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Title: Love and Lament

Subtitle: A Novel

Author: John Milliken Thompson

Narrator: Christine Williams

Format: Unabridged

Length: 13 hrs and 6 mins

Language: English

Release date: 08-06-13

Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

Set in rural North Carolina between the Civil War and World War I, Love and Lament chronicles the Hartsoe familys extraordinary hardships and misfortunes.

Mary Bet, the youngest of nine children, was born the same year the first railroad arrived in their county. As she comes of age during the Souths reconstruction and industrialization, she must learn to overcome her familys curse: the deaths of her mother and siblings, a deaf and damaged older brother, and her fathers growing insanity and rejection of God.

In the rich tradition of Southern gothic literature, John Milliken Thompson transports the reader back in time through brilliant characterization and historical details to explore what it means to be a woman charting her own destiny in a rapidly evolving world dominated by men.

Members Reviews:

Hard to categorise

This was a weird wee tale in that nothing much happened. A girl grows up with much family tragedy, and that is pretty much it, how she copes with it all.

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Title: The Butterfly Boy

Author: Tony Klinger

Narrator: James Whale, Tony Klinger

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 35 mins

Language: English

Release date: 07-25-13

Publisher: Andrews UK Limited

Ratings: 3 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

The Butterfly Boy takes the listener on a dramatic, sweeping journey through two World Wars in Germany and races on around the globe throughout that tumultuous century.

The Butterfly Boy is the story of Arnie, who as a small boy loses the use of his arms through polio, yet conquers this to grow up to be the "greatest mouth painter in the world".

Born in a sleepy German town, Arnie rises to become one of Hitler's favourite artistes despite his handicap and his Jewish mother. Arnie risks his life to undertake covert activities for the Allies and the Christian resistance movement. Arnie matures into a great handsome bull of a man, who, despite not having the use of his arms, still manages to be a great womanizer and hell-raiser.

The conflict between Arnie and his childhood nemesis, now Senior Nazi Officer Ratwerller, is a battle to the death that slashes through their lives like a sharpened razor. They stop at nothing to seek the destruction of each other.

After the war Arnie, The Butterfly Boy, builds the Mouth Painting Charity around the world from which he makes tens of millions of dollars whilst destroying anyone that stands in his way. But it is his own waywardness and his unresolved past that haunts him.

This is the story of an extraordinary man, taking an extraordinary journey during extraordinary times. You will love and fear for Arnie, and be hypnotized by him.

Members Reviews:

Wonderful

I felt it was important to review this book having just finished reading

So engrossing it was hard to put down. such a fascinating story should be made into a Film

I am sure would be successful as it is based on a true person ,a book for all to read Wonderful

Thanks to TONY KLINGER

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Title: Moon over Kolaren: Her Warlord's Spy

Subtitle: Moonlit Romances

Author: Beverly Enwall

Narrator: Beverly Enwall

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 14 mins

Language: English

Release date: 07-25-13

Publisher: Asgaard Viking Editions

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

In the 10th century, before the conquering Viking Sitric settled in Ireland as King of Dublin, the entire north was a welter of warlords, Brit, Celt and Viking, vying for power and land through alliances and wars. Bergith came to the Celt castle of Kolaren as the only surviving Viking captive of a raid on her Viking village. To protect her from a harsh, cruel castle, the warlord's Lady Nelda dressed her in boy's clothing, called her Einar and gave her a small harp which she learned to play well.

Nelda met a brutal end at the hands of her warlord, but three years later he died and their oldest son, Dovan, a formidable and much smarter warrior became warlord. Almost at once Kolaren was attacked, and Lord Dovan sent Einar to spy out which of two enemies he was facing.

A singer of songs was always welcome in a castle, so Einar became her warlord's spy as he waged war and fell in love, but not with Bergith, for life is seldom so simple, and her fate in that world of intrigue and violence lay along a different path.

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Title: Last Off

Author: Laughton Chandler

Narrator: Jake Wardle

Format: Unabridged

Length: 2 hrs and 22 mins

Language: English

Release date: 07-19-13

Publisher: The St. Ambrose Press

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 2 votes

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

Four young stowaways - illegal passengers, below even the 3rd class - find themselves on the R.M.S. Titanic, the grandest ocean liner in the world on her maiden voyage. At first unknown to each other, hailing from four different countries, they begin to learn about each others' pasts as they bide their time in the bowels of the ship, united in their hopes of making a new life in America. When disaster strikes, what will become of them? Who, if any, will be able to escape the epic tragedy Walter Lord described as "the death of a small town?"

Members Reviews:

Intriguing Story!

I've always been fascinated by any story about the Titanic, but this one had me hoping against hope that I had missed a back story. I wasn't disappointed!

brilliant fictional novella

How much I enjoyed the book: 9/10

How good the book was: 9/10

Where to begin with Last Off... If I had read the entire book in one sitting, I would have been bawling by the end. Fortunately for me, I read the book over two days and this wasn't the case.

The overall plot of the novella remains true to the disaster and so the ending of Last Off is tragic. Yet my brain did not manage to compute this right away and so I found myself still hoping for a happy ending. Of course I was left devastated when the metaphorical faeces eventually hit the fan. Or in this case, when the ship hit the iceberg.

We aren't given much information about the characters but I developed an immediate liking for them. All four stowaways are boys, allowing them to form the foundations of what could have been a great friendship.

The boys disappear one at a time and I can't tell you how frustrated that made me! Particularly since the ending only tells us about one out of the four boys! As a casual reader I wish we'd been given more details, but as a literature student I can appreciate the fact that my exact need for detail is what the family of the passengers on The Titanic had felt after hearing the news. So I've chosen to see this as excellent writing technique rather than a frustrating missing feature.

Last Off reminds me somewhat of Night of the Purple Moon. Both books were written extremely well in terms of characters, pacing, story line and both books feature children/young adults as the protagonists. Whilst I respect both writers and cannot fault their writing, the abundance of tragedy in both books prevents me from loving their work.

So yes it was a brilliant book; there's no denying it. On the other hand, I can't help but feel that by the end of my reading, some part of my soul was suddenly taken from me, leaving me with an empty feeling.

Last Off definitely leaves you with a lasting impression.

Disclaimer: I received this book for free from the author, Laughton Chandler, for review purposes. At no point did I receive any payment to write this review.

Nice historical fiction about the sinking of the Titanic

I love historical fiction, and also really enjoy stories about the Titanic, so I was excited to read Laughton Chandler's novella, Last Off. Last Off is about four young teen boys who are stowaways on the Titanic.

Hugh seemed to be the main character (in my opinion), but the reader gets to know all four boys fairly well. I appreciated the boys' unique histories, and enjoyed reading about how each came to be a stowaway on the Titanic.

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Title: Don't Mean Nothin'

Author: Robert C. Marsett

Narrator: Dennis Serra

Format: Unabridged

Length: 8 hrs and 7 mins

Language: English

Release date: 07-17-13

Publisher: RANGES Press

Ratings: 3 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

Fresh out of high school, young Bobby Marshall enters the Army and soon finds himself in the raw world of war that is Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War. His exploits on the ground and in the air make up the graphic story of what Vietnam was for the small cadre of Army aviators that crewed the famed but little understood OV-1 Mohawk. Join Bobby as he matures from a typical teenager to a seasoned soldier in this story of Cambodia and Vietnam.

The story takes us into the coarse and gritty day-to-day existence of Bobby Marshall as he struggles to survive. While counting down his 365 days in country, he is looking forward to the day he can board the freedom bird for "The World" - for home. Despite his outward cynicism and callousness, he still maintains an inward humanity, holds onto his pride, and pushes ahead with an unwavering drive to finish the task at hand.

Members Reviews:

Very abrupt ending...Fixed

As I was reading on my Kindle...noticing that I was coming to the end of the story...I thought there is no way that there is enough time to get resolution, unless the guy just wakes up in cold sweat and the whole story was a dream...which would have thoroughly ticked me off......but as others mentioned, perhaps in this kindle edition download something got missed.?

The first half of the book skips around a bit in time while the second half deals with an escape and evade survival story. I have read several of the shot down, escape and evade (E/E) Vietnam War stories and this one good but not the best. BAT-21 to me is a better read of an E/E story and pretty close to the real life event That being said this has a few more personal touches that surround the life of the main character so I felt it was worth the time

I found myself pushing myself for the last half of the book to get to the end and see how it was all going to play out. Again after reading several similar stories I sort of guessed how it would end. Then boom...it really didn't end. We are left hanging and back in the 1980's at the Wall. If this is the ending intended, to allow us all to figure out what happened, I feel cheated.

Update May 2014.....I received word that many received botched version in the download Kindle version. There was a chapter missing. I was notified today that the Kindle version was fixed and reloaded and re-read the final two chapters. This was a better ending and made me feel much better about the book. Thanks for fixing and thanks for notification of the fix.

"I come to Vietnam to kill Communists"

Thai Sergeant Nevett had a vendetta but Charlie was only one enemy in Vietnam for the Americans who served there. You first had to battle the gunny in basic. Then you had to battle the jungle. And with it, the insufferable bouts of diarrhea, the slugs, mosquito bites, fumbling with maps, the rain, the mud and probably some friendly fire too. If you made it home, good for you. For some, chances were nobody gave two cents about what you did or the things, good or bad, you saw others do. That was the enemy fought the hardest for the ones who came home. And this personal story is the one Robert Marsett wants to tell in Don't Mean Nothin'.

Bobby's tale is fictional, but it's obvious from the specifics Marsett is writing from experience.

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Title: Tales of the Old Crippled Hunter

Author: Gary Erwin

Narrator: Ryan Dusek

Format: Unabridged

Length: 4 hrs and 13 mins

Language: English

Release date: 07-11-13

Publisher: Gary W. Erwin

Ratings: 5 of 5 out of 2 votes

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

What would you do if you were the leader of a village and raiders killed everyone that they found while you and your hunters were away on a hunt? Find out what Asa did when it was his village.

Sandole is only six, but excited because his father has just given him his first spear and allowed him his first hunt. How does he do? Find out in ''Sandole.''

''Verayl'' is about an eccentric boy and how he proves his worth to his fellow villagers. In ''Calmell,'' three children have to deal with the drunkard that lives with their mother and beats her.

This is a collection of short stories set twenty to thirty thousand years ago somewhere across Eurasia. There are stories of humor to help you laugh, sorrow that may bring tears to your eyes or possibly break your heart, passionate romance to warm your heart and moral teachings to help guide you through the challenges of life.

Most listeners will find something within the collection to please them. May you find something here for you.

Members Reviews:

Good collection of stories, some amusing, some moving

I have just finished reading this book and found it to be very enjoyable. The stories vary greatly, in length as well as in the type of content.

I think many of these stories would be enjoyable to read with the family, as The Old Crippled Hunter obviously enjoys speaking to children when telling a story.

Good read

A set of nice short parables in a different environment. A quick thoughtful read reminiscient of Aesop's fables. Definitely recommended.

Wonderful

Great reading. Writer is familiar to me and I would recommend that everyone should read this book. This is one book that should be in your book case.

booksbysteph says "So Much Potential"

Tens of thousands of years ago was a storyteller. He walked with a limp and became known as the crippled hunter. He was eccentric and colorful and you could hear him coming into your village by the jingle-jangles that came from his walking stick. When telling stories to a crowd with other storytellers, the old crippled hunter liked to spread his story out. This created excitement and suspense and the children loved him.

Read stories about life during the Ice age.

I GIVE THIS BOOK: 3 out of 5 stars

There are positive and negatives to this book. When reading it, I felt like I was young again and sitting around a campfire with my family listening to stories. There are some really good stories, but there are some stories that made no sense at all. I think with some changes, this could be a really great book of short stories that combine into one huge story.

First, the obvious is that this book is in desperate need of editing. It needs to be checked for word errors and grammar usage, especially how to properly use a comma.

I feel the story of Varnec could be expanded and turned into a complete book.

In the story Rolvalar, it seemed like this story was the beginning of the hunter's life story. If that is so, the book should have ended with that story. I would have brought the book to full circle. Yet more stories followed and the end just stopped. As if hitting a brick wall. The stories could have been arranged better to make the book more cohesive.

I was left with so many questions.

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Title: Black Knights of the Hudson Book III: Changing of the Guard

Subtitle: Volume 3

Author: Beverly C. Gray

Narrator: Steven Roy Grimsley

Format: Unabridged

Length: 10 hrs and 21 mins

Language: English

Release date: 07-10-13

Publisher: Beverly C. Gray

Ratings: 5 of 5 out of 2 votes

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

The Black Knights of the Hudson series is about a fictional family in the U.S. Army, tracing their lives from 1860 through World War II. The books should appeal to readers who enjoy historical fiction, family sagas, and military fiction. Changing of the Guard (1885 to 1898) is the third book in the tale of the MacKendrick family, who live by West Point's motto of "Duty, Honor, Country." Here the reader meets the vivid offspring of James and Timothy MacKendrick. With the Indian Wars tapering down, the attention of the young nation turns to flexing its muscles. The MacKendricks are involved thoroughly with the changes facing both their country and their vivid family.

Philip, a maverick like his mother, has little interest in pursuing a military career, but turns to a path that will take him to the depths of a collapsing coal mine and the heights of San Juan.

Young Jackson Lee and Fitzjames yearn to follow in the footsteps of their father, and yield to the call of the bugle when it sounds for Cuba, long before they are old enough to even enter West Point.

The MacKendricks eagerly embrace destiny as their country spreads its arms beyond the continental shelves. From the political games of Washington, to the jungles of Cuba with Fighting' Joe Wheeler and Theodore Roosevelt, the MacKendrick men and women turn their faces to the wind, and endure tragedy and triumph with all the flags flying.

Members Reviews:

They keep me hooked

This was my third book in the Black Knights of the Hudson series, and they keep me reading and hooked on them. Beverly Gray knows how to tell a story in a style that few can match. The minute I finished this installment, I bought the next two in the series.

WARNING: Don't start the Black Knights series unless you have plenty of time to devote to reading, because they're like peanuts. You can't stop with just one. My biggest complaint about Ms. Gray's work is that I spend so much time reading her books that I'm behind on writing my own!

Black Knight of Hudson River book iii

This was the third in a series about a family of West Pointers. It begins with book i just before the civil war. By book iii we are into the Spanish American war. The family life depicted is warm and touching. It keeps you interested moving you to tears and laughter. The best way to read about history.

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Title: A Collection of Plain Horse Tales

Author: Robert Collins Wolfe

Narrator: Jason Sullivan

Format: Unabridged

Length: 1 hr

Language: English

Release date: 07-09-13

Publisher: Michael Lommel

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

Stories of Colonel Hooper, a surprisingly honest horsetrader in the Old West, and an unlikely fast horse named "Grandma." Find out what makes Grandma run... and read all seven stories. These are entertaining, heart-warming tales in the authentic voice of the Old West. Anyone of any age who enjoys a good yarn, will enjoy reading these horse tales, or having them read to them.

Members Reviews:

Good Book!

If you like horses and old stories about them, then you'll love this book. It is along the same lines as Ben K. Green's books about horses.

Fun

A nice collection of horse stories set prior to the Civil War. The stories are charming if a tad predictable. Still, an enjoyable read. Fun for adults and kids.

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Title: The Lorimer Line

Subtitle: Lorimer Family, Book 1

Author: Anne Melville

Narrator: Claire Carroll

Format: Unabridged

Length: 12 hrs and 21 mins

Language: English

Release date: 07-08-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 6 votes

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

Volume One of the dramatic saga of the Lorimer Family. The Lorimers are one of the richest and most powerful Bristol families

When Margaret Lorimer, daughter of the autocratic chairman of Lorimers Bank, asks her father if she can marry a comparatively humble young Scot, he does not put up the resistance she was expecting. Indeed, John Junius Lorimer has plans for David Gregson which involve a dramatic change in his circumstances. But John Junius plans are more complicated, and more risky, than they seem on the surface.

The Lorimer Line is the enthralling first volume in the sequence that chronicles the lives and fortunes of the Lorimer family from the 1870s to the 1940s.

Members Reviews:

Great first installment

I was enthusiastic enough about this book to buy each of the others in the series (one at a time).

The author sustained the characters and relationships well until the final book.

A surprisingly good epic

I actually found the original old paperback copy at a thrift shop (for 50 cents!) and bought it based on the cover art (not seen here unfortunately.) I love Masterpiece Theater Classic mini-series from the 19th century and for the price, thought it would be worth a try.

The story starts in the mid-Victorian era and sets premise of a captivating epic of a long prosperous merchant family in England. The patriarch Lorimer manipulates his business and family members, which the author writes in surprisingly technical financial detail. The story carries a nice balance between business and romance and lives you thirsty for more at the end.

I am absolutely thrilled that I will be able to read the other books in this set with this wonderful coincidence that they have been republished very recently!

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Title: The Walls of Byzantium

Subtitle: The Mistra Chronicles, Book 1

Author: James Heneage

Narrator: William Rycroft

Format: Unabridged

Length: 16 hrs and 35 mins

Language: English

Release date: 07-04-13

Publisher: Quercus

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 3 votes

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

This remarkable, sweeping historical novel, rich in story and character, is shaped by the quest for a hidden treasure, rumoured to bequeath riches beyond belief and guarded by successive generations of famed warriors.

15th-century Europe: a time of warring states and ruthless growing empires, divided churches and dynamic traders. In the midst of growing unrest, rivals battle for this treasure, each desperate to secure its power for their own nations. But no-one can discover its whereabouts; nor even knows if it is still in the possession of those born to guard it....

Four remarkable characters from four leading families provide the story as their crossed allegiances, plots and passions are played out on this epic scale. Yet the private lives are there too, and in castle and church, in siege and on battlefield, the love, fear, violence and reluctant loyalty to creed or destiny propel the characters to their fates. Walls of Byzantium is the first of a series and will leave you impatient and longing for the next.

Critic Reviews:

"A stirring tale of the struggle for Byzantium. Heneage brings to life both the tragedy and the heroism." (Tom Holland)

"A compelling narrative of intrigue, love, and war" (The Bookseller)

Members Reviews:

Too shallow and boring a storyline

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Only when I have nothing else to listen too.

What do you think your next listen will be?

Hopefully some proper historical fiction - Ancient or medieval.

Would you be willing to try another one of William Rycrofts performances?

Not for a while

Did The Walls of Byzantium inspire you to do anything?

Look for a new book

Any additional comments?

Not the best narration, as the narrator reads in a staccato voice.

Great book and narrator

If you could sum up The Walls of Byzantium in three words, what would they be?

Believable, fast paced

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Walls of Byzantium?

The village labyrinth. I can really picture it :)

What about William Rycrofts performance did you like?

Well paced, good narration

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

History in the making

More fiction than historical fiction.

Would you try another book written by James Heneage or narrated by William Rycroft?

No. I can't believe I wasted so many hours of my life on this book.

What was most disappointing about James Heneages story?

I understand that the main characters needed to be in certain places at certain times to fulfil the historical part of the genre but I began to despise tha characters for being so one dimensional and prone to mishap.

If Suleiman truly spent so much time romancing a ninny then how did he have the time to do anything? It was a bit too Mills & Boon for me, light on fact or detail. It was not believable, coherent or consistent.

Seeing that there is a sequel I wonder if this book is just the set up, which would explain the disjointed narrative and loose ends.