Tag Archives: audio

Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld

Posted by melydia on September 6, 2013 2 comments

Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld (unabridged audiobook read by Julie Dretzin; 17.75 hours on 15 discs): This is, in a nutshell, Lee Fiora’s experiences attending boarding school near Boston after growing up in South Bend. It’s more a collection of anecdotes than a single narrative, but that’s pretty much what high school is after all: a series of events with no ultimate cohesion or story arc. Which is fine, as far as that goes, but I personally found this book absolutely excruciating most of the time, as Lee embodies many of my worst traits as a teenager. She’s awkward and self-absorbed and petty and miserable. And as familiar as her attitude was to me, I had very little sympathy for someone who chose this life for herself. No one forced her to do this. But you know what? Part of me thinks this may be a book like Catcher in the Rye, where you really have to read it at a certain age. Maybe, had I been 16 when I read this, I would have really liked it. As a 34-year-old, I really didn’t.

Also posted on BookCrossing.

Incarceron by Catherine Fisher

Posted by melydia on August 23, 2013 None comments

Incarceron by Catherine Fisher (unabridged audiobook read by Kim Mai Guest; 11 hrs 37 min on 10 CDs): So there’s this gigantic prison, enclosed to the point where its inhabitants aren’t even sure the outside even exists, where everyone is poor and savage. Finn believes he was born outside, though he cannot prove it. Elsewhere, Claudia lives in a world of “protocol” that forces everyone to live like it’s sometime in the 1800s. She’s the daughter of the highly political Warden of Incarceron, and as such she is betrothed to a bratty prince she hates. While I kind of enjoyed not knowing who all was telling the truth or what exactly was real (Is Claudia really outside or is she in Incarceron without knowing it? If not, where is this gigantic prison located?), the characters were kind of flat and the plot was kind of boring. Maybe someone else might get swept up in this world, but I spent much of my time waiting for everyone to just get on with it.

A note on the audio: I question the wisdom of hiring an American narrator when all the characters speak with British accents. Especially when said narrator isn’t especially good at said accents.

Also posted on BookCrossing.

Dragon’s Keep by Janet Lee Carey

Posted by melydia on August 16, 2013 None comments

Dragon’s Keep by Janet Lee Carey (unabridged audiobook read by Bianca Amato; 9.25 hrs on 8 discs): Princess Rosalind is born with a dragon’s talon where her ring finger should be. This is a potentially devastating secret in a land often tormented by dragons. To hide her deformity, her mother makes her wear gloves at all times as she desperately searches for a cure. When Rosalind is taken by the dragon to become nursemaid to his children, everything changes. This was a pleasant fairy tale with plenty of action and sympathetic characters. I liked it as an adult, but I would have loved it as a child. It has all the makings of an excellent legend. Glad I picked this one up.

Also posted on BookCrossing.

Dragons of the Dwarven Depths by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman

Posted by melydia on June 4, 2013 None comments

Dragons of the Dwarven Depths by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman (unabridged audiobook read by Sandra Burr; 15 hours on 13 discs): If you miss the companions from the first DragonLance novels, this is the book for you. They’re all back, as this takes place between the first and second books of the original Chronicles trilogy. Our heroes have freed the slaves at Pax Tharkas and now find themselves with 800 refugees and nowhere to spend the fast approaching winter. It was kind of a fun walk down memory lane, but honestly I’m just not all that interested in Dwarven politics or Tanis’s angst. Don’t get me wrong – seeing Flint and Tasslehoff bicker is a hoot, and Raistlin’s scheming is always fun. I’m just not attached to the original trilogy enough to be drawn back in.

A note on the audio: Burr’s narration was kind of meh. She seemed to stumble over the unusual names, and her ridiculous voice for Tasslehoff was nigh unforgivable. I also question the wisdom of having a woman narrate a story with at least 80% male characters. It was enough that I decided not to listen to the rest of the trilogy.

Also posted on BookCrossing.

Blackout and All Clear by Connie Willis

Posted by melydia on May 31, 2013 None comments

Blackout and All Clear by Connie Willis (unabridged audiobook read by Katherine Kellgren; 43 hrs on 36 discs): These are actually two separate books, but they are a continuation of the same story and you really can’t read one without the other, so I’m reviewing them together.

In the future, historians study history by traveling through time and witnessing events first hand. They go incognito, with false identities and backstories, and when their assignments are up they return to the “drop,” the portal back to their own time. This is the story of three such Oxford students in World War II: Mike visiting the rescue at Dunkirk, Eileen studying evacuated children, and Polly working as a shopgirl during the London Blitz. One by one, they discover that their drops will no longer open and they are stuck in the past, in a country under attack. Back in Oxford, young Colin and Professor Dunworthy are scrambling to figure out the problem with the drop and find their students. I fully admit to a lack of knowledge of the English homefront during WWII. I didn’t know anything about the Blitz or the shelters or the sheer extent of the bomb damage. And all that was fascinating (and distressing, of course), but what really kept me enthralled were the characters. I loved Sir Godfrey the slightly snobby Shakespearean actor, Earnest and his adventures inflating tank decoys, and the party-obsessed FANYs – and I loved to hate the horrible Hodbins. As in all of Willis’s books, there is plenty of suspense, drama, and humor, and I loved every minute of it. It really should have been one book, but I guess that would have made the binding rather unwieldy. Definitely recommended, even if you’re not a WWII buff (which I certainly am not).

A note on the audio: Kellgren’s narration was marvelous, but I was especially impressed with her American accent.

American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis

Posted by melydia on May 7, 2013 1 comments

American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis (unabridged audiobook read by Pablo Schreiber; 16.5 hrs on 14 discs): Patrick Bateman is a Wall Street yuppie in the late 1980s. He is also a brutal serial killer. There are several recurring themes here (and when I say recurring, I mean it is mentioned at least thirty times): returning video tapes, the Patty Winters Show, deciding where to have dinner, cocaine, all yuppie men are interchangeable and everyone is constantly mistaken for everybody else, women are clueless and needy, tanning, going to the gym, alcohol, decaffeinated espresso (I know – what?), excessive luxury, and brand names, brand names, brand names. I cannot stress that last one enough: Bateman describes every single person’s outfit by brand name and sometimes even the department store where it was purchased. There are scenes of extremely graphic sex, usually followed by scenes of extremely graphic violence. I’m not a very sensitive person, but there were a few times when I was seriously worried about losing my lunch. Now, there are some amusing bits. I kind of liked the overly dramatic business card comparison. The random chapters of musical critique (Whitney Houston, Huey Lewis & the News, and Genesis) were interesting but I haven’t a clue why they were included (though in the movie they are used as lectures while killing people, which is actually kind of funny). My main issue with this book is that absolutely nothing happens. Seriously: the same thing happens chapter after chapter after chapter and there is no progression of plot, no change in any of the characters. This could have been a short story and still gotten its point across. A waste of time.

A note on the audio: Schreiber was excellent. The book, not so much. I’ve never wished I could skim an audiobook more than this one.

Also posted on BookCrossing.

Every Day by David Levithan

Posted by melydia on April 23, 2013 None comments

Every Day by David Levithan (unabridged audiobook read by Alex McKenna; 8.5 hrs on 7 discs): I have very mixed feelings about this book. It says some very good things about acceptance, sexuality, and gender identity. It also says some very bad things about how to pursue a love interest. Every morning, A wakes up in the body of a different person, able to access their memories but not their emotions or consciousness. (Note: though A has no gender and inhabits both male and female bodies with equal ease, I will use male pronouns to make typing less cumbersome.) The body is always roughly his same age, and he lives in it only until midnight before moving on. (Though the switch happens at midnight, A always wakes up the next morning, implying that these kids never stay up past midnight or something.) He has no control over these switches, and mostly acts in order to make as little impact on the body’s life as possible – until one day when he inhabits the body of Justin, boyfriend of Rhiannon. A falls in love with Rhiannon, becomes convinced that she loves him too, and turns the lives of his subsequent hosts upside-down in his attempts to win her over, pretty much stalking her until she gives in. A few times I wanted to shout at A, “Just leave her alone already!” It was like A was completely incapable of having a conversation with Rhiannon that didn’t focus on his love for her and how Justin wasn’t good enough for her and blah blah blah. Yes, I know that teenagers are obsessive like that, but it got kind of tiresome. I wish the story had done more with Nathan and the Reverend, exploring the science fiction side of A’s existence as a wandering soul, but its narrow focus on the complicated romance rarely wavered. On the bright side, the writing was superb, and A’s experiences in so many different kinds of lives (from drug addict to immigrant house cleaner to transgendered person) were compelling, believable, and memorable. I also did really appreciate A’s views of gender identity and unconditional love, and Rhiannon’s reactions were quite realistic. Yes, there are people out there who could fall in love with someone who looked completely different every single day, but could you? The ending was dissatisfying, though I suppose it was good that A finally appeared to mature a little bit, even if he still couldn’t seem to muster any respect for his host bodies. I kind of hope there’s a sequel, if only to explore the premise a bit more and lay off the teen romance a tad.

A note on the audio: McKenna’s raspy voice took some getting used to, but ultimately it really worked.

Also posted on BookCrossing.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

Posted by melydia on April 19, 2013 None comments

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie (unabridged audiobook read by the author; 5 hrs on 5 discs): I’ve never encountered a book so emotional. I went from laughing to crying to laughing in mere minutes. This is a “semi-autobiographical” novel, in that much of what happens to Arnold “Junior” Spirit, the protagonist and narrator, also happened to Alexie as a child. The frankness of a 14-year-old boy was often hilarious, while the tragedy of racism and alcoholism was simply heart-breaking. The ending was hopeful and satisfying, though, and I think this is an important book for children to read to introduce them to another lifestyle, or to remind them that they’re not alone. I’ve never lived near a reservation nor known anyone who lived on one, so this was quite an eye-opening account. I am definitely going to have to track down some of Alexie’s other works.

A note on the audio: It took me about twenty minutes to acclimate to Alexie’s somewhat unusual cadence, but after that it became a wonderful addition to the experience. However, I understand there are illustrations and comics in the actual book, so I’ll have to get my hands on a paper copy at some point.

Blue Moon by Alyson Noel

Posted by melydia on April 9, 2013 None comments

Blue Moon by Alyson Noel (unabridged audiobook read by Katie Schorr; 8 hrs on 7 discs): Blarg. When we last saw them, Ever and Damon were both immortal and Damon’s evil ex was out of the picture for good. Now Damon’s pressuring Ever into sex (he has been waiting four hundred years to bed her, after all) but she’s all caught up in the fact that he has four hundred years of conquests under his belt while she’s still a 16-year-old virgin. A new guy named Roman shows up and everybody except Ever loves him (she’s totally suspicious); Damon starts getting sick for some reason; and the whole thing is just kind of exasperating. I’d worried that the series would move toward omg twu wuv and away from the parts that were actually interesting in the first book, and so it has. It ends on a sort-of cliffhanger, and I found I simply did not care. I won’t be going out of my way to continue the series.

Also posted on BookCrossing.

The Fourth Bear by Jasper Fforde

Posted by melydia on April 5, 2013 None comments

The Fourth Bear by Jasper Fforde (unabridged audiobook read by Simon Vance; 11 hrs on 9 discs): Oh, goodness, I’m not even sure where to start. The Gingerbread Man is a psychotic killer who escapes from jail. Goldilocks is found dead in a partly-finished WWI theme park. Sinister events plague the cutthroat world of competitive cucumber-growing. Bears deal in illicit porridge paraphernalia. Punch and Judy are marriage counselors. The whole thing is absolutely ridiculous, but Detective Jack Spratt is on the case. I got quite a few chuckles out of this one, but most of the really good laughs were from the excerpts from The Barkshire Bumper Book of Records at the beginning of each chapter. If you’re familiar with nursery rhymes and enjoy absurd humor, you’ll probably enjoy this one. I don’t know how well it stands on its own, but as the sequel to The Big Over Easy it’s quite entertaining. Too bad Fforde hasn’t written any more in this series.

A note on the audio: The first book in this series, The Big Over Easy, was narrated by Simon Prebble. Previously I’d only heard Vance read more serious books, like The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. It was fun listening to him read this bit of silliness, but I’m not sure how I would have felt if I’d listened to the books back to back.

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