Get Legally Your Full Audiobook in Fiction, Contemporary - Fast, Easy and Legally

Please open https://hotaudiobook.com ONLY on your standard browser Safari, Chrome, Microsoft or Firefox to download full audiobooks of your choice for free.

Title: Atlas of Unknowns

Author: Tania James

Narrator: Sonya Suares

Format: Unabridged

Length: 13 hrs and 14 mins

Language: English

Release date: 03-01-14

Publisher: Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd

Ratings: 3 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Sometimes the hardest journey of all is finding your way back homeIn the wake of their mothers mysterious death, Linno and Anju Vallara are raised in Kerala by their father and grandmother.

When seventeen-year-old Anju wins a scholarship to study in New York, she jumps at the chance to embrace all that America has to offer, but in so doing commits an act of betrayal that severs her relationship with her sister. When Anjus lies catch up with her, she runs away, helped by a kindly stranger who somehow knows things about Anjus past. Meanwhile, Linno has begun a journey of her own: towards her sister, towards the memory of their mother, and towards a future she could never have imagined.

Atlas of Unknowns is an unforgettable tale of two sisters whose bonds are powerfully tested, and the secret histories and hilarious eccentricities of families everywhere.

Critic Reviews:

Jamess delightful first novel explores the hazards and rewards of wanting more than life willingly allots The author, a young Indian-American, writes with poise, sly humor and an acuity both cultural and sensuous: In New York, when a fellow Indian immigrant hires Anju to work in his beauty salon, he observes approvingly that she "squats like only a third-worlder can, froglike for minutes on end, brushing tumbleweeds of black and hennaed hair into a dustpan." . [T]he characters love for one another radiates off the pages. While recognizing the value of ambition, James also sees the rich comforts of knowing ones place - especially when that place boasts banana trees and masala dosa. (The New York Times Book Review)

Members Reviews:

Book Review for Atlas of the Unknowns

Atlas of the Unknowns is a story of two sisters Linno and Anju. It launches off with an accident with Linno burning her hand with fire crackers in their modest home in Kerala. Early on we learn that their mother died, and the death is somewhat of a mystery as is a letter she received from one Bird. The two girls are living with their father and their grandmother Amaachi in a lower middle class household in Kerala. The story moves with Anju getting a scholarship to America, but only after stealing Linno's art work as her own, while Linno evades marriage and instead works for the sister of the guy she was to get married to.

But the book is not just about sisters and secrets, it is about crossing cultures, and Anju observing those in America as someone new, and so noticing what others might not. Also there are hilarious scenes with her host family's son Rohit always using his camera and trying to get a documentary film. The book is also about the immigration and green card trap, about a conservative Keralite adjusting to doing bikini waxing in America.

The characters in the book are all very insightful about others and observant but less introspective about themselves which makes for interesting reading. Tania James also uses a close third Point of View and gets us close to different characters and weaves in the back story in a clever non linear fashion. And when you think you know how things are going she adds a new plot twist that pulls you out.

And yes finally the different strands are connected, as we watch the interactions of Anju with the mystery woman Bird, and her host family lady Mrs. Solanki who is on a show much like the View, as also the attempts of Linno to go to America to find her sister after Anju runs off once her lie about the art is revealed.

Please open https://hotaudiobook.com ONLY on your standard browser Safari, Chrome, Microsoft or Firefox to download full audiobooks of your choice for free.

Title: Hero

Author: Sarah Lean

Narrator: Huw Parmenter

Format: Unabridged

Length: 3 hrs and 31 mins

Language: English

Release date: 02-27-14

Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Limited

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

A story about a little dog with the heart of a lion. From the best-selling author of a A Dog Called Homeless.

Leo dreams about being a hero. In his imagination he is a fearsome gladiator, but he wants to be a hero in real life. When the boys at school dare Leo to do something he knows is wrong, he lets everybody down. How can he make things right again? A little dog called Jack Pepper is missing and it will take a true hero to find him and bring him home

Critic Reviews:

"... beautifully written and moving without being mawkish. A talent to watch." (The Bookseller Buyers Guide)"Touching, reflective and lyrical." (Sunday Times)"Sarah Lean's graceful, miraculous writing will have you weeping one moment and rejoicing the next." (Katherine Applegate, author of The One and Only Ivan)

Members Reviews:

Great read for boys 7 - 10

Inspiring for character development regarding the importance of telling the truth even in difficult situations. Very imaginative, my 8 year old son has read more than once.

Five Stars

more than met expectations

Charming Story

Loved this story! This is my third Sarah Lean book and my favorite one so far. Spot on middle grade voice.

Please open https://hotaudiobook.com ONLY on your standard browser Safari, Chrome, Microsoft or Firefox to download full audiobooks of your choice for free.

Title: Family Likeness

Author: Caitlin Davies

Narrator: Penelope Rawlin, Vivien Rochester

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 27 mins

Language: English

Release date: 02-27-14

Publisher: Random House Audiobooks

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

In a small Kent town in the 1950s, a bewildered little girl is growing up. Ostracised because of her colour, she tries her best to fit in, but nobody wants anything to do with her. A nanny climbs the steps of a smart London address. Shes convinced that her connection to the family behind the door is more than professional.

And on the walls of an English stately home, amongst the family portraits, hangs an eighteenth-century oil painting of a mysterious black woman in a silk gown. In ways both poignant and unexpected, the three lives are intertwined in a heartbreaking story of prejudice and motherless children, of chances missed, of war time secrets and the search for belonging...

Members Reviews:

Promising start does not fulfill

Would you try another book written by Caitlin Davies or narrated by Penelope Rawlin and Vivien Rochester ?

Yes I would try another book both by writer and narrators. There were flaws but overall they all have promise/talent

Would you be willing to try another book from Caitlin Davies? Why or why not?

I would like to try another book by Caitlin Davies as, overall, I think she is a good writer. Personally, I was just disappointed in the rather contrived and rather unbelievable series of events in the last third of the book. Therefore it would be interesting to listen/read another book written by this author to see if my opinion was likely to change.

Have you listened to any of Penelope Rawlin and Vivien Rochester s other performances? How does this one compare?

No, that was my first experience of listening to both of these narrators. They were both very good but I heartily disliked the child " Ella" and I'm not sure if this was because of the way the narrator spoke her lines. She came across as an extremely obnoxious child yet the storyline did not indicate this personality.

Did Family Likeness inspire you to do anything?

Perhaps to seek out another of the authors works to see if I'm going to be a regular listener.

Any additional comments?

I felt this book had huge potential and this was fulfilled in lots of ways. The style of writing. The interwoven storylines. Two good narrators. Yet, in the end I felt somewhat disappointed. It is difficult to review without giving away the storyline but towards the end I just found it all rather unbelievable that things happened the way they did. Also a little too contrived and full of coincidences for my liking.

Please open https://hotaudiobook.com ONLY on your standard browser Safari, Chrome, Microsoft or Firefox to download full audiobooks of your choice for free.

Title: The Benefits of Line Dancing

Author: Edward Shull

Narrator: Jack Nolan

Format: Unabridged

Length: 6 hrs and 42 mins

Language: English

Release date: 02-26-14

Publisher: Ed Shull

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Jim Morgan is living the life he always wanted. He's a promising young entertainment lawyer, on the verge of representing the Hollywood elite, and engaged to Emily, a beautiful, smart lawyer at his firm. He's so happy, he almost doesn't think about Amanda, the girl who ripped his heart out 8 years ago.

But one phone call changes all that, taking Jim from the glitz of Los Angeles to the small town of Ashford, Alabama, to save Amanda from going to prison. Jim knows he'll need help, so he's bringing the best criminal defense lawyer he knows: Emily, his fiancee.

Jim and Amanda's last chapter has yet to be written. And with Emily in the mix, how can this possibly end well?

Members Reviews:

A very enjoyable read

Jim meets the love of his life, Amanda,while he is working at a club as a bouncer. Amanda soon moves in with Jim and all is going smoothly until Jim receives a letter to inform him he's been accepted into Harvard Law.

Jim decides to ask Amanda to marry him but she tells him shes leaving that day because shes been seeing someone else. Eight years on, Jim has never really gotten over Amanda however he is now engaged to Emily a criminal lawyer that works in the same firm as him. Out of the blue Amanda calls. She's in trouble and needs a lawyer. Jim goes to her aid and Emily goes too,not wanting Jim to be alone with Amanda. Emily doesn't like Amanda, which is only natural. But everyone who meets Amanda eventually falls in love with her beauty and spontaneous nature. She is fun to be around.Emily is not immune to Amanda's charm and is now determined to get her off the charge without a jail sentence. How strong are Jim's feelings for Amanda? Will Emily's attack on the towns DA make matters worse for Amanda? What is Amanda keeping secret from everyone?

I know it's so cliche but, I couldn't put this book down. I was thinking, I really should be going to bed. No, I'll just read one more chapter. OK, I'll just read another chapter and so it went on late into the night.

Everyone loves Amanda.I found myself loving Amanda too. She had a tragic life yet she was happy and carefree (on the outside anyway).She loved Jim so much she had to let him go.

Emily the tough go get them lawyer, but really a caring sweetheart underneath that tough exterior. I think some of Emily's decisions were out of character. I would have liked to see her warm to Amanda but retain her straight laced image.

I wasn't sure about the introduction of Kyle. I was thinking all the time, is this going somewhere,is he somehow relevent to the story.

Even though the outcome of the story was guessed very early on I still needed to have it verified and couldn't stop reading until it was there in front of me in black and white.

I usually read a novel wondering where the tiltle fits in but I was so engrossed I'd completely forgotten about the title until the line dancing comment popped up in the book. Ahhh The Benefits of Line Dancing.

A very enjoyable read. Well done Edward Shull. Looking forward to reading more.

A Fresh Take on Love Triangles

Summary: Eight years after Amanda broke his heart, Jim has found love again with Emily, a criminal defense lawyer. But when Amanda calls needing a lawyer, Jim can't stop himself from helping her, and Emily is along for the ride.

Please open https://hotaudiobook.com ONLY on your standard browser Safari, Chrome, Microsoft or Firefox to download full audiobooks of your choice for free.

Title: The Rebel

Author: Jack Dann

Narrator: Kevin T. Collins

Format: Unabridged

Length: 16 hrs and 58 mins

Language: English

Release date: 02-25-14

Publisher: Audible Studios

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

A movie star on a meteoric rise, young James Dean was already being hailed as one of America's finest actors when he died in a high-speed car accident in 1955. In one terrible instant a luminous future glowing with extraordinary promise was snuffed out forever. But what if it wasn't?

With The Rebel, acclaimed award-winning author Jack Dann pulls James Dean from the twisted wreckage and offers him a second chance to make an indelible mark on his art, his culture, and his time in an era of profound change and devastating social upheaval.

Surviving the horrific crash that leaves him permanently scarred, both physically and emotionally, the rebellious young star approaches his rebirth with trepidation, charged with an inescapable new responsibility to do "something wonderful and important". Cast back into a world of Hollywood glitz and glamour, a haunted, brooding, and complex artist climbs higher than even his most fervent admirers imagined he could, ascending to a pinnacle of success and power no actor of his or any generation has ever achieved. Yet for Jimmy Dean, the glory road will be winding and broken, littered with the detritus of exploded dreams and destroyed love, as it passes through the holiest cultural sites of postwar 20th-century America - the genius-and-drug-pumped world of the Beats, the protected inner sanctum of Graceland, the darkest shadows of Camelot. The lives and futures of Kerouac, Sinatra, Elvis and the Colonel, and the Kennedys will all be touched by him - yet perhaps none so deeply as the fragile sex goddess who will always be his greatest burden and true soul mate, a dazzling and tragically lost phenomenon named Marilyn - as he moves relentlessly toward an astonishing destiny that will reconfigure the world.

Ingeniously blending historical fact with brilliant invention, The Rebel is a hip, fast, mesmerizing ride through the '50s and '60s - an unforgettable road trip across a nation torn by bitter racial strife and violently divided by war, with an American legend at the wheel.

Members Reviews:

Rebel- A story of Cosmic Imagination.

This story is One of a Kind. Tremendously Inspirational story.

This one`s a real winner in my book. Red Hot. MarshallB.

Please open https://hotaudiobook.com ONLY on your standard browser Safari, Chrome, Microsoft or Firefox to download full audiobooks of your choice for free.

Title: I, Dreyfus

Author: Bernice Rubens

Narrator: Gareth Armstrong

Format: Unabridged

Length: 7 hrs and 32 mins

Language: English

Release date: 02-24-14

Publisher: Isis Publishing Ltd

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 2 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Sir Alfred Dreyfus, eminent headmaster of one of the greatest schools in England, is found guilty of a heinous crime. When Sam Temple, literary agent, visits Dreyfus in prison with a proposal for a book, he finds a man sunk beyond despair. Dreyfus begins, reluctantly, the appalling narrative of his betrayal; as he proceeds, he must also confront his own guilt for a lifetimes denial of his Jewish origins.

Bernice Rubens has created a character of profound and moving humanity; in placing him at the end of our century, she makes his story a personal tragedy resonating with historical tragedy, bound in with the fate of six million others.

Members Reviews:

Gripping and moving and sadly all too plausible

After reading Officer and a Spy by Robert Harris I was intrigued to find another book which at first I thought had to do with L'Affaire Dreyfus. Well this is and isn't about the French Dreyfus case. It is also about anti-semitism, prejudice and injustice but retold in a very English and modern setting and (without demeaning the seriousness of those issues) with a bit of a crime mystery element thrown in.

As a fiction story it holds its own and is superb on that front alone but it is so much more than that...

As for the narration, this is one of the easiest to listen to narrators that I have come across. Perfect simplicity without any annoying false sounding tones or accents.

I'll be looking out for more both by the author and by the narrator.

Please open https://hotaudiobook.com ONLY on your standard browser Safari, Chrome, Microsoft or Firefox to download full audiobooks of your choice for free.

Title: The Sergeants' Tale

Author: Bernice Rubens

Narrator: Stephen Greif

Format: Unabridged

Length: 6 hrs and 54 mins

Language: English

Release date: 02-24-14

Publisher: Isis Publishing Ltd

Ratings: 1 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

1947: One year before the Israeli war of independence and Palestine is still under the British Mandate. However, young Israelis are flocking to the leadership of Menachim Begin and his Irgun terrorist movement in an attempt to overthrow their rulers.

Two British sergeants have been kidnapped by the Irgun. They will be executed unless there is a widespread amnesty for the Irgun freedom fighters and so begins a hunt throughout Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and the whole of Palestine to find and liberate the two innocent men.

Please open https://hotaudiobook.com ONLY on your standard browser Safari, Chrome, Microsoft or Firefox to download full audiobooks of your choice for free.

Title: Escape and Reverse

Author: Chelsey Johnson

Narrator: Stephen Bel Davies

Format: Unabridged

Length: 1 hr and 24 mins

Language: English

Release date: 02-21-14

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 3 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

High school wrestler Jake Persson is living on vitamins and diet Mountain Dew as he fights to make weight at the height of championship season. In the small mining town in northern Minnesota's Iron Range where Jake lives, this is the most exciting thing that has happened in years. During his last meet, Jake confronts his future and the unnerving sense that his own body and desires are starting to betray him. Chelsey Johnson writes a gripping story about hunger, control, and wrestling down desire.

Ploughshares, the literary magazine of Emerson College.

Members Reviews:

Two-points, takedown!

Although I have only just started reading it, given its Iron Range setting and wrestling themes it promises to be a highly engaging and rewarding work of fiction. Update now that I finished: The description of the state of being a wrestler really fits my memories from high school. On meet day they were like a pack of moody, starving wolves. The description of the Range and high school sports brought me back in time - nicely written.

You won't regret reading this!

A touching short story that pulls at the heartstrings, gay or straight. Will leave you with a visceral feeling when you finish. Very powerful.

A Poignant Story of Adolescent Self-Discovery

This story stayed with me for days afterward. The characterization and language are vivid and the pain of adolescence is very poignantly portrayed. We see the subtleties in human behavior that Jake does not yet understand and we see where he is going before he gets there, yet we experience it all intensely through his eyes and from his point of view every step of the way.

Honest, crushing, uplifting.

Escape and Reverse is the sort of story that works its arms around the reader quietly, pinning you unawares in the best kind of headlock. It's subtle writing capable of melting into a flourish without ever reaching too far, or seeming forced. Beautiful work, and another venerable entry for the Ploughshares Solos series.

Interesting

Was an interesting book. I liked how it was written and the experiences that were shared. Well done. I recommend it.

Please open https://hotaudiobook.com ONLY on your standard browser Safari, Chrome, Microsoft or Firefox to download full audiobooks of your choice for free.

Title: Daydream Nation

Author: John Duncan Talbird

Narrator: Stephen Bel Davies

Format: Unabridged

Length: 1 hr and 58 mins

Language: English

Release date: 02-20-14

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 1 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

The year is 1989 in Los Angeles, and Miles Jameson is about to graduate from high school. The last big party of high school is approaching, along with the end of a turbulent decade, and Miles has only a vague desire to work with his hands (his girlfriend points out that this is a bit trite). Marked with the disaffection and apathy that filled a particular era, and that has always marked adolescence, author John Duncan Talbird gives us a rollicking and bacchanalian look at the challenge of making something of yourself, even when it seems there is little to work with.

Ploughshares, the literary magazine of Emerson College.

Please open https://hotaudiobook.com ONLY on your standard browser Safari, Chrome, Microsoft or Firefox to download full audiobooks of your choice for free.

Title: Women Up on Blocks

Author: Mary Akers

Narrator: Erin Jones

Format: Unabridged

Length: 5 hrs and 34 mins

Language: English

Release date: 02-20-14

Publisher: Mary Akers

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Whether it's a young co-ed who has lived her life succumbing to passion and authority, a woman struggling with the intense demands of motherhood, or a newlywed whose new mirror-filled home proves too much for her fragile psyche, these thirteen stories-edgy and alluring-inexorably peel back the layers of the women they portray.

By turns lyrical and haunting, plainspoken and frank, award-winning writer Mary Akers' finely crafted debut collection Women Up on Blocks explores the price women pay when they allow the roles of wife, mother, daughter, or lover to define them.

Members Reviews:

Worth the read

Stunning and insightful, Ms. Akers lures us into the art of being a woman. Her characters resonate, her use of language is superb and the content of her stories is so enticing that one desires to finish the book in one sitting - but don't. It's just one of those books you wish would continue on . . .

Great reading

The title is a grabber, the photo more so. I didn't know what to expect. You CAN judge this book by it's cover though. This book of short short stories of women and their lives captured me from the first page and I didn't put it down. I KNOW so many of these women! They are friends and familly members, acquantances and people I hear about. These stories touch me and I'm sure they will anyone who knows women and wish for more in their lives. Great writer. I will look for more of Mary Akers books.

Undone

I finished this book about a week and a half ago and have been meaning to write about it. But I've been trying to figure out exactly what it is that I wanted to say. I can't come up with any other word except "undone." I mean, I know that kind of sounds pretentious or too literary, but it really fits the way this book made me feel. It was beautifully brutal. I loved loved loved it, and highly recommend it.

From literateyourself.blogspot.com

We could all use a little work. Even the most "normal" of us could use a good dose of psycho therapeutic reflection or cognitive behavioral manipulation. Especially the moms. Whether it's the hormones or the sudden overwhelming sense of responsibility and neurosis, I know I've had more than my fair share of nervous breakdowns since I saw that first blue plus sign on a stick.

WOMEN UP ON BLOCKS The title itself conjures a powerful image. Set aside the immediate mental flash of stirrups and invasive annual examination. Look at the cover art (good shoes) because in this case you can judge a book yada yada yada. Like meandering by the tv in lingerie during playoffs, red shoes and good legs propped along a dirty bumper ought to get you noticed. Women in these stories go to extremes to get noticed, allow themselves and others to go to extremes to fix themselves, and extreme things occur to teach them a lesson. The content of the stories are as strong as the imagery. The plots are at once relatable and repellent. After I finished, I felt better about myself as a mother, wife, member of my community in general. Mary Aker's clear, honest voice carries the content. Her insightful, creative images pull the characters and the reader to the other side.

The first story, "Medusa Song," is horrifyingly honest. The story is a warning for those women who allow an emotionally absent, philandering husband and subservient, oppressive life to go too far. The protagonist is at risk to become the villain unless she takes control of her life.