Audiobook brings "The Girls" to life
583004
Gone are the days of "family reading" on a regular basis; instead, it's a lot of back and forth to school and activities. So that's why I've gotten into the habit of playing audiobooks during those car rides. My daughters don't complain, they leave their Gameboys at home, and we get to talk about the books we hear together.
As the mom of a 9 yr. old and 11 yr. old, "The Girls" in audiobook form was perfect for the car. You can listen to a chapter in a single trip, and shut the tape/CD off and talk about what's just happened. The story's told by a different girl in each chapter, and all the voices lived up to their characterizations.
Candace was snide and flippant and excellent as the leader of the group; Renee was slow and thoughtful and her confusion about the whole situation was made even more powerful by the separation of her parents and the pain she was going through - you could hear so much of what was going on inside just by the tone in her voice; Brianna was every bit the actress and daughter of her well-educated parents; Darcy was wonderful as Candace's best friend and "enforcer" - her voice revealed her insecurities even as she was being cruel to her "victims"; and Maya had the right note of sadness and loss to her chapters - she sounded younger and more naive than the others, and it came through in her voice.
This is a great audiobook to get for longer car trips as well. No more fighting over which music CD we listen to! Amy Goldman Koss tells the story of exclusion and group behavior very convincingly, and the audiobook from Full Cast Audio brings it to life with actual teenage girls as the narrators. Give it a try!
1075165
My review deals less with the story and more with the quality of this audio book, for those looking for that information in particular.

I borrowed this 12 CD unabridged audio from the library. Frances Barber is the perfect narrator. She is a distinguished British theater and TV actress, and a singer. Her accent is lovely and easy for an American to understand.
Barber makes the audio book shine. Mansfield Park features many diverse characters. It is impossible to have a totally separate voice for each, but some do have one. Barber's portrayal of Fanny Price, Lady Bertram and Mrs. Norris in particular are masterful. Fanny sounds quiet and timid, Lady Bertram's voice is wispy, vague and unfocused, while Mrs. Norris is loud, annoying and officious. Other characters, lacking a separate accent of their own, are well distinguished by Barber's fine intonation. She conveys emotion very nicely, bringing them alive. This is difficult to do in a book with so very many characters to portray.

As to my opinion of the story...Well, in some places, mostly in the beginning, the story drags. Austen could have pared down those boring, drawn out sections without losing the point she is making. One example of this is the extended arguments and discussions about whether to stage a play, what play to perform, and who gets which part.
(By the way..."Lovers' Vows", the play in question, is a REAL play. Austen assumes the reader of MP will be familiar with the play and understand why it is an unsuitable choice for the young people to stage. I was delighted to discover it was real, as no part of the play is actually spoken in MP. The play is available online. One will also wish to investigate what a ha-ha is before reading the book.)

Many seem to find Fanny particularly annoying. I would have to agree that she can be so. However, Fanny is like the center of a wheel in this story. The spokes - everyone else - revolve around her and provide the main action. One must judge Fanny by the times and her personal situation. She came from a family where her parents and all but one sibling cared nothing about her, and moved in at 10 years old with her rich relations. There, she again finds but one real friend. Her adoptive family grinds down her already poor self-esteem. One cannot expect her to be like Austin's spunky heroines. Indeed, were that so, she would be thoroughly unbelievable. Fanny is a product of her situation and her own disposition. Any show of strength on her part would have been met with a further and harsher pounding down by the Bertrams. She is an interesting character study, and I for one appreciate her being of a different type than Austen's usual. I don't like to read the same thing over and over.

If you are inclined to "read" this story, this audio set is highly recommended. Just remember, the slower portions are towards the beginning.
2705416
I really don't think there's an audiobook where a reader has so perfectly complimented the book he reads. Sir Cyril Ritchard's voice is engaging enough to prevent listeners from drifting off at all, as opposed to most audiobooks in my experience, which I usually have to rewind in spots because I forgot to pay attention. This recording is good for the whole family; it was my wife's favorite to listen to as a child, and I'm sure many other children will fall in love with characters like Alice, the mouse, the Cheshire Cat, or the Mock Turtle through this audio recording.
3075829
Unfortunately, I have not read the books and don't have time to.  I have just recently started listening to audio books on my long commute.  This unabridged version has to be the next best thing to actually reading it.  The reader has a good range in his voice to distinguish different characters and it never sounds dry or dull.  The story really draws you in and seems so real that you want more.  I wanted to listen to this before I see the movie, which I'm going to do this weekend because I'm almost finished.  There is no doubt that I will be buying the next audio book next week so I can continue the story.  This is very entertaining all the way through the 20 hours of listening and I recommend it without reservation.
3642997
Id love for my daughter to listen to this on Audible!
4066977
I must say I really enjoy listening to this book. Anne Hathaway does a fantastic job bringing it to life. Well worth the price. I only wish I could find more audio books of this quality.
2924109
Generally when it comes to books, I'm a reader, not a listener. I like turning pages and looking at the pretty pictures, okay? But a friend was insistent on giving me a couple of audiobooks for Christmas, I'd been wanting to read Kicking and Dreaming, and when I saw it was read by Ann and Nancy themselves, I was sold.

Nancy's voice is sweet, and she has a way of inflecting sentences in the MIDdle, almost as if they are a QUEStion. Ann's voice is richer and lower in timbre, but was also somewhat raspy, and I wondered if she recorded her narration with a cold.

There are also sections read by their sister Lynn, and by others, like their co-songwriter Sue Ennis, and the band's former manager (and Ann's ex) Mike Fisher, lead guitarist (and Nancy's ex) Roger Fisher, Howard Leese, and more. It surprised me a bit that the exes would cooperate to the point of recording audio material.

Memorable Moments - so many:

Ann and Nancy didn't want to be the Beatles' girlfriends, like their friends did - they wanted to BE the Beatles; to play their own music, write their own songs, to be feminine and sexy and powerful.

K & S discusses Ann's struggles with her weight going back to pre-adolescence, and the pressure this put upon her, and the band - as if the ONLY accepted standard of beauty is thin, and the only measure of musical quality for a femme-led band is not voice, nor songwriting quality, nor musical performance, but the size and shape of the female members.

Ann talking frankly about her love/obsession for Michael Fisher. Quitting the band and taking off for Canada (whence M. Fisher had gone to escape the Vietnam draft), and living with him in a little round house over a stream, in a bed built on driftwood branches.

Nancy and her own similar but differing ideas and in the end, determination to find her own way.

* The intriguing details about the Magazine album, and finishing it under armed guard.
* I loved hearing about the "birth" of one of my favorite songs, Mistral Wind.
* The many stars who tried (and failed) to bed the Wilson sisters, either separately or together.
* Ann referring to "the song writing me," something I often feel about a story.
* The glimpses of the birth of the Seattle grunge movement, and Ann as one of its "mothers," down to sheltering its stars in her home and (platonically) in her bed.
* I cannot now remember which Heart band member wore unitards so as to show off his third nipple.
* The birth of the Lovemongers acoustic group.
* The 1995 official Heart hiatus as Nancy needed to work on babymaking.

I suspect that genuine Heart fanatics who've followed every Rolling Stone and Circus and fanzine interview may feel like there's nothing genuinely new here. But for those like me, who genuinely enjoy the music, but haven't hung onto every interview beyond the lyrics, there's a lot of insight here. It's also a fascinating look at the growth and changes in the music industry over the decades.
1763443
This is actually the first audiobook I've had that wasn't a BBC play but used different voices for different characters. It made listening a real pleasure, esp. as it got rid of the "he said," "she said." One narrator for the rest of the book not in quotations. It's an early Follett and a WWII spy adventure with some (limited) basis in fact. A wonderful read/listen. I only wish they had Key to Rebecca on audiobook. It's another worthy early Follett WWII adventure/spy story.
2211577
I listened to this as an audiobook on a long car ride. Made the trip go quickly; I was completely absorbed.

Normally I would steer clear of books with boys-behaving-badly premises like this. They're often misogynistic and sexist. But I'm a big fan of Bohjalian's, and I figured he'd handle the topic well. He did. In 'The Guest Room,' he explores the world of human trafficking and shows how even seemingly benign actions can have terrible consequences.

It's not a comfortable topic, but it's an important one, and Bohjalian's ability to write from a female's perspective--especially given the subject matter--is impressive.

A word on the audiobook's narration too: I thought it was top-notch. Choosing female narrators was a good idea for this book, and I like that there were two: one for Alexandra's character and one for all the others. The latter was Mozhan Marno, an actress on 'The Blacklist', and I thought she was fantastic.
1181601
AudioBook Review:  Stars: Overall 5 Narration  5 Story 5

Fiona Wood is one of those authors who simply gets it. Her ability to present the mistakes, social awkwardness, concerns, fears and even joys that everyone can relate to from growing up. Not that everyones story is the same, but the ability to present characters that are understandable and compelling, whether or not you agree with their choices, makes this book very readable (or an easy listen). Using a male perspective and narrator for this story just increase the intrigue and unique quality of this story.

Dan has had a fairly easy go of life until this year, and then everything went pear shaped. His father has up and declared himself gay, just before the bankruptcy of his business. Creditors have taken over the family home, turfing Dan, his mother and Howard the dog, Hes got to leave his private school and friends, and of course, the humiliation.  Fortunately for Dan and his mother, her aunt Adelaide has left them her very large, very strange museum of a house.

Quite a bit to deal with, either as an adult or a teen, but Dan manages to muddle through after a few very rough chapters. Hes smart, hes caring and has a sense of humor that is both age appropriate and quite advanced for his tender years.  Oh and did I mention the girl next door who is the focus of his very simple affections? Yeah, Dan was adorable and compelling, wonderfully complex character who is desperately trying to pull himself together and adjust his behavior to fit the new circumstances.

Narration for this story is provided by David Atlas, and the use of a male narrator for the young teenaged Daniel works beautifully, without sounding too mature or disintegrating into the juvenile.  He uses tone and delivery to present Dans words, his keen observations and moments to great effect, the story is a pleasure to listen to.

All of the characters are wonderfully drawn, from Dans mother who is also trying to find her way along a path so very different from the one she envisioned.  Then there is Howard the dog: like most dogs hes pretty malleable, but it is his psychotherapists demeanor that is intriguing, and the recipient of Dans innermost thoughts as he works through his world. Using a list of Six Impossible Things that need immediate action to set his world to rights, the story builds to present a wonderful tale of overcoming the obstacles that life tosses at you with humor, support and a perspective that is far more adult than a boy of 14 is expected to have.  A wonderful read or listen.

I received an audiobook copy of the title from Hachette Audio for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility
3709036
I am just beginning to listen to this book and am excited about it.  I plan to recommend it to both of my daughters and several nieces.  What I want to know is why, when this book was written by a woman in a society that is struggling to encourage women and girls to excel in science, math and computer science, did you chose to have it narrated by a male voice?  It would have been some much more inspiring if it had been read by a woman.  Please consider publishing this again with a woman reading.  The subliminal message to women and girls by failing to have a female narrator are worth considering don't you think?!!!
3059003
Title: Girl in Snow
Author: Danya Kukafka
Read by: Kirby Heyborne, Jacques Roy, and Candace Thaxton
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
Length: Approximately 9 hour and 13 minutes
Source: Simon & Schuster Audio Digital Review Copy  Thank-you!

High school it girl Lucinda is found with a broken neck next to the elementary school carousel in a small town in Colorado.  Who would have murdered Lucinda and why?  This story is told through the perspectives of three very different people.  But like all small towns, their story arcs are connected in more ways than they could have imagined.

Cameron Whitley is very socially awkward.  A quiet soul who loves art, he also loves to play statue nights and walk around the neighborhood hiding as a statue and watching families through their windows, in particular, he loves to watch the beautiful Lucinda. Was he Lucindas stalker or a misunderstood youth?  Camerons father was a cop who went bad and left town years ago, but the town has not forgotten.

Russ Fletcher is a cop and former partner of Camerons father.  He is investigating the death of Lucinda and finds himself entrenched in the story with his brother-in-law Ivan, the school night time janitor a suspect, as well as his former partners son, whom he promised to protect.  Will he be able to find the true killer as well as the truth about himself?

Jade Dixon-Burns was once Lucindas friend, but now considers herself her enemy.  Lucinda not only stole her baby sitting job, but also the boy she loved.  With backyards that abut, Jade has noticed happenings around Lucinda that play into the greater narrative.  Is Jade a killer or another misunderstood youth?

I liked the three interconnected narratives and different perspectives.  I really liked Jades sass and how she told things from the point of view of what she should have said and what really happened.  I loved that the audiobook had three different narrators to tell the three point of views.

The story moved pretty slow for me and was more of a young adult novel than a true thriller.  I didn't feel connected to Lucinda at all and didn't care about her death as much as I should have.  There was some major plot turns later in the book that didn't feel true with the narrative that lead up to that point.  SPOILER ALERT (Russ and Camerons dad and their pinky love.  What????) SPOILER END  I had listened to the audiobook of Everything You Want Me to Be by Mindy Mejia earlier this year and it was a much superior book . . . I think part of my problem was I kept comparing that book to this with the similar subject, high school girl murdered in a small town.  I figured out the murderer in Girl in the Snow pretty early on in the game, although I did doubt myself a couple of times.

Overall, Girl in Snow is an interesting story of murder in a small town, with a very well written story of a teenage problems and angst.  I want Jade Dixon-Burns to have her own spin off.
3361903
So much has already been written about this book that if you've managed to get to this review you surely know what it's all about. I just wanted to give my opinion of the audio version with the author as narrator. I listen to a lot of audiobooks and have found that the author of a book is not necessarily the best choice to read the book aloud. Elizabeth Gilbert, however, does a great job. She brings her story to life with entertaining characters; complete with accents. As I listened I felt like I was hearing her have a conversation about her experience more that just reading her own book. Her voice is soft and soothing. The quality of the audio is excellent so it's very easy on the ears. If you've read the book I think you'll really enjoy the audio version.  If you haven't read it yet, I think the audiobook is definitely the way to go.
4299227
AudioBook Review:  Stars  Overall 4  Narration 4 Story 4

As I said before, going in I knew this was going to be a wild ride: Emma Chase writes her male characters with a varying degree of misogynistic attitude and maturity, and she seemed to heap all of that frustration on Stanton.  Qualities that make him a solidly successful defense attorney don't work in the real world, at least not without consequences.

In high school, Stanton and Jenny were an item, and then she got pregnant. Unwilling to use that pregnancy to trap Stanton in their small Mississippi town, she made it easy for him to move on, go to school and start a career.  In the ten years since that time, Stanton has visited his family back home, but it has been nebulous and untethered, he prefers the fast track and the fast women who occupy it.

Sofia is a litigator in the office with Stanton: good at her job and driven, and their friends with benefits situation is one she is fully on board with.  But. She is spoiled, entitled and a bit too full of herself for my taste.  Sure, she is smart, and good at her job: but she and Stanton have taken a few too many pages out of the books of their clients: NOTHING is ever their fault, their problem or their responsibility. It is always a situation that brought it on or someone MADE them do it. Really? GAH

Fast forward to Jennys wedding (YAY JENNY) to a character that will be familiar to readers of Chases work.  And Stanton completely loses his mind. Think three year old with 3 trucks and one friend who wants to play with the truck he abandoned in the corner.  THAT sort of Lost His Ever Loving Mind.  And Sophia isn't far behind: not only did she accompany Stanton in his mission to STOP the wedding, but she was deluded enough (or clueless enough) to think that her feminine wiles would keep Stanton reasonable.  Can you say doormat?

Through all of the moments  funny to gaspingly incredulous  I couldn't walk away  there is something to these characters. Perhaps I want to see if they actually get it, or grow up, or find out just how wrong they have been, but even wanting to use a Whack A Mole mallet on Stanton and Sophia, I couldn't look away.

Narration is provided by Jason Carpenter and Charlotte Penfield and these two portrayed each character beautifully.  Carpenter captures that star high school football player arrogance in Stantons tones, while Penfield gets Sophia and gives her plenty of vocal nuances that fit her perfectly, from uber-feminist I am woman, hear me roar to rather bratty spoilt child.  The dialogue is fast paced and laden with humor, these two allowed for the laughs and moments of I cant believe you just said that without losing pacing or momentum. Additional characters, accents and delivery were spot on, with just enough variation in tone, delivery and accent to present each character as a recognizable change.

Alternately funny, infuriating, sweet and moments that will leave you gasping this is a story perfect for when you want an escape, not necessarily into the lives of people who have it all together, but people who are so fabulously dysfunctional that you will wonder how they make things work at all.

I received an AudioBook copy of the title from Simon Audio for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.
1800253
The audio book version read by Davina Porter is excellent. Not only are her accents and vocal nuances perfect for the characters, I learned how Scottish words (mainly names and places) are correctly pronounced and I didn't have to get hung up guessing, which can be annoying for me as I'll persistently wonder if I've gotten it right. I started with the e-book format on my Kindle, but the story really caught fire and came to life when I added the audio version (I'll just obtain the audio version for the sequels and skip printed versions). The book is long, which means I had 2-3 weeks of daily commuting while listening to this book in the car..so factoring the cost-per-hour-of-listening with my high level of enjoyment, the purchase really was a bargain. If you are listening during a commute with others in the car, be aware that there is a fair amount of bawdiness in the story which could make some uncomfortable.
2834089
AudioBook Review
Stars:  Overall:  5  Story/Plot  5  Performance  5 Production Quality 4  Attention Holding  5

Im not a huge epic fantasy fanatic, but the premise for this audiobook had me intrigued: who can resist a suburban 1960s alternate universe story told from the teens and pre-teens who lived it?  Not only would it be an interesting counterpoint displaying the world that was but the incorporation of alternate events and elements only witnessed by the children would make this unlike other stories I have read or heard about.

Beshears has created a lovely story, laden with unexpected twists and unique elements, giving us four teens: Ben, Peter, Louis and Julie, and their quest to discover and unmask the strange happenings in their neighborhood. Initially the children are leaning to conspiracy  the adults MUST see what is happening, and they have decided to ignore it all, or keep it hidden from them with the oft-heard refrain of you are too young.  But then things turn on their side in a quite unique way, and the professor asking for their help gives them an entre into all sorts of new and different perspectives.

World-building, from the clubhouse to the neighborhood, and the kids experiences on their adventure give readers / listeners imagery that is accessible and easy to visualize, and it isn't geared to just a younger reader.  Adults and children alike can appreciate and understand the story, the plotting arc is smooth and flows from questions to adventure to recap smoothly as the characters come together to discuss what they know, don't know and want to discover.

Karen Krause is the narrator for this story: Ive appreciated her work on other titles, and she did not disappoint in this one. Seamlessly navigating between the different voices that she gave to each character, with inflections, pitch and pacing varying slightly to give each character a unique and recognizable voice, her delivery of voices and the addition of emotive traits to emphasize emotions was spot on.  The audio production was smooth and free from jarring transitions or noticeable editing.

I received an AudioBook copy of the title for purpose of honest review for audiobookreviewer.com. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.
1418215
I checked out the audiobook version of this story, and also picked up the hard copy in case I decided to read the book instead.  I picked up the book a few times, but am so glad I also chose to listen to the story being narrated.  Atwood is amazingly creative with her storytelling, but there were a few parts that she could easily have left out to make the book a little more compelling.  The narrator also did a wonderful job with all of the voices and various accents, and really made this book a winner in my eyes.
I was one of a few people that did not like The Handmaid's Tale at all, but I'm so glad that I decided to follow someone else's recommendation regarding this book, and give her another try.  If you're a fan of her work, by all means, pick up the actual book, but if you have never read anything by her and aren't sure if you will enjoy her writing style, the audiobook version is your best choice.  It's a virtually painless way of getting the full effect of the book, and makes the not so interesting parts much easier to take.  I have copies of Cat's Eye and The Robber Bride at home, but I think I will definitely see if I can get ahold of the audio versions to start me off.  In my opinion, there's a little something in there for everyone - what a great book!  I can see why it won the Booker Prize.  If you're thinking about reading it, by all means, pick it up!