Collapse of the Veil by Alison Lohans , Narrated by Arielle Lipshaw

Collapse of the Veil by Alison Lohans Narrated by Arielle Lipshaw
Audio Production by,iambik

Description:
Collapse of the Veil is the first book of the Passage Through Time series.

Escaping her home routine for a few hours, 16-year-old Katie grabs her bike and leaves behind her cranky baby, hyperactive brother and struggling single mom. Flopping down in a field to rest, Katie brushes against an enchanted willow and falls into a dying world far in the future. The few survivors cling to their lore - tales of terrible destruction that are about to fall upon Katie's home.

Time travel, psychic phenomena and human emotion all play key roles in the juncture of these two vastly diverse societies. Katie must set aside the normal goals of a typical teenager and decide if she can be the one to help save her two worlds.

My Thoughts/Review:

16 year old teen mom Katie is having a hard time dealing with being a mother and dealing with her own mother, she loves her son Tyler but it is a lot to deal with. While out for a walk she sits on a rock and is transported somewhere else there are no city noises and she hears voices talking about a child...her child? She thinks she must have fallen asleep for a few minutes and had a very vivid dream; she goes home to discover she has been gone for hours. A few days later while out with her son and friend Loren he and Tyler walk off into some bushes and disappear she runs after them only to discover herself back in this otherworld that is not a dream.

It turns out these future people think her son is the child of prophecy that will save them all and now Katie, Loren & Tyler are taken into in this otherworld because her son is considered the Tolarae (sp audiobook), but it isn’t just Tyler that seems affected by this otherworld for some reason Loren can now hear Katie’s thoughts and their leader says he has dreamed about him too. They also need Loren for other things…these future people can no longer *cough* repopulate. They do get back to their own world but things in the present are starting to get weird too. (No spoilers)

This is supposed to be the a future world but it felt more like a Fae world to me, and there were times it was a bit confusing , like how did this time warp work?, why don’t these future people know anything about our “past” world? How far in the future is this? I think I have an easier time taking in the whole story thinking of it as a fae world instead of a future world. Even Katie says things like why does he speak in an old fashioned language which I thought yes why is that, because this is supposed to be the future right??!!??

But that isn’t to say I didn’t really enjoy this story. I guess it is a book one in a series and I will definitely be watching for the next one. It is an intriguing story that does keep you guessing as to how everything came about and how the past, present and future fit together and what it all has to do with this one little boy. I think my rating would have been higher if this was a fae story that it was time travel/warp was a bit confusing but I have faith that this will become clearer as the series progresses because this was well written and did grab me enough to make me want the rest of the story now!

The audio production from iambik was very well done with narration by, Arielle Lipshaw also very well done. I really enjoyed her narration she brought the story to life very well. I would definitely listen to this narrator again and would also recommend iambik productions.

I am not sure if this book is only available in audio but I would like a paper copy for the library too.

3 ½ Stars

I received this book from audiobookjukebox Solid Gold Reviewer Program

Beyond The Bougainvillea by Dolores Durando

Beyond The Bougainvillea by Dolores Durando
Publisher BellBridgebooks

It is the early 1930’s and the Midwest has been hit with the drought and the great depression is starting. Marge’s young life in North Dakota is anything but happy but when things are at their worst she is rescued by some good people, the kind of people Marge never knew existed. With their help she goes off to California to start her new life.

I enjoyed Marge discovering all the new things in the world outside of the North Dakota farm she grew up on, like pull chain toilets, bubble baths, and different ethnic groups.

I fell in love with Marge she is a strong woman yet so kind and loving towards everyone. Her life motto “What’s done is done, now get on with it.” It is how she lived her life no matter what life threw at her she picked herself up and dusted herself off and got on with it. The way she lived her life was inspirational I would love to have her as a friend and can only hope I could treat others with an ounce of the kindness and grace Marge showed to others.

The author of this book is a 90 year old woman and this is her first book and I hope that she writes more! Marge is a character that will stay with me for a long time and I am so sad to be leaving her now that the book is over. This book is at times sad and painful but so very inspirational and uplifting. I highly recommend this one it is a great story whose characters will stay with you long after you put this book down!

5 Stars
I received this book from netgalley & the publisher for a fair and unbiased review

The Wedding Gift by, Kathleen McKenna

The Wedding Gift by, Kathleen McKenna
Publisher:Bell Bridge Books
Synopsis:Leeann wasn't good enough for her upper-crust in-laws, so they gave her the mansion none of them wanted. Years ago, something or someone in the house killed Leann's brother. Will its violent secrets kill her next?

My Review:

Even though Leeann is a very unlikable character I still enjoyed this book and had a hard time putting it down. Leeann is the epitome of the dumb blonde and very self centered but she made me laugh and believe me it wasn’t with her!

This books starts out with the story of Leeann on her wedding day to the richest man in town, George Willets, plus the story of his uncle and entire family being murdered in the old Willets house, also where a prank gone wrong took the life of Leeann’s brother when she was just a baby. But does she know the whole story? Will it be too late when she finally does?

After Leeann & George get married they move into the house his uncle and his whole family were murdered in. This was a very different ghost story and kind of reminded me of American Horror Story in that this house has had some bad things happen in it and some of those people are still there.

I thought this was a pretty good southern gothic horror but what was different was that there were parts that will make you laugh mostly some of the things Leeann says, she is definitely not the brightest crayon in the box, but after she what she goes through I do think she will grow up some.

All in all I would recommend this to southern fiction fans and fans of ghost and horror stories.

3 ½ Stars
I received this book from Netgalley in return for a fair and unbiased review.

Audiobook Review:The Rose Garden by Susanna Kearsley narrated by, Nicola Barber

The Rose Garden by Susanna Kearsley narrated by, Nicola Barber
I do so enjoy Susanna Kearsley’s writing it flows so beautifully from one century to the next; her characters are so fully fleshed out and believable. This is a great time travel book with a wonderful story in both times.

Eva comes to a place of her childhood to recover from losing her sister but soon after arriving odd things start to happen, at first she thinks she’s hallucinating, and then losing her mind, but then realization strikes that she is actually traveling through time. In the past she meets Daniel Butler, smuggler and rebel, the times she ends up in are full of danger and treachery but there is one shining light and that is Daniel Butler. The romance aspect was sweet with both Eva & Daniel still recovering from a loss and both slowly heal as they come together. I think Fergal (*sp audio) was my favorite character other than Eva he was so kind and witty. The twist at the end I didn’t see coming and actually rewound back to listen again it was so good!

If you like time travel, historical fiction with a nice splash of romance, or a fan of Daphne DuMaurier or Diana Gabaldon I highly recommend this book and this author. I have become a huge fan of Susanna Kearsley and plan on reading everything she has ever written!

Audio production: Nicola Barber was the narrator and I didn’t really like her attempt at accents I think it would have been better if she just stuck to the accent (guessing her real voice) she used when narrating the in between people talking. Since I had already listened to The Winter Sea I couldn’t help wishing Roslyn Landor had narrated this one too because she did such a great job with the accents in that one. It wasn’t awful and I still enjoyed the book very much but there were times the narration just wasn’t right. And I’m not saying I would never listen to this narrator again as long as she’s not doing accents especially an American accent.

4 Stars

Audiobook Review:Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman by Robert K. Massie narrated by,Mark Deakins

Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman by Robert K. Massie narrated by,Mark Deakins

This was a great biography it is non-fiction but reads like fiction and kept my attention all the way through. Catherine is a very fascinating woman, one of the great Empress’ of Russia even though she was not Russian. I learned so much about her and her life and what kind of a strong woman she was.

This is a very thorough look at Catherine’s life and I really enjoy the authors writing style and I will be reading his other books. When I was younger I loved Russian history and have always been fascinated by the Romanovs but haven’t read anything about them in a long time and now I think this will begin a re-immersion into Russian history.

Even if you are a reader who usually reads historical fiction and not non-fiction I highly recommend this book it reads like fiction and Catherine had a very fascinating life. It has everything from wars, fights for power, love, jealousy just everything a fiction reader loves in a book but what is great is it’s all true!

This audio book is 23 hours long but I enjoyed every minute of it, Mark Deakins did a great job on the narration and would definitely listen to others by this narrator.

4 Stars

Audiobook Review:The Rum Diary by, Hunter S. Thompson narrated by, Campbell Scott

The Rum Diary by, Hunter S. Thompson narrated by, Campbell Scott


These journalists don’t seem to do much reporting except to each other about the beach, drinking and women. But they aren’t getting paid so I guess that explains why they aren’t really working. This reads like a day in the life but it is called a diary so I guess it sets out to tell the story that way. Once you realize this then you can just go with it and enjoy the storytelling.

This book really doesn’t ever get around to telling you what it’s really about other than as I said a day in the life it’s just kind of a romp through the underbelly of a town and people with corruption and murder and drinking and cheating. Of course this was written by a very young Thompson and was only published as I understand it at the urging of Johnny Depp who I wish had done the narration for this audiobook.

I am not sure how I feel about Campbell Scott’s narration of this book there were times it sounded like he needed a drink of water a lot of popping and clicking mouth noises between words. I also don’t understand the track length on this production some tracks were up to 17 minutes long and others were 1-4 minutes there seemed to be no rhyme or reason to the length of the tracks. However there were times I liked his narration then he’d do a different voice and it wasn’t that great again.

I received this book from the publisher via the Audiobook jukebox Solid Gold reviewer program.

3 stars-Good Book but some things didn't connect with me

2011 Audiobook Narrators:A Year in Review

I read 122 books this year with 75 of them being audiobooks.I decided to mention only the narrators without the books because you can see best of 2011 post just what audiobooks I listened to in 2011. I just wanted to put the spotlight on these fabulous narrators who brings our books to life!

My narrator of the year:
Even though I only listened to 2 by her (this year) Bahni Turpin is my narrator of the year because the 2 were so completely different one being The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks and the other The True Meaning of Smekday these two polar opposites showed Bahni’s amazing range, the seriousness of Henrietta and the hilarity of Smekday, she did both so flawlessly and if you are looking for a great family road trip audiobook I highly recommend the True Meaning of Smekday.

Narrator Love: narrators I will listen to no matter what they are reading!
6 books read by, Katherine Kellgren
5 books read by, Hillary Huber
4 books read by, Emily Gray
4 books read by, Cassandra Campbell
3 books read by, Caroline Lee
3 books read by, Lorelei King

3 books read by, Len Cariou
2 books read by, Bahni Turpin
2 books read by, Simon Vance
2 books read by, Karen White
2 books read by, Jenna Lamia
2 books read by, Emma Galvin

New to me narrators that I look forward to hearing more from:
Xe Sands
Bernadette Dunne
Jennifer Ikeda
Peter Altschuler
Christopher Evan Welch
Polly Stone
Janet Song
Tim Curry (know him as an actor now love him as a narrator)
Sarah Paulson
Hope Davis

Honorable mentions with just one book by each listened to this year. Most of these are narrators I’ve listened to previously and enjoy their work:
Roselyn Landor
Jim Dale
Kirsten Potter & Katie Macnichol
Kirby Heyborne
Kate Reading
Lorna Raver
Dion Graham

Also a nod to the ensemble casts:
Michal Friedman, Ellen Archer, Robert Petkoff, Suzanne Toren
Dennis Boutsikaris, Daniel Oreskes, Ron McLarty, Sarah Jones