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Title: Chasing the Wolf

Author: Nathan Singer

Narrator: Rupert Degas

Format: Unabridged

Length: 3 hrs and 51 mins

Language: English

Release date: 01-17-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 4 votes

Genres: Fiction, Literary

Publisher's Summary:

When a young artist and the woman he loves find themselves imprisoned within a moment in time between present day New York and Mississippi 1938, they attempt to make sense of a world in which they can't seem to find their place in the "center of the Universe". But there are stones in their pass way, and hellhounds on their trail. At times both bleak and redemptive - much like the Blues itself - Chasing the Wolf is a surprisingly tender look into the madness of love, the madness of hate, and the dark secrets that lie along the banks of the muddy Mississippi.

Members Reviews:

timeless love?

I was captivated by this story from the very beginning, and it never stopped surprising and delighting me. It deals with a young artist in New York City who, after being devastated by the death of his dancer wife, wakes up the following morning to realize he's somehow been transported to 1938 Mississippi. The time-travel theme, married with the interracial relationships, provides a fascinating look into our deepest human traits and attitudes.

Outstanding. Race to read this book.

I got sucked in from the first paragraph. The language, the darkness, the weird. The author weaves madness and music and history and magic together in a way that is poetry, suspense and theatre combined -- and where the reader wants desperately for the main characters to win. If we could change the passage of our own time, what Hell would that release?

book

Can't really remember what it was about but I don't recall not liking it. If you like a good mystery, this is pretty good.

Fast paced, intriguing read . . .

This is an intriguing story. The writing style is captivating. What is not said is as important as what is said. Normally the large number of F-bombs would have made me uncomfortable, but the word seemed natural coming out of the main character's mouth. After reading this you will be left with a lot of intriguing, unanswered questions.

near to the heart...of darkness

Have you ever had the experience of discovering that a great talent resides in your neck of the woods? That is the experience I had upon reading Nathan Singer for the first time with his novel Chasing the Wolf. I picked up this novel because the subject of the blues combined with a visual artist appeals to me (I am a visual artist my ownself). The whole 'connection' involved in this novel was enjoyable to me as I discovered that the author Singer resides (and instructs) in my native city of Cincinnati (He is an instructor of creative writing at the University of Cincinnati). I have now repeatedly kicked myself for 'missing' the performance of this well constructed story on stage. You can be sure it is not a mistake I will make again if I ever have the chance to see any future works by Singer performed on stage. If you enjoy the writings of Joe R. Lansdale and Neal Barrett Jr (to mention just a few of the authors that Singer 'relates' to) then you owe it to yourself to read this novel. I feel that Singer strikes a familiar 'chord' with Lansdale in particular, as Singer's writing 'resonates' with issues of race and social relations. In ending I'd like to extend a note to Mr. Singer, if ya ever need an artist to adorn your book covers, I'd love to take a stab at it!

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Title: The Ivory Swing

Author: Janette Turner Hospital

Narrator: Lise Rodgers

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 10 mins

Language: English

Release date: 01-11-13

Publisher: Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd

Genres: Fiction, Literary

Publisher's Summary:

Juliet yearns for the ebb and flow of life lived avidly, for the pace and challenge of city living. The conflict between her love of husband and children and her own passionate need for expression is intensified by her move from small-town Canada to Southern India. The stifling restrictions on Juliet's freedom are magnified in the plight of her young widowed neighbour. The beautiful Yashoda longs to embrace the Western values that would release her from the strictures of Indian tradition. But the ancient mores are powerful and enduring, and challenging them inevitably leads to tragedy.

Critic Reviews:

"A truly magnificent literary achievement." (Booklist)

"A novel of unusual delicacy and power." (Washington Post Book World)

"Impressive, important and revealing." (Financial Times)

Members Reviews:

You can live in India without leaving home.

I heard Janette Turner Hospital interviewed on public radio, and researched her at Amazon. I'm glad I did.

If you have the least amount of wanderlust in you, with just a touch of yearning for the experiences of living in South India, get this book. You can do all the aforementioned without leaving home.

Ms Turner-Hospital has written a descriptive account of life for an expatriate in India. Her story is a good one, with sufficent drama to keep you interested, all the way to the last climactic events. And she paints a very good picture as she tells the story. I felt I could draw every building and every scene.

The book is hard to find. I bought mine from Amazon, second hand, in pristine condition.

Now, please excuse me. I think my vindaloo is about to burn.

Magical Southern India

This book is good on a number of levels. It is one of Hospital's earlier books - which are better than her more recent attempts. There are plots/subplots and good descriptions. The spooky widow is a very well developed character. Excellent balance of expatriate life in India and the personal demons that haunt them from across the seas.

A Tale of A Clash of Cultures Beautifully Told

Sometimes if I read a writer's books out of the order in which they were written, I think that had I read the first one first, I might not have read any further. This certainly would not have been the case with this fine, beautifullly written first novel by Janette Turner Hospital. It certainly is as good as her other two later novels I have already read. David and Juliet, a young married couple from Ontario, along with their two children, travel to southern India where David, a college professor, will do research. They are not quite prepared for the India they discover. Ms. Hospital writes with the sensitivity and succinctness of a poet. The novel abounds in metaphoric language that works-- the image of Krishna and Radha on the swing of carved ivory keeps recurring. And this passage, for example: "It seemed that all understanding passed between them, the knowledge of all women who braid their own years into shackles, who weave with love and resentment the silken cages of their lives." The writer creates characters we will not soon forget: the overworldly beautiful and tragic Yashoda ". . .like a woman on an ivory swing -- translucent, a trick of the light, an artist's fantasy" and the boy Prabhakaran, whom we Westerners would love to tear away from his native land and take him home with us.

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Title: The Great Lenore

Author: J. M. Tohline

Narrator: John Greenman

Format: Unabridged

Length: 5 hrs and 17 mins

Language: English

Release date: 01-09-13

Publisher: Iambik Audio Inc.

Ratings: 3 of 5 out of 2 votes

Genres: Fiction, Literary

Publisher's Summary:

The Great Lenore is the tale of a ravishing young Brit whose falsely-reported death provides her with an opportunity to begin a new life. Before she can disappear for good, however, she longs to know the reaction of her two-timing husband and his aristocratic family. To find out, Lenore enlists Richard - an outsider in the money-and-booze-sodden landscape of Nantucket high society - to be her eyes and ears. As events unfold, Richard discovers the entanglements of Lenore's relationships are more intricate than he ever expected - more intricate even than the secrets within Lenore's miniature punt boat.

This elegant debut paints an idyllic island surrounded by reflective seas and encased in a world where souls collide, mysteries thicken, and dreams unravel. With lively, modern prose reminiscent of The Jazz Age, Tohline orchestrates a playful literary riff on affluence, love, grief, and duplicity. In the author's words, "[It] is about dreams, and about the things we sacrifice to chase them."

Critic Reviews:

"The Great Lenore is...beautiful in the same way that J.D. Salinger's books are beautiful...[it] hangs in your consciousness after the last note has sounded, making it impossible for long moments to think. One just feels." (New York Journal of Books)

"The Great Lenore is perfect when you want to get absorbed in a book. It doesn't so much take you away as take you into itself." (Erin Reads)

Members Reviews:

I almost missed my massage appointment

I waited with anticipation for the release of The Great Lenore as soon as the announcement from Atticus Books began. I, like the other reviewers, read the first chapter on Tohline's blog. I was intrigued. I read this book today, stopping for about an hour an a half for my massage appointment, which I almost missed because I was so engrossed in the story. I thought that the novel opened and hooked me right away but then there was this lull when Richard goes to Boston with Sandy Banucci. It meanders and felt slow, shallow....but in retrospect it captured perfectly the idle, bored life of the uber wealthy. These offspring of magnates who can't figure out how to make their mark in the world, spend most of their time drinking or drunk. They are a bunch of malcontents and while they affect a blase attitude while surrounded by wealth and beauty....they are all REALLY unhappy and oblivious to their surroundings.

The Great Lenore....this phantom of a woman who has entranced the whole cast of characters....we are supposed to like her....LOVE her....want her...adore her. And yet....I didn't. The narrator, Richard Parkland falls under Lenore's spell like everyone else, he fights it. He knows he is captive, prisoner and held against his will. Things are just not quite right and what Lenore is doing bothers Richard. She leave this wake of devastation. And while she seems genuine, she also seems unperturbed by the mayhem she causes and the hearts she wrecks. She's like Teflon. Blameless. Untouchable. But she isn't. Richard refers to her as a muse...but I think of her as a siren, luring the unwitting and unsuspecting onto the rocks and crushing them. It's not her fault, right? The rocks did it. The fool who recharted his course so as to get closer to Lenore made the mistake....it's his fault.

Tohline masterfully captures the atmosphere of this family, setting the story between Thanksgiving and Christmas on Nantucket.

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Title: Our Daily Bread

Author: Lauren B. Davis

Narrator: Damhnait Doyle

Format: Unabridged

Length: 10 hrs and 10 mins

Language: English

Release date: 12-20-12

Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd

Genres: Fiction, Literary

Publisher's Summary:

A novel about what happens when we view our neighbours as The Other and the transformative power of unlikely friendships, Our Daily Bread is inspired by the true story of the Goler Clan of Nova Scotia.

The Erskine Clan, long shunned by the people of Gideon, live in secrecy and isolation on North Mountain. For generations, the clans children have suffered unspeakable acts of abuse, incest and psychological torture. The intolerant, self-righteous Gideonites decline to intervene, believing their neighbours to be beyond salvation. Yet in both groups, nearly everyone has secrets, and nothing is as it seems.

Twenty-one-year-old Albert Erskine dreams of a better life and explains to his new friend, Bobby Evans, a teenager from town, the meaning of the mans code: You keep your secrets to yourself and you keep your weaknesses a secret and your hurts a secret and your dreams you bury double deep. Bobbys eight-year-old sister, Ivy, suffers from incessant bullying by her classmates. Her father, Tom Evans, a local bread delivery man, struggles to keep his troubledmarriage together. As rumours and innuendo about the Evans family spread, Ivy seeks refuge in the company of Dorothy Carlisle, an independent-minded widow who runs a local antiques store. When Albert ventures down from the mountain, he sets in motion a chain of events that changes everything.

Damhnait DoyleNewfoundland native Damhnait Doyle has released seven full length albums. She has won a handful of East Coast Music Awards and has been nominated for Junos both as a solo artist and with the band "Shaye". Creative on all fronts, Damhnait has written songs for television shows, other artists , she has directed videos, released a book and for four years wrote a weekly newspaper column. She is currently recording the second album with her band, the CCMA nominated "The Heartbroken".

Members Reviews:

A Parable for Our Times

At a time in our political history when many Americans have no interest in--or, it appears, no compassion for--people with different views, backgrounds, and circumstances, this book vividly displays the dire consequences of Us and Them divisions. In this book, the divisions are between the impoverished and lawless Erskine clan and Everyone Else in the small town of Gideon in far eastern Canada. The engaging characters include a frustrated father, whose family is slipping out of his grasp; a daughter who seeks direction from a nannyish older woman (something of a busybody, and thank goodness for that); a son who finds friendship and a lot more reality than he wants or knows possible by crossing that divide; and his new friend, a son of the heavy drinking, drug-taking, child-abusing extended Erskine clan,who sees their world most clearly by trying to set himself just outside it, physically and morally. At the head of many chapters are short excerpts from fiery historical sermons that justify expelling the sinner from society, but the content of the book is far more persuasive testament to the short-sightedness and moral peril of doing so. I've read several other books by Ms.

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Title: Liza of Lambeth

Author: W Somerset Maugham

Narrator: Annie Adlington

Format: Unabridged

Length: 4 hrs and 15 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-21-12

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Fiction, Literary

Publisher's Summary:

Down among the drab slums of Lambeth, 18-year-old Liza is the darling of Vere Street. Vibrant and bewitching, she is adored by the steady, loyal Tom. But then Liza meets Jim Blakeston, charming and worldly, new to the area, and married. Soon the streets are wise to their passionate affair and Liza's fall from grace is fast and fatal. Written while Maugham was a medical student, and his first published novel, Liza of Lambeth is a vividly realistic portrayal of working-class London life.

Critic Reviews:

"One of the most interesting and least patronising accounts of cockney life in the late 19th century." (The Times)

"A picture of such squalor and deprivation that it caused an uproar and made Maugham famous." (Sunday Times)

"He evolved a quality possessed only by master storytellers - that of making the reader greedy for more." (Economist)

Members Reviews:

A Well Written, Sad Story - W. Somerset Maugham's First Novel

This is a relatively short first novel by W. Somerset Maugham. It is about a working class young lady. It is set in a working class neighborhood in the late 1800s. Mr. Maugham was studying medicine and working in a hospital in a working class area and undoubtedly drew from his experiences with the local people and their lives.

The story includes issues of alcohol consumption, domestic violence, and women's rights, or the lack thereof. The story is well written and shows the potential that the author would fulfill in the future. Although well written this is a sad story and is not a "fun read".

I feel that I need to state that there is some racial terminology that may prove offensive to some readers, although I do not feel Mr. Maugham was trying to be offensive. This story is set in Great Britain and composed by a British author in he late 1800s. Certain terminology may have been accepted there and not meant in a pejorative manner. I just do not wish a reader to experience an unpleasant surprise.

I have read numerous short stories by Mr. Maugham and his iconic classic "Of Human Bondage". I felt "Of Human Bondage" was a masterpiece and I like many of his short stories very much. I wanted to go back to the beginning of his writing and study his development. I am very glad and grateful to have had a chance to read this novel. Thank You...

Improves as it progresses

Although I almost stopped reading at first, this novella improves as it progresses. I found the cockneyed dialogue shown as pronounced rather difficult to read especially initially, and the book is heavily dialogue. Still, the novella has strong character portrayal and vivid depiction of 1890s poor section of London, especially showing in a moving, dramatic, realistic way how horribly women were treated and lived then and there. It is not my favorite of Maugham's, though, not being as clear and readable as most.

Interesting portrait of early 1900's London life among poor.

This short novel begins with humor and interesting street characters and ends with a tragedy. Life in Lambeth centers on the street where the entertainment is free, but rough on those who aren't tough enough. Liza is strong but has a weakness for a married man that leads to her undoing. Somerset Maugham developed his characters from his work as a physician in the poor neighborhoods where he practiced.

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Title: Love Across the Salt Desert

Author: Keki N. Daruwalla

Narrator: Winston Balman

Format: Unabridged

Length: 8 hrs and 9 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-10-12

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 5 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Fiction, Literary

Publisher's Summary:

The iconic title story of this collection narrates how Najab defies his father, the international border between India and Pakistan, and the hostile salt desert of the Rann of Kutch for Fatimah. In "When Gandhi Came to Gorakhpur" Shadilal, a small-time lawyer, dithers over giving up his profession and joining the freedom struggle until his mind is made up for him. And when Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni stints on a few silver coins for the poet Abul Qasim, he is visited by terrible nightmares in "Of Abul Qasim".

Love Across the Salt Desert, which brings together a selection of Keki Daruwallas best-received short fiction, presents thematic variety and stunning breadth of vision. His prose is witty, precise and shot through with a unique poetic sensibility. These stories establish Daruwalla, one of Indias best-known poets, as a daring and gifted practitioner of short fiction.

Members Reviews:

Five Stars

Love across the salt desert is a great short story

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Title: The Silent Land

Author: Graham Joyce

Narrator: John Lee

Format: Unabridged

Length: 6 hrs and 20 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-25-12

Publisher: Orion Publishing Group Limited

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 3 votes

Genres: Fiction, Literary

Publisher's Summary:

The Silent Land is a brooding and tender look at love and whether it can survive the greatest challenge we will ever face. The film rights have been optioned by the producer of Brokeback Mountain.

A young couple are caught in an avalanche during a skiing holiday in the French Alps. They struggle back to the village and find it deserted. As the days go by they wait for rescue, and then try to leave. But each time they find themselves back in the village. And, increasingly, they are plagued by visions and dreams and the realization that perhaps no one could have survived the avalanche.

Read by John Lee. British narrator John Lee has read audiobooks in almost every conceivable genre, from Charles Dickens to Patrick O'Brian, and from the very real life of Napoleon to the entirely imagined lives of sorcerers and swashbucklers. He has won numerous Audie Awards and AudioFile Earphones Awards, and he was named a Golden Voice by AudioFile in 2009. Lee is also an accomplished stage actor and wrote and coproduced the feature films Breathing Hard and Forfeit.

Members Reviews:

Only 6 hours? It went on...and on...and on...

I chose this audiobook on the strength of the other enthusiastic reviews. I can't quite believe we all listened to the same book. The narration was dire - toneless and irritating, especially when the narrator did the female 'voice'. The story was depressing, predictable and boring - and so slow! It just went on and on endlessly with nothing much happening except spending time with the most irritating and unattractive couple. We kept being told of their love, but frankly I didn't see much evidence. Jake was pretty obnoxious to Zoe, undermining her all the time. Ten years married? I'm surprised she stayed with him!

The writing was pretty poor too, over-descriptive, and packed with metaphors that I'm sure the author was pleased with himself for dreaming up but which should have been excised by a decent editor. There were unnecessary Americansims (for example, most people I know call the boot of a car the boot and not the trunk). And the language was fairly crude, presumably in an attempt to make the characters seem convincingly youthful, but they came across as ignorant and unrealistic.

Not recommended. I persevered to the end, but wish I could have those 6 hours back.

comforting and eerie at the same time

I sort of guessed half way through what had happened but I was kept in suspense. Going skiing for the first time soon so the reading of it was apposite. The eerie atmosphere kept my attention but my enquiring mind kept asking questions of the plot, but I had to suspend reality to get back to enjoying this yarn.

listened to it within 24 hours, great winter holiday distraction

Mark from Enfield

Wonderful story!!

Would you listen to The Silent Land again? Why?

I would! The claustrophobic world of snow was utterly compelling.

Who was your favorite character and why?

I loved both of them and the way they loved each other was touching and very powerful.

Which scene did you most enjoy?

So many...all of them.

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

There's more out there than the snow!

Any additional comments?

Joyce is a wonderful writer, hugely underrated. I could pick up any of his novels and trust him to deliver a confident and compelling story. He is a great loss.

Brilliant

Cliff hanger from start to finish.

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Title: Angel Fire

Author: Ron Francell

Narrator: Kent Kimball

Format: Unabridged

Length: 10 hrs and 20 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-24-12

Publisher: Books in Motion

Genres: Fiction, Literary

Publisher's Summary:

A modern classic that continues to gather a loyal audience, Angel Fire is a haunting tale of two brothers on separate odysseys of self-discovery.

Twenty-four years after war correspondent Daniel McLeod is killed in a Viet Cong ambush, his only brother, Cassidy, is mysteriously drawn to their Wyoming hometown, where he must confront a lifetime of his own ghosts. Their story is about how we seek equilibrium, a delicate balance between memory and the unknown, dislocation and homecoming, loss and restoration.

Set against the deceptive simplicity of a small town on the high plains, Angel Fire is a story of mythic proportions. It resonates with the rhythms of tales told for millennia, but they are written anew here, fresh as a Wyoming summer breeze. It resonates with the rhythms of a small town, the blessings of memory, and the pain of loss.

Members Reviews:

Darkest Night

Such a sad story, but a true one.

Ron does a very awesome job writing his books.

I will read many more of his books.

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Título: Las Antípodas y el siglo [The Antipodes and the Century]

Autor: Ignacio Padilla

Narrador: Fernando Flores

Formato: Unabridged

Duración: 3 hrs and 8 mins

Idioma: Español

Fecha de publicación: 10-17-12

Editor: Recorded Books

Calificaciones: 4 de 5 de 1 votos

Categorías: Fiction, Literary

Resumen del editor:

Ignacio Padilla was born in Mexico City and is the author of several award-winning novels and short-story collections. The Washington Post has called Padilla a "brilliant young writer."

Las antípodas y el siglo is the first collection of his short fiction that has also been translated into English. These 12 stories run the gamut from the North to the South poles. A common theme is adventurous men, exploring the depths and heights of the earth - from the Gobi Desert to Mt. Everest.

Please note: This audiobook is in Spanish.

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Title: BBC International Short Story Award 2012 (Shortlist)

Author: AudioGO Ltd

Narrator: AudioGO Ltd

Format: Original Recording

Length: 4 hrs and 7 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-11-12

Publisher: BBC Worldwide Limited

Genres: Fiction, Literary

Publisher's Summary:

All 10 shortlisted titles for the BBC International Short Story Award 2012: 'Escape Routes' by Lucy Caldwell, 'The Goose Father' by Krys Lee, 'Sanctuary' by Henrietta Rose-Innes, 'Even Pretty Eyes Commit Crimes' by M.J. Hyland, 'Black Vodka' by Deborah Levy, 'East of the West' by Miroslav Penkov, 'A Lovely and Terrible Thing' by Chris Womersley, 'In the Basement' by Adam T. Ross, 'Before He Left the Family' by Carrie Tiffany, and 'The iHole' by Julian Gough.