordecai and Ben hitched up with Mosesâ group of pack mules and men, and headed west with goods for trade. Being confronted by Indians and unscrupulous characters all the way and sometimes barely surviving, Mordecai finds himself drawing on a strength he never knew he had.

This was a very entertaining read, with a plot full of colorful characters. I would find myself reading the cowboy slang out loud just to hear how it really sounds. It had a slapstick, self-deprecating humor that had me wondering what happen next. Mordecai was such a lovable character, itâs no wonder that luck followed him.

Most Enjoyable Western for Some Time Now...

THE MIRACULOUS MISADVENTURES OF MORDECAI LINCOLN

Summary:

In this fast-paced, fun adventure set in the 1830's, our prudish Baptist Parson and greenhorn pilgrim (young Mordecai Lincoln) is chasing after the man who so suddenly squashed his growing hopes of Earthly Glory - none other than the Right Reverend Jason Lee, Missionary to the Flathead Indians.

Along his meandering way west Mordecai encounters a host of genuine characters including: traveling troubadours, runaway slaves, southern belles, Ladies-of-the-night, aboriginal beauties, any number of scalawags and several indian nations.

Through these encounters he learns some most valuable lessons, among these: how to break a Comanche mule, throw buffaloes in their tracks and purchase a devoted wife. Will he also survive corrupt officials, border thugs and fur trade rivalries to finally bring down The Lord God Jehovah's "Justice" on Jason Lee?

Based on actual events and several real persons of the period, there are mortifying, hair-breadth escapes and well deserved "comeuppances" throughout.

Historical Context:

America's wild western culture still holds sway over a large majority of fiction and none fiction readers.

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Title: A Sky Without Stars

Author: Linda S. Clare

Narrator: Linda Henning

Format: Unabridged

Length: 7 hrs

Language: English

Release date: 08-19-15

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 3 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

Frankie Chasing Bear is caught between cultures. She wants to raise her son Harold to revere his Lakota heritage, but she knows he will need to learn the white man's ways to succeed. After the untimely death of her husband, Frankie joins the US Government's Relocation Program and moves to Arizona. There she begins sewing a Lakota Star pattern quilt for Harold with tribal wisdom sung, sewn, and prayed into it. A bed without a quilt is like a sky without stars, but neither the quilt - nor her new life - comes easily to Frankie.

Nick Vandergriff, for instance, is the last man Frankie wants to trust. He's half-Lakota but Christian, and Frankie can see no good coming from that faith after her own parents were forced to convert at an Indian school. Can Nick convince Frankie that white men and Christians aren't all bad? And will Frankie learn that love is the most important ingredient - for her son's quilt and life itself?

Members Reviews:

Sky Without Stars Review: Broken Pieces Made Whole

Like the traditional Lakota Star quilt at the heart of this novel, the story itself is skillfully crafted of small pieces of disparate broken lives, salvaged and joined together to make a pattern not only beautiful but strong, both improbably whole and deeply comforting.

Author Linda Clare tells a powerful tale of a strong young single mother, a Lakota Indian named Frankie Chasing Bear, who finds herself stranded and alone with her 10-year-old son in the parched deserts of Arizona, in Navajo country, far from her Pine Ridge home in South Dakota.

This is no sweetly facile of love lost and found, of cultural differences easily transcended. The tensions and poverty, the rampant alcoholism and political unrest of reservation life in the 1950s are honestly portrayed. (I have lived in the Southwest most of my life, and am impressed with the subtlety and accuracy of the historical background.)

The universal questions of how one forges religious, ethnic, and personal identity in a rapidly changing world are unblinkingly faced, and thoughtfully explored.

There are many quilts in this book: the traditional Lakota star one that Frankie works on throughout as a blessing for her troubled son, the ones she helps her new Navajo friends sew to sell to tourists for the money she so desperately needs. There is also the much-damaged quilt that the âhalf-breedâ Lakota man Nickâs grandmother made for him, which Frankie mends and restores.

Whether Frankie is bravely making a new thing, a new home, from the precious remnants of her own heritage, or mending what is broken in her own and otherâs lives, she is a woman I came to admire and love, and one I shall remember for a long time.

Wonderful read

I really enjoyed this book. I was immediately drawn into the story and intrigued by the characters. The author has written a touching story about the Lakota culture and the hardships that the characters faced as they tried to build their lives while dealing with discrimination and mistrust of others around them. I certainly look forward to reading more from this author.

Hard book to follow

Out of all teh books i have bought so far in this series, this one was the hardest to read/follow. Not sure if I will read any elese that this author has written, the book just did not flow and was hard to keep my attention.

As sky without stars

A 5 star book very well written and the story was great.

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Title: The Truth According to Us

Author: Annie Barrows

Narrator: Ann Marie Lee, Tara Sands, Julia Whelan, Cassandra Campbell, Danny Campbell, Mark Deakins, Kimberly Farr

Format: Unabridged

Length: 18 hrs and 52 mins

Language: English

Release date: 08-13-15

Publisher: Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 5 votes

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

"I can't stand this poky little town any more. How can I bear it for three more months? Today alone has lasted years..."

Disinherited by her father, the debutante Miss Layla Beck is forced to spend the hot summer of 1938 in Macedonia, West Virginia, and is tasked with recording the small town's history. She arrives with one goal: to get out as quickly as possible.

Macedonia's history seems simple enough - brief and uneventful. Then Layla meets the Romeyns: Jottie, Willa, Felix, Emmett, a family at once entertaining, eccentric, seductive and inextricably bound up in Macedonia's biggest secret.

It's a secret all the townsfolk have a stake in, and as Layla delves into town legend, hidden truths emerge that reveal an altogether different history, one that has left hearts and lives broken.

Layla soon realises that some secrets should stay hidden forever.

Critic Reviews:

"Annie Barrows leaves no doubt that she is a storyteller of rare calibre, with wisdom and insight to spare. She is at her best here." (Paula McLain, New York Times best-selling author of The Paris Wife)

"An utterly enthralling, evocative story of loyalty and love, trust and truth." (The Daily Express)

Members Reviews:

Loved it! Read it! Perfect for Book Clubs

How can I even begin to describe how much I enjoyed reading this book? The Truth According to Us by Annie Barrows unravels the secrets of a small Depression-era West Virginia town through the eyes of 12 year old Willa and Layla, a young woman assigned by Roosevelt's Writer Project to research and write the history of town in time for its 150th birthday.

Though the book mainly focuses on one family in particular, readers are introduced to many citizens of Macedonia, all with the quirks, agendas, and stories of their own.

For fans ofThe Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, Barrow's does occasionally use letters as a means of communicating different character's perspectives. However, the book does not rely as heavily on these letters as Potato Peel Pie did.

I was drawn in from the beginning and had a very hard time putting down this nearly 500 page book. All the characters are so engaging that you feel like you are rocking on the front porch, drinking ice tea with sweat trickling down your back while eavesdropping on their conversations.

Perfect novel for book clubs, as there are many aspects of the book that are worth discussing: the characters, family relationships, what loyalty looks like, how history is remembered and recorded, the Depression, the Federal's Writers Project, etc.

A House of Secrets: the Top Ten Things That Are Great About THE TRUTH ACCORDING TO US

Layla Beck is the spoiled daughter of a senator, living in luxury as the Great Depression drags on. When she refuses to marry a wealthy suitor, her father cuts her off and gets her a job with the WPA, which Layla sees as the ultimate humiliation. Worse, she must go to very rural Macedonia, West Virginia, where she is to write the town's history. She has no desire to be in West Virginia, much less to be living among people she feels are beneath her, and writing their history. But she must.

She ends up as a boarder at the home of the Romeyns, who were once a great family in Macedonia.