How I Listen to Full Audiobook in Fiction, Contemporary Most Popular

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Title: Mothers and Sons

Subtitle: Stories

Author: Colm Toibin

Narrator: Gerard Doyle

Format: Unabridged

Length: 8 hrs and 39 mins

Language: English

Release date: 12-31-07

Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 28 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Each story is centered on a transformative moment that alters the delicate balance of power in that relationship and changes the way mother and son perceive one another.

With exquisite grace and eloquence, Toibin writes of men and women bound by convention, by unspoken emotions, and by the stronghold of the past. Many are trapped in lives they would not choose again: if they ever chose at all. Through the unique lens of their complex mother-son relationship, surprising hidden facets of character are revealed.

Award-winning novelist Toibin brings to this stunning first collection of short works an acute understanding of human frailty and longing.

Critic Reviews:

"[Toibin's] exacting control over both form and material never varies...his adaptability in writing short or long, and in working with characters far different from one another, is astonishing...[A] rich but supple prose style seals each story's, and thus the collection's, absolute success." (Booklist)

Members Reviews:

Good Reader, Odd Endings

Toibin creates a series of interesting characters and situations in these short stories, all of which in some way touch upon the relationships between mothers and sons. There's a very Irish feel to most of them, and the reader is perfect. My only complaint is that the stories have no closure; they just STOP, at a seemingly random point. Several times I found myself wondering who a character was I hadn't heard mentioned before and what happened to the one I had just gotten invested in--only to realize I was in the next story. This may be avant garde or something, but I found it irritating after awhile.

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Title: God Is Dead

Author: Ron Currie

Narrator: Gabriel Baron

Format: Unabridged

Length: 5 hrs and 29 mins

Language: English

Release date: 08-10-07

Publisher: Listen & Live Audio, Inc.

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 42 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

In Ron Currie's provocative, wise, and emotionally resonant novel, we meet God himself, as well as the Dinka woman whose mortality He must suffer when He inhabits her body; people all over the world coping with the devastating news of God's demise; a group of young men who, fearing the end of the world, take fate into their own hands; mental patients who insist that a god still exists; armies taking up the eternal war between fate and free will; and parents who, in the absence of a deity and the "lack of anything to do on Sundays", worship their children.

On the surface, this is a world utterly transformed, yet certain things remain unchanged: protective parents clash with willful, idealistic teenagers; idols are exalted; small-town rumor mills run unabated; and children often don't realize how to forgive their parents until it's too late.

In God Is Dead, Currie brings together a prescient satirical gift worthy of Jonathan Swift, the raw appeal of Chuck Palahniuk's blackest comedy, and the thought-provoking ethical questions of Kurt Vonnegut, all with a light touch, empathy, and wisdom that make for an exhilarating experience. Offbeat yet accessible, God Is Dead is an exciting debut from a fresh new voice in contemporary fiction.

Members Reviews:

Humorously Dark, Great Sarcastic Voice

the narrator even changes his voice as he plays God, teenage boys, girls, women and young men. the voice meshed perfectly with the story and the psychology of the characters. fun read, especially the first chapter with God and Powell.

Teachings...!!! Perhaps

Although I realize that many a writer uses the ploy of not telling you all of the details, so you could fill in the blanks, imagine & use your own way of thinking as what might have happened or what is going to happen in the story as a way to present their art form, it does not work here very well with this bookI loved the title, I liked the idea of what the book was trying to sayI just feel the writer needed to say more, fill in more of the detailsspecially those that he mentions but never explainsthe book feels somehow unfinished to meperhaps there is a second or a series on the waynot surebut the idea gets the cross just fineI know what the writer feels, I feel most of it myself, I see it, we all do even though we may not admit to it often or everI suppose wanting more from a writer could also mean they did a great job, left you wanting more, that is not the case herethis one just feels undone

Most Original

I always love when you get to hear a truly refreshing story a unique perspective on this world. This story delivers! Very much enjoyed the voice of the story as well.

Lots of room

A bit short and the ending felt a little forced, but I enjoyed it all the same.

Bleak...

This book wasnt for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

To be fair, I love Ron Currie, and the story was wonderfully interesting until the end. There were so many places that he could have taken the book and when it was over, all I could think was

What could Ron Currie have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

I can't say that he should have written a different ending, because the ending followed very well the concept that God truly was dead. And I couldn't say that he should have copped out and written some way for God not really to be dead, just to make the ending happier.

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Title: The View from Castle Rock (Unabridged Selections)

Author: Alice Munro

Narrator: Kimberly Farr

Format: Abridged

Length: 6 hrs and 25 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-18-06

Publisher: Random House Audio

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 29 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

A young boy is taken to Edinburgh's Castle Rock, where his father assures him that on a clear day he can see America, and he catches a glimpse of his father's dream. In stories that follow, as the dream becomes a reality, two sisters-in-law experience very different kinds of passion on the long voyage to the New World. Other stories take place in more familiar Munro territory, the towns and countryside around Lake Huron, where the past shows through the present like the traces of a glacier on the landscape, and strong emotions stir just beneath the surface of ordinary comings and goings.

Evocative, gripping, sexy, unexpected: these stories reflect a depth and richness of experience. The View from Castle Rock is a brilliant achievement from one of the finest writers of our time.

Members Reviews:

Fine Writer, Disappointing Recording

This book is a collection of related short stories. Consequently the presentation of Unabridged SELECTIONS is confusing and unsatisfying. I clicked to purchase unabridged without noticing it was selections until later and I regretted that.

Also the narrator does a distractingly bad Scottish accent. It sounds like a shaky Irish accent with a lot of glottal stops. Perhaps it is meant to be lowland Scots, rather than the softer Highland burr, but it is dreadful.

Still Munro is a remarkable storyteller. This is one book I would recommend you read rather than listen to.

Disappointed in the narrator.

Would you try another book from Alice Munro and/or Kimberly Farr?

No.

What did you like best about this story?

Grew up in the UK so I like stories about the UK.

What didnt you like about Kimberly Farrs performance?

Scottish accent sounded fake & forced. Pronounciations were inconsistent in the point same words in one sentence was mispronounced. Later in the book when the accent is Canadian (N. American), it was easier on my ears. Maybe most Americans won't notice but it's difficult for me to hear narrators try so hard doing Scottish, Irish or even English accents and not succeed.

Could you see The View from Castle Rock (Unabridged Selections) being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

No. Too slow & too monotonous. Screen play would have to do all the Hollywood tricks to engage an on-screen audience.

Any additional comments?

Many LOVE Alice Munro, she's just not for me. Glad I tried and found out my own preferences.

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Title: Tales of The City

Author: Armistead Maupin

Narrator: HarperAudio

Format: Abridged

Length: 18 hrs and 23 mins

Language: English

Release date: 09-05-06

Publisher: HarperAudio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 181 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City has blazed a singular trail through popular culture, from a groundbreaking newspaper serial to a classic novel, to a television event that entranced millions around the world. The first of six novels about the denizens of the mythic apartment house at 28 Barbary Lane, Tales is both a wry comedy of manners and a deeply involving portrait of a vanished era.

Among the cast of this groundbreaking saga are the lovelorn residents of 28 Barbary Lane: the bewildered but aspiring Mary Ann Singleton; the libidinous Brian Hawkins; Mona Ramsey, still in a sixties trance; Michael "Mouse" Tolliver, forever in bright-eyed pursuit of Mr. Right; and their marijuana-growing landlady, the indefatigable Mrs. Madrigal.

Includes:

Critic Reviews:

"Maupin, with all his elegance and charm, has found a place among the classics." (The Observer)

Members Reviews:

a collection of abridged books

While it's highly welcome to have TOTC on Audible, this omnibus is a collection of the abridged versions of all the books. Minor but important plot points that add depth and understanding to the characters are missing.

too continuous

Good listen but there are no indications to where one book ends and another starts. I understand that they are continuous but it would still be good to know if this is Tales of the City or More Tales of the City...

The charm was edited out

What was most disappointing about Armistead Maupins story?

As I see it, the beauty of the books is in the city and its characters. In order to get the books short enough, so much of that was cut, leaving the books gray and boring in comparison. In my opinion, it's better to avoid the series altogether that listen to it like this.

Captures an Era

Love the portrayal of the times, the great characters, and the serendipity. Maupin has an eye for contemporary society and its quirks.

I guess that time is gone, now

I lived in San Francisco at the end of the time when this novel was serialized in The Chronicle newspaper. I remember reading it with some puzzlement at first, and later with a sense of enjoyment. I had an apartment that looked into Trader Vic's parking lot, and I would spend Friday evenings sitting on the fire escape watching the comings and goings: Tales of the City reminds me of those moments. However, absent that social scene, that society, that oddly innocent moment, I'm not sure the stories really stand up well today. At times it seems almost elegiac, which was not the original intent. Something unfortunate seems to have happened to the dreams, the beliefs, the energy we had back then, which is not the novel's fault, yet it somehow affects how one thinks of it today. The narration is all right, not affected by overdone "voices", but it isn't wonderful either.

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Title: Slim and None

Author: Dan Jenkins

Narrator: LJ Ganser

Format: Unabridged

Length: 7 hrs and 42 mins

Language: English

Release date: 09-01-06

Publisher: Recorded Books

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 25 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

The aging pro-golfer is now 44, and he just has to win a major this time around. Since the days when golfing was done with a shepherd's crook, only seven men have won a major after the age of 44. Bobby Joe figures his chances are slim and none.

Critic Reviews:

"Jenkins is hilarious, providing more laughs per page than any other writer in the 'bidness'." (People)

Members Reviews:

Jenkins scores again

One of the best Dan Jenkins books I have ever read.Very funny and had an ending that made sense.

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Title: A Whistling Woman

Author: A. S. Byatt

Narrator: Pamela Garelick

Format: Unabridged

Length: 20 hrs and 35 mins

Language: English

Release date: 08-29-06

Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 25 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

In the late 1960s, the world begins to split. The languages of religion, myth, and fairytale overlap with the terms of science and the new computer age. The meaning of love itself seems to vanish and people flounder, often comically, while searching for their true sexual, intellectual, and emotional identities.

Through the author's wayward, lovingly drawn characters and breathtaking twists of plot, she illuminates the effervescence of the 1960s, both its excitements and its dangers, as no one has done before.

Critic Reviews:

"Byatt is a wonderful writer, constantly engaging wherever she takes us." (London Times)

Members Reviews:

I couldn't force myself to finish

I made myself listen to the end of the first part of this 3 part audio book. I had been so excited to find it on Audible since I read and loved Possession: A Romance by A. S. Byatt. But this book is about discrimination against women and the abuse and even murder of wives and children. The book tells the stories of innumerable women and men whose lives demonstrated the evils caused by this kind of horror and discrimination. Their stories are linked by the smallest threads and tell of lives of desperation or sacrifice. Byatt seemed to be saying a woman could have a servile marriage or have a career. I began my career in the 60s and had to admit more than once that I had chosen the wrong man, but in the 60s a woman could make changes, and with right man, it was possible to have a meaningful career and a good marriage. I did not want to revisit the darkest days of the feminist movement and have never been willing to believe that the horrors visited upon women and children were the result of that movement. The horrors were always there. The feminist movement only finally gave us the power to change our own lives. Perhaps the second and third parts of the book gave some hope to those desperate lives, but I didnt get that far.

Mixed

Loved the narrator. Found the story hard to pull together . The numerous odd names added to incoherence. The individual storylines were interesting but we're not connected enough to follow.

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Título: Novelas Ejemplares [Exemplary Novels]

Autor: Miguel de Cervantes

Narrador: Santiago Munevar

Formato: Abridged

Duración: 3 hrs and 21 mins

Idioma: Español

Fecha de publicación: 07-14-06

Editor: Yoyo USA, Inc

Calificaciones: 4 de 5 de 2 votos

Categorías: Fiction, Contemporary

Resumen del editor:

The classic works of literature contained in each of these volumes represent each author's best and most famous writings. A wonderful introduction to world literature, this finely crafted and affordable series offers the works of these world-renowned authors to a wider audience. Includes Rinconete y Cortadillo, El Licenciado Vidriera, y el Celoso Extremeno.

Opiniones de los miembros:

Great find!

I was looking for Novelas Ejemplres for a long while. I was really surprised when I received this book. I was not expecting a used, hard-cover book like the one I received. I thought it was going to be one of those newer editions. However, I am soooo happy with the book I received. It is in pristine condition, with only a handful of slight markings and with some stamps on the edges. The paper and the cover are from high quality material. This particular book I received is a collector's edition at this point since it is from a very old edition. I think I found a treasure without them knowing it or not. Very happy with my purchase. Outside the particular book I received, if you can find a similar one, and you're looking to add to your Spanish classic literature collection, you need to have this one on your shelves. People don't write like Cervantes did anymore. Very rich.

Great! Thanks

Arrived. Great! Thanks.

It is a MUST if you like Cervantes

Novella or short novelâ Great way to start reading Cervantes in Spanish. They all have an implicit example or morality about the society of that time , XVII.

Five Stars

Was a gift for my husband, he loves to read and even more if the writer is Cervantes Saavedra

Five Stars

Super fast shipping. Great read. Love Cervantes

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Title: Sandcastles

Author: Luanne Rice

Narrator: Ann Marie Lee

Format: Unabridged

Length: 12 hrs and 18 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-26-06

Publisher: Books on Tape

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 35 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Eleven years ago, Honor thought she had the perfect home, the perfect love, the perfect life. Then her husband, brilliant photographer and sculptor John Sullivan, broke her heart, and tore their little family apart. Now, hearing of Regis's impending marriage, John has ended his self-imposed exile and returned to the family he's always loved more than anything on earth. What he finds is one daughter still hurting over his abandonment, another who barely remembers him, and a third who may be in more trouble than anyone knows. And then there is Honor herself, and a passion that may have been interrupted but that has never waned.

Some things, like sandcastles, don't survive the changing tides. But love, family, and friendship, just as fragile, have a way of standing against anything. It will take nothing short of a miracle to heal the rift between father and daughter, husband and wife, the past and the present, but a miracle is exactly what is in the works at Star of the Sea Academy. The only question is: Do you believe?

Critic Reviews:

"Rice delicately handles heartbreak and redemption." (Booklist)

Members Reviews:

Good Beach Listen

This is a typical Luann Rice book with the story pulling you in and leaving you wanting more. The father is in jail in Ireland and coming home soon, his oldest daughter is marrying a boy she shouldn't be, his middle daughter is searching for a sign from Mother Mary, his youngest doesn't understand, and his wife wants to move on with life. They must all try and rebuild their lives together after that night in Ireland. The book was an enjoyable beach read/listen but a bit slow in places. If you like her other books you will enjoy this one.

Sandcastles

This book will keep you on the end of your seat and waiting for the next chapter, I loved it and What matters Most is a Great Second book! I highly recommend them both!

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Título: Los Viajes de Simbad, el Marino [The Travels of Simbad, the Sailor]

Autor: Jose Luis Gimenez

Narrador: Laura Garcia

Formato: Abridged

Duración: 2 hrs and 30 mins

Idioma: Español

Fecha de publicación: 05-19-06

Editor: Yoyo USA, Inc

Calificaciones: 3.5 de 5 de 2 votos

Categorías: Fiction, Contemporary

Resumen del editor:

This series of tales from The Arabian Nights display imagination and suspense and for this reason they have always been popular.

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Title: The Poseidon Adventure

Author: Paul Gallico

Narrator: Dylan Baker

Format: Abridged

Length: 6 hrs and 31 mins

Language: English

Release date: 04-06-06

Publisher: HarperAudio

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 36 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

When a rogue wave capsizes the luxury cruise ship, a small group of survivors find themselves unlikely allies in a battle for their lives. As the unstable vessel rapidly fills with water, each must draw on skills and strengths they didn't even know they possessed, fighting against time for their own survival and for each other.

Members Reviews:

The Movie Plus

Would you listen to The Poseidon Adventure again? Why?

Great story with characters and events that aren't in the movie.

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

The differences between the classic movie and the book made it even more interesting.

Which character as performed by Dylan Baker was your favorite?

Linda

Who was the most memorable character of The Poseidon Adventure and why?

Dr. Scott - Great leader

Any additional comments?

Well worth your time and money