audiobook

The Indigo Spell | Richelle Mead | Audiobook Review

by April (Books&Wine)

You probably should NOT read beyond the first paragraph if you don’t want to be spoiled for Bloodlines or The Golden Lily, just an FYI.

I am one of those people who is compulsive about the form I encounter a book or series in. For example, I’ve been reading Richelle Mead’s Bloodlines series strictly in print and had no plans to change that. HOWEVER, when I was offered an advance audiobook copy of The Indigo Spell I was on the fence. Do I change up my routine and try to encounter Sydney and Adrian in different form — or do I wait for an agonizing amount of time for the print version? You guys, it’s a lot to consider — you know a poorly done audio can ruin the experience of a much anticipated book. I ended up quite lucky though — the audiobook of The Indigo Spell is very, very good.

The Indigo Spell by Richelle Mead | Good Books And Good Wine

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The Sociopath Next Door Martha Stout Audiobook Review

by April (Books&Wine)

I think I must be a bit of a weirdo in that I quite like learning about anomalies and different sorts of things. Obviously being a sociopath is not normal and it’s outside my realm of experience, thus I find it fascinating as a topic. After a pretty big tragedy struck (not me personally), I found myself wanting answers and wondering how a person could do something like that. And so, I plunked down a $10 gift card and $0.91 to purchase The Sociopath Next Door by Martha Stout on Audible in hopes of gaining an understanding of how people who do not possess a conscience think and also function. Thankfully, The Sociopath Next Door reminded me exactly why I delve into non-fiction quite often.

The Sociopath Next Door Martha Stout Book Cover

So, basically The Sociopath Next Door is all about how 1 in 25 people are sociopaths. It shows that not all sociopaths are criminals nor do they all engage in murderous rampages. However, people who have sociopathy do not think like I do. They don’t have that whole guilty conscience thing. Stout chose to focus the book on every day behavior, which to be honest, I liked because then I didn’t get nightmares — I am prone to them when reading about real life terrifying things. ALSO at the end she delves into how to protect yourself from being manipulated by a sociopath with a set of rules to live by. It’s helpful, I guess. I don’t know if I actually know any sociopaths though.

I actually quite enjoyed the way that The Sociopath Next Door was written. It’s on a level that I understand. You see, I took one psychology class in college (aside from educational psychology but that’s another can of worms) and was like ‘this is not nearly as awesome as I had hoped’, thus if there was nothing but jargon I would not have understood a single word. Instead, I was easily able to follow along with Stout and her conclusions. Plus, she makes it interesting by putting in stories about her clients and the sociopaths who victimized them. The sociopaths range from a powerful business man, a principal, and an elderly woman among others. OH OH and she puts in this really great example at the beginning about this guy who has to fly out for a meeting, then heads back to his house to feed his dog, and explores every angle with us readers to decide whether the guy is doing this out of intrinsic self-motivation and driven by a conscience, or doing it out of extrinsic motivation and what others might think. And she relates that whole scenario to factors that determine whether the guy is a sociopath or not. Either way, being a total weirdo nerd, I found the whole thing fascinating and felt as though I learned something by the end — well until I saw that some people cast a bit of doubt on Stout’s findings. Alas, I am not a psychology major so I can’t tell you anything about the validity of Stout’s book.

Of course, I listened to the audiobook because these days that is exactly how I read all my non-fiction. The Sociopath Next Door is narrated by Shelly Frasier. This was my first audio narrated by Frasier and it certainly won’t be the last. She has impressive enunciation. She has a clear voice that’s not unpleasing. Plus, she sounds intelligent while she’s narrating, which is an important quality to me when it comes to non-fiction audiobooks. The Sociopath Next Door is 7 hours and 26 minutes unabridged. It’s produced by Tantor Audio. There weren’t any weird breathing or mouth noises thank goodness, and I was actually impressed with the production quality of this book. I’d definitely recommend this short listen if you want to broaden your horizons and learn something.

Disclosure: Purchased on Audible with one of those here’s $10 for being kickass gift certificates.

Other reviews of The Sociopath Next Door by Martha Stout:

I can’t find any by like actual book bloggers, so if you review this, leave your link in the comments and I will be certain to add it.

The Statues that Walked: Unraveling the Mystery of Easter Island | Terry Hunt | Carl Lipo

by April (Books&Wine)

Friends, I freakin love history. Especially ancient, INTERESTING history. Now, my excitement cues up a notch when said history is the subject of a non-fiction audiobook. YOU GUYS! I was beyond pumped up for my purchase of The Statues That Walked: Unraveling The Mystery Of Easter Island by Terry Hunt and Carl Lipo on audible during one of those super cheap sales. Unfortunately, the book was much cooler in concept than it was in execution and I ended up with a major case of eye glaze. You guys ever get that? When you get so excited about an academic topic, so you read a book about it and then you end up totally zoned out because it wasn’t what you expected. Like, I was expecting fascinating stories about the statues and why they exist, because let’s face it those statues are fricken cool. Alas. It was not meant to be.

The Statues That Walked by Terry Hunt and Carl Lipo | Good Books And Good Wine

So, Easter Island was “discovered” by Europeans in 1722 on Easter, hence why it’s called Easter Sunday. What the Europeans found were some big ass statues and a mystery! How the hell did those ancient people build the statues and move them around? Like, these statues are several tons, right. And so, The Statues That Walked attempts to unravel that mystery and answer the question. Also, Easter Island apparently was ecologically devastated. So, what the book provides is a pretty intense look at the culture of the people, the different theories about how they made and moved the statues and actually a long, in depth segment about archaeology. It’s all based on this study that the two authors, Carl Lipo and Terry Hunt conducted in 2001. OH OH and the book also tries to counter Collapse by Jared Diamond, but as I have not yet read Collapse I cannot say which theory I think is better.

Y’all, I HATE when I am not into a book that I am pumped up about. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t hate The Statues That Walked, but I just felt so lukewarm about it. My thing was, it was super boring. Like, I know, I KNOW the archaeology bit is important and kind of the basis of the book. And I know it’s important to show your work and how you came to your answers. I also know it’s important to talk about how one conducted their studies. But for me, this was so boring. I just wanted to hear about the ecological devastation and the statutes. Actually, mostly the statues and their significance. Unfortunately, while the book does talk about the statues, obviously, I just thought it wasn’t that compelling to listen to. Kind of like my rambling right now — it’s likely not all that compelling.

Fortunately, the audiobook narration is relatively decent. The audiobook of The Statues That Walked: Unraveling The Mystery Of Easter Island by Terry Hunt and Carl Lipo is produced by Audible, Inc and so the quality of sound is fantastic — no static or weird feedback here. ALSO! The audiobook is mad short, so it wasn’t too much to sit through the dull parts. It is 6 hours and 40 minutes long, which again, not that bad for a non-fiction. The narrator is Joe Barrett who does a decent job with the material. He sounds like a college professor — and I don’t mean that negatively. He enunciates and probably pronounces everything correctly. Anyways, if you are SUPER interested in the topic and methodology, then get your hands on The Statues That Walked. On the other hand, if, like me you just want the statues none of the methods, you should probably skip this one.

Disclosure: Purchased on Audible

Other reviews of The Statues That Walked: Unraveling The Mystery Of Easter Island by Terry Hunt and Carl Lipo:

Devourer Of Books – “A solid work of nonfiction”

S. Krishna’s Books – “The authors present an intriguing portrait of this island”

Bonus content! Here I am at the Museum of Natural History In New York with an ‘Easter Island’ head:

Easter Island Me

Reached Ally Condie Audiobook Review

by April (Books&Wine)

Obviously there will be spoilers for Matched and Crossed so click the links to read reviews of those instead, if you don’t want to be spoiled.

Ahhh! It’s so interesting to be reading and finishing series that have begun and ended within the timespan of my book blogging journey. YOU GUYS! I remember being beyond psyched for Matched by Ally Condie and enjoying it for the most part with a few reservations. THEN! I listened to the audiobook of Crossed and was sort of let down a little bit, but still wanted to finish the series. AND NOW IT IS OVER! And okay, there was a lot that I really liked about the conclusion, Reached and the audiobook, but also certain things that were kind of a total let down. AND OBVIOUSLY you know that you’re in for long winded explanations as to why I am of mixed feelings on Reached.

Reached Ally Condie Book Cover

Okay, so you know how Crossed was the book where we found out about The Rising, the rebellion group that wants to overthrow the Society and their mysterious leader, the pilot? Well, in Reached, we see the Rising’s plot finally play out. Cassia, Xander and Ky are all in different provinces doing different things. Cassia is a sorter in Central, but she also engages in illegal trading with the Archivists. Xander works as a medic and is a government official. He’s also a member of the Rising. And Ky is a pilot for the Rising and is working with Indie. As members of the society are hit with a mysterious plague, the Rising makes their move and takes over. ALSO! Cassia must choose FINALLY between Xander and Ky. Oh, and lots of other things happen within the plot but since the book is like 512 pages, I thought I’d just boil it down to the main things.

Probably my favorite thing about the whole trilogy was Cassia’s growth. From Matched to Reached, where she starts off as a girl who is pumped up for her matching ceremony banquet, to a woman who runs an underground gallery where people are actually creating their own works rather than relying on the 100. I just thought it was so cool to see her really come into her own. Plus, she really struggles to help find the cure for the plague — including trying to recover a memory erased by the red pill. I loved that. I loved seeing her sort through her feelings, FINALLY for Xander and Ky instead of keeping both on the line. I loved that Cassia just did not give up when all of the odds were against her — thus making her worthy of her main character status.

Of course besides the whole dystopia and down fall of society thing, I think the true driving force behind Reached and the other books is the love triangle. And I totally know that love triangles aren’t cool anymore, but you guys when this series first started triangles were a thing that all the books did. AND I started Matched and Crossed rooting for Ky. THEN I ended up changing my mind and was all whooooo Xander, because he’s a doctor and doctors are pretty useful. Also, because Xander comes across as a solid and steadfast sort of person. I will say that Reached was probably the least swoonworthy for me out of the whole trilogy, and that’s because yes, the decision is made, but we don’t exactly get a lot of PG-13 scenes or anything. Also, there was more focus on the plague than there was making out.

Which brings me to my next point, I am totally all for reading about plagues. Luckily, Reached totally delivers on it’s promise of disease. We get to see the beginnings of the plague, how immunity is developed and then also how the disease mutates, much like in real life. I just bizarrely love that sort of thing and realize that it makes me odd, but I’ve made peace with that. However, I was not entirely satisfied with how they cured it. It just came across as kind of anti-climatic. I remember thinking after listening — all this build up for that?!

Like Crossed, I listened to the audiobook version of Ally Condie’s Reached. I actually liked this one better than Crossed because Xander has a point of view and his narrator has probably the best voice. Kate Simses and Jack Riccobono revive their parts as Cassia and Ky, respectively. Matt Burns narrates Xander’s parts. As I mentioned above, I found myself rooting for Xander during Reached, and that’s due in no small part to the voicing of Ky and Xander. I just found Matt Burns’ voice much more appealing and believable than Ky’s. Don’t get me wrong, Jack Riccobono did an okay job narrating, but when it came down to it, for shallow reasons I just liked Burns’ better, he came across as less angsty. Crossed is produced by Penguin audio and is 13 hours and 15 minutes long. It does kind of drag for a bit and I found myself listening to the radio and spotify a lot more than this. Also I started another audiobook in the middle because I could not focus on Crossed, but I eventually did end up finishing it, obviously. So, take that as you will.

Disclosure: Received for review

Other reviews of Reached by Ally Condie:

The Sweet Bookshelf – “While I did enjoy this story, it definitely isn’t my favorite.”

YA Book Queen – “An excellent ending to an incredible trilogy”

Anna Reads – “I’m very satisfied with the ending of Reached“

Books by Ally Condie:

Matched
Crossed

The Giver Lois Lowry Retro Friday Review

by Allison L

The Giver by Lois Lowry has always been one of my favorite books. I remember reading it when I was in elementary school and being completely captivated by it. It made me think in a way that I really hadn’t before, and I feel as if it definitely left a mark on me a young child – a mark that is still with me even today. When I found out that Lois Lowry was going to be at the BEA Children’s Authors Breakfast, I immediately jumped at the chance to hear her speak, and let me tell you I am more than thankful that I did. The woman is amazing. She is so intelligent, and well spoken, and there was a real message in the words that she spoke at BEA. She made me cry. I loved every second that I got to witness her speak, and was more than willing to give her a standing ovation when she was finished.

The Giver Lois Lowry Book Cover

Flash forward to a little while later after I had returned home, I came across an audio version of The Giver read by Ron Rifkin. I knew that I had to take it out, and give it a listen. It had been a good while since I had had anything to do with the story, and I knew that it was definitely time for a refresher course. From the moment I first put on my headphones and started the story, I was pulled into it. All of sudden everything was coming back to me again, and the more I got into it, the more I fell in love with it all over again. If you’ve never read or heard of The Giver before (shame on you), here is the short version: Jonas lives in a world that is perceived to be “perfect”, where everything is under control, and where nobody has the freedom to make their own choices. All decisions are made by the Community, and they are never questioned. When Jonas turns twelve, it is revealed that he has been selected to receive special training from a man referred to as The Giver. The Giver is the one who holds the true memories of life – the pain and the pleasure – and now it is time for Jonas to receive the truth. And once he does, there is no turning back.

When I first read The Giver, I was younger and did not have very much life experience but the book touched me in a way that I was never able to forget. Now at the time of this re-read I’m twenty five years old. I have a little bit of life experience. I’ve finished high school, gone to college, and gone to graduate school. I’ve made friends and I’ve lost friends. I’ve made plenty of memories, choices, and mistakes. And my dad passed away. Regardless of the stage of my life that I’m in at the time that I’ve read the story, I honestly think I’ve come to the same conclusion every time. I would NEVER want to live in a world like Jonas did.

Why? Because I value my memories, choices, and mistakes. I value the fact that I have had people to share these things with. I value the fact that I have an education. I value the fact that I don’t have people telling me what to do, or how I am supposed to live my life. I value the fact that I can actually see things such as color, and feel things such as rain and snow. I value the fact that I had a father, and that he was an amazing man, and that I will miss him for the rest of my life. And yes even though it hurts like hell sometimes, I would never want to give up missing my father for anything. The same thing with my grandfather who passed away when I was three and a half years old. I just can’t imagine ever wanting to live in a world without these things no matter how “perfect” it may sound.

What I think I love most about The Giver is the way that it makes me think and the way that it makes me feel. I have so many emotions after re-reading it. Emotions that I should be grateful for having because I am able to express them, talk about them, and write a review about what made me feel this way. One of my favorite quotes is:

“The worst part of holding the memories is not the pain. It’s the loneliness of it. Memories need to be shared.”

One of the reasons why I love being a part of the book blogging community so much is that we get to discuss things and it is not only limited to books. Our personal lives slip into our conversations and our posts. I mean, in this post alone I’ve told you personal things about me, and I feel completely comfortable doing that. I want to be able to share those moments with people, especially if I’m able to do it while discussing a book!

For me, The Giver is a timeless story. The way that it is crafted will always take my breath away. Lois Lowry faces the themes of choice, life, and death head on, and makes the journey completely worthwhile. I was completely glued to the story through the impeccable narration of the audiobook just like I was glued to the pages of the physical book when I was younger. I do plan on reading the rest of the books in the series (which I didn’t even know was a series until this year) but I have a strong feeling that the first one will stick with me for a very long time to come. If you have never read it before, I sincerely urge you to give it a try.

Disclaimer: Borrowed from local library

Other reviews of The Giver by Lois Lowry:

Annette’s Book Spot: “You really barely catch your breath from the first page to the last. And, the last page leaves many questions as well. Then, you close the book and start thinking….”

The Cozy Armchair: “The Giver. When I think about this book, the rush of emotions I feel varies from nostalgia to happiness, from happiness to sadness.”

Book Journey: “The Giver is one of those books that I would say need to be on everyone’s book bucket list.”

Reading For Sanity: “A fantastic read! One of my all-time favorite books for young or old.”

Retro Friday Reviews are hosted by Angieville & is an awesome meme/feature where you review an older or under the radar book on Fridays.

A Distant Mirror Barbara W. Tuchman Audiobook Review

by April (Books&Wine)

I feel like the biggest history nerd for managing to sit through the entire 28+ hour audiobook of A Distant Mirror by Barbara W. Tuchman. Y’all, medieval history is totally MY FAVORITE EVER so of course when I see a nice, juicy audiobook that’s very, very long and it’s all about my two favorite medieval events, I snap it up and eventually listen to it. Yet, I am of two minds when it comes to A Distant Mirror — I liked the content very much, but I found myself consistently zoning out while listening, unfortunately.

A Distant Mirror by Barbara Tuchman covers the 14th Century which is kind of totally baller, in that THANK GOODNESS I WASN’T ALIVE THEN sort of way. I mean, okay there’s courtly love and chivalry and all of that which is awesome. But then you also have to think that it was probably smelly, people had bad teeth, plus all of the diseases. As some one who is so not a fan of being sick or being dirty, I found myself thankful for living in the twenty first century. Anyways, A Distant Mirror uses the historical figure of Enguerrand de Coucy who is this French noble guy to give the book some context and to put everything into a human perspective.

What really peaked my interest while listening to A Distant Mirror were the parts that focused on the Black Plague and the parts that focused on the various Crusades. Seriously, I bizarrely love reading about the Plague and how people didn’t know it was carried on fleas. Yo, some people blamed cats for it. They also blamed other things too. But anyways, every time she came to a part about the plague and how it decimated populations, I was like this feels like a dystopia but in real life. You see, there were like four different Black Plagues which messed up the population of Europe every time and it ended up screwing with the social structure because plenty of nobles died. THEN okay, the Crusades! So you guys instead of the French and the English fighting each other, one of the popes got the bright idea to fight for the Holy Land and unite Christendom and issues a papal bull. Then all these young men are like yeahhhh let’s fight because they were typically younger sons and thus not going to inherit, so going to Crusade meant they could make a name for themselves and find their fortune. Yah, I could go further into how cool all that bloody battle is, but chances are you are not nearly as weird as I am and thus don’t want to hear about it.

So, if you have a passing interest in the medieval era and maybe want to brush up on your history but don’t want to read a book that’s going to make you feel stupid because it has nothing but jargon, then you should definitely read A Distant Mirror. It’s very easy to read and never feels convoluted. Plus, it’s very human and pulls you right into the 14th century. You don’t feel like a distant observer while reading, ya know? I think the use of de Coucy helps with that because he provides this central figure to focus on.

Unfortunately, where I have to get a bit critical is in my evaluation of the audio portion. Y’all, I hate to cop to this, but I totally zoned out continuously during A Distant Mirror. It’s very long and I guess I have a hard time listening to one person speak academically for a very long time. Now, this is on me, not on the audiobook production. However, at times there would be a very weird, very faint sort of static when I was listening to the audiobook and I know it’s not my phone or my speakers so that definitely threw me off. Nadia May narrates this 28 hour 38 minute audiobook and it’s produced by Blackstone Audio. I think if you’ve got a lot of things on your mind or are easily distracted you should probably listen to something else. Honestly if you are like me as far as attention span goes, I’d actually recommend reading a physical copy rather than the audiobook, because the content is utterly fantastic but I can’t exactly sing the praises of the delivery.

Disclosure: Purchased on Audible

Other reviews of A Distant Mirror by Barbara W. Tuchman:

I can’t seem to find any from book bloggers, if you’ve reviewed this book leave a link in the comments and I’ll add it.

Mistletoe & Margaritas Shannon Stacey Audiobook Review

by April (Books&Wine)

As it is December, I feel it is my duty to spread Christmas cheer by writing reviews for all the nearby holiday books. Y’all, I am so excited that I can buy Christmas books and not be ashamed because they are out of season. Now, Mistletoe & Margaritas by Shannon Stacey is an audiobook novella that I obtained for free on Audible because they were doing a Christmas in July promotion where members got to choose a free Christmas-themed listen. Obviously, I went for Mistletoe & Margaritas because hello, CUTE cover and omgADORBS romance! Plus, it was a super low risk way to try out Shannon Stacey, an author I’ve been more than curious about. Y’all, this was an awesome listen during the Dewey 24 Hour Marathon!

Mistletoe & Margaritias Shannon Stacey Book Cover

Claire Rutledge lost her husband two years ago, and by lost I mean, he pretty much died. But, she’s still a romantic. She still believes love is possible. She starts having these sexy dreams which she takes as a sign that it’s time to get laid and move on from her loss. Justin McCormick has been in love with Claire for pretty much FOREVER, only his best friend kind of married her first. Yet, there’s a chemistry between Claire and Justin and you guys it totally comes to a crescendo at this holiday party and you can bet there’s some sexytimes so you need to put headphones on during those parts or make sure you are listening around people who don’t mind those parts.

Friends, Mistletoe & Margaritas had one of my favorite types of romance tropes — fighting the undeniable attraction. Like, Justin does not want to hook up with Claire or anything because hello, she’s his dead best friend’s widow. Still, he can’t deny his attraction. And Claire, well she also fights it at first but nothing can stop their magnetism to each other. AND OMG IT IS SWOONWORTHY. Plus, the sexytimes are not awful, but like I said if you are listening to this you need to wear headphones.

If you’ve got a relatively short commute and looking for a low commitment audiobook, I highly recommend the audio version of the Mistletoe & Margaritas novella. Legit, it only takes 2 hours and 4 minutes to listen to in whole. It is narrated by MacLeod Andrews who has a rather pleasant, soothing voice. He narrates in an unvoiced fashion — which means that there aren’t voices for all of the characters, but it’s fine because it doesn’t sound creepy or awkward when he does the voice of Claire. It’s just a guy telling a story and is easy to listen to. I was never taken out of the story by weird falsetto or anything. THANK GOODNESS. So yeah, looking for a quick holiday listen? THIS BOOK RIGHT HERE WILL FULFILL THAT NEED. Also? If you are nervous about sexytimes, perhaps this is not the read for you.

Disclosure: Obtained on Audible for free during their Christmas in July Promotion

Other reviews of Mistletoe & Margaritas by Shannon Stacey:

The Allure Of Books – “fantastic with characterization all around”

Colin Fischer Ashley Edward Miller and Zach Stentz Audiobook Review

by April (Books&Wine)

I love those moments when I’m like hmmm, I have this audiobook for review and it’s about four hours long and I have at least two hours of driving, if not more in my day, might as well give it a whirl AND the audiobook turns out to be incredibly enjoyable. Y’all, over the course of yesterday I listened to the entire audiobook of Colin Fischer by Ashley Edward Miller and Zach Stentz narrated by Jesse Eisenberg. After finishing it, I felt a little bit bereft because it just WORKED perfectly for me — from the writing style to the characterization to the mystery right on down to Eisenberg’s pitch perfect narration. Colin Fischer is certainly an audiobook that I would recommend to audiobook aficionados and newcomers alike.

Colin Fischer Ashley Edward Miller Zack Stenz Audiobook Cover

Colin Fischer is a freshman boy with Asperger’s. He doesn’t like the color blue because it seems cold to him. He doesn’t like to be touched. However, he’s incredibly intelligent. When his classmate Melissa is holding her birthday celebration during lunch, a gun goes off. The main suspect is a bully named Wayne Connelly, HOWEVER, Colin who has a very keen eye for detail knows that it was, in fact, not Wayne who did it and so tries to solve the mystery.

Oh my goodness, friends, I loved reading about Colin Fisher. I thought he was eminently likable despite his quirks and extreme social awkwardness. Colin loves order and facts and rules. He tends to be an observer of others. Yet, he’s often not a participant, for example he needs index cards to help decode social cues and facial expressions. In all honesty, listening to Colin’s detective methods and powers of observation reminded me a lot of Adrian Monk from the TV show Monk which I straight up love. Plus, he keeps this notebook filled with facts and would often footnote and interject with these facts that I found to be utterly fascinating. ALSO like I mentioned, Colin has Aspergers and it’s nice to see a differently abled person as main character. I am not sure the extent to which Colin is an accurate portrayal of a person with Aspergers as I do not have it, nor do I know a whole lot about it.

I am not sure if it is because I was listening to the audiobook and a singular narrator and not actually reading physically, but I was not able to tell when Ashley Edward Miller’s writing stopped and Zach Stentz’s writing began and vice versa. At least in audio form, the narrative of the two authors is rather seamless. If you like a quirky sort of writing with strong character voicing you will probably enjoy Colin Fischer.

This may sound kind of biased, but I’d really recommend experiencing Colin Fischer by Ashley Edward Miller and Zach Stentz via audio book. Seriously, Jesse Eisenberg is the perfect narrator for this book. His voicing of Colin is very matter of fact with a pleasant sort of patois, which you’ll find to be important when Colin talks about phone voice vs. speaking voice. I also liked how when we got footnotes and excerpts from Colin’s notebook, it sounded as though Jesse Eisenberg was playing back a recorder or talking into a cheap microphone. It just added a sense of legitimacy to the audiobook without going overboard with sound effects or anything. Colin Fischer is a relatively short audiobook — it is only 4 hours and 16 minutes unabridged and produced by Penguin Audio. If you’re looking for a unique and quirky audiobook for your commute, this is a book I absolutely recommend.

Disclosure: Received for review

Other reviews of Colin Fischer by Ashley Edward Miller and Zach Stenz:

In Bed With Books – “I loved the format of COLIN FISCHER”

Bookitsch – “Colin Fischer was a hilarious read for me.”

Wandering Librarians – “We actually get to see some interaction between parents and with their children that is positive.”

Legion Brandon Sanderson Audiobook Review

by April (Books&Wine)

Novellas totally do not get enough love here on Good Books & Good Wine and that kind of sucks because novellas are awesome. They are quick to read and usually unencumbered by bogged down prose, but straight to the point and the action. Like, in a novella you truly do have to cut the crap in order to tell a tightly focused story. When Allison at The Allure Of Books pointed Legion by Brandon Sanderson out to me and mentioned it was a free download on Audible.com, I immediately hopped over and snapped it up because I have loved every single book that I’ve read by Brandon Sanderson, so I figured I would enjoy this one too. Y’all, the audiobook of Legion by Brandon Sanderson was superb Dewey Readathon listening.

Legion’s plot is kind of hard for me to explain but, here goes. Okay, so main character Stephen Leeds has this bizarre disorder where he hallucinates various personalities and people who have mastery of certain skills. These people are called aspects and they help Leeds solve cases. Leeds and his hallucinations are on the search for Balubal Razon, this missing guy who invented a camera that is magic and has the power to change human history, so finding him is kind of a big deal. The novella starts out in Leeds’ mansion in America, but my favorite bits are when they are on a plane bound for Jerusalem. It’s a fairly intelligent read that asks some big questions.

I enjoyed Legion. Granted, I did find some bits of it confusing, but I think that had this been a driving listen for me, rather than a readathon listen, then I might not have been so confused. As always, I thought Sanderson’s writing was top notch and not boring. The imagination involved and the detail that went into each of the characters — Stephen Leeds as well as his aspects were astounding. Not only does Legion have a cool plot, but it also has fascinating, multi-faceted characters. Typical Sanderson though, and I definitely mean that in the best possible way.

The audiobook version of Legion is produced by Dragonsteel Entertainment. It is narrated by Oliver Wyman who is quite competent and does a wonderful job providing different voices for each of the aspects. I imagine that I would not mind listening to a full book narrated by Wyman. The duration is only 2 hours and 8 minutes, so this audiobook is definitely not a waste of time, nor does it feel like it takes FOREVER to get through. I’d definitely recommend downloading this audio, and at the cost of free until 12/31/12, why not?

Disclosure: This was a freebie on Audible

Other reviews of Legion by Brandon Sanderson:

Fyrefly’s Book Blog – “a solid, thought-provoking story”

Reading And Running – “I liked seeing him write in a different genre”

Sunrise Over Fallujah Walter Dean Myers Audiobook Review

by April (Books&Wine)

Why do I like reading military based books so much? I’ve never been a soldier. I’m scared witless of guns. But, I love reading about camaraderie. I love reading about bravery and courage under fire, so to speak. When I first came across Sunrise Over Fallujah by Walter Dean Myers, it was at the library in 2009. I was living in a place I call hell. I had initially taken the book out because I liked the cover and I knew a little tiny bit about Fallujah. Unfortunately, I returned the book unread. Flash forward to this year, 2012, and seeing Sunrise Over Fallujah in the Audible sale. For me, audiobooks are an easy way to read free time non-review books. Since 2009, I have become a big fan of Walter Dean Myers, and so coming across Sunrise Over Fallujah again, I absolutely could not pass that up. Y’all, this is what we call A GOOD LIFE CHOICE.

Sunrise Over Fallujah follows Robin Perry, a young soldier in the Civilian Affairs branch of the military. He is sent to Iraq where their mission is to basically stabilize Iraq and help the Iraqis rebuild. The book starts with Robin questioning why he signed up for the military, for war. He is briefed on his company’s mission. They go over friendly fire and the rules of engagement and what not. Then we move into Robin forming bonds with the other members of his company, notably Jonesy who wants to open up a blues club when he gets back from fighting and Marla, a tough as nails blonde soldier. We see the company interact with the Iraqis, we see them look for weapons, then turn around and collect toys for the children. Yet, the book is not immune to tragedy, much like most people involved with war. It’s kind of hard for me to describe the plot, so I’ll just say it’s a bit of a coming of age, but with a soldier.

I said it in my review of ALL THE RIGHT STUFF and I just wanted to reiterate that thus far, Robin is my favorite of all the Walter Dean Myers main characters that I’ve ‘met’. Robin starts off the book with one of my favorite character traits EVER, he is PRICKLY, you guys. Like, he gets pissy because Marla gives him the nickname Birdy. And it sticks, to Robin’s dismay. But then, as we progress and see the day to day life of war and as Robin really gets to bond, he starts to change. He starts to not mind the nickname. And you guys, ‘Birdy’ goes through some serious life changing events, and I am glad to say that with each event, Robin develops as a character. You can’t go through an experience like the ones Robin has and not change, so I respect that Walter Dean Myers didn’t make Birdy perfect and statics.

I’m glad to read a book set during the Iraq war, as usually the ones I tend to read are set during different wars. Sunrise Over Fallujah wasn’t the typical war book where I spent the whole time in fear for the characters. Or the type where every single battle is described in detail. But rather, Sunrise Over Fallujah goes into the ordinary between fighting bits and I liked that, I feel like I don’t know enough about that. Plus, most of the war books I read don’t have female combatants, so that was a nice little change too. I also liked reading about a war that has happened in my lifetime, in a place that people who actually matter to me in real life have been and have fought. Afterwards, while I don’t UNDERSTAND because I have never been there and most likely never will be in the military, I found myself feeling more empathy towards the experiences of the service people I know.

I’ve seen a few reviews on goodreads for Sunrise Over Fallujah that were lukewarm, which set my brain to wondering. I was thinking about the audiobook experience and how it affects my perception of the books I listen to. Would I have felt the book mediocre if I had read the print version? The audiobook version is published by Recorded Books. The narrater is JD Jackson and he really brings Robin to life. I thought he was a wonderful casting choice. Is that what they call it — the choice of narrator? Anyways, I digress. I thought that JD Jackson brought Sunrise Over Fallujah to the next level, where the characters felt real and three dimensional to me, rather than flat as the reviews say. And now I am wondering how much of my impression and feelings are due to the audiobook rather than Myers’ words. That stated, I did really, really enjoy Sunrise Over Fallujah by Walter Dean Myers and would recommend that you give the audiobook which is only 7 hours and 27 minutes unabridged a shot, especially if you are looking to diversify your reading.

Disclosure: Purchased with an audible credit, although I also once borrowed this from the library a very long time ago but returned it unread.

Other reviews of Sunrise Over Fallujah by Walter Dean Myers:

Crazy QuiltEdi – “a thought provoking book that makes us wonder what the war, indeed any war, accomplishes”

Bookin’ Las Vegas – “JD Jackson is amazing as the voice of the book.”

Advice From A Caterpillar – “a jolt of reality about the war our children have already inherited”