Part 19 ~ What Are You Listening to Now?

2019 = Part 19 threads

Enjoying this OverDrive audiobook ~

12th of Never by James Patterson
(a Women's Murder Club series book/San Francisco/it commences with Lindsay giving birth to a baby girl)

Started The Bachelor Girl by Kim van Alkemade before the end of 2018 but am still listening to it. Not sure what to think of it yet so I'll try to report back when I'm finished.

Starting the year with The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter.

I finished Tana French's The Witch Elm, and enjoyed it, and thought Paul Nugent's narration was especially good. Now I'm listening to Ken Follett's A Column of Fire, the third of the Kingbridge novels. So many characters to track!

Enjoying this library audiobook ~

Beauchamp Hall: a novel by Danielle Steel

(after three major disappointments, Winnie decides to visit the village in England where a Downton-Abbey type show is filmed)

Starting this OverDrive audiobook ~

Clawback by J. A. Jance

(Ali Reynolds series/Arizona/two dead bodies and a Ponzi scheme/Ali's
parents become victims in this suspense tale)

The Bachelor Girl just never quite worked for me. The book has alternating chapters narrated by a young woman and a young man. The woman is an actress/theatre manager who is given some help with medical expenses and work by the owner of the New York Yankees. The man is the owner's personal secretary so the two are thrown together and develop a friendship. The woman thinks it is more but the man is gay (he calls himself a pansy) and the woman never catches on. The time period is the early part of the twentieth century but she just seemed so incredibly naive about everything that I thought she was unbelievable.

I am now listening to two audiobooks. On my mp3 player I have Goodnight from London by Jennifer Robson (set during World War II) and in the CD player I am listening to I Liked My Life by Abby Fabiaschi. More about these later.

The first audiobook I finished this year was A Column of Fire, the third of the Kingbridge books, by Ken Follett. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Well, I didn't enjoy the descriptions of torture, human and animal. Narration by John Lee is excellent.

Now I've started Boy Erased by Garrad Conley. So far, just okay.

Enjoying this OverDrive audiobook ~

Force of Nature by Jane Harper

(#2, Aaron Falk series/Australia/corporate retreat/missing hiker/Aussie narrator)

Enjoying this OverDrive/Kindle eBook ~

Born Wild by Julie Ann Walker

(Black Knights Inc. series/ex-SEALs/off-the-radar spec-ops team/hot sex suspense/Alexa can read this to me)

Just finished Goodnight from London by Jennifer Robson, narrated by Saskia Maarleveld. This is set during World War II and concerns a young American woman reporting on the war's effects on England while she undergoes the Blitz herself. Good period detail and the romance is not silly or unbelievable. Jennifer Robson wrote two other books set during World War I Somewhere in France and just after After the War is Over and those are very good. I also recently listened to Moonlight over Paris which I did not like as much but it may appeal to others.

Enjoying this Kindle/Audible combo ~

True Places by Sonja Yoerg

(a girl named Iris and a woman named Suzanne cross paths in a remote forest area/a typical suburban family ~ an atypical parentless child/healing and hope themes)

UPDATE: a fave for the year!

Starting this OverDrive audiobook ~

A Well-Behaved Woman: A Novel of the Vanderbilts by Therese Anne Fowler

(Gilded Age/Alva Smith marries into the Vanderbilt family/old money vs. new money positioning in NY society)

Finished The Boy Who Played with Fusion. It's a fascinating story. Taylor Wilson is a science prodigy; and he did achieve nuclear fusion at age 16. The author adds lots of related material; some I would call padding.

I'm currently listening to Nine Dragons written by Michael Connelly and read by Len Cariou. It's pretty interesting since Harry Bosch has to travel to Hong Kong to rescue his daughter Matty who has been kidnapped.

>Molly3028

Happy to find an audio group at librarything. Please do redirect me if I'm posting in the wrong space or if you have instructions on how to participate..
Do we open a folder to track our 2019 audios ? Or comment only current reads?
Thanks.

>17 FHC:

Hi,

Welcome to the audio group. You placed your initial post in the correct spot. This major thread will probably be the first of three threads with the Part 19 designation for this year ~ fresh threads will be launched in May (b) and September (c). Members are welcome to start book threads of their choice. Happy listening and posting!

I've got about 5 hours left of Edward Rutherfurd's Sarum, and then I'm going to start The Wife Between Us, which I've heard good things about and which should be a nice change from the very long Sarum.

Enjoying this OverDrive audiobook ~

An Anonymous Girl by Hendricks & Pekkanen

(psych suspense/ethics and morality study leads to a twisty cat-and-mouse game/two main characters, authors and narrators ~ all are women)

UPDATE: first C/T/M fave for 2019!

Enjoyed Twain's Humor, a collection of 23 pieces. Some I had never read before. Loved 'My Watch' and 'Political Economy' the most.

The Aging Brain is only mediocre.

>18 Molly3028: Molly3028
Thank you for welcome, info and directions ;)

I am now listening to a BBC broadcast version of The Hobbit. Very entertaining.

I finished Sarum by Edward Rutherfurd, and enjoyed it but didn't love it. It didn't concentrate on history enough to satisfy me as a history book, and not enough characterization to satisfy the novel-reader in me.

The I finished The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks. It's a psychological thriller, and it switches between first and third person. Because I was listening rather than reading, I got a bit confused about who was who, but that eventually straightened itself out. A good, light read, but nothing exceptional.

Now, because I don't want to tackle anything too long yet and because I don't want anything too serious yet, I'm listening to The Long Walk by Stephen King writing as Richard Bachman. 100 young men have to walk continuously until 99 buy their "ticket" and only one is left. Not a favorite Stephen King work for me, but good while I am getting in my daily steps.

Finishing January with this library audiobook ~

His Promise: An Amish Christmas in Hart County (Amish of Hart County)
by Shelley Shepard Gray

I'm having a hard time feeling excited by prospective reads this year (enjoying the books I choose mostly, but it's an unpleasant change anyway), so I'm re-listening to Doomsday Book by Connie Willis.

I'm listening to The Soul of America by Jon Meacham, and am enjoying it. We've had other dark times in our history, and it is enlightening to learn how other leaders coped with them.

Moving into February with this OverDrive audiobook ~

Rock with Wings by Anne Hillerman

(Leaphorn & Chee series/present-day Navajo Nation/gravesite/family issues/movie shoot)

Goodnight from London is a modern novel about a female journalist from New York assigned to WW2 London. Better than I anticipated.

The Soul of America was very good, both hopeful and cautionary. Now I'm reading An American Marriage, and I don't know how it is going to turn out, but right now, it's just sad. Fiction, but also reality.

I'm almost half-way through The Women in the Castle by Jessica Shattuck. It is the story of German women widowed during WWII when their husbands took part in a failed attempt to assassinate Hitler. After the war one woman brings other widows to her husband's ancestral castle and they and their children try to survive in the hard times that the country experienced. It is quite good.

Enjoying this OverDrive audiobook ~

Curious Minds: A Knight and Moon Novel by Janet Evanovich

(book #1 in this new series/tongue-in-cheek humor/romance/suspense)

Impressed with dual time suspense debut the House on Foster Hill by Jamie Jo Wright
Overdrive library loan

I'm reading Just Kids by Patti Smith, and am not loving it as much as other readers and listeners have. She was born less than two years before I was, but she remembers the last of the horse-drawn ice wagons, something totally out of my early experiences. And she said there was "no available birth control" in 1966. Well, there was, just not as easily accessible as in later years. Perhaps that's the difference between east coast and west coast. It will be interesting to find out more of her life with Robert Mapplethorpe.

Starting this library audiobook ~

If I Live by Terri Blackstock

(last in the 'If I Run' trilogy/Casey continues to hide/Dylan is looking for the true killers/Christian suspense)

>32 gypsysmom: The Women in the Castle sounds really interesting!

I'm working on a re-read of The Thirteenth House by Sharon Shinn (part of a fantasy series) and James Acaster's Classic Scrapes, (James Acaster being my favorite comedian).

I started listening to The Cadaver King and the Country Dentist by Radley Balko and Tucker Carrington this morning. It promises to be informative but sad, and so far, it is quite interesting.

Revisiting The True Meaning of Smekday in preparation for the sequel. Enjoying it immensely. Bahni Turpin is the voice of cute aliens everywhere.

Enjoying this OverDrive audiobook ~

If Wishes Were Earls by Elizabeth Boyle

(Rhymes with Love series/England, early 1800s/Harriet Hathaway and the Earl of Roxley)

Someone mentioned Mark Kurlansky, and I realized I've never read him, though wanted to. So I downloaded a couple of titles and began with Cod. It's mildly interesting.

Also listening to 5 short stories by Lois McMaster Bujold collected in Proto Zoa. Read by the ever-reliable Grover Gardner.

I finished listening to The Cadaver King and the Country Dentist, and thought it really interesting, both from the personal stories and from the vagaries of forensics. Sad, informative, and entertaining.

I've started listening to Sing, Unburied, Sing, and so far, so good, but I think it is going to be heartbreaking, too.

Finished The Women in the Castle and gave it a solid 4 out of 5. It was interesting to learn about the conditions in Germany after the war and it really shows the dilemma of how the country dealt with Nazi sympathizers. Some former Nazis were justly prosecuted of course but the ones who became party members because there really wasn't much choice perhaps paid disproportionately for their decision.

>43 gypsysmom: That sounds like something I'd like to read.

I've added The View from the Cheap Seats to my listening mix of the week. Read by the Gaiman himself. Pure pleasure.

iTunes audio ~

Double Blind by Iris Johansen

(Kendra Michaels series/suspense/Kendra, a PI, and Adam Lynch work on a vengeance case/a favorite series)

I am currently listening to The Golden House by Salman Rushdie, read by Vikas Adam. This is actually the first work by Rushdie that I have "read" although I'm familiar with his oeuvre. I'm finding it quite good. More later.

Enjoying this library audiobook ~

A Noise Downstairs: A Novel by Linwood Barclay

(Linwood is a master manipulator/domestic thriller/being at the wrong place at the wrong time/head injury/typewriter sounds)

>43 gypsysmom: I'm listening to The Women in the Castle now. The story and characters are engaging. There is too much jumping back and forth in time without adequate signage. I'd much rather have it unfold chronologically.

>48 2wonderY: I guess I'm used to time shifts as that didn't bother me. In fact in some cases it helped the story. I don't know how far you are along so I don't want to say anything more.

I finished listening to Sing, Unburied, Sing, and for me, it lived up to all the hype. Then I listened to White Houses by Amy Bloom, a fictionalized story of the relationship between Eleanor Roosevelt and Lorena Hickok. It was interesting but not especially engaging, and the timeline jumped around too much for me. Now I'm listening to The Shape of Water by Guillermo del Toro. I haven't seen the film, but the premise seemed interesting. I think it may be too brutal for me, and I may DNF it.

I'm listening to The Ruin of Kings by Jenn Lyons. It's a long one, but off to a good start.

Listening to The Soul of America. History repeats itself, over and over and...

I DNF'd The Shape of Water. Just too much brutality, cruelty, and violence for me. I can read about murders all day long but I can't separate fact from fiction when it comes to hurting animals. My first DNF of 2019 but it probably won't be my last. I did make it to about 40% but it was starting to get worse instead of better. Yes, I know, I'm an overly-sensitive special snowflake.

>53 TooBusyReading: Nothing wrong with being especially empathetic about animals! I found the movie odd and pointless and boring.

I'm nearly done with Becoming by Michelle Obama for my non-fiction book club, and have gotten a good start into No Turning Back: Life, Loss, and Hope in Wartime Syria, both read well (though Michelle Obama required speeding up).

Started this Kindle/Audible combo ~

In Farleigh Field by Rhys Bowen

(historical fiction/England, WWII/espionage plot/code breakers)

I'm a little more than halfway through The Force by Don Winslow because I wanted something that didn't tax my tired brain. It's okay, everybody is a bad guy, but I'll probably forget it a day after I finish it.

I decided to pursue more books read by Grover Gardner on a hunch that he chooses books to narrate with discretion. I was right. I started with Open and Shut. The tags say crime fiction, murder mystery. Normally not my genre, but I like the characters already, and am enjoying the wit and the phrasing.

Finishing February with this Kindle eBook ~

Lost Creed by Alex Kava

(Ryder Creed, #4/thriller/missing sister/police dogs/Alexa can read this to me)

Over the weekend, on the road to and from Kentucky, caught up on two Christmas themed titles.

A Town Divided by Christmas reminded me that Card is a good story teller. A romance though? Different genre for him.

Winter Solstice is pure pleasure. Great characters, setting, theme. The narrator's voices for two of the female characters are a bit too … too something.

This afternoon, I finished a LTER win, They Won't be Hurt by Kevin O'Brien. I haven't written my review yet, but it was a pretty engaging thriller. Now I'm ready to start Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield. I've enjoyed other works of hers so I expect to enjoy this one.

I'm just finishing The Ladies' Paradise by Emile Zola, which is read fairly well by Lee Ann Howlett.

Next I'll be starting Stokely: A Life by Peniel E. Joseph.

I finally finished The Golden House. It was interesting in parts especially when the plot gets to 2016 and a real estate tycoon called The Joker runs for President with Bat Girl in opposition. (I'm sure you can figure out who those characters are based upon.) The rest of the book deals with an East Indian family who have fled Mumbai (the reason becomes clear towards the end) and come to live in on an exclusive street in New York City's Greenwich Village. A young man who lives on the same street becomes fascinated with the father and three sons who have taken new names derived from the Roman Empire. The father calls himself Nero which should give you a clue as to how the story ends. Sometimes the story dragged for me and I found myself losing concentration and having to start over again. Not a book I would really recommend unless you are a fan of Salman Rushdie.

I am now listening to a collection of short stories called Heads of the Colored People by Nafissa Thompson-Spires. I believe I saw it recommended in some email as being a good choice for Black History Month. So far I am enjoying it.

Enjoying this OverDrive audiobook ~

As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust by Alan Bradley

(Flavia de Luce mystery series/1950s/girl busybody and sleuth/sent abroad to a Canadian boarding school/I adore Entwistle's voice performance)

Enjoying this OverDrive audiobook ~

The Dark Lake (Gemma Woodstock Book 1) by Sarah Bailey

(police procedural set in Australia/Aussie author and narrator)

>63 Molly3028: Jayne Entwistle is just so perfect for Flavia. She really makes the character come alive. (Of course I love all the Flavia books.)

Starting this OverDrive audiobook ~

The Healer's Apprentice by Melanie Dickerson

(Hagenheim Castle Series, Book 1/reimagining of the Sleeping Beauty fairytale/historical fiction/Christian YA)

Starting Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi, read by Bahni Turpin. This audiobook just won Book of the Year at the Audies. It is designated YA but I'm enjoying it and I am far from young.

After finishing the wonderful Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield, I started An Anonymous Girl by Greer Hendricks. It's a psychological thriller, and so far, it's just okay.

Enjoying this library audiobook ~

Pandemic by Robin Cook

(latest in the Jack Stapleton and Laurie Montgomery series/is a virus going to shut down NYC?/medical, political and media issues/cautionary tale)

Enjoying this OverDrive audiobook ~

Devil's Daughter: The Ravenels meet The Wallflowers by Lisa Kleypas

(romantic historical fiction ~ England, about 1880/wedding get-together)

I finished An Anonymous Girl, which was entertaining but nothing special. I've just started The Song of Achilles after having it on my TBR list for too long, and I think I'm going to enjoy it.

Enjoying this iTunes audiobook ~

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides
(psych thriller/London/a woman’s act of violence against her husband/a therapist's obsession with uncovering her motive/a movie is in the works)

UPDATE: WEIRD

Enjoying this OverDrive audiobook ~

Before She Knew Him by Peter Swanson
(psych thriller/a new house and new neighbors for Hen and Lloyd/Hen has a history of mental issues/Matthew has had "projects")

UPDATE: skipped to the end ~ too many sickos!

I finished Madeline Miller's The Song of Achilles, and for me, it lived up to the hype it has received, and was beautifully narrated. This morning seemed like a fitting time to start Promise Me, Dad, by Joe Biden, a man I admire.

Record of a Spaceborn Few. Funny, I couldn't follow all the storylines and characters in print; it seemed simpler in audio.

Also Over Sea, Under Stone because I wanted to try Susan Cooper. It's not my cup of tea, but I've been encouraged to carry through at least to the 2nd book.

Sampling John Adams and 1968: The Year that Rocked the World.

Probably abandoning hokey pokey. Spinelli has never come close to matching his masterpiece, Maniac Magee.

>75 2wonderY: John Adams is one of my favorite biographies of all time. Adams was a fascinating man in a precarious time, and David McCullough did justice to his story.

Enjoying this OverDrive audiobook ~

Accused by Lisa Scottoline

(Rosato & DiNunzio series, #1/Philadelphia/all-female law firm/a 13-year-old girl questions whether justice was served in the murder of her sister 6 years ago)

Enjoying this library audiobook ~

The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

(England WWII/Ada and her brother/disability/dysfunctional family/evacuation/YA lit/narrated by Jayne "Flavia" Entwistle)

Enjoying this OverDrive audiobook ~

Treacherous Is the Night by Anna Lee Huber

(Verity Kent Mystery series, book #2/England, post WWI/Verity was a Secret Service agent/rocky relationship after reuniting with her estranged husband/seances and a medium)

I started listening to Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty, about strangers who meet at a yoga/health retreat. Not my usual style but I have a niece who really enjoys this author's works, so I thought I'd give this one a try.

I finished the quick Audible Original The Demon Next Door by Bryan Burrough, about a lesser known serial killer from the author's home town. Interesting, but not great.

Enjoying this OverDrive kids audiobook selection ~

Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History by Vashti Harrison
(about 1 hour and 45 minutes/40 women/middle grade NF)

UPDATE: a fave for the year/an inspiration to girls and women everywhere!

>76 TooBusyReading: I almost abandoned it while still covering his childhood. It gets a whole lot more interesting past college.

I'm almost halfway through Doubt: A History by Jennifer Michael Hecht, about religious doubt and how it impacted major religions (we've ventured into at least five so far). It's very interesting, and a little bit of a potted history of how some religions split from others or shorter lived sects etc...

Also re-listening to Jaclyn Moriarty's Colours of Madeleine trilogy. I don't read that much YA fiction, but Moriarty is so good, and the fantasy world she built for this trilogy is really original and interesting. Plus it involves a love of real science and history (and I think she writes very realistic teens). I highly recommend them (and her first two books, Feeling Sorry for Celia and The Year of Secret Assignments/Finding Cassie Crazy) to 12+ kids you know.

>82 2wonderY: You're right, and I'd forgotten that it took me awhile to get into it. But once I did, I was hooked.

(John Adams by David McCullough)

I finished Nine Perfect Strangers, my first book by Liane Moriarty. It was entertaining, but I wouldn't want a steady diet of books like it. I've started A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles. I've heard good things about it, and so far, I'm loving it.

Enjoying this OverDrive audiobook ~

The First Lady by James Patterson

(Sally Grissom is in charge of the Presidential Protection team/a scandalous public revelation involving POTUS/disappearance of FLOTUS)

UPDATE: a fave for the year!

I am listening to Heartland: A Memoir of Working Hard and Being Broke in the Richest Country on Earth by Sarah Smarsh. She grew up as a third generation of farmers in Kansas and she chronicles her family's attempts to make a living while keeping the land. She tells the story as if to a young child but she has no children which seems to be a conscious decision because she didn't want any more children to grow up poor like she did. As a Canadian I am consistently astonished at how difficult it is for poor people in the USA to access health care. Farmers, of course, don't belong to unions or work for large corporations so they don't have company provided health care and they can't afford to pay for insurance themselves.

Enjoying this OverDrive audiobook ~

Tailspin by Sandra Brown

(romantic suspense/Rye is a "freight dog" pilot/Brynn is a doctor on a humanitarian mission)

Just finishing up Spain in Our Hearts: Americans in the Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939 by Adam Hochschild.

I'm listening to Swing Time. The reader, Pippa Bennett-Warner, is really excellent.

I'm at chapter 6 in Spinning Silver, and I'm still not sure I like it. All of the characters are clever but closed.

Enjoying this OverDrive audiobook ~

Back Spin by Harlan Coben

(Myron Bolitar Series/MB is a sports agent in New Jersey/golf championship/kidnapping/betrayal/1990s)

Enjoying this library audiobook ~

Never Tell by Lisa Gardner
(latest D.D. Warren novel/Boston area/a man's wife apparently shot him multiple times/is Evie a victim ~ is she about to get away with murder again?)

and

Enjoying this OverDrive Kindle eBook (***Alexa can narrate this eBook***) ~

Hell for Leather by Julie Ann Walker
(Black Knights Inc. series/undercover spec-ops group/"Mac" was an ex-FBI agent who joined BKI/Delilah owns the bar where the "bike shop guys" hang out/romantic suspense)

I finished A Gentleman in Moscow and thoroughly enjoyed it. Wry, entertaining, and a narrator who seems perfect for the story. I read a review critical of the narrator because of some mispronunciations, but I didn't notice them.

Then I listened to Alice Munro's Dear Life. I finished it but didn't really appreciate it. I don't generally enjoy short stories as much as I do longer works, and these just didn't grab my interest.

Now I've started A Game of Thrones. I may be the last person on earth to read/listen to this, but I finally got curious enough to borrow it from my library. It's not my normal type of book, but who knows? I may love it. Or I may not finish it.

Listening to this enjoyable/informative OverDrive audiobook ~

Fools and Mortals: A Novel by Bernard Cornwell

(Elizabethan London/a tale featuring William Shakespeare's estranged younger brother/the first production of A Midsummer Night's Dream/a missing manuscript)

Well into The Medici Power, Money, and Ambition in the Italian Renaissance

- touchstone is whack

About halfway through The Devil that Danced on the Water: A Daughter's Memoir by Aminatta Forna.

Enjoying this Kindle eBook Alexa is reading to me ~

Easter Bunny Murder by Leslie Meier

(A Lucy Stone Mystery series book)

Enjoying this OverDrive audiobook ~

Alex and Eliza by Melissa De La Cruz

(book #1 in a trilogy/1770s/NY and NJ/the romance of young Alexander Hamilton and Elizabeth Schuyler/YA lit)

Finishing up Quackery: A Brief History of the Worst Ways to Cure Everything, which has been fun.

Enjoying this OverDrive Audiobook ~

The Better Sister: A Novel by Alafair Burke

(psych thriller/Chloe and Nicky are estranged sisters/twist-of-fate marriage/murdered spouse)

FYI ~ The Part 19b thread is now active.

https://www.librarything.com/topic/306339