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Title: Jennie

Author: Douglas Preston, Dale Hull

Narrator: Sandra Burr, Dick Hill

Format: Unabridged

Length: 11 hrs and 42 mins

Language: English

Release date: 07-24-09

Publisher: Brilliance Audio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 23 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Written as a fictional oral history, Jennie tells the story of the Archibalds, the Boston-area family that took in the chimp from 1965 to 1975, and the ensuing family and scientific debates.

Jennie's story is hilarious, poignant, and, in times, desperately sad. Based on accounts of six different cases of chimps in human surroundings, Jennie will make you laugh, fill you with wonder, and make your heart go out to a touching and warm character unlike any other - Jennie.

Members Reviews:

Jennie, the human ape

Loved the story. Saved at birth though orphaned. Happy human adoption subsequently. Laughs. Many gratifying moments. Then back to some sad and challenging times for Jennie and her family. Jennie, is the mischievous ape/chimp , playful, loving, intelligent, humanized animal who learns sign language. The confusion for this lovely creature as to whether she is human or an ape, accelerates as she ages. The ending was somewhat predictable as the story develops, and then again, it wasn't. Another must read by this author.

Spellbinding

This is fiction that rings with truth...about what it means to be human; we must look deeply into ourselves and question our attitudes and treatment of animals...these amazing other beings.

Four Stars

Based on the sad story of another ape, this had comedy, drama and pathos...a GOOD READ

just fine

fun, sad at the same time. a worthwhile book to read.

Two Stars

not my cup of tea

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Titre: Les gens du Balto

Auteur: Faïza Guène

Narrateur: Julie Basecqz, Patrick Donnay, Cachou Kirsch, Fabienne Loriot, Aurélien Ringelheim

Format: Unabridged

Durée: 2 hrs and 50 mins

Langue: Français

Date de publication: 05-04-09

Éditeur: Audiolib

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Résumé de l'éditeur:

Un meurtre a eu lieu à Joigny-les-deuxbouts, petite ville de grande banlieue. Joel Morvier, le patron du Balto, le bar du centre-ville, est retrouvé un matin gisant dans son sang. Un drame ? Pas pour les clients tant ce bistrotier raciste et acariâtre était détesté. Et même pas pour la victime qui, d'outre-tombe, s'amuse de la publicité faite autour de ce fait divers...

Chaque chapitre donne la parole à l'un des clients - suspects que Faïza Guène fait vivre avec talent et humour dans un suspense à la Agatha Christie.

L'auteure

est née à Bobigny, en banlieue parisienne, en 1985. A l'âge de 13 ans, elle commence à écrire des scripts de court-métrages, avant de passer à la réalisation d'un moyen-métrage (

, 2004). Elle est l'auteur de deux best-sellers,

et

(2006).

est son troisième roman.

© Editions Hachette Littératures, 2008

© Audiolib, 2008

Revues par les critiques:

La presse en parle

"Miss Guène arrache la banlieue à ses images de Far West, elle lui rend son humanité, sans rosir le tableau, bien au contraire."

Anne Fohr, Le Nouvel Observateur

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Title: The Secret Speech

Author: Tom Rob Smith

Narrator: Colin Mace

Format: Unabridged

Length: 13 hrs and 52 mins

Language: English

Release date: 04-06-09

Publisher: Whole Story Audiobooks

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 15 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

The catalyst comes when a secret manifesto composed by Stalin's successor, Khrushchev, is distributed to the entire nation. Its message: Stalin was a tyrant and a murderer. Its promise: The Soviet Union will transform. But there are forces at work that are unable to forgive or forget Stalin's tyranny so easily and demand revenge of the most appalling nature.

Meanwhile, former MGB officer Leo Demidov is facing his own turmoil. The two young girls he and his wife Raisa adopted have yet to forgive him for his involvement in the murder of their parents. They are not alone. Now that the truth is out, Leo, Raisa and their family are in grave danger from someone with a grudge against Leo. Someone transformed beyond recognition into the perfect model of vengeance.

Members Reviews:

the secret speech

great book, you want to keep reading just to find what is happening next.

Sadly not a match for Child 44

As a sequel to the excellent Child 44 ,The Secret Speech was a disapointment. The whodunnit (or whoisit?) element that worked so well in the first book was missing here, and I often found myself tuning out of lengthy passages of description or action that weren't as gripping as they could have been. A shame, as there were elements such as the criminal gang structures and activities that made for interesting listening - but not enough for more than 3 stars.

Not bad, but not the best

I didn't enjoy this book as much as Child 44 which I thought was an excellent and well-narrated story. It is certainly action-packed, but I found some of the plot developments rather hard to swallow. My main gripe, however, is the narrator, as mentioned by another reviewer. All those strange pauses in the middle of sentences eventually proved to detract from the story itself, and in the end made finishing the book rather a trial.

great book poor narrator

Because i loved Child 44 so much I bought this without listening to the reader. I found him too slow and his style of reading broke my attention away from the book. So make sure you are ok with the narration before you buy.

Engrossing thriller

As good as his first book, but far more emotional.

The action sequences can feel a bit un-ending at times, and like the first book I suspect there will be some critisism of his "Dicken's" like approach to co-incide driven plot.

But overall; Intelligent - grown-up - engrossing - thrilling - fascinating - very violent - great dramatic - great dialogue - unpredictable plotline - life affirming - tragic - cliche and stereo-type free writing.

But still, my joint favourite read of 2009. (Child 44 was my other favourite.)

I hope there will be more of Leo, though I cannot imagine how his story can be developed further ... but then I couldn't have imagined this fantastic story either.

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Title: The Song Is You

Author: Arthur Phillips

Narrator: Christopher E. Welch

Format: Unabridged

Length: 10 hrs and 46 mins

Language: English

Release date: 03-16-09

Publisher: Recorded Books

Ratings: 3 of 5 out of 63 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Critically acclaimed author Arthur Phillips skyrocketed up best-seller lists and won immense popularity for novels such as The Egyptologist and Prague. With The Song Is You, Phillips again demonstrates his mastery of form with a tale of love and obsession in the digital age.

Critic Reviews:

"If novelists were labeled zoologically, Arthur Phillips would fall naturally into the dolphin family: his writing is playful, cerebral, likable, wide-ranging and inventive....The whole novel zings with fresh insight and inspired writing. The Song Is You is smaller, more focused and more character-driven than Phillips's earlier books, and it's not only a welcome new direction, but also a novel impossible to put down." (The New York Times Sunday Book Review)

Members Reviews:

An Okay Story

I really loved Phillip's previous book, Angelica, and so I bought this one expecting the same. The storyline about a man in love with his Ipod and along distance relationship between him and an Irish singer sounded like something I could really get into. But I didn't find the main characters all that interesting. I never really cared about what happened to them, and found myself skimming the book at times. Now, I don't want to make this book sound like it was terrible. Maybe I just didn't get what the author was trying to convey. I'd say all in all, an okay read.

stalking romance with music

I love this audiobook. I love music & my ipod, too, so I could relate to Julian & the conversation about music that is the backbone of this book--from his father's falling in love at a Billie Holiday concert to the Irish singer Julian falls in love with. The use of the ipod as a mystic tool--if a certain song comes up...,

his imagined, or not? relationship with the Irish singer--fun.

Boring

well i hated this book. Every time I started listening to it I fell asleep, and then I would start over and fall asleep again. The main character (I can't even remeber his name) falls in love with this chick and starts stalking her. I mean its depressing and stupid. Honestley I think if you are thinking of buying this book don't waste your money.

The Song is PU

Boring people are doing uninteresting things in this novel about a self-absorbed man semi-stalking a self-absorbed wannabe Irish rock diva. The last one-thousand hours tediously describes his pursuit and her coy dodges through the cities of Europe and ends...I don't know because I just could not go on any longer.

This was a pretty good book.....

....the characters were interesting and the storyline was intriguing.....the one thing that really frustrated me though........was the dragging on of Kate and Julian trying to get up enough "guts" to finally meet in person......GOOD HEAVENS.......just get it over with and done!!! I could relate to Julian and his use of the iPod and memories for every single song......I do the same thing.

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Title: Summer of My Amazing Luck

Author: Miriam Toews

Narrator: Erin Moon

Format: Unabridged

Length: 8 hrs and 19 mins

Language: English

Release date: 03-03-09

Publisher: Recorded Books

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 12 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Lucy and her free-spirited friend Lish live with their children in Have-a-Life housing for single mothers - until they set out to find the fire-eating father of Lish's twins.

Members Reviews:

Highly recommended!

I really enjoyed this book! It is the second I have read by Toews, the first being "A Complicated Kindness", which I also gave 4 stars. The characters (single mothers on welfare and others who live in a reduced income housing complex in Winnipeg) are described in such vivid detail- but not the depth of description that can draw away from the main story line. I easily developed mental pictures of each of the main characters in this book, based on Toews' development of the characters. The characters are all very lovable in their own quirky ways. Additionally, the story line may have seemed a bit unbelievable in the truest sense of the word if written by anyone else, but the plot flowed nicely and the side stories truly added to the entire book. I laughed, I felt sympathetic to these young women. I must also admit that I have lived in both Grand Forks and Fargo, North Dakota cities on I-29 and referenced in the book; thus, I particularly enjoyed those references. This is a book that I picked up and didn't set down until I had finished it. Highly recommended!

Single mothers' Canadian club

Lucy, the first person narrator, and Lish are unwed mothers living in public housing in Winnipeg, Manitoba, a place where Fargo is considered the warm south. Lucy does not know the father of her child because "if you eat a whole can of beans how can you tell which one gave you gas." There are so many unfathered children in the building that their version of the alphabet song is "ABCDEFGHIJKalimony please". Both Lucy and Lish have difficult relationships with conventional respectable unsupportive (in the emotional sense) fathers of their own. These relationships form a faint thread of a plot, although the novel is largely made up of the intersecting stories of the other mothers in the building.

I was reminded of Adrian Leblanc's serious non-fiction "Random Family." That's a great book but Toew's is better, and actually contains more information about the singles mother's predicament, and offers more insight into her motivation, as well as being hilariously funny..

Once again we have a great Canadian female writer. Why is Canada the only country where a list of the top five writers cannot be made up that is not predominantly female?

A wonderful read

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and, in fact, had a hard time putting it down. The characters are wonderful and quirky and sad and funny, all at the same time. Miriam is a wonderful writer. I highly recommend An Uncomplicated Kindness as well.

Wow

It was amazing. Unbelievably good. Prose was clean. Sarcastic humor and wit. I want to be friends with all the characters in this book. Sing Dylan kicks butt.

Weak story

Story involved an unwed mother who thinks her children's father is still in love with her. The problem with the story is that it was a one-night stand and the man stole the woman's wallet besides leaving her lovesick and pregnant. I stopped caring about the characters after decisions like this.

It was painful, but I read until the finish I was not rewarded by the ending either. Not at all.

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Título: El hombre la hembra y el hambre [Man, Woman and Hunger (Texto Completo)]

Autor: Daina Chaviano

Narrador: Raul Duran

Formato: Unabridged

Duración: 8 hrs and 24 mins

Idioma: Español

Fecha de publicación: 10-31-08

Editor: Recorded Books

Calificaciones: 4.5 de 5 de 2 votos

Categorías: Fiction, Contemporary

Resumen del editor:

Please note: This title is in Spanish.

Opiniones de los miembros:

Una de las mejores novelas que he leido!

Desde que lei "La Isla de los amores infinitos" supe que tenia que leer toda la saga de "La habana oculta". "El hombre, la hembra y el hambre" es una novela que realmente nos deja impactados. Me encanta la manera en que Daina se expresa y nos muestra la realidad de Cuba hasta lograr que nosotros nos sintamos parte de esa historia junto con sus personajes. Realmente recomiendo este libro!

Cuba will be free...someday

This book is great reflection of Cuban society today and the dreams that Cubans have for a better life. It shows that all levels of society are suffering equally (although the socialist model insists that there is no disparity). Through the principal characters of the novel Daina Chaviano expresses their past, present and future in a comical, real and unique manner. This book is definitely a worthy read not only for the content but also for the language and unique writing style of this exemplary Cuban novelist. Her use of the Spanish language is exquisite and impeccable.

Five Stars

Good informative book.

Viviendo en cubano

Dos jovenes habaneros - Rubén, el artesano y Gilberto, el carnicero - rememoran en sus encuentros sus respectivas historias de amores fallidos, el primero con Claudia, joven con clarividencias, soñadora y alegre; el segundo con La Mora, mujer hermética, enigmática y distante y a su vez el ciclo de la comprensión de la historia se cierra cuando a la vez "ambas" mujeres van tomando viva y dando puntos de vistas y narrando las situaciones gracias a experiencias vividas con o sin ellos, todo esto enmarcado en una Habana decadente, en ruina tanto moral como física donde el pan nuestro de cada dia no es otra cosa que sobrevivir como sea, llevarse algo a la boca, inventar, resolver e improvisar ante la adversidad, sufrir en silencio y amar publicamente, no queda otra, ¡ah! y soñar .. que no esta prohibido aun.

Una novela facil de leer, con un estilo entre el realismo y el surrealismo mágico antillano que nos sumerge en la agonica vivencia de los sentimientos humanos, las necesidades básicas emocionales y físicas, lo cotidiano, el deseo, los sacrificios que se hacen por amor, la identidad del individuo como tal o como colectivo y sobre todo, una esperanza dudosa en un futuro cubano mejor y más prospero que cada isleño lo sueña a su manera.

..."representative novel of Cuban literature at the end of the century."

"Winner of the Azorín Prize for the Novel in 1998, this work (included in university syllabi in both the U.S.A. and Europe) is perhaps the most representative novel of Cuban literature at the end of the century. A reflection of an entire generation, it is indispensable for understanding the social psychology and the spiritual dilemmas of the Cuban people.

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Title: Four on the Floor

Subtitle: Antique Lover's Mysteries #4

Author: Deborah Morgan

Narrator: Jerry Sciarrio

Format: Unabridged

Length: 6 hrs and 53 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-28-08

Publisher: Books in Motion

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 13 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Months after Jeff's beloved Chevy Woodie is wrecked, it's finally restored. But when he and Greer go to pick it up at the shop, they discover the asphyxiated bodies of four men. What first appears to be an accident is soon ruled a homicide. An envelope found inside one of the woodie's doors during the restoration connects the Talbot family to the murder - and leads Jeff to Los Angeles in search of a mysterious woman who may hold the key.

©2004 Deborah A. Estleman; (P)2007 Books in Motion

Members Reviews:

Boy this book brought back memories

I have been watching for this book. My very first memories are of my Dad's 1947 Ford Woody.

Each chapter starts with a quote from the old Berma Shave road signs. I love those old signs. I remember one that was quoted, This will never come to pass, A backseat driver out of gas...Berma Shave. This sign group was right down the road from where I now live.

The story is about a Woody owner tracking down some old family history and solving the murders of the "Four on the Floor" bodies found in the restoration shop where his Woody was being restored. It has a few twists and turns that were not expected.

This was an easy listen!

Fun and Easy Listening

This was a first for this author. I thought it was light and fun. Good characters, well written didn't know whodunit til the end.

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Titre: L'enfant de Noé

Auteur: Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt

Narrateur: Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt

Format: Unabridged

Durée: 2 hrs and 46 mins

Langue: Français

Date de publication: 05-20-08

Éditeur: Audiolib

Evaluation: 3 sur 5 sur 4 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Résumé de l'éditeur:

"- Nous allons conclure un marché, veux-tu ? Toi, Joseph, tu feras semblant d'être chrétien, et moi je ferai semblant d'être juif. Ce sera notre secret, le plus grand des secrets. Toi et moi pourrions mourir de trahir ce secret. Juré ? - Juré."

1942. Joseph a sept ans. Séparé de sa famille, il est recueilli par le père Pons, un homme simple et juste, qui ne se contente pas de sauver des vies. Mais que tente-t-il de préserver, tel Noé, dans ce monde menacé par un déluge de violence ?

Un court et bouleversant roman dans la lignée de Monsieur Ibrahim et d'Oscar et la dame rose qui ont fait d'Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt l'un des romanciers français les plus lus dans le monde.

L'auteur

Diplômé de l'École normale supérieure d'Ulm et agrégé de philosophie en 1983, ce passionné de musique et de littérature, auteur de pièces de théâtre adaptées à l'étranger, écrit des romans depuis 1997. Éternel aventurier des domaines littéraires, maintes fois récompensé,

est un personnage incontournable du paysage culturel français.

© Antigone 2004

© Audiolib 2008

Revues par les critiques:

La presse en parle

"L'enfant de Noé est un livre mystique, dans le meilleur sens du terme. Il est plein de questions que pose chaque instant d'une vie terrestre. Tout est drôle, tout est triste. L'innocence est un don du ciel, l'expérience aussi."

Patrick Besson, Marianne

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Title: The Worst Thing I've Done

Author: Ursula Hegi

Narrator: Gabra Zackman, Oliver Wyman

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 24 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-29-07

Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Ratings: 3 of 5 out of 32 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Beautifully written and brilliantly vivid, The Worst Thing I've Done is a poignant voyage of self-discovery, resilience, and understanding that resonates long after each character's story is told.

Members Reviews:

Stay with it

How to describe this very weird book? For the first hour, I debated just stopping and trying something else. I kept with it, however, and am glad I listened to the whole book. The description is somewhat misleading - the book deals with suicide - so if that's not a topic you care to read about, don't get this book. The use of both a male and female narrator works very well here. All in all, if you like something a little "different" (not just a simple straightforward plot) you might give this a try.

Disappointed

I was really excited to listen to this book after reading the blurb before purchasing. Unfortunately that blurb pretty much sums up the entire book. Through the entire novel the author alludes to a HUGE secret that has been kept since the childhood of the main charecters. By the time this 'secret' is revealed, it doesn't change anything between any of the charecters. I was very disapointed in this book, because there wasn't much of a story line between hints of the 'secret' that was being kept.

the worst thing

I could not get into this book at all. It was mixed up and skipped around. I probably gave it one hour of listening and stopped

Loved it...

Loved it...

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Title: Ten Days in the Hills

Author: Jane Smiley

Narrator: Suzanne Toren

Format: Unabridged

Length: 23 hrs and 41 mins

Language: English

Release date: 02-13-07

Publisher: Recorded Books

Ratings: 2.5 of 5 out of 87 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Oscar-winning writer-director Max, whose star is clearly beginning to dim, wakes up the morning after the 2003 Academy Awards lying next to his lover and feeling understandably groggy from the previous evening's festivities. But this is no time for Max to lounge about and chat his way idly through a hangover. There's a houseful of guests to worry about, and they all need attention.

Here is a book full of everything one would expect in a tale about the Tinseltown glitterati: sex, politics, war, love, and the stories people tell. Ten Days in the Hills is a Hollywood yarn as only Smiley could deliver.

Critic Reviews:

"Archly sexy and brilliant." (Booklist)

"Scintillating....Smiley delivers a delightful, subtly observant send-up of Tinseltown folly, yet she treats her characters, their concern with compelling surfaces, and their perpetual quest to capture reality through artifice, with warmth and seriousness." (Publishers Weekly)

Members Reviews:

Smiley strikes out

I often list Jane Smiley as my favorite author. She is able to inhabit diverse environments from the world of realtors to Iowa farmers to horse racing to the life of a university research pig as though she spent a lifetime in each environ.

With Ten Days in the Hills she seems to have lost her authority. Unlike anything I have ever read of Jane Smiley's this book does not sound authentic. Smiley usually takes unsympathic characters and gives them a humanity that makes them seem real. These characters remain unappealing.

I thought that some of the reviews that I read before purchasing Ten Days were biased against Smiley because she is very liberal. Well, so am I and I find the politics in this book to be almost a caricature of what a neo-conservative would think of a liberal.

In addition, I find the narration grating. So much so that perhaps I wouldn't find the book to be so poor if I didn't have the narrators horrible voice characterizations in my head. Nearly unlistenable.

I anxiously await Jane Smiley's next book. She is so good that I can imagine that this one is just an aberration.

doubting thomas chastized

I have read several books by Jane Smiley and loved every one of them. So I simply couldn't believe all the negative comments her latest book provoked and had to listen for myself. Well, I'll know better next time. I gave up after three hours. Boring, pointless navel gazing and musing. What were the critics thinking? Dear fellow readers, I'll take your warnings seriously next time..

Boring

This was the most boring book I have ever read or listened to. On and on and on with no real story. The author tries sending some political left wing messages but even they are boring.

I listen to these books to be unbored but this one put me to sleep.

Typically intimate and very Californian

I'm surprised at how scathing other reviewers have been. I found 'Ten Days in the Hills' to have the typical intimacy of Smiley's works.

The conversations among 10 people in a magnificent and isolated Hollywood house ramble around diets, ex's, psychobabble and movies, stop, but only temporarily, when news of the war intrudes.