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Title: Too Beautiful to Dance

Author: Diana Appleyard

Narrator: Juanita McMahon

Format: Unabridged

Length: 11 hrs and 6 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-24-08

Publisher: Recorded Books

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Diana Appleyard writes contemporary fiction that women the world over can relate to. Sara, her seemingly perfect life now shattered, has bought a dilapidated country cottage far away from her stark apartment and the business meetings that once made up her married life. Now she must start over, and for the first time see life through her own eyes instead of her husband's.

©2007 Diana Appleyard; (P)2007 Recorded Books LLC

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Title: Flint

Author: Paul Eddy

Narrator: Fiacre Douglas

Format: Unabridged

Length: 11 hrs and 49 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-17-08

Publisher: Brilliance Audio

Ratings: 3 of 5 out of 4 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Pursuing her, using whatever clues he can find, is Harry Cohen, the former chief legal advisor to the British Security Services, who has been drawn back in as an impartial outsider because everybody is worried about Flint's safety. Or are they?

Much to his surprise, he finds himself tugging on a string of his own that leads him high into governments on both sides of the Atlantic - and into a conspiracy with unexpected resonances, not only for him but for Flint. For there are many kinds of betrayal, and some of them are worse than others . . .

Members Reviews:

Violated, traumatized, vulnerable, smart, driven and deadly

Thus might Grace Flint, possibly one of the most intriguing heroes of recent thriller fiction, be characterized.

Grace is Detective Inspector Flint of Scotland Yard, assigned to the Major Crimes unit as an undercover operative. Three years previous, she got caught in a sting gone awry, during which her partner was killed and her face stomped to a pulp. Now, after extensive reconstructive surgery and rehabilitation, she's back on the job. While on assignment to America, she stumbles across the trail of the man, Frank Harling, who ordered her beating. It's becomes evident that Frank is now involved in an international blackmail and money laundering scheme masterminded by highly placed individuals in the West's intelligence and law enforcement agencies. Not knowing whom to trust, even within her own service, Flint goes underground to track Harling down.

There's actually a second protagonist in this plot, Harry Cohen, who's on an almost equal footing with Flint. Harry, a solicitor by profession, was once MI5's chief legal counsel, but was sacked after recommending against too many operations of dubious legality. Now, Grace's friends bring Cohen back to find Flint before she runs afoul of either Harling again or the criminal schemers within the Establishment that want her investigation stopped. But, are Grace's "friends" really her friends, or are they the Bad Guys?

Flint is fascinating because of the heavy load of emotional and psychological baggage she carries. There are, obviously, the aftereffects of her physical trauma manifested by her obsession with Harling. But also, as the storyline reveals, Grace's mother vanished one day when her daughter was but a young girl, apparently to foul play since the family dog was severely and deliberately injured in the same event. The woman was never found, not even her body. For a period during her adolescence, Grace actually thought that her veterinarian father had committed the murder, and had him investigated by the police - an investigation that discovered nothing. Because of all this, Flint is extremely vulnerable. Yet she remains smart, highly motivated, and terribly good at what she does for the London Metropolitan Police, i.e. being an undercover agent that can completely take on whatever role of the moment she needs to play. In that sense, she's a chameleon, both to her quarry and the reader.

As much as I enjoyed FLINT, I'm only awarding 4 stars because of a major loose end not tidied up at the conclusion - the question of her mother's disappearance. Perhaps the author means to return to the mystery in a sequel. Perhaps not.

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Title: Heart and Soul

Author: Maeve Binchy

Narrator: Kate Binchy

Format: Abridged

Length: 7 hrs and 8 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-16-08

Publisher: Orion Publishing Group Limited

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 3 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

For Anya, meeting Clara Casey is a miracle. She never intended to leave Poland - but the love of her life turned sour. Perhaps a new job in a new country will mend her broken heart? Now, newly arrived in Ireland, one minute she's washing car windscreens and the next she is assistant to Dr Clara Casey.

Declan is looking forward to joining the clinic - but what should have been a straightforward six-month posting brings him far more than medical experience. Then there's Father Brian Flynn, who finds his doubts about his calling are assuaged by work in his new parish - until a nightmare acquaintance threatens his reputation.

Members Reviews:

Heart and Soul

Once again a very enjoyable book from Maeve Binchy beautifully read by Kate Binchy.I particularly like the way that people from her other books appear in this one - rather like catching up on old friends from the past.So often you wonder what happens to the characters after the story has finished and Maeve Binchys way of bringing them back into a new story, I find very satisfying.A very pleasant book about people and situations that are entirely belivable.

Wonderful story

I really enjoyed the story.i have not listened to a Maeve Binchy that I haven't enjoyed.Narrator included.Will download more of her books.

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Title: The Monsters of Templeton

Author: Lauren Groff

Narrator: Liza Ross

Format: Unabridged

Length: 13 hrs and 46 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-15-08

Publisher: Oakhill Publishing Ltd

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 5 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

So begins The Monsters of Templeton, a novel of mystery, hubris, obsession, passion and revenge spanning two centuries, where the dead rise up to tell their sides of the story and the living are haunted by the sins of the past.

Part a contemporary account of a girl's search for her father, part an historical novel, and part a ghost story, this spellbinding story has at its core the revelation of how one town holds the secret of the family.

Shortlisted for the Orange Broadband Award for New Writers 2008

Critic Reviews:

"A fantastically fun read, a kind of wild pastiche that is part historical novel and part mystery, with a touch of supernatural thrown in for good measure" (Booklist)

Members Reviews:

Great read

Very easy to listen to. I went through this story very quickly. Interesting characters and a good amount of intrigue.

Too many issues

I think most reviewers agree; Groff is an indisputably capable writer. The prose in this book is effortless and quite beautiful. I was even fond of the protagonist, Willie, who seems to be the primary source of scorn for other low-star reviewers. And I was intrigued by the mystical undercurrents of ghosts, monsters and other mysteries that Groff has woven into this narrative.

But, for a whole variety of reasons, Monsters of Templeton just didnt work for me. After completing only one-third (Ive listened to 4h out of 12h total), Im afraid I just cant bear the thought of another 8h so Im reluctantly putting this book aside and moving on.

Too much time was spent framing the genealogical search through past generations yawn. No amount of remarkable closet-skeletons can entice me to keep track of six(?) generations of characters and innumerable illegitimate (i.e. confusing) pregnancies.

This brings me to a specific criticism of this audio version. Liza Ross does a fine job with the narration, but she is expected to portray many first-person narrators. Including an Irish immigrant from the 1800s and a Jamaican slave from the 1700s. Those chapters were terrible and cringey. But I dont blame Ross this was too much to ask for any voice actor.

Ive read other critiques of Monsters, that claim Groff struggled to give her numerous characters unique "voices". Imagine how extra difficult this is with an audio version where literally the same voice is used for every character. Using just one reader was, in my opinion, a wasted opportunity to really bring this story to life.

I dont feel good writing this review I can tell Groff is a supremely talented story-teller. I just felt this particular story wasnt right for me.

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Title: Lion Eyes

Author: Claire Berlinski

Narrator: Susan Ericksen

Format: Unabridged

Length: 7 hrs and 19 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-11-08

Publisher: Brilliance Audio

Ratings: 3 of 5 out of 4 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

In Lion Eyes, a fictional Claire - the author of a novel about love among young CIA trainees - is unsuccessfully dodging a deadly Paris heat wave and her even deadlier ex-boyfriend. When she receives an e-mail from an Iranian admirer who wonders how to obtain a copy of Loose Lips in his native city of Esfahan, Claire wastes no time in replying. Her correspondence with the mysterious stranger, Arsalan - whose name means "the Lion" in Persian - quickly becomes personal, then intimate...then obsessive.

As Claire heads to Istanbul to find relief from the heat, her electronic flirtation with Arsalan begins, inevitably, to consume her. The boundary between reality and imagination blurs and then disappears. The Lion, meanwhile, is nurturing his own powerful fantasies about the author. To satisfy their growing passion, they agree to meet, back in Paris, but Claire soon learns that someone is secretly intercepting their communications.

Suddenly, Claire's romantic dreams start to dissolve. As events take an unimagined, even dangerous turn, and as life begins menacingly to imitate art, Claire discovers that the Lion is not who she thinks he is.

Members Reviews:

Absolutely great reads. I loved it that I wasn't aware ...

I read Loose Lips straight through, and immediately bought and read Lion Eyes. Absolutely great reads. I loved it that I wasn't aware of the the writing the whole time. So much of modern fiction is dreadfully written and cliched. Both books were intelligent, informative highly entertaining page turners.

Kudos Claire. Hollywood would do well to pick up these stories instead of making ugh movies from ugh books such as Gone Girl.

I'd read anything she writes

Whether it's a spy novel or a political critique, Claire Berlinski has great intellect and capacity to entertain. She writes with an incisive but humorous eye, never taking herself or her characters too seriously. Loved "Loose Lips" and "Lion Eyes"...just very curious, as we all are, about what percentage is memoir vs. fiction.

The best book I've read in a long, long time.

Claire Berlinski's LION EYES is an online dating story, a spy story, a travelogue (it's set in Paris and Istanbul), and a story about how wacky people and life can be. It's brilliant, witty, clever, and comedic with a nice sense of symmetry. Claire wrote an earlier novel, LOOSE LIPS, about a woman with a degree in English who decides to join the CIA because she doesn't want to teach; LOOSE LIPS is somewhat of an exposé of the CIA training practices with a love story thrown in. In LION EYES, the follow-up novel, Claire (who does actually live in Paris and Istanbul) receives a query from an Iranian archaeologist about how he can get a copy of LOOSE LIPS, since Amazon doesn't deliver to Iran. Unfortunately, later when Claire's sending an e-mail to a friend about Claire's being dumped by her boyfriend, she inadvertently sends it to the wrong address--to the Iranian archaeologist. From there, they develop a epistolary relationship all the while Claire is working on her next novel, corresponding with a friend also working on a book, and corresponding with another friend, a therapist. The archaeologist turns out to be someone being monitored by the CIA, not for being a terrorist, but for being someone with valuable information on where Iranian nuclear sites are located.

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Title: His Illegal Self

Author: Peter Carey

Narrator: Nicolette McKenzie

Format: Unabridged

Length: 8 hrs and 29 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-07-08

Publisher: Whole Story Audiobooks

Ratings: 3 of 5 out of 8 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Yearning for his famous outlaw parents, denied all access to television and the news, he takes hope from his long-haired teenage neighbour who predicts "They will come for you, man. They'll break you out of here."

Soon Che too is an outlaw, fleeing down subways, abandoning seedy motels at night, as he is pitched into a journey that leads him to a hippy commune in the jungle of tropical Queensland. Here he slowly, bravely, confronts his life, learning that nothing is what it seems.

Members Reviews:

A Struggle

I love Peter Carey's work, mostly. However, I regret to say that I struggled with this title. Mostly, I struggled to connect with the journey that boy and stranger/come parent hopeful were upon. I didn't relate to him and I didn't relate to her. Carey's trademark similes began to grate on me and the Ozification of the text made me inwardly cringe. All of that made it hard for Ms McKenzie to shine, but her Australian accents were ok and her male/female divide was good. I didn't much like the Boston accent (it's not my recollection of it). I may be overly critical of her, because I think the fault is in the text. This is not Oscar and Lucinda. However, given the sparsity of Australian authors available, you might just be homesick enough to reach for this one.

Fascinating!

What did you love best about His Illegal Self?

The writing. It has so many twists and turns, you can't stop listening to it.

What did you like best about this story?

The fact that you were kept in suspense right till the last page.

Have you listened to any of Nicolette McKenzies other performances before? How does this one compare?

No

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

The description of the hinterland and the lifestyle of the people on the Sunshine Coast at that time.

Any additional comments?

This is a delightful book. Although it is difficult in the beginning, it is well worth persevering with it.

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Title: This Sporting Life

Author: David Storey

Narrator: Stephen McGann

Format: Abridged

Length: 2 hrs and 55 mins

Language: English

Release date: 09-16-08

Publisher: The Copyright Group

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

David Storey's This Sporting Life, set in the industrial north, brilliantly conveys 21-year-old steelworker Arthur Machin's love of his rugby league, his success on the field, and his feelings towards his widowed landlady, as well as his bouts of doubt and anxiety.

Stephen McGann perfectly captures the mood and the character in his reading.

Members Reviews:

Great story

I read the book years ago and love the story, Stephen McGann's performance more than does it justice, my warning to any nocturnal listeners such as me is that it is broken up by pieces of strident jazz modern involving the trumpet so beware!!!

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Title: Bright Shiny Morning

Author: James Frey

Narrator: Trevor White, Lorelei King

Format: Abridged

Length: 4 hrs and 10 mins

Language: English

Release date: 07-14-08

Publisher: John Murray

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 2 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Welcome to Los Angeles, City of Contradictions. It is home to movie stars and down-and-outs. Palm-lined beaches and gridlock. Shopping sprees and gun sprees.

Bright Shiny Morning takes a wild ride through the ultimate metropolis, where glittering excess rubs shoulders with seedy depravity. Frey's trademark filmic snapshots zoom in on the parallel lives of diverse characters, bringing their egos and ideas, hopes and despairs, anxieties and absurdities vividly to life.

Some suffer, like the otherworldly wino who tries to save a spoilt teenage runaway. Others gain, like the canny talent agent who turns sexual harassment to black-mailing advantage. Some are loaded, or grounded, and have luck on their side. Others, like the countless actresses-turned-hookers, or schoolboys-turned-gangsters, are doomed.

Members Reviews:

Great character study piece.

Enjoyed. It's a quick interesting study of a few 'normal Americans' from either side of the enormous wealth divide.

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Title: Water, Carry Me

Author: Thomas Moran

Narrator: Derdriu Ring

Format: Unabridged

Length: 7 hrs and 46 mins

Language: English

Release date: 07-10-08

Publisher: Brilliance Audio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 2 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

When Una meets Aidan, she is swept off her feet. He is solid and dependable, a sexy and attentive lover, and he's in love with her. But Aidan, to Una's endless sorrow, is not the man she thinks he is.

Water Carry Me is a spellbinding novel of love and betrayal, set against the backdrop of contemporary Ireland. With the strains of U2 in the background and the spectre of "The Troubles" looming large, Thomas Moran has created an unforgettable heroine and a heartbreaking story.

Critic Reviews:

"Hypnotic...Una Moss is one of the most remarkable characters to grace fiction's pages." (Washington Post Book World)

"The best thing about Moran's third novel is how he so deftly manages to balance the realms of the personal and the political." (The New York Times Book Review)

Members Reviews:

Youthful mistakes still hurt quite a bit

What made the experience of listening to Water, Carry Me the most enjoyable?

This story has a few unexpected twists and turns and yet feels very true to life, a story that a young person or even a not very young person might fall into to their regret. Very moving story.

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Title: The Bright One

Author: Elvi Rhodes

Narrator: Anne Dover

Format: Unabridged

Length: 16 hrs and 6 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-11-08

Publisher: ISIS Audio Books

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 7 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

One by one, her children left Kibally, but Breda, the youngest, stayed close to her parents. Then tragedy struck the O'Connors. Reeling from unhappiness and humiliation, Breda decided to make a new life for herself - in Yorkshire with her Aunt Josie's family. There she was to discover a totally different world, with new people and new challenges.

Members Reviews:

Warms the cockles of yer heart

I loved the plucky heroine, the bright one, and loved losing myself in the lilt of the narrator's accent. This is better than your average beach read...

Wonderful, light listening.

Lovely story. One that I will not forget! Very homely and with a beautiful outcome.

The Bright One

Where does The Bright One rank among all the audiobooks youve listened to so far?

The story of a young girl in Ireland who through many twists and turns ended up as an adult in England.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Breda

What does Anne Dover bring to the story that you wouldnt experience if you had only read the book?

Character.