Large Library of Full Audiobooks in Fiction, Historical New Releases

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Title: The Hope Before Us

Author: Elyse Larson

Narrator: Vanessa Benjamin

Format: Unabridged

Length: 13 hrs and 55 mins

Language: English

Release date: 04-19-06

Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 11 votes

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

Contending valiantly against the Nazi threat in war-torn Europe, two sisters unite to thwart a sinister plan in this third book in Elyse Larson's Women of Valor series.

Uncovering a diabolical Nazi plot, Marge Emerson is secretly reassigned to a medical post in France. There she meets a conscientious objector and finds his outspoken belief in God a challenge to her own fragile faith. When David shares his desire to return to Europe after the war and build an orphanage for Germany's homeless children, Marge is drawn to this selfless, compassionate man. Meanwhile, Marge's sister, a war correspondent, is recruited for intelligence work by an American Secret Service agency and quickly becomes involved in an intricate web of espionage.

When Marge and Em are unexpectedly reunited in France, they attempt a daring rescue. They must try to escape the sinister forces that are closing in on them.

Critic Reviews:

"An insightful and unforgettable story of the lives of heroic women who served in the front lines during WWII." (Rendezvous)

Members Reviews:

Best to read all 3!

It was great to read the series of 3 books, all with related characters, taking place in various areas during World War II. I appreciated learning about the war, especially ways in which women were involved. The books are well written and very suspenseful.

Five Stars

I have enjoyed this book. It was the third in the series and not in library.

This was a berry good book. There is part of a 3 book ...

This was a berry good book. There is part of a 3 book set. They follow the lives of women who are part of the underground movement during the Nazi occupation of Paris. There are many historical facts woven into the story. I enjoyed reading these three books

Five Stars

Great book.

Sorry to see it end!

You will be sure to buy this one after reading the first two!

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Title: Sharpe's Escape

Subtitle: Book X of the Sharpe Series

Author: Bernard Cornwell

Narrator: Paul McGann

Format: Abridged

Length: 3 hrs and 46 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-10-05

Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Limited

Ratings: 3 of 5 out of 2 votes

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

Sharpe has made enemies among the Portuguese and during the retreat through Coimbra, he and Sergeant Harper are lured into a trap designed to kill them. With the help of an Englishwoman, Sharpe survives, but is cut off from the army. He has to rejoin his regiment if the command is not to fall to the ambitious Lieutenant Slinbsby. At the Lines of Torres Vedras, the vast defences built to stop the French before Lisbon, Sharpe confronts his enemies in a climactic battle.

Critic Reviews:

"No one is better than Bernard Cornwell in describing battles large and small, howitzer fire, cavalry charges, or bayonet attacks." (Evening Standard)

Members Reviews:

Would be better unabridged...

Unfortunately Audible now only seem to sell the abridged versions of the book. The unabridged version would have been so much better - as with all of the fantastic set of these popular novels.

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Title: Brave Enemies

Subtitle: A Novel of the American Revolution

Author: Robert Morgan

Narrator: Lina Patel

Format: Unabridged

Length: 11 hrs and 14 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-20-04

Publisher: Books on Tape

Ratings: 3 of 5 out of 8 votes

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

When sixteen-year-old Josie Summers murders her abusive stepfather, she disguises herself in his clothes, only to be discovered by a young Methodist minister who invites her to assist in his ministry. When "Joseph's" true identity is revealed, the guilt-ridden Reverend John Trethman marries her. Shortly afterward, John is kidnapped by British soldiers and forced to minister to their wounded and dead. Josie again dons a man's disguise and joins the North Carolina militia, but is gravely wounded in a battle that marks the turning point of the Revolution. Morgan's story of enduring love is set against the struggle to build a homeland as an age of freedom is born.

Critic Reviews:

"With tremendous narrative pace, a meticulous eye for colorful detail and a tight grasp of historical setting and military action, poet and novelist Morgan delivers a rousing and affecting tale of the American Revolution." (Publishers Weekly)

"An absorbing Revolutionary War novel....[A] heartrending period peace." (Booklist)

Members Reviews:

Disappointing and Annoying

This book has something to annoy everyone. There are long and frequent passages of Christian dogma, including the ever-present message that ALL of the characters' sufferings are a direct form of punishment from God. The theme of punishment is so prevalent that it becomes ridiculous; like a toddler who thinks the universe revolves around him, the characters see all events as the result of their own actions and thoughts.

There are long sections of text where not much happens, but we have to slog through boring minutiae describing everything that a character sees and thinks during, say, a three day journey through the woods. The plot never "twists" or "thickens," it just ambles along from one misery to the next, with plenty of reminders that "these are dark times." Neither Lina Patel's lovely narration nor the few bland sex scenes can liven up the story.

Greatly annoying too is the author's guess at how a female character would act. He has the heroine chopping down a rapist with an ax and abandoning her insane mother one minute, and the next minute feeling "so frightened" by something that she cannot move or speak.

The ending of the book is also utterly unsatisfying, with the inevitable and long-awaited lovers' reunion cut short and left to the readers' imagination. I wish I had imagined the whole book; it would have been cheaper and less time-consuming.

Most Annoying Of All: Instead of using the American Revolution as an informative and thoughtful backdrop to his story, Morgan focuses on the activities of a few characters: the super-evil, and the super-good (but they still must be punished!). This Evil Man vs. Just God theme, besides flirting with complete irrationality, ignores the true significance of the war: that people should govern their own lives in a free land and not answer to a King. Picky me, wanting to see glimpses of this noble theme instead of Morgan's version of Pilgrim's Progress.

Interesting

I found Morgan's book to be a very interesting look at the Revolutionary War from a woman's perspective. The heroine is accidently pulled into the war.

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Title: The Winter Queen

Author: Boris Akunin

Narrator: Campbell Scott

Format: Abridged

Length: 5 hrs and 26 mins

Language: English

Release date: 04-21-04

Publisher: Random House Audio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 20 votes

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

Fandorin is not satisfied with the conclusion that this is an open-and-shut case, nor with the preliminary detective work the precinct has done, and for good reason: The bizarre and tragic suicide is soon connected to a clear case of murder, witnessed firsthand by Fandorin. There are many unresolved questions. Why, for instance, have both victims left their fortunes to an orphanage run by the English Lady Astair? And who is the beautiful "A.B.," whose signed photograph is found in the apparent suicide's apartment? Relying on his keen intuition, the eager sleuth plunges into an investigation that leads him across Europe, landing him at the deadly center of a terrorist conspiracy of worldwide proportions.

In this thrilling mystery that brings 19th century Russia to vivid life, Akunin has created one of the most eagerly anticipated novels in years.

Critic Reviews:

"Fandorin comes across as an odd but appealing mix of Holmesian brilliance and Inspector Clousseauian bumbling." (Booklist)

Members Reviews:

An interesting story of pre-revolution Russia

Easy reading

Two copies of the will.

This story intrigues me; I like the list of characters and their descriptions it will be interesting to see how the new, young detective will find the answers.

It is an interesting read but not anything unusual. ...

It is an interesting read but not anything unusual. The main characters are interesting and different. Overall the book is a quick read.

Interesting reading

By the time one is finished reading The winter Queen, there is an abrupt cliff.

Amazing book. You will read this book for 1 ...

Amazing book.

You will read this book for 1 day. It's hard to stop reading this story.

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Title: Loving Che

Author: Ana Menendez

Narrator: Adriana Sananes, Eileen Stevens

Format: Unabridged

Length: 4 hrs and 56 mins

Language: English

Release date: 01-16-04

Publisher: HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 20 votes

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

The story begins quietly, in the narrative voice of a young Cuban woman who lives in contemporary Miami. Raised by her grandfather, a Cuban exile, she knows only that he fled turbulent times in Havana in the 1960s, bringing her to Miami when she was hardly more than a baby. These bare facts plus a few lines from a poem by Pablo Neruda are her only key to her mother, her father, her history, and the history of her country. When a package arrives one day, addressed to her, the crumbling letters and fragile photos it contains allow her to piece together the story of her mother, a youthful affair, and the child she bore by a handsome rebel.

Loving Che is a brilliant recapturing of revolutionary Cuba, the changing social mores, the hopes and disappointments, the excitement and terror of the times. It is also an erotic fantasy, a glimpse into the private life of a mythic public figure, and an exquisitely crafted meditation on memory, history, and storytelling. Finally, Loving Che is a triumphant unveiling of how the stories we tell about others ultimately become the story of ourselves.

Critic Reviews:

"An evocative first novel...the glimpses of vibrant 1950s Cuba and Teresa and Che's perfectly rendered relationship make this a moving novel from a writer to watch." (Publishers Weekly)

"If Loving Che begins as a self-conscious paean to the redemptive ferocity of love, it ends as an elliptical and finely nuanced meditation on the mysteries of memory and identity." (The New York Times)

"Deftly captures the fluid sense of identity that accompanied the now mythic early days of Cuba's revolution....Menendez is at her best when...revealing what life is like for many Cubans today. She captures Cuba's potential, its desperation and decay, and also its dark humor." (The New York Times Book Review)

Contact me for any questions: [email protected]

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Title: The Estate

Author: Isaac Bashevis Singer

Narrator: Noah Waterman

Format: Unabridged

Length: 11 hrs

Language: English

Release date: 10-04-99

Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Ratings: 2 of 5 out of 5 votes

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

This sequel to and the conclusion of The Manor continues the portrayal of a period the author describes as the epoch between the Polish insurrection of 1863 and the end of the nineteenth century when the Jews began to play an important role in Polish industry, commerce, the arts and sciences. All the spiritual and intellectual ideas that triumphed in the modern era had their roots in the world of that time. The human condition, in a particular time and place - man's estate - is the theme of this major novel. As one character says, "It's not child's play to be born, to marry, to bring forth generations, to grow old, to die."

©1969 by Isaac Bashevis Singer; (P)1995 by Blackstone Audiobooks

Members Reviews:

Great story, terrible recording

I've been a member of Audible for years, and have never heard a recording whose quality was so poor as this one. It sounded as if it was recorded over the phone. I double-checked to make sure that there wasn't another version I had overlooked, but apparently this is a very old recording, and it sounds it. That problem, along with a not-very-good narration, really detract from this wonderful Singer story.

This may be one book you need to read and not listen to. It's too bad because there is very little of Singer available as an audiobook, and I was really looking forward to listening to this. The recording is from Blackstone Audio, who usually do a very good job. This reading was not their finest hour.

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Title: The Listener

Subtitle: A Novel

Author: Shira Nayman

Narrator: Jefferson Mays

Format: Unabridged

Length: 11 hrs and 53 mins

Language: English

Release date: 03-16-10

Publisher: Recorded Books

Ratings: 3 of 5 out of 15 votes

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

Critically acclaimed author Shira Nayman has been praised by School Library Journal for her breathtaking storytelling and her ability to write with stunning clarity. Naymans debut novel, The Listener is a tale of madness and passion set in a psychiatric hospital just after the end of WWII.

Members Reviews:

A remarkable look into the human condition...

Nayman's grasp of the human condition is overwhelming. In "The Listener," a psychiatrist, his nurses, and the soldiers they treat, are forever scarred physically and emotionally. Each character must examine a world they would rather forget. A world embattled by personal loss, World War II, and their roles - real and imagined - in the Holocaust. Nayman is expert in how she depicts these horrors, and the impact upon the psyches of individuals and their relationships. In another of her books, "Awake in the Dark: Stories," she uses each character's nightmares, horrifying realities, and insecurities to examine their lives, and the lives of their loved ones. Another example of a book that digs deeply into the emotional impact of the Holocaust is Jerry Marcus'Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Zev, which examines the Holocaust from another perspective - from the responsibilities and decisions made by someone who did not personally experience these tragedies, but is haunted by them nonetheless. For both Nayman and Marcus' characters, no one really escapes - not those who lived through it, not their friends and lovers, and not those of a later generation whose heritages are forever intertwined with history.

What an interesting book!

It's been a good while since I read this book, but it is definitely one worth reading. It was interesting and kept me reading. I would recommend this book.

Worst book I have ever read

One of the worst books I have ever read! The writing was poor, the characters were detestable, there wasn't a story to be found. I absolutely hated this book.

Just Couldn't Finish

Tossing a book on your DNF pile after 191 page is akin to giving up on a 20 year marriage. On the one had, you've already been through so much with the book that it's a shame

to give up on it within 100ish pages of the end. On the other, there's no point in losing any more of your life to the book if you're not happy. Sadly, but not regretfully, I decided to divorce myself from Shira Nayman's novel about a the lead doctor at a mental institution in post WWII New York and an odd patient who seems to know so much about him and one of his former patients.

I had high hopes for the book. It caught my eye in a copy of BookPage. I love to read Gothic fiction, and what's more Gothic than an insane asylum - well, other than a spooky British mansion? I didn't have any expectations that it would be as wonderful as Patrick McGrath's Asylum, but I was expecting it to be interesting. I found this book rather boring. Even the scenes where Dr. Harrison is spying on others having sex weren't enough to make me want to continue. I'm sure that it was headed somewhere, but I just didn't care.

I am still on the search for a new fabulous Gothic read. I think Kate Morton might be my next best choice. In the meantime, I cannot recommend The Listener.

A deep undertow in a dazzlingly literate sea.....

Shira Nayman is a brilliant and impassioned explorer of the bright darkness within.

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Title: The Battlers

Author: Kylie Tennant

Narrator: Jacklyn Kelleher

Format: Unabridged

Length: 15 hrs and 25 mins

Language: English

Release date: 01-23-13

Publisher: Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 3 votes

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

A story of love and optimism told against a harsh Australian landscape.

Snow was one of the drifters and wanderers of Australia in the '30s whose home was the open road; Dancy, a hard-bitten young woman, had been deserted on the track. Their story, and that of the motley crowd of battlers that travelled the roads looking for work or avoiding it, is told with compassion and humour in this rich, human tale of life in the raw.

Members Reviews:

I'm mostly enjoying this book...

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

As a period piece about my adopted country, this gives insight into the reasons the Depression years left such scars on the generation that lived through it. The raw racism and sexism is quite shocking to my ears tuned as they are to the politically correct censorship of my generation. For someone trying to understand the attitudes of many of those now in their eighties and nineties, this book would be a very good start.

What did you like best about this story?

For the most part I find myself concerned about the fate of the characters, both those who are centre stage and the bit players. There is also the feel there is nothing exaggerated but while names may be changed, everything was experienced by the writer who made such a journey.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

The attempt at Angus's accent is a quite unacceptable mish-mash of Irish and Scottish and almost made me fast forward. Also, the descriptive passages are read with a genteel English intonation - a more robust Australian accent would have been far more authentic and would not have left the listener with the feeling that the true voice of the author is not being allowed to come through.

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Title: After the War Is Over

Author: Maureen Lee

Narrator: Nerys Hughes

Format: Unabridged

Length: 11 hrs and 32 mins

Language: English

Release date: 05-10-12

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 10 votes

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

Liverpool, 1945. Three women, the strongest of friends, return home, trying to fit back into their old lives after they've been demobbed. They've been thrown together by the war and shared all sorts of good and bad times. Now their old lives seem dull in comparison. But not for long....

Maggie and Nell are both 21 and full of hope and excitement. Iris, on the other hand, is feeling apprehensive about returning to civilian life. At the age of 30, her only wish is to have a baby, but sadly this wish is yet to come true. When one of the women falls pregnant, there begins a dramatic sequence of events so wide-reaching that the three friends' lives will become more intricately woven than they could imagine....

Members Reviews:

A good listen

I read this book some time ago, and enjoyed it all over again in audio, l recommend you read the book then listen to it on audio most enjoyable.

Easy listening

This book helped me travel home from work in a different world, and made this go quickly. I love Maureen's book - makes you feel as if you know Liverpool x

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Title: The Commoner

Subtitle: A Novel

Author: John Burnham Schwartz

Narrator: Janet Song

Format: Abridged

Length: 6 hrs and 27 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-14-08

Publisher: Random House Audio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 5 votes

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

Told in the voice of Haruko, meticulously researched and superbly imagined, The Commoner is the mesmerizing, moving, and surprising story of a brutally rarified and controlled existence at once hidden and exposed, and of a complex relationship between two isolated women who, despite being visible to all, are truly understood only by each other. With the unerring skill of a master storyteller, John Burnham Schwartz has written his finest novel yet.

Critic Reviews:

"Schwartz pulls off a grand feat in giving readers a moving dramatization of a cloistered world." (Publishers Weekly)

Members Reviews:

Not Emotionally Engaging.

While I enjoyed learning a bit about Japanese culture and royalty, the story itself is a bit disaffecting and not something that holds your interest for long periods--Even though it is a short novel. The story is told first person through the eyes of Haruko, her language is both formal and dispassionate. I suppose this could be attributed to the stoicism of her character, but told this way--it fails to engage the reader's emotions in a way that is moving.

Fascinating

Well written based on a true story of post war Japan. Interesting development of the characters and their social norms. Even in modern times, love may not conquer all when it comes to marrying outside your social station. This highlights how even the female's own family treats her differently after the wedding. Her struggle of not "fitting in" either world is poignantly described.

Exotic & Enjoyable Read for a Book Group

Our library fiction book group read and enjoyed this novel which imagines the life of a commoner, who in 1959 marries the Crown Prince of Japan whom she meets on a tennis court. Her life is lonely and ruled by imperial precedent. She's like a prisoner in a golden cage. She fulfills her royal obligation of producing an heir, but at great personal cost. She is so depressed, she loses her ability to speak. Years later her son also falls in love with a commoner. Will history repeat itself?

This is a lovely and exotic book which enables you to imagine being in an ancient culture so different from your own. Our book group members enjoyed it. The author came to our library to discuss this book, and they appreciated hearing him speak also. 4.5 stars

Interesting story

I enjoyed the first half of the book but found the last part to be discouraging. I wanted the main character to take more control of her life and change âthe courtiersâ around her. She should have used her power as mother of the heirs and wife of the prince and then Emperor.

The Chyrsantemum Throne

I found this book very interesting and if the authors facts are true about the royal family than it gives one a good insight into their highly restrictive lives and one that I did not envy since she no longer had control over her life and children. A good read.