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Title: Ghostwritten

Author: David Mitchell

Narrator: various

Format: Abridged

Length: 6 hrs and 13 mins

Language: English

Release date: 04-03-07

Publisher: Hodder Headline Limited

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 11 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Winner of the Mail on Sunday/John Llewellyn Rhys Prize.

Shortlisted for the Guardian First Book Award.

An apocalyptic cult member carries out a gas attack on a rush-hour metro, but what connects him to a jazz buff in Tokyo?

A woman on a holy mountain talks to a tree, and the tree talks back, unaware of the effect the financial irregularities of a burnt-out lawyer will have on her life.

Add to this a Mongolian gangster, a redundant English spy in Petersburg with a knack for forging masterpieces, a despondent "zookeeper", a nuclear scientist, a ghostwriter, a ghost, and a late night New York DJ whose hard-boiled scepticism has been his undoing. All of them have tales to tell, and all must play their part as they are caught up in the inescapable forces of cause and effect.

Critic Reviews:

"One of the best first novels I've read in a long time...I couldn't put it down." (Mail on Sunday)

"Nine disparate but interconnected tales (and a short coda) in Mitchell's impressive debut examine 21st-century notions of community, coincidence, causality, catastrophe, and fate....Mitchell's wildly variegated story can be abstruse and elusive in its larger themes, but the gorgeous prose and vibrant, original construction make this an accomplishment not to be missed." (Publishers Weekly)

Members Reviews:

Uneven and unsatisfactory

The stories set in the West were very good while those in the East were dull and meaningless. The links between the stories were tenuous.

Clever and thoughtful but the ending!

Well written and very impressive, but while I enjoyed the majority of the episodes, detail & imagination shone out, some of the episodes were less pleasing. The whole package I felt was let down by the ending. I feel sufficiently enlightened to comprehend the metaphysical aspect of the book, so I am concerned that I am missing something here in the ending. Perhaps another listener will enlighten us with regard to the ending. Well worth listening to.

It's abridged!

I didn't notice it was abridged and there doesn't seem to be an unabridged version on the site...

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Title: Mercy

Author: Jodi Picoult

Narrator: Megan Dodds

Format: Abridged

Length: 5 hrs and 20 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-25-06

Publisher: Hodder Headline Limited

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 6 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Exploring highly charged emotional and ethical issues, Mercy is the thought-provoking novel from New York Times best-selling author Jodi Picoult.

There is no doubt that Jamie Macdonald killed his wife. But was it murder, or mercy?

The case divides the small town of Wheelock. For Police Chief Cameron Macdonald, there's no question that he should be tried and face life imprisonment for Murder One.

But Jamie's victim was dying of cancer. He claims she asked for his help to die. And there are those who believe he has suffered enough....

Critic Reviews:

"A sensitive exploration of the balance of love." (Publishers Weekly)

Members Reviews:

She is an excellent writer: makes me think about issues of which ...

Jodi Picoult's books are always so informative on numerous levels. She is an excellent writer: makes me think about issues of which I may have had little prior knowledge.

Wonderful multi-faceted story

So many layers it was like an onion.

Mercy on so many levels.

Death on so many levels.

Life and deAth comes in so many forms.

What is Mercy?

The story revolves around Cameron and Allie MacDonald, in the small village of Wheelock, Massachusetts in the Berkshire. It is a town rich in Scottish history where the majority of residents are Scottish descendants, where weddings are ended with the Scottish tradition of a blood vow, where Cameron MacDonald is not only the chief of police but also the clan chief - all of which were expected of him to do. On what seemed to be a most ordinary day turns out to be a most extraordinary day for Cam and his wife of eight years; events on the day will lead them down a shaky path of questions, desires and wants. The 1st turn of events is when Jamie MacDonald, a cousin of Cameron's, commits an act of mercy by smoothing his cancer-ravaged wife Maggie in the Wheelock Inn. The 2nd turn of event is when Allie, the local florist, hires Mia, a blue-eyed exotic beauty with a knack for flower arranging. As Allie becomes involved with Jamie's case, Cam begins a love affair with Mia that is destine to bring his marriage to almost a point of destruction. Jamie tells Allie that a marriage is never "never fifty-fifty" and like him, Allie is the one the loves more.

At points in the book I hated Cam for what he was doing to his wife yet at times so wanted him to find happiness with Mia - Cameron loves her for her free spirit to go places at a whim and Mia love Cam for stability and a place to call home. The love story of Jamie and Maggie is heart breaking. How do you kill the person that is your whole being? How do you ask that person to perform such an act, an act of mercy?

Picoult's writing is like poetry for me and this book is no exception, especially her attention to the development of her central characters. The title of this book "Mercy" has dual meaning. The most obvious is the mercy killing of Maggie. But what is mercy? It is compassion or benevolence. I think this would apply to Allie towards Cam.

I have read many reviews on this book I see a lot of people did not rate it well - maybe the fact that I listen to this book painted it differently for me but I loved the book. Jodi Picoult rarely disappoints me and never writes about subjects that are easy to swallow - and Mercy was no different.

Not Great

I FOUND THIS BOOK DISAPPOINTING. THE ONLY MERCY LAY IN THE FACT THAT THE AGONY WAS NOT PROLONGED.

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Title: Reservation Road

Author: John Burnham Schwartz

Narrator: Stanley Tucci, John Shea, Anne Twomey

Format: Abridged

Length: 2 hrs and 55 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-03-06

Publisher: Random House Audio

Ratings: 2.5 of 5 out of 2 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

At the close of a beautiful summer day near the quiet Connecticut town where they live, the Learner family - Ethan, Grace, and their children, Josh and Emma - stops at a gas station on their way home from a concert. Josh Learner, lost in a 10-year-old's private world, is standing at the edge of the road when a car comes racing around the bend. He is hit and instantly killed. The car speeds away.

From this moment forward, Reservation Road becomes a harrowing countdown to the confrontation between two very different men. The hit-and-run driver is a small-town lawyer named Dwight Arno, a man in desperate need of a second chance. Dwight is also the father of a 10-year-old boy, who was asleep in the car the night Josh Learner was killed. Now Dwight must decide whether to run from his crime or to pay the price for what he did. Ethan Learner, a respected professor of literature at a small New England college, has seen his orderly world shattered in a single moment, yet he persists in the belief that he can find the unknown man who killed his son. Behind their stories are those of 8-year-old Emma, who can't stop thinking her brother's death was her fault, and of Grace, who must find the strength to keep herself and her family together, and to be the mother Emma so badly needs.

In a gripping narrative woven from the voices of Ethan, Dwight, and Grace, Reservation Road tells the story of two ordinary families facing an extraordinary crisis. This is an audiobook that sounds like a thriller but opens up a world rich with psychological nuance and emotional wisdom. Reservation Road explores the terrain of grief even as it astonishes with unexpected redemption.

Critic Reviews:

"Schwartz's haunting tale, overflowing with thinly veiled lessons in life, is nothing short of captivating." (Booklist)

"A triumph of form, pacing and power...character-driven as it is, it reads like a thriller, swift and complete." (New York Times)

"Narrating quietly and close to the mike, the readers provide more dimensionality for their roles than the writer has. In short, this is an example of a production that improves upon the book." (AudioFile)

Members Reviews:

Left wondering

This probably would have been a very good story if unabridged. (I once more forgot to check before I bought) Just as I was getting to know the characters and their reactions to the drama it was over. I was left wondering.

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Title: Scarlet Feather

Author: Maeve Binchy

Narrator: Kate Binchy

Format: Abridged

Length: 5 hrs and 56 mins

Language: English

Release date: 09-19-06

Publisher: Orion Publishing Group Limited

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 5 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Against a background of hilarious catering triumphs and disasters, these key relationships begin to crumble, and the aphrodisiac of shared business trials and tribulations starts its inevitable work on Cathy and Tom. Meanwhile, around them, a magical supporting cast of classic Binchy characters weaves its spell: a comically dreadful but endearing set of twin children; a lonely man looking for the foster daughter he had to hand back to her real parents years earlier; and the glamorous aunt whose financial backing of Scarlet Feather has a dubious source. These and many more wend their way through a story of love, heartbreak and laughter, Maeve Binchy at her most beguiling.

Members Reviews:

An awful, jumbled mess!!!

Far too many characters with far too many changes of scene. Horrible book that has some potential by cutting into less than half. Too bad. You'd need a spreadsheet keeping track. I gave up at 12%.

Another great novel full of character studies by Maeve Binchy!

Another great novel full of character studies by Maeve Binchy!

Five Stars

wife really likes these books

I have read all of Maeve Binchys books in the ...

I have read all of Maeve Binchys books in the past and this one was not in her league. The book seemed disorganized and difficult to follow. It was a struggle for me to finish this book.

Felt like I knew all of the characters

I wanted to keep following the lives of all of the people in the book - a sure sign of quality

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Title: Deceptions

Author: June Considine

Narrator: Jim Norton

Format: Unabridged

Length: 10 hrs and 40 mins

Language: English

Release date: 09-06-06

Publisher: Oakhill Publishing Ltd

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 3 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

When a torrid love affair shakes the very foundations of Lorraine Cheevers' world, she flees to Trawbawn, a seaside idyll of innocent childhood summers. Meanwhile a teenage boy lies in a coma in hospital and his father, Michael Carmody, is desperately searching for the people who put him there. His search leads him to Trawbawn and to a powerful and unexpected attraction. As time stands still for young Killan, it threatens to run out for a man and woman trying to put right their shattered pasts.

©2004 June Considine; (P)2006 Oakhill Publishing Ltd

Critic Reviews:

"A page turner to savour." (Katie Moten, RTE Guide)

"...a gripping and heart-wrenching novel about truth and illusion and the passonate shadows that lurk beneath the quiestest of lives." (Read Ireland Book Review)

Members Reviews:

Nice surprise

Norton is a very gifted narrator, as I found listening to just about all the Joyce available from Audiobooks. So I chanced this non-Joyce material...great contemporary story, superbly read. I hope for more from Considine and Norton.

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Title: Evening Class

Author: Maeve Binchy

Narrator: Kate Binchy

Format: Abridged

Length: 5 hrs and 57 mins

Language: English

Release date: 08-29-06

Publisher: Orion Publishing Group Limited

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 3 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Among the many evening classes starting all over Dublin is an "Introduction to Italian". On the surface, it could be just one of hundreds in which some students will succeed and some will fall along the way. But the Italian class at Mountainview School has its own special quality, and the hopes and dreams of so many people are tied up in the twice weekly lessons. The students learn far more than they ever bargained for, and by the time they are ready to set off on the promised trip to Italy at the end of the year, everyone's destiny has changed utterly.

(P)1996 Orion Publishing Group Ltd

Members Reviews:

entertaining

This is entertaining to listen to; very chatty and gossipy. At times I found some of the accents quite cringey. No depth but very enjoyable.

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Title: Nights of Rain and Stars

Author: Maeve Binchy

Narrator: Kate Binchy

Format: Abridged

Length: 6 hrs and 25 mins

Language: English

Release date: 08-29-06

Publisher: Orion Publishing Group Limited

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 5 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Nights of Rain and Stars is the story of one summer when Fiona, Thomas, Elsa, and David all have to face the particular life crisis which first made them leave their homes and end up in Greece. With the help of Vonni, a middle-aged Irishwoman who lives in the village and is now a near-native, they each find a solution, although not necessarily the one they anticipated.

Members Reviews:

Live in Greece for a few hours...

Such a lovely book, in the true M%aeve Binchy style. I often listen to audiobooks while at work in my kitchen, and found myself being unhappy when everything was clean and tidy, because I wanted to continue listening!

With the wind and rain of autumn outside, I still felt the sun of a Greek island coming out of my sound system!

Night of Rain and Stars

Enjoyable story by excellent writer but overexaggeration of foreign accents used for different characters by Irish narrator spoiled it slightly.

More Maeve Magic

I hate it when I finish a Maeve book. Kate reads wonderfully, characters come to life and always an intriguing story line to follow.

Loved it!

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Title: Black Swan Green

Author: David Mitchell

Narrator: Kristopher Milnes

Format: Abridged

Length: 6 hrs and 1 min

Language: English

Release date: 08-15-06

Publisher: Hodder Headline Limited

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 2 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Longlisted for the Man Booker Prize, 2006.

Shortlisted for the Costa Book Awards, 2006

Shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writers' Prize, Best Book, 2007.

David Mitchell comes home to England, 1982, and the cusp of adolescence.

Jason Taylor is 13, doomed to be growing up in the most boring family in the deadest village (Black Swan Green) in the dullest county (Worcestershire) in the most tedious nation (England) on earth. And he stammers. 13 chapters, each as self-contained as a short story, follow 13 months in his life as he negotiates the pitfalls of school and home and contends with bullies, girls, and family politics. In the distance, the Falklands conflict breaks out; close at hand, the village mobilises against a gypsy camp. And through Jason's eyes, we see what he doesn't know he knows and watch unfold what will make him wish his life had been as uneventful as he had believed.

Vividly capturing the mood of the times, high unemployment, Cold War politics, and the sunset of agrarian England, this is at once a portrait of an era and of an age: the black hole between childhood and teenagerdom.

Critic Reviews:

"David Mitchell is dizzyingly, dazzlingly good....The everyday details of Jason's life are lyrically transformed by the power of his prose, which is beguiling, funny, beautifully poetic, and always keenly observed. Black Swan Green is just gorgeous." (Daily Mail)

Members Reviews:

Totally different David Mitchell

2nd book of david mitchell's and totally different to 1000 autumns..

Delightful experience in the mind of a 12yr old, ingenuous tale of family life and the struggles of fitting into school snd community

liked this one a lot

This may be the most 'conventional' of Mitchell's works. There is a narrator who is a recognizable human and you can have empathy for him. The story is well told, the writing is great. One might quibble that the 'house in the woods' is a magic realism touch that is out of place in this work. Not a fan of what I've seen or his other books, but this one was a compelling picture of a certain sort of adolescent.

Gold star for Black Swan Green

Great story, sequence of events for 2 years in the life of a youth in 1980's England. Colorful writing with visual detail brings characters and events to life in exquisite detail. Brings you back to your youth and what went through your mind in those confusing and rapidly changing times. Tugs at your heart strings, and makes you yearn for justice and salvation for the youth. I've read several of David Mitchell's books, consider him one of the top 3 authors I have ever read, and this book is in that top tier of his work.

A nice surprise

A change from my usual suspense/ mystery. Teen years are the same the world over! (A translation for some of the "British" English would have helped, however!! :)

It's Hard to be a Kid

This book was a delightful read about a boy navigating his early teenage life. I forgot that there are so many rules for kids who are not cool! My favorite story was the one about Madame Crommelynck, who recognized Jason as the secret poet. Her impeachable advice, delivered with just the right amount of sarcasm, was certainly useful to Jason in his predicament of growing up. We all could have benefitted from a Madame Crommelynck in our lives.

David Mitchell is an excellent writer who is becoming one of my favorite authors.

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Title: Revenge of the Middle-Aged Woman

Author: Elizabeth Buchan

Narrator: Barbara Flynn

Format: Abridged

Length: 6 hrs and 26 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-21-06

Publisher: Orion Publishing Group Limited

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 4 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Then she started thinking, about the man she'd married, and how well she really knew him. About the carefree yet studious girl she had been before she met him. Twenty years ago Rose had to make the choice between two very different lives. Could she recapture what she nearly chose back then, and bring new meaning to her life now?

Critic Reviews:

"Wise, melancholy, funny and sophisticated, Buchan's novel is more satisfying than a romance." (The Times)

Members Reviews:

Emotive but definitely not vengeful storyline.

What did you like best about Revenge of the Middle-Aged Woman? What did you like least?

Told mostly in narrative form, the story lacks the passion and drama that interpersonal dialogue would have added.

Superb story, clever and well constructed

This is a classic of its type, real characters, genuine emotional depth and touching in the detail of the experience. Should be read with 'The Second Wife' which is the other side of the story and brings a true resolution.

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Title: Snobs

Author: Julian Fellowes

Narrator: Julian Fellowes

Format: Abridged

Length: 5 hrs and 20 mins

Language: English

Release date: 05-04-06

Publisher: Orion Publishing Group Limited

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 9 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

The story is narrated by a journeyman character actor who comfortably moves among the upper and middle classes, while observing their foibles.

Members Reviews:

snobs

Excellent read. Thoroughly engrossing, fun, and educational. I got very attached to the characters, even the rather turgid ones, and I can't wait to read Past Imperfect. Julian Fellowes knows his aristocratic onions