Scarpetta

Kay Scarpetta #16: Scarpetta by Patricia Cornwell
Unabridged audio, 12 CDs, read by Kate Reading

I really like this series. I think they should be read in order because of the background information one would miss, but each are unique enough that they could be read singly. It has probably been a couple of years since I read a book in this series, but the books are memoriable and I have no trouble knowing who is who and how their lives intertwine. I actually did two in a row this time, reading The Book of the Dead (book #15) then going right into this one. I actually figured out who did it this time, but that did not take away from the enjoyment.

Open Season

Open Season by Linda Howard
Abridged audio - 4CDs

Rarely have I laughed so hard at a book that I almost have to pull over on the side of the road. Mousey little 34 year old librarian (of course, she would have to be a librarian :s), Daisy, decides to change her appearance and her life. While sitting in the parking lot of the local honky tonk, Daisy witnesses something she shouldn't see, but really doesn't realize what she saw and goes about life as usual. Meanwhile, people follow her around plotting her death and the local police chief has his hands full trying to keep her safe.

Poison Study

Study Series #1: Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder
Unabridged Audible Download

Great series - I really enjoyed listening to this one and look forward to reading the next installments. Yelena is in prison for murder and is scheduled to be executed. The Commander of Ixia's food taster has recently died. She is given a choice, she can be executed or become the Commander's new food taster.

House of Night #4: Untamed

House of Night #4: Untamed by PC & Kristin Cast
Unabridged - Audible download on my Kindle

This was the first time I listened to any of this series on audio and it was the first time I've ever listened to on my Kindle.

This story just keeps getting better and better. This one left you with quite a bit of a cliff hanger. I have the next installment on my Kindle so I don't have to wait to get it to begin listening, which is great!

Listening to an audible download on the Kindle is not bad. It was easy to download and the sound is great. The Kindle goes to sleep screen at some point, so you can't pause as easily as I'd like. You have to slide the turn on and then press pause a couple of times before it works. It works on my "line in" in my car just like my iPOD, but again, it's hard to pause or turn off in a hurry.

Cemetery Dance

Cemetery Dance by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child

Unabridged on 12 CDs

Preston & Child are my all time favorite writing duo. They never disappoint me. Rene Auberjonois is the reader and he is Pendergast. No one else could ever do that voice. In this latest episode several people are killed by what can only be described as a "zombie". All evidence points to a cultist group that live deep in the heart of NYC.

Lady Elizabeth

The Lady Elizabeth by Alison Weir
Unabridged on 16CDs

Alison Weir is an awesome historian. I own several of her non-fiction accounts of British history. In her second fictional novel, she takes off a bit into speculation of a few events that all evidence leads to, but isn't quite substantial enough to call historical fact. Regardless, this book is outstanding and portrays Elizabeth in her early years leading up to her ascension to the throne. Fantastic listen.

Rosie Dunne

Rosie Dunne by Cecelia Ahern
Unabridge on 5 CDs

Honestly, can two people really be that stupid? The audio was extremely well done with almost a full cast. Very fun, but I swear, the two main characters made me so mad! Any two people that have been best friends and gone through everything they went through together have to be just right for each other, but do they see it --- NO, but listening to them keep missing each other makes for an entertaining listen.

Secret History of the Pink Carnation

The Secret History of the Pink Carnation by Lauren Willig

Unabridged Audio on 9 Cassettees

A very fun listen. Elouise is writing her dissertation and wants to unmask the Pink Carnation. Picking up where the ScarletPimpernel left off, the Purple Gentian had taken over and after the Purple Gentian, there was the Pink Carnation. Elouise's investigation takes her to the home of Colin Selwick, the Pink Carnations private papers where she finds the true identity with some unexpected results.

Agatha Raisin & the Haunted House

Agatha Raisin & the Haunted House by MC Beaton
Unabridged on 4 cassettes

I laughed so much listening to this book. Middle-aged Agatha has a reputation for being a "Miss Marple". A designation she resists because Mrs Marple was old and Agatha is trying her best not to be. Madness and mayhem follow her as she attempts to flirt with her new next door neighbor while trying to solve the mystery of the haunted house.

Blood & Chocolate

Blood & Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klause
Unabridged on 7CDs

Was there a story to this one? If so, I either I never heard it or there was so nothing to it that I missed it. So glad I got this one from the library and didn't invest my own money in it.

Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict

Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict by Laurie Viera Rigler
Unabridged 6CDs

Story of a 20th century woman who awakes one day to find herself in Jane Austen's time. The story takes some comical turns as she tries to exert her 20th century independence in straight-laced 1700's England. A cute fast listen . I enjoyed the story.

Isabella Moon

Isabella Moon by Laura Benedict

Unabridged on 12CDs

The story was very strange. A little girl's ghost begins appearring to Mary Kate and then suddenly several townspeople begin dying or getting murdered. A very strange story, but a good listen. However, I had a problem with the readers voice. When she was talking in her regular voice she was fine, but when she started trying to do different voices, it was really, really bad. Even the supposedly educated towns people came off as sounding hick and foolish.

Hermit Thrush Sings

The Hermit Thrush Sings by Susan Butler
Unabridged on 5 Cassettes

Overall a nice listen-to audio. The state of Maine (now known as Mainard) has suffered a holocaust and the few survivors are under the rule of tyrant. The people are considered to be no better than animals and are taught untruths. A small band of rebels has surfaced and Leora's sister, long thought dead, appears to be one of the leaders. Leora has a webbed hand that allows her to paint the future. Her hand is kept a secret by her foster family because it is a sign of deformity and if known would cause her family embarrassment and it would send Leora to the insititute. After helping a prisoner escape, Leora is forced to fee herself.

Dragon's Kin

Dragon's Kin by Anne & Todd McCaffrey
Unabridged 6 Cassettes read by Dick Hill

I've loved this series ever since I picked up Dragonsinger back probably 20+ years ago. I loved reading them and love them even more now in audio. Dick Hill has the perfect voice, I can't imagine anyone else reading them. This book was no exception. It revolved around a mine cave in and a young blind girl who leads the way with her watch-weyr.

Graveyard Book

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
Unabridged 7 CDs

Great story about a boy who was raised in a graveyard by the ghosts that are buried there. The boy's family was murdered when he was a baby and he escaped by toddling out of the house at just the right time. His real parents were buried elsewhere, but the residents of the graveyard he wondered into keep him safe from the man who still hunts for him. Listed for ages 9 to 12, I wonder about the violence at the beginning of the story, but overall, a good listen. Neil Gaiman does the reading and he had a good voice for it.

Inkdeath

Ink series #3 : Inkdeath by Cornelia Funke
Unabridged 16 CDs

I almost did not get this book. I grew bored with the last part of Inkspell and so did not think I would like this one. I was pleasantly surprised. Though a bit violent for a children's book, good did win out in the end and the magical land of Umbra returned to a tranquil place.

Phantom of Manhatten

Phantom of Manhattan by Frederick Forsyth
Unabridged 4 Cassettes

I really liked this one. There was a different voice for each of the main characters and they each read different chapters. The weakest point was the voice of young Pierre. I thought it was a young girl talking until the priest he was speaking with started calling him "lad" or "my boy". They should have gotten a young boy to speak the part.

The story revolved around a young French man, disfigured and abused. Smuggled to the United States after an incident in France, he amassed a large fortune in New York City designing and building rides for Coney Island. His love of the opera and a Parisan aria led him to build the Manhatten Opera House.

Very good story. I wonder if it would have been as good a read as it was a listen.

The Rock Orchard

Rock Orchard by Paula Wall
Unabridged 5 Cassettes

Probably one of the most entertaining book I've listened to this year. I laughed over and over at this one. The story of the Bell women, the richest and most scandalous ladies (?) of Leaper's Fork, Tenneesse.

Tantalize & Many Bloody Returns

Many Bloody Returns by Various



I usually think short story collections are ok. Nothing great, just an entertaining way to pass the time. I usually wind up skipping several stories per book, but this time I read and enjoyed each one. Charlaine Harris' Dracula Night was a fun Sookie. Twilight (not to be confused with the Meyer book of the same name) by Kelley Armstrong was a great story. The Wish by Carolyn Haines & Vampire Hours by Elaine Viets had good plot twists. Several stories were downright funny. I really liked this one.




Tantalize by Cynthia Leitch Smith
Unabridged 5CDs

I originally won this one in a BookObsessed swap and then found the audio at the library. The reader was fine, but I found the story lacking. Just another teen-vampire thing. Nothing outside the ordinary or particulary exciting.

Storm Front

Dresden Files #1: Storm Front by Jim Butcher
Unabridged audio - 8CDs

Everyone told me that I would like this series and they were right! Harry Dresden is a wizard would helps the Chicago police with paranormal crimes. I especially liked listening to it on audio. I just hope I can find more of the audio series.