Tag Archives: abridged

The Collectors by David Baldacci

Posted by melydia on September 6, 2011 None comments

The Collectors by David Baldacci (abridged audiobook read by Tom Wopat and Maggi-Meg Reed; 6 hrs on 5 discs): A Congressman is assassinated, then shortly thereafter an employee at the Library of Congress dies under mysterious circumstances. His friends start looking into the case and soon find themselves running for their own lives. At the same time, a woman is running a high-stakes con at a well-fortified casino. This is technically the second Camel Club book, but I didn’t once feel lost or confused having not read the first installment. My favorite parts all took place within the Library of Congress, as I’ve never visited any of its reading rooms or rare book collections (you don’t see many books on the regular tour). The suspense was pleasantly constant, the characters likable and distinct, and the ending satisfying while making way for the next book in the series. A nice piece of entertainment.

A note on the audio: Wopat did an excellent job. Reed was quite good as well, though I was a little confused as to why a second narrator was brought in to voice a single character. The abridgement was fine and I never felt like I was missing anything. Over all, I enjoyed it quite a bit.

Also posted on BookCrossing.

The Nanny Diaries by Nicola Kraus and Emma McLaughlin

Posted by melydia on June 7, 2010 None comments

The Nanny Diaries by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus (abridged audiobook read by Julia Roberts): College senior Nanny takes a job as – you guessed it – a nanny for Grayer, the son of the extremely wealthy Mr. and Mrs. X. The Xes turn out to be every nanny’s worst nightmare: rich, snobbish, and completely self-absorbed. It’s actually strikingly similar to The Devil Wears Prada, except that I actually had sympathy for the narrator here. There’s a child involved, so she really can’t just quit. Nanny is actually quite graceful and professional in the face of such torment. The use of aliases like “X” and “Nanny” is an interesting device, making it sound more like nonfiction, except that everyone else in the book has a regular name. I don’t know that I’d seek out other books by these authors, but this one was decent.

On the audio version: Roberts is an okay narrator, but it took me a while to get into the groove of her slightly too-fast monotone.

Also posted on BookCrossing.

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