Friday Morning Bookclub

October 24, 2012

Ransom River By Meg Gardiner….I Sure Didn’t See That Coming!

Filed under: Audio books,Ransom River — susanbright @ 12:40 pm
Tags: , , ,

Rory Mackenzie had good reason for leaving Ransom River, California. Unfortunately when the non profit organization she was working for lost its funding and she was out of money, she had no choice but to return to the town she grew up in, only to find a jury summons awaiting.

Rory was juror #7 and in a town where nothing ever happened, this was a high-profile case. A murder trial. Two officers were accused of shooting  and killing a 16-year-old intruder who just happened to be the son of Gregor Mirkovic, a powerful man with his own connections to the crime world.

As the jury watched a video of the shooting caught on tape by a neighbor’s security camera, the courtroom door swung open and in came two masked men, dressed in green fatigues and carrying guns. Everyone was ordered to the ground, all cell phones were collected and they bolted the door behind them. These men meant business and it was clear that people were going to get hurt. As Rory and several others were singled out and taken hostage, Rory’s thoughts went to Seth Colder, her ex boy friend who was an ex cop and the main reason she left Ransom River in the first place.

Fortunately Rory does make it out of this dangerous situation, however she quickly realizes that in the police’s mind she is not a victim. They actually believe that she is an accomplish. Video tapes from inside the court room show that she was not randomly selected as a hostage. Was she the target of a kidnapping gone bad? Why would anyone want her? Could this actually have something to do with something she and Seth had witnessed when they were only 9 years old?

Ransom River is a fast paced read with lots of twists and turns and yes, one major….I DID NOT SEE THAT COMING MOMENT. If you enjoy mysteries, this is a quick, entertaining read. I enjoyed listening to it in Playaway form as I went about my daily activities.

I don’t know what I did before my library started carrying Playaways! Any other Playaway lovers out there?

Meg Gardiner – Welcome to the official site of thriller novelist Meg …

September 27, 2012

Missing By Shelley Shepard Gray

Filed under: Audio books,Book Recomendations,Missing — susanbright @ 8:51 pm
Tags: , , , ,

I guess I should have read the tiny writing on the cover of the Playaway box BEFORE I started listening to this book.  Although you practically need a magnifying glass to read it, it clearly says The Secrets of Crittenden County Book 1. Yes, there are two more books and I guess I will have to read all three if I want to know what happened to the missing, or in this case dead boy.

Missing takes place in a small Amish Community in Kentucky. The missing boy is Perry Borntrager, and until his body turns up at the bottom of an abandoned well, it was assumed that he had no longer wanted to be Amish and had simply run away.  This people could understand, but a murder in Crittenden County?  Now that was shocking!

The town Sheriff, Mose Kramer had been raised in an Amish family in Crittenden County himself, but had left the community to study Criminal Justice at The University of Cincinnati. When he was offered a job in his home town he was happy to accept the offer. He soon discovered, however that there were “complications in becoming sheriff in a town you grew up in.”  He knew too much and people were just not willing to answer his questions. He was getting no where in his investigation of the Borntrager murder. Thinking that the towns people may be more willing to spill the beans to an outsider, he recruits his friend Luke to help with the investigation.

Luke could understand Mose’s frustration as he too felt that people knew more than they were willing to divulge. Everyone had secrets, but who had the key to solving the murder? First there was Abby Anderson, one of the three “Englishers” who discovered Perry’s body. Abby didn’t know why she was with these girls in the first place when she should have been in school at the time. She never felt like she quite fit in anywhere. Then there was Lydia Plank, Perry’s  Amish ex- sweetheart. What was the real reason for their break up?  And Walker Anderson, an Englisher who at one time was Perry’s best friend, although at the time of Perry’s disappearance they were no longer on speaking terms.

Missing is a mystery with a little romance thrown in and is an entertaining audio book. Each chapter opens with a quote about Perry, which I think is a nice touch. Although by the end of the book people were definitely starting to open up and secrets were revealed I still have no idea what happened to Perry.  Book two is titled The Search and book three Found. The good news is that all three have been published. The bad news is that I have to read (or listen to) all three to find out “who dunnit!”.

August 31, 2012

Still Alice By Lisa Genova………What A Book!

Filed under: Book Recomendations,Still Alice — susanbright @ 9:00 pm
Tags: , , ,

I resisted reading this book for months. Yes, I heard wonderful things about it, but the subject matter turned me off. In fact it down right scared me. A 50-year-old woman who is diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s. Why would I read this book? Why would I do that to myself? I guess I had a weak moment. I was at the library looking through their selection of Playaways and there was Still Alice. I picked it up and read the back as I have done on several other trips to the library. This time I did not place it back in its spot on the shelf. This time I took it home with me, popped in a triple A battery and pushed play.

Dr.Alice Howland lived in Cambridge with her husband John and had 3 grown children. She was a Harvard professor, loved her early daily runs and enjoyed walking to work.  When Alice started misplacing things, especially her blackberry she was not too concerned. After all she was 50 years old. When she googled Menopause she was reassured that forgetfulness was a common complaint among women her age. But when she began to forget words and even became disoriented during one of her runs she decided that it would be a good idea to see a doctor. What could it hurt, surely her doctor would just confirm that, yes, it was Menopause and it was normal.

John Black

42 West Street

Brighton

But it was not normal. Alice could not remember and could not repeat the name and the address the doctor had told her just minutes before. Alice received the most devastating news she could imagine. She had Alzheimer’s and she was smart enough and with it enough to know exactly what was going to happen to her and to her family.

John Black

42 West Street

Brighton

Still Alice was a beautiful book and yes I am glad that I read it. It seemed to give a very realistic picture of this terrible disease, how it progresses and how it affects the entire family. It was a wonderful audio book and probably one of the most touching books I have listened to in a long time. I laughed and I cried along with Alice and her children. I took the memory tests along with her and have to admit that I began to get a little paranoid. After all, I misplace my phone all of the time and am terrible with names. Should I be worried or is it just Menopause? I will probably never forget this book or John Black and his West Street address.

Still Alice…. a 5+ omelet book. Did you read it? I would love to hear your thoughts!

July 22, 2012

Death Match By Lincoln Child

Filed under: Audio books,Death Match — susanbright @ 10:22 am
Tags: , ,

Who needs Match.com, Harmony or JDate, when there is Eden? Eden’s sophisticated hi tech computer Liza did all the work for you.  Yes, the computer had a name! For $25,000. Liza would find your perfect match. Guaranteed! No scrolling through pictures, no emailing back and forth and no painful first dates.  Sure, you had to endure a thorough physical, as well as psychological examination, answer a multitude of personal questions, but who wouldn’t do that in order to find their soul mate?

Lewis and Lindsay Thorpe were one of Eden’s many success stories.  The Thorpes were actually a special Eden match. They were one of the supercouples, couples that matched on every single criteria.  They were the first supercouple in the history of the high-tech dating service and they were approaching their one year anniversary. Lewis and Lindsey had a beautiful baby and couldn’t have been any happier.

Eden followed their couples and was proud of their success rate, so when the Thorpes were found dead in their living room, an apparent suicide, alarms went off in their corporate office. What could possibly have caused this perfectly matched couple to take their own lives? Eden must find out quickly and without any negative publicity. Christopher Lash, a  forensic psychologist was the perfect person to get to the bottom of these mysterious deaths. Of course Lash was still looking for his perfect match and had his own questionable past which only added to the intrigue.

Undercover as a potential Eden client, Lash undergoes the same testing as the Thorpes, and every other Eden candidate.  Lash is introduced to Richard Silver, the friendly yet reclusive genius behind Eden and even meets Liza,  who looks nothing like Lash was expecting. How could one little computer accomplish such an amazing task? And more importantly, what else could Liza do?

Unfortunately the mystery escalates quickly when a second supercouple is found dead as they too reach their one year anniversary. Death Match is a fast paced story with lots of twists and turns. Nothing earth shattering, not too complex, just pure entertainment.  Although the ending is predictable it was an enjoyable audio book.  Just what I was hoping for.

June 15, 2012

The Red Queen By Phillipa Gregory

Filed under: Audio books,Historical Fiction,The Red Queen — susanbright @ 10:48 am
Tags: , ,

The Red Queen was a page turner up to the very last page, or in this case the very last battle. This is the story of Margaret Beaufort, the Grandmother of Henry VIII. By the age of 5, Margaret believed that she was a “special child in the sight of God.” Margaret was obsessed with the stories she had heard about Joan of Arc and felt that like Joan she was born for greatness. By the age of 10, she knew that she wanted to be a nun and proud that she had saints’ knees.

“Saints’ knees, praise God, I have saints’ knees. I have prayed so much, and on such hard floors, that the skin of my knees is becoming hard, like the callous on the fingers of an English long bowman.”

At the age of twelve Margaret was married off to Edmund Tudor, a man twice her age. Edmund paid little attention to his young bride and wanted Margaret for only one thing, he needed an heir.  Eventually Margaret gave birth to a son, but unfortunately Edmund did not live to see the birth of his child. Although Margaret was told by her brother-in-law Jasper to name the boy Edmund, after his father, Margaret had another name in mind. She named her son Henry, a name fit for a king and was determined to do whatever was necessary to put Henry on the throne as the rightful Lancaster heir.

Margaret was not a likeable character. She was a plotter. In fact she was the ultimate manipulator. She was quick to justify her actions, no matter who was hurt or even killed in the process as in her mind it was “God’s will”.

Once again Phillipa Gregory has managed to bring history to life in the most entertaining way. The Red Queen follows Margaret as she navigates through life in an attempt to see her son crowned as the King of England. Although I have read several of Gregory’s books (the Other Boleyn Girl being one of my favorites), this is the first time I listened to one. It was like listening to a show on Masterpiece Theatre. I found The Red Queen thoroughly entertaining, but have to admit that I had to do a bit of rewinding from time to time as the story covered quite a bit of time and there were a lot of names to keep straight. This is one disadvantage of audio books and one of the reasons I tend to listen to easy, uncomplicated books!  The Red Queen is book two in the Cousin’s War Series. Book one, The White Queen, centers on Elizabeth Woodville, the wife of Edward IV. If you like historical fiction, you will enjoy the many books by Phillipa Gregory.

June 13, 2012

Confessions Of An Audio Book Junkie!

Filed under: Audio books — susanbright @ 9:24 pm
Tags:

As you probably know, I am an audio book junkie. I cannot get enough of them. I go into withdraw if I do not have one to listen to. Driving in my car without one is torture. I keep my playaway next to my bed in case I can’t sleep. My husband has gotten used to rolling over in bed and seeing the tiny purple ear bud in my ear. (I actually only use one at night as my other ear is buried in my pillow!) Emptying the dishwasher goes so much quicker when listening to a book, as does cooking, bed making, laundry, knitting, drafting….I could go on and on! I even listen to my audio book while blow drying my hair. Fortunately I am a good multi tasker and have yet to mess up a recipe because of my audio book addiction.

There is nothing more entertaining than a good audio book!  Have you listened to any lately? Are there any other audio book addicts out there? What is the strangest thing you have ever done while listening to an audio book?

May 26, 2012

Silver Girl By Elin Hilderbrand: Another Thoroughly Entertaining Audio Book!

Filed under: Audio books,Silver Girl — susanbright @ 11:48 am
Tags: , ,

I had never even heard the term Ponzi scheme until the news broke about Bernie Madoff, and have since given little thought to Madoff’s wife Ruth. Where is she today? Did her friends stick by her or just simply disappear? Did she or didn’t she know what her infamous husband was doing?

Elin Hilderbrand’s Silver Girl may not be a terribly original story, but it certainly is an engaging, entertaining one. Meredith Martin Delinn has it all. She lives with her husband Freddie in a Park Avenue Penthouse. She vacations in Palm Springs, travels the world and thinks nothing of going into a store and dropping thousands of dollars at a time. Her husband adores her and people are just begging her to talk her husband into investing their money. Sound familiar? Everything is wonderful, until the day Freddie is accused of cheating his rich investors out of billions of dollars and sentenced to 100+ years in prison. Meredith loses everything. Her friends turn her back on her and she can’t even get an appointment at the hair salon she has been going to for years. To make matters worse Meredith’s sons are also being investigated so she is not allowed to contact them. She has no one.

There is only one person Meredith can think of to call, her childhood friend Connie O’Brien and even that was not a sure bet. Meredith and Connie had barely spoken in  several years, partly because Connie had let Meredith know exactly what she thought of Freddie. When Meredith calls Connie, no questions are asked and Connie picks her up and whisks her away to the O’Brien summer home in Nantucket. Connie is not without her own set of issues. She is still recovering from the death of her husband Wolf and because of something that happened at Wolf’s funeral, her daughter Ashlyn was not speaking to her.

Even the wig and sunglasses Connie bought Meredith to wear were not enough to keep Meredith from being recognized and Nantucket seemed to be full of people burned by Freddie. If it were up to Meredith, she would never even leave the house. She was terrified and with good reason. Someone was out there angry enough to vandalize her safe haven. Why wouldn’t anyone believe that she was a victim too, that she had no idea what her husband was doing? How could she have been so blind to the things that were going on right before her eyes? How was she going to prove her innocence?

Silver Girl is a story about love, friendship and forgiveness. What would you do for an old friend? Who would you turn to when the unthinkable happens? Friendship goes two ways and in many ways Connie needed saving as much as Meredith. I loved listening as Meredith and Connie’s stories unfolded. Silver Girl is Chic Lit at it’s best. A thoroughly entertaining audio book read by Janet Metzger and Marianne Fraulo. How can I not give it 4 omelets?

May 23, 2012

The Story Of Beautiful Girl By Rachel Simon: A Wonderful Audio Book!

Filed under: Audio books,Book Recomendations,The Story of Beautful Girl — susanbright @ 10:20 am
Tags: , ,

I absolutely loved this audio book. Once I started listening to it, I did not want to stop. Fortunately I was listening to it on a playaway so I could take it with me wherever I went.  I listened to it in the car, I listened to it as I cooked. I went to sleep listening to it and when I woke up, after first rewinding it to the last part I remembered before drifting off to sleep, I continued listening to it. The Story of A Beautiful Girl is a beautiful, yet heart wrenching story and a wonderful audio book.

When Martha, a retired school teacher living alone on a farm in rural Pennsylvania hears a knock on her door one rainy night she can’t imagine who it could be. Cautiously she opened the door only to find a young couple, soaking wet. The woman was wrapped in several grey blankets, the man wrapped in large paper business signs. The woman was white, the man black. They look scared and it appears to her as if they were running from something. Against her better judgement, Martha invites the couple in and is surprised to see that the young women is holding a new-born baby. and that the man is deaf. Martha barely has time to find dry clothing for the couple and prepare some food for them when she hears banging on her front door. Officials from the School for the Incurable and Feeble-minded were at her door looking for the two runaways. Fortunately, when the men stormed the house, the baby was quietly sleeping upstairs and the young man manages to escape out the living room window. Before they dragged the young girl off, she manages to whisper two words in Martha’s ear “hide her”.

What will Martha do? Will she honor the wishes of Lynnie, the young mentally challenged girl? And what will happen to Lynnie once she is returned to the “special school”  And Homan, or #42 as he was referred to in the institution, will they find him? How will he survive?  What will become of baby Julia?  Will this family ever be reunited? The Story of Beautiful Girl spans over 40 years, and alternates back and forth between Martha, Lynnie and Homan. We learn how Lynnie, born to a wealthy family and Homan end up in such a horrific place. It gives frightening  insight into how the mentally handicapped were treated in years past. It is a beautiful story of love and survival, and yes I cried a tear or two (something I rarely do while reading). The audio book  was beautifully read by Kate Reading whose voice brought to life the voices of these brave people.

On a scale of 1-5, I would give the audio book, The Story of Beautiful Girl  4 1/2 Omelets.

November 3, 2011

Sing You Home By Jodi Picoult: A Special Kind Of Audio Experience!

Filed under: Book Recomendations,Jodi Picoult,Sing You Home — susanbright @ 10:24 am
Tags: , ,

 

 The one thing I can say about Jodi Picoult is that she knows how to pick a topic and write a thought-provoking book and Sing You Home is no exception.  The story grabbed me from the very beginning and to add to the listening experience Picoult has included original songs which correspond to each chapter.  The lyrics are written by Picoult herself and sang by Ellen Wilber. Not only are the songs beautiful to listen to, but the lyrics  do a wonderful job of reflecting the main character’s feelings, adding tremendously to the whole Sing You Home experience.  I looked forward to each new chapter and each new song.

Zoe and Max Baxter had been trying to have a baby for  10 years. They had tried everything, exhausting their funds with expensive medical procedures. Finally Zoe was pregnant! At seven month’s they were cautiously allowing themselves to get excited, when tragedy strikes and Zoe loses her baby… and her husband. Max decided that he cannot take it anymore and leaves.

The trouble with beginnings is that they have to end
Never thought I’d be the girl who said remember when
You leave your ring on the pillow……….

Zoe, a music therapist copes with her loss by throwing herself into her work helping sick patients through music. When Vanessa, a school guidance counselor asks Zoe to work with Lucy, a troubled teen, Zoe agrees and not only finds herself involved with helping  Lucy but also finds herself spending more and more time with Vanessa.  Before she realizes what is happening Zoe finds herself falling in love with Vanessa. Meanwhile, her ex, Max, a recovering alcoholic has found god and becomes involved in the Eternal Glory Church, which does not look kindly on Gay relationships.

We wouldn’t have a future
If I never had a past
You may not be my first love
But you’re gonna be my last.

Gay rights were something that Picoult had thought about writing for quite some time, but ironically it was while she was writing Sing You Home that her own 17-year-old son came out and told her that he was gay. Sing You Home was definitely thought- provoking  and once I started listening to it, I couldn’t stop.  The story was gripping and there is so much more I could say, however I do not want to give anything away! I listened to the Playaway Sing You Home, wherever I went! I would highly recommend the audio version and wonder if I would have enjoyed it as much had I read the book. I probably would not have even listened to the CD with the beautiful songs.  The narrators were wonderful and the music was the icing on the cake!

http://www.jodipicoult.com/sing-you-home.html

October 29, 2011

One For The Money By Janet Evanovich

Filed under: Book Recomendations,Janet Enanovich,One For The Money — susanbright @ 10:35 am
Tags: , ,

For years I have been hearing about Janet Evanovich and her Stephanie Plum series but had never picked one up. Since I am still in my mystery phase, I decided to give one a try and picked up One For The Money. the first in the series, which was  published way back in 1994. I decided to go the audio route and this one turned out to be a mere 3 discs… a very quick listen!

When Stephanie Plum lost her job as a lingerie buyer she was desperate! She was out of money, lost her car, was forced to sell her furniture and was in danger of losing her apartment. To make matters worse she was finding herself eating dinner at her parents home more and more just to get a free meal.

When Stephanie seeks out her Uncle Vinnie, a bail bondsman in hopes of getting a filing job, she manages to walk away with a much more interesting job title… an “apprehension agent” also known as a bounty hunter. How hard could it be! She was desperate and all she had to do was bring in Joe Morelli, a former cop, accused of murder and she would be TEN THOUSAND dollars richer! It just happened that Stephanie and Morelli had a history. Not only was he a former classmate but he was also the first “boy”  Stephanie had a sexual encounter with at the age of 16.

At times One For The Money was  laugh out loud funny and yes it was entertaining. One For The Money was read by actress Lori Petty who also starred in A League Of her Own and Free Willy.  At first I found the voice annoying ,but quickly got used to it and began to associate the voice with the character of Stephanie Plum.  I was surprised when I noticed that the second book Two For The Dough was read by a different actress. I am definitely going to give Two For The Dough and Stephanie’s new voice a try.

Are there any Stephanie Plum fans out there?

Next Page »

Theme: Rubric. Blog at WordPress.com.

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 234 other followers

%d bloggers like this: