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Title: Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakthrough

Author: Ruth Pennebaker

Narrator: Barbara McCulloh

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 56 mins

Language: English

Release date: 09-06-11

Publisher: Recorded Books

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 5 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

A prolific writer and blogger, Ruth Pennebaker has also contributed to the New York Times, the Dallas Morning News, Redbook, and other publications. Her adult fiction debut, Women on the Verge stars divorcée Joanie Pilcher. Already stressed to the limit, Joanies life is further complicated when her now cash-strapped mother comes to live with her and her teenaged daughter.

Members Reviews:

A fun read!

I'm a fan of Ruth Pennebaker's dry wit and love her blog, so I was anxious to read this multi-generational story. It didn't disappoint!

Pennebaker tackles the lives of three generations of women living unexpectedly under one roof (imagine!) with humor and tenderness. I especially loved the teenager, Caroline, and was impressed with the author's portrayal of this angst-y girl.

While the characters seem to be very distant from one another, each wallowing in her own troubles, they just want to be loved and accepted for who they are - no matter their age. If you're a mom or a daughter, you'll absolutely relate to the relationships between these three women. Give yourself the gift of a few hours of down-time and immerse yourself in this book. You'll be glad you did.

An exercise in perspectives. Brava!

Based on her other writing, I knew I could count on Pennebaker for a respite from and a laugh about real life. I've had a hard time reading lately because I'm so distracted with family medical dramas and eldercare pressures, so if a book can hold MY attention, that's saying something.

Pennebaker's book does NOT disappoint.

It's funny and aggravating at the same time, as three generations of women live in the same house (not by choice) and muddle the best they can through their individual and collective dramas.

An exercise in perspectives -- generational, mother-daughter, and otherwise -- Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakthrough reveals the grace and humor, frustration and (yes) anger, that consumes us ... especially at times of big transitions.

Insight into all generations

I really enjoyed this book. I'm the middle of the three generations profiled in this book, more or less (though I don't have teenagers - yet) and I really enjoyed remembering what it was like to be an awkward adolescent, knowing what it's like to be someone my age, and looking ahead to the years that lie ahead. There was plenty of poignancy and sadness, but also dry wit and humor. The characterization was simply spot on, too. As a writer myself, I was in awe of the craft that went into making these characters so vivid and real. I know it's not at all easy.

Perceptive, funny, irreverent -- a great read for book club

The author artfully tells a tale from three perspectives and generations. Each perspective is realistic, and even though all of the women in the book are deeply flawed and neurotic, they are also wonderfully likable. An irreverent sense of humor runs through the book. Some of the lines are classic and memorable and I found myself wanting to read with a highlighter. One scene toward the end of the book made me laugh so hard the dog jumped off the bed.

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Title: 18: A Tom Walker Mystery

Author: Deaver Brown

Narrator: Deaver Brown

Format: Unabridged

Length: 5 hrs and 29 mins

Language: English

Release date: 08-22-11

Publisher: Simply Media

Ratings: 2.5 of 5 out of 7 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Jack Walsh's father's old business partner goes on a rampage, killing Tom and Marsha Walsh before trying to take out Jack, who manages to kill him. Jack realizes that if he reports the crime - and his self-defense - he will have a guardian appointed because of his young age, and the event will haunt him for the rest of his life. So he "disappears" his family and the killer by incinerating and disposing of their bodies.

After that traumatic event, Jack's other life challenges seem easy, as he roars through high school, college, and then joins the NFL's San Diego Chargers, starting as strong safety and punter, and backing up the quarterback as number 18. Along the way, he gains MBA and entrepreneurship training. Jack's business dealings will be better than an MBA for listeners who want to learn how to launch a business and have it prosper.

This audiobook is perfect for people interested in business, football, and modern-day dealings between male and female. The insights incorporated range from the wisdom of Plato and Thoreau to Jefferson and Ali. The quotations are worthwhile on their own!

The fast-paced scenes flash by, conveying both sagacity and great fun. Jack's "above average mediocrity" (to cite his own self-analysis), leads people to trust and rely on him. This is a modern saga of someone whose destiny is decided by others and who is dragged backward while trying to move forward. The book has much the same attitude of a Patricia Highsmith novel.

Members Reviews:

did not like it

Would you try another book from Deaver Brown and/or Deaver Brown?

no

What do you think your next listen will be?

not sure but certainly not the sequel of this

How did the narrator detract from the book?

ok there were a few times with errors where he corrected himself. Not professional as expected.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

what is this

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Title: Devil to Pay

Author: Ross Kemp

Narrator: Mark Meadows

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 42 mins

Language: English

Release date: 08-16-11

Publisher: Random House AudioBooks

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 3 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Nick Kane is a man with nothing to lose, and everything to prove. A model soldier fighting for queen and country, it seemed nothing could stop him becoming one of the very top officers. But that was then. And this is now. Injured in a bomb blast on reconnaissance in Iraq hes forced out of the army and into the quiet life.

But after a year in civvies rebuilding his life and his relationship with his family, things for Nick are looking up. That is until he finds out that his old army buddy Ben Webster is dead. Word is that he took his own life, but Nick knows that Ben had everything to live for, and when he starts to question the circumstances of his friends death, he discovers that there are people who will stop at nothing to cover up the terrifying truth.

Explosive and gripping, Devil to pay is the electrifying new action thriller from best-selling author Ross Kemp.

Members Reviews:

I really enjoyed the book and the characterisation

I was slightly apprehensive buying a book by such a high profile TV star but I need not have worried. I really enjoyed the book and the characterisation, also Ross's depth of knowledge is excellent. A really good read, my wife enjoed it too.

Five Stars

Loved the audiobook version of this book. Well read, well thought out, and very exciting.

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Title: RSVP

Author: Helen Warner

Narrator: Clare Corbett

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 28 mins

Language: English

Release date: 08-15-11

Publisher: Whole Story Audiobooks

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 2 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

RSVP is a sumptuous and salacious family saga, packed with sex, love and betrayal. Now who could refuse an invitation like that? When Ashling Morrison becomes engaged to the love of her life, Rossa Granville, she sets in motion a chain of events that will see two wealthy and powerful Irish families clash as never before. Despite her privileged upbringing, Ashling has spent her life wishing she could escape from the shadow of her beautiful, charismatic stepmother, Coppelia.

Now, on the eve of her engagement party, she may finally get her wish. But Coppelia isn't happy with Ashling's choice of fiancé and will do everything within her power to stop the wedding...

Members Reviews:

Romantic

This was an impulse buy when I was doing the weekly shop, I liked the sound of the synopsis so I thought I'd give it a try.

I quickly found myself engrossed in the storyline and the characters lives. The history of the main characters held my interest and I couldn't wait to see how the wedding would pan out.

I really disliked Ella to begin with but eventually that dislike turned to pity and then to respect, it was so interesting to see how her character learned and grew in the way she did. Rachel surprised me in a good way, she seemed quite meek to begin with but when things got really tough I was impressed at how mature she behaved about it all.

The night of the pre-wedding party was exciting for me as a reader, I was keen to see how they would all react to each other and I admit that it didn't go as I thought it would.

There were many twists and turns along the way that created many emotions inside of me - I felt sadness, happiness, annoyance and best of all were the many, many romantic moments that made me say `awwwwww' out loud!

Towards the end I felt that things were starting to go downhill for Anna and I was so worried for her, soon this worry turned to laughter as I pictured the events at the end of this book and couldn't stop giggling.

Another one-day read, this book was a real romantic page-turner.

Romance plus!

Just finished this and I really enjoyed it. It has intertwining relationships, break ups, reunions, weddings and pregnancies. I found it awesome and very easy to keep track of all the characters. I will be looking for more from this Author.

Super fun and unpreditable

The book is told in four overlapping perspectives, all revolving around the upcoming nuptials of Rachel and Toby. Anna is Toby's college sweetheart; they were destined to be together, but one fateful night, everything went awry. Ten years later, she receives the wedding invite in the mail, and doesn't know what to do. Clare is Anna's best friend and roommate, who witnessed the Toby ordeal, as well as her follow up relationships that never panned out. She's always there, a dedicated friend, and is completely unaware that the upcoming wedding will effect her life as well. Ella is the self proclaimed femme fatale who was the reason behind the infamous breakup. Ten years later, married to a much older man, she also receives the wedding invite and wonders if she can get Toby, the one guy who never accepted her advances. And Rachel is the bride-to-be, who, in her gut, knows that something is about to go utterly wrong.

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Title: The Crossroads

Author: Niccolò Ammaniti

Narrator: Nicholas Bell

Format: Unabridged

Length: 14 hrs and 37 mins

Language: English

Release date: 08-10-11

Publisher: Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd

Ratings: 5 of 5 out of 3 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Thousands of depressed little towns, villages and hamlets dot the vast plain where Cristiano Zena lives with his hard-drinking father, Rino. Unfocused urban sprawl with no centre to look to and nothing to look forward to.

Rino Zena and his cronies, Danilo and Quattro Formaggi, are planning a ram raid on an ATM, using a converted tractor. The wary, adoring Cristiano sits in on their meetings, watching their half-baked plans unravel, and thinks about the unattainable Fabiana Ponticelli. He has no idea that something very, very bad is about to happen. Or that it will change his life forever....

Critic Reviews:

"A compulsively readable tragedy with a bleakly comic underbelly, as if the Kray twins' gang had been infiltrated by a couple of Marx brothers." (Sunday Herald)

Members Reviews:

As God Commands - A teen and his skinhead father

This is the same book as "As God Commands" (even the same translator: Jonathan Hunt). I assume the publisher thought it might sell better with this title. The original Italian title is "Come Dio comanda."

The book tells the story of a teenager growing up in Italy with his Neo-Nazi/skin head father and a small circle of other colorful and equally disfunctional characters. It is a fascinating story which wrestles with ideas such as fatherhood, loyalty, moral conscience, unconditional love, personal tragedy, and the place of religion in the lives of social outsiders.

The books starts off a little slow but becomes very compelling and interesting in the second half where it becomes very hard to put down. It is well written, insightful, and morally challenging. Niccolò Ammaniti is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors.

Highly recommended.

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Title: Hotwire

Author: Alex Kava

Narrator: Regina Reagan

Format: Unabridged

Length: 6 hrs and 53 mins

Language: English

Release date: 07-21-11

Publisher: Hachette Audio UK

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 14 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

On a crisp Autumn evening in western Nebraska, what started as a group of kids filming their drug-fuelled party ends in an explosive light show, leaving the victims apparently electrocuted, with odd scorch marks being the only evidence.

While Maggie O'Dell tries to make sense of the different stories, sifting through what is real and what is hallucination, she realises that the surviving teens are being targeted and systematically eliminated. Meanwhile on the East Coast, Army colonel Benjamin Platt is at the scene of a deadly outbreak, desperate to identify the pathogen that has infected children at a Virginia elementary school. Despite the miles that separate them, the two cases collide as Maggie and Platt uncover secrets that were meant to stay hidden

Critic Reviews:

"Move over Patricia Cornwell, Kathy Reichs and Karin Slaughter... Alex Kava steals the chills from these erstwhile ladies of crime." (Guardian)

Members Reviews:

Too slow at the beginning, rushed through at the end

Interesting plot but feels rushed through at the end. Some loose ends. The author provides so much information about secondary characters throughout the book but it's not clear what exactly happened to the main character. It's very frustrating.

Spoiler

Maggie was saved from being shot by a dog, but what happened after the dog bit an attacker? Maggie is injured, practically half-conscious, and alone with too bad guys (one hogtied, another bitten by a dog). How did she get out of there? How the dog found her? What was going on in that lab?

Great book

Great read. In this book we have kids doing drugs in a field seeing strange lights. One of them ends up wrapped in barbed wire. We also have mutilated cattle turning up on farmers fields. The eyes ears and insides are gone. Taken by some unknown person. Two investigators and two separate crimes in two different places. It ends up one amazing read.

Another good book by Alex Kava

I read all the previous books right in a row, then took a break for a bit. I enjoyed coming back to Maggie O'Dell. It was another suspenseful mystery. I do wish we learned a bit more of the "why" and not just who the bad guy was. I also missed Gwen and Tully!! Never the less, I still enjoyed it very much. I am going to order her next book in the series now.

There's nothing like a good Government conspiracy story ...

that, plus Maggie O'Dell made for a fun and exciting read. I am disabled, so I have loads of time for reading. Also, I read really fast. Even so, every one of Alex Kava' s Maggie O'Dell novels seems to have flown by. I've been buying two books at a time so I can start the next one right away. I am delighted to say that I am a confirmed Maggie O'Dell fan. As a multi dog owner, I'm very interested in how Jake and Harvey will get along.

Awesome book but left you hanging

I liked this book but wanted more. The alien encounter was a bit much however the author always left you wanting to keep reading

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Title: Against Her Nature

Author: Elizabeth Buchan

Narrator: Stella Gonet

Format: Unabridged

Length: 11 hrs and 8 mins

Language: English

Release date: 07-19-11

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 3 of 5 out of 6 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

At the beginning of their City careers, Becky Vitali and Tess Frant become friends. Becky is sharp and clever, and has had an upbringing she will never forget. Tess, meanwhile, was comfortably red in the shires. Supposedly rarities by virtue of their sex, they soon discover that the morality of money is far more important than the issue of gender, and how they balance the texture of their lives is combined with a tender and unexpected love story.

Members Reviews:

Beware!

What would have made Against Her Nature better?

I love this author but could never focus on the story line because of the narrator. Horrendous.

Would you ever listen to anything by Elizabeth Buchan again?

Yes.

Would you be willing to try another one of Stella Gonets performances?

Never.

Against whose nature?!

I couldn't quite figure out what was against whose nature. It didnt seem to have a point. Mediocre when Elizabeth buchan is usually so much better.

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Title: Brixton Rock

Author: Alex Wheatle

Narrator: Joel Trill

Format: Unabridged

Length: 8 hrs and 13 mins

Language: English

Release date: 07-08-11

Publisher: Whole Story Audiobooks

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 2 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Brenton Brown is 16 years old. A mixed race youth, Brenton has lived in a children's home all his life. Being reunited with his mother is the best thing that has happened to Brenton. But a strange series of events soon push him to the edge...

Members Reviews:

The text is great, the narrator is awful.

I studied this as one on my texts at university I loved it. The narrative is strong and the language is colloquial which is charming and makes for an easy read. Read! not listen. Narrator ruined it for me. Please re record! At least get the author to read. The black British perspective deserves a informed narrator. It's very obvious that this narrator was way outside of his lane.

OMFG!!!

Would you try another book written by Alex Wheatle or narrated by Joel Trill?

Yes I tried the sequel and that was much better. But I would not try anything by the narrator!

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

The story itself was ok but what ruined it for me was the narrator, who does not seem to have even heard West Indian people in south London speak before! He could not pronounce even the simplest words or phrases, be them Jamaican patois or London slang. It really was very painful and torturous to listen to, especially as a person who grew up around that area around that time. I really don't know how he got paid for that job or how the publishers let such an awful performance be published in their name!

What didnt you like about Joel Trills performance?

It was dire! He sounded like a middle class out-of-London actor who really does not have a clue how to act!!!

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

The story sparked nuff nostalgia. However, the narration made me extremely angry due to its very poor performance.

Any additional comments?

I should've been paid to listen to this book!!!!

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Title: Cain

Author: Jose Saramago

Narrator: Jay Villiers

Format: Unabridged

Length: 4 hrs and 33 mins

Language: English

Release date: 07-07-11

Publisher: Random House AudioBooks

Ratings: 5 of 5 out of 2 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Two decades after Portuguese novelist and Nobel Laureate José Saramago shocked the religious world with his novel The Gospel According to Jesus Christ, he has done it again with Cain, a satire of the Old Testament. Written in the last years of Saramagos life, it tackles many of the moral and logical non sequiturs created by a wilful, authoritarian God, and forms part of Saramagos long argument with religion.

The stories in this book are witty and provocative. After Adam and Eve have been cast out of Eden, Eve decides to go back and ask the angel guarding the gate if he can give her some of the fruit that is going to waste inside. The angel agrees, and although Eve swears to Adam that she offered the angel nothing in return, their first child is suspiciously blond and fair-skinned. Cain, in his wandering, overhears a strange conversation between a man named Abraham and his son Isaac and manages to prevent the father from murdering the son. The angel appointed by God to prevent the murder arrives late due to a wing malfunction. Cain brushes off his apology. What would have happened if I hadnt been here? Cain asks, and what kind of god would ask a father to sacrifice his own son? Saramago died in June 2010, shortly after the controversial Portuguese publication of Cain but before he could participate in its publication in other countries. Harvill Seckers edition of this remarkable book will be part of a tribute to Saramagos life and work which includes the gradual reissue of his previous novels as Vintage Classics.

Members Reviews:

Chuckles Amidst Despair

A cynical walk through Genesis with all the pitfalls of taking the Scriptures literally, especially its depictions of God. There are some very funny insights, however. Even the pious will have to giggle at some of the absurdities as the character of Cain travels through a kind of time warp to encounter Abraham, Lot, Noah and others, challenging a deity who allows evil to coexist with good. Mr. Saramago's satire shows compassion for Cain and his plight but his unnuanced anger toward God becomes exasperating. It's the old anti-theodicy issue without any new insights. Biblical scholars and serious students know very well that Genesis/Exodus depictions of God represent humanity's early stages in understanding God. These concepts evolve throughout the Bible to depict God as far more caring than the tit-for-tat, rewarding/ punishing God in the more ancient biblical passages. Cain and Saramago would have to enter into the insights of the Prophets and Wisdom portions of the Bible to gain and present a more honest conversation with God and readers.

an excellent final note

In short a powerful book, and wonderfully concise, which I consider quite a compliment for Saramago in that some of his books that I've actually liked (ie, The Gospel According to Jesus Christ or Seeing) seem to test my patience at times, though Saramago was good at delivering in these works. But this one seems to do in sharp strokes what Gospel did in sin waves: pointed examinations of the troublesome applications of rigid religiosity. Cain. Of course, is our hero, a killer whom God cannot thoroughly punish, doomed to find himself outside Jericho or Sodom, where God's wrath seems a little more self-serving rather than just. Cain becomes the ultimate cynic, a man flawed and carrying the weight (and mark) of his own crime, but struggling with the crimes of the world around him.

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Title: Lullabies for Little Criminals

Author: Heather ONeill

Narrator: Patricia Rodriguez

Format: Abridged

Length: 4 hrs and 37 mins

Language: English

Release date: 07-01-11

Publisher: Quercus Editions Ltd

Ratings: 5 of 5 out of 2 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Baby is 12 years old. Her mother died not long after she was born, and she lives in a string of seedy flats in Montreals red light district with her father Jules, who takes better care of his heroin addiction than he does of his daughter. Jules is an intermittent presence and a constant source of chaos in Babys life - the turmoil he brings with him and the wreckage he leaves in his wake. Baby finds herself constantly re-adjusting to new situations, new foster homes, new places, new people, all the while longing for stability and a 'normal' life. But Baby has a gift - the ability to find the good in people, a genius for spinning stories and for cherishing the small crumbs of happiness that fall into her lap. She is bright, smart, funny, and observant about life on the dirty streets of a city and wise enough to realise salvation rests in her own hands.

Members Reviews:

gripping, vivid and intimate storytelling

great book and great performance: thoroughly enjoyed this book. It beautifully captures a child's innocence, resilience and optimism in the face of a dysfunctional family and society that does all it can to corrupt her.