Current Audiobook: The Fireman by Joe Hill

Slowly getting through this one. How long ago was the RAL? I am a little behind. Need some more alone time in the car so I can listen to it. 

Quick Audiobook Reviews

Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

This was a great listen for the entire family. We listened to it twice on our road trip this summer and were completely entertained. My 5 year old loved it. Scarlett Johansson did a fabulous job reading. She used different voices for all the characters and just brought the whole story to life. 

Seriously, this was perfect for entertaining a young kid on a very long drive. 

Beezus and Ramona by Beverly Cleary
I purchased the audio collection of this series of books to take along with us on a road trip with our five year old. She loves books and I thought she would love these as I once did. My husband and I thoroughly enjoyed this book and its reading by Stockard Channing. One critique, though, I wish she hadn't given Ramona such a whiny voice.

The little girl enjoyed it but definitely got sad and upset when Ramona did some of her worst things.

We have yet to finish Ramona the Pest, due to some uncomfortable situations for the little girl. She doesn't like when Ramona is going to get in trouble. 

Happy Reading!

Current Read: Last to Die by Tess Gerritsen

This month's audiobook: Book 10 in Tess Gerritsen's Rizzoli and Isles series. 

Happy Reading! _________________________________________

Current Read: The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

I have just recently started to really enjoy listening to audiobooks. I won a few through BookRiot awhile back and since then got quite addicted to listening to them on my drives to and from the city, during walks and while knitting. 
I signed up for an account and have been consistently listening to one book a month.  I have enjoyed them all immensely. Well, except perhaps for The Magicians. It kind of drove me crazy. Annoying characters in that one. Makes me kind of mad that I bought the next two books in the series. I was enjoying it in the beginning.

Anyway,  I digress. 
My current read is book 2 in the Cemetery of Forgotten Books series by Carlos Ruiz Zafón, The Angel's Game. What I am enjoying best right now, is the fact that it is read by Matthew Crawley, I mean Dan Stevens.   :)
Well, time to walk over to my daughter's school for pick up. Going to listen to a little more of Matt...Dan Stevens. Oh, and the story is good, too.

 
Happy Reading! _________________________________________

Awesome Audiobook Arrival

Look at all the audiobooks that arrived in the mail last week! Awesomesauce.

I won these in a giveaway from BookRiot. Lots of exciting SciFi books to get lost in. I especially cannot wait to listen to the Dresden Files book (after I catch up in the series). It's read by Spike (James Marsters)!

What books came into your house?

Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came in their mailbox during the last week. Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.

Happy Reading! _________________________________________

Review: Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

  Outlander by Diana Gabaldon Audiobook, Digital Download, Unabridged Published July 2006, Recorded Books
Source: purchased on Audible


About the Book
The year is 1945. Claire Randall, a former combat nurse, is back from the war and reunited with her husband on a second honeymoon--when she walks through a standing stone in one of the ancient stone circles that dot the British Isles. Suddenly she is a Sassenach--an "outlander"--in a Scotland torn by war and raiding Highland clans in the year of Our Lord...1743.

Hurled back in time by forces she cannot understand, Claire is catapulted into intrigues and dangers that may threaten her life...and shatter her heart. For here she meets James Fraser, a gallant young Scots warrior, and becomes a woman torn between fidelity and desire...and between two vastly different men in two irreconcilable lives.
My Review
This was a really difficult book for me to get into. I started it on audio years ago. Gave up on it a few times but finally picked it up again for a Instagram RAL. I mostly just listened to it on my drives to and from ceramics class in the city when I was on my own. Not really one I could listen to with the little girl in the car with me. 
I finally finished after a solo three hour drive to my parents house Wednesday and I still don't get the appeal. It was such a long book, with very long sections of nothing happening.  
I wanted answers to the many questions I had. How Claire ended up time traveling? Can she return home? Was it Jaime that she saw outside her window? What is Frank doing back home? What is the appeal of the Jamie and Clare relationship?
Well, that last one is really for other readers, I guess.
I don't know. I just didn't get it, I guess. And I was so excited to read a book about time travel and Scotland. So sad that it just didn't resonate with me.
Could it be that I listened to it on audio? I kept picturing Claire as a much older woman due to the voice of the reader. Seemed like an older woman.
 Would I have enjoyed it more had I read it myself? Maybe, but we shall never know. I don't think I will be giving it another try.


Happy Reading! _________________________________________
 FTC Disclosure: Clicking on book title and/or image links will lead you to my Amazon Affiliate page.

Review: Keep Quiet by Lisa Scottoline

Keep Quiet by Lisa Scottoline

audiobook

Publised April 2014, MacMillan Audio

Source: giveaway win through Reading Group Choices 

First, about the audio...

Ron Livingston narrates Keep Quiet and, I have to say, I was impressed. He is very good with voices for all the different characters and the pace is nice and quick, but not too fast. Reading/Listening went very quick. It was easy to listen to and get sucked into the story on my 45 minute commute into the city every Thursday for ceramics and during my 3 mile walks. 

Now, about the story...

Jake and his son Ryan find themselves on the side of the road after hitting a jogger trying to figure out what to do. Call the police or leave the scene of the crime? A quick decision to save his son's future turns into a nightmare for their whole family while they attempt to "keep quiet". 

What seems like a story of morals and guilt changes to more of a suspense thriller with the introduction of a mysterious stranger. There is a lot going on but all is quite entertaining and I found myself talking/yelling at these characters who have difficulty making the right choices. They definitely weren't the easiest characters to like.

In the end, I think there should have been more consequences. This story felt too happily wrapped up. It all worked out a little too well for me. It was entertaining, however, and found myself unable to stop listening many times. 

Can't wait to hear what my other book group members thought of it. 

Happy Reading! _________________________________________
 FTC Disclosure: Clicking on book title and/or image links will lead you to my Amazon Affiliate page.

Book Review- Impulse by Ellen Hopkins

Impulse by Ellen Hopkins

This is the story of three teens from very different backgrounds who are in a psychiatric hospital for attempting suicide. Vanessa has a family history of mental illness, Tony grew up being abused by his mother's boyfriends, and Connor seemingly has it all but looks can be deceiving.

Told in first person by all three characters, Impulse has quite a powerful impact. You feel what they are feeling, you sometimes understand their pain other times you don't. You are there to see their recovery and their fall backs.

I received the audiobook through Library Thing's Early Reviewers Program and listened to it on my drive to and from work for the past two weeks. Heavy material but I am glad to have had a chance to hear it. I think audiobook format was perfect for me. I am not much of a poetry reader so I have stayed away from these books for that reason. The book is a collection of free verse poems, as I believe all of the author's books are. The actors really brought Ellen Hopkins' words to life in a way I may not have appreciated as much in reading. It was like listening to someone's private journal with the good and the bad all shared. So real and raw, this book leaves you reeling.

I will be thinking about this one for awhile.

4/5

A to Z Challenge

YA Book Challenge

Be sure to check out my current contest. Go here to see the prizes. You have until May 1st!

A Christmas Carol- Book Review

A Christmas Carol read by Jim Dale by Charles Dickens

A true classic.

This was so thoroughly entertaining even though I knew the story and had seen it (not read it) before. I listened to most of this in one sitting while finishing up my Christmas gifts. A perfect book to listen to. A perfect way to remember what Christmas is all about and the need to keep the Christmas spirit throughout the year. This will be one I listen to every year for certain.

I must admit, though, that in reading (listening) I kept picturing Disney characters in the parts of Bob Cratchit (Mickey), Scrooge (Donald Duck) and Marley (Goofy). Mickey's Christmas Carol was where my knowledge of the story came from.

Jim Dale is the perfect narrator, using many wonderful voices for all the characters and filled every moment with emotion and drama. Wonderfully read.

4/5

Classics Challenge

The Stone Rose- Review

Doctor Who: The Stone Rose by Jacqueline Rayner
This is my first audiobook. Really, the only reason for purchasing it off iTunes was the fact that David Tennant is the reader. Love his voice, both The Doctors and his own Scottish accent, and he is amazing. He sounds just like Mickey and even Jackie when he reads their parts.

The story itself is not so great but I really wasn't expecting it to be. There is a reason why I don't buy books based on T.V. shows. Still, with David Tennant's reading it was easy to ignore that. Plus, there are some sweet Rose and The Doctor moments.

3/5

audiobooks

Do you listen to them?

I have not listened to any but I did just purchase two audiobooks off of iTunes.

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens read by Jim Dale

This is on my list for the Classics Challenge and I love Jim Dale's narration on Pushing Daisies and I know he is loved for his work on the HP audiobooks. ( I can't bring myself to pay $35 for those.)

I also got a Doctor Who book. The Stone Rose. Why? Well, because I love Doctor Who and because it is narrated by David Tennant. That really is the only reason. Love his voice. And you get both his Doctor voice and his real Scottish accented voice. Yum.

Anyway. For both it was about $16. Not too bad. Hopefully, it was worth it.

Do ya'll listen to audiobooks? What do you like about them?

Am I gonna get hooked?