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Title: The Gravity of Birds

Author: Tracy Guzeman

Narrator: Eric Meyers

Format: Unabridged

Length: 13 hrs and 7 mins

Language: English

Release date: 08-15-13

Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Limited

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

How do you find someone who wants to be lost? Sisters Alice and Natalie were once close, but adolescence has wrenched them apart. Alice is a dreamer who loves books and birds; Natalie is headstrong, manipulative and beautiful. On their lakeside family holiday, Alice falls under the thrall of a struggling young painter, Thomas Bayber. Natalie, however, seems strangely unmoved, tolerating sittings for a family portrait with surprising indifference. But by the end of the summer, three lives are shattered.

Decades later, Thomas, now a world-renowned artist, reveals the existence of a portrait of himself with Alice and Natalie from that fateful summer. The sisters themselves have disappeared without a trace. And Thomas is torn between taking the secrets of the girls to the grave, or using the painting to resurrect the past before it closes up on them all for good

Critic Reviews:

A beautifully written, compelling story. I absolutely loved it. (Lucy Clarke, author of The Sea Sisters)

A compelling first novel (The Bookseller)

"One of those rare, exquisitely written novels that haunt you long after you've finished the last page. It is a novel not to be missed." (Alyson Richman, author of The Lost Wife)

Part mystery, part psychological drama and intriguing love story. This is a stunning debut. (Ellen Sussman, author of French Lessons)

Members Reviews:

The Gravity of a Good Book

This is a book is about two sisters. Both beautiful, but both broken. One mentally and the other physically. It is thought that these sisters have paintings that two art experts are asked to find by the wildly famous, spoiled, aging, and alcohoic artist who painted them.

The two art experts--one oldish and one youngish each have their own losses and hangups to deal with. Their often bickering relationship adds

a little lightness to what is until the end a very depressing story.

The title of this book grabbed me immediately and the review score of between four and five stars made me buy it. I rarely read the reveiws until after I finish a book and then I am usually amazed or appalled at what people write. The Gravity of Birds is a little depressing for my tastes, but I am happy I read it. I enjoy books that teach me a little about art. It's very interesting to know what people think an artist is saying in a painting. My conclusion is that you can't be a great painter unless you have deep feelings or a high IQ.

Impressive first novel

It had been awhile between reading reviews and downloading this book and finally getting around reading it, so I had no expectations. The story follows the lives of two sisters through flashbacks of the younger sister plus the unraveling of their mysterious relationships with an artist who caused life-altering heartache for both.

The story is complex and beautifully written. The author tends to digress rather like your aged great aunt when allowing characters to "wander in their thoughts" during important, tense passages. This was acceptable early in the book when character was being developed, but it was mildly irritating deeper into the plot. However, this was a minor criticism, and I did really enjoy the book. It has some darkness but there were also some scenes where I laughed out loud at exchanges between an art history professor and an antisocial analyst.

I hope to read more from this author.

A good book with flashes of brilliance

"The Gravity of Birds" is an ambitious but uneven book.

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Title: Tangled Lives

Author: Hilary Boyd

Narrator: Maggie Mash

Format: Unabridged

Length: 12 hrs and 4 mins

Language: English

Release date: 08-15-13

Publisher: Quercus

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

From the best-selling author of Thursdays in the Park....

Annie Delancey is happily married with three grown children. But she guards a secret. Aged eighteen she had a baby boy, and gave him up for adoption. Out of the blue, she receives an official-looking letter from Social Services. Herson wants to make contact.

As the son she has never known comes back into her life, his presence begins to expose the cracks in the family that Annie now has to try, desperately, to hold together.

Critic Reviews:

"I was ripping through this book...addictive" (Evening Standard)

"Poignant, well observed and wonderfully written, this is a bit of a heart string-puller" (Closer)

Members Reviews:

Let down by poor narration

Is there anything you would change about this book?

The narrator! She voices the character of Annie extremely well but all the other characters voices are spoken very loudly, very slowly or both!

What did you like best about this story?

Despite the appalling narrator I kept listening to this book because I was interested in the story and the outcome. It is similar to a Joanna Trollope family saga and I was interested in all the characters and their reactions to the revelation.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

The narration was so poor that I almost stopped listening. However I did persevere and could cope with listening in small doses. I have never heard a book narrated by Maggie Mash but will avoid her in the future. There are so many fantastic narrators who would be perfect for this book!

Any additional comments?

I did like this book and will try not to let the narrator put me off listening to another Hilary Boyd

I am a DARLEK

What did you like best about Tangled Lives? What did you like least?

the story itself was quite interesting....BUT the narration was diabolical, i kept expecting her to say i will exterminate you. i am positive this could be a highly rated book if it wasn't for the narration. Her intonations were all wrong and it really got on my nerves.

Would you be willing to try another book from Hilary Boyd? Why or why not?

with a different narrator i probably would

What didnt you like about Maggie Mashs performance?

everything

Was Tangled Lives worth the listening time?

sort of, but i could have 'really' enjoyed it

Great story

Lovely story. Shame about narrator! Why does she speak so slowly when putting on character voices! Hard listen. Sorry!

Daniel

There is only one point I'd like to make which is, Anni's best friend is gay.

I think he'd have had an inkling that Daniel is too.

Terrible narration....

Although I enjoyed the storyline the narration was awful and totally OTT but I persevered to the end of the book simply because I wanted to know how it ended!

I often listen to audiobooks again a couple of years later, but not this one I'm afraid!

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Title: Blurring the Lines

Author: Jerry Zehr

Narrator: Jerry Zehr

Format: Unabridged

Length: 4 hrs and 20 mins

Language: English

Release date: 08-14-13

Publisher: Spirit Publishing

Ratings: 5 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

What are you willing to sell your soul for?

Drugs, money, sex, faith, and truth intersect in this intriguing novel by Jerry Zehr. Blurring the Lines tells the story of Thomas, a driven young actor struggling to break into the entertainment industry in LA.

Thomas' conservative Amish heritage and his overwhelming desire to succeed continuously collide. His success, his survival, and his soul are at stake as he struggles to determine his life's purpose.

Members Reviews:

" This Earthly Canvas"

I love the way how the author weave a young man's desire for success, nail-biting suspense, the advice of a wise man who is also a lion, and acceptance for all faiths into one book.

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Title: The Rise & Fall of Rocky Love

Author: Katia Lief

Narrator: Marisa Vitali

Format: Unabridged

Length: 12 hrs and 31 mins

Language: English

Release date: 08-13-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Is fame really worth all the trouble?

Aspiring cartoonist Catherine "Cat" Gold earns her living as a celebrity assistant in uptown Manhattan, while navigating the cramped downtown spaces of life, love, and alternative art. Her boss is Rochelle "Rocky" Love, a celebrated 1970s feminist and has-been '80s radio and television star who is convinced she can forge a '90s comeback with an autobiography. But the ghostwriter hired to glorify her life instead reveals a battleground of treachery and hypocrisy, littered with lies and sex that cross all the boundaries. When Cat herself experiences Rocky's duplicity and learns that the icon is a fraud, she is fueled by a sense of disappointment and conspires with the ghostwriter to reveal the unspeakable truth about their narcissistic boss.

Editorial Reviews:

Protagonist Cat is assistant to a celebrity, one Rochelle "Rocky" Love. Cat works hard to help her boss, and in her downtime she picks her way gingerly through the sophisticated maze of life in Manhattan. Rocky is a has-been who is intent on reviving her career by producing an autobiography. Rocky expects a sympathetic rendering of her past, but Rockys ghostwriter easily unearths her flaws and errors. When Cat is burned by Rocky, she teams with the ghostwriter to publish Rockys unsavory history. This savvy and quietly funny story is told from Cats perspective, which is both young and knowing. With her clear and sober tone narrator Marisa Vitali shares Cats view of life along with an authentic, inside vision of Manhattan life.

Critic Reviews:

"Wonderfully funny and terribly true." (Fay Weldon)

"Taut, clean storytelling." (Publishers Weekly)

"Readers will want to read more of this talented writer's work." (New York Journal of Books)

Members Reviews:

Not a Mystery.

This was not the usual writings of this author. I have struggled to get thru this & still have not finished it. I am sad that it is

not the mystery writing of this author.

Was not one of my favorite books

Did not keep me interested, I could not get really interested in this book it seems to jump around too much

I've just discovered Katia Lief...

...and I'm glad I have. She is a really good, insightful writer who is not stuck in a single genre. Well-worth the price.

Good Read

Had read other books by her and this one was just a good as all her others. Katia Lief is worth reading while being a easy read.

I enjoy suspense stories.

I enjoy how Katia Lief writes. Always something new around the corner. Anything by Lief is high on my list of reading materials

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Title: Liebestod

Subtitle: Opera Buffa with Leib Goldkorn

Author: Leslie Epstein

Narrator: Andy Caploe

Format: Unabridged

Length: 10 hrs and 6 mins

Language: English

Release date: 08-09-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

A multilayered masterpiece of fevered imagination and eroticism, Liebestod soars as the consummate work by one of America's greatest comic geniuses.

Returning to New York with a bevy of rabbinical cousins, Leib, now besotted by a world-famed diva, is determined to bring to the Metropolitan Opera Rubezahl, the only opera his real father ever wrote. Yet the much-heralded premiere turns into a fiasco of unimaginable proportions, all breathtakingly relayed by a stunned newspaper correspondent who survives to report on this monumental disaster. With Liebestod, Epstein once again illuminates the mystery of our common humanity and mortality (New York Times).

Members Reviews:

One Star

Terrible uninformed literature.

Liebestod Opera Buffa with Leib Goldkorn

This is another one of Leslie Epstein's hilarious and poignant works. There are many illusions to historical events and personalities. The work combines absurdity and perception as well as humor and pathos. This book is certainly worth a read.

Horrible waste of time...

Perhaps the most uninformed pieces of fiction I have ever encountered. While I guess there is some humor possible in this story, when it got to the Metropolitan Opera portion things simply fell apart. Nothing at all was represented in a way that was believable or even funny. At least not to me. A complete waste of my time. Don't bother. There are many valuable books worth reading out there. This is not one of them. I would think that someone setting a story inside the Met might have taken the time to find out something about the fictionalized accounts of the personalities environments they represented. Lazy writing.

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Title: Shamrock and Lotus

Author: Cassie Premo Steele

Narrator: Catherine O'Brien

Format: Unabridged

Length: 7 hrs and 38 mins

Language: English

Release date: 08-07-13

Publisher: All Things That Matter Press, Inc.

Ratings: 2 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

A compelling novel that intertwines the stories of people from Ireland, India, and America, their lives touched by the untold stories of global immigration. Claire is the American wife of an executive in the World Bank, living in Dublin during the economic boom times. Brigid is a single Irish woman who, after spending most of her adult live working as a midwife on Native American reservations, is now returning home to Ireland. Padmaj is a man, originally from India and now an Irish citizen, who owns a restaurant in Dublin. As they connect with each other across cultural differences and learn to face their histories of violence and immigration with honesty and love, they learn that all people share common dreams of a renewed world.

Members Reviews:

One Star

It just plain isn't good writing. Avoid this one.

Beautiful book - layers of landscape, history and human existence

Both tender and tough this novel - threaded with loss and immigration, hunger and hope - offers characters in contemporary Ireland exploring their separate, difficult personal paths and the promise of their future. Lush green hills, Indian spices, and bourbon pie filled my senses while I grew to care about the people budding together in this exquisitely written book.

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Title: All in a Day's Work

Subtitle: A Short Story

Author: Bill Bernico

Narrator: Michael Griffith

Format: Unabridged

Length: 19 mins

Language: English

Release date: 08-05-13

Publisher: Downwind Publications

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

You wake up one morning with the weight of the world on your shoulders. You just lost your job, your girlfriend dumped you and you're about to be evicted from your apartment. Is it worth even going on anymore? Maybe not, but before you pull that trigger why not give a call to the folks at the suicide hotline. Maybe they can help.

How good are these people at their job? Someone's gonna die no matter what. And there ain't a thing you can do about it.

Members Reviews:

Think you've had a bad day?

Poor Melvin. Everything was going wrong. Maybe it was time to give up. After all, what else was there? Pretty much everything in his life had gone wrong so he got the gun out of the drawer and put it to his head.

They say timing is everything, and at just that point in time Melvin saw a bus drive past his apartment with an advertisement on the side for a suicide prevention hotline. Grabbing a pen, he quickly wrote the phone number on his hand.

Read this interesting story and see how circumstances changed for Melvin. There is a twist at the end which I hadn't anticipated, but it made for an interesting finish.

I liked the story and would happily recommend it to you. Hope you also enjoy it.

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Title: The Confessions of Al Capone

Author: Loren D. Estleman

Narrator: Luke Daniels

Format: Unabridged

Length: 19 hrs and 35 mins

Language: English

Release date: 08-01-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

In 1944, after Al Capone has been released from prison, J. Edgar Hoover assigns an FBI junior agent to insinuate himself into Capone's life and gain his trust so that Hoover can nail as many of Capone's Mob confederates as possible. Capone, suffering from the neurological effects of syphilis, is alternately lucid, full of the passion and energy that fuelled his rise to the pinnacle of American crime... and rambling or ranting, the broken shell of a man released from prison so he could die at home with his family.

With the narrative gifts honed in dozens of novels, Loren Estleman has captured the essence of this American icon as never before. With subtly nuanced portrayals of those in Capone's circle - his wife Mae Capone, members of the Chicago Outfit including the deadly Frank Nitti - as well as his nemesis, J. Edgar Hoover, Hoover's secretary Helen Gandy and others, The Confessions of Al Capone is a major literary achievement.

Members Reviews:

A Memorable Novel

Loren Estleman, celebrated author of mystery and western fiction, has written a distinguished historical novel about the last years of Chicago mobster Al Capone. The story revolves around an effort by J. Edgar Hoover to insert an agent, garbed as a priest, into Capone's Florida household, to see what can be learned about the mob. But this richly textured novel is much larger than the storyline suggests. The FBI agent, who once studied for the priesthood, has deep reservations about what he is doing as he wins the trust of a dying, syphilitic, and sometimes volatile Capone late in World War Two. The novel becomes an examination of conscience, of right and wrong, of characters who have large virtues and vices trapped in the same body. We are introduced to Capone's remarkable wife Mae, shadowy, tough, in many ways the dominant force in the household. Hoover, the vanity-saturated head of the FBI, emerges as someone more sinister and ruthless than Capone, and by the end of the novel the tables have largely turned. The cruel Hoover is less a man of honor than the mobster. This is a large novel. Its compass includes the straitened life of Americans in 1944, the mores and beliefs of a country radically different from what it is now, and the ethnic and tribal struggles of various people who were not yet absorbed by the American melting pot. This novel will loom large in the selection of the next Pulitzer Prize.

A home run from a practiced home-run hitter

Loren Estleman has one of the most supple imaginations of any fiction writer of his era. He has written convincingly and well in several genres, but this is the closest he's come yet to a straight novel. Not only does he wonderfully evoke the epoch of which he writes, he's managed to humanize one of the great villains of the twentieth century. If he weren't so closely identified with the crime genre, he'd probably win some kind of award for this engrossing novel.

Great read

My dad at the age of 84 seldom reads. Mostly due to macular degeneration, however he persevered and finished this book due to its content and large print. Highly recommend...

this book is just a little to long. while ...

this book is just a little to long. while 3/4 of it grab my interest, it was the other 1/4 that almost made me put the book down and go on to the next one.

Fascinating

It's a long comprehensive read, but one you will stick to.

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Title: Vets In Love

Author: Cathy Woodman

Narrator: Julia Barrie

Format: Unabridged

Length: 11 hrs and 43 mins

Language: English

Release date: 08-01-13

Publisher: Soundings

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Glamorous GP Nicci (aka the galloping doctor), and Matt, the very handsome equine vet, have caught each other's eyes. On paper it looks like a match made in heaven. There are problems, however: Matt's jealous ex-girlfriend being one of them. But the main trouble is Nicci's determination to qualify for the Badminton horse trials. Because although Matt treats horses for a living, a tragedy in his past makes him terrified every time Nicci competes. So when Nicci has a terrible accident, a devastated Matt gives her an ultimatum: it's either him or the riding. Nicci can't believe he means it. But can she risk putting him to the test?

Members Reviews:

Loved it!

Cathy Woodman has become one of my favorite authors. I think I first saw her name on Book Bud or Goodreads. After reading her first veterinarian book, I quickly became hooked. I was fortunate that a very good friend had given me an Amazon gift car for my birthday, and I was able to get quite a few of Woodman's books as a birthday treat.

Love Cathy Woodman's books about the people of Tarleton St ...

Love Cathy Woodman's books about the people of Tarleton St George. Wish the publishers would release more of her books in the US.

Four Stars

Love this series!

Where's Cathy?

I think Cathy should write about what she knows. Her books about Otter House Vets were super. She was writing about something she really knows with smatterings of the drama of day-to-day veterinary practise with lots of romance for good measure. We fell in love the the members of the staff as well as local and lovable village characters. "Vets in Love" seems almost to be written by someone else, not Cathy Woodman. What happened to Talyton St. George and its locals? This book could almost be in any location in Devon. The language is immature and the characters are shallow. I found it very difficult to warm to Nicci and Matt seems like a non-entitiy. I've read all of Cathy's books and it seems the further the subject gets from Otter House, the less credible the story.

Light-hearted romance read :)

I have never read anything by Cathy Woodman before so I felt pleasantly surprised with how the story played out. It wasnât until I had read the book that I realised it was part of a series, though I think most can be read as stand alone books like this one. I liked the authorâs light style of writing with how she creates her story.

The title may be a little misleading, as only one of the leads is a vet, Matt, with the other being a doctor, Nicci, but the romance defiantly isnât. When Matt and Nicci first meet you can see the sparks fly between them, even if Nicci is causing him a bit of pain trying to sort out his shoulder. This would be ok in a normal situation but as Nicci is the local GP and Matt is the patient it makes things a little more complicated. Matt never the one to back away from something he wants just goes right ahead and switches doctors so Nicci will have no excuses for dating him.

Their romance gets off to a great start, even with their crazy work schedules, the chemistry between the characters is clear. Everything seems to be going in the right direction for them, but with Nicciâs sister, niece and nephew suddenly showing up for a âvisitâ which turns into a lot longer, Mattâs ex dropping some devastating news on him and Mattâs dislike of Nicciâs eventing for fear she might get hurt, things start to unravel fast.

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Title: Familiarity Breeds Attempt

Subtitle: A Short Story

Author: Bill Bernico

Narrator: Glenn Hascall

Format: Unabridged

Length: 14 mins

Language: English

Release date: 08-01-13

Publisher: Downwind Publications

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Ralph has it bad. He's in love with Helen, who doesn't know he exists. His plan is to send her letters on a regular basis and sooner or later she's bound to give in. Ralph's friend Tom is not so sure that's such a great idea, you know, with the stalking laws and all. But Ralph persists and personally hands Jerry, the mailman, another of his convincing letters to personally deliver to Helen. Will Helen file a restraining order? Will Tom keep teasing Ralph? Will Jerry get sick of Ralph's letters to Helen? This is a fun listen with a great twist at the end.

You are treated to TWO stories here. The original version (which I thought was lost in a hard drive crash) and version two, which I re-wrote from memory. Both are delightful even in their differences.

Members Reviews:

At least try one of the two

Ralph is head-over-heals hopelessly lost over Helen who has already told him (to no avail) that she only wants to be friends. That doesn't deter Ralph: he KNOWS he can win her over. In fact, the very next love note is BOUND to be the one to do the trick. Tom keeps telling him he'd better back off, but he keeps giving Jerry, the mailman, those letters to deliver day after day hoping Jerry will put in a good word for him.

Only time will tell whether or not Ralph's letter writing campaign will work. You have two versions of the story here to decide if the story works for you or not. For me it didn't, but I can't really say why.

The story itself is a good story so far as the writing went. Looking back on it, I think I was happier about it after reading the first version, and that may be the problem: maybe telling the story twice was just too much for me.

After I finished the book I really had to think about what I would write in a review. Then when I got on my Kindle for the next few days to read, I kept seeing it there and had the same problem. Finally I decided I need to get this done so I can move on, and I really don't think my problem is with the story itself because after having first read it I was fine with it.

The story had a twist at the end, and I found myself smiling although I could see how it could have worked out any number of ways for dear old Ralph. However, I wasn't smiling when I got there a second time. I think it was just too much for me: I think Bernico would have been better off to have chosen one or the other version and just stuck with that.

HOWEVER, that is the beauty of opinion: everyone has a right to their own. And the only way you will know whether or not you agree with me - or which version you prefer - is to check out the book for yourself. At least you can try one of the versions because (as I said) one might even make you smile.