Listen Legally to Popular Authors Full Audiobooks in Fiction, Contemporary

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Title: The Sweetness of Forgetting

Author: Kristin Harmel

Narrator: Kim McKean

Format: Unabridged

Length: 14 hrs and 16 mins

Language: English

Release date: 07-17-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 103 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

At 36, Hope McKenna-Smith is no stranger to bad news. She lost her mother to cancer, her husband left her for a 22-year-old, and her bank account is nearly depleted. Her own dreams of becoming a lawyer long gone, shes running a failing family bakery on Cape Cod and raising a troubled preteen.

Now, Hopes beloved French-born grandmother Mamie, who wowed the Cape with her fabulous pastries for more than 50 years, is drifting away into a haze of Alzheimers. But in a rare moment of clarity, Mamie realizes that unless she tells Hope about the past, the secrets she has held on to for so many years will soon be lost forever. Tantalizingly, she reveals mysterious snippets of a tragic history in Paris. And then, arming her with a scrawled list of names, she sends Hope to France to uncover a 70-year-old mystery.

Hopes emotional journey takes her through the bakeries of Paris and three religious traditions, all guided by Mamies fairy tales and the sweet tastes of home. As Hope pieces together her familys history, she finds horrific Holocaust stories mixed with powerful testimonies of her familys will to survive in a world gone mad. And to reunite two lovers torn apart by terror, all shell need is a dash of courage, and the belief that God exists everywhere, even in cake....

Members Reviews:

the WORST narration I have ever heard!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What would have made The Sweetness of Forgetting better?

A different narrator. Kim McKean was horrible. She ruined the book for me. She tried to pass off a British accent as a French one. A friend suggested this book to my husband and myself, and prefaced it by saying that the narrator was very annoying, but eventually you got used to her. That never happened!

Would you be willing to try another one of Kim McKeans performances?

NEVER!!!!!

Horrible audio reader

Horrible audio reader absolutely horrendous. The story very good! Who hired the reader dull boring slow a complete no talent!

Good story but poor story editing and delivery

The premise of this story was engaging and interesting. Bakeries, pastries, a WWII mystery all should have been right up my alley.

Oh my goodness though, I lost count of how many times the main character or her daughter spoke or said something [in a small voice.] Good GAD. I almost started a drinking game. Gallery Publishing is an imprint of Simon and Schuster. Did they run out of editors to notice things like this? Honestly I think Kristin Harmel uses the expression at least 10 times. Why not [in a soft voice] or [softly] or [murmured] or [whispered] or .... When the last two [in a small voice] moments occurred withing 5 minutes of each other, I burst out laughing. Not the right reaction at that dramatic point in the story.

The narrator Kim McKean makes a valiant but unfortunate stab at a French accent. Ordinarily, I do not ding a narrator for a missed vowel or wrong accent on a syllable but McKean was so inconsistent that is was a major distraction for me. Was she going for a French accent or a German or Russian or American Tourist? When 50% of your characters are speaking in a French accent, you have to get either the accent or the cadence right or else abandon the effort all together. Also the vocal fry in her delivery was so disconcerting that it took me out of the story frequently. The growl at the end of each sentence was irritating to listen to. I really enjoy most of Audible's productions.

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Title: Sweet Salt Air

Author: Barbara Delinsky

Narrator: Marguerite Gavin

Format: Unabridged

Length: 13 hrs and 22 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-18-13

Publisher: Macmillan Audio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 151 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

From New York Times best-selling author Barbara Delinsky: A woman has a secret that may save the life of her best friend's husband - or destroy him.

Charlotte and Nicole were once the best of friends, spending summers together in Nicole's family's island house, but they have since grown apart. A successful travel writer, Charlotte lives on the road, while Nicole, a food blogger, lives in Philadelphia with her surgeon husband, Julian. When Nicole returns to the island house in order to write a book about island food, she invites her old friend Charlotte for both sentimental and practical reasons. Outgoing and passionate, Charlotte has a gift for talking to people and making friends, and Nicole would like her help interviewing locals for her book. Missing a genuine connection, Charlotte agrees.

But what both women don't know is that they are each holding a secret that may change their relationship forever. Are the bonds of friendship strong enough to weather past indiscretions and betrayals? Can love survive an honest mistake?

Filled with real, gut-wrenching emotion as well as a strong romantic storyline, Sweet Salt Air is a new offering from a beloved storyteller guaranteed to make you laugh and cry.

Members Reviews:

Cooked up beautiful images

Loved this book. Could smell and feel through the words. Great read would recommend. Reminded me of fond summer memories.

Enjoyable Maine story

At one time Nicole and Charlotte we best of friend inseparable spending their summers on Nicoles family summer home on Quinnipeague, a small island off the coast of Maine. But 10 years have passed, with secrets kept and different life paths that have caused these women to grow apart. Nicoles dad has passed away and now the summer home on Quinnipeague is going to be sold. Nicole being a food blogger and Charlotte a successful travel writer will bring these 2 friends together once more to renew their friendship and write a cookbook bases on Quinnipeague recipes but each has a secret that will change both their lives. Nicoles secret would betray her husband, Julians wishes, for Charlotte it could destroy her renewed friendship with Nicole but prolong Julians life. It would release Charlotte from her guilt of the past and allow her to love again.

Sweet Salt Air by Barbara Delinsky it a story of the strength of friendship, the ability to face misfortune, to love again and follow your heart when your life does not follow your life plan.

I cant say the story was unpredictable. I did find Nicoles character at time be grating but total enjoyed Charlotte and Leo. This was my first Barbara Delinsky book - it was well written, I found the characters well developed - I will definitely read another Delinsky. This was an audiobook was narrated by Marguerite Gavin she did an excellent job.

Very well written and very interesting!

I love how this story kept me interested from the very first chapter!

Well written!

thumbs up

I loved the book, the narrator was amazing it just made the book that much better, made my car rides to work and home in traffic easy.

So Sweet!

What did you love best about Sweet Salt Air?

How the past always comes back to hunt you!!!

What did you like best about this story?

The island setting

What does Marguerite Gavin bring to the story that you wouldnt experience if you just read the book?

Loved her intonations....the different interpretations of voices.

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Title: Pulled

Author: A. L. Jackson

Narrator: Andi Arndt

Format: Unabridged

Length: 11 hrs and 19 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-03-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 336 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Melanie Winters and Daniel Montgomery shared a love they believed bonded them together for life. After a tragic loss, overwhelming grief and misguided guilt distorts the truth, and their relationship ends in unanswered questions. For nine years, they drift through life, each unable to forget the one who holds their heart. Now, when their lives again intersect, will the power that drew them together be enough to heal the wounds from their past?

Pulled is a story of attraction and separation, of a love so strong it refuses to give up even when all others have.

Members Reviews:

Intense book

This book was a good. I would recommend it. True love pulled apart by a horrible accident. Almost a decade later their undeniable love finally draws them back together unexpectedly. Sadly, they realize all those years separated could have been avoided. An abusive controlling husband is the biggest barrier for them to find that happily ever after.

Romantic, emotional and breathtaking

I have to begin this review by reminding listeners that Romantic Fiction is just that Fiction. Something feigned, invented, or imagined; a made-up story meant to entertain.

If you can get past a few unrealistic plot points you will absolutely love this emotional and extremely romantic book. If you enjoy your listens with a little less fantasy and a bit more reality then perhaps you should skip this one.

This book really pulled at my heartstrings and its dream-like quality really swept me up and took me away into the fantasy and reality of love lost but never forgotten. This is a beautiful love story that will take your breath away.

My only complaint is with the narration. I really liked Andi Arndt but the listen could have been amazing if they had a male narrator for Daniels POV.

i'm on the fence with this one...

i love fairy tales. honest. i do. i love You've Got Mail and Never Been Kissed and Say Anything. i'm a romantic, but...

i found some things really lacking in this book and as much as i tried to LOVE it, and some parts i did, i still had a tough time overcoming some of the plot points. in fact, i found myself rolling my eyes and mumbling about "oh give me a break!"

the one biggest annoyance?

when melanie goes to see daniel (after being pulled from him by her idiot parents) and goes to visit him, walks into the house and does NOT see daniel (who was taking a shower). instead?! instead she listens to a jealous wannabe girlfriend, stephanie, telling her that he's moved on and daniel no longer wants melanie. so melanie LEAVES (after flying all that way to see daniel) without actually SEEING him. i really had a HARD time believing that ANY real lover/girlfriend/soulmate WHATEVER, would not say, "no. i'm here to see him. i will WAIT in the living room until he comes out of the shower."

and then the next nine years of idiocy wouldn't happen and we wouldn't have the book.

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Title: Christmas Jars

Author: Jason F. Wright

Narrator: Jason F. Wright

Format: Unabridged

Length: 3 hrs and 57 mins

Language: English

Release date: 05-24-13

Publisher: Shadow Mountain

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 138 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Hope Jensen is a young, single woman and an aspiring newspaper writer, and when she receives a much-needed but anonymous Christmas gift, she's determined to find her benefactor. That search leads her to an unusual family with a longstanding Christmas tradition. Sensing a front-page feature article, Hope desperately wants to publish their story, but doing so would be a breach of trust. What she decides to do will change her life forever.

Destined to become a classic Christmas tale, Christmas Jars is a heartwarming story that will restore your faith in mankind and make you want to start your own Christmas Jar tradition.

Critic Reviews:

"Beautifully written. I believe the Christmas Jars tradition will change lives." (Richard Paul Evans, New York Times bestselling author)

"This inspirational Christmas novella will engage readers' hearts."--Publishers Weekly

"Just like It's a Wonderful Life, Christmas Jars is American storytelling at its best. Jason Wright has written the next Christmas classic."--Glenn Beck

Members Reviews:

Loved it.

Saw a reference to this book online and decided to give it a try. It is an easy listen with likeable characters and a sweet story. I appreciated the absence of a love story; it was a nice change. I listened to the sequel immediately after finishing this one.

I was moved to tears more than once

Where does Christmas Jars rank among all the audiobooks youve listened to so far?

This is one of the most beautifully crafted stories I have ever heard. I drive an hour to and from work every day listening to audiobooks as I go. Christmas Jars was such a good book that I found myself hoping I'd get stuck in traffic so that I could keep listening. I was pulled into the lives of all of the characters and found myself wanting to start my own Christmas Jar. On more than one occasion I found myself sobbing at various parts of the story. I believe everyone should hear this remarkable tale. This book captures the true spirit of Christmas, forgiveness, and all of the magic it holds!

Who was your favorite character and why?

There is no way I could pick a favorite character. They were all amazing.

Which scene was your favorite?

My favorite scene is at the end. There is a special twist in the last few chapters that brings this book to a mighty finish.

If you could take any character from Christmas Jars out to dinner, who would it be and why?

I would take Mr. Maxwell out. This man had the biggest heart and spirit of all. He was a comedian too.

inspirational- I love it

this book features a way in which we can keep the spirit of Christmas going in our lives as well as an inspiration story. great for everyone.

A warm and fuzzy Christmas story!

I loved the way this story made me feel. I am now ready to start my own Christmas jar! Each character was well-developed making me feel I was right there with them through their trials and victories. Narration and performance was excellent! Recommend this for anytime of the year.

Love love love this book!

Such a great book! I isten to it every year. While I typically like when the author narrates their own book, I'm not crazy about Jason Wright's performance here. Just a personal preference, I guess. His voice just seemed to strain or something. At times took away or distracted from the story for me. Still, a fantastic book.

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Title: Amulet

Author: Roberto Bolaño

Narrator: Adriana Sananes

Format: Unabridged

Length: 4 hrs and 7 mins

Language: English

Release date: 05-13-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 16 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

A tour de force, Amulet is a highly charged first-person, semi-hallucinatory novel that embodies in one woman's voice the melancholy and violent recent history of Latin America.

Amulet is a monologue, like Bolaño's acclaimed debut in English, By Night in Chile. The speaker is Auxilio Lacouture, a Uruguayan woman who moved to Mexico in the 1960s, becoming the "Mother of Mexican Poetry", hanging out with the young poets in the cafés and bars of the University. She's tall, thin, and blonde, and her favorite young poet in the 1970s is none other than Arturo Belano (Bolaño's fictional stand-in throughout his books). As well as her young poets, Auxilio recalls three remarkable women: the melancholic young philosopher Elena; the exiled Catalan painter Remedios Varo; and Lilian Serpas, a poet who once slept with Che Guevara. And in the course of her imaginary visit to the house of Remedios Varo, Auxilio sees an uncanny landscape, a kind of chasm. This chasm reappears in a vision at the end of the book: An army of children is marching toward it, singing as they go. The children are the idealistic young Latin Americans who came to maturity in the '70s, and the last words of the novel are: "And that song is our amulet."

Members Reviews:

Read The Savage Detectives first

Would you listen to Amulet again? Why?

I really enjoyed the narrator's reading. She was very believable and authentic. It was especially interesting to hear Bolano write in the voice of a female in that world he had created in The Savage Detectives. And to hear her opine on those men, boys really, including Arturo Belano, the Bolano figure who is really only a teen here.

Would you recommend Amulet to your friends? Why or why not?

Only for Bolano fans who have already read and enjoyed The Savage Detectives - and if they have enjoyed it, then Amulet is really a must.

What about Adriana Sananess performance did you like?

She was very authentic. Really seemed to have a vivid picture of the characters she was talking about and how she felt about them. Also how she felt about her own character - Auxilio and the uncertain place she inhabited in that world even as she is "the mother of Mexican poetry." That humility and awe for the poets is touching.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The scene in which she meets Lilian Serpas's young son Carlos seems to haunt her with unspoken maybe not even fully understood feelings. I really want to go and consult the written text to get a better read between the lines here.

Any additional comments?

I was a little worried, after I was disappointed in Antwerp, that these smaller Bolano publications would all prove disappointing, but Amulet reassured me that while they all may not be hits, it's worth weeding through to experience the winners.

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Title: Ghostwritten

Author: David Mitchell

Narrator: William Rycroft

Format: Unabridged

Length: 15 hrs and 9 mins

Language: English

Release date: 04-09-13

Publisher: Recorded Books

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 384 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Oblivious to the bizarre ways in which their lives intersect, nine characters - a terrorist in Okinawa, a record-shop clerk in Tokyo, a money-laundering British financier in Hong Kong, an old woman running a tea shack in China, a transmigrating "noncorpum" entity seeking a human host in Mongolia, a gallery-attendant-cum-art-thief in Petersburg, a drummer in London, a female physicist in Ireland, and a radio deejay in New York - hurtle toward a shared destiny of astonishing impact. Like the book's one non-human narrator, Mitchell latches onto his host characters and invades their lives with parasitic precision, making Ghostwritten a sprawling and brilliant literary relief map of the modern world.

Members Reviews:

Journeys of connectedness

I'm a bit amazed that David Mitchell was only in his late 20s when he wrote this kaleidoscopic novel, given his adeptness with language, setting, voice, and ideas. As in his more famous (and later) Cloud Atlas, Mitchell blends history, tragedy, wit, myth, metaphysics, moral questions, and consciously cinematic melodrama into a swirling literary collage.

Like Cloud Atlas, this one contains a set of loosely-linked stories that take place in different locations around the world and, in some cases, span decades of history. The protagonist of each is at some moment in his or her life when everything is about to change. There's a Japanese doomsday cultist whose conviction in his deluded belief system gives rise to disquieting, yet infecting observations about the world. There's a young, jazz-obsessed slacker working in a Tokyo record store (an obvious Murakami nod), who falls in love with a girl that happens to wander in by a chance. There's a harried 30-something British financier watching his life and his biggest deal fall apart, while convinced that his Hong Kong apartment is haunted by a ghost. There's an old Chinese woman who runs a noodle stand on a sacred mountain, and has come through much history mostly by being beneath its concern. There's a noncorpum, a disembodied spirit that transfers itself between human hosts and travels across Mongolia, in search of its own origins. There's a female Russian art thief, waiting for the moment to carry out a big heist, but acutely conscious of her departing youth.

Unlike Cloud Atlas, which played games with which stories were "real" (and what "real" ultimately means in the context of imaginative constructions), this book puts its characters on the same broad stage and has them crossing paths with one another. At first, the connections are fleeting, but as the book progresses, the stories and their themes intersect more and more, building towards a crescendo that includes an Irish quantum physicist trying to evade the militaristic designs of the US government, a noncorpum of another sort, and a late night radio DJ on the eve of the end of the world.

Mitchell is mad juggler of a writer, taking a collection of ideas that would be somewhat hackneyed on their own, and reconfiguring them into a grand mural in motion. Each story has its own lyrically sordid details, powerful truths, and cosmic absurdities, yet their meaning is in their connectedness.

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Title: Starting Now

Subtitle: A Blossom Street Novel, Book 9

Author: Debbie Macomber

Narrator: Abby Craden

Format: Unabridged

Length: 11 hrs and 25 mins

Language: English

Release date: 04-02-13

Publisher: Random House Audio

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 211 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

New York Times best-selling author Debbie Macomber returns to Seattles beloved Blossom Street in this heartfelt tale of friendship, renewal, and discovering whats truly important in life.

For years Libby Morgan dreamed only of making partner in her competitive, high-pressure law firm. She sacrificed everything for her career - her friends, her marriage, her chance at creating a family. When her boss calls Libby into his office, she assumes it will finally be good news, but nothing can prepare her for the shocking reality: Shes been let go and must rebuild her entire lifestarting now.

With no job prospects in sight, Libby reaches out to old friends and spends her afternoons at A Good Yarn, the local knitting store. There she forms a close bond with Lydia, the sweet-natured shop owner; Lydias spirited teenage daughter, Casey; and Caseys best friend, Ava, a shy yet troubled girl who will shape Libbys future in surprising and profound ways.

As A Good Yarn becomes a second home - and the women a new kind of family - Libby relishes the different person shes become. She even finds time for romance with a charming and handsome doctor who seems to be her perfect match. But just as everything is coming together, Libby must make a choice that could forever change the life she holds so dear.

Warmly told and richly textured, Starting Now is filled with the promise of new beginnings and the unending delights of companionship and love.

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

Members Reviews:

Predictable & Boring

As much as I like Debbie Macomber's books, this was not one of them. I am like the previous reviiewer, I slippped off many a time listening to it. I did go back though to listen to what I missed but it wasn't much.

The Narrator - You could tell the differences in character by the narrator, but gosh she got on my nerves when that "proper" voice came out (I dislike being harsh). I will think twice if she is narrating another one that I might want to listen to.

The premise of the story was a good one if it had been pulled off by another narrator, I guess. I was ready for it to end. I can't believe I am saying this about a DM book, but I am--Disappointing!!

Love!Love!!Love!!!

These Blossom Street stories make you feel like you could move to this city and walk into

each store and feel at home. Every time she introduces a new character, her description is

so complete that it's just a new friend, you haven't met yet.

I have read every bock she has written!

The Blossom St. Stories and the Angel Books are my favorites.

Story Great / Narration Horrible

First, I want to say that I am a HUGE DM fan. She is my favorite author, not just ONE of my favorites!!! She develops believable characters. Over the past two or three years I primarily "read" my books via audible books.

Unfortunately, Random House Audio has done DM an extreme disservice by choosing the narrator, Abby Craden, for "Starting Now". Up to this point, all of the books to which I've listened, the narrator has complemented DM's work. This time, however, I feel like the narrator is dragging, making Libby sound like a whining doofus.

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Title: Vacationland

Author: Sarah Stonich

Narrator: Amanda Ronconi

Format: Unabridged

Length: 12 hrs and 11 mins

Language: English

Release date: 04-01-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 25 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

On a lake in northernmost Minnesota, you might find Naledi Lodge - only two cabins still standing, its pathways now trodden mostly by memories. And there you might meet Meg, or the ghost of the girl she was, growing up under her grandfathers care in a world apart and a lifetime ago. Now an artist, Meg paints images "reflected across the mirrors of memory and water", much as the linked stories of Vacationland cast shimmering spells across distance and time.

Those whose paths have crossed at Naledi inhabit Vacationland: a man from nearby Hatchet Inlet who knew Meg back when, a Sarajevo refugee sponsored by two parishes who cant afford "their own refugee", aged sisters traveling to fulfill a fateful pact once made at the resort, a philandering ad man, a lonely Ojibwe stonemason, and a haiku-spouting girl rescued from a bog.

Sarah Stonich, whose work has been described as "unexpected and moving" by the Chicago Tribune and "a well-paced feast" by the Los Angeles Times, weaves these tales of love and loss, heartbreak and redemption into a rich novel of interconnected and disjointed lives. Vacationland is a moving portrait of a place - at once timeless and of the moment, composed of conflicting dreams and shared experience - and of the woman bound to it by legacy, and sometimes longing, but not necessarily by choice.

Members Reviews:

Reminded me of home

As a product of the UP of Michigan, these stories rang true. The voice artist mis pronouced a few of the up North names, but it was a very enjoyable listen. I'll read more of this author.

A very good read!

Amazingly inventive characters and a pleasing tapestry of narratives woven of threads that wind in and out, and up and down, and back and around and through, stitching together the charmingly drawn lives of that unique place and time.

What a Waste

A collection of fifteen short; unfinished stories that are somewhat linked together. I could have written a better story. This was ridiculous. I wouldn't have finished this book other than the fact it was picked by our book club. What a waste of a good credit.

slow, boring....

zzzzz.... could never engage. I love Amanda Ronconi, but even she couldn't help this book!

This story confused me,couldn't finish.

What disappointed you about Vacationland?

This story started out okay but by the time I got half way through the book I was having a hard time following along and then it seemed to just keep dragging on and seemed to not have a point. Reading the preview I didn't realize that this story was based on a whole bunch of peoples stories that somehow combine at some point. For me it was hard to tell when a new story started, it seemed to go way off track and I had to keep rewinding to figure out that the people and the story changed and it was a new persons view that I was listening too. I don't normally like these kids of books and if the preview would have been a little more descriptive I would not have purchased the book.

I was excited to see that Amanda Ronconi was the narrator, this was a big reason of why I decided to try the book. She is my all time favorite Narrator. While she did a great job as usual the book just didn't pick up or make sense to me. Which definitely was not her fault. Still love her!!

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Title: Further Tales of the City

Subtitle: Tales of the City, Book 3

Author: Armistead Maupin

Narrator: Frances McDormand

Format: Unabridged

Length: 8 hrs and 10 mins

Language: English

Release date: 03-26-13

Publisher: HarperAudio

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 175 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

The calamity-prone residents of 28 Barbary Lane are at it again in this deliciously dark novel of romance and betrayal. While Anna Madrigal imprisons an anchorwoman in her basement, Michael Tolliver looks for love at the National Gay Rodeo, DeDe Halcyon Day and Mary Ann Singleton track a charismatic psychopath across Alaska, and society columnist Prue Giroux loses her heart to a derelict living in San Francisco park.

Members Reviews:

More City Life Captured by Maupin

Mr. Maupin continues his interwoven tales of life for single people of all genders, sexual preferences, and social classes, in the late seventies in San Francisco. The writing is funny and heartbreakingly sweet. The overall plot regarding one of the great monsters of the age will invariably be regarded by some as contrived but that misses he point. The point of the plot is not to get to the end, but to have an excuse to write about (as Rachel Maddow points out) the "interconnected" normal, healthy lives of the characters both gay and straight. The writing holds up well considering that it is a snap-shot of popular culture nearly thirty years ago. (You may wince at the occasional use of "boogie" to mean dancing.) The narrator has been switched back to the slightly faster reading Frances McDormand who is still perfectly competent. However, she's not quite as tender a narrator as Cynthia Nixon in the second book. It is strongly recommended that you listen to these books in order, especially if discovering them for the first time. They make far more sense when read in order as most series do. If you never had the privilege of living in San Francisco, the Paris of America, this series makes you feel as if you had, while also supplying you with several good friends and one way-cool landlady to boot. If you have any kind of open mind and heart you will fall in love with the characters and feel the appropriate amount of hate for one of the worst real life villains of the modern era.

Well worth the read

Tales of the city is a classic and fun story taking place during the 70's u have all the people of Barbary lane and how unique and fun they are. Also during this time the variety of people and personality as well as how the early days of the LGBT community were founded in at many times misunderstanding and violence..this is the 3rd part of the series and sooo far not disappointed.

I Love the series

This is such a contemporary story. More so today 2015 then back in 1980. The story fits with the times. I look forward to the next book in the series.

Frances McDormand narrates poorly

The novel is exactly what one familiar with Maupin's Tales of the City would expect: light and airy, full of local color, with several highly enjoyable and implausible surprises. But what gets me is Frances McDormand's terrible performance as a narrator; although she is one of the most gifted actors I know, when it comes to reading aloud she's no great shakes. Her timing is lousy--she races through sentences at times, occasionally making comical flubs ("shrubbery" becomes "shubbery," for example)--and she often places her emphases inappropriately. Cynthia Nixon narrates number two in this series, and she does a terrific job; too bad Audible didn't ask her back!

Can't get enough

Yet another gripping book that kept me glued to my headphones.

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Title: Lien se lankstaanskoene [Lien's Long Standing Shoes]

Author: Derick Van der Walt

Narrator: Mareli Minnaar

Format: Unabridged

Length: 8 hrs and 6 mins

Language: English

Release date: 03-21-13

Publisher: Tafelberg

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 6 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Hierdie gewilde én bekroonde jeugroman, onlangs as film uitgereik, is nou ook beskikbaar as luisterboek. Lien is die oudste kind in n disfunksionele huishouding, waar die status van die gesin van welgesteld tot armblankes verander het weens die misbruik van trustfondse deur haar prokureurspa. Nou sit hy in die tronk, en haar ma, weens haar onvermoë om die situasie te verwerk, begin al hoe meer drink. Vir Lien en haar jonger broer, Braam, oor wie sy besorg is, is daar aanpassingsprobleme by die nuwe skool, maar deur veral twee vriende, Wouter en Mimi, herwin Lien vir haar n eie plek. Sy doen naskool loswerkies vir n inkomste, veral om die aand kos op die tafel te kry en te spaar vir wanneer sy eendag oorsee kan gaan. Die behoeftes van die gesin kan egter nie alleen deur die wisselvallige inkomste aangespreek word nie. Terwyl haar ma se alkoholisme tot tragiese dieptes verval, begin sy in n vermomming op n straathoek bedel, waar sy mense soos Roos en Tibbey leer ken.

Please note: This audiobook is in Afrikaans.

Members Reviews:

Pragtige storie

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

Definitief. So eg Suid Afrikaans! Baie goeie karakters en baie detail. Lekker lag oom like.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Lien se lankstaanskoene [Lien's Long Standing Shoes]?

Lien se eerste dag op straat.

What does Mareli Minnaar bring to the story that you wouldnt experience if you just read the book?

Se goed wat net goed klink in afrikaans.

Who was the most memorable character of Lien se lankstaanskoene [Lien's Long Standing Shoes] and why?

Lien

Any additional comments?

Pragtige storie vir Oud en Jonk. Kan nie wag vir d fliek.

Baie baie goed/Fantasties

Ek het dit so geniet, Ek het die boek en fliek gaan koop. Ek beveel dit graag aan.

Uitstekend!!!

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

To every one I talk to. This is the best afrikaans luisterboek ooit!!! Dis so fantasies geskryf, en ek kon myself in Liens se lewe inleef. Dit het my ook met tye Lekker laat lag en trane na my oe ge bring!!! Ek luister dit oppad werk toe en terug, ek ek kon letterlik nie wag om in my kar te klim elke dag. Wou nie ophou luister nie.

What other book might you compare Lien se lankstaanskoene [Lien's Long Standing Shoes] to, and why?

Nie op die oomblik, hopeloos te min afrikaanse luisterboeke online te Koop. Sal garage meer van Derick se boeke wil luister.

Which scene did you most enjoy?

There were so many! Lien se eerste dag op straat. Die fights wie staan op waste Hoek. En hoe hegte band sy met haar straats kollegas gevorm het.

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

O yes, kon nie wag om in my kar te wees, om te luister. Het my een uur commute baie Lekkerder gemaak.

Any additional comments?

Kan nie wag vie die fliek nie.

Nog boeke in audio asb Derick.