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Title: Gone to the Forest

Author: Katie Kitamura

Narrator: Paul Boehmer

Format: Unabridged

Length: 5 hrs and 42 mins

Language: English

Release date: 04-07-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 2.5 of 5 out of 2 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

From the critically acclaimed author of The Longshot comes this gripping saga about the destruction of a family, a home, and a way of life.

Set on a struggling farm in a colonial country teetering on the brink of civil war, Gone to the Forest is a tale of family drama and political turmoil in which fiery storytelling melds with daring, original prose. Since his mothers death, Tom and his father have fashioned a strained domestic peace, where everything is frozen under the old mans vicious control. But when a young woman named Carine arrives at the farm, the tension between the two men escalates to the breaking point.

Hailed by The Boston Globe as "a major talent", Kitamura shines in this powerful new novel.

Members Reviews:

Gripping Tale of the End of Empire

Kitamura reminds us that loss has its own unbearable yet defined logic. From the first paragraph to the last ominous sentence, the reader cannot escape the struggle for life even in the most harrowing of situations . Tom, Jose, the Old man, Celeste and the Girl muddle through the ravages of the civil unrest going on in this colonized nation and the domestic tragedies of their household. I read through this because the writing is so matter of fact in its ability to captors every nuance of the human condition. Not for the faint hearted but definitely a memorable read.

Stick with it

This book was sitting in my Kindle. I didn't remember why I bought it, but I must have read a positive review. I started reading it in the afternoon and despite its allegory qualities and seemingly slow-moving action, I was compelled to keep reading and finished it the same evening. It's a slow-starting story about settlers in an unnamed country where the government and indigenous peoples are seizing land (I kept thinking the former Rhodesia). But it definitely builds and the ending is worth it. I think Katie Kitamura's prose is crisp and clean. I would recommend this book as something out of the ordinary, but worth your time.

Too much sadness, too little personality development

I felt the characters were shallow. I wasn't really able to identify with any of them and felt like sort of an observer from far away. The characters were not real enough for me to care much about them.

Not for everyone!

I highly recommend for readers who loved The Road and The Reluctant Fundamentalist. It is so much an allegory for colonialism: characters are named but who they are is barely a part of the story. What they are--the archetypes--are the story. Nameless place. Unspecified time. Beautiful. Brief. Ominous even when you can see what's to come. Deep and layered.

Horrible

Not even worth the one star......Can't even finish it and it's only 190 pages! Don't waste your money or your time......

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Titre: Les cinq personnes que j'ai rencontrées là-haut

Auteur: Mitch Albom

Narrateur: Albert Millaire, Sophie Stanké

Format: Unabridged

Durée: 4 hrs and 50 mins

Langue: Français

Date de publication: 04-02-13

Éditeur: Coffragants

Evaluation: 3 sur 5 sur 1 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Résumé de l'éditeur:

"Nous avons tous notre petite idée sur le Ciel. Cette histoire est racontée pour que les gens qui ont pu croire leur passage sur terre sans importance se rendent au contraire compte qu'ils en ont eu beaucoup, et aussi combien ils ont été aimés."

Cinq personnes que vous avez croisées de votre vivant vous attendent là-haut. Leur sort est intimement lié au vôtre, et pourtant vous ne les connaissez pas forcément. Ces cinq rencontres, belles ou terribles, vous révèleront les fils invisibles qui nous relient tous les uns aux autres.

Ignorant tout cela, le vieil Eddie, chargé de l'entretien des manèges d'une fête foraine, fait ses premiers pas là-haut. Au fil des rencontres qui lui sont destinées, il découvrira les clefs de la vérité pour plonger enfin dans une bienfaisante éternité.

L'auteur

est né en 1960 à Philadelphie. Après avoir obtenu un diplôme de sociologie, il poursuit des études de journalisme à l'université de Columbia à New York et devient l'un des principaux journalistes sportifs des Etats-Unis, travaillant pour la presse, la radio et la télévision.

Dans son ouvrage

, il retranscrit les conversations qu'il a eues avec Morrie Schwartz, son ancien professeur d'université atteint d'une maladie mortelle. L'adaptation télévisée de ce récit a remporté quatre Emmy Awards en 2000, et il est resté quatre ans dans la liste des meilleures ventes du New York Times.

est publié aux Etats-Unis en 2003: le succès fut immédiat. Le livre, traduit dans 37 pays, s'est vendu à plus de 5 millions d'exemplaires, et a été adapté pour la télévision.

©2003 / Mitch Albom / Oh ! Editions pour la traduction française (P)2007 Alexandre Stanké

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Title: Heroes Often Fail

Subtitle: The River City Crime Series, Book 2

Author: Frank Zafiro

Narrator: Michael Bowen

Format: Unabridged

Length: 8 hrs and 25 mins

Language: English

Release date: 03-25-13

Publisher: Books In Motion

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 5 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

The men and women of the River City Police Department are sworn to protect and to serve. But when a six-year-old girl is kidnapped off a residential street in broad daylight, each cop must rise to heroic levels. Detectives scramble to solve the kidnapping while patrol officers comb the streets looking for the missing girl. Racing against time, every cop on the job focuses on finding her. Before it is too late. Before they fail her.

Members Reviews:

"Heroes Often Fail" Sears into Readers

The parental nightmares begin, as the often do, under clear skies and the promise of a new day early in the morning. It is March 15, 1995 as six year old girls Kendra and Amy walk to school like they have before and will walk home that afternoon like they have countless times before. That is until the van comes and slides to a stop next to them. They both freeze as a man leaps out of the van. He grabs Amy and Kendra runs knows the man could get her next. Instead, she gets away. The man in black didn't get her but as the hunt begins for Amy, Kendra is filled with guilt.

At the River City Police shooting range, Stefan Kopriva is filled with pain as well as guilt. Having barely survived a shootout at the Circle K six months ago, Kopriva remains on light desk duty. Despite being shot three times he survived and now wonders what more he could have done then and when his reputation will return to what it was before the robber known as Scarface rocked River City, Washington. The six months since have been painful. Not only as his body struggles to heal but in the misplaced admiration by some and the misplaced hostility from other members of the small police force who feel he, at best, failed them. Powerful pain medications and a growing romance are the only things keeping him going as he hates the mind numbing routine of desk duty. He wants his old life back and a symbol of that is getting off the restrictions and back on the streets.

He gets it but not the way he wants. As news of the possible kidnapping spreads through the department, it becomes a classic all hands on deck situation with every person pressed into service. Kopriva, as well as the other men and women of the River City police force desperately try to find Amy knowing that as the hours and days pass the idea that it is a simple kidnapping for ransom is more and more unlikely. For little Amy, kidnapping is quickly the least of Amy's worries.

Much of what happens regarding the child molestation in this well written but disturbing novel happens offstage. As such, scenes and images are created initially with a heavy emphasis on implied actions that are never described to the reader. As such, while not graphic or detailed, the implications and meanings of what is happening to Amy as well as what happens to another child in one of several secondary storylines are very clear and that material may disturb some readers.

With that being said, it should also be noted that this is a very good novel. Building on characters and events from the preceding novel "Under A Raging Moon" author Frank Zafiro has created a substantially more complex police procedural with multi layered characters, a rich setting, and plenty of action. It is clear that from a technical aspect this novel is superior in all aspects to his first novel which was very good in its own right.

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Title: Sophomore Campaign

Subtitle: A Mickey Tussler Novel, Book 2

Author: Frank Nappi

Narrator: Jeremy Arthur

Format: Unabridged

Length: 7 hrs and 58 mins

Language: English

Release date: 02-28-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 5 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

A curiously poignant baseball tale of adversity and intolerance, compassion and hope, that elevates autism fiction to fantastic heights. - Darryl Strawberry

Its 1949 and 18-year-old pitching phenom Mickey Tussler is back with the rejuvenated minor league Brewers in the sequel to The Legend of Mickey Tussler (the basis for the television movie A Mile in His Shoes). Despite Mickeys proclamation that he will never play baseball again after last seasons violent conclusion, his manager - and now surrogate father - Arthur Murphy cajoles the emotionally fragile, socially awkward boy with autism into giving it another shot. Mickey reluctantly returns to the field and must once again cope with the violence and hatred around him. When a young African American player joins the team, the entire team is subjected to racial threats and episodes of violence, one of which Mickey witnesses firsthand. Struggling to understand such ugliness and hatred, and fearful of reprisal should he tell anyone about what he has seen, the boys performance on the field suffers. Mickey now must deal with a side of human nature he scarcely comprehends.

Editorial Reviews:

After the violent conclusion to last season, the young pitching ace Mickey Tussler swore he would never play baseball again. In Sophmore Campaign, the sequel to The Legend of Mickey Tussler, Mickey's manager and now surrogate father convinces the boy to suit up once more. With veteran narrator Jeremy Arthur bringing the story to life, the young, autistic Tussler must once again command the diamond. Unfortunately for Tussler, the violent and ugly side of human nature is very much still in his path.

Members Reviews:

WONDERFUL!!!!

I loved the book and it's predecessor!!

I guess I am a girly girl because I didn't know anything about baseball to speak of. I learned so much of the terminology and the mental strategies of the game. A can of corn... The yellow hammer... Fall off the table... Etc. FAAAAAAANTASTIC!!!

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Title: Freeing Grace

Author: Charity Norman

Narrator: Kate Hood

Format: Unabridged

Length: 13 hrs and 23 mins

Language: English

Release date: 02-26-13

Publisher: Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 2 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Warm, insightful and poignant, Freeing Grace tells the story of David, curate of an inner-city parish, and Leila, his Nigerian-born wife. Unable to have children of their own, they're desperate for a family. When they finally hear they've been approved to adopt a baby, Grace, they can scarcely believe their good fortune. There's just one problem for which David and Leila cannot plan: Grace's birth family - the enigmatic, charismatic Harrisons. Enlisting their friend, the feckless, charming New Zealander, Jake Kelly - who's half in love with all of them, one way or another - the Harrisons send him on a quest that will force a confrontation.

Ultimately, each has a terrible decision to make. Everyone only wants what's best for Grace - but who can say exactly what that is?

Members Reviews:

Core story good diluted with too much added

The book starts well with a pacy introductory chapter then loses steam as the narrative flips between two seemingly unrelated stories. I had to concentrate to keep track of which story was being narrated. It took nearly five hours of listening for the two strands to come together. The core of the book examines the debate as to whether a child, who has lost her mother, is better with members of her birth family who are not ideal for parenthood or with a couple who have been vetted by social services and "tick all the boxes". A dilemma worthy of a book but the author crammed in all sorts of other issues that diluted the impact of the main theme. The book could have been much shorter and lost nothing. There is far too much verbiage that interferes with the dramatic tension and endless unnecessary similes leaving nothing to the listen's imagination. The word "like" peppers the book. Some of the people verge on being caricatures.

I felt this book, the author's first, had too many themes she wanted to include and her second book "After the Fall" is much better. I recommend the latter.

The narrator does an admirable job.

Terrible narration

Would you try another book written by Charity Norman or narrated by Kate Hood?

No

What could Charity Norman have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

I'm sure the book was good, as I enjoyed "After the Fall" but I could not listen to it because of the narration.

Who might you have cast as narrator instead of Kate Hood?

Anyone.

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

No

Any additional comments?

I do wish that most narrators wouldn't try to put on different voices for different characters. There are very few that actually pull it off. When they do it is brilliant. Kate Hood, sadly, can't. She is Australian and some of her accents were frankly horrendous. She reads well and so it is such a shame.

Disappointed

Drawn out and boring- I was constantly waiting for the narrator to get to the point! Very disappointed as I have loved other books by this author, eventually stopped listening as I just couldn't stand the drawn out storyline and the drawling voice of the narrator.

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Title: Love and Smoke

Author: Jennifer Blake

Narrator: Mary Murphy

Format: Unabridged

Length: 15 hrs and 36 mins

Language: English

Release date: 02-02-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 3 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Riva Staulet's cool beauty belies the passions roiling within her. Now, she has everything she has ever wanted. But it hasn't always been that way. Many years before, there was a charming, handsome man who tried to take everything from her. Now he has his eye on the governor's mansion and Riva has not forgotten his cruelty....

Members Reviews:

Terrific

She was the youngest sister that at 15 did a lot of growing up. She lost her dad at 10, her big sister at 15 and a sick mom. But the worst was the man who married her, got heart pregnant, left her in New Orleans to fends for herself. She did things to survive but met a wonderful man who she married. He died and she has to face all of her past and age the man who wronged her.

This story was way better the second time round.

I read this book as part of the "The Contemporary Collection Volume 2" bundle in 2014. I downloaded this one so I could listen to the audible version and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Much more than the first time. I think mainly because I appreciated all the complex secrets much more and I wasn't expecting much of a romance (there wasn't much romance). Here is my review from 2014 but honestly the book is worth reading:

"+++Spoilers+++

This story had a lot of potential but I feel that it got bogged down in melodrama. Our h in this story is older and widowed. The H is the son of her late husband. There are a lot of tacky details attached to the h's background and the 'ick' factor of her late husband not only visiting her and ogling her when she was a stripper but he married her when she was 15 or 16. The h cheated on her late husband with the H and then her husband ruthlessly made sure to separate them after that. All in all a bit disturbing in many way."

FANTASTIC BOOK

This is an FANTASTIC Book. This is a MUST READ. This book is a Page Turner. This Book will make you cry, but a couple of parts will make you laugh. Will read more of her books. You WILL NOT WANT To PUT THIS BOOK DOWN.

Where there's smoke, there's fire...and plenty of passion.

Riva Staulet, a wealthy widow and savvy businesswoman, knows a secret from long ago, one that could shatter lives, perhaps her own, if she reveals what she knows. The man who destroyed her sisterâs life, the one now running for governor, could possibly ruin her own hopes, dreams and perhaps even her life. Rivaâs mysterious, sharp minded, good looking stepson, Noel Staulet, has his own secretâheâs been in love with his lovely, sophisticated stepmother for many years, but thatâs all the more reason why he tries to avoid her at all costs. That was then; this is now. Together again, Riva and Noel make great business partners, as they always did, but their roles are about to change in a way that neither expects.

Dark secrets from the 1960s still simmer beneath the sands of time after decades of stillness. A smooth-talking, corrupt politician that Riva knew earlier still wants her, but she canât afford to let him use her again, not now, not ever. LOVE AND SMOKE releases the fire that bursts into flaming passionate love triangles and an intriguing plot line that doesnât slow down from page one until the end of the book.

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Title: A Grand Passion

Author: Mary Mackey

Narrator: Christine Williams

Format: Unabridged

Length: 17 hrs and 52 mins

Language: English

Release date: 02-01-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 3 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

From the Maryinksy Theatre in pre-Revolutionary Russia to the Lincoln Center in New York during the 70s, this is a generational story of three great ballerinas. Natasha Ladanova, a ballerina who has excelled in the Imperial Ballet with the help of the Grand Duke Alexis, a great admirer of Natashas. Nevertheless, even his great wealth cannot convince her to be with him, and she falls passionately in love with Sergei Maximov, who fathers her daughter, Tatiana Trey - and then breaks Natashas heart.

Tatiana, equipped with her mothers talent, moves to Hollywood in the 50s and struggles to dance in the heyday of silver screen ballerinas while fighting with polio. She passes her talent for the stage to her daughter, Alysa.

Alysa Rochina, dances a major role in one of Maximovs production. Will her performance finally bring her family to terms with their heritage of love and betrayal?

Editorial Reviews:

A historical romance, begun in Tsarist Russia, intertwines the lives, loves, and children of aspiring ballerina Natasha Ladanova and the man she loves and hates, the obsessed, ambitious choreographer Sergei Maximov. Actress and opera singer Christine Williams gives voice to the emotions, history, and love of the ballet that meld together poet and best-selling author Mary Mackeys novel. From St. Petersburg before the Revolution to Hollywood in the 50s to Manhattan in the '70s, three generations of great ballerinas are carried along, as are their audience, by the twists and turns of love and betrayal.

Members Reviews:

Delicious

A Grand Passion was a lovely book. Mackey blended equal parts of ballet and the difficulties dancers go through for the art, the complexity of relationships with others in an effort to have a normal life, the history of Russia and how it affected Natasha and the generations to follow.

This is a wonderful book to read. I guarantee you won't be able to stop reading.

Ballet Love Story

This book has intrigue, secrets, lots of ballet, Russian history (well-told), and many generations of a family whose roots are tightly wound around each other. If you are a fan of classical ballet, this is a must read. Enjoy!

Four Stars

The story oozes passion. It is spellbinding and kept me so interested, I read it in one day.

For viewers of "Dance Moms" and those who thought "Black Swan" was a masterpiece

This novel combines a B-movie storyline and the history of 20th century ballet - badly. The 3-generational saga of 3 ballerinas who have and/or want it all is thin and the asides about the real-life figures in the dance world are smug.

Mary Mackey's "A Grand Passion."

It is no surprise that the author is also a poet and a good one. This book is poetic and grand indeed.

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Title: The Reluctant Spy

Author: John Dryden

Narrator: Nigel Lindsay, Aiysha Hart, Sarah Goldberg

Format: Original Recording

Length: 2 hrs and 10 mins

Language: English

Release date: 01-12-13

Publisher: BBC Worldwide Limited

Ratings: 5 of 5 out of 3 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

A three-part BBC Radio drama about modern-day spying set in Cairo against a backdrop of the Arab Spring.

Hard-up Coptic art expert Duncan Kavanagh scrapes a living as a private English-language tutor and by showing tourists around the ancient churches of Cairo. He lives with his feisty, politically-aware, 15-year-old daughter, Ola, who is half-Egyptian, in a modest flat they can barely afford.

Since the revolution, the situation has become ever harder for Duncan, with tourists in short supply. When approached by seductive Canadian student Tara Moore to deliver a letter - for money - to a prominent Egyptian politician whose son Duncan teaches, he accepts. It's a decision that will solve his short-term financial problems but embroil him in a complex web of secrets and misinformation and a struggle for his own and his daughter's survival.

Written and directed by John Dryden. Starring Nigel Lindsay, Aiysha Hart and Sarah Goldberg.

Members Reviews:

A disappointing story.

What did you like best about The Reluctant Spy? What did you like least?

The performance is excellent, the cast cannot be faulted.

What was most disappointing about John Drydens story?

The story is constructed around a continual stream of stupid actions by the main character.

Although this may provide fuel for the plot, it becomes tiring for the listener.

And the ending is obscure, a series of disjointed sounds that baffled me.

Do you think The Reluctant Spy needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

No

Any additional comments?

Not worth the effort.

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Title: Elimination Night

Subtitle: A Novel

Author: AnonCorp.

Narrator: Cristina Panfilio

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 11 mins

Language: English

Release date: 01-08-13

Publisher: Brilliance Audio

Ratings: 3 of 5 out of 8 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Sasha King dreams of being a serious novelist and living the good life with her surfer boyfriend, Brock. But her day job as assistant producer of Project Icon, a once-mighty ratings juggernaut thats recently taken a hit in viewership, keeps her working nonstop.

Shes got her hands full with Icons two new celebrity judges, entrepreneur-actress-singer Bibi Vasquez ("Crew to be forbidden to make eye contact with Artist AT ALL TIMES," reads her contract) and Joey Lovecraft, a horny but spiritual rock legend who doesnt even own a TV (it goes against the teachings of his guru, Tibetan high lama Yutog Gonpo).

As the competition among the young would-be stars - including foul-mouthed, opera-trained Mia Pelosi and apple-cheeked yodeler Jimmy Nugget ("Its like Roy Rogers made love to a Bee Gee!") - heats up, Sasha finds herself constantly putting out fires. A date with a mysterious stranger makes her rethink her devotion to Brock. And then an unexpected revelation rocks her world.

Add a frighteningly smooth host (Wayne Shoreline), muckraking gossip columnists, and powerful people named Nigel, and you have the pure madcap listening pleasure of Elimination Night, a book so searingly accurate about the talent show machine that it had to be written anonymously.

Members Reviews:

For American Idol Fans ONLY

This is all you need to know about Elimination Night: If you cannot immediately identify the true identities of the judges and host of Project Icon/American Idol, not only is there no way you can enjoy this book, there is no reason you should even try. If on the other hand you remember Season 10 of American Idol, when two new judges joined the show after Mr. Horrible Simon Cowell left to start a rival singing competition, you will absolutely love this.

As I did. Season 10 was the last time I watched Idol. Until then, my daughter and I watched together, rationalizing it away as research, since she was an aspiring actress-singer at the time. Clearly, there was something going on behind the scenes between the judges. Clearly, the process was mostly rigged. But we watched on -- so I get it (as embarrassing as it is to admit it) and thoroughly enjoyed this listen (warts and all).

Elimination Night, written anonymously by someone who supposedly worked inside a talent competition show, exposes all of this, most entertainingly by exposing the show's new high profile judges. The back story is boilerplate -- seems petty to criticize its banality since it is so besides the point, and does not even begin to rise to the level of the obvious corollaries (The Devil Wears Prada, Nanny Diaries, Primary Colors).

It helps immensely that Cristina Panfilio nails all the voices -- not so much their accents, which can be rough at times, but their tone, whether it be sarcastic, manipulative, angry, or clueless. As trite as the back story may be, the audio narrator totally captures the voice of the fictional narrator, a jaded young assistant producer whom everybody dumps on but who gamely marches on trying to do the right thing.

Bottom line -- this is a 5-star listen across the board (OK, 4 stars for Story) for true Idol fans who watched Season 10, but is no better than 2-3 stars across the board (if not worse) for anyone who does not already know what happened during that time.

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Title: Split Second

Author: Cath Staincliffe

Narrator: Julie Maisey

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 15 mins

Language: English

Release date: 12-01-12

Publisher: Soundings

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 4 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

On a winters evening, a trio of unruly teenagers board a bus, ganging up on Luke Murray, threatening to kill him. No one intervenes until Jason Barnes, a young student, challenges the gang. Luke seizes the chance to run off the bus, but hes followed. Andrew Barnes is dragged from the shower by his wife Valerie: theres a fight in the garden and Jasons trying to break it up. As Andrew rushes to help, the gang flees. Jason shouts for an ambulance for Luke, but it is he who will pay the ultimate price.

As Valerie and Andrew are faced by the devastating loss of their only child, their grief affects them in different ways.

Members Reviews:

This is a truly moving story.

Staincliffe writes perceptively and compassionately about the damage sustained by the still living victims of murder, the families of two young men left to try to come to terms with devastating loss, yet her treatment of the survivors treats their grim struggle so respectfully that the reader is moved rather than depressed by entering their world.