Download the New Releases Audiobooks in Fiction, Contemporary

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Title: Finding the Dream

Subtitle: Dream #3

Author: Nora Roberts

Narrator: Sandra Burr

Format: Unabridged

Length: 10 hrs and 28 mins

Language: English

Release date: 12-01-08

Publisher: Brilliance Audio

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 579 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Laura Templeton found out the hard way that nothing in life is guaranteed. The daughter of a wealthy hotelier, she had always known comfort, privilege, and security. But by the age of 30, her storybook marriage had been destroyed by her husband's infidelity. Laura's divorce left her both emotionally and financially devastated - but determined to rebuild her life without the help of the Templeton fortune . . .

Members Reviews:

A good read

and...??? Where's the more? Where's the real end? You can't end with a now we kiss and that is it? How do the kids take it - how does the rest of tha family take it, even though we know they all want it to happen?

This is the kind of book you just want to carry on listening to and hear about the rest of their lives - do they reach their dreams? Do mom and dad help out? So many questions and no answers? Very cruel!

But again, very good - I just love the way Nora writes and gets you captivated and keeps you there.

These 3 books I will definitely listed to again!

Now I'm off to find another one - have to go...

Best by far!

This was by far the best of the trilogy. It really rounded out the story nicely, although it would have been very good as a stand alone book. Nora Roberts is truly a master of her craft!

great book

it. It was a perfect finish to the trilogy. I enjoyed the passion in the plot.

Another awesome series.

This book series was wonderfully written but the way it was read was amazing and really brought the stories alive. Good job and I highly recommend these books.

Loved it!

Loved the story of Michael and Laura and the continuing story of Margo and Kate. The narrator was great. Loved listening!!!!

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Title: Kommandant's Girl

Author: Pam Jenoff

Narrator: Rachel Botchan

Format: Unabridged

Length: 14 hrs and 24 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-25-08

Publisher: Whole Story Audiobooks

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 88 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

As secretary to the charismatic Kommandant Richwalder, Emma vows to use her unique position to gather intelligence for the Resistance - by any means necessary...

Members Reviews:

quite the story

First time author for me, debut novel for the author, Pam Janoff, and recommended by Iowa author Heather Gudenkauf. In researching the author I learned she at one time worked for the US State Department and was posted in Krakow, Poland, which is where this story is set. She evidently got some of the background for this story during that time. At the start of the story, young Polish Jew Emma gets married one month before the Nazi invasion of Poland. Just days after her husband takes off to be part of the Jewish Resistance. Her parents are put in the Jewish Ghetto of Krakow. Then Emma is asked to masquerade as a young Catholic girl named Anna and eventually gets hired to be the personal assistant to the Nazi Kommendant of Krakow. She is further asked by the Resistance to get whatever intelligence she can to help the cause. The story evolves from there with Emma/Anna forced to make gut wrenching, heart wrenching choices to help those she loves. Not really a thriller but with a good amount of suspense, this is more a human interest story that gives you a sense of trepidation the further you get into the story. This story reminds me that even today many people in the world are being asked to make tough choices that make no sense as to why they must even consider them. A good, thought provoking warm story. I really enjoyed it.

Not As Good As I Hoped

Overall the story is a good one, but I still had trouble with a lot of it.

My biggest issue is that I just didnt buy the chemistry between the Kommandant and his Girl, and since thats the entire point of the book it made it hard to get into. I had to suspend my disbelief and just take her word for it that she was hot for the Nazi as opposed to really sensing her dilemma.

I also found the ending too contrived; I dont want to give it away, but suffice it to say it was all a little too neat.

Nevertheless I was interested in the characters enough to get the sequel (The Diplomats Wife), and I am starting it right away.

Predictable

I wanted to read a war-torn or poignant or at least interesting story about a woman who is used to spy on the top German in Krakow in WW2. What I got was a predictable story and trite piece of writing. The author's first mistake was to use the present tense. That keeps the gentle reader at arm's length and Ms. Jenoff's story was just not enough to draw me in. Coupled with a lackluster performance by the reader, and I was happy to have this book come to an end.

Trite and preposterous

If you thought Twilight was well written, you will enjoy this story. Otherwise, dont waste your time or money. Ive been reading WWII books for a while now and loved lilac girls, the nightingale , and the Alice network (to name a few good ones) and bought this book because another reviewer mentioned this book alongside with those. This book is Not of equal caliber.

KOMMANDANT'S GIRL

A good story. Could have easily been taken from a true story, considering the timeline and location. Narrator was fair. Sometimes read in a monotone voice though.

An attention getter for sure

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Title: Duet

Author: Kimberley Freeman

Narrator: Caroline Lee

Format: Unabridged

Length: 19 hrs and 59 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-28-08

Publisher: Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 706 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

A story of passion, greed, secrets and lies.

Present day: A reclusive woman living in outback Australia receives a letter acknowledging a terrible secret from her past.

Thirty years before, she stole another woman's life. From the moment the letter is opened two women are on a collision course with destiny.

From the London pop scene, to the opera stages of Europe; from a tiny Greek island, to a stifling manor house full of secrets and deceptions; from the sun-drenched Queensland coast, to the silent outback; Angela and Ellie are two women both looking for something. One in search of her identity and her memory; the other in search of the love that she had and lost; theirs is a duet whose last note will not be sung until the heart-stopping climax, when a shadow from the past returns to claim them both.

Members Reviews:

Gosh that was a great story!

I listen to many audio books and try and do a little research and see what other reviewers are saying. This appeared to be a very new release and I couldn't find a great deal of information on it, so I want to let you know - WHAT AN ENJOYABLE STORY!!! It's a long sweeping saga that follows the lives of multiple, intertwined people, but not so many characters as to lose track. I don't want to ruin the story for anyone, so I won't give anything away, but I did not have the ending or the truth figured out! The story kept my interest all the way through. I became attached to the characters and wanted to know what was going to happen to them. The narrator is terrific! If you liked The Secret Garden and The Shifting Fog by Kate Morton - you will enjoy this sweeping family saga too (it's even better than The Shifting Fog 8-O ). It's well written. Characters nicely developed. VERY EXCELLENT ENJOYABLE BOOK! Looking forward to this authors' next adventure in print!

Awesome Narrator Makes Good Book Better

I enjoyed this book, but I think writers who compared it to Shifting Fog or Forgotten Garden were influenced more by Caroline Lee's wonderful narration than the quality of the writing. This is a book I would certainly recommend, but I don't think the writing can match the lyrical style with which Kate Morton spins her intoxicatingly suspenseful tales. You'll enjoy it more if you let it stand on its own merits, rather than expecting to find another unforgettable Kate Morton novel.

A little forced

I liked the book, but the way in the last hour or two all the characters fit together and their lives intersected felt forced. If that information had been revealed earlier in the book, the story might have evolved differently but been more satisfying. It's not a mystery and yet the new information revealed near the end made me feel as if I'd somehow missed that aspect. I like long books, so when I say it needed editing, it's not because I don't like to listen for 23 hours (I do) but the different threads unwound slowly. While it was clear that two of the characters needed to meet in the end, their relationship to the other characters was a surprise and not one that magically made everything make sense - but rather felt unnecessary and forced.

One of my best downloads

I have been a member for five years and have over 200 books in my audio library. This ranks among the top five for plot and character development. Loved it.

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Title: The Cereal Murders

Author: Diane Mott Davidson

Narrator: Barbara Rosenblat

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 35 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-23-08

Publisher: Recorded Books

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 264 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Goldy Bear, Aspen Meadow's caterer extraordinaire, is catering a dinner at the exclusive Elk Park Preparatory School. At the end of the evening, a horrified Goldy discovers the school valedictorian's battered body heaped in the snow. When a series of disturbing pranks leads her to believe that her son might be the next victim, Goldy launches her investigation. Delving into the scandals permeating the halls of academia, she stumbles upon another grisly murder, and another.

Forces collide to make this book truly a gourmet experience. Barbara Rosenblat's full-bodied and witty reading, Ms. Mott's deliciously fast-paced plot, and her heroine's recipes for such enticing delights as Sugar Plum Cake and Sweetheart Sandwiches leave the reader satisfied, yet hoping for more.

Members Reviews:

Not my kind of mystery

I found this book on a sale table at a used book store, it seemed interesting but I really found the plot line to be a little more "young adult" than I was expecting. I do not mind young adult novels but I do not think this was meant to be written as such. The story was interesting enough for me to get through the book, however there was such a focus on SAT prep and what everyone was eating it lost my attention often. I do not think I will be picking up another book in this series.

Early Work from Author

This is the third in the Diane Mott Davidson series and not my favorite. The premise was a stretch, the characters confusing and unrealistic and the murderer wasn't fully developed. Had it been told from a different point of view, it could very easily have been classified as a young adult book as it was set in a prep school and focused quite a bit on the teenagers attending the school and the stress of getting into the right collegeread Ivy League.

The main character is Goldy the caterer, apparently a highly rated one in the Aspen, CO area, but I'm nit sure why. If anyone has ever had anything to do with a catered event, even just attending one, you would know the caterer does not wander off for extended periods, argue with the client, speak impertinently to the guests or have their 12 year old son and various teenagers as servers (who also ask impertinent questions).

There are some inconsistencies that needed editing: in the beginning, the guests at a function are served both appetizers and desserts simultaneously and later, even though theres a detail of cops outside her house, Goldy (the queen of bad decisions) jumps in her car and (not wanting to spoil the end here) gets herself into trouble.

And if there have been two murders at your son's prep school, wouldn't you think the school would be shut down or have cops stationed there? At the very least, I would take my kid out until the murders have been solved. By the end of the book, I honestly didn't care who done it!

MY NEW FAVORITE

What did you love best about The Cereal Murders?

i love everything about this series of books.....and this narrator is perfect for these stories.....my last 3 credit have been used on this series......

not as good as her others

If she is a Sunday teacher in her church and gets a promotion instead of a scolding for being a slut with local cop, does she even believe in God and his commandments? what kind of example is she to young people for waiting until married to have sex. A luke warm Christian, fence sitter.

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Title: Swimming Lessons

Author: Mary Alice Monroe

Narrator: Mary Alice Monroe

Format: Unabridged

Length: 11 hrs and 27 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-11-08

Publisher: Brilliance Audio

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 131 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

It's been five years since the original turtle lady, old Miss Lovie Rutledge, passed away, but her legacy lives on with some special women, especially Toy and her daughter, young Little Lovie.

Toy Sooner kept her graveside vow to her beloved mentor. She left behind an abusive, dysfunctional lifestyle to become a strong single mother and aquarist at the South Carolina Aquarium. But success has taken its toll, leaving Toy fearful of change and risks.

Caretta Rutledge, Florence Prescott and Emmaline Baker have all experienced loss. This summer, with each other's friendship and support, they will try to make their dreams a reality.

The turtle season begins the day Toy rescues a sick sea turtle on the beach. When Toy brings the loggerhead to the aquarium, she begins a turtle hospital with the help of her boss, Ethan. As the summer progresses and the sea turtles take their measured steps toward healing and freedom Toy, Cara, Flo and Emmi must find their own strength to face their fears and move courageously toward their futures.

Mary Alice Monroe delivers another deeply satisfying novel written with an eye to nature and keen insights into the connections between women.

Members Reviews:

Right from my life

Having grown up near Isle of Palms, I found this story vividly real. It was as if she dipped into my life and pulled out segments. I found the alligorical nature of the story a beautiful thing. Thank you Mary Alice Monroe for the gift of this story.

Great!

I have read/listened to this book 3 or 4 times. And listen to it again.

A Turtle Education

I have read all the 'Turtle Books'. First two were interesting and I enjoyed learning about the Sea Turtles.The characters were great with a lot of depth but by the time I got here I was just sick and tired of turtles and the characters had gone from a 10 to who are these people and why should I care.

Continuing reconciliation

Great multifaceted story to continue the story of turtle rescue and finding home to finish the trilogy

Toy comes out on top

Any additional comments?

Toy Story is a wonderful, strong woman. Surrounded by friends - Cara, Emmie, Flo, Ethan, Bret, the ghost of Ms. Lovie, and Little Lovie - Toy moves through life with strength and purpose. She doesn't let her past or her mistakes weigh her down, but learns to make better choices as she learns through the world of her beloved loggerhead turtles. I was glad to read more of the women I had fallen in love with in "The Beach House."

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Title: Unaccustomed Earth

Subtitle: Stories

Author: Jhumpa Lahiri

Narrator: Sarita Choudhury, Ajay Naidu

Format: Unabridged

Length: 10 hrs and 8 mins

Language: English

Release date: 09-02-08

Publisher: Random House Audio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 700 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

In the stunning title story, Ruma, a young mother in a new city, is visited by her father, who carefully tends the earth of her garden, where he and his grandson form a special bond. But he's harboring a secret from his daughter, a love affair he's keeping all to himself.

In "A Choice of Accommodations", a husband's attempt to turn an old friend's wedding into a romantic getaway weekend with his wife takes a dark, revealing turn as the party lasts deep into the night.

In "Only Goodness", a sister eager to give her younger brother the perfect childhood she never had is overwhelmed by guilt, anguish, and anger when his alcoholism threatens her family.

And in "Hema and Kaushik" - a trio of linked stories and a luminous, intensely compelling elegy of life, death, love, and fate - we follow the lives of a girl and boy who, one winter, share a house in Massachusetts. They travel from innocence to experience on separate, sometimes painful paths, until destiny brings them together again years later in Rome.

Critic Reviews:

"Lahiri's enormous gifts as a storyteller are on full display in this collection: the gorgeous, effortless prose; the characters haunted by regret, isolation, loss, and tragedies big and small; and most of all, a quiet, emerging sense of humanity." (Khaled Hosseini)

"The author's ability to flesh out completely even minor characters in every story...is what will keep readers invested in the work until its heartbreaking conclusion." (Library Journal)

Members Reviews:

Simply Beautiful

I'm a huge fan of Lahiri's work - her writing is always emotional, and Unaccustomed Earth is no exception. The characters in this book are wonderful - I really enjoyed getting to know them, and I found myself looking forward to my drives so I could spend more time with them. The narration is spot on, and this books lends itself to audio well due to the emotions that run through the stories. Stellar writing, a book you can really lose yourself in.

My favorite recent book

5 stars are not enough for this collection of short stories, whose effect is hard for me to describe. The landscape of these stories is the middle class life of first generation Americans (adolescents and adults) and their Bengali parents. The events in their lives seem strikingly ordinary: no different from those that any of us may have experienced. And yet, the way that Lahiri conveys the characters' pleasures, desires for human connection, losses, secrets, and nostalgia are the real subject of these stories. My favorite stories were the three inter-related tales centering on Hema and Kaushik. They know each other as children; have a brief, but distant re-acquaintance as adolescents; and re-connect with a profound love as adults. You might want to listen to this book in private. Like me, you might occasionally find your eyes getting moist as you listen. Superb narration, by the way.

Beautifully read and beautifully written

Jhumpa Lahiri's stories are moving and make real for the outsider the conflicts and contradictions of first and second generation immigrants in the highly educated and priveleged classes of America's haute bourgeoisie. I find her stories fascinating and complex but completely accessible, real and believable.

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Title: Home

Subtitle: A Novel

Author: Marilynne Robinson

Narrator: Maggi-Meg Reed

Format: Unabridged

Length: 12 hrs and 45 mins

Language: English

Release date: 09-02-08

Publisher: Macmillan Audio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 326 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Glory Boughton, aged 38, has returned to Gilead to care for her dying father. Soon her brother, Jack - the prodigal son of the family, gone for 20 years - comes home too, looking for refuge and trying to make peace with a past littered with tormenting trouble and pain.

Jack is one of the great characters in recent literature. A bad boy from childhood, an alcoholic who cannot hold a job, he is perpetually at odds with his surroundings and with his traditionalist father, though he remains Boughton's most beloved child. Brilliant, lovable, and wayward, Jack forges an intense bond with Glory and engages painfully with Ames, his godfather and namesake.

Home is a moving and healing book about families, family secrets, and the passing of the generations, about love and death and faith. It is Robinson's greatest work, an unforgettable embodiment of the deepest and most universal emotions.

Critic Reviews:

"Robinson's beautiful new novel, a companion piece to her Pulitzer Prize - winning Gilead, is an elegant variation on the parable of the prodigal son's return." (

Publishers Weekly)

Members Reviews:

Gorgeous and True

Robinson is an absolute master at creating worlds populated by real people. I feel as though I know these characters. Having read Gilead, which overlaps somewhat with Home, I can only marvel even more at Robinson's talent for narration that is so very true to the human spirit. The same events, viewed by a next-door neighbor, bear a completely different significance. This novel carries an entirely different weight from the theme explored in Gilead. Robinson has said that she aims to write characters, not plot, and not much does actually happen. All the same, the beauty of these people, their house and this town seem so real that if I could actually find them in Iowa, I would seem to be returning, not arriving for the first time.

The reader has a wonderful knack for conveying all the emotion in the simplicity of Robinson's neat, well-crafted sentences. Perhaps it is because I am from the Midwest myself, but I was particularly touched Ms. Reed's ability to hint at emotion in dialogue between characters who would never willingly discuss such things openly. The implied, the understood and the subtle code of the small Midwestern town figure so prominently in the dialogue of Home, and Ms. Reed manages beautifully what would seem to me the most difficult task of reading this particular novel aloud.

Wish that I had read this one

I loved Marilynne Robinson's last book, Gilead. As the mother of 3 sons and the only sister with 3 brothers, I read and reread Robinson's words in the voice of Ames, the Congregationalist minister, about the trust that parents must have before they, like Abraham, can send their sons into the wilderness. She writes beautifully, and she clearly has much theological thought and study behind her. This book, which included the same characters, shows what happens when that trust isn't enough. Jack Boughton, prodigal son of Ames' friend, Robert Boughton, comes home, bringing all his misery along with him. He seems repentant, but seems still to wallow, and perhaps even enjoy, his past transgressions. It gets rather tiresome and we lose patience with him.

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Title: Push

Author: Sapphire

Narrator: Sapphire

Format: Abridged

Length: 2 hrs and 51 mins

Language: English

Release date: 08-29-08

Publisher: Random House Audio

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 263 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

An electrifying first novel that shocks by its language, its circumstances, and its brutal honesty, Push recounts a young black street-girl's horrendous and redemptive journey through a Harlem inferno. For Precious Jones, 16 and pregnant with her father's child, miraculous hope appears, and the world begins to open up for her when a courageous, determined teacher bullies, cajoles, and inspires her to learn to read, to define her own feelings, and set them down in a diary.

©1996 Sapphire/Ramona Lofton; (P)2008 Random House Audio

Members Reviews:

Too bad it's abridged

Great narrator and sound quality. Story was hard to listen to at times, but never lost my interest. It's unfortunate that only an abridged version of the novel is available, as I would have preferred to have been able to hear the entire thing.

Shocking

I saw the movie at Sundance Film Festival and had to read the book that let to it. It was a short listen, but a good one. Sad and shocking at times, but a good memoir worth listening to. Stay on the lookout for the film!

a true life sad story

this is so overwhelming that it pulls at your heartstrings... to know that there are people out there that survive this everyday. everyone should take this to heart for a life lesson, you are only as strong as you let yourself be....

A Good Read.

This is a very good read, but it is not for the fainthearted. It's graphic language and vivid portrayal of the life of a disadvantaged black teenage girl in New York City may give pause to some. Sadly, the author does not exaggerate. Precious' life is the life of far too many girls these days.

Great Read

Although the movie Precious is a bit different from this original book, I enjoyed both very much. Sapphire not only did a great job writing the book but also does a great job with her narration.

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Title: Garden Spells

Author: Sarah Addison Allen

Narrator: Susan Ericksen

Format: Unabridged

Length: 7 hrs and 48 mins

Language: English

Release date: 05-23-08

Publisher: Brilliance Audio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 2062 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Generations of Waverleys tended this garden. Their history was in the soil. But so were their futures.

A successful caterer, Claire Waverley prepares dishes made with her mystical plants - from the nasturtiums that aid in keeping secrets and the pansies that make children thoughtful, to the snapdragons intended to discourage the attentions of her amorous neighbor.

Meanwhile, her elderly cousin, Evanelle, is known for distributing unexpected gifts whose uses become uncannily clear. They are the last of the Waverleys - except for Claire's rebellious sister, Sydney, who fled Bascom the moment she could, abandoning Claire, as their own mother had years before.

When Sydney suddenly returns home with a young daughter of her own, Claire's quiet life is turned upside down - along with the protective boundary she has so carefully constructed around her heart. Together again in the house they grew up in, Sydney takes stock of all she left behind, as Claire struggles to heal the wounds of the past. And soon the sisters realize they must deal with their common legacy - if they are ever to feel at home in Bascom - or with each other.

Critic Reviews:

"The blending of horticultural folklore, the supernatural and a big dollop of Southern flavor should find favor with a wide swath of readers." (Publishers Weekly)

"Spellbindingly charming, Allen's impressively accomplished debut novel will bewitch fans of Alice Hoffman and Laura Esquivel." (Booklist)

Members Reviews:

Magical

I just loved it! The author is so beautifully descriptive and the narrator was just perfect. I loved the scents from the Waverley garden and kitchen. I could feel the magic of those scents and the colors that celebrated Claire's mood and passion. I can listen to it over and over. I originally bought the hardcover book, but couldn't pack it when I went on vacation because of airline weight restrictions. So I downloaded the audiobook to my MP3 player with the intention of giving away the hardcover book. Oh no! not anymore. This book is a keeper!

I so want to give it 5 stars...!!!!

I have always enjoyed a little bit of magic in storytelling. Though I'm not a big fan of romantic novels, Garden Spells has just that type of mix of magic and romance that I enjoy. This was such an enjoyable read that I wish Ms. Allen would continue writing about these characters. I really enjoyed the Waverly's and their garden, especially their special apple tree. The southern charm was almost a character unto itself. I wish there was a cookbook that accompanied the novel so that I could try some of Clarie's recipes; and the obvious knowledge of edible flowers and herbs was extensive, making me want to start growing a flower herb garden. The only reason I couldn't give this a 5 star rating is because of the lack of detail in some of her writing. I would have loved to know more details about Sydney's life in Seattle or Clarie's when she was young with her mother or how Clarie had decided to become a caterer. I felt drawn into the Waverly home but intimate details outside of that magical place was pale in comparison, which may be Allen's intention. But I often wished as I read that instead of telling me things, she would show through character development. But this doesn't take away from how much I enjoyed the obvious love & magic of these characters and overall story.

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Title: The Plague of Doves

Author: Louise Erdrich

Narrator: Peter Francis James, Kathleen McInerney

Format: Unabridged

Length: 11 hrs and 7 mins

Language: English

Release date: 05-02-08

Publisher: HarperAudio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 287 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

The unsolved murder of a farm family haunts the small, white, off-reservation town of Pluto, North Dakota. The vengeance exacted for this crime and the subsequent distortions of truth transform the lives of Ojibwe living on the nearby reservation and shape the passions of both communities for the next generation. The descendants of Ojibwe and white intermarry, their lives intertwine; only the youngest generation, of mixed blood, remains unaware of the role the past continues to play in their lives.

Evelina Harp is a witty, ambitious young girl, part Ojibwe, part white, who is prone to falling hopelessly in love. Mooshum, Evelina's grandfather, is a seductive storyteller, a repository of family and tribal history with an all-too-intimate knowledge of the violent past. Nobody understands the weight of historical injustice better than Judge Antone Bazil Coutts, a thoughtful mixed blood who witnesses the lives of those who appear before him, and whose own love life reflects the entire history of the territory.

In distinct and winning voices, Erdrich's narrators unravel the stories of different generations and families in this corner of North Dakota. Bound by love, torn by history, the two communities' collective stories finally come together in a wrenching truth.

The Plague of Doves is one of the major achievements of Louise Erdrich's considerable oeuvre, a quintessentially American story and the most complex and original of her books.

Critic Reviews:

"Louise Erdrich's imaginative freedom has reached its zenith - The Plague of Doves is her dazzling masterpiece." (Philip Roth)

"[A]t once mythic and down-to-earth...beautiful, funny, moving, and unexpected." (Elle)

"A multigenerational tour de force of sin, redemption, murder and vengeance." (Publishers Weekly)

Members Reviews:

Great American Tale

This story is full of quirky, interesting charcters, touches of magical realism. This book unrolls across the generations and is a uniquely American tale. The audio version is smooth and easy to listen to.

Another great take by Erdrich

I thoroughly enjoyed these stories of many different people whose lives are intertwined. I have always loved Erdrich's novels- the way she tells stories. It is somewhat poetic in the way she weaves their lives into words.

Worth it for the first chapter

The plague of doves is an infestation of passenger pigeons, and Erdrich made it real for me as never before. Because I had read 2 of the chapters as stories in the New Yorker, and pictured the characters differently, I personally had trouble making this hang together as a novel. The characters and incidents portrayed are compelling, even so. Yes, I'll probably read this again someday.

Avoid this Plague

After reading a mildly favorable review for the book in the NY Times I decided to give it a go. Little did I realize what I was in for. The book is in need of an editor...a junior editor...anyone with a red pen and a bit of common sense. This book is endless. Beyond endless. Tiresome. Imagine a small town inhabited by one-dimensional characters who all sound so alike one another that the reader/listener can't tell one from the other. All they do is rehashing plot twists that could have been borrowed from a daytime soap.