This contest period's winner was Sharon S. from New Britain, CT, who received an audiobook copy of THE GIRL FROM WIDOW HILLS by Megan Miranda, read by Rebekkah Ross, and HER LAST FLIGHT by Beatriz Williams, read by Cassandra Campbell.
Richard N B
Second Honeymoon by James Patterson and Howard Roughan
Narrator Name: Jay Snyder and Ellen Archer
Rating the Audio Performance
The audiobook was capably narrated by two talented voice artists: Jay Snyder and Ellen Archer. Unfortunately for them, the producers chose to add cheesy “mood music” that just drove me crazy. Lost a star there.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
Book Two in the “Honeymoon” series featuring FBI agent John O’Hara. I’ll say this about Patterson (and his co-writers) - he knows how to craft a thrilling plot that keeps the reader turning pages. On the other hand, the writing is simplistic, and the characters are straight out of central casting. The two serial killers didn’t really work for me. Seems the authors couldn’t come up with enough material for either of these storylines so they combined them to give us a sufficiently long book.
John
The Book of Longings by Sue Monk Kidd
Narrator Name: Mozhan Marnò
Rating the Audio Performance
The voice actor spoke very well and used a lot of emotion.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
This book tells the story of what it is like to be a furtive scholar.
Cherie
In Five Years by Rebecca Serle
Narrator Name: Megan Hilty
Rating the Audio Performance
The narration was delightful and fit well with the lightness and story.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
I liked the story. It was a darling, entertaining story. Not heavy fiction but a wonderful diversion that I enjoyed. I listen to audiobooks when I run. Each day I looked forward to running to jump back into the story. The dialogue between the characters kept you wondering how the five year plan will work out.
Francisca
Becoming by Michelle Obama
Narrator Name: Michelle Obama
Rating the Audio Performance
Obama narrates the audiobook herself and does a fantastic job. I can’t imagine that anyone else could have done it better.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
Michelle Obama’s memoir/autobiography takes her from her childhood through college, her first years as an attorney, meeting Barack and their time in the White House as President and First Lady. Through her words I felt that I really got to know this remarkable woman.
Sharon
West with the Night by Beryl Markham
Narrator Name: Anna Fields
Rating the Audio Performance
Ms. Fields has a clear and pleasant voice. She is easy to understand and varied her accent and tone for different characters.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
The story introduces us to a rare individual whose life in Africa was unusual and dangerous but she met bravely many challenges and developed strong relationships with people she greatly admired. We get a real sense of Africa and her life there. Equally interesting are her adventures as a pilot.
Judy
Summer of ‘69 by Elin Hillderbrand
Narrator Name: Erin Bennett
Rating the Audio Performance
Well read.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
I did not love this book, although it does address the cultural upheaval of 1969.
Terese
A Good American by Alex George
Narrator Name: Gibson Frazier
Rating the Audio Performance
This book had several narrators which felt just right for the story. Usually I am not a fan of multiple narrators, but the accents employed here added to my enjoyment.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
This story of a German immigrant family through multiple generations emphasized the importance of immigrants and their contributions to the growth of the United States of America. Teenagers, young families and the elderly were all represented beautifully.
Carolyn
The Book of Longings by Sue Monk Kidd
Narrator Name: Mozhan Marno
Rating the Audio Performance
Very good, though she did mispronounce the name of a common prayer.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
It is the history of Jesus’ wife Anna and her life and perspective.
Cheryl
One Perfect Summer by Brenda Novak
Narrator Name: Erin Bennett
Rating the Audio Performance
Erin Bennett's reading of this book was great. You knew who each character was by the voice. Her reading was very pleasant to the ear.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
DNA testing is changing many families in many ways. I loved the twists and turns that the three women went through trying to figure out who their parents were/are and if it made a difference if they found out. The ending was a surprise to me.
Evelyn
My Oxford Year by Julia Whelan
Narrator Name: Julia Whelan
Rating the Audio Performance
Julia is a magnificent narrator. She does all the accents so well. I love listening to all of the books she narrates.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
I really enjoyed the story of a young girl who goes to study at Oxford but doesn’t expect to fall in love.
Cammie
Writers & Lovers by Lily King
Narrator Name: Stacey Glemboski
Rating the Audio Performance
Clear voice, easy to listen to and follow the characters.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
Casey Peabody has experienced more loss than most and she's only 31 years old. She's struggling with the recent, unexpected death of her mother. In addition, she's been writing her novel for the last six years and is barely able to pay the bills by waiting tables at an upscale restaurant. Her vulnerability is absolutely heartbreaking at times; she's working so hard and shouldn't be struggling this much. Her passion is driving her to the edge though; she's anxious and stressed all the time. Casey ends up in two very different relationships at the same time, unsure if she can or should commit to someone else considering her shattered state. Books about books and writers always make me want to read the fictional books within the fiction book.
Jill
The Ghosts of Harvard by Francesca Serritella
Narrator Name: Karissa Vacker
Rating the Audio Performance
I think I would have enjoyed this book more if I had read it instead of listened to it. The narrator’s inflection and tone did not add to the story. I found myself being distracted and irritated at the distraction.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
The story was long and had so many parts and pieces. I understand why she took six years to write it. I don’t think the length contributed to the story, she could have cut out a lot. But overall I did enjoy the novel.
Helen
Calypso by David Sedaris
Narrator Name: David Sedaris
Rating the Audio Performance
Love listening to David recount stories of his family, hysterical. Laugh-out-loud!!
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
Funny, engaging stories of David's life. Loved the Fitbit story!!
Tessa
Three Wishes by Liane Moriarty
Narrator Name: Heather Wilds
Rating the Audio Performance
Wilds does a fine job narrating the audiobook. She sets a good pace and did an admirable job of voicing the girls. Of course, there were times I had to “rewind” or refer to the text to be sure I had it straight which character was speaking.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
3.5 stars. Moriarty excels at exploring relationships within an ensemble group of characters. Here she looks at the Kettle sisters, a set of adult triplets, their partners and their parents. As she did in BIG LITTLE LIES, Moriarty begins at the end and then backtracks to lead us up to that climactic event. It's a story of sibling rivalry, and love found/lost/and found again. A fast read and quite entertaining.
Kristine
Circe by Madeline Miller
Narrator Name: Perdita Weeks
Rating the Audio Performance
It was amazing! I listen to a lot of audiobooks and the narrator is so important.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
This is not a book I would typically pick up but read so many rave reviews. So glad I did - loved it and want to read THE SONG OF ACHILLES now!
Kimiko
The Museum of Desire by Jonathan Kellerman
Narrator Name: John Rubinstein
Rating the Audio Performance
Older male narrators make difficult female characters, but overall, very well done.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
Couldn't figure out the name until nearly the end of the book when the case was solved. Good one!
Barbara
The Memory of You by Jamie Beck
Narrator Name: Dara Rosenberg
Rating the Audio Performance
Well read.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
Contemporary romance stories are always interesting and this one brings together two people who have had challenges in intervening relationships before they come back together.
Valerie
The Jane Austen Society by Natalie Jenner
Narrator Name: Richard Armitage
Rating the Audio Performance
Richard Armitage has a smooth voice. He seamlessly moves between character accents and gives proper voice inflections. It's such a pleasure to listen to him perform this novel.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
A small group of Austen fans unite after WWII to save Jane's house in Chawton as a museum. The author clearly loves Austen and knows her works. My favorite parts were the discussions between the characters about Jane's books. From those scenes, I picked up points on Austen's novels I had never noticed before. This novel was brilliant!
Laura
My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell
Narrator Name: Grace Gummer
Rating the Audio Performance
Good narration of the book.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
Great story. Really thought-provoking.
Michelle
Pretty Things by Jannelle Brown
Narrator Name: Julia Whelan, Lauren Fortgang and Hillary Huber
Rating the Audio Performance
The narrators really filled out the characters they played, each scene pulling you in further.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
Loved the fun of con between grifters and a socialite and add Lake Tahoe for the setting. I loved the well-thought out con planned for a family the protagonist knew in her youth - the daughter who is totally self-centered money gal. The twists I didn't see coming. I really liked this one.
Shondra
Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers
Narrator Name: Kate Forbes
Rating the Audio Performance
Reader has a pleasing voice.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
Great storyline, one that can be reread every year!
Sandi
The Red Lotus by Chris Bohjalian
Narrator Name: Rebecca Lowman
Rating the Audio Performance
Clear voice, enthusiastic, good pronunciation, even reading tone with good fluctuation.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
I have found you cannot go wrong with a Chris Bohjalian novel. His books are always different in story plot, yet written to perfection. His research is well done and his character development is well above the norm. The story deals with the love and deceit of a nurse and who she thought was a salesman in development at the same hospital. However, once they went to Vietnam on vacation everything turned around.
Carol
The Book of Lost Friends by Lisa Wingate
Narrator Name: Sophie Amos, Sullivan Jones, Robin Miles, Bahni Turpin, Lisa Flanagan and Dominic Hoffman
Rating the Audio Performance
Very well read by all readers.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
Loved the book. Her best one so far.
Laura
Hidden Valley Road by Robert Kolker
Narrator Name: Sean Pratt
Rating the Audio Performance
Excellent.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
Fascinating. You get a history of the family and a history of the treatment of schizophrenia.
Camelia
Sisters First: Stories from Our Wild and Wonderful Life by Jenna Bush Hager and Barbara Pierce Bush
Narrator Name: Jenna Bush Hager and Barbara Pierce Bush
Rating the Audio Performance
Hearing a memoir told in the authors' voices is always a plus. This was no exception. Excellent addition to this collection of stories from the Bush twins' lives.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
I really enjoy stories that share the real lives of famous people, showing them to be just like you and me. I also like books about life in the White House. SISTERS FIRST combines both of these elements. Ever since Jenna Bush Hager joined the Today Show as a host, I have really liked her. The memoir SISTERS FIRST by Jenna and her twin sister Barbara shows them to be real and relatable. Their childhood memories, teenage troubles, college mishaps, and adult dilemmas are the stories many can relate to. Jenna's love of books and reading have always drawn me to her on the Today Show and I look forward to her Read with Jenna announcement every month. In addition, Barbara's story about her high school friend Kyle's suicide was so moving.
Tessa
The Good Thief's Guide to Amsterdam by Christ Ewan
Narrator Name: Simon Vance
Rating the Audio Performance
For my second reading of this book, I listened to the audio, narrated by Simon Vance. I really enjoyed it, but then I'd listen to Simon Vance read his grocery list.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
Charlie Howard is a successful mystery author, writing a series that features a professional burglar, Faulks. As a sideline – and I guess you could call it research – he also occasionally accepts a commission to steal certain items. This was a highly entertaining mystery. I couldn’t help but think of Lawrence Block’s Bernie Rhodenbarr series, but the comparison is a good one. The pace is quick, the characters interesting, and the charms of Amsterdam (a city I have visited) evident.
Glenda
Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple
Narrator Name: Kathleen Wilhoite
Rating the Audio Performance
Loved how the narrator performed the different characters.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
Fun, delightful read during these trying times.
Lurdes
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
Narrator Name: Ruby Dee
Rating the Audio Performance
Ruby Dee did an awesome job. When I started the book itself, I had to reread many lines because of the characters’ dialects. Ruby Dee’s voice was powerful and done with emotion.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
The story itself was interesting and held my attention all the way through.
Gretchen
Devoted by Dean Koontz
Narrator Name: Edoardo Ballerini
Rating the Audio Performance
I am new to audiobooks so rating the performance of the narrator really isn't my thing, yet!
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
I haven read a Dean Koontz book in years but since I loved WATCHERS I had to get DEVOTED. It is a great story with lots of good and evil. I found myself laughing out loud at some parts and having to take a break at scary sections. It has it all!
Richard N B
Our Man In Havana by Graham Greene
Narrator Name: Jeremy Northam
Rating the Audio Performance
Jeremy Northam does a fine job performing the audio version. He was able to give the many characters sufficiently unique voices so I could keep the story straight. He was a little less successful differentiating between Milly and Beatrice, but they don’t have many scenes together so that wasn’t a major problem.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
A delightful send-up of espionage/spy thrillers starring a hapless vacuum cleaner salesman whose daughter has expensive tastes. Wonderful supporting cast of shady characters, corrupt police officials, and clueless bureaucrats. A nice romantic twist and a not-to-be-believed ending. Great fun, though the British humor is a bit dry. I've never seen the movie, but kept picturing Sir Alec Guinness in the lead role.
Pat
On the Horizon by Lois Lowry
Narrator Name: Lois Lowry
Rating the Audio Performance
As the author, Lowry’s voice was so very personal and powerful as the book relates her own story.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
Excellent. I was so overcome with emotion with her poems that reflected her experiences. You must read or listen!
Jill
The Last Train to Key West by Chanel Cleeton
Narrator Name: Kyla Garcia
Rating the Audio Performance
Very well done.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
It’s 1935 and there’s is a hurricane barreling toward Key West. Three women's paths from different walks of life cross, over the Labor Day weekend in Key West.
Patti
The Dutch House by Ann Patchett
Narrator Name: Tom Hanks
Rating the Audio Performance
Wonderful book!! Suspense, bond between brother and sister, inheritance and poverty! Loved the characters!!
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
Was a very good read!! The characters (brother and sister) are believable and smart. Their story really hits you!! You get wrapped up in their story.
Tessa
Vinegar Girl by Anne Tyler
Narrator Name: Kirsten Potter
Rating the Audio Performance
Kirsten Potter does a fine job narrating the audiobook. She sets a good pace and the characters came to life via her performance
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
A retelling of Shakepeare’s THE TAMING OF THE SHREW that doesn’t quite work. Tyler shines when she explores relationships, but here she has to find a plot to adequately mirror The Bard’s play. Not her strong suit and it detracted from the relationships. Some things to like about it, but overall ‘meh’.
Lory
Valentine by Elizabeth Wetmore
Narrator Name: Cassandra Campbell and Jenna Lamia
Rating the Audio Performance
The narration was excellent, drew the reader in. Inflections and tone were perfect.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
The beginning of this book grabbed me by the throat, stopped my breath, and made my heart race, and then it quickly fell flat, losing focus and strength as Wetmore almost painstakingly began detailing ancillary characters and aspects of Odessa, TX. The meat of the story was monotonous and repetitive and I had to push myself to continue. Thankfully, the last third of the read did make some good connections and realizations of "justice" in small town America and ignited some moments of internal fury within me, here and there. That descriptiveness was wonderful but there was so many additional details that just seemed unnecessary and detracted from the punch of the story.
Richard N B
Funny Cide by Sally Jenkins and the Funny Cide Team
Narrator Name: Dan Cashman
Rating the Audio Performance
He sets a good pace and his narration of the race scenes was top-notch.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
In 2003 an unlikely horse, from an unlikely stable owned by a group of high-school buddies won the Kentucky Derby and captured the hearts of America. This is his story. Jenkins does a good job of weaving together the various stories behind the horse: breeder, owners, trainer and jockey. I particularly liked the way she wrote the build-up to the Derby and Funny Cide’s amazing win there.
Aimee
The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah
Narrator Name: Julia Whelan
Rating the Audio Performance
Powerful narration by Julian Whelan - you feel the emotions of all the characters.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
This story is so tragic, yet there are some bright spots in there too - the relationship of a mother and daughter; then a new mother, grandmother and great grandparents, and a reunion. But there are many trials and very tough parts to get through. I had to shut off the audio at one point...it just was too intense!
Nadine
To the Bright Edge of the World by Eowyn Ivey
Narrator Name: John Glouchevich, Kiff Vandenheuvel and Christine Lakin
Rating the Audio Performance
The audiobook was a good production, each character having their own narrator. [I think the thing that bothered me with some audiobook narrations with male narrators is when they voice female characters it reminds me of the "Kids in the Hall" when they do skits with female characters.] But the actual book is worth checking out, as it has maps and (Photoshopped) photos and old-style advertisements spread about.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
This story depicts complex relationships, descriptions of Alaskan landscapes and parallel journeys taken by husband and wife, Allen and Sophie Forrester, in the late 1880s. I liked the way the author tells the parallel stories from various viewpoints. Portrayals of Alaska are well written. I highly recommend this title.
Helen
The Warsaw Protocol by Steve Barry
Narrator Name: Scott Brick
Rating the Audio Performance
Barry is one of my favorite authors. Scott Brick’s narrative performance captures the excitement of the book.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
Steve Barry’s books never disappoint me. The writing always captures the intensity of the characters.
Carole
The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer
Narrator Name: Jen Tullock
Rating the Audio Performance
Very good job! I don't like when narrators go over the top, trying to vary the voices of the characters, and Jen did not do that. It made it a very enjoyable experience for me. She had good pace and emphasized appropriate parts of the story. Great job by Jen!
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
I enjoyed this book. The characters were all unique and I thought it worked well that the main focus was Jules. She was someone relatable to a lot of people, I think, which is why I felt it worked. I liked that everyone seemed to have a resolution to their story in the end and the setting of a camp was fun. My only quibble is that I thought there was an inordinate amount of time set at camp versus present day. I would have enjoyed more about their adult selves, but to get the reader to care about the characters, I can see why there was a lot of focus on the camp. Good story!
Helen
The Jane Austen Society by Natalie Jenner
Narrator Name: Richard Armitage
Rating the Audio Performance
Excellent. A perfect voice for the words of Jane Austen.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
A treat for all Jane Austen fans!
Ricki
American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins
Narrator Name: Yareli Arizmendi
Rating the Audio Performance
Very calm and methodical.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
Very emotional novel, but just a tad too long.
Francisca
The Last Days of Night by Graham Moore
Narrator Name: Jonathan McClain
Rating the Audio Performance
Johnathan McClain does a marvelous job of narrating the audiobook. He sets a good pace and his work interpreting Nikola Tesla’s convoluted speech pattern is priceless.
Rating the Book's Content/Storyline
Moore’s novel is historical fiction that focuses on the question of genius, and the war between Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse on WHO invented the light bulb and was entitled to power the country. I was completely captivated by the narrative. The characters leapt off the pages. Moore also does a fine job of setting the scene. In short, it was fascinating, engaging and illuminating.
