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Kelly Weinersmith and Zach Weinersmith — A City on Mars -- back to top
Narrator: Brittany Pressley
Length: 11 hrs and 19 mins
Full Name: Kelly Weinersmith and Zach Weinersmith — A City on Mars: Can We Settle Space, Should We Settle Space, and Have We Really Thought this Through?
★★★★☆
Dan Brown - The Da Vinci Code -- back to top
Narrator: Paul Michael
Length: 16 hrs and 59 mins
W. Bruce Cameron - The Midnight Plan of the Repo Man -- back to top
Narrator: George K. Wilson
Length: 11 hrs and 15 mins
David Baldacci - The Innocent -- back to top
Narrator: Ron McLarty with Orlagh Cassidy
Length: 12 hrs and 14 mins
Agatha Christie - Endless Night -- back to top
Narrator: Hugh Fraser
Length: 6 hrs and 14 mins
Andrew Gross - Button Man -- back to top
Narrator: Edoardo Ballerini
Length: 9 hrs and 48 mins
★★★★☆
Brad Meltzer - The Tenth Justice -- back to top
Narrator: Scott Brick
Length: 14 hrs and 17 mins
★★☆☆☆
Agatha Christie - And Then There Were None -- back to top
Narrator: Dan Stevens
Length: 6 hrs and 1 min
Emily St. John Mandel - The Glass Hotel -- back to top
Narrator: Dylan Moore
Length: 10 hrs and 28 mins
★★★★☆
Agatha Christie - The Murder of Roger Ackroyd -- back to top
Hercule Poirot 4
Narrator: Arthur Lane
★★★★☆
But do not suggest Arthur Lane. So boring.
Andrew Gross - The One Man -- back to top
Narrator: Edoardo Ballerini
Length: 12 hrs and 47 mins
Liane Moriarty - The Last Anniversary -- back to top
Narrator: Heather Wilds
Length: 12 hrs and 47 mins
Michele Campbell - The Intern -- back to top
Narrator: Sarah Mollo-Christensen
Length: 11 hrs and 9 mins
But I do not like this narrator.
Ben H. Winters - Underground Airlines -- back to top
Narrator: William DeMeritt
Length: 9 hrs and 28 mins
David Baldacci - The Hit (Will Robie 2) -- back to top
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Narrator: Ron McLarty with Orlagh Cassidy
Length: 11 hrs and 45 mins
Casey McQuiston - Red, White & Royal Blue -- back to top
Narrator: Ramon de Ocampo
Length: 12 hrs and 15 mins
Khaled Hosseini - A Thousand Splendid Suns -- back to top
Narrator: Atossa Leoni
Length: 11 hrs and 43 mins
Still sticks with me. I liked it more than The Kite Runner
Celeste Ng - Little Fires Everywhere -- back to top
Narrator: Jennifer Lim
Length: 11 hrs and 27 mins
The book was good but note that the TV show sucked. They changed one of the characters too much!
Louise Penny - Still Life: Chief Inspector Gamache, Book 1 -- back to top
Narrator: Ralph Cosham
Length: 9 hrs and 34 mins
Quote:
There are four things that lead to wisdom. You ready for them?'
She nodded, wondering when the police work would begin.
"They are four sentences we learn to say, and mean." Gamache held up his hand as a fist and raised a finger with each point. "I don't know. I need help. I'm sorry. I was wrong'.
Fredrik Backman - Beartown (Beartown Book 1) -- back to top
Narrator: Marin Ireland
Length: 13 hrs and 11 mins
Everyone seems to love this. It was fine.
Douglas Adams - The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (book 1) -- back to top
Narrator: Stephen Fry
Length: 5 hrs and 51 mins
★★★★★
Neil Gaiman - Neverwhere -- back to top
Narrator: Neil Gaiman
Length: 13 hrs and 48 mins
This was my first introduction to Gaiman and to urban fantasy. I struggled a bit to get into it but ultimately enjoyed it enough
Alice Feeney - His & Hers -- back to top
Narrator: Richard Armitage, Stephanie Racine
Length: 10 hrs and 39 mins
Rumaan Alam - Leave the World Behind -- back to top
Narrator: Marin Ireland
Length: 7 hrs and 26 mins
★★★☆☆
The ending didn't answer enough questions
Louise Penny - A Fatal Grace: Chief Inspector Gamache, Book 2 -- back to top
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Narrator: Ralph Cosham
Length: 10 hrs and 31 mins
★★★½☆
Michele Campbell - It’s Always the Husband -- back to top
Narrator: January LaVoy
Length: 10 hrs and 52 mins
★★★★☆
Paul Murray - The Bee Sting -- back to top
Narrators: Heather O’Sullivan, Barry Fitzgerald, Beau Holland, Ciaran O'Brien, Lisa Caruccio Came
Length: 26 hrs and 10 mins
★★★★☆
Long and a bit intense but glad I read it
Ann Patchett - Tom Lake -- back to top
Narrator: Meryl Streep
Length: 11 hrs and 22 mins
Story itself is just ★★★☆☆. Meryl Streep made it ★★★★★
Fredrik Backman - Anxious People -- back to top
Narrator: Marin Ireland
Length: 9 hrs and 53 mins
★★★★★
Alice Feeney - Rock Paper Scissors -- back to top
Narrator: Richard Armitage, Stephanie Racine
Length: 10 hrs and 38 mins
★★★½☆
Emily St. John Mandel - Station Eleven -- back to top
Narrator: Kirsten Potter
Length: 10 hrs and 40 mins
Dave Eggers - The Eyes & The Impossible -- back to top
Narrator: Ethan Hawke
Length: 5 hrs and 18 mins
Gail Honeyman - Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine -- back to top
Narrator: Cathleen McCarron
Length: 11 hrs and 2 mins
3-stars. Went between kind of boring and slow to upsetting without much need to be.
Ann Patchett - Bel Canto -- back to top
Narrator: Anna Fields
Length: 11 hrs and 20 mins
★★★★½
Ben H. Winters - Golden State -- back to top
Narrator: Kiff Vandenheuvel
Length: 10 hrs and 26 mins
★★★☆☆. It starts off really strong with an interesting premise and good execution. There is a bit left unclear (e.g. how can some people tell there are lies?) but you feel confident that will be explained. But the end really falters. To call it an open conclusion is not right. It opens new major plot holes in the name of a "twist" but it doesn't make sense. I felt too much was left up in the air by the end.
Emily St. John Mandel - Sea of Tranquility -- back to top
Narrated by: John Lee, Dylan Moore, Arthur Morey, Kirsten Potter
Length 5 hrs and 47 mins
Peng Shepherd - The Cartographers -- back to top
Narrators: Emily Woo Zeller, Nancy Wu, Karen Chilton, Ron Butler, Neil Hellegers, Jason Culp, Brittany Pressley
Length 14 hrs and 42 mins
★★★½☆
Samantha Harvey - Orbital -- back to top
Narrator: Sarah Naudi
Length 5 hrs and 7 mins
★★½☆☆
Erich Maria Remarque - All Quiet on the Western Front -- back to top
Narrated by: Frank Muller
Length: 6 hrs and 55 mins
Andrew Gross - The Dark Tide (Ty Hauck 1) -- back to top
Narrated by: Melissa Leo
Length: 11 hrs and 44 mins
Sally Rooney - Normal People -- back to top
Narrated by: Aoife McMahon
Length: 7 hrs and 34 mins
Jodi Picoult, Jennifer Finney Boylan - Mad Honey -- back to top
Narrated by: Carrie Coon, Key Taw
Length: 15 hrs and 12 mins
I really enjoyed the book but it was also completely heartbreaking that they make you so fall in love with the murder victim and you know from the start that she was murdered. Very tough.
I also found the very final reveal and outcome from that to be unsatisfactory!
★★★★★
W. Bruce Cameron - Repo Madness -- back to top
Narrated by: R.C. Bray
Length: 9 hrs and 58 mins
I liked the narration of the first in the series much more. This wasn't bad but the "Alan" voice wasn't as good.
Ann Patchett - The Dutch House -- back to top
Narrated by: Tom Hanks
Length: 9 hrs and 53 mins
Stephen King - 11/22/63 -- back to top
Narrated by: Craig Wasson
Length: 30 hrs and 40 mins
Shelby Van Pelt - Remarkably Bright Creatures -- back to top
Narrated by: Marin Ireland, Michael Urie
Length: 11 hrs and 16 mins
★★★★½
Michael Finkel - The Art Thief -- back to top
Full Title: The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession
Narrated by Edoardo Ballerini, Michael Finkel
Length: 5 hrs and 39 mins
My comments to Ann:
While I normally prefer to listen to fiction audiobooks, I enjoyed The Art Thief!
I found it incredible, both the extent of the crime and the lack of punishment. I would have thought it outlandish fiction if not told otherwise. The psychosis—both real and imagined—was also fascinating.
Carl Hiaasen - Lucky You -- back to top
Narrated by: George Newbern
Length: 12 hrs and 2 mins
Holly Gramazio - The Husbands -- back to top
Narrator: Miranda Raison
10 hrs and 30 mins
4-stars
Kevin Wilson - Nothing to See Here -- back to top
Narrated by: Marin Ireland
Length: 6 hrs and 40 mins
★★★★★
Khaled Hosseini - The Kite Runner -- back to top
Narrated by: Khaled Hosseini
Length: 12 hrs and 1 min
★★★★☆
Ann Patchett - Commonwealth -- back to top
Narrated by Hope Davis
Length 10 hrs and 34 mins
★★★★☆
Teddy Wayne - The Winner -- back to top
Narrated by: Charlie Thurston
Length: 9 hrs and 8 mins
★★☆☆☆ ... barely! Gratuitous sex scenes that didn't add much (and, while in place in the narrative, were well out of place in how other things were described). Poor plot with faulty logic everywhere. The story shoved ideas down your throat (e.g., class warfare). I will give the author credit: I didn't envision the major plot development (though probably should have), and it takes a certain amount of guts to make the main character so hateable!
I have no interest in further reading Teddy Wayne!
Stephen King - (Bill Hodges 1) Mr. Mercedes -- back to top
 Mr. Mercedes.jpg)
 Mr. Mercedes-2.jpg)
Narrated by: Will Patton
Series: Bill Hodges Trilogy, Book 1
Length: 14 hrs and 22 mins
★★★★☆
Liane Moriarty - Here One Moment -- back to top
Narrated by: Caroline Lee, Geraldine Hakewill
Length: 15 hrs and 53 mins
My review of this book started at 3/5 and dropped all the way to 1/5 before coming back to a 4/5. In fact, I started writing my review before finishing it, and it gives some context. A bit of a spoiler is implied:
I generally love Liane Moriarty. She is an expert at making you fall in love with her characters, and she is really good at including little details that make you relate to them. I am constantly stopping to highlight (or note if listening to an audiobook) a passage or anecdote I find particularly meaningful.
In that regard, this book did not disappoint! But I do not recommend this one to others, nor did I enjoy it. It was just upsetting! The plot wasn't intriguing at all. It was just cruel! Sure, there is some interest in self-fulfilling prophecies and how you will behave, but that was secondary. What she did was force you to fall in love with a bunch of doomed characters, and all you did was follow them on their doom.
Alison Espach - The Wedding People -- back to top
Narrated by: Helen Laser
Length: 11 hrs and 37 mins
★★★★☆
Rachel Kushner - Creation Lake -- back to top
Narrated by: Rachel Kushner
Length: 11 hrs and 10 mins
★★☆☆☆
I wouldn't say I particularly enjoyed this. It kind of felt like the author had a story but also wanted to write essays on various topics and tell them through the emails in the story. It wasn't all together bad and certainly felt more like "literary fiction" than many of the other books I read. But it wasn't my favorite. Also, I think the author did an acceptable-but-not-great job narrating. Not many voices.
Emily Henry - Funny Story -- back to top
Narrated by: Julia Whelan
Length: 11 hrs and 23 mins
Quotes
Around 2:25:00
If a person lets you down, it’s time to reconsider what you’re asking of them
And
If you give them control over how you feel, they’ll always use it.
★★★★☆
Louise Penny - The Cruelest Month (Gamache 03) -- back to top
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Narrated by: Ralph Cosham
Series: Chief Inspector Gamache/Three Pines, Book 3
Length: 11 hrs and 46 mins
Quotes
The near enemy. It’s a psychological concept. Two emotions that look the same but are actually opposites. The one parades as the other, is mistaken for the other, but one is healthy and the other’s sick, twisted. There are three couplings. Attachment masquerades as Love, Pity as Compassion, and Indifference as Equanimity.
Compassion involves empathy. You see the stricken person as an equal. Pity doesn’t. If you pity someone, you feel superior. As long as the pity’s in place there’s not room for compassion. It squeezes out the nobler emotion
★★★☆☆
Agatha Christie - The Mysterious Affair at Styles -- back to top
A Hercule Poirot Mystery, Book 1
Narrator: Hugh Fraser
Length: 5 hrs and 57 mins
★★★★☆
Stephen King - (Bill Hodges 2) Finders Keepers -- back to top
 Finders Keepers.jpg)
Narrated by: Will Patton
Series: Bill Hodges Trilogy, Book 2
Length: 13 hrs and 5 mins
★★★★☆
Taylor Jenkins Reid - The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo -- back to top
4.5-stars
Narrated by: Alma Cuervo, Julia Whelan, Robin Miles
Length: 12 hrs and 10 mins
Quote:
people think intimacy is about sex but it’s about truth
★★★★★
Chris Hadfield - The Apollo Murders -- back to top
Narrated by: Ray Porter
Length: 15 hrs and 15 mins
3.5 stars. Enjoyed the technical and the action was okay, but also a bit out there. Amazing narration though!
Stephen King - Pet Sematary -- back to top
Narrated by: Michael C. Hall
Length: 15 hrs and 41 mins
★★★½☆ ★★★★☆ but with caution.
John Green - Turtles all the Way Down -- back to top
Narrated by: Kate Rudd
Length: 7 hrs and 12 mins
2.5-stars: Really, really interesting look at OCD and anxiety disorders but otherwise, uninteresting plot, cheesy lines, and hard-to-relate characters. Things that seemed important (Tuatara) weren't and a very unsatisfactory ending.
Charles Yu - Interior Chinatown -- back to top
Narrated by: Joel de la Fuente
Length: 4 hrs and 20 mins
This was odd. I feel like I only kind of "got it". Great narration and production
★★☆☆☆
R. F. Kuang - Yellowface -- back to top
Narrated by: Helen Laser
Length: 8 hrs and 39 mins
★★★☆☆ Everyone else seems to have loved it. I thought it was fine
Stephen King - (Bill Hodges 3) End of Watch -- back to top
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Narrated by: Will Patton
Series: Bill Hodges Trilogy, Book 3
Length: 12 hrs and 53 mins
★★★★☆
Sally Rooney - Intermezzo -- back to top
Narrated by: Éanna Hardwicke
Length: 16 hrs and 29 mins
★★★☆☆
Anthony Horowitz - Susan Ryeland 1 - Magpie Murders -- back to top
Narrated by: Samantha Bond, Allan Corduner
Series: Susan Ryeland Series, Book 1
Length: 15 hrs and 48 mins
See Anthony Horowitz - Susan Ryeland 2 - Moonflower Murders
★★★★☆
James McBride - The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store -- back to top
Narrated by: Dominic Hoffman
Length: 12 hrs and 21 mins
Ignoring everything else, why was there a sudden aside about the evils of cell phones and technologies. And the end rant about racisms, etc, while more fitting, was still out of place.
★★☆☆☆: Everyone else seemed to love it. I could pass
Liane Moriarty - Truly Madly Guilty -- back to top
Narrated by: Caroline Lee
Length: 17 hrs and 31 mins
| Time | Bookmark [~sic] |
|---|---|
| 01:17:45 | I just feel like I can't engineer today |
| 01:43:06 | not want for much... |
| 02:00:21 | having children |
| 12:02:50 | Trying to get kids to eat foods |
| 15:26:24 | didn't cry doesn't mean doesn't feel |
★★★★☆
V. E. Schwab - The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue -- back to top
Narrated by: Julia Whelan
Length: 17 hrs and 10 mins
Release date: 10-06-20
| Time | Bookmark [~sic] |
|---|---|
| 10:57:14 | Always liked learning... |
| 13:25:19 | thirty is old enough to make decisions |
| 16:05:51 | most fights are not of an instant |
Richard Atwater, Florence Atwater - Mr. Popper's Penguins -- back to top
Narrated by: Nick Sullivan
Length: 2 hrs and 14 mins
Charles Dickens - David Copperfield -- back to top
Narrated by: Richard Armitage
Length: 36 hrs and 30 mins
| Timestamp | Chapter Time | Chapter | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 04:58:37 | 29:03 | Chapter 9 – Chapter VIII. My Holidays. Especially One Happy Afternoon | people who like me cant show it ahd people who hate show it a lot |
| 07:25:35 | 11:33 | Chapter 13 – Chapter XII. Liking Life on My Own Account No Better, I Form a Great Resolution | proceastination is the thief of time |
| 17:31:31 | 40:01 | Chapter 29 – Chapter XXVIII. Mr. Micawber's Gauntlet | ride on |
| 19:29:54 | 01:10 | Chapter 34 – Chapter XXXIII. Blissful | saturated in love |
| 22:46:49 | 26:22 | Chapter 39 – Chapter XXXVIII. A Dissolution of Partnership | love must suffer |
| 24:55:30 | 00:53 | Chapter 43 – Chapter XLII. Mischief | habits and luck in success |
| 25:34:27 | 39:50 | Chapter 43 – Chapter XLII. Mischief | there must be two parties to a quarl |
| 27:11:26 | 29:18 | Chapter 46 – Chapter XLV. Mr. Dick Fulfils My Aunt's Prediction | marriage |
| 30:49:42 | 13:30 | Chapter 53 – Chapter LII. I Assist at an Explosion | lawyers, sharks, and leaches |
| 30:56:31 | 20:19 | Chapter 53 – Chapter LII. I Assist at an Explosion | least said, soonest mended |
| 31:11:48 | 35:36 | Chapter 53 – Chapter LII. I Assist at an Explosion | the Tyrrany of words |
| 31:51:04 | 12:18 | Chapter 54 – Chapter LIII. Another Retrospect | trifiles make the sum of life |
| 33:06:26 | 06:27 | Chapter 57 – Chapter LVI. The New Wound, and the Old | i hope time will be good to you |
| 34:00:14 | 15:34 | Chapter 59 – Chapter LVIII. Absence | the things that. ever happen are realities |
| 34:39:52 | 38:14 | Chapter 60 – Chapter LIX. Return | religion is a vent for bad humors |
3.5 stars
Megan Miranda - All The Missing Girls -- back to top
Narrated by: Rebekkah Ross
Length: 10 hrs and 5 mins
3.5 Stars. I struggled a bit with going backwards in time and trying to recall what the characters knew vs what I knew. But I think it all came together well enough. Some loose ends that weren't tied up (why did Daniel hit Nic???) but a fun read.
Gabrielle Zevin - Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow -- back to top
Narrated by: Jennifer Kim, Julian Cihi
Length: 13 hrs and 52 mins
Release date: 07-05-22
| Time | Bookmark |
|---|---|
| 01:02:28 | “Next time, we fail better” |
| 02:27:35 | "Ones taste exceeds one’s abilities" |
| 02:51:07 | Thoughts on cultural appropriation |
| 04:57:54 | "It was never worth worrying about somebody you didn't love; and it wasn't love if you didn't worry" |
| 05:03:32 | Other life (Things you haven't chosen) |
| 09:19:32 | Luck is because you love the things around you |
| 10:31:22 | Turn ex-lover into a friend |
| 12:23:27 | "The Boredom you speak of...is what most of us call happiness" |
“Sadie, do you see this? This is a persimmon tree! This is my favorite fruit." Marx picked a fat orange persimmon from the tree, and he sat down on the now termite-free wooden deck, and he ate it, juice running down his chin. "Can you believe our luck?" Max said. "We bought a house with a tree that has my actual favorite fruit!"
Sam used to say that Marx was the most fortunate person he had ever met - he was lucky with lovers, in business, in looks, in life. But the longer Sadie knew Marx, the more she thought Sam hadn't truly understood the nature of Marx's good fortune. Marx was fortunate because he saw everything as if it were a fortuitous bounty. It was impossible to know - were persimmons his favorite fruit, or had hey just now become his favorite fruit because there they were, growing in his own backyard? He had certainly never mentioned persimmons before
Elizabeth Rose Quinn - Follow Me -- back to top
Narrated by: Brittany Pressley
Length: 9 hrs and 18 mins
Release date: 04-01-25
| Time | Bookmark |
|---|---|
| 07:30:06 | “After being ignored, nothing is more powerful than being seen” |
Ann Napolitano - Hello Beautiful -- back to top
Narrated by: Maura Tierney
Length: 15 hrs and 6 mins
Release date: 03-14-23
| Time | Bookmark |
|---|---|
| 02:38:07 | Sylvie’s style |
| 06:51:01 | "We all run into a wall at full speed at one point or another" |
| 09:47:17 | “You can’t fail when your doing what you love” |
| 14:48:30 | “Grief is love; Forgiveness is too” |
★★★★★: Highly recommend it and I still think about this one a lot!
Roald Dahl - Matilda -- back to top
Narrated by: Kate Winslet
Length: 4 hrs and 18 mins
Release date: 06-13-13
David Baldacci - Will Robie 3 - The Target -- back to top
Narrated by: Ron McLarty, Orlagh Cassidy
Series: Will Robie, Book 3
Length: 12 hrs and 51 mins
1.5 to 2 stars
I have to say, I nearly DNFed this and kind of wish I had. It just fell flat to me. The situations felt too fake and nowhere near immersive. For example, there was a scene with torture and you barely "felt" it. It was like you weren't there. Also, the "side quests" were dumb and didn't add value. I think I am over Will Robie.
I enjoyed Ron McLarty's narration but the constant swapping with Orlagh was distracting.
Stephen King - The Outsider (Holly Gibney 1) -- back to top
Narrated by: Will Patton
Series: Holly Gibney, Book 1
Length: 18 hrs and 41 mins
Stephen King - If it Bleeds [Collection] - (Holly Gibney 2) -- back to top
Narrated by: Will Patton, Danny Burstein, Steven Weber
Length: 15 hrs and 12 mins
Series: Holly Gibney, Book 2
Amor Towles - The Lincoln Highway -- back to top
Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini, Marin Ireland, Dion Graham
Length: 16 hrs and 39 mins
I found the story a bit un-engaging. I found I just didn't really care what happened to the characters which is not how you usually want to feel when reading. And Dutchess was entirely unlikable.
Debbie Johnson - Statistically Speaking -- back to top
Narrated by: Louise Williams
Length: 9 hrs and 27 mins
Cute. Not resoundingly amazing
E. B. White - Stuart Little -- back to top
Narrated by: Julie Harris
Length: 1 hr and 54 mins
Taylor Jenkins Reid - Daisy Jones & The Six -- back to top
Narrated by: Jennifer Beals, Benjamin Bratt, Judy Greer, Pablo Schreiber
Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins
Fully Cast:
Daisy Jones, read by Jennifer Beals
Billy Dunne, read by Pablo Schreiber
Graham Dunne, read by Benjamin Bratt
Eddie Loving, read by Fred Berman
Warren Rhodes, read by Ari Fliakos
Karen Karen, read by Judy Greer
Camila Dunne, read by January LaVoy
Simone Jackson, read by Robinne Lee
Narrator / Author, read by Julia Whelan
Jim Blades, read by Jonathan Davis
Rod Reyes, read by Henry Leyva
Artie Snyder, read by Oliver Wyman
Elaine Chang, read by Nancy Wu
Freddie Mendoza, read by P.J. Ochlan
Nick Harris, read by Arthur Bishop
Jonah Berg, read by Holter Graham
Greg McGuinness, read by Brendan Wayne
Pete Loving, read by Pete Larkin
Wyatt Stone, read by Alex Jenkins Reid
Hank Allen, read by Robert Petkoff
Opal Cunningham, read by Sara Arrington
Timing Note: Listened to it with Meredith while driving back to Albuquerque. 7/5 and 7/6. Then finished it on 7/8
Jodi Picoult - By Any Other Name -- back to top
Narrated by: Billie Fulford-Brown, Laura Benanti, Jodi Picoult, Jayne Entwistle, Andrew Fallaize, Joe Jameson, John Lee, Nicholas Guy Smith, Simon Vance, Steve West
Length: 18 hrs and 25 mins
Brandon Sanderson - Tress of the Emerald Sea -- back to top
Tress of the Emerald Sea - A Cosmere Novel
Narrated by: Michael Kramer
Series: Secret Projects, Book 1, The Cosmere
Length: 12 hrs and 27 mins
Really enjoyed the book. Certainly more than I expected. I like the wit and humor of the narrator and I surprised myself with enjoying the fantasy.
My review to Alicia:
As promised, I am keeping up with sharing really good [audio]books I've finished where I am sad they are over and just really enjoyed my time.
I recently finished Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson. I have had mixed luck with fantasy before but this was a major, major hit! In addition to the fun fantasy, it had great wit and general humor. It was supposed to be styled like The Princess Bride and I think it blew that away! It is part of a greater fantasy universe but is standalone.
I read the single-narrator version. There is a full-cast "graphic audio" but I think I made the right choice. I just listened to parts of the full-cast one and found it hard to follow and less engaging.
Stephen King - The Running Man -- back to top
Written as Richard Bachman
Narrated by: Kevin Kenerly
Length: 7 hrs and 42 mins
E. B. White - Charlotte's Web -- back to top
Narrated by: E. B. White, George Plimpton
Length: 3 hrs and 34 mins
Liz Moore - The God of the Woods -- back to top
Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld
Length: 14 hrs and 35 mins
Chris Pavone - The Doorman -- back to top
Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini
Length: 12 hrs and 11 mins
It was fine and enjoyable enough though the politics, even if they were my politics, were over the top!
Christopher Moore - Noir 1 - Noir -- back to top
Narrated by: Johnny Heller
Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins
I almost DNFed at 20% when I wasn't enjoying the "Noir" writing or style. But I kept going and even started getting into it and was heading to a solid 3 to 4 stars. Then they brought in the "moon man" and I wasAt least not any time soon and not without checking for Sci-Fi elements. (ChatGPT's research says it has even more!)
The narrator did a very good job though. I was thoroughly impressed with it.
Hernan Diaz - Trust -- back to top
Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini, Jonathan Davis, Mozhan Marnò, Orlagh Cassidy
Length: 10 hrs and 21 mins
Maria V. Snyder - The Chronicles of Ixia 1 - Poison Study -- back to top
Narrated by: Kristin Atherton
Series: The Chronicles of Ixia, Book 1
Length: 13 hrs and 55 mins
Percival Everett - I am not Sidney Poitier -- back to top
Narrated by: Amir Abdullah
Length: 7 hrs and 34 mins
John Williams - Stoner -- back to top
Narrated by: Robin Field
Length: 9 hrs and 46 mins
M. T. Edvardsson - A Nearly Normal Family -- back to top
By: M. T. Edvardsson, Rachel Wilson-Broyles - translator
Narrated by: Emily Watson, Georgia Maguire, Richard Armitage
Length: 12 hrs and 48 mins
Carolyn Keene - Nancy Drew 1 - The Secret of the Old Clock -- back to top
Narrated By: Laura Linney
Length: 3 hrs and 15 mins
John Irving - The Hotel New Hampshire -- back to top
Narrated by: Kirby Heyborne
Length: 19 hrs and 57 mins
Very much a John Irving book...
Mark Haddon - The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time -- back to top
Narrated by: Jeff Woodman
Length: 6 hrs and 2 mins
Lauren Willig, Beatriz Williams, Karen White - The Author’s Guide to Murder -- back to top
Narrated by: Angus King, Saskia Maarleveld, Brittany Pressley, Lisa Flanagan
Length: 11 hrs and 45 mins
Note, I went with the author order from the cover but most sites put it as Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig, Karen White
Almost DNFed a few times, notably around 20%, 45%, and 90%. Yep. Almost gave up at 90% and even 95%. That should say a lot. Huge plot holes and too convenient endings. I kept hoping it would at least tie up a few things but nope, it just left it.
Susanna Clarke - Piranesi -- back to top
Narrated by: Chiwetel Ejiofor
Length: 6 hrs and 58 mins
Release date: 09-15-20
R. F. Kuang - Babel -- back to top
Full Title: Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of The Oxford Translators' Revolution
Narrated by: Chris Lew Kum Hoi, Billie Fulford-Brown
Length: 21 hrs and 46 mins
Release date: 08-23-22
Freida McFadden - The Crash -- back to top
Narrated by: Leslie Howard
Length: 9 hrs and 13 mins
Release date: 01-28-25
2-Stars. I found the main character to be a bit insufferable and the ending to be even harder to swallow. The main "twist/reveal" felt too forced. Like you couldn't understand the motivation. I was invested enough not to DNF and wanted but my "can't put it down" was more because I wanted to be over with it and move on than it was that I wanted to know what happens.
Jon Hickey - Big Chief -- back to top
Narrated by: Shaun Taylor-Corbett
Length: 10 hrs and 1 min
Release date: 04-08-25
Miranda July - All Fours -- back to top
Narrated by: Miranda July
Length: 10 hrs and 13 mins
Release date: 05-14-24
I struggle to rate this one. I would have gone with just 2 stars at first but as I let it sit more and more, keep thinking about it.
E. B. White - The Trumpet of the Swan -- back to top
Narrated by: E.B. White
Length: 4 hrs and 20 mins
Release date: 12-04-06
Ann Patchett - State of Wonder -- back to top
Narrated by: Hope Davis
Length: 12 hrs and 22 mins
Release date: 06-07-11
Larry McMurtry - Lonesome Dove Saga 1 - Lonesome Dove -- back to top
Narrated by: Will Patton
Series: Lonesome Dove Saga, Book 3 (Book 1 in publishing order, Book 3 in the chronology of the series)
Length: 35 hrs and 49 mins
Release date: 09-23-25
★★★★☆
Jerry Spinelli - Maniac Magee -- back to top
Narrated by: S. Epatha Merkerson
Length: 4 hrs and 20 mins
Release date: 10-10-03
Stephen King - It -- back to top
Narrated by: Steven Weber
Length: 44 hrs and 55 mins
Release date: 01-01-16
I know people consider this one of the GOATs for Stephen King but I didn't get that feel. Not bad certainly. And "that scene". Why???
Hiro Arikawa - The Travelling Cat Chronicles -- back to top
Translated by: Philip Gabriel
Narrated by: George Blagden
Length: 5 hrs and 59 mins
Release date: 10-23-18
Cute
Sangu Mandanna - The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches -- back to top
Narrated by: Samara MacLaren
Length: 9 hrs and 59 mins
Release date: 08-23-22
Language: English
Cozy and fun. I wish there was more
Roald Dahl - James and the Giant Peach -- back to top
Narrated by: Julian Rhind-Tutt
Length: 3 hrs and 18 mins
Release date: 07-25-13
Matt Dinniman - Dungeon Crawler Carl 01 - Dungeon Crawler Carl -- back to top
Narrated by: Jeff Hays
Series: Dungeon Crawler Carl, Book 1
Length: 13 hrs and 31 mins
Release date: 01-28-21
Unlike anything I've ever read. Amazing narration. Fun.
Taylor Jenkins Reid - Atmosphere -- back to top
Full Title: Atmosphere: A Love Story
Or: Atmosphere: A GMA Book Club Pick: A Love Story
By: Taylor Jenkins Reid
Narrated by: Kristen DiMercurio, Julia Whelan, Taylor Jenkins Reid
Length: 9 hrs and 52 mins
Release date: 06-03-25
Liann Zhang - Julie Chan Is Dead -- back to top
Narrated by: Yu-Li Alice Shen
Length: 9 hrs and 39 mins
Release date: 04-29-25
I should have DNFed
Roald Dahl - George's Marvellous Medicine -- back to top
Ugh. I really didn't like this one.
Narrated by: Derek Jacobi
Length: 1 hr and 36 mins
Release date: 09-26-13
Robert McCammon - Boy's Life -- back to top
Narrated by: George Newbern
Length: 20 hrs and 4 mins
Release date: 10-07-14
David Szalay - Flesh -- back to top
Narrated by: Daniel Weyman
Length: 9 hrs and 36 mins
Release date: 04-01-25
Dennard Dayle - How to Dodge a Cannonball -- back to top
Narrated by: William DeMeritt
Length: 9 hrs and 20 mins
Release date: 06-17-25
meh
S. E. Hinton - The Outsiders -- back to top
Narrated by: Jim Fyfe
Length: 5 hrs and 9 mins
Release date: 07-22-04
Maybe a bit overhyped about changing my view of the world. Or maybe I am too old.
Mike Birbiglia - The New One -- back to top
Full Title: The New One Painfully True Stories from a Reluctant Dad
By: Mike Birbiglia, J. Hope Stein
Narrated by: Mike Birbiglia, J. Hope Stein
Length: 5 hrs and 9 mins
Release date: 05-05-20
Read with Meredith on a road trip
★★★★☆ (4-stars)
I enjoyed this! Relatable, funny, and well done.
Kate Folk - Sky Daddy -- back to top
Narrated by: Kristen Sieh
Length: 9 hrs and 23 mins
Release date: 04-08-25
Weird but fun,
Carolyn Keene - Nancy Drew 2 - The Hidden Staircase -- back to top
Narrated By: Laura Linney
Length: 3 hrs and 13 mins
Junot Díaz - The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao -- back to top
Narrated by: Jonathan Davis, Staci Snell
Length: 10 hrs and 54 mins
Release date: 09-06-07
Note: It lists length as 16 hrs but that includes the extra material. The books ends at the 10:54:20 mark
★★★☆☆ (3-stars)
I know it got all kinds of awards and recognition but I wasn't as in to it. It was good enough but I found the spanglish to be both very realistic (I guess) and difficult. I didn't understand everything and felt like I missed some of it.
David Grann - The Wager -- back to top
Full Title: The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder
Narrated by: Dion Graham
Length: 8 hrs and 28 mins
Release date: 04-18-23
★★★★☆: Solid "yes". Enjoyed it and it was interesting
Victoria Jamieson - Roller Girl -- back to top
Narrated by: Almarie Guerra, Abigail Caro, Robbie Daymond, Kirby Heyborne, Hillary Huber, Jorjeana Marie, Cassandra Morris, P.J. Ochlan, Adenrele Ojo, Georgette Perna, Kate Reinders, Tara Sands, Bahni Turpin, Various
Length: 2 hrs and 19 mins
Release date: 01-29-19
Fredrik Backman - My Friends -- back to top
By: Fredrik Backman
Translated By: Neil Smith
Narrated by: Marin Ireland
Length: 13 hrs and 22 mins
Release date: 05-06-25
I absolutely enjoyed it. Very reminiscent of Anxious People in its style and prose. Nobody can say "idiot" with so much love and admiration as Fredrik Backman and/or the reading of Marin Ireland. Great reflection on life, friendship, and grief. I thought it was very sweet though occasionally drifted into both cheesy and saccharine. I would recommend it strongly but it missed the 5-stars for me.
Ariel Lawhon - The Frozen River -- back to top
Narrated by: Jane Oppenheimer, Ariel Lawhon
Length: 15 hrs and 5 mins
Release date: 12-05-23
★★★★★
Solid, enjoyable, engaging, fun, read!
My comments to Ann.
I moved The Frozen River up on my list at your suggestion and finished it. It was very, very good. I kept being certain they were going to ruin it with a bad ending but I was very happy with it. I can’t say I guessed it early but once the barn seen started I guessed both the knife that would be used and had a rough guess as to what was to be severed. Happy to see (hear) it come to fruition.
This was on my TBR from "Goodreads top 80 of the last decade" and covered on Instagram, but I moved it up since Ann suggested it.
Jeff Kinney - Diary of a Wimpy Kid 01 - Diary of a Wimpy Kid -- back to top
Narrated by: Ramon De Ocampo
Series: Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Book 1
Length: 1 hr and 57 mins
Release date: 03-10-08
Kevin Wilson - Now is not the Time to Panic -- back to top
Narrated by: Ginnifer Goodwin, Kevin Wilson
Length: 6 hrs and 13 mins
Release date: 11-08-22
★★★★☆
Douglas Adams - The Restaurant at the End of the Universe -- back to top
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Book 2
By: Douglas Adams
Narrated by: Martin Freeman
Series: Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Book 2
Length: 5 hrs and 47 mins
Release date: 07-04-06
Enjoyable enough but nowhere near as good as Douglas Adams - The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (book 1). Not only did the barely talk about Trillian, but I didn't feel like they did much to develop the other characters either.
Yiyun Li - Things in Nature Merely Grow -- back to top
Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
Length: 4 hrs and 56 mins
Release date: 05-20-25
★★★★☆:
While I am giving this four stars, I don't think I would recommend it to anyone without careful notice. It was intense!. I didn't know what to expect.
Also, despite the timing between this and the last, I listened to this in a single day.
Chuck Palahniuk - Choke -- back to top
Narrated by: Chuck Palahniuk
Length: 7 hrs and 10 mins
Release date: 12-20-02
Enjoyable and a bit odd. Sometimes intense
Katie Kitamura - Audition -- back to top
Narrated by: Traci Kato-Kiriyama
Length: 4 hrs and 46 mins
Release date: 04-08-25
The Booker Prize (shortlisted) continues to be more miss than hit for me. This was interesting and left a lot to interpretation and analysis but I also didn't find it especially compelling.
Charolotte McConaghy - Wild Dark Shore -- back to top
Wild Dark Shore
Reese's Book Club Pick (A Novel)
By: Charlotte McConaghy
Narrated by: Cooper Mortlock, Katherine Littrell, Saskia Maarleveld, Steve West
Length: 9 hrs and 58 mins
Release date: 03-04-25
I was enjoying the book but the relationship killed it for me. Even before knowing the real story, I found it hard to suspend disbelief. That feeling didn’t abate either. Honestly, I think a friendship could have worked fine.
I know everyone else loved this book so much but I guess it just didn’t resonate with me the same way
Just generally overrated.
1:
I recently finished this and found the “love story” part so bad. It just didn’t make sense and made me hate both characters with a passion. For different reasons for each but still.
Then someone asked what in particular turned me off.
2: (Spoilers)
It was just (a) not even a little bit believable (even with suspension of disbelief) including not fitting the characters otherwise and (b) It made the characters so unforgivingly unlikeable.
Dominic: At this point in the book, we didn't know what Dominic did but we knew he did something. Then when you reflect back and you realized he has sex with the wife of the person he had locked in the vault , it just made him irredeemable.
Rowan: She came to the island to find her husband. Honestly, up to about this point, we had every reason to believe they were still in love . And, while she again didn't know what happened, she surely suspected something was up. It didn't fit.
I think what bothers me most is that while it (supposedly) adds to the character depth and the tension, the story really would have flowed just fine if they had formed a very strong platonic bond.
Ann Napolitano - Dear Edward -- back to top
Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
Length: 11 hrs and 36 mins
Release date: 01-06-20
Enjoyed it mostly. Got slow at some points in the middle, though not really ever particularly "fast"
Mac Barnett - The First Cat in Space (1) Ate Pizza -- back to top
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The First Cat in Space Ate Pizza
A Graphic Novel
By: Mac Barnett
Narrated by: Shawn Harris, Mac Barnett
Series: The First Cat in Space, Book 1
Length: 1 hr and 35 mins
Release date: 01-10-23
I didn't like it, even for a kids book. I thought it was too "graphic" that it almost made it hard to follow. It had some cute moments too to be fair.
Lisa Unger - Close Your Eyes and Count to 10 -- back to top
Narrated by: Vivienne Leheny
Length: 11 hrs and 34 mins
Release date: 02-25-25
I was more or less into it. I guessed a few elements and I wouldn't say there was any big surprise I couldn't have seen coming (I even predicted one and noted it). But I was interested and wanted to hear the end.
Shirley Jackson - We Have Always Lived in the Castle -- back to top
Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne
Length: 5 hrs and 32 mins
Release date: 03-22-10
I am sure I am missing something because others love it but I thought it was just fine. Some of the "mystery" was pretty easy to guess and I didn't particularly like any of the characters. I also found the end to leave me not very satisfied.
Part of the problem may be that I found this from asking ChatGPT for "Without saying what they are (No spoilers!!!) what books have the best twist?" It was not really that...
Matt Dinniman - Dungeon Crawler Carl 02 - Carl's Doomsday Scenario -- back to top
Narrated by: Jeff Hays
Series: Dungeon Crawler Carl, Book 2
Length: 11 hrs and 28 mins
Release date: 04-22-21
Language: English
Anthony Horowitz - Susan Ryeland 2 - Moonflower Murders -- back to top
Narrated by: Lesley Manville, Allan Corduner
Series: Susan Ryeland Series, Book 2
Length: 18 hrs and 28 mins
Release date: 11-10-20
See Anthony Horowitz - Susan Ryeland 1 - Magpie Murders
I ended up really enjoying it! I liked both the story-within-a-story and the outer story. I also found I really liked the way Susan Ryeland carried herself, flaws and all!
Jenny Han - Summer I Turned Pretty 1 - The Summer I Turned Pretty -- back to top
Narrated by: Lola Tung
Series: Summer, Book 1
Length: 6 hrs
I listened to it because Meredith read it on a friends suggestion; mostly in preparation of watching the TV show.
I was pretty bored with it. I just had trouble (a) getting in to it and (b) really caring at all. For what it's worth, I am almost certainly not the intended audience.
I look forward to the TV show, but I am going to skip the next two in the series: