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Title: The Forever Girl

Author: Alexander McCall Smith

Narrator: Susan Lyons

Format: Unabridged

Length: 10 hrs and 44 mins

Language: English

Release date: 02-11-14

Publisher: Recorded Books

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 97 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

The author of the best-selling and universally adored No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series now gives us The Forever Girl, a novel about love and following one's heart, and the unexpected places to which this can lead us. Amanda and her husband, David, feel fortunate to be raising their son and daughter in the close-knit community of ex-pats on Grand Cayman Island, an idyllic place for children to grow up. Their firstborn, Sally, has always listened to her heart, deciding at age four that she would rather be called Clover and then, a few years later, falling in love with her best friend, James.

But the comforting embrace of island life can become claustrophobic for adults, especially when they are faced with difficult situations. At the same time that Clover falls in love with James, Amanda realizes that she has fallen out of love with Davidand that she is interested in someone else. While Amanda tries to navigate the new path her heart is leading her down, Clover finds, much to her dismay, that James seems to be growing away from her. And when they leave the island for boarding school-- James to England and Clover to Scotland--she feels she may have lost him for good. As Clover moves on to university, seldom seeing James but always carrying him in her heart, she finds herself torn between a desire to go forward with her life and the old feelings that she just can' t shed. Through the lives of Clover and James, and Amanda and David, acclaimed storyteller Alexander McCall Smith tells a tale full of love and heartbreak, humor and melancholy, that beautifully demonstrates the myriad ways in which love shapes our lives.

Critic Reviews:

"What may seem like an ordinary love tangle is a very rich stew of contemporary mores and a great stage for both comedy and heartbreak." (

Booklist) "Touchingly conceived.... In the end we see that love unfulfilled still makes a difference." (

Library Journal)

Members Reviews:

By Love Obsessed

I've read or listened to all of Alexander McCall Smith's adult books, and this one stands apart in its repetition and lack of humor. In tone it reminds me of Scott Spencer's Endless Love, or the novels of Anne Tyler. We suffer the protagonist's obsession for hours, only to be handed a shockingly abrupt ending. The scene we eagerly anticipated throughout the book finally arrives, we wait to see what the main character will say and do, and suddenly a curtain is drawn over that pivotal, life changing moment, and we find ourselves on a beach, with the protagonist and her mother, engaged in a banal conversation that adds nothing to the story. How disappointing!

Nonetheless, along the way we're treated to a few of McCall Smith's philosophical asides, insights into human character, and the nature of romantic love. And Susan Lyons does a wonderful job of narration, handling a number of English accents with subtlety and grace.

Boring, don't bother (sorry, AMcCS)

Would you try another book from Alexander McCall Smith and/or Susan Lyons?

I'm a big fan of Alexander McCall Smith, love all his Botswana and Scotland series.

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Title: Unfinished Business

Subtitle: An Angela Panther Novel

Author: Carolyn Ridder Aspenson

Narrator: Kathy Poelker

Format: Unabridged

Length: 7 hrs and 39 mins

Language: English

Release date: 02-03-14

Publisher: Carolyn Aspenson

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 38 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Sometimes the dead need our help and sometimes, we need theirs.

Angela Panther has a perfect life: A lovely home, an attentive, successful husband, two reasonably behaved children, a devoted dog and a lot of coffee and cupcakes. But while her life might border on mundane, she's got it under control. Until her mother, Fran, dies - and returns as a ghost. It seems Fran's got some unfinished business and she's determined to get it done.

Now Fran's got some nifty celestial superpowers and isn't opposed to using them to levy a little ghostly retribution on her granddaughter's frenemies and even her own daughter, which doesn't make Angela happy.

While Angela's shocked and grateful to have her mother back, she's not thrilled about the portal to the afterlife Fran opened upon her return. Now every ghost in town is knockin' on Angela's psychic door, looking for help - and it's a royal pain in the butt. Now Angela's got to find a way to balance her family life with her new gift and keep her mother in line. And it's a lot for one woman to handle.

Members Reviews:

What to do when your dead mother arrives?

While the beginning was a little blah, and there seemed to be some fluctuation in the ages of Angela's parents, all that was forgiven when the story gathered relevance and momentum. Geared to the thirty somethings, it has relevance to any parent. The verbiage is timely and most of the book is a laugh a minute. There is, however, some very serious stuff in here and tears will flow. It looks to be the start of a good, fun series. Don't miss this one.

KP does a really great job in this audio performance. She can snark with the best, and has all of the emotions just right, as well as differentiating each character and making them more real.

This review is honest, the book was free.

Not even death can put an end to motherly love.

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes. It is so fun. And besides, who has not wished to keep in touch with their loved ones that went ahead of us to the other side?

What did you like best about this story?

I liked the mother-daughter relationship. Even though one of them is dead, it is funny and so real, you can relate at so many levels.

What about Kathy Poelkers performance did you like?

She is amazing at making you see the characters right in front of you. She specially brings Fran to life, "back" to life, that is! Her voice has so many facets it is so easy to go from a Grandma to a teenager to a boy on the same sentence. Kathy Poelker's performance enhances the story.

If you could rename Unfinished Business, what would you call it?

I wouldn't change it. It is perfect for the story.

Any additional comments?

This has been my first audio-novel and I think Kathy Poelker has set the bar very high for my future audibooks!

Highly Recommend - Moving and Touching story

What made the experience of listening to Unfinished Business the most enjoyable?

Listening to the audio was very enjoyable. Kathy Poelker did an excellent job. I enjoyed it very much. She has a way of speaking that draws you in and keeps your interest!

What was one of the most memorable moments of Unfinished Business?

There were a lot of moments that I could relate to and made the story memorable.

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Title: The Last Enchantments

Author: Charles Finch

Narrator: Luke Daniels

Format: Unabridged

Length: 10 hrs and 25 mins

Language: English

Release date: 01-28-14

Publisher: Macmillan Audio

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 36 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

The Last Enchantments is a powerfully moving and lyrical audiobook.

A young American embarks on a year at Oxford and has an impassioned affair that will change his life forever. After graduating from Yale, William Baker, scion of an old line patrician family, goes to work in presidential politics. But when the campaign into which he's poured his heart ends in disappointment, he decides to leave New York behind, along with the devoted, ambitious, and well-connected woman he's been in love with for the last four years.

Will expects nothing more than a year off before resuming the comfortable life he's always known, but he's soon caught up in a whirlwind of unexpected friendships and romantic entanglements that threaten his safe plans. As he explores the heady social world of Oxford, he becomes fast friends with Tom, his snobbish but affable flat mate; Anil, an Indian economist with a deep love for gangster rap; Anneliese, a German historian obsessed with photography; and Timmo, whose chief ambition is to become a reality television star. What he's least prepared for is Sophie, a witty, beautiful and enigmatic woman who makes him question everything he knows about himself.

For listeners who made a classic of Richard Yates's A Good School, Charles Finch's The Last Enchantments is a sweeping audiobook about love and loss that redefines what it means to grow up as an American in the twenty-first century.

Critic Reviews:

"Daniels depicts Baker's struggle to find himself with earnestness and creates empathy in the listener for Will's complicated history. Listeners will feel like they know these characters as Daniels guides them through their maturation. Characters like Anil and Tom are portrayed with knowing and clarity." (

AudioFile)

Members Reviews:

Charles Finch is a great find

Having enjoyed Finch's Lenox series, I was eager to hear his first effort in another genre and very happy to discover it was terrific. I had to read it afterwards because it's one of those I can appreciate even more in print. Finch is a fine wordsmith and I can only hope he turns out many more pieces of fiction.

The audio version falls down for me in the narration, however. The reader had difficulty doing women's voices in normal speaking volume such that in dialogue the sound levels between male and female speakers was quite uneven at times. I had to rewind and raise the volume in a number of places to hear all sides of a conversation when a woman was in the mix. And then the male voices were too loud. Where I felt the reader excelled was in his ability to do the various accents. I don't think anyone could have handled that any better than he did.

Overall great read!

This book was a well-written and fun to read. I prefer Mr. Finch's mysteries, but I think that is mainly because I love mysteries and perhaps the topic of this book was difficult for me to relate to in some ways. Also, the ending was too open-ended/anti-climactic for my taste. That said, it was an enjoyable read and the characters were well-developed.

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Title: O soprotivlenii zlu siloj

Author: Ivan Ilyin

Narrator: Natalia Gracheva, Vadim Maksimov

Format: Unabridged

Length: 6 hrs and 23 mins

Language: English

Release date: 01-03-14

Publisher: Cdcom Publishing

Ratings: 2 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

O soprotivlenii zlu siloj Mozhno li primenit' silu, chtoby ostanovit' zlo? Gde gran' dopustimogo opravdanija primenenija sily? Na jetot slozhnejshij vopros predlagaet svoj otvet velikij russkij filosof patriot Ivan Aleksandrovich Il'in. Jeta kniga s momenta svoego vyhoda v svet (v 1925 godu) niskol'ko ne ustarela i do sih por vyzyvaet mnozhestvo sporov.

Please note: This audiobook is in Russian.

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Title: Zhizn' i udivitel'nye prikljuchenija Robinzona Kruzo, morjaka iz Jorka (inscenirovka)

Author: Daniel Defoe

Narrator: Alexander Khorlin

Format: Unabridged

Length: 5 hrs and 25 mins

Language: English

Release date: 01-03-14

Publisher: Cdcom Publishing

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Zhizn' i udivitel'nye prikljuchenija Robinzona Kruzo, morjaka iz Jorka.Korablekrushenie, neobitaemyj ostrov, Pjatnica... Skol'ko zhe pokolenij chitatelej vyroslo na jetoj knige! Special'no dlja junyh slushatelej my predlagaem inscenirovku znamenitogo prikljuchencheskogo romana.

Please note: This audiobook is in Russian.

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Title: Stands a Calder Man

Subtitle: Calder Saga Book 2

Author: Janet Dailey

Narrator: Mil Nicholson

Format: Unabridged

Length: 13 hrs and 25 mins

Language: English

Release date: 12-18-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 27 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Webb Calder fought the newcomers who rushed to claim grasslands where Calder cattle grazed. But he could not resist Lilli - a proud and lovely young immigrant, loyal to the homesteader's cause, and to her husband.Still, a Calder kept what he had and got what he wanted. Where a man stands for what he believes, there Stands a Calder Man.

Members Reviews:

Mil Nicholson's ability is outstanding

The aurthor needs more research into the period she writes about. No woman before 1950 put their hair in a " ponytail ". This is an intertaining novel without thought to accuracy of the period. This is my second book about the Caulders. Not sure I will continue with book III.

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Title: Nowhere Man

Author: Aleksandar Hemon

Narrator: Stefan Rudnicki

Format: Unabridged

Length: 7 hrs and 9 mins

Language: English

Release date: 12-11-13

Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 10 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Aleksandar Hemon, author of The Question of Bruno, one of the most celebrated debuts in recent American fiction, returns with the mind - and language -bending adventures of his endearing protagonist Jozef Pronek.

A native of Sarajevo, where he spends his adolescence trying to become Bosnia's answer to John Lennon, Jozef Pronek comes to the United States in 1992 - just in time to watch war break out in his country but too early to be a genuine refugee. Indeed, Jozef's typical answer to inquiries about his origins and ethnicity is, "I am complicated."

And so he proves to be - not just to himself, but to the revolving series of shadowy but insightful narrators who chart his progress from Sarajevo to Chicago; from a hilarious encounter with the first President Bush to a somewhat graver meeting with a heavily armed Serb whom he has been hired to serve with court papers. Moving, disquieting, and exhilarating in its virtuosity, Nowhere Man is the kaleidoscopic portrait of a magnetic young man stranded in America by the war in Bosnia.

Members Reviews:

And rescued from the chasm....I felt in Book #1...

What made the experience of listening to Nowhere Man the most enjoyable?

I enjoyed the characters. The change in focus, tense and characters....but then I again felt like I had been dropped off a cliff, story-wide when the book ended. Much like book #1. I guess that is what I must expect in future books from this author? Leaves me wanting the next book--and fast!!

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Title: Minaret

Author: Leila Aboulela

Narrator: Lameece Issaq

Format: Unabridged

Length: 7 hrs and 55 mins

Language: English

Release date: 12-10-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 32 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Leila Aboulela's American debut is a provocative, timely, and engaging audiobook about a young Muslim woman - once privileged and secular in her native land and now impoverished in London - gradually embracing her orthodox faith. With her Muslim hijab and downturned gaze, Najwa is invisible to most eyes, especially to the rich families whose houses she cleans in London. Twenty years ago, Najwa, then at university in Khartoum, would never have imagined that one day she would be a maid. An upper-class Westernized Sudanese, her dreams were to marry well and raise a family. But a coup forces the young woman and her family into political exile in London. Soon orphaned, she finds solace and companionship within the Muslim community. Then Najwa meets Tamer, the intense, lonely younger brother of her employer. They find a common bond in faith and slowly, silently, begin to fall in love.

Written with directness and force, Minaret is a lyric and insightful audiobook about Islam and an alluring glimpse into a culture Westerners are only just beginning to understand.

Members Reviews:

Came for the story, stayed for the narration.

A somewhat slow story, never really catching my attention aside from a couple of times. What was most enjoyable was listening to Lameece Issaq, very relaxing!

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Title: The Wreckage of Agathon

Author: John Gardner

Narrator: Michael Butler Murray

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 26 mins

Language: English

Release date: 12-09-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 4 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Laid to waste by drink, Agathon, a seer, is a shell of a man. He sits imprisoned with his apprentice, Peeker, for his presumed involvement in a rebellion against the Spartan tyrant Lykourgos. Confined to a cell, the men produce extraordinary writings that illustrate the stories of their lives and give witness to Agathon's deterioration and the growth of Peeker from a bashful young apprentice to a self-assured and passionate seer.

Captivating and imaginative, The Wreckage of Agathon is a tribute to author John Gardner's passion for ancient storytelling and those universal themes that span the course of all human civilization.

Members Reviews:

Compelling read

I've read this at least three times. It may not hold up over multiple readings, but it's always proved compelling. Agathon, the cynic in Sparta, has lessons for us.

Down and out in ancient Sparta

This very modern novel of a down and out pre-Socratic philosopher, self-exiled from Athens to Sparta, has stayed vivid in my memory for 35 years and more. It combines razor sharp satire, low comedy, a philosphical playfulness that reminds you of Borges, and an aching, bittersweet recollection of a life firecely lived. I can't think of a more continuously entertaining book. What is amazing is that it also draws the reader into a deep and uncompromising confrontation with the most serious questions of loyalty and love.

But try as hard as I could to enjoy all it has going for it

The characters are vivid. The setting is engrossing. But try as hard as I could to enjoy all it has going for it, I couldn't find the plot and lost interest. I feel like this novel is either not fully realized, or it is simply too sophisticated for someone like me.

Epic tale of effect of one man's voice and life on his time.

John Gardner gives us the view of the power of one man's life on those that he loves and those that he is employed to serve. Once a revered and respected "Seer", Agathon in his later years has been relagated to a decrepid one man sideshow of mystery and absurdity. As he took his fall from grace and stature, his personal life paralleled that fall. Through the choices he made in his life, he was forced to endure the consequences of his actions. For better or worse, he gained his wisdom and accepted dwelling in his fetid existence.

The two strands of the story--the life and times of a "wise man", and the rise and fall of political and social ideologies--demonstrate the degree with which these two human conditions are historically linked. As a result, it is often too late in the game that truths are revealed and roles are understood.

At the end of the book, Agathon achieves a certain level of freedom from who he is, in death, while hopefully revealing truths early enough to the "Peeker", who was his pupil.

"The Wreckage of Agathon" appears to be a metaphor for the life that he left in ruin and for the impact he had on a political system by virtue of the fact that he had existed and lived.

Fantastically Pathetic

An incredible tale told alternating between Agathon, an old Seer, and Peeker, the apprentice. There are many storylines going on because of the nature of the narration and as the story advances Agathon's past is thrust further and further into the light. Very unique subject matter, setting and style.

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Title: The Return

Author: Brad Boney

Narrator: Charlie David

Format: Unabridged

Length: 11 hrs and 10 mins

Language: English

Release date: 12-03-13

Publisher: Dreamspinner Press

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 155 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Music. Topher Manning rarely thinks about anything else, but his day job as a mechanic doesn't exactly mesh with his rock-star ambitions. Unless he can find a way to unlock all the songs in his head, his band will soon be on the fast track to obscurity.

Then the South by Southwest music festival and a broken-down car drop New York critic Stanton Porter into his life. Stanton offers Topher a ticket to the Bruce Springsteen concert, where a hesitant kiss and phantom vibrations from Tophers cell phone kick off a love story that promises to transcend ordinary possibility.

Members Reviews:

Wow, Excellent premise, Great story !

Any additional comments?

I REALLY really liked the premise and the story. Which surprised me because the book before this, The Nothingness of Ben, was run of the mill - nice but not great. The Return is good enough to stand alone but you might want to read it second so you know more of the characters. Charlie David's narration is noteworthy as well. Too many m/m romance books have awful narration, that is NOT a problem here. Not the smexiest [try Hot Head] but excellent nonetheless!

What a Treat!!

What a treat! Five stars just for originality. I'll be honest, I was not a huge fan of Mr. Boney's first book, The Nothingness of Ben. And this book kind of dragged for me the first half. But when the dual story lines started to come together, I loved it. Charlie David was fantastic! He really brought this book to life and I found myself tearing up quite a few times. This is a story of not only love, but redemption, hope and faith. Also, the title won't make sense until the end and then if you are like me you will have a big smile on your face. What a way to end a book, I love it!!

My First Audiobook Hangover!

This is two stories which intertwine into one.

First, Topher Manning is a mechanic by day and musician by night. He works at the same garage as Travis (from The Nothingness of Ben). One day hes at work when a guy with car problems strolls in with a spare ticket to the Bruce Springsteen concert one of Tophers all time favorite bands. The guy, Stanton Porter, offers Topher the chance of a lifetime (floor seats at the concert in exchange for a ride) and they go together to enjoy the show.

The two have both nothing and everything in common. Stanton is 50 something, from New York, a music critic with an Ivy League education and an amazing affinity for all things music, especially pop-music. Topher is a country boy, 26, no college whatsoever, plays music in a rock-n-roll band, and an affinity for all things music, especially pop-music.

They essentially click, and though Topher has never had a gay thought in the world, he finds himself compelled to kiss Stanton in the middle of Thunder Road. This spurs the beginning of a strange and sometimes bewildering romance between the two that seems to cross state lines, age lines and time lines.

The second story is also about Stanton, but a 24 year-old Stanton, who falls in love with Hutch. Hutch is a trust-fund child who has been mostly disowned for being gay and a musician by his upper-crust family. He and Stanton fall almost instantly in love and they too share a love of music, though both have the education and a group of close knit friends in common.

Every other chapter switches between the older and the younger Stantons love stories.