Largest Collection of Full Audiobooks in Fiction, Contemporary - No Catch, Easy and Legally

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Title: Starburst

Author: Robin Pilcher

Narrator: John Lee

Format: Unabridged

Length: 13 hrs and 36 mins

Language: English

Release date: 08-07-07

Publisher: Macmillan Audio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 69 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

This year, the annual Edinburgh festival draws six unique and vibrant individuals, who all come together to follow their dreams and seek success, love, fame, and happiness: Angélique, the beautiful and renowned violinist whose fame hides her secret heartache; Tess, a member of the festival marketing team and a newlywed struggling with her own secrets; Roger, whose dazzling fireworks display will be the grand finale of the festival and his career; Leonard, the aging cinematographer who wants one last time to shine; Rene, the feisty comedienne who is reaching for the stars; and Jamie, the handsome young flat owner who brings everyone together and finds love along the way. Each of them is trying to discover what destiny holds in store, and during this one magnificent summer, paths cross and lives are forever changed.

Inspiring, funny, engrossing, and full of vivid descriptions of the incredible sights and sounds of Edinburgh, Starburst is another Pilcher winner.

Critic Reviews:

"Dynamic...[a] nicely handled ensemble novel...Pilcher keeps the stage full of light and color." (

Publishers Weekly) "Pilcher...tells a beautiful and cohesive story about the human spirit and our capacity for adaptation and growth." (

Booklist)

Members Reviews:

Another Winner

Robin Pilcher has written his best novel since An Ocean Apart. It is always fun to travel to where Mr. Pilcher wants to carry us and the where he takes us along the way provides all the fun. Well written and adept at bringing the six uniquely different individuals together at the Festival.

Double Entendre

It is hard not to like a book with Edinburgh as the background setting. AND, the mention of August,the month of festivals, theaters, plays, etc. brought special memories. The characters were well developed and fun to read about. I really liked the book and enjoyed seeing how the author brought the title into the lives of the characters.

One of my favorites

Lovely gentle story of lives interwoven in the context of the famous international festival of Edinburgh Scotland. John Lee is, as always, exceptional at bringing this mixed cast of characters to life. Great writing, great reading, great listening! Thank you.

kids loved bookcover

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

no, too lengthy. I will always recommend audiobooks narrated by John Lee, his performances are always worth it.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Starburst?

There wasn't a memorable moment.

Which character as performed by John Lee was your favorite?

I didn't have a favorite character. John Lee gave an excellent narration, that is the reason I chose to keep listening, because he keeps you listening.

If you could rename Starburst, what would you call it?

I wouldn't rename it.

Any additional comments?

None

Quite enjoyable!

This is an enjoyable listening experience even if you are not at all familiar with Edinburgh and even more enjoyable if you are - because you've been on Prince's Street and to the Castle and Waverly Station and up and down the steep streets and can more easily envision what is happening. John Lee does a very good job with the various accents. There are different strands of the story with different sets of characters very well done - and they ARE tied back together, with the Festival as the unifying element. The listening hours go too quickly.

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Title: After Dark

Author: Haruki Murakami

Narrator: Judy Bennett

Format: Unabridged

Length: 5 hrs and 8 mins

Language: English

Release date: 07-03-07

Publisher: Hodder Headline Limited

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 17 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

The midnight hour approaches in an almost empty all-night diner. Mari sips her coffee and glances up from a book as a young man, a musician, intrudes on her solitude. Both have missed the last train home. The musician has plans to rehearse with his jazz band all night; Mari is equally unconcerned and content to read, smoke, and drink coffee until dawn. Then they realise they've met before through Eri, Mari's beautiful sister.

The musician soon leaves with a promise to return before dawn. Shortly afterwards, Mari will be interrupted a second time by a girl from the Alphaville Hotel - a Chinese prostitute has been hurt by a client; the girl has heard Mari speaks fluent Chinese and requests her help.

Meanwhile, Eri is at home and sleeps a deep, heavy sleep that is "too perfect, too pure" to be normal. Her pulse and respiration are at the lowest required level. She has been in this soporific state for two months. And so Eri has become the classic myth: a sleeping beauty.

But tonight, as the digital clock displays 00:00, a faint electrical crackle is perceptible, a hint of life flickers across the TV screen in Eri's room, though the television's plug has been pulled.

Critic Reviews:

"Darkly entertaining" (Publishers Weekly)

"A seductive and gratifying intellectual and romantic adventure." (Kirkus Reviews)

Members Reviews:

Murakami - what else can you say?

Mentally paired for me with "Hard-Boiled Wonderland" as the two are published together in print, this is not Murakami's best novel (and some of his short stories are amazing) but it is quite good. The narrator is OK, British, but she tries just a little too hard in doing the voices at times, so that it gets annoying.

Another interesting short tale

Yet again Murakami's detail to what others think tedious sets him above the rest. Great narration. Great story

From Adaland to Alphaville

I managed to complete this in one sitting on a very hot first Friday in August spent at Adaland in Turkey and at the end felt that I'd enjoyed more thrills and spills that those who'd spent the day on the water slides. I've seen this one described as a tone poem - and there is very much in the novel which stays firmly in the poetic whilst seeming just to follow passively behind the narrow narrative progression of this story. It also functions quite adequately as a screenplay with tracking and panning directions for a film camera which seems to be the narrative point of view. Ultimately, though, I soon forgot about the justification and classification of this fantastic piece of writing.....a night in Tokyo informed by Blue Note Jazz and the inflections of Jean Luc Godard - could it be more pretentious, could it be more private, could it be more enjoyable...? I don't think so.... Not the average Murakami - but then what might that be...something complete fresh within his oeuvre, perhaps as close to social realism as he is likely to get....but so different from anything else. Wonderful stuff.

While the rest of us sleep.............

I have never listened to anything quite like this before. It is like a film script for one of those exquisitely slow, thoughtful, art-house films where every little action seems to be full of meaning (or perhaps, not). Slightly creepy and totally mesmerising, this tale sucks you in and holds you in thrall.

One Darkly Descriptive Evening

This book is all set on one night in Tokyo.

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Title: Sammy's House

Author: Kristin Gore

Narrator: Kirsten Potter

Format: Unabridged

Length: 13 hrs and 23 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-20-07

Publisher: Books on Tape

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 45 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

However, soon after taking office, the administration finds itself deep in a red-hot scandal. President Wye's old problem with the bottle re-emerges. His family is creating havoc. And an informant begins leaking damaging information. On top of it all, a secret deal with an Indian pharmaceutical company unleashes a fury that threatens the administration to its core. As Sammy fights to distance herself from professional turmoil, Charlie gets promoted and moves to New York. Can she hold her ground when her relationships, ideals, and ability to trust are all coming apart at the seams?

In Sammy's House, Kristin Gore brings a novelist's eye to the inner workings of the White House, delivering hilarious insight and a fresh perspective on political life.

Critic Reviews:

"Her heroine remains compelling and thoroughly lovable." (Booklist)

Members Reviews:

Not as good as the first novel..

but it was okay, i still loved the leading characters, and the mix of politics was just as interesting, but it just did not have the same...umph as the first one I guess is the way to say it, I have listened to the first novel probably..3-4 times, this one i will listen to again, but not as frequently..

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Title: The Pesthouse

Author: Jim Crace

Narrator: Michael Kramer

Format: Unabridged

Length: 8 hrs and 23 mins

Language: English

Release date: 05-18-07

Publisher: Books on Tape

Ratings: 3 of 5 out of 64 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Franklin Lopez and his brother, Jackson, are only days away from the ocean when Franklin, nearly crippled by an inflamed knee, is forced to stop. In the woods near his temporary refuge, Franklin comes upon an isolated stone building. Inside he finds Margaret, a woman with a deadly infection and confined to the Pesthouse to sweat out her fever.

Tentatively, the two join forces and make their way through the ruins of old America. Confronted by bandits rounding up men for slavery, finding refuge in the Ark, a religious community that makes bizarre demands on those they shelter, Franklin and Margaret find their wariness of each other replaced by deep trust and an intimacy neither one has ever experienced before.

Critic Reviews:

"[The book] is never funny, but Crace's mordant humor shines darkly, making it both provocative and winsome." (Los Angeles Times)

Members Reviews:

Just missed it

This could have been a really good book but there was no preface to tell how people got in the situation they are in. Nothing about the disaster at all. More like a book from the 17th century than a holocaust novel. That said it is a good story which is why I gave it four stars but I did not like the narrator. Very flat and unexciting. The Road was better. Check the narration and if it is ok to you then download.

wish I'd read the other reviews

Like others have said, not a lot of context around this story which makes it hard to understand. I could handle that if the narrator were better or the characters were compelling. I didn't really feel myself caring about the characters or their relationship.

The narrator was incredibly monotone - I'll actually keep him on a list of narrators to avoid.

It ranbles and rambles

This is the first audio book I have not cared for. The premise is sound but the storyline is tiring.

I had to force myself to stick with this one. If your interested in this genre I suggest The Road by Cormac Mcarthy

The Pesthouse

You have no idea what happend to the U.S. in this book,,It was just about outlaw crazy ppl in the future that seemed to be set in the 1800's in early America and some wierd flux disease.What killed the ppl in Rivertown methane?? Who knows,,what a waste of money.

Beware of the Pesthouse

If you liked The Road, youll love the Pesthouse. If you found the Road, drawn out, boring with a lackluster finish, you wont like The Pesthouse. Count me in with the second group. This is my second attempt to find a good book that deals with the post-apocalyptic America theme, but after reading both The Pesthouse and The Road, Im still looking

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Title: For the Relief of Unbearable Urges

Subtitle: Stories

Author: Nathan Englander

Narrator: Paul Michael, Arthur Morey, Susan Denaker

Format: Unabridged

Length: 6 hrs and 43 mins

Language: English

Release date: 03-15-07

Publisher: Random House Audio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 49 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

In the collection's hilarious title story, a Hasidic man gets a special dispensation from his rabbi to see a prostitute. "The Wig" takes an aging wigmaker and makes her, for a single moment, beautiful. In "The Tumblers", Englander envisions a group of Polish Jews herded toward a train bound for the death camps and, in a deft, imaginative twist, turns them into acrobats tumbling out of harm's way.

For the Relief of Unbearable Urges is a work of startling authority and imagination; a collection that is as wondrous and joyful as it is wrenchingly sad. It's the work of a remarkable storyteller.

Critic Reviews:

"A debut collection of nine stories that explore the condition of being Jewish with an often hallucinatory, epigrammatic eloquence that is, as advertised, reminiscent of the fiction of Isaac Singer, Saul Bellow, and especially Bernard Malamud." (Kirkus Reviews)

"Taut, edgy, sharply observed....A revelation of the human condition." (The New York Times Book Review)

"Remarkable art....The author fills each of these pieces with vivid life, with characters that jump off the page." (Newsday)

Members Reviews:

Powerful Literature

What did you love best about For the Relief of Unbearable Urges?

the powerful writing.

Which scene was your favorite?

all the short stories were outstanding and well written.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

no. it is best enjoyed story by story. The stories are so well written you need to enjoy one and savor it. Then exlpore another title.

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Title: Lake News

Author: Barbara Delinsky

Narrator: Melissa Leo

Format: Abridged

Length: 3 hrs and 17 mins

Language: English

Release date: 02-12-07

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 8 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

After an unscrupulous reporter falsely accuses Boston lounge singer Lily Blake of having an affair with a newly appointed Cardinal, she's hounded by the press, fired from her job, and robbed of all public freedom. The humiliation and violation of privacy leaves her no choice but to retreat to her rural hometown of Lake Henry, New Hampshire. In search of refuge, Lily forms an uneasy alliance with John Kipling, a former Boston reporter with trust issues of his own.

©1999 Barbara Delinsky. All rights reserved; (P)1999 Simon and Schuster Inc. All rights reserved.

Critic Reviews:

"[An] engaging tale." (People)

"Delinsky spins another engrossing story of strength in the face of cataclysmic life changes." (Library Journal)

"Delinsky plots this satisfying, gentle romance with the sure hand of an expert, scattering shady pasts and dark secrets among some of her characters, while giving others destructive family patterns and difficult family dynamics to contend with." (Publishers Weekly)

Members Reviews:

Good story, although you knew that there was going to be a happy ending

Lily, a caberet singer in Boston, was targeted in incorrect allegations in the press. Her Catholic Cardinal friend was issued a public apology by the press days later, but she had to leave town to escape the media and settled back in her old hometown of Lake Henry. The local newspaperman, John, used to work with the reporter who started the slander, and wants to uncover why he did it, the unethical workings and bring him down. In the background are strained family relationships for both John and Lily. The mystery of why kept me guessing until almost the very end. And you knew that Lily and John would sort of mend their fences with their families and wind up together.

Liked it.

Really liked this one-had read it years ago.

Very Disappointed!

The initial story of Lake News is good, but it is a long book, which I usually enjoy, but WAY too much description of everything. I skipped over much of the book just to get it over with. The whole thing could have been done in 100 pages rather than over 500 pages. I like this author in the past, but wish she wouldn't go into every tiny detail.

Five Stars

Always enjoy her books...good character development... interesting plots

Lake News

Delinsky is an author who can tell a tale that is intriguing and creates strong emotion in the reader. This is a story of a woman hung, drawn, and quartered by the press over a friendship with a priest. The press has become so invasive and destroyed the reputations of so many people who are actually innocent that I actually prefer fiction because nonfiction has reached the point of disbelief. The story is riveting, provokes strong emotion, and I could not put it down until I finished the last line. Great read! Okie Reading Specialist

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Title: Full of Grace

Author: Dorothea Benton Frank

Narrator: Susan Bennett

Format: Abridged

Length: 6 hrs and 20 mins

Language: English

Release date: 05-16-06

Publisher: HarperAudio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 60 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Hilton Head, South Carolina. Retirement heaven, at least it's supposed to be, but for Big Al and Connie, the move from New Jersey to this southern paradise has been fraught with just a few complications. Especially for their daughter, Grace.

Well, that's what she likes to be called. Her family insists on Maria Graziella. Seriously, enough with the Neopolitan. That might have been okay in New Jersey but now it's just plain silly and Grace at 31 is, horror of horrors, still unmarried. No wonder her family drives her crazy. Well, that and the fact that she's living with the man she would marry if they both weren't so commitment phobic. Michael is a doctor and a scientist and Grace has a good idea that he's also an atheist. Over the years, Grace has become a bit ambivalent about her faith but her family is as old-fashioned Italian as they get. The stage is set for a major showdown that might just change Grace's outlook on life, family, and the new South.

Members Reviews:

Great audio book!

I really enjoyed this one and laughed and cried listening to it. The narrator was great with the accents. I really didn't want it to end.

Love the story, love the performance, the producing...not so much

This book was different from other Dorthea Benton Frank books but her characters were still her characters. There were issues with the volume such that I could not listen to the book while driving or walking because one minute the book would be too loud and the next too quiet. A good book to listen to while doing handwork or cooking.

not impressed

While a fan of Frank's other works, this book left me scratching my head. I couldn't get into the story at all and found myself continually getting distracted and waiting for the story to pick up and for there to be some action. Instead the story just ended and I feel like it never started. Big disappointment.

Up lifting

I usually don't get books that are less than 8 hrs long and actually I didn't realize this one wasn't that long only after I had started listening to it. I am so glad that I did. It's important that we always remember that there are miracles happening every day, they just aren't making headlines. And it helps that this is one of my favorite authors!

Not What I Expected at All.

Is there anything you would change about this book?

I loved all her other books but this one was not what I expected, not my favorite

If youve listened to books by Dorothea Benton Frank before, how does this one compare?

Ms. Frank writes fabulous southern book, about the people and locations of the south, this was not one of them.

What about Susan Bennetts performance did you like?

It was fine.

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Title: The Summer He Didn't Die

Author: Jim Harrison

Narrator: Lloyd James, Marguerite Gavin

Format: Unabridged

Length: 8 hrs and 6 mins

Language: English

Release date: 02-01-06

Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 19 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

In the title novella, "The Summer He Didn't Die", Brown Dog, a hapless Michigan Indian, is trying to parent his two stepchildren on meager resources. It helps that his charms are irresistible to the new dentist in town.

"Republican Wives" is a riotous satire on the sexual neuroses of the political right and the irrational nature of love, which, when thwarted, can turn into an urge to murder.

"Tracking" tells the author's life story through a retracing of the places and settings that have marked it.

Critic Reviews:

"Harrison's command of the novella form is as impressive as the range of his voices....This set of short fictions shifts pitch-perfect perspectives effortlessly, with a lightness that belies its depth." (Publishers Weekly)

"Harrison's earthy prose, uniquely evocative of place, is economical, precise, and hearty, and is sometimes startling in its ability to touch on core truths." (Booklist)

Members Reviews:

I want to be Brown Dog!

Jim is a modern classic writer. His stories resonate widely and passionately. His characters seem childlike and warped by adulthood all in the same time-space continuum. How he can reach back and retrieve such deep and lost memories is a lost art.

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Title: Islands

Subtitle: A Novel

Author: Anne Rivers Siddons

Narrator: Dana Ivey

Format: Abridged

Length: 6 hrs and 22 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-25-05

Publisher: HarperAudio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 26 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Instantly upon meeting them at the old beach house on Sullivan's Island, which they co-own, Anny knows that she has found home and family. They vow that, when the time comes, they will find a place where they can live together by the sea.

Bad things begin to happen, a hurricane, a fire, deaths, but still the remaining Scrubs cling together. They are watched over and bolstered by Camilla Curry, the heart and core of their group, always the healer. Anny herself allows Camilla to enfold and to care for her. It is the first time she has felt this kind of love and support.

Critic Reviews:

"She cannot be surpassed in evoking a kind of life peculiar to the South, with its emphasis on grace, good manners and stoic endurance. Her fans will find Siddons's narrative charisma intact and blooming." (Publishers Weekly)

Members Reviews:

Insipid

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

Nothing. The story is so boringly awful. A bunch of spoiled, rich people and their lives make for a boring story. There was no dramatic tension to this story until the next to the last chapter and even classifying it as dramatic tension is a stretch.

Would you ever listen to anything by Anne Rivers Siddons again?

Probably not.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Dana Ivey?

No suggestions.

Any additional comments?

I cannot recommend this book under any circumstances.

Great Voice!

Dana Ivey was fabulous! I would love to hear more books read that she reads.

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Title: The Bright Forever

Author: Lee Martin

Narrator: various

Format: Unabridged

Length: 7 hrs and 37 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-20-05

Publisher: Books on Tape

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 54 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

This simple act is at the heart of The Bright Forever, a suspenseful, deeply affecting novel about the choices people make that change their lives forever. Keeping fact, speculation, and contradiction playing off one another as the details unfold, author Lee Martin creates a fast-paced story that is as gripping as it is richly human. His beautiful, clear-eyed prose builds to an extremely nuanced portrayal of the complicated give and take among people struggling to maintain their humanity in the shadow of a loss.

Reminiscent of books such as The Little Friend and The Lovely Bones, but most memorable for its own perceptions and power, The Bright Forever is a compelling and emotional tale about the human need to know even the hardest truth.

Critic Reviews:

"Martin's novel is hard to put down." (Booklist)

"Rich details and raw emotion mix as Martin, in engaging the human desire to excavate the truth, underscores its complex, elusive nature." (Publishers Weekly)

Members Reviews:

Beautiful and very sad

Beautifully written, a small town tragedy. Each character has suffered loss and lonliness. Highly recommended if you like character-driven stories. Just be warned that it is very sad.

Narrators are:

Susan Deneker

Bo Foxworth

Kirby Heybourne

Lee Leon Cavalough

All the narrators were excellent.

A little sad

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

Over-all the time listening to the book was well-spent, but I would not recommend it to others. Although well-written, I did not like the plot.

Would you ever listen to anything by Lee Martin again?

Yes.

Which scene was your favorite?

No comment.

Did The Bright Forever inspire you to do anything?

No

Any additional comments?

No