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Title: The Survivor

Author: Tom Kenneally

Narrator: James Wright

Format: Unabridged

Length: 10 hrs and 15 mins

Language: English

Release date: 12-05-12

Publisher: Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Alec Ramsey is the survivor of a disastrous Antarctic expedition which abandoned his revered friend and leader of the party, Stephen Leeming. For 40 years, in the security of academia, Ramsey has nurtured with guilt his doubts about this incident. Now Leeming's body is, against all odds, to be exhumed from the Antarctic icecap, and Ramsey must confront his obsession and decide whether he really did - or can continue to - survive at all.

Critic Reviews:

"His tone is often wry, sometimes faintly cynical, but his purpose is always investigatory. It is a fine and truthful balance." (The Times of London)

Members Reviews:

One Star

Was not what I expected and thus was disappointr

The Iceman Cometh Back

The Survivor (1969) is an interesting early work from Schindlerâs Ark author Thomas Keneally about Alec Ramsey, an aging former polar explorer who finds out that the body of his expeditionâs leader, Stephen Leeming, may have been found in the Antarctic. This disturbs him and he spends much of the novel fretting about it and then discouraging retrieval of the body. Apparently, there are secrets buried with Leemingâs body, or at least thatâs what we are led to believe.

Ramsey is frankly a jerk who at the bookâs start insults his hosts at a Rotarian dinner where he was invited to speak, and near the end insults the American military types who had discovered Leemingâs body and have behaved very decently about what to do with it. Ramsey is difficult to sympathize with and his truculence fairly tiresome.

To me the best parts of the book were those set in the academic environment Ramsey occupies (heâs a professor at a branch university). There is an especially great scene of a faculty party where the guest of honor, a famous poet, shows up drunk and randy. The concluding scenes, in the Antarctic as Leemingâs body is being retrieved, give the book a dramatic wind-up, complete with a few surprises and twists, but to me Ramseyâs relative unlikeability marred my enjoyment of the book.

Was it just a massive guilt trip?

I really like Thomas Keneally's work, but unfortunately The Survivor does not rank among my favourites. In the Epilogue of The Survivor, on the fourth last page, Alec Ramsey (the protagonist) receives a postcard which concludes with "... one day I'd like you to try to explain what it was all about." I felt the same - what was that all about? Clearly a massive guilt trip, all sorts of hysteria, obsession and copious overtones of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Set against a background of provincial university life and misadventures on the great white continent, all this is then intertwined with lashings of Catholic liturgy. Keneally loves to dabble in Catholic sacraments and beliefs, which sometimes leaves non-Catholic readers struggling for comprehension. I think I get the gist of the imagery - last supper, consecration of bread and wine, sacred relics released from the glacier, even the `mystic' body ascending heavenwards - but can't be sure of the nuances.

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Title: Tengo Sed

Subtitle: A Novel: Literature and Medicine

Author: James Fleming

Narrator: Matthew Dudley

Format: Unabridged

Length: 4 hrs and 1 min

Language: English

Release date: 12-04-12

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 2 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

The Trauma ICU of a Level 1 trauma center is the setting for this thought-provoking novel, which reveals the ruthlessness of medical education and practice. James Fleming recounts a day in the life of a resident in emergency medicine at an urban teaching hospital. The novel's title, which translates loosely as I thirst, echoes the Christ of St. John. Tengo Sed's protagonist, however, known only as Hovercraft because he is always around, always feeling on edge, is not a savior but a hapless resident with a tendency toward mysticism. Through Hovercraft's sleep-deprived eyes we see patients and their families, doctors, and nurses, and we share Hovercraft's increasingly nightmarish perceptions of a world in which things are not going right.

Members Reviews:

ER Intern, No Sleep, & A Coffee Diet

What could go wrong?

Emergency room: urban desert hospital meet a young ER intern nicknamed Hovercraft. He's thrown into a world about which he had no idea.

Written like a memoir, by an emergency room doctor in Albuquerque this novel doesnt let up. Every time you think you know what really goes on in triage, the story will throw you for another loop.

This is like Michael Herrs Dispatches for the medical set.

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Title: Other People's Secrets

Author: Louise Candlish

Narrator: Julia Barrie

Format: Unabridged

Length: 15 hrs and 2 mins

Language: English

Release date: 12-01-12

Publisher: Whole Story Audiobooks

Ratings: 5 of 5 out of 4 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Two weeks in a boathouse on the edge of peaceful Lake Orta, Italy is exactly what Ginny and Adam Trustlove need. But twenty-four hours later, the silence is broken when the Sale family arrives. It doesn't take long for Ginny and Adam to be drawn in, especially when the teenage Pippi introduces her beguiling new friend Zach. Not one of them suspects that his arrival in their lives might be anything other than accidental...

Members Reviews:

Average

Not as engaging as some of the author's other works. Difficult to stay with the story to the end.

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Title: Butcher Bird

Author: Dean Ing

Narrator: Dan Woren

Format: Unabridged

Length: 13 hrs and 5 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-30-12

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

The author of The Ransom of Black Stealth One returns with an international thriller about a fighter plane, known as the Butcher Bird, that is designed to assassinate with a laser beam that targets and boils a human brain in seconds.

Members Reviews:

Fiction became reality

When I read this book in 1995, I thought that this fictional weapon would be an awesome addition to the first country that created a real- world version. Fast forward to the modern day and we have become surrounded by ever smaller drones with myriad capabilities. It will not be long before the hummingbird size edition, armed with a laser, will pop up for uses both good and bad. Look to the skies, my grandchildren. Your lives may depend on it.

Decent, but not up to par

Dean Ing is a competent writer, but for some reason fell short with this novel. Butcher Bird is about an embittered aerospace engineer with an inflated ego and his Syrian funded creation, a technological marvel for assassins, using "Black" stealth technology and a miniature nuclear power source. The villain uses his "Butcher Bird" to knock off top aerospace researchers he feels have slighted him in some way in the past. The hero of the book, a nearly-flawless, middle-aged man with a practically teen-aged lover, single handedly tries to rescue the world from this mad scientist. I found Butcher Bird to be an entertaining, but, in the end, disappointing story. It starts with a bang and goes out with an unrealistic, overly contrived fizzle

Fast Paced High Technology Thriller

In the Butcher Bird, a group of foreign nationals, led by a brilliant but frustrated Aerospace Design Genius, and a talented Software Engineer develop an incredible weapon. This weapon, designed to loiter in an area, searching for a target, and instantly dispatching the target, without detection. When the CIA finds out about the scheme, they call upon a high tech aerospace thinktank to design a similar weapon, and find it's weakness's. Using beyond state of the art tactics, the team develop a profile to prevent a national disaster

Intriguing!

The Butcher Bird weaves an intriguing mystery tale that holds the reader's attention until the plot is revealed. The story is not for the "faint at heart" as it reveals the shadow side of human nature. However, for those who want to hunker down with a mind-tingling search to solve a strange murder, the Butcher Bird captures the imagination. A good backpacking book to carry along and absorb your thoughts away from the hum-drum workaday world. [email protected]

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Title: Schmitty Love

Author: Billy Williams

Narrator: Gregg Cagno

Format: Unabridged

Length: 1 hr and 26 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-14-12

Publisher: Billy Williams Editing

Ratings: 5 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

A young boy is crippled at 15. He live's in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn and he's very happy for the next 60 years. What's his secret? How is that possible? The answer lies in the title Schmitty Love - that's the special part of the story.

Schmitty never gets old in his heart. Unable to communicate through words, Schmitty forges connections with those around him through his winning laugh and his powerful heart. A mixture of tragedy and comedy, Schmitty's story is told from his perspective, revealing his thoughts about the sometimes funny, sometimes dark world around him.

If you're a person who feels, who laughs, a person who cries, and who understands obstacles and their realities, then this book is a unique window into someone else's heart, says Williams.

Members Reviews:

Unrealistic and ignorant take on physical disability

This is a superficial and stereotyped look at severe physical disability. The protagonist cannot speak well enough for others to understand him and he uses a wheelchair. He lives in an inaccessible bar all of his life. His time in a wheelchair (since he was 15) is presented as a time during which he did not mature emotionally. He is stuck at 15 (as if severe physical disability stunted personal growth; quite the opposite, in my experience!), unable to understand what others know as love. His love is different...

Why??? Because the author has never experienced this kind of disability, and despite a few paragraphs that acknowledge the nondisabled's failure to humanize the protagonist, the author falls into the same trap. There are glimpses of recognition of self, but the heart is child-like, stupid, even. It is silly to imagine that wheelchair use would make a person not understand or desire sex, but this is how Schmitty is portrayed. Beyond this, so much is missing/forgotten: how does the protagonist get dressed or go to the bathroom? Who helps him? How does he shower? How does avoid pressure sores from sitting all day, year after year? These are not small parts of life for someone with this kind of disability, but they are completely left out.

I am sorry to say that this text--despite, I'm sure, all noble intentions--is damaging and insulting to any reader who may relate to the protagonist and not view him as some touching "Other."

~*~ Lovely ~*~

I was first acquainted with the Williams' sense of narrative through the work of Billy Williams's sons.. The senior Williams far surpasses the wit and storytelling of his offspring, but it is apparent nonetheless that the sense of working class identity is close to the Williams' heart. Schmitty Love transcends the rhetoric of modern narratives and captures the local language and vitality of Queens, New York in a time that has passed. Superb work!!

Brought a tear to my eye...

Mr. Williams got it right. I was born and bred in Brooklyn and even though it is a fictional bar, I know these characters and I know this bar. The most heart-warming book I've read this year. I hope there is more to come. Schmitty himself would get out of his wheelchair and cheer. This could be the next great Hallmark Hall of Fame movie.

Touching

Truth, Feeling, Passion, "Schmtty Love" is a right of passage for the reader as well as a touching love story which cannot BE... except in the mind of a simple and tenacious individual such as SCHMITTY...

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Title: Wolf on the Fold

Author: Judith Clarke

Narrator: Dino Marnika

Format: Unabridged

Length: 3 hrs and 31 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-02-12

Publisher: Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Kenny is 14. His dad has just died and to keep the family together, Kenny must find work. 'Be careful going through the flatlands,' his mother warns him. 'Don't stop for anyone'. But Kenny does stop, and what happens next will define the man he becomes. With subtle, evocative prose, and characters you will grow to love, Wolf on the Fold journeys through the generations of Kenny's family, examining those critical moments when youth collides with the adult world.

Members Reviews:

Wolf on the fold

Judith Clarkeï¿s most recent book, Wolf on the Fold, depicts an Australian familyï¿s life-time of struggles over a period of seventy years. Clarke, being born and raised in Australia, portrays life in this country most accurately. In the book, she accounts for how this nation was affected by the trials and tribulations of events such as the Great Depression all the way to current problems with Iraq. Clarkeï¿s amazing style of writing and fascinating stories will keep the reader intrigued till the end.

The story progresses from generation to generation. Clarke begins with the familyï¿s struggle to stay afloat during the time of the Great Depression. After the childrenï¿sï¿ father dies, the oldest son, Kenny, is responsible for getting a job and supporting his family at the age of fourteen. The story then jumps to the 1950ï¿s; Kenny is now a father with two girls of his own, Clightie and Frances. The girls live through a typical summer in the 1950ï¿s while caring for their mentally insane Aunty May. The girls follow their crazy aunt on hilarious outings throughout their home town. Clarke continues this style of writing all the way up until the 1980ï¿s.

The story then begins telling of more recent events. Frances moves to Israel at the age of thirty-six during the time that Saddam Hussein is in total power. She teaches English to children and soldiers and has a son by the name of Gabriel. One day at the market, Gabriel begins yelling, ï¿Saddam Hussein is a loony.ï¿ At this point, Frances is terrified for both of their lives, and is thankful when they are not stoned to death. Clightie remains in Australia and gets married.

The books then jumps to a story of Clightieï¿s grandson, James. James hears his mother and father arguing every night, and try as he may, he cannot hide the fighting from his younger brother, Davie. Jamesï¿ greatest fear is that his whole family will fall apart around him; that one day they will all be gone. Clarke does an amazing job tying serious problems, such as a family on the brink of extinction, with everyday family problems, such as a ten year old listening to his mother and father argue.

Clarkeï¿s amazing style of writing is intriguing and humbling. By the end of the book, the reader sees how many struggles that they personally may or may not have had to go through. She shows life through a perspective of just how many trials one can overcome. Clarke uses similes such as ï¿the air was as whole as milkï¿ to allow the reader to feel the severity of the situations. Through Clarkeï¿s vivid descriptions and realistic accounts, the reader feels as if they are actually part of the story.

Thus, the story is a vivid account of one familyï¿s difficulty to survive.

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Title: An Apple from Eden

Author: Emma Blair

Narrator: Eve Karpt

Format: Unabridged

Length: 13 hrs and 7 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-01-12

Publisher: Audible Studios

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

The Seatons, affluent members of the Protestant gentry, own The Haven, a lush, opulent estate in the Scottish countryside. The Flynns, proud Catholics to the core, spend their working days in the factories and laundry houses of industrial Glasgow. Divided by class, wealth and religion, two families could not live more different lives. However, as the Great War fades from memory and discontent seeps in, both the Seatons and the Flynns grow restless and allow temptation to gain hold...

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Title: Since You Went Away

Author: Liz Astor

Narrator: Carole Boyd, Sian Thomas

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 25 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-25-12

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

A poignant story of family relationships and the cycle of life, what makes people the way they are and the tensions this creates. Maisie Wilton, a middle-aged foster mother, writes to her estranged sister Ruth to let her know that their mother has died. Impulsive Ruth, who has never seen quite eye to eye with Maisie, left her husband and two teenage children for her Argentinian lover ten years ago and has not been in touch since. Maisie's letter sparks an ongoing correspondence in which Maisie not only recounts the story of their mother's deteriorating health and her death, but through which the sisters gradually begin to understand something of each other and realise that there is no "right" or "wrong" way of viewing a situation, particularly where family relationships are concerned. There are astonishing revelations on both sides, but ultimately there is understanding and renewed closeness.

Members Reviews:

And the Lion will email the Lamb...

Ruth went away. To Argentina, in fact. Far from the cozy Newcastle home where she raised two children with her peripatetic rock star of a husband, far from her aging parents. And most importantly, far from her sister Maisie, upon whose shoulders fall the care and feeding, the rehabilitation and resuscitation of the entire deserted family.

These two sisters, one a lion, the other a lamb try, over the course of a decade and more, to communicate--via snail mail, via e-mail, via mobile. Liz Astor re-boots the epistolary novel into our modern age, showing us that while communication might be more immediate, it is no easier than it was in simpler times. "Since You Went Away" is full of the detail, the smell of life. And as the lion and lamb exchange mane for fleece, it demonstrates powerfully that the ordinary heroics of daily life sometimes overpower the exotic gesture.

A very enlightening story of the family interacting with a terrific mother who has parkensinens diese. Solid advice

It is helpful to families who are going through similar situations. The story is told with a light heart.

It will encourage others who ate going through parallel stories in their lives.

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Title: To Be the Best

Author: Barbara Taylor Bradford

Narrator: Diana Quick

Format: Abridged

Length: 2 hrs and 53 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-25-12

Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Limited

Ratings: 5 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

The enthralling sequel to Barbara Taylor Bradfords universally loved novels, A Woman of Substance and Hold The Dream. Set in Yorkshire, Hong Kong and America, this remarkable contemporary novel continues the story of an unorthodox and endlessly fascinating family. As the spirit of Emma Harte lives on in her granddaughter, Paula ONeill, an engrossing drama is played out in the glamorous arena of the wealthy and privileged, underscored by a cut-throat world of jealousy and treachery. Paula must act with daring and courage to preserve her formidable grandmothers glittering empire from unscrupulous enemies, so that Emmas precious dream will live on for the next generation

Members Reviews:

Listened to nearly all series of books.

On read to books of the series of Emma Hart, listening to last one now.

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Title: The Ravenscar Dynasty

Author: Barbara Taylor Bradford

Narrator: Cameron Stewart

Format: Abridged

Length: 5 hrs and 33 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-25-12

Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Limited

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

The Ravenscar Dynasty, introducing the house of DeRavenel, launches Barbara Taylor Bradfords epic new series. Ravenscar: A house, a legacy and a dynasty. On a bitterly cold day in 1904, the Deravenel family's future changes for ever. When Cecily Deravenel tells her 18-year-old son Edward of the death of his father, brother, and cousins in a fire, a part of him dies as well. Edward is comforted by his cousin Neville Watkins, who is suspicious of the deaths. The two men vow to seek the truth, avenge the deaths and take control of the business empire usurped from Edward's great uncle sixty years before. And so begins an epic saga about an astonishing family, set in extraordinary times.

Power and money, passion and adultery, ambition and treachery - all illuminate a dramatic saga set against the backdrop of the Edwardian Era and the Belle Epoque, just before the First World War.

Members Reviews:

Not a good read

The story line did intrigue me. For that reason I endured what I felt to be tepid and frequently boring skills of story telling. It could have been great just based on the story. How sad it was so poorly written.

Brave But Futile Effort

"The Ravenscar Dynasty's" main character is patterned after the life of the intriguing British king, Edward IV. Other historical personages are used as models for characters, the Wylands as shadows of the Woodvilles in later English history, but for lack of something the analogies do not work. Great riches are at stake with endless power driven by twisted emotions that are more of a set piece than a story.

I own all of Ms. Bradford's books, but this time I'm not looking forward to reading "The Heir" and will wait for the paperback edition.

Conflict drives fiction and events are secondary -- there is nothing new in this story to tempt a reader to turn a page.

"The Ravenscar Dynasty" dwells too much on decoration and not enough on substance.

Nash Black, author of "Sins of the Fathers" and "Travelers."

Love Barbara Taylor Bradford

This was a very good read. I always enjoy her books. I am re-reading many of them which I originally read years ago.

Five Stars

great read

Five Stars

great