Category: Audio Books

See Me by Nicholas Sparks

- Stephanie Leave a comment

It’s time for me to be honest. I have not read a Nicholas Sparks book since high school. The movies never caught my interest either, so I just steered clear. In order to become a more well-read librarian, I have decided to expand my comfort zone and read books I normally wouldn’t. See Me by Nicholas Sparks is my latest outside-my-comfort-zone read. I started reading See Me thoroughly expecting a flowery romance with some kind of damsel in distress scenario and a dashing male hero coming to the rescue. I. Was. So. Wrong. Well sort of.

Maria Sanchez and Colin Hancock are the two main characters in this book and while they fit into some stereotypes, in other ways they completely break them. Maria is a lawyer and daughter of two Mexican immigrants who came to the US with nothing and now own a thriving restaurant. She has worked very hard to better her career with the end result being that her social life and friend circle is rather lacking. She does have a very close relationship with her parents and her younger sister though. Maria’s life is not all perfect. She is haunted by events in her past, events that ultimately led her to leave her previous job and move to a totally new town.

Colin is a 28 year old college student who is struggling to get his life back on track. He works out religiously and is avoiding all the people and places that led him to destroy his life before. Colin has spent most of his life tangled up in the legal system, as a result of a major anger problem and a myriad of other issues. He worked out a deal at his last court appearance, a deal that says that if he stays out of trouble, his criminal record will be completely expunged, his felonies erased, allowing him to become a teacher. However, if Colin gets back into trouble, he will go to jail for ten years and his record will not be cleared. Colin has stayed out of trouble with help from his best friend, Evan, and Evan’s fiancée Lily.

Colin and Maria have a chance encounter one rainy night on a highway in North Carolina. Maria tells her younger sister, Serena, about the man who changed her tire and Serena realizes that Colin is one of her fellow students. She arranges a meetup between Colin and Maria, hoping sparks will begin to fly. They do. Opposites obviously attract. Everything is going swimmingly between the two until a person from Maria’s past pops up who may ruin it all. Their budding relationship is put to the test as Maria struggles to figure out who is doing these horrible things to her. Colin also has to work through his anger issues and his protective instincts to put Maria’s wishes and well-being first.

Despite my reticence, I actually enjoyed this book. The story pulled me in and I found myself rooting for the characters. I also was not able to predict how the story would end, which is a major positive in my book.

This book is also available in the following formats:

Conversations with Lincoln

- Rachel Leave a comment

I listen to a lot of audiobooks in the car. Sometimes when I am looking for a new audiobook to listen to, I look for something that is short. If you have ever listened to a 20 disc audiobook, you understand. As much as I love audiobooks, sometimes I need something short and  something different; something to cleanse my palate (or my ears).

While I was browsing the shelves, I noticed, Conversations with Lincoln and I am happy that I checked it out. One nice feature of this audiobook is listed in the title. They are stories. I did not have to pay a lot of attention to the book in order to keep up with the story because the story would end and another story would start! I also liked that this was nonfiction so I was learning something while I drove my car.

The conversations that people had with Abraham Lincoln took place while he lived in New Salem, Illinois, Springfield, Illinois and while he was President in Washington, D.C.  Over and over again people talk about how kind Lincoln was to people. He was especially fond of children. One tale speaks of his time in Illinois and how he allowed the neighborhood boys to go fishing with him. They all had such a good time that no boy would dare miss another fishing trip. Many of the stories that occurred while Lincoln was President involved women asking for their fathers, husbands and sons to be released from duty from the Army or transferred somewhere else. One such woman lost her husband in the war and asked President Lincoln if one of her son’s could be released from duty so that he could come home and take care of her and her farm. Another woman asked for her father’s life after he was sentenced to be executed. President Lincoln had a difficult time executing young boys that deserted from the Army. Many of them were too young to serve in the first place. Of course the Army disapproved of his leniency and claimed that he undermined their authority.

While I was listening to this audiobook, I kept marveling over the fact that people were actually allowed to have conversations with the President of the United States. If you were willing to wait a few hours, it was possible that President Lincoln would invite you into his office to tell him your trouble. As you were waiting, you could be sitting next to a U.S. Senator or an Army General who were also waiting their turn. They would have had preference over you, but an ordinary person had the chance to speak to the President. The theme of this book is how kind Abraham Lincoln was. He genuinely cared about people’s troubles and he did his best to fix the problem. If he was unable to fix the problem himself, then he would refer the person to someone who could do something about it, with a note bearing his signature. He had a soft spot for children and always made a point to speak to them while they were in his presence. And he tried to do his best to reunite women with the men in their lives. Clearly, he hated that the war was destroying families. While listening to this book, it was hard to not wish an audience with Abraham Lincoln in order to speak with this intelligent and overly kind man.

In the Unlikely Event

- Rachel Leave a comment

In The Unlikely Event is by the author, Judy Blume. Yes, that Judy Blume that wrote, Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing and Freckle Juice.  But this time, Blume wrote a book that is for adults.

The year is 1952 and the place is Elizabeth, New Jersey. The reader is introduced to several members of the community throughout the book. Sometimes, it could be hard for me to remember which character was which; I would have to read a couple of paragraphs to remember. From what I have read in online book reviews, I am not the only person that has had this difficulty. There were times while I was reading the book that I wished that Blume had not included so many different characters. However, by the end of the book, the character’s stories did come together and it did make sense. Still, I wish she would have cut out a few of them.

Nevertheless, I do not want to deter you from reading this book! It is a wonderful story otherwise I would not write about it. Our main character is fifteen year-old Miri. She lives with her single mother, Rusty. They live in house that has been split into two apartments. Miri’s grandmother, Irene lives on the first floor while Rusty and Miri live on the second floor. Miri also has an Uncle Henry that acts like a father toward her. Miri does not know who her father is and when she asks her family about it, they will not tell her anything and she has given up on learning anything about him. Miri’s closest friend is Natalie and she spends a lot of time at Natalie’s house so we get to know that family quite well. Miri also has a boyfriend, Mason. There are quite a few other characters that all make sense when you read the novel. Judy Blume did a wonderful job with intertwining the characters so that they all have a connection with someone that can be connected back to Miri.

The story is based off real life events. Judy Blume lived in Elizabeth, New Jersey in the 1950s. During that time, there were three plane crashes in Elizabeth. The first plane crash was December 16, 1951. The second crash was January 22, 1952 and the third crash was February 11, 1952. Blume has done an excellent job recreating the scene. Residents are on edge. Children are frightened, teenagers are coming up with conspiracy theories as to what is going on. People are anxious. Elizabeth is being called, “plane crash city”. Residents have died or been injured in the crash. Natalie’s father, a dentist, has had to identify bodies with their dental records. A girl that Miri used to babysit died when the second plane crashed in the neighborhood and their building caught on fire. Her sister was severely burned. Miri’s boyfriend helped rescue people from the third plane crash. Other characters volunteered with the Red Cross. The residents of Elizabeth want Newark airport to be shut down. And it is temporarily and reopens in November, 1952. After that, flight patterns were rerouted so that they did not fly over Elizabeth.

Even with the terror of the planes falling from the sky, this book was fun to read. Blume is able to paint a vivid picture and I felt transported back to the 1950s. There are moments, such as when Miri gets an “Elizabeth Taylor haircut” that are sweet and reminded me of being fifteen years old. Or when Miri and Mason are dancing for the first time in Natalie’s basement. Or the conversations that Miri has with her girlfriends. The characters in the book continue to live their lives, even though they do not know if and when a plane will crash again. Blume has an amazing ability to create characters that are so relatable; you feel that her characters are your friends and family.

The book is named In the Unlikely Event after the instructional speech that flight attendants give before a plane takes off. “In the unlikely event of a plane crash…”  You can find it in print, large print and audiobook

 

Before the Fall by Noah Hawley

- Stephanie Leave a comment

Before the Fall by Noah Hawley deals with tragedy and its aftermath. On a warm, foggy summer night, eleven people board a private jet heading from Martha’s Vineyard to New York. Sixteen minutes later, the plane plunges into the ocean, breaking apart. Two people survive: Scott Burroughs, a down-on-his-luck painter who was invited to fly by the wife of a wealthy media mogul, and a four-year-old boy J.J., the media mogul’s son. Scott swims in freezing cold water to save himself and the boy, his only thoughts on their survival.

Scott is hailed as a hero, but mysteries surround his background and news stations can’t find much information about him. The bodies of the other people on the flight are still missing as news reporters struggle to get the real story and government and investigative officials work to recover the plane’s wreckage. Family, media, money, and conspiracy drama galore rampage through this book, leaving readers on the edge of their seats wondering what really happened and wondering what people’s real motives are.

This book alternates between the present and past, highlighting each person who was on the plane, from the security detail to the pilots, the flight attendant, the media mogul, his wife, and young daughter, as well as a money launderer and his wife. As each character’s introduction and background story are revealed, a web of intrigue, lies, deception, and mystery comes to light. A conspiracy seems to unravel, only fueled by the 24-hour news cycle and the way the media has sensationalized this catastrophe. Everyone is drawing their own false conclusions with what really happened on the plane remaining a mystery as the book goes on.

I listened to this book through OverDrive and greatly enjoyed it. I stayed up way past my bedtime and woke up very early on the weekend to finish it, which is something I only ever do if a book has really captured my interest. The narrator had me hooked by adding in voice inflections and nuances that brought eash character to life. Add in a captivating story and a mystery I didn’t figure out until the very end and I was fully drawn into the world Hawley created from the very beginning.

This book is also available in the following formats:

Three Sisters, Three Queens by Philippa Gregory

- Rachel Leave a comment

threesisters Three Sisters, Three Queens is Philippa Gregory’s latest book about the Tudor Court.  This time, we get the perspective of Margaret Tudor, daughter of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York and sister of King Henry VIII.  Margaret, the Tudor Princess, would become the Queen of Scotland, married to King James IV of Scotland and mother to King James V of Scotland.  Even though the title suggests that the book is about three women, the primary focus is on Queen Margaret.  However, the other two women, the Queen of England and the Queen of France, have an impact on Margaret’s life.

The novel begins with Margaret as a young woman, a girl really. Her older brother, Arthur, Prince of Wales is to be married to Katherine of Aragon. Their marriage would form an alliance between the Spanish court and England.  Katherine of Aragon makes her arrival, marries Prince Arthur and they move to Wales.  Margaret misses her older brother, but looks forward to her own marriage. Her father, King Henry VII is working on a marriage between her and Scotland’s King James IV.  But then, the London court gets the terrible news that Prince Arthur has died.  Princess Katherine returns to court as the Dowager Princess.  Her parents have failed to pay the dowry money to England.  And King Henry VII refuses to pay her dowager money until the dowry has been paid.  Katherine literally is a poor princess and has to pawn off her belongings in order to eat, even though she lives at court.  Princess Margaret, having been jealous of Princess Katherine’s finery when she came to court, delights in seeing her brought down a peg.  She believes, along with her grandmother Margaret Beaufort, Lady Mother of the King, that Katherine is too arrogant and needs to learn humility.  In fact, Margaret calls her, Katherine of Arrogant to herself. At this time, Margaret is told that she will marry King James IV.  Their betrothal makes her a queen and she is one step lower than her Lady Mother, the Queen of England.

Margaret makes the long journey to her new home in Scotland and marries King James IV.  Their marriage is fairly happy.  Their first children die while they are babies and King James wonders about the Tudor curse.  Queen Margaret has a son James (who becomes King James V).  Katherine of Aragon marries Margaret’s brother, King Henry VIII.  While England and Scotland have a Treaty of Perpetual Peace, Henry continues to ally himself with France, an enemy of Scotland.  While Henry is off in France, King James invades England.  During the Battle of Flodden, King James was killed.  Queen Katherine had ordered the English army to take no prisoners.  The army took James’ body to London and Katherine sent his bloody coat to Henry in France.  Of course, Queen Margaret was angry and heartbroken to have her husband be treated this way and by her own sister-in-law.

You may be wondering about the third sister and third queen.  Margaret and Henry had a younger sister named Mary.  Mary had been betrothed to the Holy Roman Emperor’s grandson but that was called off. Instead, Princess Mary was joined in marriage to King Louis XII of France.  Their marriage did not last long due to the King’s age and health.  After he died, Mary went  ahead and married Charles Brandon, a friend of her brother Henry whom  had recently been made a Duke by King Henry.  The pair married in secret in France, without Henry’s blessing which they were punished for.  Even so, Charles and Mary were welcomed at the Tudor Court.

Margaret continues to struggle. She is the Dowager Queen of Scotland but she has no authority.  She is even kept away from the young king James.  Her husband named her regent until their child was old enough to rule but the Scottish Council disregards this.  Instead, a French Duke (who is a cousin of the deceased king) is named regent.  Margaret marries the Earl of Angus for love in secret.  The Council is very unhappy about this.  Rumors circulate that Archibald, the Earl of Angus, is already married to another woman.  Of course, Margaret feels betrayed by her husband.  Her brother, Henry VIII will do nothing to help her.  Her sister-in-law, Queen Katherine, tells her to stay with her husband.  But Katherine needs Margaret to stay married to Archibald.  If Margaret would be granted a divorce from the Vatican, then that would clear the way for Henry VIII to divorce Katherine of Aragon.  And Henry has been having affairs with other women and producing male children.  Katherine has not given Henry an heir.  The royal English marriage is in danger of dissolving.

Mary, the youngest of the original Tudor children still reports to Margaret.  Her letters had been happy ones, relaying to Margaret what had been happening at the English Court.  However, as time passes, her letters are filled with sorrow.  Mary is dismayed to see how her older brother, the King of England, is treating her sister-in-law, Katherine.  Mary has to witness Katherine’s sorrow as her husband sleeps with other women.  Katherine prays constantly and remains a dutiful wife.  Mary can do nothing to interfere as Henry VIII sets aside his wife, claiming that Katherine was not legally his wife, but the wife of his older brother, Arthur.  He claims that Katherine is the Dowager Princess of Wales and is now his “sister”.  The last letter Margaret receives from Mary is grim.  The woman, Anne Boleyn, is now married to their brother and will be crowned the Queen of England.

Three Queens, Three Sisters is available in print, large print and audiobook.

 

 

 

Lady Cop Makes Trouble by Amy Stewart

- Rachel Leave a comment

lady-cop-makes-troubleLady Cop Makes Trouble is Amy Stewart’s sequel to Girl Waits With Gun. You can read more about Girl Waits With Gun here.

Constance Kopp now works for the Sheriff department in Bergen County, New Jersey.  She has the same duties as any other deputy working for the Sheriff, including arresting criminals. Constance even goes with Sheriff Heath to arrest a man. But her life soon changes. One of the inmates at the jail is sick and has been sent to the hospital.  The doctors at the hospital are not sure what is wrong with the prisoner and to complicate matters, he only speaks German.  Constance is the only person at the Sheriff’s office that speaks German, so she accompanies Sheriff Heath to the hospital. However, their trip to the hospital will not be as easy as they thought it would be. When they arrive to the hospital, the scene is chaos. A train derailed and there are lot of injured people to deal with. The hospital staff is rushing around trying to help the wounded. Sheriff Heath and the other deputies help the staff with the patients. Constance goes to visit the inmate alone and during their visit, the lights go out.  The hospital is pitch black.  And in all of the confusion, the prisoner escapes the hospital.

Constance is devastated and she wants to make things right.  She wants to go after the fugitive.  Also, Constance knows that no woman will be hired to work for any police force if the story is printed in the newspapers.  However, Sheriff Heath assigns Constance to watch the female inmates at the jail.  He does not want Constance involved in the manhunt.  And, he does not want Constance’s name in the papers for allowing the inmate to escape. The rest of the deputies in the department look for the fugitive.  Most of their time is spent watching train stations and the inmate’s brother’s apartment.

But Constance will not just stand by.  She wants to correct the mistake that she made and find the missing prisoner.  So Constance goes off on her own to find him.  Her search takes her to New York City where she chases down clues and conducts interviews.  Constance is not only hunting down a fugitive, but she is racing Sheriff Heath and his deputies.  Can she find the missing inmate before the Sheriff’s department?

Lady Cop Makes Trouble is available in print and audiobook.

 

Mean Streak by Sandra Brown

- Stephanie Leave a comment

mean-streakMean Streak by Sandra Brown is a stomach-clenching story of survival in the mountains of North Carolina. Dr. Emory Charbonneau is a pediatrician and a marathon runner competitively training for her latest marathon. She decides to go away for the weekend to run a mountain trail in North Carolina. Leaving her husband, Jeff, after a bad argument, she takes off and spends the night in a tiny town to begin her run early the next morning. Running the trail by herself, Emory goes missing, leaving no trace behind except for her car abandoned in the trailhead parking lot.

By the time Jeff reports her missing, a  snowstorm has blown into the area, leaving fog and ice everywhere, halting any search for Emory, and destroying any clues about her whereabouts. Local police suspect Jeff of an ‘instant divorce’ and dive deep into his life, looking for anything that would lead him to want to get rid of his wife.

While suspicion is cast on Jeff, Emory regains consciousness from an unexplained head injury, finds herself in a mysterious cabin, and being held captive by a man who will not even tell Emory his name. She is willing to do anything to escape him, but the snowstorm raging outside force her to stay. Emory and this mystery man soon find themselves swept into a dangerous encounter with some people who have their own way of handling things. Emory soon finds herself forced to confront her own morals and sense of justice.

While local police and the FBI narrow in on her husband’s deception and the identity of her captor, Emory finds herself wondering about the true motives of her captor. Her initial fear falls away, leading her to think about his past and what could have been so violent that would have necessitated a complete move off the grid. This novel weaves together multiple storylines from many different perspectives, allowing readers to glimpse some motives without fully being able to put the whole story together. Mean Streak is ripe with tales of deceit, love, and survival that grabbed my attention and had me deeply invested in the lives of each character.

This book is also available in the following formats:

New Books on CD for November

- Bill Leave a comment

David Baldacci — No Man’s Land
Special Agent John Puller, combat veteran and the army’s most tenacious investigator, is back in this action-packed thriller from worldwide #1 bestselling author David Baldacci.<br> NO MAN’S LAND Two men. Thirty years. John Puller’s mother, Jackie, vanished thirty years ago from Fort Monroe, Virginia, when Puller was just a boy. Paul Rogers has been in prison for ten years. But twenty years before that, he was at Fort Monroe. One night three decades ago, Puller’s and Rogers’ worlds collided with devastating results, and the truth has been buried ever since.
Lee Child — Night School

Discover the thriller series that The New York Times calls utterly addictive. After eleven straight global #1 bestsellers, Lee Child sends readers back to school with the most explosive Jack Reacher novel yet.

Clive Cussler — Odessa Sea

Over the years, Dirk Pitt has always had a knack for finding trouble. This time, it has found him. <br> The extraordinary new novel from the grand master of adventure and #1 New York Times -bestselling author.

 
Janet Evanovich — Turbo Twenty-Three

Speed is the name of the game as Stephanie Plum returns in “Turbo Twenty-Three” the thrilling, fast-paced new adventure from #1 “New York Times “bestselling author Janet Evanovich.”
Danielle Steel — The Award

Capturing historical events, terrifying moments of danger, tragedy, the price of war, and the invincible spirit of a woman of honor, The Award is a monumental tale from one of our most gifted storytellers Danielle Steel s finest, most emotionally resonant novel yet.

New Books on CD for October

- Bill Leave a comment

John Grisham — The Whistler

From John Grisham, America s #1 bestselling author, comes the most electrifying novel of the year, a high-stakes thrill ride through the darkest corners of the Sunshine State. We expect our judges to be honest and wise.Their integrity and impartiality are the bedrock of the entire judicial system. We trust them to ensure fair trials, to protect the rights of all litigants, to punish those who do wrong, and to oversee the orderly and efficient flow of justice.But what happens when a judge bends the law or takes a bribe?It s rare, but it happens.
Laurell K. Hamilton — Crimson Death

In her twenty-fifth adventure, vampire hunter and necromancer Anita Blake learns that evil is in the eye of the beholder… Anita has never seen Damian, her vampire servant, in such a state. The rising sun doesn’t usher in the peaceful death that he desperately needs. Instead, he s being bombarded with violent nightmares and blood sweats. And now, with Damian at his most vulnerable, Anita needs him the most.

 

 

Debbie Macomber — Twelve Days of Christmas

Continuing in a festive annual tradition, #1 New York Times bestselling author Debbie Macomber returns with a new original holiday novel full of romance and cheer and the magical prospect of finding love in the most unexpected places.  Friendly and bubbly, Julia Padden likes nearly everyone, but her standoffish neighbor, Cain Maddox, presents a particular challenge. No matter how hard she’s tried to be nice, Cain rudely rebuffs her at every turn, preferring to keep to himself. But when Julia catches Cain stealing her newspaper from the lobby of their apartment building, that s the last straw. She s going to break through Cain s Scrooge-like exterior the only way she knows how: by killing him with kindness.

 

 

 

Jodi Picoult — Small Great Things

With richly layered characters and a gripping moral dilemma that will lead readers to question everything they know about privilege, power, and race, Small Great Things is the stunning new page-turner from #1 New York Times bestselling author Jodi Picoult. Picoult offers a thought-provoking examination of racism in America today, both overt and subtle. Her many readers will find much to discuss in the pages of this topical, moving book.

 

John Sandford — Escape Clause

Whenever you hear the sky rumble, that usually means a storm. In Virgil Flowers case, make that two.  The first storm comes from, of all places, the Minnesota zoo. Two large, and very rare, Amur tigers have vanished from their cage, and authorities are worried sick that they ve been stolen for their body parts. Traditional Chinese medicine prizes those parts for home remedies, and people will do extreme things to get what they need. Some of them are a great deal more extreme than others — as Virgil is about to find out.

 

 

Nicholas Sparks — Two by Two

#1 New York Times bestselling author Nicholas Sparks returns with an emotionally powerful story of unconditional love, its challenges, its risks and most of all, its rewards.

 

 

Randy Wayne White — Seduced

Hannah Smith returns in the stunning new adventure in the “New York Times” bestselling series by the author of the Doc Ford novels.

 

 

Stuart Woods — Sex, Lies, and Serious Money

Stone Barrington takes on a client who gives him a run for his money in the newest heart-stopping thriller from the #1 New York Times bestselling author. <br> <br> Fresh off the runway at Teterboro, Stone Barrington arrives home to find an unexpected new client on his doorstep, anxiously soliciting his help. But everything is not as it seems, when the client reveals the true nature and value of his recent turn of fortune. <br>From luxury New York high-rises to the sprawling New Mexico desert, his client is pursued from all angles . . . and Stone quickly learns that easy money isn t always so easy.

Yes Please by Amy Poehler

- Stephanie Leave a comment

yes pleaseYes Please by Amy Poehler is a hilarious biography full of anecdotes from Poehler’s time on “Parks and Recreation” and “Saturday Night Live”, as well as stories from her everyday life from both before she became a big star and after she gained fame. If you’ve seen Poehler in anything, then you know that her comedy comes fierce and fast, sometimes catching you off guard in regards to topic and delivery. This book is no different.

I chose to listen to this biography through OverDrive and was not disappointed. Poehler narrates this book, along with several other big name actors and, of course, her parents, popping in for cameos. (Looking for another funny woman biography narrated by the author? Check out Tina Fey’s Bossypants, available as a CD audiobook and an OverDrive eaudiobook.) Each person she has helping her narrate adds another level of humanity and unbridled hilarity to Poehler’s life growing up and her changing career in comedy as she worked to get to where she is today.

Poehler pulls no punches in this biography, talking about subjects ranging from growing up in the 70s, tips on how to deal with being nominated for an award, odes to different coworkers, sex, love, babies, divorce, family, parenthood, and her hilarious relationship with Tina Fey. This humorous book gives readers an all-access pass into Poehler’s life, allowing us to catch a glimpse into the crazy world of Saturday Night Live, letting us see how difficult it is to become a successful comedian, and just how crazy life is.

Poehler travels back to the 1990s, when she was in her 20s, working at ImprovOlympic in Chicago and then with the Upright Citizens Brigade in New York. She talks about her previous jobs and her struggle to make it. I highly recommend you listen to the audiobook because you get access to bonus material, as well as extra insight into her life from her many famous friends who make cameos. Choosing to do this book as an audiobook really lets Poehler’s creative talent shine as she weaves together both stories of success and failure to deliver her thoughts on anything and everything. Let us know what you think!

This book is also available in the following formats: