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Title: True Confections

Subtitle: A Novel

Author: Katharine Weber

Narrator: Jennifer O'Donnell

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-01-12

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 3 of 5 out of 34 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Take chocolate candy, add a family business at war with itself, and stir with an outsider's perspective. This is the recipe for True Confections, the irresistible new novel by Katharine Weber, a writer whose work has won accolades from Iris Murdoch, Madeleine L'Engle, Wally Lamb, and Kate Atkinson, to name a few.

Alice Tatnall Ziplinsky's marriage into the Ziplinsky family has not been unanimously celebrated. Her greatest ambition is to belong, to feel truly entitled to the heritage she has tried so hard to earn. Which is why Zip's Candies is much more to her than just a candy factory, where she has worked for most of her life. In True Confections, Alice has her reasons for telling the multigenerational saga of the family-owned-and-operated candy company, now in crisis.

Nobody is more devoted than Alice to delving into the truth of Zip's history, starting with the rags-to-riches story of how Hungarian immigrant Eli Czaplinsky developed his famous candy lines, and how each of his candies, from Little Sammies to Mumbo Jumbos, was inspired by an element in a stolen library copy of Little Black Sambo, from which he taught himself English. Within Alice's vivid and persuasive account (is her unreliability a tactic or a condition?) are the stories of a runaway slave from the cacao plantations of Côte d'Ivoire and the Third Reich's failed plan to establish a colony on Madagascar for European Jews.

Richly informed, deeply moving, and spiked with Weber's trademark wit, True Confections is, at its heart, a timeless and universal story of love, betrayal, and chocolate.

Members Reviews:

Don't Bother

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

Long, twisting plot that failed to catch my attention. Ending just seemed to peter out. I was never sure why she was telling the story, until the end and then it was very anti-climatic. I had to force myself to finish this one.

What was most disappointing about Katharine Webers story?

Boring.

What character would you cut from True Confections?

The whole book. There was really only one character.

Good book

It didn't capture me at first, but not far into it became a pretty good story. I would recommend it.

Another Disappointment

What would have made True Confections better?

A better story

Would you ever listen to anything by Katharine Weber again?

No

Would you listen to another book narrated by Jennifer O'Donnell?

Probably

You didnt love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

Not really

Any additional comments?

Just a disappointment, and not worth the $4.95 I paid for it. The story didn't seem to go anywhere...stopped listening

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Title: Night Swim

Author: Jessica Keener

Narrator: Rachel Botchan

Format: Unabridged

Length: 7 hrs and 29 mins

Language: English

Release date: 05-15-12

Publisher: Recorded Books

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 6 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Night Swim, the gripping debut novel from Jessica Keener, was heralded as the arrival of a strong, distinct and fully evolved new voice by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jennifer Egan. In 1970s Boston, the glossy veneer of 16-year-old Sarah Kunitzs wealthy family is starting to show cracks. Her parents constant fighting and her mothers prescription pill abuse drive Sarah into two romantic relationships with unforeseen consequences. With grief fresh in her heart, Sarah wonders if she or her family will ever love again.

Critic Reviews:

"This memorable debut will strike a universal chord with readers." (Booklist)

"Keener's observations perfectly capture a certain kind of 1970s adolescence." (The Boston Globe)

"This earnest debut centers on Sarah as she tunnels through new depths of loneliness...moving." (The New York Times)

Members Reviews:

disappointing

This book was on sale and nearly every review I read, even the negative ones, praised its lovely prose. I thought I'd give it a try. It had been a long time since I'd read a book like this.

But it frustrated me. The prose was lovely; it was true. Keener has a talent for weaving a unique and evocative phrase. But I feel as if the story and its themes didn't match the depth of her writing skill.

Keener drives almost absent-mindedly through this tale of a teenage girl dealing with the grief of her mother's death. That backbone to the story seems to get lost in crushes, drug use, sex, bigotry, and music. Time skips along, huge chunks of life go missing, gulped away as the reader is introduced to a new series of moments that Keener has deemed noteworthy. Don't get me wrong, the author vividly describes all of these experiences with the kind of detail and craft most authors skip out on. But they just seem loose, barely connected by the wisps of grief courting the edges of the story.

I felt like the protagonist, Sarah, wasn't going anywhere. And, although I'm sure Sarah felt that way (especially because Keener liked to build paragraphs out of the questions wheeling through Sarah's mind), I didn't want to feel that way as a reader. Meanwhile, as aimless as Sarah seemed, I sometimes felt like Keener was just going through a recipe for "litfic novel." Here were the allusions to pop culture. Here were the repeating symbols (tunnels and funnels came up a lot). Here were the finely-crafted sentences describing the emotional heartbeats of a life-changing moment. After a while I got frustrated and just wanted the book to be over so I could move on to something that might have a few more surprises, a few imperfections, and not feel so contrived.

But I felt like even if her other hadn't gotten in the accidents

The book felt disjointed. I kept waiting for the story to circle back to the "present day" for Sarah, but it never really did. I never felt I could relate to Sarah and her plight. I empathized for her and the loss of her mother at such a crucial time in her life. Every girl should have a mother to help her through those messy and confusing teen years. But I felt like even if her other hadn't gotten in the accidents, she never really would have been there for her. In true New England WASP fashion, her mother was detached and distant.

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Title: Hearts and Minds

Author: Amanda Craig

Narrator: Sian Thomas

Format: Unabridged

Length: 13 hrs and 26 mins

Language: English

Release date: 04-12-12

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 5 of 5 out of 9 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Hidden by Londons wealth, energy and need for cheap labour, the citys immigrant population is powerless, despised and often illegal. So when a young womans body is discovered on Hampstead Heath one cold morning, she could be anyone...Rich or poor, outsider or insider, five strangers are connected in undreamed-of ways as greed, courage, murder and kindness link their lives. Polly Noble, a human rights lawyer and single mother, knows more than most how easily people fall into the abyss of Londons underworld.

Members Reviews:

Continues the Societal Gaze of A VICIOUS CIRCLE

HEARTS AND MINDS picks up about a decade after Amanda Craig's previous novel on the subject, A VICIOUS CIRCLE. Several characters (Mark Crawley and the divinely named Ivo Sponge) carry over, but you needn't have read the earlier book to enjoy this one. We see modern London in about 2007 -- near the end of the George W. Bush era -- and instead of the focus on literary professionals, here we have immigrants, lawyers, and others in the mix. It's a fascinating read, especially in these post-Brexit days.

Amanda Craig seems to have staked out some territory in Margaret Drabble or Penelope Lively land: there is much sociological commentary, and awareness on the part of the characters that they are in a changing time and place. I sort of like this, though others might not. The heroine is a middle-aged divorced woman with a career, children, big house, and dwindling ability to manage it all effectively; she is an immigration lawyer and considers herself very lucky to be employed in her field at all after taking several years off to be with her children. The other main characters -- the storylines alternate and occasionally merge -- include a saintly black Zimbabwean minicab driver, a young white South African teacher, a Ukranian teenager forced by vicious pimps to serve as an unpaid prostitute, and an American girl employed at a largely irrelevant literary magazine. They are all interesting, though their stories tend to dovetail a bit too neatly.

As with many novels intent upon showing the state of Society at a moment in time, HEARTS AND MINDS is a bit too talky, with characters always on the verge of being archetypes rather than individuals. Luckily, Amanda Craig is naturally funny, and her dialogue sparkles. She undercuts the seriousness brilliantly, enabling us to enjoy the story and characters for themselves rather than as illustrations of a historical period. And her observations about the immigrant problem and the social services network really resonate at the current moment, while the hostility toward Bush seems almost naive in light of recent events. How far we've come, how little we saw it coming -- these are powerful insights, and Craig helps us realize them. Highly recommended.

A great book that educates and entertains

I read this book almost a year ago but I still recommend it to people. It gave me a great insight into the way a place can be so different depending upon your personal situation.

I'm not particularly liberal, and yet it made me understand and appreciate the problems faced by UK immigrants in a new light.

The writing style was easy to read and the characters were engrossing and involving.

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Title: Hand Me Down

Author: Melanie Thorne

Narrator: Ali Ahn

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 5 mins

Language: English

Release date: 04-12-12

Publisher: Recorded Books

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 7 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

A recipient of the Alva Englund Fellowship and the Maurice Prize for Fiction, Melanie Thorne penned this tender debut brimming with evocative prose. At 14, Elizabeth Reid is searching for a place she and her sister Jaime can call home. Neglected by a father with more vices than work ethic and ignored by a mother bent on starting a new life with an ex-con, Liz bounces between distant relatives in California and Utah. But before Liz can find peace, she must come to terms with the ugly deal she struck to ensure Jaimes safety - one that has a hold on them both.

Members Reviews:

Story, 4. Reader, 3.

Some audio books sound like the reader/main character is genuinely speaking their own thoughts. (Girl on a Train) however, this one sounded like the reader was just reading a story aloud, like you would at a library. I felt that her reading style was also lighter than the subject matter. The book could have been darker and more intense with a more genuine reader. Overall, the story was ok, but I didn't buy the narrator at all. Probably won't listen to anything else she reads.

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Title: Where She Belongs

Author: Cindy Procter-King

Narrator: R. E. Chambliss

Format: Unabridged

Length: 8 hrs and 6 mins

Language: English

Release date: 03-29-12

Publisher: AudioLark Audio Books

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 35 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Jess Morgan will never return to Destiny Falls. Nine years ago, a logging accident near the remote timber town killed her dad and her high school sweetheart. Despite her broken heart, her mother immediately sought comfort with another man. That choice tore Jess apart and drove her to seek a life far away. Now shes successful and happily settled in Toronto. Or is she?

When her stepfather dies, Jess can no longer stay away from home. Her plan is simple; visit just long enough to persuade her mom to come live with her. Surely healing the rift between them will fill the emptiness she's felt for far too long. But when she lands in Destiny Falls, someone unexpected is waiting for her at the airport.

Adam Wright.

Adam plans to live in Destiny Falls forever. He loves every aspect of small-town living and his job that takes him regularly into the bush. He remembers Jess as a cute teenager who hung around with his little sister, so when he's asked to pick her up at the local airport, he's not prepared for the polished woman who steps off the plane. Soon Adam's happiness is more wrapped up in Jess than his home or work, but while he could give up everything and move back to Toronto with her, he senses that won't make either of them happy. How can he get her to give Destiny Falls a second chance? It will take a combined effort from everyone in town who loves Jess Morgan, plus a little charm from the local landscape itself, to convince her to give her to rethink her future plans.

Members Reviews:

Story Ok, Narrator Not!!

R.E. Chambliss sounds like a 15 year old girl reading an adult story. Her portrayal of the male voice was sickening, she made him sound so obnoxious, it was so hard to have any feelings for him.

The story dragged some, because of the angst our heroine had about her job in Toronto, versus coming back to her small town in British Columbia. A lot of waffling back n forth about it. This is a romance story about a girl coming home to be with her mother after the death of the step father who had virtually driven her away. She and her mother mend fences and become closer. While home she renews her acquaintance with her best friend Molly's cousin and falls in love with him.

This story could have been reduced by an hour or so, however the narrator really ruined it for me. Imagine a 15 year old girl reading the love scenes. YUK!!

Oh Cindy

the authors novels are so lovely as an easy listening romantic story but the choice in narrators is horrendous. This in particular sounds awful. You can hear if she just read it properly it would be fine but she starts each sentence in a vapid, husky, porno-esque, stupid voice and you can hear it's not normal because she seems to forget and it's so distracting! and stupid! so blerghhh. I love the books so stop ruining them with crap narrators!

Where She Belongs is a gentle story that touches

Stuck in a quagmire of heartbreaking experiences in her teens, Jess Morgans ability to move on emotionally is stalled even though she functions at top speed in her upscale merchandizing career in Toronto. When she must return to Destiny Falls where she experienced these life-changing hurts, she is swamped with misgivings. Her veneer of big city sophistication gets chipped away little by little.

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Title: Tomorrow River

Author: Lesley Kagen

Narrator: Lesley Kagen

Format: Unabridged

Length: 10 hrs and 34 mins

Language: English

Release date: 03-01-12

Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 23 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

During the summer of 1968 in Rockbridge County, Virginia, eleven-year-old Shenandoah Carmody's mother disappeared. Her twin sister, Woody, stopped speaking, and her once-loving father slipped into a mean drunkenness unbefitting a superior court judge. As the first anniversary of their mother's disappearance nears, her father's threat to send Woody away and his hints at an impending remarriage spur a desperate Shenny - who was named for the Shenandoah Valley - to find her mother before its too late. While struggling to get her mute twin to reveal what she knows about the night their mother vanished, Shenny is ultimately swept up in a series of heartbreaking events that will force her to face the painful truth about herself and her family.

Members Reviews:

One More Time, Please.

The story is narrated from the perspective of a child. The writing is OK, but not nearly as good as her first book "Whistling In The Dark." Actually, if she could do a "do over" on this one it might work better. The story line just completely falls apart midway through the book. The portrayal of the father is very weak. The potential for a good story is there, but it just wasn't thought through and developed. Ms. Kagen can do much better than this.

Good But Problematic

Tomorrow River lacked the authenticity of her first novel. She struggled with the southern setting and over worked the dialect. As a Southerner, her language hurt my ears and her true grasp of the understanding of the region was sad. The book was okay but I recommend the eBook The Haunting of Widow's Walk available at Barnes and Nobles if you want a truly GREAT read and mystery. You won't doze off reading it as I did with this book.

Unbearable

I just couldn't with this book. I couldn't believe it was written by Kagen. First, the story line is extremely difficult to follow when the narrator flashes back--it takes a moment to figure out if she's in the present or if she's telling a past story. You will ask yourself, is this told from the 12 year old's perspective or the adult looking back? It's just not believable that a 12 year old would say some of these cliches and insights.

The dialogue is just unbelievable--for instance, some of the exchanges between the main character and the housekeeper--you just could never hear these sorts of dialogues in your head.

And not only is the storyline difficult to follow, it's completely unbelievable. I'm all for happy endings, but the way in which everything ends up in a neat bow is sloppy and sort of insulting to the reader. I loved Whistling in the Dark; however, I doubt I'll be reading another Kagen book if they're anything like Tomorrow River. I was disappointed in myself for seeing it through to the end.

Amazingly !!

Find a comfy chair , a smile , and a box of tissues ! I didn't want this story to end ! I read a lot of books , but this is the fastest I've ever read ! This is the first book I've read by this author, and I intend on reading so much more of her work ! The only negative is that I typically don't spend more than $10 bucks on a kindle book . A hard copy yes , but there are usually so many titles i can read inexpensively on the kindle.

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Title: You Deserve Nothing

Author: Alexander Maksik

Narrator: Cassandra Campbell, Dan John Miller, Adam Verner

Format: Unabridged

Length: 7 hrs and 27 mins

Language: English

Release date: 01-04-12

Publisher: Tantor Audio

Ratings: 3 of 5 out of 20 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

William Silver is a talented and charismatic young teacher whose unconventional methods raise eyebrows among his colleagues and superiors. His students, however, are devoted to him. His teaching of Camus, Faulkner, Sartre, Keats, and other kindred souls breathes life into their sense of social justice and their capacities for philosophical and ethical thought. But unbeknownst to his adoring pupils, Silver proves incapable of living up to the ideals he encourages in others. Emotionally scarred by failures in his personal life and driven to distraction by the City of Light's overpowering carnality and beauty, Silver succumbs to a temptation that will change the course of his life. His fall will render him a criminal in the eyes of some and all too human in the eyes of others.

In Maksik's stylish prose, Paris is sensual, dazzling, and dangerously seductive. It serves as a fitting backdrop for a dramatic tale about the tension between desire and action, and about the complex relationship that exists between our public and private selves.

Critic Reviews:

"Both intelligent and intellectual, this is both a tribute to brilliant teachers and a cautionary tale of their imperfections." (Kirkus)

Members Reviews:

Who is the teacher and who are the students?

Would you consider the audio edition of You Deserve Nothing to be better than the print version?

No. The audio version is well done but the print version, without hearing multiple voices, allows the reader to imaging the faces of the characters without outside influence.

What did you like best about this story?

The examination of the relationships between teachers and students is well portrayed. The teacher seeks to stimulate learning but can the teacher transcend his/her own flawed self in order to expand the horizon of students?

Which scene was your favorite?

The confrontation at the end between the principal, trustee, and the protagonist.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The protagonist's trip to Greece was the key to understanding his loneliness and isolation even though his outward life was devoted to social interactions.

Any additional comments?

This is a great study in the internal contradictions we all face between our ideals and our reality.

well what to say...

it is laid out in a confusing manor. storylines left unresolved just ends. i would recommend a different book unless you are fluent in french, because there are section and lines that aren't translated..

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Title: The Choice

Author: Susan Lewis

Narrator: Karen Kass

Format: Unabridged

Length: 13 hrs and 24 mins

Language: English

Release date: 12-08-11

Publisher: Random House Audiobooks

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 14 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Sometimes the choice is too hard to bear... Nikki Grant is only nineteen when she discovers shes pregnant. Despite her parents disappointment and anger, she welcomes the news with joy. The baby will complete the happy home she shares with the man she adores, Spencer James. Baby Zac arrives and is perfect in every way. And with Spencers career taking off they are ready to make the big move to London. And then, on a day like any other, Nikki suddenly finds her life turned upside down by tragedy. As she becomes ever more embroiled in a world she cannot escape, the love between Nikki and her son is put to the kind of test no mother should ever have to face

Members Reviews:

A good listen

What did you like most about The Choice?

It tackled a difficult issue in a sensitive way.

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

She has a good range of voices so it's easy to identify the different characters. Easy to listen to.

Any additional comments?

This wasn't the best book I have ever listened to but it was good. There were parts when it was gripping and I couldn't switch it off, but other parts when it dragged on a bit randomly. The ending was ok if a bit dull.

Despite the very difficult subject matter, it was quite an easy listen.

Amazing book

Loved the story line, performance was great. This is actually the second time of listening. To it !

Must read

Loved it, well written and well read. Would recommend to anyone. Captivating from the first page

Good story line

Delivered in a crisp way which I personally found spoilt good storytelling.

I would have preferred a bit of regional accent from main character.

Emotional story

If I had known what the story was about, I most probably wouldn't have listen to it, only because it made me cry, but saying that it was well read and I couldn't stop listening to it.

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Title: A Long and Winding Road

Author: Win Blevins

Narrator: Ed Sala

Format: Unabridged

Length: 10 hrs and 15 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-21-11

Publisher: Recorded Books

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

The fifth volume in Win Blevins epic Rendezvous series, A Long and Winding Road finds Sam Morgan picking up the pieces of his life a decade after he first left his home in Pennsylvania looking for adventure. When his lover, the widow Paloma Lunawho is dying of cancersets off to pray at the shrine of the Virgin de Guadalupe, Sam finds himself a mission of his own. Two Mexican girls have been abducted by Navajo Indians, and Sam heads off into the New Mexico wilderness to rescue them.

Members Reviews:

great read

Romance is the name of the game in this book. This book delivers what we all want more romance and excitement in our life. Overall I am very well pleased with this book and the excitement it has brought me. This book had me unwilling to put it down until I turned the last page as I was so enthralled with the plot.The author of this book knows how to deliver the good in this romance novel. Would I recommend this book to other people? Yes I would including friends .I absolutely think this is great book. All opinions are my own and they are not influenced by anyone but myself.If this review helped you at all please vote yes below.

If American History Class Had Only Been This Good

What a story ! If learning American history could be literature based, I would pick this series for the mountain man/adventurer time period because it doesn't overly romanticize the people or conditions. You know, if you didn't before, just what is was like to be alive then. This particular book in the series has grit, cruelty, love, unexpected measures, honor, and some things not tidily wrapped up - just like life - A long and Winding Road. The historical places, people and events that make up each book make the story even more meaningful. The writing is rich and smooth conveying nuances that contrast with the toughness of the lives and characters written about. You get to know these people - they cease to be "characters". The human condition is wrung out in the best and worst of ways. You don't read this book, you experience it. Be prepared to be taken on a journey......

Five Stars

His research is impressive.

Four Stars

nice finish

Sam Morgan's story.

This series has been a great trip back into history and an era I so lost to dream myself into. Well written with feeling and adventure enough to satisfy all my senses!

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Title: Christmas at Timberwoods

Author: Fern Michaels

Narrator: Tanya Eby

Format: Abridged

Length: 5 hrs and 29 mins

Language: English

Release date: 09-27-11

Publisher: Brilliance Audio

Ratings: 3 of 5 out of 5 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Its the most wonderful time of the year and for Heather Andrews, security manager at Timberwoods Mall, undoubtedly the busiest. But this Christmas, Heather has more to contend with than frazzled parents and disgruntled Santas. Angela Steinhart, a young woman who designed the malls spectacular holiday displays, has had a premonition that tragedy will strike on Christmas Eve. And Angelas visions have a habit of coming true.

Heather would love to dismiss the warning as holiday stress. But the more she gets to know the quiet, lonely Angela, the more she trusts her. In Lex, her boss, Heather finds an ally - and the glimmer of something more profound. And as the days count down, it will take all of her wits, hope, and unflagging courage to stop someone from destroying the season in one split second....

Members Reviews:

Kind of boring

What did you like best about Christmas at Timberwoods? What did you like least?

The story was ok but the performance was boring.

What didnt you like about Tanya Ebys performance?

It was like she was reading the book to you, not acting it out.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

maybe