Skip to main content

December 1, 2016 - January 3, 2017

Deborah from Topeka, KS
Marion from Canterbury, CT
 
 
 
 
 

Diane
Cress by Marissa Meyer
Narrator Name: Rebecca Soler

Rating the Audio Performance
4
Consistently good performance.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
4
Not as satisfying as the previous volumes, but still nicely done.

Paula
The Butterfly Garden by Dot Hutchison
Narrator Name: Lauren Ezzo and Mel Foster

Rating the Audio Performance
4
It did take me a while to get used to the male reader. His speech was too slow and deliberate and that sometimes made me lose focus. However, that being said, I loved the book!!
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
5
The storyline was fabulous and keeps you on the edge of your seat. Loved the twist at the end. You didn't know whether to like or hate the main antagonist.

Kendra
The Wrong Side of Goodbye by Michael Connelly
Narrator Name: Titus Welliver

Rating the Audio Performance
5
Titus Welliver is Harry Bosch in every way. Love his voice and love his performance.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
5
As always, Harry Bosch is involved in a mystery that winds up deeper than he initially anticipated. The potential danger to his daughter who is away at school helps build the suspense and adds another layer to the story. Highly satisfying resolution follows.

Tessa B C
The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
Narrator Name: Polly Stone

Rating the Audio Performance
5
Polly Stone does a very good job narrating the audiobook. Her pacing was good, and she really brought the characters to life.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
3
Good but not great. It’s a compelling story, and I really liked having the action take place within the lives of these two women. However, at about the midpoint of the narrative, it took a turn towards a romantic melodrama that just really irritated me. And I thought the flashback “mystery” was entirely unnecessary and manipulative.

Lori
My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry by Fredrik Backman
Narrator Name: Joan Walker

Rating the Audio Performance
5
I loved listening to all the different characters accents. I enjoyed it very much.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
5
Loved it. I liked that the book was told as a fairy tale type of story.

Denise
The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware
Narrator Name: Imogen Church

Rating the Audio Performance
5
I loved it! The narrator did a great job personalizing the characters.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
4
The story was good and thought-provoking. A few twists, which I enjoyed.

Melanie S.
My (Underground) American Dream by Julissa Arce
Narrator Name: Julissa Arce

Rating the Audio Performance
5
Julissa Arce's narration in her own words gave the story authenticity; a most interesting memoir. You could hear her becoming choked up as she read certainly emotional passages, which made listening to this all the more heartfelt.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
5
I rarely give five stars, but this memoir is not only totally engaging but also poignant and heartfelt. Julissa's story of being an undocumented child in this country, though no fault of her own, and the constant anxiety she experienced through every facet of her life was heart-wrenching. Her financial success, her belief in a higher power and purpose for her life kept her moving through each point where her story could have taken a turn for the worse. She presents the side of an undocumented immigrant as I don't think it's ever been told before. A truly important and timely story and a worthwhile read for all.

Rebecca Chome
The Litigators by John Grisham
Narrator Name: Dennis Boutsikaris

Rating the Audio Performance
5
Boutsikaris did a wonderful job distinguishing between the characters. He uses great enunciation and gives character to each of the players on the CD.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
4
John Grisham and what else, lawyers. Upscale lawyer David stumbles, literally, into a less than (much less than) upscale, on the up-and-up law firm. He does manage to get along just fine with less pressure and fewer hours devoted to making others the big bucks. All ends well, so an enjoyable listen.

Rebecca Chome
The Vendetta Defense by Lisa Scottoline
Narrator Name: Kate Burton

Rating the Audio Performance
5
Kate Burton does a wonderful job with her Italian accents and voices for the characters.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
4
The female team of lawyers is working hard again, helping in the trial of one of Mary's father's friends -- one of the many "Tonys". We know the elderly man is guilty of killing ("not murdering") for a crime committed many years ago. Listen as the team works to unravel the many-layered story of Pigeon Tony.

Marilyn
Edge of Eternity by Ken Follett
Narrator Name: John Lee

Rating the Audio Performance
4
Excellent overall but always difficult to do several women's voices.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
4
Seems more distracted those previous.

Linda
LaRose by Louise Erdrich
Narrator Name: Louise Erdrich

Rating the Audio Performance
4
The narrator is the author. She knew what she was doing. She added to the magic and mysticism of this story.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
4
LaRose is the son of a man who shoots at a deer, but instead kills the neighbor's son, Dusty. As retribution, LaRose is given the name, a concept employed because of Native American custom to give of one's self what was deprived by an action taken. Interesting.

Karen W Dhuwalia
The Girls by Emma Cline
Narrator Name: Cady McClain

Rating the Audio Performance
5
The narrator has a very pleasant voice to listen to. She voices each character in a realistic voice. The tempo of her reading reflects the pace of the activities in the novel.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
5
The summer before Evie Boyd goes to boarding school she is very lonely. Her parents have divorced, and they are focusing on their own relationships. Her best friend from elementary school suddenly decides she prefers another girl to be her new best friend. Evie sees a group of girls in old clothes dumpster diving, and she envies their closeness. When her bike breaks down, the girls come along and try to help. They can't help, but they invite her to the farm where they live. It turns out to be a cult whose leader is an aspiring musician. There are lots of girls living on the farm, and the cult leader considers them to be his property. Drugs and alcohol keeps the girls in a haze so they do his bidding even when it is evil.

Karen
The Mistletoe Promise by Richard Paul Evans
Narrator Name: January LaVoy

Rating the Audio Performance
5
The narrator provides a very pleasant performance. Her reading draws the listener into the story. She voices each character believably.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
5
This is a modern day Cinderella story. Elise Dutton has lost in her daughter in a tragic accident, and her philandering husband has divorced her. She is very lonely, especially around the holidays. Nicholas Dare, a man who works in the same building, approaches her with an offer. He is also lonely and wants her to act as his companion for the holidays. She agrees, and he showers her with flowers and other gifts. She enjoys the gifts and his companionship. They are both happier than they have been in many years.

Linda
The Red Bandanna by Tom Rinaldi
Narrator Name: Tom Rinaldi

Rating the Audio Performance
2
The author read his own work. In this case it was not a great idea. I felt as if I've been preached at by a hell and brimstone minister. I think someone else could have done a much better job. The enunciation was okay but the acting, emoting was lacking, in my humble opinion.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
3
The story of a young hero of 9/11. Welles Crowther's story was pieced together months after the tragedy. His red bandanna was the key to identifying his role in saving people's lives.

Dawn
Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J. D. Vance
Narrator Name: J. D. Vance

Rating the Audio Performance
5
I enjoy hearing an author read his own memoir to me. J. D. Vance read with a very classic dialect and clear vocals. He was born and raised in the same area my daddy and my relatives lived and most moved away from as soon as they were old enough to move onward. My daddy lived in West Virginia close to Ohio, Kentucky, and Detroit where he worked when he first graduated from high school until he decided to join the service. What a beautiful area and I enjoyed the emotion in the author's voice. I suggest to anyone who has the technology available to use the app for Audiable/Whispersync so that you can read along as the author reads to you. This is a great way to mark quotes, look up words and even facts online while you are reading.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
5
This is the story of a young man who tells how he rises from a lifelong background of poor and uneducated people living in the rural mountainous areas of the Appalachian mountains where there are not many jobs to have. People go though life uneducated or only slightly educated, but once in a while a person finds his or her way outside into the open world and struggles to succeed in making a better life for family and children. Vance was just one out of many that broke the chains from the area and went into the military and then onto Yale to college. Neither of his parents were educated and his brothers and sisters never finished school. So sometimes people were in just the right place at the right time. You'll meet great folks here.

Lynn
Yes Please by Amy Poehler
Narrator Name: Amy Poehler

Rating the Audio Performance
5
I thought Ms. Poehler did a great job reading the book. I think she made it more entertaining than if I had read the written book.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
3
I wasn't a huge fan of the content itself.

Lynn
Flower Net: A Red Princess Mystery by Lisa See
Narrator Name: Elaina Davis

Rating the Audio Performance
5
I thought the narrator did a good job reading it and slightly changing her voice for the different characters.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
3
This was very different than the other 5 Lisa See's books I've read. It took place in both China and the U.S. and included Chinese customs, but it was "current day" and a murder mystery. SNOWFLOWER AND THE SECRET FAN still remains my favorite of her books.

Tessa B C
Once Upon a River by Bonnie Jo Campbell
Narrator Name: Susan Bennett

Rating the Audio Performance
4
Susan Bennett does a fine job narrating the audio version. She has a tendency to draw an audible breath just before each sentence, and that “breathy” delivery was a distraction until I got used to it. Her pacing was good, and she has enough skill as a voice artist to differentiate the characters.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
3
I hardly know what to write about this novel. Very early on I was disturbed by Margo and the adults around her. I wanted to hug her and keep her safe and warm. And then I wanted to shake her till her teeth rattled. And yet…she is a compelling character and I couldn’t just turn away from her. Still, this is no HUCKLEBERRY FINN. Twain’s central character had a certain innocence about him, which Margo seems to lack.

Robin
The Clancys of Queens by Tara Clancy
Narrator Name: Tara Clancy

Rating the Audio Performance
4
After hearing this author on a panel at Book Riot Live last month, I knew the best way to enjoy her memoir would be listening to the author read her book. It was fantastic.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
4
A slice of American life in Queens, NY growing up in two very different worlds: working class Queens and an estate in the Hamptons. Reads like fiction but it's not. Great story.

Kay
The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware
Narrator Name: Imogen Church

Rating the Audio Performance
4
Occasionally I have problems with British accents but the narrator was very clear and easy to understand. Her Norwegian accent was very good as well.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
1
If I would have had another book to listen to, this one would have gone back to the library. It was extremely slow-moving and nothing started happening until the end of the 6th disc (there were 9). Also, the format of the recording was terrible with tracks being extremely long, 20-40 minutes. And one track was an entire disc. Very hard to find one's place again if machine was shut off. I could not wait for this book to end and be over with; it was annoying and the mystery of the entire story never did grab me. Parts that we're suppose to be heart pounding we're not. Also, if you are claustrophobic find another read. The big reveal at the end was also a let down.

Nancy
A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
Narrator Name: George Newbern

Rating the Audio Performance
4
Newbern used his voice to distinguish between the various characters well.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
4
Delightful story. The book's style of writing matches Ove's flat, matter-of-fact way of thinking, which gave the reader even more insight into his character.

Roe
Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J. D. Vance
Narrator Name: J. D. Vance

Rating the Audio Performance
4
Engaging, interesting voice. Vance brought heart and realism to the performance.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
4
Thought-provoking.

Judy
1788 by Watkin Tench
Narrator Name: Grant Cartwright

Rating the Audio Performance
4
Felt like I was really there with Australia's First Fleet!
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
5
First person, primary source info -- you can't make this up. I'm living in Australia now, and this was a great intro to Australian history!

Victoria
Born a Crime by Trevor Noah
Narrator Name: Trevor Noah

Rating the Audio Performance
5
Trevor Noah is a professional in every sense of the word. Performing his own work lent a deeply personal feel to the audio. Unlike some authors, he is able to use voice and emotion to bring out the best in this book. I highly recommend the audio.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
5
Noah was born under Apartheid to a white father and a black mother, which was a crime at that time. His life's story is at times tragic and difficult, but always told with candor and humor. The backdrop of the story is South Africa itself...complex, turbulent, beautiful. Noah's mother was a force of nature, and his love for her comes through on every page.

Sally
Three Sisters, Three Queens by Philippa Gregory
Narrator Name: Bianca Amato

Rating the Audio Performance
5
Interesting narration of three queens and other characters.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
5
Learned a lot of history about Queen Margaret and her sisters, and Henry at younger age.

Janet
The Mistletoe Secret by Richard Paul Evans
Narrator Name: Richard Paul Evans and Madeleine Maby

Rating the Audio Performance
2
Why, oh why do authors think they should narrate their own books? Reading requires a skill set that Mr. Evans doesn't have. Didn't is dint, the same with couldn't. And he has a slushy quality. Though I finished the audiobook, I was never able to get past his poor narration. I was happy to find a website where I could vent my frustration at having a pleasant story spoiled by the narrator.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
3
The book was a nice holiday story.

Mary Lou
The Enemy by Lee Child
Narrator Name: Dick Hill

Rating the Audio Performance
3
Dick Hill's performance was good, solid narration with excellent pacing, but overall voice quality was not the best. I found it to be middle-of-the-road narration, nothing annoying or distracting, but nothing to make me rave. Is it the job of the narrator to blend into the story without calling attention to him or herself? (If so then Dick Hill probably deserves more stars than I am assigning to his performance.) Or should the narration be an entertainment component in addition to the work being read? Questions to ponder in a longer forum, as I am limited to 750 characters here.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
3
This is the eighth or ninth entry in Lee Child’s Jack Reacher series. I kind of felt meh overall about it, although it had the author’s usual good writing. The plot felt tired and predictable, and at the same time so very complex and difficult to follow with all the military ranks, weapons, maneuvers, jargon. And I thought it was way overlong, which might have been as a result of the narrator’s pace and not necessarily the length of the book. I did enjoy the fleshing out of Jack’s personal backstory, with his mother and brother making appearances and providing history. I would give this one 3.5 stars, broken down to 3.0 for loyalty to the series, and a bump up of .5 for the good writing and interesting backstory.

Adrienne
Lost Among the Living by Simone St. James
Narrator Name: Justine Eyre

Rating the Audio Performance
5
I enjoyed this audio and am using it for our January book club book. Several of us have finished it ahead of time and are looking forward to our discussion with the group. I listened to it several months ago so I am listening once again.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
5
Enjoyed the historical part of the war and this era.

Cindy
Commonwealth by Ann Patchett
Narrator Name: Hope Davis

Rating the Audio Performance
5
Smooth voice but still able to distinguish between characters.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
5
Great story, loved the connection between the siblings. While none were best friends, as adults they were ready and willing to help each other.

Mary
Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty
Narrator Name: Caroline Lee

Rating the Audio Performance
5
Ms. Lee does a super job in her performance and is spot-on in developing voices for each character. The story itself is fun but the narration makes it especially so. Loved this audiobook and have recommended to many.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
5
Great storyline. It is a funny and satirical mystery about motherhood and marriage.

Diane
Wonder by R. J. Palacio
Narrator Name: Diana Steele, Nick Podehl, and Kate Rudd

Rating the Audio Performance
4
Different voices are handled well.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
4
Moving and interesting tale.

Lindsay
After You by Jojo Moyes
Narrator Name: Anna Acton

Rating the Audio Performance
4
The audio was clear and easy to listen to, which really helps when I'm listening in the car.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
3
I loved ME BEFORE YOU and was excited to continue the story. I thought that overall the book was worth my time but was missing some of the character charm that the first book had.

Patricia Miller
The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien
Narrator Name: Rob Inglis

Rating the Audio Performance
4
He did a really good job with the narration! Was very good at doing different voices and made good work of the songs as well.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
3
I had read this book when I was in elementary school but didn't remember much of it at all. It was enjoyable.

Patricia Miller
The Burning Room by Michael Connelly
Narrator Name: Titus Welliver

Rating the Audio Performance
5
I've listened to many of Michael Connelly's books, but this is the first one I've listened to that was narrated by Titus Welliver. He did such an awesome job! I could listen to his voice all day.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
5
Another great book in the Harry Bosch series. I've read all of them to this point and, knowing that I only have a few new ones left, I ration myself as to how fast I can read them. They're so great. Harry is such a wonderful, complex character. And Connelly is so good at writing secondary characters that you just absolutely hate! But I'm convinced that that's part of what makes the books so good. Can't wait to read the next in line.

Karen
Chosen Forever by Susan Richards
Narrator Name: Lorna Raver

Rating the Audio Performance
5
Lorna Raver has a good storytelling voice. It draws the listener in and keeps them listening. Her voice reflects the mental image that I have of the author who is an animal lover, writer and teacher.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
5
The book is an account of Susan Richards' journey from a beloved child to a motherless orphan and finally, as an adult, a successful writer. She has been rejected by her father as well as her extended family, so she avoids relationships with her family. She acquires a rescue horse, and writing about her experiences with the horse finally gets here a book deal. When she does readings for her book, she invites people to attend her readings. This allows her to reconnect with friends and relatives who no longer reject her. It also gives her a greater understanding of her earlier life.

Karen
Woman of God by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro
Narrator Name: Therese Plummer

Rating the Audio Performance
5
Therese Plummer's reading closely matches the activities and action that is happening in the story, from the urgency of operating to save a child's life to getting a playful child ready for church. Listening to her read engages the listener and makes the novel seem real.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
5
The role of women in the Catholic Church is contentious. The rumor of a female pope is enough to insight violence from some male members. Bridgette Fitzgerald is a volunteer doctor with Kind Hands in South Sudan. She is able to save many patients, but is wounded and is sent to Italy for treatment. In Italy she meets a man who is the benefactor of many charities. They marry and have a child, but her husband and child die tragically. Her faith is tested, but she feels she must return to South Sudan. She works in the clinic, but she also helps draw out the general who is terrorizing the people so he can be captured. She returns to Boston to live, marries, has a child. She is very active in the church.

Denise
The Truth According to Us by Annie Barrows
Narrator Name: Ann Marie Lee, Tara Sands, Julia Whelan and others

Rating the Audio Performance
4
I like the variety of voices used. They are realistic for the characters portrayed.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
4
The story is engaging and you are wondering when the whole truth will come out to light. Enjoyable "read".

Francisca E B
Mothers Tell Your Daughters by Bonnie Jo Campbell
Narrator Name: Christina Delaine

Rating the Audio Performance
4
Christina Delaine is a talented voice artist and really brings many of these characters to life. She seems to inhabit the characters, and I believe that she a young girl, or a new mother, or an elderly woman.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
2
I think it was a mistake to read/listen to Campbell’s novel (ONCE UPON A RIVER) back-to-back with this collection of short stories. I can take only so much distress, so much sexual tension and acting out, so much of watching women make bad choice after bad choice, after even worse choice. There were a few stories that were humorous or touching, but most were distressingly dismal and depressing.

Linda Johnson
Slade House by David Mitchell
Narrator Name: Thomas Judd and Tania Rodrigues

Rating the Audio Performance
4
Excellent job by both narrators. Seamless.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
4
You don't know for sure if you want to go to Slade House, but it is enticing and once you get there; you are torn about staying or trying to go home. Many decisions to make. I went along for the ride and enjoyed it. Not for everyone.

Linda
White Trash: The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America by Nancy Isenberg
Narrator Name: Kirsten Potter

Rating the Audio Performance
5
Excellent job by Ms. Potter. Good intonation, enunciation, speed, and volume.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
4
A very interesting history of White Trash through U.S. history. Includes popular references and people that make the reader think about where the line is drawn.

Kimiko
Don't Blink by James Patterson and Howard Roughan
Narrator Name: David Patrick Kelly

Rating the Audio Performance
4
Very suspenseful book in the same vein of all suspenseful James Patterson novels. Had me yelling at the CD to help along the protagonist...that's the essence of a well-written book that inflames your senses and piques your passions.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
3
The narrator had a bit of a gruff voice, but it was still easy to ascertain each individual character. Good attempt by the narrator to show us the different characters of the novel.

Linda
American Heiress: The Wild Saga of the Kidnapping, Crimes and Trial of Patty Hearst by Jeffrey Toobin
Narrator Name: Paul Michael

Rating the Audio Performance
4
Excellent job. Easy to listen to.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
4
I always enjoy Jeffrey Toobin's books. They well researched and well written. This one covers Patty Hearst's kidnapping in 1974 and her subsequent time with the Symbionese Liberation Army and the trial that resulted.

Donna
Our Souls at Night by Kent Haruf
Narrator Name: Mark Bramhall

Rating the Audio Performance
5
Haruf is one of my favorite authors and I had previously read the book. I recently listened to the audiobook and was surprised that the narration seemed to add more layers to an excellent book.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
5
Wonderful story about two aging citizens and their concerns and needs.

Doris
One Summer by David Baldacci
Narrator Name: Ron McLarty and Orlagh Cassidy

Rating the Audio Performance
5
Both the readers did a superior job of bringing life to many different characters. One was a southern accent and another favorite was a marine, motorcycle rider.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
5
ONE SUMMER really has a twist you are not expecting. I don't want to spoil it, but that really makes the story. My husband and I both listened to it together and we both enjoyed it very much.

Evelyn
Great Small Things by Jodi Picoult
Narrator Name: Audra McDonald, Cassandra Campbell, and Ari Fliakos

Rating the Audio Performance
4
Wonderful.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
5
Very relevant in our world of today.

Charries
Love Warrior by Glennon Doyle Melton
Narrator Name: Glennon Doyle Melton

Rating the Audio Performance
5
Endearing, heartfelt and honest in every way.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
5
I love the true awakening of a real person with real problems. Inspired, inspiring, beautiful, honest, powerful, meaningful, helpful and so personal revealing. A raw journey of body image issues translated into a lack of self-esteem, fixating on ways to cope like bulimia, drugs and sex and the baggage this brings into relationships and marriage and motherhood. Overcoming and learning healthier ways to cope and learning to love thyself. Truth, reality, humor, grace and forgiveness. Your history does not define your future. Awesomely written. Speak your truth.

Gerry
Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life by Jon Lee Anderson
Narrator Name: Armando Duran

Rating the Audio Performance
5
Great performance! Clear throughout, with correct Spanish pronunciations of names of people and places.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
4
Well-written and thoroughly researched, this biography was a very good follow-up to my recent visit to Cuba. Che is portrayed as idealistic, brave, sometimes merciless and brutal, but always dedicated to his quest for sweeping social, economic, and political reforms that he hoped would improve the life of the peasants in many parts of Latin America and Africa, and bring freedom from the imperialist control of the U.S. and other western powers.

Gerry
Landfall by Ellen Urbani
Narrator Name: Lisa Renee Pitts

Rating the Audio Performance
5
Vivid narration kept me engaged throughout.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
4
Excellent story about mothers and daughters -- and especially mothers who, despite their faults, care for their daughters as best they can -- all set in the chaos during and after Hurricane Katrina. Well-researched and vividly narrated, LANDFALL gives a powerful glimpse of the severe challenges faced by residents of New Orleans during that crisis.

Gerry
A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
Narrator Name: Nicholas Guy Smith

Rating the Audio Performance
5
The perfect voice to match the main character, an "unrepentent" Russian aristocrat in 1920's Moscow.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
4
This is a very enjoyable story of a suave, erudite Russian aristocrat sentenced in 1922 to lifelong house arrest within the central Moscow hotel that was his residence. His admirable determination to create a meaningful life despite his confinement, and the relationships he develops with other residents and hotel employees form a fascinating thread of a storyline that also covers a half-century of Soviet Russian history.

Gerry
The Edge of Lost by Kristina McMorris
Narrator Name: Charlie Thurston

Rating the Audio Performance
5
Alwyas engaging, good pacing and expression.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
4
Well-structured and engaging story about an Irish immigrant in Depression-era America.

Linda
A Life in Parts by Bryan Cranston
Narrator Name: Bryan Cranston

Rating the Audio Performance
4
Bryan Cranston is an excellent actor and he uses those skills to do a great job of reading his work.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
4
I think highly of Cranston's acting skills. After reading this book, I think as highly of him as a human being. I especially liked his thoughts about getting into character for a part. This man appears to have his head screwed on correctly.

Francisca E B
The Island of Dr. Moreau by H. G. Wells
Narrator Name: Robin Lawson

Rating the Audio Performance
4
Robin Lawson does a fine job performing the audiobook. He has good pacing and gives life to Edward Prendick’s telling of the story.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
4
Wells gives us a horrific tale of a “scientist” determined to shape nature without thought to the consequences. He gives us a strong, philosophical and ethical argument, both for and against, vivisection and experimentation. A moral tale of one man’s descent as a result of his ego, and how he is able to draw others into his twisted way of thinking. And yet, Wells clearly points out that despite man’s meddling, nature will win out. The journey on which Wells takes the reader to arrive at this conclusion is twisted, compelling, dark, and horrific.

Diane
Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
Narrator Name: Jenna Lamia and David LeDoux

Rating the Audio Performance
4
Good, convincing voice.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
4
Well written, fantastical.

Amber
The Art of Hearing Heartbeats by Jan-Philipp Sendker
Narrator Name: Cassandra Campbell

Rating the Audio Performance
4
This was a hard book to listen to, but the narrator kept me listening throughout.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
2
There were a lot of parts that didn't really make sense, specifically the inconsistency of the Tin Win character. There was a lot of descriptive detail but the storyline needed more attention to details to make this book better.

Kelly
The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo by Amy Schumer
Narrator Name: Any Schumer

Rating the Audio Performance
5
Comedy books are best read by the author. This one was no exception. Hilarious stories and musings.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
4
Typical "funny stories from my life" read.

Laurie
The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey
Narrator Name: Debra Monk

Rating the Audio Performance
5
I could hear the snow falling. I could feel the weight in the room of cold dark loneliness of and endless winter. I could feel that excitement and magic of a new child filling the empty space of Mable and Jack. All of this can only be done with the superb narration of Debra Monk. A haunting yet beautiful book.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
5
I loved this book. It might not be for everyone. My sister suggested it to me as she had just finished it. We both adored it as we are New England girls who love the snow. I listened to snow being described in such a beautiful way. I have since read Eowyn Ivey's second novel. It is so completely different from THE SNOW CHILD. She is an author I will be watching for some time.

Helen
One Perfect Word by Debbie Macomber
Narrator Name: Beth DeVries

Rating the Audio Performance
5
Very well done.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
5
I always like Debbie Macomber's work, though I prefer her fiction and this book was not.

Pat
The Perfect Horse by Elizabeth Letts
Narrator Name: Paul Boehmer

Rating the Audio Performance
5
Paul has a very expressive voice which carries all the emotion and action that reveals the harrowing experience of saving the horses from the advancing Russians during WWII. I actually preferred listening to this story rather than reading it.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
5
I am amazed at this story told so brilliantly by Letts of a courageous act of the director of the Austrian famed Spanish Riding School who is determined to save his famous horses from first Hitler then the Russians. With the quick-witted American they achieve the impossible and rescue the horses.

Margaret
Commonwealth by Ann Patchett
Narrator Name: Hope Davis

Rating the Audio Performance
4
Good.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
4
Always love Ann Patchett's books. I would have liked for this one to have the characters named as chapter headings, since the viewpoint (and time frame) changed often.

Kimberly
The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher
Narrator Name: Carrie Fisher and Billie Lourd

Rating the Audio Performance
3
Carrie is passionate but, oh my...too dramatic. I was disappointed by this one.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
2
I am glad I listened to this rather than read. At least I got to hear Carrie tell her story. Trouble is, there was little to tell. I expected to hear a lot more about the making of Star Wars. That was absent. I just love her but she dragged this out far too much. Her affair with Harrison is so uneventful it's boring. I hate to say it but skip this one.

Rezina
The Magic Room by Jeffrey Zaslow
Narrator Name: Sandra Burr

Rating the Audio Performance
5
Sandra does a wonderful job using voice inflections to entertain.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
5
I was very please that this book was not just fluff, romance, love and goo. I didn't personally experience the "wedding gown" buying with my mother or loved ones. I enjoyed hearing others stories with all the drama, heartbreak and sheer joy that was experienced. Jeffrey wove a tapestry about the shop, the owners, the towns people and the brides. It was a wonderful read!

Patricia Miller
That Night by Chevy Stevens
Narrator Name: Jorjeana Marie

Rating the Audio Performance
1
This was perhaps THE single worst narration I have ever had to listen to! I do not understand how Marie ever got cast as a narrator for a book. It baffles me. First off, for a major part of the time, her voice is extremely stuffed up (it literally sounds like she's holding her nose). And aside from that, she's just really very awful at doing voices. For any of the teenage girls, in order to make them sound 'young', she makes them so comically squeaky, that they sound like Minnie Mouse. Truly, truly awful. The only reason I kept listening is because the story was interesting. But I won't listen to another book narrated by her.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
4
This was a real page-turner! Really couldn't wait to see how it all turned out. This was my first time reading Chevy Stephens and I'll definitely be reading more.

Jan
News of the World by Paulette Jiles
Narrator Name: Grover Gardner

Rating the Audio Performance
5
Simply one of the best narration I've listened to this year. Outstanding in every way.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
5
Don't miss this one, my favorite of 2016! 71-year-old Captain Kidd leads a solitary life as he travels to read the news of the world to people living in remote areas of Texas. He likes his solitary life, but accepts a task to deliver 10-year-old Johanna to relatives in San Antonio. She was captured during a raid by the Kiawa Indians and is wild and assimilated into the Kiawa way of life. Their journey is arduous but also humorous as Captain Kidd attempts to teach Johanna the things she will need to know to live in "civilized" society. Watching their relationship grow is sweet and tender. It's no surprise that this was short listed for the 2016 National Book Award.

Candace Brenner
Ophelia and the Marvellous Boy by Karen Foxlee
Narrator Name: Jayne Entwistle

Rating the Audio Performance
4
Wonderful voices.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
4
Engaging story.

Marion
My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry by Fredrik Backman
Narrator Name: Joan Walker

Rating the Audio Performance
5
Read with many beautiful voices. Very artful and entertaining.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
5
Wonderful heartwarming story. Loved A MAN CALLED OVE by Backman, but this story just melted my heart. If you ever cherished a grandparent then this book is a must-read (or listen).

D
Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult
Narrator Name: Rebecca Lowman, Abigail Revasch, Kathe Mazur, and Mark Deakins

Rating the Audio Performance
4
It was interesting to learn about elephants.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
4
It was hard to stop listening.

Linda
Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of Family and Culture Crisis by J. D. Vance
Narrator Name: J. D. Vance

Rating the Audio Performance
4
He lived it. He wrote it. He knows how to tell it.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
4
Vance grew up in a small steel town in Ohio where dysfunctional families, drugs, and unemployment are the norm. He was bounced between family members when his mother fell off the wagon and hoped he wouldn't get noticed by Family Services. An astute observation by someone who managed to avoid the choices of others.

Jill
Moral Defense by Marcia Clark
Narrator Name: Angela Dawe

Rating the Audio Performance
5
Great, you totally got immersed in the character and story.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
5
She is a fun and entertaining author. She keeps some twists and turns in the story without making them so dramatic.

Chris
Modern Romance by Aziz Ansari
Narrator Name: Aziz Ansari

Rating the Audio Performance
5
I think with these self narrated books, it is best to go audio. Who wouldn't want to hear the author describe things in his/her own voice? There are no mispronunciations or bad inflections etc. And Aziz also offers some asides specific to the audio version. He calls us out for being lazy, but he also throws random accents on people he interviewed, well, because he can and he likes the way it sounds. Coupled with a long intro of him just talking about it being an audio version over some low key sex music. The audio version is the way to go...except no graphs and stuff.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
4
Aziz teamed up with some proper researchers, so this book reads like an essay on modern romance, complete with citations, graphs, and statistics. Yeah, nothing like a couple of numbers to really get the juices flowing. But it is not a dry book. Whenever you may think it is getting that way Aziz throws in some smart quip, some tangential joke, some anecdote from his life that supports whatever point is being made. He seems to actually be telling a story, talking to his audience instead of just reporting a collation of facts about modern dating. This makes it interesting.

Lori
This is the Story of a Happy Marriage by Ann Patchett
Narrator Name: Ann Patchett

Rating the Audio Performance
5
The author read the book herself, and I think it helped the listener to appreciate her words and hear them the way she intended. It let me feel like I knew her more to hear her voice.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
5
The book had essays Patchett had written over the years in magazines, for the most part. There were diverse topics, most of which I found very interesting. Fans of her novels should enjoy them as they give additional insight into the author's life.

Melanie S.
Faithful by Alice Hoffman
Narrator Name: Amber Tamblyn

Rating the Audio Performance
4
Amber Tamblyn did a good job conveying the angst of the young adult protagonist. My only issue was with mispronunciation of a couple of local places, which, being from Long Island where the book is set, bothered me a bit. Otherwise, an excellent performance.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
4
Very engaging story of a young woman who falls apart after a tragedy but through the course of the book, which spans ten years, heals and redeems herself. I felt connection to the angst of the main character, who was portrayed in a believable way. This book would appeal to adults but also teens and young adults. Alice Hoffman is a writer with great scope - her books are so different from one another, but yet I have enjoyed all that I have read.

Melanie S.
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
Narrator Name: Dominic Hoffman

Rating the Audio Performance
5
This is truly one of the best audiobook performances I have ever experienced. I am not familiar with Dominic Hoffman as a narrator but I would be excited to hear any other book he narrates. This story spanned from Africa in the 1700s to the present-day United States. He was able to execute tribal voices and current-day African American voices, both men and women, with total credibility. This was a beautiful book made more fantastic by the phenomenal narration. Loved it.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
4
4.5 stars. I really loved this book, which spanned multi-generations. As the story progressed through the many generations, beginning in 1700s Ghana slave trade (I did not know tribes helped the Brittish capture slaves, at times members of rival tribes) and ending in the present day with descendants of these tribal people and slaves. The book was huge in scope; establishing the connection between the characters and generations was quite an undertaking by this debut author. She is definitely one to watch. I highly recommend this book, in either format, but listening was a real treat.

Linda
Smoke by Dan Vyleta
Narrator Name: Allan Corduner

Rating the Audio Performance
5
The perfect amount of suspense in the voice of this Brit to go along with the story.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
4
In Victorian (kinda) England, people smoke. Not cigarettes or pipe or cigars. Smoke, soot, and grit come from people's bodies when they sin. Not everybody does. Some who don't, want to. Some who do, don't want to. I just ate this up. Loved it.

Kay
The Last Days of Night by Graham Moore
Narrator Name: Johnathan McClain

Rating the Audio Performance
5
He did a very good reading. Pleasant voice and intonation.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
5
This is historical fiction and tells the story of the invention of the light bulb, among various other things. The contentious relationship of George Westinghouse and Thomas Edison is related thru Westinghouses' lawyer. Edison continually suing others about infringing on his inventions. Then enter Nicholai Tessla, a true genius, but today would have been diagnosed with some severe form of mental illness. There's an interesting love story as well. This was a most interesting and engaging story.

Linda
Truevine: Two Brothers, a Kidnapping, and a Mother's Quest: A True Story of the Jim Crow South by Beth Macy
Narrator Name: Suzanne Toren

Rating the Audio Performance
5
Competent, assured, well-read.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
4
How could anyone do this kind of thing? Albino negro brothers are stolen from a tobacco field and spend 28 years away from their family as sideshow curiosities for well-known circuses at the turn of the 20th century. The family fought in the courts to get the, now, men home and paid for their time in the circuses. Not something easy to do in the 1920s in the south.

Lonnie
Thrice the Brinded Cat Hath Mew'd by Alan Bradley
Narrator Name: Jayne Entwistle

Rating the Audio Performance
5
Jayne does Flavia de Luce perfectly! I cannot imagine any other performer narrating this book series.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
5
Flavia is back home in England, and almost immediately discovers a body. Her sleuthing is fascinating and entertaining as always.

Elizabeth
The Son by Jo Nesbo
Narrator Name: Gildart Jackson

Rating the Audio Performance
4
Good voice, easy to listen to. I found the voice the best part of the book.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
3
3.75 is my rating. This is not a book for a faint of heart. It is full of murder, drug abuse and violence, so if you are not up for that pass. Sonny Lofthus is a strangely charismatic and quiet young man. Sonny’s been in prison for a dozen years, nearly half his life. The inmates who seek out his uncanny abilities to soothe leave his cell feeling absolved. They don’t know or care that Sonny has a serious heroin habit—or where or how he gets his uninterrupted supply of the drug. Or that he’s serving time for other peoples’ crimes. This novel has many twist and turns and in the end you root for Sonny.

Linda
West with the Night by Beryl Markham
Narrator Name: Julie Harris

Rating the Audio Performance
5
Julie Harris always did everything very well. This is no different.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
4
Memoir of Beryl Markham, British bush pilot, horse trainer, adventurer. Well written, easily draws the reader in, painting beautiful pictures of Markham's life.

Linda
Donny's Brain by Rona Munro
Narrator Name: Paul Fox, Jared Harris, Siobhan Hewlett, Moira Quirk, and Sophie Winkleman

Rating the Audio Performance
5
The cast did an excellent job of playing their parts. Like listening to a play, but, that is what this was.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
3
The story of a man who suffers traumatic brain injury. Confusion and retrograde information evoke sympathy for the man in the hospital bed. He's not married to whom he remembers he's married to. And then, there's the ending that puts everything I heard before in question. It was 4 stars until that point. Now, I'm confused along with Donny so I gave it 3 stars. Maybe another listen will bring it back up.

Mary Lou
The Trespasser by Tana French
Narrator Name: Hilda Fay

Rating the Audio Performance
2
Ms. Fay did a great job with the various characters, making it really easy to know who was talking. The reason for only two stars is the Irish accent was so thick I often had no clue what she was saying. It was very frustrating. If I listened on my dock, it was almost a waste of time. If I used my earbuds, the listening was better, but still I missed a lot of what was said. I will not listen to another book with this narrator for this reason.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
5
This is one of my favorite authors. She uses words like an artist uses color - the squad room, the gaf’s office, the weather, the characters’ internal mood and thoughts. Antoinette Conway is the first woman in the detective’s homicide squad, and she is tested by her peers relentlessly, but her worst critic resides right inside her hot tempered but brilliant head. Her partner is Steve Moran, a great guy, really smart in his own right, and sometimes a saint for what he puts up with from his partner. They catch the murderer of a beautiful woman, and the unraveling of the plot, the procedural of a murder investigation, the undertones of corruption on the force, all of it combines to make one hell of a story. Set in Dublin, this one is a winner.

Jerry
Night School by Lee Child
Narrator Name: Dick Hill

Rating the Audio Performance
5
Wonderful book, good plot, takes Jack Reacher back to his early years. Dick Hill was great.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
5
Outstanding story, takes Jack Reacher back to his early days.

Gerry
What She Left Behind by Ellen Marie Wiseman
Narrator Name: Tavia Gilbert

Rating the Audio Performance
4
Nice narration, no issues of concern.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
3
Of the two stories that come together in this novel, the tale of Claire's banishment to an insane asylum when she refused to follow her parents' wishes and marry the man they had chosen for her was the far more interesting. Izzy's story, and the unpleasant teenagers who surrounded her, seemed less realistic and too contrived. But the sweet happily-ever-after ending felt satisfying.

Gerry
NPR Holiday Favorites by Susan Stamberg (introduction)
Narrator Name: Various authors

Rating the Audio Performance
5
Love to hear authors reading their own works!
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
3
A mix of pieces that made a nice accompaniment to my gift-wrapping session this year.

Debbie
The Guest Room by Chris Bohjalian
Narrator Name: Mozhan Marno and Grace Experience

Rating the Audio Performance
4
The narrators did a very good job with the voices of Alexandra and Richard Chapman (and the Chapman family). The voice of Alexandra, especially, made you want to hold her close and save her.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
5
Bohjalian does a very good job with a terrifying subject -- human sex trafficking. There are parts of this book that are very difficult to listen to, especially the victimization of Alexandra and her companions who face the terror of being "sex slaves."

Debbie
A Rule Against Murder by Louise Penny
Narrator Name: Ralph Cosham

Rating the Audio Performance
5
Cosham is the perfect Armand Gamache. I love this character, and I will always hear Cosham's voice whenever I think of him.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
5
I am so glad that someone introduced me to Louis Penny and Chief Inspector Armand Gamache. All of the ones that I have read so far (starting with the most recent and then returning to the first and so far reading the first four) are smart mysteries with well-developed plots and characters. All of Penny's characters are multidimensional and fascinating people and Three Pines -- well, I just want to live there!

Linda
The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man by James Weldon Johnson
Narrator Name: Alan Bomar Jones

Rating the Audio Performance
5
Excellent, excellent, excellent. Even the few bars of songs were well done.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
5
This fiction book was originally published anonymously in 1912. It was re-published in 1927. In doing some research, I discovered it is considered a roman á clef - fictionalized account of events that actually happened. A lot of room for thought and reflection. The person telling the story was able to "pass" as a white person and therefore able to see both sides of race relations in the very early 20th century. A must-read.

Deborah
All Things New by Lynn Austin
Narrator Name: Robin Miles

Rating the Audio Performance
4
This story is set in the American South, just after the Civil War. The narrator did a good job in giving the characters the appropriate Southern accents, but not over exaggerating them. She also handled the speech patterns of the character who had a Quaker background pretty well. Her appropriate use of accents added to the listening experience as it made the setting and time period "come alive" in my mind.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
4
The author uses the post-Civil War time period to explore the lives of a Southern family and an African American family who were formerly enslaved by the white family. Both are faced with great changes and how they handle those changes and learn to embrace the new things God is doing in their lives is the major theme. A reader looking for strict historical accuracy will probably quibble with the way the author manages to resolve the conflicts so speedily and handily, but those who enjoy a mostly happy ending will appreciate the way she ties things up at the end. It is an Inspirational Fiction book, but it does take a hard look at some of the realities of the time like racism and violence against African Americans.

Richard N B
The Geography of Genius by Eric Weiner
Narrator Name: Eric Weiner

Rating the Audio Performance
4
Weiner reads the audiobook himself. He clearly has a passion for the subject, which is especially evident in the epilogue.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
3
The subtitle is all the synopsis you need: A Search for the World’s Most Creative Places, from Ancient Athens to Silicon Valley. Weiner explores the culture of various cities and eras that resulted in an environment that fostered genius. It’s an interesting book, but not a particularly compelling one, and there were times when I just zoned out. Still, I learned a little about a variety of subjects.

Sherri
Whole Lotta Trouble by Stephanie Bond
Narrator Name: Gabra Zackman

Rating the Audio Performance
3
Zackman gave a good, steady performance. While her technique felt more like a really good reading than a true "performance," her sultry tone felt intimate, like she was sharing a tale with girlfriends over drinks. A solid performance.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
4
I truly enjoyed Ms. Bond's story of publishing shenanigans. I was outside my normal genre, in terms of what I listen to. So refreshing to listen to a story for the pure fun of the tale. Looking forward to more entries from Bond. The perfect blend of sugar and spice and sexy and nice.