Listen Legally to Popular Authors Full Audiobooks in Fiction, Contemporary

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Title: A Chef's Christmas

Author: Anthony Bourdain

Narrator: Anthony Bourdain

Format: Unabridged

Length: 1 hr

Language: English

Release date: 11-22-02

Publisher: Random House Audio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 292 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Holidays aren't always happy for everyone, especially for the crew at Restaurant Saint Germain. The empty dining room has more waiters than customers, the staff is grumbling about the absence of this year's Christmas bonus, and they may soon have to file a missing persons report for "America's Sexiest Chef." Determined to go down kicking and screaming, two employees come up with a last ditch plan of action with a truly unexpected result. While it's not exactly a White Christmas, the crew of the Saint Germain find out that miracles can happen - even if they are accompanied by the sound of French lounge music.

Anthony Bourdain once again brings to light the inner workings of the "culinary underbelly" in his bold reinvention of the traditional Christmas story. At once risqué and charming, A Chef's Christmas is sure to bring holiday cheer to those who make dinner and those who only make reservations.

Members Reviews:

Typically gritty & fun

In typical Anthony Bourdain fashion, this is a story told from the gritty perspective of the professional restaurant trade. It's not really new material but a fun adaptation of many of his previous themes and centers around the tricky restaurant season of Christmas. His characters triumph over adversity and rediscover the joy of cooking. This is less of a seasonal Christmas tale and more of an anytime story. It's short and fun and recommended for anyone who is a fan of Bourdain's storytelling talents.

Bourdain Christmas Special

For those unfamiliar with Bourdain's previous works and status as a Food TV network star, where have you been? (Just kidding.) Bourdain is a master chef who has branched out into writing and acting because he's got some talent, a cynical sense of humor, and a high energy style that would burn him out in the kitchen if he didn't do something else for awhile. Bourdain's works (including this one) take place in the restaurant world, and when discoursing in the kitchen scenes, they have an enormous depth and believability due to the author's familiarity with that environment and his willingness to tell it all like he sees it without pulling his punches (much). Outside the restaurant, Bourdain's characters lack any depth whatsoever, but hey, the author would tell you that's how it is in real life. This short work (which fits on one CD and thus is great for commuters) is another opportunity to live in the author's home territory for an hour and come out feeling like you've lost some of your innocence. From previous works, you may know that the author doesn't shy away from unhappy endings, but in the spirit of Christmas this story finishes well.

Snarkiness with a touch of Christmas cheer

A Bourdain experience - not for the kids. Fans will enjoy a touch of cynicism adapted for the season but ending on a happy note. A Christmas moral to this story.

Chef might be an a**hole but he doesn't own one.

A short antidote to saccharin sweet Christmas stories from the viewpoint of those on the other side of the food fest: those making the meals in the restaurants.

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Title: Trans-Sister Radio

Author: Chris Bohjalian

Narrator: Judith Ivey

Format: Abridged

Length: 5 hrs and 10 mins

Language: English

Release date: 03-01-01

Publisher: Random House AudioBooks

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 127 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Allison Banks, the long-divorced mother of a teenager on the cusp of college, has at last fallen in love. The object of her desire? Dana Stevens, a professor at the nearby university and her instructor for a summer film and literature course. Her daughter watches with pleasure her mother's newfound happiness, but Allison's ex-husband, Will, the president of Vermont Public Radio, is jealous. Still secretly in love with his ex-wife, he finds himself unsettled by the prospect of Allison's attachment to another man.

Yet Dana is unlike anyone Allison has ever been with: attentive, gentle, kind - and an exceptionally ardent lover. Moreover, it's clear that Dana cares just as deeply for Allison. The only stumbling block? Dana has known always that in actuality he is woman and he will soon be having a sex change operation.

At first Allison runs, but overwhelmed by the depth of her passions, she returns. Can the pair's love transcend both the biologic imperatives that are their bodies, as well as their ingrained notions of sexual preference? Moreover, can their love survive the outrage of the small community in which they live?

Members Reviews:

finely textured, gracefully written

I'm a longtime fan of Chris Bohjalian, and have relished all of his fiction. It's no surprise to me that this book received a quiet reception, since one of its central characters is trans-sexual -- a complicated and mis-understood phenomenon. Bohjalian doesn't shy away from exploring the full range of conflicts and questions that arise when Dana, a male professor, falls in love with Allison in the tiny town of Bartlett, VT -- and then announces that he's in the process of gender reassignment. The complexity of this relationship includes its effects on Allison, a school teacher, and the town's residents.

Allison's ex-husband, Will, and their daughter, Carly, are the other 2 characters that Bohjalian lends equal voice to as the novel shifts perspective over and over.

Judith Ivey has done a phenomenal reading: she uses slight "accents" to distiguish between the multiple characters' perspectives. She also has a knack for bringing Bohjalian's thoughtful prose to life.

Overall, this is one of the most compelling, intriguing books I've iPodded off of Audible. The timing of the story is just right, and the details and texture of its unfolding are satisfying. I didn't want it to end!

The one caution I would grant to possible listeners is that some people are sure to have trouble listening to a novel that so prominently features trans-sexuality. Personally, I enjoyed it because I have several trans-sexual friends and this book is a marvelous portrayal of the breadth of a TS character; it is never sensationalistic. You WILL learn a great deal through Bohjalian's characters, and so I encourage you to take the risk.

Excellent book

This is an excellent book, well read too. The story is intriguing with a man undergoing a sex change operation. But it is not clincal. There are numerous relationships with his girlfriend prior to the surgery and afterwards. One learns to view these people as people and the feelings that they have. The inclusion of fake NPR segments give the book added punch. It is a hard book to put down and I highly recommend it.

Very Good Gender Bending Story

This one kept me interested from beginning to end.

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Title: Killing Time

Author: Caleb Carr

Narrator: Caleb Carr

Format: Unabridged

Length: 7 hrs and 54 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-29-00

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio

Ratings: 3 of 5 out of 179 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Into this world of deception wanders Dr. Gideon Wolfe, a New York psychiatrist, criminal profiler, and historian. Wolfe comes into possession of a computer disc which contains startling evidence that the now-famous visual record of President Forrester's assassination was digitally altered.

Stunned and enraged, Wolfe sets out to unravel the full tale of the Forrester hoax. His journey leads him to a secret group of scientific and military experts who seek to expose the astonishing degree to which the public can be deceived and manipulated in the Information Age. Wolfe joins the team and discovers that their efforts instigate the most horrendous single act of mass murder in world history. Relentlessly suspenseful, Killing Time reveals a new side of a master novelist.

Members Reviews:

Killing Time and Bandwidth

I have to agree with other reviewers herein. If I had read the reviews first, I would not have made the mistake of attempting to listen to this sophomoric trash. The author's accents give the superficial dialogue and flimsy characters their comic book essence. I would not recommend wasting time - or killing the bandwidth to download this.

Really Killing Time!

I thought the writing was terrible, and the reading by the author was even worse! The accents were terrible. It was an interesting concept, but was preachy and juvenile. I couldn't wait for it to end.

Don't listen to or read this book

I have enjoyed reading Caleb Carr's other work and was excited to hear what his "science fiction" was like.

This book sounds like it was written by an adolescent boy with a dictionary. The characterizations are juvenile, the plot inane and riddled with un-adressed logic holes and the basic premise itself is flawed.

It would have been interesting to hear a contemporary writer write and update of "20,000 Leagues under the Sea" replacing the renegade Captian Nemo with a high-tech information age satellite baron. This book only comes close. And that proximity makes the failure to achieve anything engaging or even mildly interesting all the more frustrating.

In case it's not coming across, I was angry that I trusted Caleb Carr enough as a writer to sit all the way through this drivel. ( the cop-out ending is one of the worst parts of a very bad.)

Dreadful

Hardly worth the effort of downloading, much less listening. I agree with the prior reviews: this book is dreadful with a capital dread. Cartoonish, sophomoric, no. That's an insult to cartoons and sophomores everywhere. I bought this because the book was serialized in TIME magazine a couple of years ago; I was only able to read the first installment and I wanted to finish what I had started. Big mistake. What started off as a promising premise deteriorated into something that was just plain goofy. Too bad zero stars isn't an option.

Killing Time is all it's good for ... if that

Maybe I just expected something more ... but I had real trouble getting all the way through this book. Interesting premise, juvenile execution. Someone said the characters were "comicbook" like ... that's too much like a compliment. Comicbooks are more interesting. I really wanted to like this book, but the whole thing was just too disjointed and painful to plod through. I'm not one to worry too much about the audio stylings, effects, etc., but low marks there as well.

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Title: The Rescue

Author: Nicholas Sparks

Narrator: Mary Beth Hurt, John Belford Lloyd

Format: Abridged

Length: 6 hrs and 21 mins

Language: English

Release date: 09-14-00

Publisher: Hachette Audio

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 76 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Then, one day, a raging, record-breaking storm hits his small Southern town. Denise Holton, a young single mother, is driving through it when her car skids off the road. With her is her four-year-old son, Kyle. Unconscious and bleeding, she - not Kyle - is found. And when she wakes, the chilling truth becomes clear to both of them: Kyle is gone.

During the search for Kyle, the connection, the lifeline, between Taylor and Denise takes root. Taylor doesn't know that this rescue will lead him to the possibility of his own rescue from a life lived without love. That it will dare him to live life to the fullest by daring to love.

Members Reviews:

Great story- Cringeworthy narration

Is there anything you would change about this book?

The narrators were not right for this book. Mary Beth Hurt made Denise sound like an old lady with a terrible southern accent. John Belford Lloyd made Taylor sound like an idiot. Don't even get me started on how each of them made the child sound. If it hadn't been for the fact that the storyline was interesting, I would have given up on the book immediately.

Awesome read

What made the experience of listening to The Rescue the most enjoyable?

Taylor was a hero in more ways than one.

What did you like best about this story?

The rescue of Denise's son

Which scene was your favorite?

When Taylor rescued the victim from the bridge

Wonderful read

Would you consider the audio edition of The Rescue to be better than the print version?

I did not read the print version but the emotion from the audio edition was great!

What other book might you compare The Rescue to and why?

I am a Nicholas Sparks fan and all of his books are comparable - just wonderful.

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

No

wonderful

wonderful love story. Nicholas Sparks dies it again. couldn't stop listening it is a must

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Title: The Fishermen

Subtitle: A Novel

Author: Chigozie Obioma

Narrator: Chukwudi Iwuji

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 51 mins

Language: English

Release date: 04-14-15

Publisher: Hachette Audio

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 280 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

In a Nigerian town in the mid-1990s, four brothers encounter a madman whose mystic prophecy of violence threatens the core of their close-knit family.

Told from the point of view of nine-year-old Benjamin, the youngest of four brothers, The Fishermen is the Cain and Abel-esque story of an unforgettable childhood in 1990s Nigeria, in the small town of Akure. When their strict father has to travel to a distant city for work, the brothers take advantage of his extended absence to skip school and go fishing. At the ominous, forbidden nearby river, they meet a dangerous local madman who persuades the oldest of the boys that he is destined to be killed by one of his siblings.

What happens next is an almost mythic event whose impact - both tragic and redemptive - will transcend the lives and imaginations of its characters and its listeners. Dazzling and viscerally powerful, The Fishermen never leaves Akure, but the story it tells has enormous universal appeal. Seen through the prism of one family's destiny, this is an essential novel about Africa with all of its contradictions - economic, political, and religious - and the epic beauty of its own culture.

With this bold debut, Chigozie Obioma emerges as one of the most original new voices of modern African literature, echoing its older generation's masterful storytelling with a contemporary fearlessness and purpose.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your My Library section along with the audio.

Critic Reviews:

"Obioma's remarkable fiction is at once urgently, vividly immediate, yet simultaneously charged with the elemental power of myth." (Peter Ho Davies, author of The Welsh Girl)

"Obioma writes with gorgeous restraint reminiscent of the intricate prose in a Tolstoy novella. Every sentence delivers a precise and heartfelt blow. Hardly anyone writing today is delivering this level of intricacy, lyricism, and control. Add to that, the urgency and importance of his message. It just doesn't get better than this. Get used to the name: Obioma is here to stay." (Alexandra Fuller, author of Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness)

"Awesome in the true sense of the word: crackling with life, freighted with death, vertiginous both in its style and in the elemental power of its story. Few novels deserve to be called 'mythic', but Chigozie Obioma's The Fishermen is certainly one of them. A truly magnificent debut." (Eleanor Catton, author of The Luminaries [Man Booker Prize])

Members Reviews:

Beautifully written, heart-wringing tale

Any additional comments?

This is a lovely book, sad and funny (more sad than funny), but so spirited and passionate. I felt totally involved in the lives of the characters. The author's use of language is just exquisite and the narrator's reading of it is perfect. Highly recommended.

Captivating

What made the experience of listening to The Fishermen the most enjoyable?

I couldn't stop listening, trapped by the amazing narration of the writer. The job well done by the reader.

Mortal Kombat, Evil River Spirits, and Boyhood

I'm kind of stumped how to talk about the awesomeness of this Lit-Fic book about boyhood. The best I can do is: Read this. It has Mortal Kombat and evil river spirits, and it will break your heart.

loved it

Very good book. Dramatic story. Great performance by Chukwudi.

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Title: The Hundred Secret Senses

Author: Amy Tan

Narrator: Amy Tan

Format: Unabridged

Length: 11 hrs and 43 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-18-15

Publisher: Phoenix Books

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 76 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Amy Tan unfolds a series of family secrets that question the connections between fate, beliefs and hopes, memory and imagination, and the natural gifts of our hundred secret senses.

Years after her Chinese half sister assails her with ghost stories set in the mysterious world of Yin, a young woman finds herself in China, looking for a way to reconcile the ghosts of her past with the dreams of her future. Follow her journey, learn the truth about love, and rediscover the natural gift of your hundred secret senses.

Critic Reviews:

"Kwan, in particular, is a memorable creation.... She emerges as a character at once innocent and wise, the relative Olivia both suffers and relies upon. Kwan gently forces Olivia to face the worst in herself and, in doing so, to find her strengths. We could all do with such a sister." (The New York Times Book Review)

Members Reviews:

Could not listen

I love Amy Tan's books but the quality of this recording is horrible. I guess it is because it was remastered from an old recording. After listening to many audible books with crisp, wonderful performances, this was like listening to a radio station that wasn't coming in very clearly. I didn't even get through the first chapter. I am very disappointed and would like my money back!

Very poor sound quality, this book is impossible to hear as the sound quality is too poor. Please refund the book.

Poor sound quality unable to understand the reader first time this has happened with audible

unknowingly scary

I had to listen to the book twice to get it all. hmmm actually I think ill have to go back again. I still wonder... so it must be good to want to hear it three times, right???

All time favorite

One of my all time favorite books. Love love love! First read hard copy many years ago after my aunt introduced me to Amy Tan, I was still a teenager. One of those rare and beautiful stories that touches the heart and holds on forever. Keeps you heavily engaged as it's many tales within a story of two sisters and past life friends. This book should definitely be made into a movies as Joy Luck club, Also an excellent book but not as good as "The hundred secret Senses".

Very well narrated as well by the author.

So special

This book and The Bonesetter's Daughter are everything a sublime book ought to be. Thank you Amy Tan.

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Title: Nuclear Jellyfish

Author: Tim Dorsey

Narrator: Oliver Wyman

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 27 mins

Language: English

Release date: 01-27-09

Publisher: HarperAudio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 229 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Serge has returned! That loveable collector of trivia, souvenirs, and murder methods is back with a new A-Tour of Florida. And this time he's out to set the record straight!

Serge is upset that his beloved state isn't getting its proper recognition, so he sets up his own wildcat Internet travel-service site, hyper-blogging his way down the coast with his perpetually hammered sidekick, Coleman. Unfortunately Serge's Web presence catches the attention of his nemesis, Agent Mahoney, and the chase is on.

Meanwhile, professional robbery crews have begun targeting trade show exhibitors, who may or may not be what they seem. Bodies begin piling up, and Serge has had enough! He's forced into the only logical course of action: shopping at the Home Depot.

And this only raises more questions: Who is tutoring strippers through the community college? Where did all these diamonds come from? And does Lynyrd Skynyrd hold the key to everything?

It's time to sign on with Serge and see where the twisting, sun-splashed trail leads in Nuclear Jellyfish!

Editorial Reviews:

Oliver Wyman's voice sounds like a chainsaw in a minor key in his latest turn as Serge A. Storms in Dorsey's eleventh Florida adventure. The lovable psychopath/hero, Serge, along with his trusty amigo, Coleman, who's always high, cruises tourist sites like the West Tavern, where Lynyrd Skynyrd was inspiration for the song "Three Steps." They're gathering material for a travel website to the weird. The villain, a small-time thug nicknamed "Jellyfish," and a gorgeous stripper who is dancing her way through college feature in a surreal plot. Wyman's mishmash of gravelly accents and Dorsey's off-the-wall jokes make listening to this audio highly entertaining.

Members Reviews:

Twisted sense of humor

Not for everybody. I think Dorsey is a riot. As a mental health clinician, I see "Serge" walk into my office several times a day. Unfortunately, the real life characters aren't nearly as entertaining. SO maybe for me, Dorsey is therapy.

Oddly funny.

This was my first Tim Dorsey novel. I wasn't so sure about the book in the beginning; the plot seemed a bit scattered, and I almost stopped listening. But I stuck with it, and I'm glad I did! The seemingly incongruent plot lines all come together beautifully in the end. A good listen for those who like off-beat humor.

One of my favorite Serge stories

I've been listening since Book 1 of the Serge Storms series came out on audio. This performance was great! Major chapter sections are segued with music which enhanced the mood. It's been hard to adjust since the narrator changed, but this performance turned the page for me.

Another hilarious book from Dorsey

Any additional comments?

Despite what others have said, I started listening to the later Serge books so for me George Wilson is not the 'real' Serge. I think Oliver Wyman does an excellent job. His combination of indifferent narration coupled with spot on character voices is simply perfect. His delivery makes Tim Dorsey's books even funnier and incredibly easy to listen to. At times you think there are multiple narrators he switches between character voices so well.

Can't get enough of Serge!

Would you consider the audio edition of Nuclear Jellyfish to be better than the print version?

Don't know, because I have not read the print verison.

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Title: Blacklands

Author: Belinda Bauer

Narrator: John Curless

Format: Unabridged

Length: 8 hrs and 10 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-09-10

Publisher: Recorded Books

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 41 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Debut author Belinda Bauer crafts an incredibly moving first novel in Blacklands. Twelve-year-old Steven is determined to put an end to his familys misery and find the remains of his uncle, who was believed to be murdered as a child by a local pedophile. Steven spends his days digging for clues around his grandmothers home, but when his search fails to unearth anything new, he reaches out to the only person with answersthe accused murderer now serving life in prison.

Members Reviews:

just okay

This wasnt a terrible book by any means, but without giving too much away it is about a boy, Steven, contacting a convicted pedophile to try to resolve the mystery of his uncles disapperance when he was a child. This leads us to hear a lot about what the pedophile is thinking and feeling, how he trys to groom Steven, and how he misleads the authorities about being a 'reformed' character. I found this very unsettling and didnt really engage with the book because so much times was spent hearing about this revolting pedophile - well written, but not for me!

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Title: It's a Battlefield

Author: Graham Greene

Narrator: James Wilby

Format: Unabridged

Length: 6 hrs and 43 mins

Language: English

Release date: 01-09-12

Publisher: Audible Studios

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Drover, a Communist bus driver, is in prison, sentenced to death for killing a policeman during a riot at Hyde Park Corner. A battle for a reprieve with many participants ensues: the Assistant Commissioner, high-principled and over-worked; Conrad, a paranoid clerk; Mr Surrogate, a rich Fabian; Condor, a pathetic journalist feeding on fantasies; pretty, promiscuous Kay - all have a part to play in his fate.

James Wilby reads Graham Greenes absorbing novel set in 1930s London.

Members Reviews:

Internal Battlefields

This is a relatively early (1934) book Greene, and I think it is interesting for its variety of characters. I donât think itâs ever safe to say what you think an author was âreally thinking," but what I liked here was the portrayal of a âbattlefieldâ of characters, some in conflict with one another, but mostly each fighting an inner conflict.

The plot centers on a bus driver, Jim Drover, who, while protecting his wife during a riot, has killed a policeman. Jim, one of a number of characters participating either whole heartedly or perfunctory in the Communist labor movement of the time, has been convicted and condemned to death. Jim may be the least conflicted character in the story. We see very little of him â he seems actually at peace with his own fate and more worried about his wife, Milly. Milly is torn any number of ways, not least by her relationship with Jimâs brother, Conrad, who, in turn, fights an unwinnable battle to prove his manhood to Milly and to himself. Other characters fight for dignity, legitimacy, . . . trying to get themselves to become the persons they want to be rather than the persons they may settle to be.

One character, the Assistant Commissioner, fighting his own battle about whether to intervene in the fate of Jim, sums up the âbattlefieldâ:

"Everybodyâs too busy fighting his own little battle to think of the, the next man."

Not only are they too busy fighting their own battles to help each other, they are too busy to even fight with one another. And it doesnât all add up to any sort of transcendent hope or faith â itâs just a collection of struggles within each person, each in their own way.

It doesnât sound especially âhappyâ, but I liked the book exactly for that portrayal of inner struggle â itâs everyoneâs life, seen from the inside. Of course you canât help but suppose there is irony here -- that each is fighting an internal struggle in the context of outer struggles that could be the basis for inner victories.

The Big Music

A beautiful book and I loved the Brian Cox promotion film also - the reading of the first two pages and the scenes of Scotland.

A beautiful, bitter little story

It's London, between the wars, 1934. A man has killed a policeman during a strike; a riot had broken out, the bobby was poised to hit the striking workman's wife, and he instinctively defended her with his pocket knife.

The workman's name is Jim Drover. He's been sentenced to hang.

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Title: Blessings

Author: Anna Quindlen

Narrator: Joan Allen

Format: Unabridged

Length: 7 hrs and 48 mins

Language: English

Release date: 09-27-02

Publisher: Random House Audio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 367 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

This powerful new novel by the best selling author of A Short Guide to a Happy Life begins when a teenage couple drives up, late at night, headlights out, to Blessings, the estate owned by Lydia Blessing. They leave a box and drive away, and in this instant, the world of Blessings is changed forever.

Richly written, deeply moving, beautifully crafted, Blessings tells the story of Skip Cuddy, caretaker of the estate, who finds a baby asleep in that box and decides he wants to keep her, and of matriarch Lydia Blessing, who, for her own reasons, decides to help him. The secrets of the past, how they affect the decisions and lives of people in the present; what makes a person, a life, legitimate or illegitimate, and who decides; the unique resources people find in themselves and in a community - these are at the center of this wonderful novel of love, redemption, and personal change by the writer about whom The Washington Post Book World said, "Quindlen knows that all the things we ever will be can be found in some forgotten fragment of family."

Critic Reviews:

"Immensely appealing." (Publishers Weekly)

"Quindlen writes with power and grace." (The Boston Globe)

"Written with intelligence, clarity, and heartrending directness." (Newsday)

Members Reviews:

Very boring!

I had read or listened to other books by Anna Quindlen and loved them (One True Thing and Black and Blue). This was just boring. Half the book is flashbacks, and I never cared much about characters from the past. Even the modern story, which had my interest for a while, lot its momentum. In this story, a young man finds a baby in a basket and wants to raise it on his own. He befriends his boss, a strict 80 year-old. None of these characters were realistic to me, and so my heart was not broken, as happened with so many readers and listeners.

Nice Blessings

Although this book was a little slow, I did enjoy it. The story was interesting and the descriptions were beautiful. Enjoyed the narrator also. It was just a little slow with all of the memories of the past. I guess I was a little more interested in the present.

Unique and touching

Maybe partly due to the fact that I am currently a full-time dad, I found this novel especially touching... But in any case I think it is a great story and a wonderful audiobook.

A book club favorite

This was a bookclub choice and it was well received... often we choose more "complicated" reads than this story ~ however, upon discussing it, we discovered there were many layers to this story. We all felt we got to know the characters well but did disagree at times regarding their motivations and character perceptions. We had a great discussion which reflected that Quindlan managed to get us to care about the story and the characters in it.

Loved it

I absolutely loved this book, definitely kept my attention. Although the plot was predictable the story-telling depicts vivid emotion of tragedy amidst an ordinary life.