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Showing posts from April, 2019

Audio Book Review: The Song of Achilles: A Novel by Madeline Miller

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Release Date:  March 6, 2012 Publisher:  Harper Audio Format:  Audio Length:  11 hours 15 minutes Narrator:  Frazer Douglas Genre:  Fiction/Classic Buy:   Audible  |  Kindle   |  Paperback Synopsis:  The legend begins... Greece in the age of heroes. Patroclus, an awkward young prince, has been exiled to the kingdom of Phthia to be raised in the shadow of King Peleus and his golden son, Achilles. "The best of all the Greeks"-strong, beautiful, and the child of a goddess-Achilles is everything the shamed Patroclus is not. Yet despite their differences, the boys become steadfast companions. Their bond deepens as they grow into young men and become skilled in the arts of war and medicine-much to the displeasure and the fury of Achilles' mother, Thetis, a cruel sea goddess with a hatred of mortals. When word comes that Helen of Sparta has been kidnapped, the men of Greece, bound by blood and oath, must lay siege ...

Book Review: The Harvard Skull Fiasco (Blue Bandicoot book 1) by Kris St. Gabriel

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Release Date:  December 16, 2018 Publisher:  Broke Duck Press Format:  ebook Genre:   Humor / Mystery Buy:  Kindle  Synopsis: Meet Shea. He's difficult—he suffers from pathological problems with authority and an unrepentant truthfulness. When he's not fixing computers in the library at Harvard Medical School, he's tormenting middle managers, and feuding with his boss. But where in the Harvard employee manual does it say you have to behave perfectly at all times? When one day he uncovers the administration's secret plot to replace the library with a Starbucks cafe, Shea decides to stop them. He soon finds himself on a collision course with just about everyone, including a vivacious librarian named Astrid who doesn't quite agree that stealing the world's most famous skull is the best way to save a library. What follows is a comical and heart-warming tale of a misfit breaking all the rules in his quest to become a better person. Review:  Thi...

Audio Book Review: One to Watch (Kay Hunter book 3) by Rachel Amphlett

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Release Date:  October 3, 2017 Publisher:  Saxon Publishing Format:  Audio Length:  7 hours 28 minutes Narrator:  Allison Campbell Genre:  Mystery/thriller Buy:   Audible  |  Kindle   |  Paperback Synopsis:  Sophie Whittaker shared a terrifying secret. Hours later, she was dead. Detective Kay Hunter and her colleagues are shocked by the vicious murder of a teenage girl at a private party in the Kentish countryside. A tangled web of dark secrets is exposed as twisted motives point to a history of greed and corruption within the tight-knit community. Confronted by a growing number of suspects and her own enemies who are waging a vendetta against her, Kay makes a shocking discovery that will make her question her trust in everyone she knows. Review: I am totally hooked on this series. I love Kay, her relationship with her husband and her relationship with a small set of her colleagues. While Kay is still ha...

Audio Book Review: Will To Live ( Kay Hunter Book 2) by Rachel Amphlett

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Release Date:  October 12, 2017 Publisher:  Saxon Publishing Format:  Audio Length:  7 hours 15 minutes Narrator:  Allison Campbell Genre:  Mystery/thriller Buy:   Audible  |  Kindle   |  Paperback Synopsis:  Reputation is everything. When a packed commuter train runs over a body on a stretch of track known to locals as "Suicide Mile", it soon transpires that the man was a victim of a calculated murder. As the investigation evolves and a pattern of murders is uncovered, Detective Sergeant Kay Hunter realizes the railway's recent reputation may be the work of a brutal serial killer. With a backlog of cold cases to investigate and attempting to uncover who is behind a professional vendetta against her, Kay must keep one step ahead of both the killer and her own adversaries. When a second murder takes place within a week of the first, she realizes the killer's timetable has changed, and she's running out of ...

Audio Book Review: Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer

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Release Date:  December 27, 2015 Publisher:  Tantor Audio Format:  Audio Length:  16 hours 44 minutes Narrator:  Robin Wall Kimmerer Genre:  Native American/Botany/Nature Buy:   Audible  |  Kindle   |  Paperback Synopsis:  As a botanist and professor of plant ecology, Robin Wall Kimmerer has spent a career learning how to ask questions of nature using the tools of science. As a Potawatomi woman, she learned from elders, family, and history that the Potawatomi, as well as a majority of other cultures indigenous to this land, consider plants and animals to be our oldest teachers. In  Braiding Sweetgrass , Kimmerer brings these two lenses of knowing together to reveal what it means to see humans as "the younger brothers of creation". As she explores these themes, she circles toward a central argument: The awakening of a wider ecological consciousness requires the acknowledgement and celebration of our reciproc...

Audio Book Review: Scared to Death: ( Kay Hunter book 1) by Rachel Amphlett

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Release Date:  October 2, 2017 Publisher:  Saxon Publishing Format:  Audio Length:  8 hours 28 minutes Narrator:  Allison Campbell Genre:  Mystery/thriller Buy:   Audible  |  Kindle   |  Paperback Synopsis:  "If you want to see your daughter alive again, listen carefully." When the body of a snatched schoolgirl is found in an abandoned biosciences building, the case is first treated as a kidnapping gone wrong. But Detective Kay Hunter isn't convinced, especially when a man is found dead with the ransom money still in his possession. When a second schoolgirl is taken, Kay's worst fears are realized. With her career in jeopardy - desperate to conceal a disturbing secret, Kay's hunt for the killer becomes a race against time before he claims another life. For the killer, the game has only just begun.... Scared to Death  is the first book in a new crime thriller series featuring Kay Hunter - a de...

Audio Book Review: The Immortalists: A novel by Chloe Benjamin

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Release Date:  January 9, 2018 Publisher:  Penguin Audio Format:  Audio Length:  11 hours 30 minutes Narrator:  Maggie Hoffman Genre: Fiction Buy:   Audible  |  Kindle   | Paperback Synopsis:  If you knew the date of your death, how would you live your life? It's 1969 in New York City's Lower East Side, and word has spread of the arrival of a mystical woman, a traveling psychic who claims to be able to tell anyone the day they will die. The Gold children--four adolescents on the cusp of self-awareness--sneak out to hear their fortunes. The prophecies inform their next five decades. Golden boy Simon escapes to the West Coast, searching for love in '80s San Francisco; dreamy Klara becomes a Las Vegas magician obsessed with blurring reality and fantasy; eldest son Daniel struggles to maintain security as an army doctor post-9/11; and bookish Varya throws herself into longevity research, where she tests the boundary between s...

Audio Book Review: You Can't Touch My Hair and other things I still have to explain by Phoebe Robinson

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Release Date:  October 4, 2016 Publisher:  Penguin Audio Format:  Audio Length:  7 hours 41 minutes Narrator:  Phoebe Robinson Genre:  Race, feminism, comedy Buy:   Audible  |  Kindle   |  Paperback Synopsis:  Being a black woman in America means contending with old prejudices and fresh absurdities every day. Comedian Phoebe Robinson has experienced her fair share over the years: She's been unceremoniously relegated to the role of "the black friend", as if she is somehow the authority on all things racial; she's been questioned about her love of U2 and Billy Joel ("isn't that...white people music?"); she's been called "uppity" for having an opinion in the workplace; she's been followed around stores by security guards; and yes, people do ask her whether they can touch her hair all. The. Time. Now she's ready to take these topics to audio - and she's going to make you laugh as she's doing it. Using her trademark...

Book Review: What Would a Muslim Say: Conversations, Questions and Answers about Islam

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Release Date:  January 21, 2017 Publisher:  Common Word Publishing Format:  ebook Pages:  156 pages Genre:   Religion Buy:  Kindle  |  Paperback  Synopsis: These days, Islam is no stranger to controversy. There are many questions, fears, and misconceptions about Islam and Muslims.  I believe these books can answer questions, build bridges, and promote understanding. Since 2009, I have facilitated interfaith dialogues with many different people. The conversations in these books are real. Some are curious, some are concerned, some are hostile, some are academic, and some are soul-searching.  My hope is that this can be a small step towards better understanding and harmony. I have compiled the best and most interesting conversations over the course of my outreach and interfaith work. These transcripts showcase everyday people -- from angry and concerned to inquisitive and supportive -- asking real questions and getting st...

ARC Book Review: Colombiano by Rusty Young

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Release Date:  April 1, 2019 Publisher: Havelock & Baker Publishing Format:  ebook Pages:  813 pages Genre:   hispanic lit Buy:  Kindle  |  Paperback  Synopsis: Blending fact and fiction, Colombiano is a heart-thumping journey into the violent and unpredictable world of post-Escobar Colombia. For four years Rusty Young worked secretly for the US government in Colombia. During this time he was shocked by the stories of child soldiers he encountered. He vowed that one day he would turn their tales into a book and let their voices be heard. In Colombia you have to pick a side. Or one will be picked for you . . . All Pedro Gutiérrez cares about is fishing, playing pool and his girlfriend Camila’s promise to sleep with him on his sixteenth birthday. But his life is ripped apart when his father is callously executed in front of him by Guerrilla soldiers and he and his mother are banished from their farm. Vowing vengeance against ...

Audio Book Review: The Calling ( Darkness Rising book 2) by Kelley Armstrong

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Release Date:  April 10, 2012 Publisher:  Harper Audio Format:  Audio Length:  7 hours 32 minutes Narrator:  Jennifer Ikeda Genre:  YA, Paranormal, Fantasy Buy:   Audible  |  Kindle   Synopsis:  Maya Delaney's paw-print birthmark is the mark of what she truly is - a skin-walker. She can run faster, climb higher, and see better than nearly everyone else. Experiencing intense connections with the animals that roam the woods outside her home, Maya knows it's only a matter of time before she's able to Shift and become one of them. And she believes there may be others in her small town with surprising talents. Now Maya and her friends have been forced to flee from their homes during a forest fire they suspect was deliberately set. Then they're kidnapped, and after a chilling helicopter crash, they find themselves in the Vancouver Island wilderness with nothing but their extraordinary abilities to help them get back home. Re...

Audio Book Review: The Gathering (Darkness Rising book 1) by Kelley Armstrong

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Release Date:  April 12, 2011 Publisher:  Harper Audio Format:  Audio Length:  8 hours 8 minutes Narrator:  Jennifer Ikeda Genre:  YA, Paranormal, Fantasy Buy:   Audible  |  Kindle   Synopsis:  Strange things are happening in Maya's tiny Vancouver Island town. First, her friend Serena, the captain of the swim team, drowns mysteriously in the middle of a calm lake. Then, one year later, mountain lions are spotted rather frequently around Maya's home and her reactions to them are somewhat . . . unexpected. Her best friend, Daniel, has also been experiencing unexplainable premonitions about certain people and situations. It doesn't help that the new bad boy in town, Rafe, has a dangerous secret, and he's interested in one special part of Maya's anatom - her paw-print birthmark. Review: Ever since her best friend drowned strange things have been happening.  Everyone in this strange little town works for the same re...