Wednesday, December 18, 2013
Forgiveness lesson in a book= Priceless!
I haven't written in some time, as I haven't found a book that moved me enough to want to write a review. That is until this week.
The book I am speaking about now is " My Story" Written by and Narrated by Elizabeth Smart.
While I am a spiritual person, I am not overly religious and tend to stay away from books with a "religious" or ones steeped heavily in "God". But this story was for me less about "God" and more about a young woman's ability to survive, thrive and FORGIVE. My interest in this Elizabeth's story was a deeply personal one, as I being a victim of a violent sexual based crime found it hard to forgive, yet, once I did forgive wondered why others could not. Reading/ listening to Elizabeth tell her story reinforced in me a realization that forgiveness is not for the perpetrator but for ones self.
I will never get the chance to say thank you to Elizabeth Smart, but if I did, this is what I would say to her and about her story.
Elizabeth,
Thank you for sharing your story of courage, strength and forgiveness with the world, it is a story that shows the power that can be gained from forgiveness. I never wondered why you didn't try to escape your perpetrators, I never asked why you didn't just lay down and die. I only imagined that your ability to forgive allowed you to put that short time in your life behind you and move forward in life with grace, love and peace. I am sure you have times when you think back and marvel at how you were able to go on as an adult to love, live and rejoice.
Thank you,
Riah
Now on to the book.
If you are like me and shy away from a book that is steeped in religious references, this is not a book to skip. Yes it does talk about God, but only as a portion of Elizabeths life, not as the whole of her life. Her story shows how one can go through something horrible and come out the other side enact and stronger than ever.
Don't miss this book it is definitely worth the read.
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Ever wonder what a "do over" button would do for humanity?
I think inherently we have all thought about a do over button from time to time, or even wished for one when we have done something stupid. Nevertheless, Steven King has put to rest the idea of my ever wanting one for myself. It seems like it would be too much responsibility after reading his latest novel "11/22/63" by Stephen King. This book takes you back to the "good old days" of innocence before the world got ugly and yes before the Kennedy assassination. How would life be for us if Kennedy had lived? Would the civil rights movement have gone forward sooner with less bloodshed? Would Martin Luther King JR still be alive and teaching us how to live a better life through non violence? Alternatively, would things go terribly wrong? No spoiler alerts here as this book was so amazing everyone should read it, especially other authors or aspiring authors like myself. Let's just say that everything we do from breath to swatting flies has a butterfly effect on the future and the thread of time we travel is affected, be it good or bad.
I am left in a reflective state about a time that happened before my birth of August 26, 1969 (the time I lovingly call the best time in history), but it is a time none the less that has had an effect on my life. The effect on my life has been deep, not just because I am a mixed-race person (too many to count) but also because I believe our world is much more cynical and less trusting than it was in the 1950s and 1960's. I do not believe we have less crime, rather I believe that we hear more about it and the age of innocence died the day Camelot crumbled.
To Stephen King if you ever read this BRAVO!!! I agree with your waiting to write this book from the 1970s until 2011. Who knows what the butterfly effect would have been back in the 1970s had you released the book back then. We may never know. What I do know is that I would have never read it. I have never been a fan of your writing, more because my mother read "Stephen King" novels not me. They were for old hippies in my mind. Until that is, I found this latest book on Audible and the synopsis peaked my interest. I have to say I have read "The Green Mile" and "Shawshank Redemption" and loved them but forgot that You Mr. King wrote them. I always thought of you as the writer of "Pet Cemetery" and that book and movie Horrified me, so I steered clear of my fellow New Englander, who wrote creepy stuff in my mind. I probably will stay away from your darker and sinister novels, but now that I know there is more to Stephen King than Horror. I am HOOKED!
To The reader of this blog and possibly a new reader to Stephen King, give this new book a try, you will NOT be disappointed. I was ultimately so glued to it that despite the fact that the book in Audible form is over 30 hours long, I had it on every waking hour completing it in just over two days. Jake Epping tells a tale in this book that is as the synopsis says, " Time-travel has never been so believable. Or so terrifying." The synopsis puts it as terrifying but for a Stephen King novel I would call it plausibly possible. This book could be called a time-travel book, but I have to say it made me think more about my choices for the future than what has happened in the past. I can see how our world could end up the way it turns in what I'll call World 2.0 because there is a world 3.0 that tie the whole book together.
Enough about the book, just read it for yourself, it is a can't miss, and I would like to see it as a movie, but I know just as with Shawshank and Green Mile, the book can never be translated into a movie and keep its character, the book is always better than the movie.
So my Book recommendation for December is 11/22/63 by Stephen King It is a book that will definitely cause you to forget how cold and dreary it is outside :)
I am left in a reflective state about a time that happened before my birth of August 26, 1969 (the time I lovingly call the best time in history), but it is a time none the less that has had an effect on my life. The effect on my life has been deep, not just because I am a mixed-race person (too many to count) but also because I believe our world is much more cynical and less trusting than it was in the 1950s and 1960's. I do not believe we have less crime, rather I believe that we hear more about it and the age of innocence died the day Camelot crumbled.
To Stephen King if you ever read this BRAVO!!! I agree with your waiting to write this book from the 1970s until 2011. Who knows what the butterfly effect would have been back in the 1970s had you released the book back then. We may never know. What I do know is that I would have never read it. I have never been a fan of your writing, more because my mother read "Stephen King" novels not me. They were for old hippies in my mind. Until that is, I found this latest book on Audible and the synopsis peaked my interest. I have to say I have read "The Green Mile" and "Shawshank Redemption" and loved them but forgot that You Mr. King wrote them. I always thought of you as the writer of "Pet Cemetery" and that book and movie Horrified me, so I steered clear of my fellow New Englander, who wrote creepy stuff in my mind. I probably will stay away from your darker and sinister novels, but now that I know there is more to Stephen King than Horror. I am HOOKED!
To The reader of this blog and possibly a new reader to Stephen King, give this new book a try, you will NOT be disappointed. I was ultimately so glued to it that despite the fact that the book in Audible form is over 30 hours long, I had it on every waking hour completing it in just over two days. Jake Epping tells a tale in this book that is as the synopsis says, " Time-travel has never been so believable. Or so terrifying." The synopsis puts it as terrifying but for a Stephen King novel I would call it plausibly possible. This book could be called a time-travel book, but I have to say it made me think more about my choices for the future than what has happened in the past. I can see how our world could end up the way it turns in what I'll call World 2.0 because there is a world 3.0 that tie the whole book together.
Enough about the book, just read it for yourself, it is a can't miss, and I would like to see it as a movie, but I know just as with Shawshank and Green Mile, the book can never be translated into a movie and keep its character, the book is always better than the movie.
So my Book recommendation for December is 11/22/63 by Stephen King It is a book that will definitely cause you to forget how cold and dreary it is outside :)
Monday, October 10, 2011
A part of history that is overlooked.
This story was passed on to me by a dear friend in email, and I felt it important enough to post to my book blog as it is a part of history. Though it is not a book I have read, I feel passionate enough about this story to tell it far and wide. You see I was raised by a women of the era this story tells about, a real suffragette. My great grandmother was grateful that she gained the right to vote, and she voted often. She not only voted but she took me with her and told me of the story when women could not vote. I do not take my voting privilege lightly, I research and meditate on who would be the best candidate for our country. I know many say it is the lesser of the two evils we vote for in todays day, but still, if we all took our right to vote as a sacred privilege in our democracy then we as Americans could change the world.
So read the following story, Look at the pictures, and then tell me why you don't vote, or better yet share why you do. (men and women)
I pass this story along in honor of my great grandmother Ethel Winnifred Wood, will you pass this on for the your grandmothers and great grandmothers who worked tirelessly to gain all women the right to vote?
(I do not know the author of the following writing but whoever you are if you come forward I would GLADLY give you credit for this body of writing.)
A TRUE STORY EVERYONE SHOULD KNOW!
This is the story of our Mothers and Grandmothers who lived only 90 years ago.
Remember, it was not until 1920 that women were granted the right to go to the polls and vote.
The women were innocent and defenseless, but they were jailed nonetheless for picketing the White House, carrying signs asking for the vote.
And by the end of the night, they were barely alive. Forty prison guards wielding clubs and their warden's blessing went on a rampage against the 33 women wrongly convicted of 'obstructing sidewalk traffic.'
(Lucy Burns)
They beat Lucy Burns, chained her hands to the cell bars above her head and left her hanging for the night, bleeding and gasping for air.
(Dora Lewis)
They hurled Dora Lewis into a dark cell, smashed her head against an iron bed and knocked her out cold. Her cell mate, Alice Cosu, thought Lewis was dead and suffered a heart attack.. Additional affidavits describe the guards grabbing, dragging, beating, choking, slamming, pinching, twisting and kicking the women.
Thus unfolded the 'Night of Terror' on Nov. 15, 1917, when the warden at the Occoquan Workhouse in Virginia ordered his guards to teach a lesson to the suffragists imprisoned there because they dared to picket Woodrow Wilson's White House for the right to vote. For weeks, the women's only water came from an open pail. Their food--all of it colorless slop--was infested with worms.
(Alice Paul)
When one of the leaders, Alice Paul, embarked on a hunger strike, they tied her to a chair, forced a tube down her throat and poured liquid into her until she vomited. She was tortured like this for weeks until word was smuggled out to the press.
Mrs. Pauline Adams in the prison garb she wore while serving a 60 day sentence.
Last week, I went to a sparsely attended screening of HBO's movie 'Iron Jawed Angels.' It is a graphic depiction of the battle these women waged so that I could pull the curtain at the polling booth and have my say. I am ashamed to say I needed the reminder..
Miss Edith Ainge, of Jamestown, New York
All these years later, voter registration is still my passion. But the actual act of voting had become less personal for me, more rote. Frankly, voting often felt more like an obligation than a privilege. Sometimes it was inconvenient.
(Berthe Arnold, CSU graduate)
My friend Wendy, who is my age and studied women's history, saw the HBO movie, too. When she stopped by my desk to talk about it, she looked angry. She was--with herself. 'One thought kept coming back to me as I watched that movie,' she said. 'What would those women think of the way I use, or don't use, my right to vote? All of us take it for granted now, not just younger women, but those of us who did seek to learn.' The right to vote, she said, had become valuable to her 'all over again.'
HBO released the movie on video and DVD . I wish all history, social studies and government teachers would include the movie in their curriculum I want it shown on Bunco/Bingo night, too, and anywhere else women gather. I realize this isn't our usual idea of socializing, but we are not voting in the numbers that we should be, and I think a little shock therapy is in order.
Conferring over ratification of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution at National Woman's Party headquarters, Jackson Place , Washington , D.C.
Left to right: Mrs. Lawrence Lewis, Mrs. Abby Scott Baker, Anita Pollitzer, Alice Paul, Florence Boeckel, Mabel Vernon (standing, right))
It is jarring to watch Woodrow Wilson and his cronies try to persuade a psychiatrist to declare Alice Paul insane so that she could be permanently institutionalized. And it is inspiring to watch the doctor refuse. Alice Paul was strong, he said, and brave. That didn't make her crazy.
The doctor admonished the men: 'Courage in women is often mistaken for insanity.'
Please, if you are so inclined, pass this on to all the women you know. We need to get out and vote and use this right that was fought so hard for by these very courageous women. Whether you vote democratic, republican or independent party - remember to vote.
Helena Hill Weed, Norwalk , Conn. Serving 3 day sentence in D.C. prison for carrying banner, 'Governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed.'
So, refresh MY memory. Some women won't vote this year because - Why, exactly?
We have carpool duties?
We have to get to work?
Our vote doesn't matter?
It's raining?
I'm so busy...I've got so much on my plate!
So read the following story, Look at the pictures, and then tell me why you don't vote, or better yet share why you do. (men and women)
I pass this story along in honor of my great grandmother Ethel Winnifred Wood, will you pass this on for the your grandmothers and great grandmothers who worked tirelessly to gain all women the right to vote?
(I do not know the author of the following writing but whoever you are if you come forward I would GLADLY give you credit for this body of writing.)
A TRUE STORY EVERYONE SHOULD KNOW!
This is the story of our Mothers and Grandmothers who lived only 90 years ago.
Remember, it was not until 1920 that women were granted the right to go to the polls and vote.
The women were innocent and defenseless, but they were jailed nonetheless for picketing the White House, carrying signs asking for the vote.
And by the end of the night, they were barely alive. Forty prison guards wielding clubs and their warden's blessing went on a rampage against the 33 women wrongly convicted of 'obstructing sidewalk traffic.'
(Lucy Burns)
They beat Lucy Burns, chained her hands to the cell bars above her head and left her hanging for the night, bleeding and gasping for air.
(Dora Lewis)
They hurled Dora Lewis into a dark cell, smashed her head against an iron bed and knocked her out cold. Her cell mate, Alice Cosu, thought Lewis was dead and suffered a heart attack.. Additional affidavits describe the guards grabbing, dragging, beating, choking, slamming, pinching, twisting and kicking the women.
Thus unfolded the 'Night of Terror' on Nov. 15, 1917, when the warden at the Occoquan Workhouse in Virginia ordered his guards to teach a lesson to the suffragists imprisoned there because they dared to picket Woodrow Wilson's White House for the right to vote. For weeks, the women's only water came from an open pail. Their food--all of it colorless slop--was infested with worms.
(Alice Paul)
When one of the leaders, Alice Paul, embarked on a hunger strike, they tied her to a chair, forced a tube down her throat and poured liquid into her until she vomited. She was tortured like this for weeks until word was smuggled out to the press.
Last week, I went to a sparsely attended screening of HBO's movie 'Iron Jawed Angels.' It is a graphic depiction of the battle these women waged so that I could pull the curtain at the polling booth and have my say. I am ashamed to say I needed the reminder..
Miss Edith Ainge, of Jamestown, New York
All these years later, voter registration is still my passion. But the actual act of voting had become less personal for me, more rote. Frankly, voting often felt more like an obligation than a privilege. Sometimes it was inconvenient.
(Berthe Arnold, CSU graduate)
My friend Wendy, who is my age and studied women's history, saw the HBO movie, too. When she stopped by my desk to talk about it, she looked angry. She was--with herself. 'One thought kept coming back to me as I watched that movie,' she said. 'What would those women think of the way I use, or don't use, my right to vote? All of us take it for granted now, not just younger women, but those of us who did seek to learn.' The right to vote, she said, had become valuable to her 'all over again.'
HBO released the movie on video and DVD . I wish all history, social studies and government teachers would include the movie in their curriculum I want it shown on Bunco/Bingo night, too, and anywhere else women gather. I realize this isn't our usual idea of socializing, but we are not voting in the numbers that we should be, and I think a little shock therapy is in order.
Conferring over ratification of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution at National Woman's Party headquarters, Jackson Place , Washington , D.C.
Left to right: Mrs. Lawrence Lewis, Mrs. Abby Scott Baker, Anita Pollitzer, Alice Paul, Florence Boeckel, Mabel Vernon (standing, right))
It is jarring to watch Woodrow Wilson and his cronies try to persuade a psychiatrist to declare Alice Paul insane so that she could be permanently institutionalized. And it is inspiring to watch the doctor refuse. Alice Paul was strong, he said, and brave. That didn't make her crazy.
The doctor admonished the men: 'Courage in women is often mistaken for insanity.'
Please, if you are so inclined, pass this on to all the women you know. We need to get out and vote and use this right that was fought so hard for by these very courageous women. Whether you vote democratic, republican or independent party - remember to vote.
Helena Hill Weed, Norwalk , Conn. Serving 3 day sentence in D.C. prison for carrying banner, 'Governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed.'
So, refresh MY memory. Some women won't vote this year because - Why, exactly?
We have carpool duties?
We have to get to work?
Our vote doesn't matter?
It's raining?
I'm so busy...I've got so much on my plate!
Monday, August 22, 2011
Mother and Daughter Coming of age tale
Traveling with Pomegranates
By: Sue Monk Kidd and Ann Kid Taylor
I wasn't sure that I would like this book when I first read the publisher's summary, but because my own relationship with my daughter was changing, I wanted to find a mother-daughter tale that may resonate, to my great surprise. I DID! This book is a great collaboration by a mother/ daughter duo.
When I say this most of you will initially say that people cannot come of age after 20 years old, but I beg to differ. This book is much like a coming of age story for both mother and daughter. It was the story of a mother finding herself in her new role as a mother to an adult child, while her daughter was coming of age and learning how to be an adult with all the trappings that comes with it. Both Sue and Ann are on a quest to find who they are at the given time. It just happens that they do this through travel. Their travel gives them a perfect place to nurture their creative sides and reconnect with each other.
Ann is struggling with the age-old question every college graduate faces post graduation. “what do I do now”? Sue is struggling with the thought of aging. The mother and daughter both find that by traveling through France and Greece a rich symbolism is shown to them through the story of Demeter and Persephone. The story turns very rich and symbolic with great personal meaning.
This book showed me how a mother and daughter do not have to grow apart just because the daughter is getting older. Sometimes we as mothers forget that while our children are growing older, we are as well, and it tends to hit us all at once. We focus so much on the day to day with our children whom we do not realize until it is upon us that they have grown up. This book helped me to see that my relationship with my children wasn't being lost, but instead it was coming out of its cocoon state so that my children could be the beautiful butterflies that I raised them to be. My daughter moved out into her first apartment last week, and I couldn't be prouder. The fact that I read this book helped me into the transition gracefully. Now I have a child whom I no longer see as my baby but as my daughter who is fully capable of making decisions and handling life because she was given the correct tools when she was younger.
For any mother sending her children (especially girls) into the world to become the adults they are meant to be, this is a must-read book, that will help you through the transition.
I just want to thank Sue and Ann for sharing their stories with all of us. My life is better because of it.
By: Sue Monk Kidd and Ann Kid Taylor
I wasn't sure that I would like this book when I first read the publisher's summary, but because my own relationship with my daughter was changing, I wanted to find a mother-daughter tale that may resonate, to my great surprise. I DID! This book is a great collaboration by a mother/ daughter duo.
When I say this most of you will initially say that people cannot come of age after 20 years old, but I beg to differ. This book is much like a coming of age story for both mother and daughter. It was the story of a mother finding herself in her new role as a mother to an adult child, while her daughter was coming of age and learning how to be an adult with all the trappings that comes with it. Both Sue and Ann are on a quest to find who they are at the given time. It just happens that they do this through travel. Their travel gives them a perfect place to nurture their creative sides and reconnect with each other.
Ann is struggling with the age-old question every college graduate faces post graduation. “what do I do now”? Sue is struggling with the thought of aging. The mother and daughter both find that by traveling through France and Greece a rich symbolism is shown to them through the story of Demeter and Persephone. The story turns very rich and symbolic with great personal meaning.
This book showed me how a mother and daughter do not have to grow apart just because the daughter is getting older. Sometimes we as mothers forget that while our children are growing older, we are as well, and it tends to hit us all at once. We focus so much on the day to day with our children whom we do not realize until it is upon us that they have grown up. This book helped me to see that my relationship with my children wasn't being lost, but instead it was coming out of its cocoon state so that my children could be the beautiful butterflies that I raised them to be. My daughter moved out into her first apartment last week, and I couldn't be prouder. The fact that I read this book helped me into the transition gracefully. Now I have a child whom I no longer see as my baby but as my daughter who is fully capable of making decisions and handling life because she was given the correct tools when she was younger.
For any mother sending her children (especially girls) into the world to become the adults they are meant to be, this is a must-read book, that will help you through the transition.
I just want to thank Sue and Ann for sharing their stories with all of us. My life is better because of it.
Monday, June 13, 2011
Another List of Recommended Summer Reading
I figured since I'm new to the whole blog thing, I would follow Riah's lead. Mine probably will not be as fancy or cool as hers, but it will get the job done. I will continue to add books as the summer goes on. Also a lot of these books will also be found on Riah's list, because she got me to read them, or vice versa. I do believe that Riah is right, everyone should have great books to curl up with this summer, and be whisked away to a fantasy land of sorts. So here it is, my list:
Dark Hunter series by Sherrilyn Kenyon
It tops my list for a number of reasons
1) It is a series that does not need to be read in chronological order
2) It is a highly addicting romance series - a little raunchy though
3) It has to do with vampires, and shape-shifters, and ancient mythology - it is more bad-ass and grown up than Twilight
4) The author is right here in good ol' TN!! I love supporting local authors!!!
Saving CeeCee Honeycutt
by Beth Hoffman
by Beth Hoffman I had been planning on reading this book for a while, when Riah told me she had been able to get a signed copy for me!! (thank you Beth and Riah!!) I no longer had an excuse not to read it! I was only on chapter 11 when I realized, I had cried, and laughed more than ever! It is truly about strong women, coming together and giving a 12 year old girl a family. All the characters were so witty, chock full of wisdom, and relatable that I felt like I knew them. Beth created imagery that was so vivid, I could smell the food Oletta cooked, and walked through Savannah, and helped Tootie with her garden. It was amazing! I recommend this book highly, especially for a mother - daughter read.
Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side
by Beth Fantaskey
by Beth FantaskeyIf you love books about vampires, but could puke if you hear about Twilight one more time, this book is for you! In my opinion this is a fantastic, yet under appreciated book. It is about a high school girl who is destined to marry a vampire prince, not knowing she is a vampire too. Jessica grew up on a farm, so watching her turn into a girly princess is a hilarious treat! It is no where as serious as Twilight, which is one of the many reasons i love it. It can and does, make fun of itself. It is a quick read, and rather inexpensive too.
Tell Me Where It Hurts: A Day of Humor, Healing, and Hope in My Life as an Animal Surgeon by Dr. Nick Trout
I'm so happy I decided to pick up this book. It is well worth the $15 I paid for it. This book is for animal lovers, owners, and anyone who works with animals at all. However, it is NOT for children, it is very sad in several parts. Well it is for people like me, who cry no matter how many times i have seen/read Old Yeller! If you are one of those people, keep tissue boxes close at hand. Despite the (many) sad parts, it is a magnificent book! I have not even finished it yet, and knew I had to write a review for it. Dr. Trout really knows how to write. I felt like I was working at Angell Animal Medical Center for a day, which is great for future vets (like me). I personally love how he gives you several examples of each case, showing how even the most simple of procedures can easily go the wrong way. For example, Trout has a case in which the patient needs surgery to remove a benign tumor and another operation to allow the dog to use its leg again. Both operations were a success, but after a few months the disease came back. The dog was euthanized. It not only shows the pain the "parents" feel, but, for once, talks about how the "executioner" handles their job, and grief. While this book is on my recommended reading, I believe it should be required for any animal lover, owner, and especially a vet student.
Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick
Hush, Hush is Becca Fitzpatricks first book. It was really good too, even though I hate not knowing the answer to things. This was a book that kept you guessing up until the very end. It was romantic, funny, suspenseful, thrilling, dark, and sexy all at once! However I PERSONALLY, do not think the reader got to know the characters enough. It would have been nice to feel "connected" to the characters, but you really only got the basics. Did Becca write a sequel, titled Crescendo, for this very reason? I have no idea - either way, I will be reading the it! - Aside from that it was a great break from all the crazy vampire/werewolf/shapeshifter/ love triangles i had been reading.
- Happy reading! :)
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Wonderful Summer Reading List Recommendations
This list is one of books I have already read and am now reading again,as well as books I will be reading this summer, because it is summer and we must have a good warm book for summer that transports us away to our pretend vacations of other worlds and times.
Each of these books will transport you away. I love the audio versions, but the actual physical books will also take you away to a vacation within your mind.
please let me know if there are other books that should be on this list, I would love to read what you all are reading for the summer.
These days with most of us saving money and staying home rather than taking vacations, a great book that takes you away if even for a few moments a day is worth the money. So take a vacation in your mind.
Here is my list.
The Kitchen House: A Novel
UNABRIDGED
by Kathleen Grissom
Narrated by Orlagh Cassidy , Bahni Turpin
Publisher's Summary
When a white servant girl violates the order of plantation society, she unleashes a tragedy that exposes the worst and best in the people she has come to call her family.
Orphaned while onboard ship from Ireland, seven-year-old Lavinia arrives on the steps of a tobacco plantation where she is to live and work with the slaves of the kitchen house. Under the care of Belle, the master's illegitimate daughter, Lavinia becomes deeply bonded to her adopted family, though she is set apart from them by her white skin. Eventually, Lavinia is accepted into the world of the big house, where the master is absent and the mistress battles opium addiction. Lavinia finds herself perilously straddling two very different worlds. When she is forced to make a choice, loyalties are brought into question, dangerous truths are laid bare, and lives are put at risk.
The Kitchen House is a tragic story of page-turning suspense, exploring the meaning of family, where love and loyalty prevail.
©2010 Kathleen Grissom (P)2010 Blackstone Audio, Inc.
What the Critics Say
“Forget Gone With the Wind. Belle and Lavinia, the heroines in this novel, will make Scarlett seem like a wimp in comparison….Together they narrate a story that grabs the reader and demands to be devoured. Wow.” (Minneapolis Star Tribune)
“[Grissom’s] debut twists the conventions of the antebellum novel....Provides a trove of tension and grit, while the many nefarious doings will keep readers hooked to the twisted, yet hopeful, conclusion.” (Publishers Weekly)
“Kathleen Grissom peers into the plantation romance through the eyes of a white indentured servant inhabiting the limbo land between slavery and freedom, providing a tale that provokes new empathy for all working and longing in The Kitchen House.” (Alice Randall, author of The Wind Done Gone and Rebel Yell)
Velva Jean Learns to Drive
UNABRIDGED
by Jennifer Niven
Narrated by Jenna Lamia
Publisher's Summary
Set in Appalachia in the years before World War II, Velva Jean Learns to Drive is a poignant story of a spirited young girl growing up in the gold-mining and moonshining South. Before she dies, Velva Jean's mother urges her to "live out there in the great wide world".
Velva Jean dreams of becoming a big-time singer in Nashville until she falls in love with Harley Bright, a handsome juvenile delinquent turned revival preacher. As their tumultuous love story unfolds, Velva Jean must choose between keeping her hard-won home and pursuing her dream of singing in the Grand Ole Opry.
©2009 Jenniver Niven; (P)2009 Penguin
What the Critics Say
"It's a touching read, funny and wise, like a crazy blend of Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton, a less morose Flannery O'Connor and maybe a shot of Hank Williams." (Publishers Weekly)
The Help
UNABRIDGED
by Kathryn Stockett
Narrated by Jenna Lamia , Bahni Turpin , Octavia Spencer , Cassandra Campbell
Publisher's Summary
Three ordinary women are about to take one extraordinary step.
Twenty-two-year-old Skeeter has just returned home after graduating from Ole Miss. She may have a degree, but it is 1962, Mississippi, and her mother will not be happy till Skeeter has a ring on her finger. Skeeter would normally find solace with her beloved maid, Constantine, the woman who raised her, but Constantine has disappeared and no one will tell Skeeter where she has gone.
Aibileen is a black maid, a wise, regal woman raising her 17th white child. Something has shifted inside her after the loss of her own son, who died while his bosses looked the other way. She is devoted to the little girl she looks after, though she knows both their hearts may be broken.
Minny, Aibileen's best friend, is short, fat, and perhaps the sassiest woman in Mississippi. She can cook like nobody's business, but she can't mind her tongue, so she's lost yet another job. Minny finally finds a position working for someone too new to town to know her reputation. But her new boss has secrets of her own.
Seemingly as different from one another as can be, these women will nonetheless come together for a clandestine project that will put them all at risk. And why? Because they are suffocating within the lines that define their town and their times. And sometimes lines are made to be crossed.
In pitch-perfect voices, Kathryn Stockett creates three extraordinary women whose determination to start a movement of their own forever changes a town, and the way women - mothers, daughters, caregivers, friends - view one another.
This edition now includes the afterword "Too Little, Too Late - Kathryn Stockett in Her Own Words", as read by the author.
Bonus Audio: Hear an exclusive interview with Kathryn Stockett.
©2009 Kathryn Stockett; (P)2009 Penguin
What the Critics Say
"This heartbreaking story is a stunning debut from a gifted talent." (Atlanta Journal)
The Chosen One: A Novel
UNABRIDGED
by Carol Lynch Williams
Narrated by Jenna Lamia
Publisher's Summary
Thirteen-year-old Kyra has grown up in an isolated polygamous community without questioning her father's three wives and her 20 brothers and sisters. Or at least without questioning them much - if you don't count her secret visits to the Mobile Library on Wheels to read forbidden books, or her meetings with the boy she hopes to choose for herself instead of having a man chosen for her.
But when the Prophet decrees that Kyra must marry her 60-year-old uncle - who already has six wives - Kyra must make a desperate choice in the face of violence and her own fears of losing her family.
©2009 Carol Lynch Williams; (P)2009 Macmillan Audio
What the Critics Say
"[T]his is a heart pounder, and readers will be held, especially as the danger escalates. Williams' portrayals of the family are sharp, but what's most interesting about this book is how the yearnings and fears of a character so far from what most YAs know will still seem familiar and close." (Booklist)
Saving Ceecee Honeycutt
UNABRIDGED
by Beth Hoffman
Narrated by Jenna Lamia
Publisher's Summary
Steel Magnolias meets The Help in this Southern debut novel sparkling with humor, heart, and feminine wisdom.
Twelve-year-old CeeCee Honeycutt is in trouble. For years, she has been the caretaker of her psychotic mother, Camille-the tiara-toting, lipstick-smeared laughingstock of an entire town-a woman trapped in her long-ago moment of glory as the 1951 Vidalia Onion Queen. But when Camille is hit by a truck and killed, CeeCee is left to fend for herself. To the rescue comes her previously unknown great-aunt, Tootie Caldwell.
In her vintage Packard convertible, Tootie whisks CeeCee away to Savannah's perfumed world of prosperity and Southern eccentricity, a world that seems to be run entirely by women. From the exotic Miz Thelma Rae Goodpepper, who bathes in her backyard bathtub and uses garden slugs as her secret weapons, to Tootie's all-knowing housekeeper, Oletta Jones, to Violene Hobbs, who entertains a local police officer in her canary-yellow peignoir, the women of Gaston Street keep CeeCee entertained and enthralled for an entire summer.
Laugh-out-loud funny and deeply touching, Beth Hoffman's sparkling debut is, as Kristin Hannah says, "packed full of Southern charm, strong women, wacky humor, and good old-fashioned heart." It is a novel that explores the indomitable strengths of female friendship and gives us the story of a young girl who loses one mother and finds many others.
©2010 Beth Hoffman; (P)2010 Penguin Audiobooks
The Secret Life of Bees
UNABRIDGED
by Sue Monk Kidd
Narrated by Jenna Lamia
Publisher's Summary
Sue Monk Kidd's ravishing debut novel has stolen the hearts of reviewers and readers alike with its strong, assured voice. Set in South Carolina in 1964, The Secret Life of Bees tells the story of Lily Owens, whose life has been shaped around the blurred memory of the afternoon her mother was killed.
When Lily's fierce-hearted "stand-in mother", Rosaleen, insults three of the town's fiercest racists, Lily decides they should both escape to Tiburon, South Carolina - a town that holds the secret to her mother's past. There, they are taken in by an eccentric trio of black beekeeping sisters who introduce Lily to a mesmerizing world of bees, honey, and the Black Madonna who presides over their household.
This is a remarkable story about divine female power and the transforming power of love - a story that women will share and pass on to their daughters for years to come.
©2003 Sue Monk Kidd; (P)2008 Penguin
Traveling with Pomegranates: A Mother-Daughter Story
UNABRIDGED
by Sue Monk Kidd , Ann Kidd Taylor
Narrated by Sue Monk Kidd
Publisher's Summary
In this intimate dual memoir, Sue Monk Kidd and her daughter, Ann, offer distinct perspectives as a 50-something and a 20-something, each on a quest to redefine herself and to rediscover each other.
Between 1998 and 2000, Sue and Ann travel throughout Greece and France. Sue, coming to grips with aging, caught in a creative vacuum, longing to reconnect with her grown daughter, struggles to enlarge a vision of swarming bees into a novel.
Ann, just graduated from college, heartbroken and benumbed by the classic question about what to do with her life, grapples with a painful depression. As this modern-day Demeter and Persephone chronicle the richly symbolic and personal meaning of an array of inspiring figures and sites, they also each give voice to that most protean of connections: the bond of mother and daughter.
A wise and involving book about feminine thresholds, spiritual growth, and renewal, Traveling with Pomegranates is both a revealing self-portrait by a beloved author and her daughter, a writer in the making, and a momentous story that will resonate with women everywhere.
©2009 Sue Monk Kidd; (P)2009 Penguin
Firefly Cloak
UNABRIDGED
by Sheri Reynolds
Narrated by Jenna Lamia
Publisher's Summary
Eight-year-old Tessa Lee and her little brother, Travis, are left at a campground by their mother and her boyfriend, a crooked-nosed man named Goose. All the two children have is a tent, their bags of clothes, the firefly cloak they'd used for covers the night before, and a phone number printed in magic marker on Travis' back. Tessa Lee knows that her momma and Goose have skedaddled in a car with recently changed license plates. She just doesn't know why.
So begins a journey that will take Tessa Lee into the home of her grandparents, then off in search of the mother she longs for. Her quest is steeped in Southern atmosphere and characters: the owner of the cheesy boardwalk show where Tessa Lee finds her mother and loses her again; the bingo-playing grandmother who holds her close; the old man who thinks the CIA is after him and boards up his house. Running throughout, like threads in a cloak, are themes of guilt, loss, and reunion.
©2006 Sheri Reynolds; (P)2006 HighBridge Company
What the Critics Say
"Uplifting in its explorations of family, forgiveness, and redemption." (Publishers Weekly)
"Reynolds' newest novel delivers more of the rich southern atmosphere and coming-of-age drama that made The Rapture of Canaan an Oprah Book Club selection and best seller." (Booklist)
Water for Elephants
UNABRIDGED
by Sara Gruen
Narrated by David LeDoux , John Randolph Jones
Publisher's Summary
An atmospheric tale of life and love in a Depression-era traveling circus.
Nonagenarian Jacob Jankowski reflects back on his wild and wondrous days with a circus. It's the Depression Era and Jacob, finding himself parentless and penniless, joins the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. There he meets the freaks, grifters, and misfits that populate this world. Jacob introduces us to Marlena, beautiful star of the equestrian act; to August, her charismatic but twisted husband (and the circus' animal trainer); and to Rosie, a seemingly untrainable elephant.
Beautifully written, with a luminous sense of time and place, Water for Elephants tells of love in a world in which love's a luxury few can afford.
©2006 Sara Gruen; (P)2006 HighBridge Company
What the Critics Say
Book Sense Book of the Year Award, Adult Fiction, 2007
Audie Award Finalist, Fiction, Unabridged, 2007
"Just like a circus, the magic of the story and the writing convince you to suspend your disbelief." (Booklist)
"Gruen skillfully humanizes the midgets, drunks, rubes, and freaks who populate her book." (Publishers Weekly)
Faerie Wars
UNABRIDGED
by Herbie Brennan
Narrated by Gerard Doyle
Publisher's Summary
Henry doesn't think he'll ever be able to get his mind off his parents' divorce. That is, until he meets Pyrgus Malvae, prince of the faerie world. Now Henry must help Pyrgus return home to fight the evil Faeries of the Night.
Best-selling author Herbie Brennan magically combines real-life London with the fantasy realm of faeries while delicately exploring such sensitive topics as divorce, politics, and sexuality.
©2003 Herbie Brennan; (P)2004 Recorded Books
What the Critics Say
"[A] solid adventure [that will] keep listeners on the edge of their seats." (Booklist)
"[Brennan] is a master of the hairpin turn, leading readers in one direction and suddenly reversing their expectations." (The New York Times Book Review)
"Narrator Gerard Doyle does a remarkable job of bringing each character alive. He reads clearly with great enthusiasm and vibrancy, allowing whimsy and mischief to emerge. Fantasy readers will thoroughly enjoy this audiobook, especially fans of Artemis Fowl and Harry Potter." (School Library Journal)
Faerie Lord
UNABRIDGED
by Herbie Brennan
Narrated by James Daniel Wilson
Publisher's Summary
Two years have passed since Henry left the Faerie Realm. And he is about to discover that much has changed since his last visit. Living a normal life in the Analogue World, Henry is shocked when his old friend Pyrgus shows up with terrible news. A mysterious plague is decimating the Faeries of the Light, causing them to age prematurely, and even Henry's mentor Mr. Fogarty is ill. Compelled to help, Henry travels back to the Faerie Realm to find a cure and to repair his relationship with the Faerie Queen, Holly Blue. Could Lord Hairstreak and his dark faeries be behind this rampaging sickness? And how do the machinations of demonologist Silas Brimstone fit in?
A fantasy lover's dream, this thrilling conclusion to the Faerie Wars Chronicles is a tale of passion, bravery, and intrigue. Narrator James Daniel Wilson perfectly voices this thrilling clash between good and evil.
©2007 Herbie Brennan; (P)2008 Recorded Books, LLC
Ruler of the Realm: The Faerie Wars Chronicles, Book 3
UNABRIDGED
by Herbie Brennan
Narrated by James Daniel Wilson
Publisher's Summary
It is Henry's third visit to the Faerie Realm, but this time in a rather different guise and to a rather different kind of place. Holly Blue is Queen and Lord Hairstreak appears to be proposing a truce between the Faeries of the Night and the Faeries of the Light.
Meanwhile, Prince Pyrgus has stumbled across some mysterious crystal flowers with an apparently formidable secret weapon, and there are rumours of a demon invasion led by Beleth, the Prince of Darkness.
Queen Blue, wary of her uncle's uncharacteristic generosity, pays a visit to the Spicemaster's labyrinth in an attempt to divine the possible future of the Realm. She is warned to beware someone close, little realising just how careful she will need to be.
©2006 Herbie Brennan; (P)2006 W F Howes
The Purple Emperor
UNABRIDGED
by Herbie Brennan
Narrated by Gerard Doyle
Publisher's Summary
The emperor of the enchanted Faerie Realm has been murdered and now Pyrgus, his son, is the Emperor Elect. As Pyrgus contemplates his new responsibilities as emperor, his father's body is stolen! Hairstreak, evil leader of the Faeries of the Night, and his wicked henchmen have resurrected it as a zombie and plan to take control of the kingdom. Pyrgus and his courageous sister Holly Blue are banished from the realm and stripped of their magical powers.
©2005 Herbie Brennan; (P)2005 Recorded Books, LLC
~Happy Reading Folks!
Each of these books will transport you away. I love the audio versions, but the actual physical books will also take you away to a vacation within your mind.
please let me know if there are other books that should be on this list, I would love to read what you all are reading for the summer.
These days with most of us saving money and staying home rather than taking vacations, a great book that takes you away if even for a few moments a day is worth the money. So take a vacation in your mind.
Here is my list.
The Kitchen House: A Novel
UNABRIDGED
by Kathleen Grissom
Narrated by Orlagh Cassidy , Bahni Turpin
Publisher's Summary
When a white servant girl violates the order of plantation society, she unleashes a tragedy that exposes the worst and best in the people she has come to call her family.
Orphaned while onboard ship from Ireland, seven-year-old Lavinia arrives on the steps of a tobacco plantation where she is to live and work with the slaves of the kitchen house. Under the care of Belle, the master's illegitimate daughter, Lavinia becomes deeply bonded to her adopted family, though she is set apart from them by her white skin. Eventually, Lavinia is accepted into the world of the big house, where the master is absent and the mistress battles opium addiction. Lavinia finds herself perilously straddling two very different worlds. When she is forced to make a choice, loyalties are brought into question, dangerous truths are laid bare, and lives are put at risk.
The Kitchen House is a tragic story of page-turning suspense, exploring the meaning of family, where love and loyalty prevail.
©2010 Kathleen Grissom (P)2010 Blackstone Audio, Inc.
What the Critics Say
“Forget Gone With the Wind. Belle and Lavinia, the heroines in this novel, will make Scarlett seem like a wimp in comparison….Together they narrate a story that grabs the reader and demands to be devoured. Wow.” (Minneapolis Star Tribune)
“[Grissom’s] debut twists the conventions of the antebellum novel....Provides a trove of tension and grit, while the many nefarious doings will keep readers hooked to the twisted, yet hopeful, conclusion.” (Publishers Weekly)
“Kathleen Grissom peers into the plantation romance through the eyes of a white indentured servant inhabiting the limbo land between slavery and freedom, providing a tale that provokes new empathy for all working and longing in The Kitchen House.” (Alice Randall, author of The Wind Done Gone and Rebel Yell)
Velva Jean Learns to Drive
UNABRIDGED
by Jennifer Niven
Narrated by Jenna Lamia
Publisher's Summary
Set in Appalachia in the years before World War II, Velva Jean Learns to Drive is a poignant story of a spirited young girl growing up in the gold-mining and moonshining South. Before she dies, Velva Jean's mother urges her to "live out there in the great wide world".
Velva Jean dreams of becoming a big-time singer in Nashville until she falls in love with Harley Bright, a handsome juvenile delinquent turned revival preacher. As their tumultuous love story unfolds, Velva Jean must choose between keeping her hard-won home and pursuing her dream of singing in the Grand Ole Opry.
©2009 Jenniver Niven; (P)2009 Penguin
What the Critics Say
"It's a touching read, funny and wise, like a crazy blend of Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton, a less morose Flannery O'Connor and maybe a shot of Hank Williams." (Publishers Weekly)
The Help
UNABRIDGED
by Kathryn Stockett
Narrated by Jenna Lamia , Bahni Turpin , Octavia Spencer , Cassandra Campbell
Publisher's Summary
Three ordinary women are about to take one extraordinary step.
Twenty-two-year-old Skeeter has just returned home after graduating from Ole Miss. She may have a degree, but it is 1962, Mississippi, and her mother will not be happy till Skeeter has a ring on her finger. Skeeter would normally find solace with her beloved maid, Constantine, the woman who raised her, but Constantine has disappeared and no one will tell Skeeter where she has gone.
Aibileen is a black maid, a wise, regal woman raising her 17th white child. Something has shifted inside her after the loss of her own son, who died while his bosses looked the other way. She is devoted to the little girl she looks after, though she knows both their hearts may be broken.
Minny, Aibileen's best friend, is short, fat, and perhaps the sassiest woman in Mississippi. She can cook like nobody's business, but she can't mind her tongue, so she's lost yet another job. Minny finally finds a position working for someone too new to town to know her reputation. But her new boss has secrets of her own.
Seemingly as different from one another as can be, these women will nonetheless come together for a clandestine project that will put them all at risk. And why? Because they are suffocating within the lines that define their town and their times. And sometimes lines are made to be crossed.
In pitch-perfect voices, Kathryn Stockett creates three extraordinary women whose determination to start a movement of their own forever changes a town, and the way women - mothers, daughters, caregivers, friends - view one another.
This edition now includes the afterword "Too Little, Too Late - Kathryn Stockett in Her Own Words", as read by the author.
Bonus Audio: Hear an exclusive interview with Kathryn Stockett.
©2009 Kathryn Stockett; (P)2009 Penguin
What the Critics Say
"This heartbreaking story is a stunning debut from a gifted talent." (Atlanta Journal)
The Chosen One: A Novel
UNABRIDGED
by Carol Lynch Williams
Narrated by Jenna Lamia
Publisher's Summary
Thirteen-year-old Kyra has grown up in an isolated polygamous community without questioning her father's three wives and her 20 brothers and sisters. Or at least without questioning them much - if you don't count her secret visits to the Mobile Library on Wheels to read forbidden books, or her meetings with the boy she hopes to choose for herself instead of having a man chosen for her.
But when the Prophet decrees that Kyra must marry her 60-year-old uncle - who already has six wives - Kyra must make a desperate choice in the face of violence and her own fears of losing her family.
©2009 Carol Lynch Williams; (P)2009 Macmillan Audio
What the Critics Say
"[T]his is a heart pounder, and readers will be held, especially as the danger escalates. Williams' portrayals of the family are sharp, but what's most interesting about this book is how the yearnings and fears of a character so far from what most YAs know will still seem familiar and close." (Booklist)
Saving Ceecee Honeycutt
UNABRIDGED
by Beth Hoffman
Narrated by Jenna Lamia
Publisher's Summary
Steel Magnolias meets The Help in this Southern debut novel sparkling with humor, heart, and feminine wisdom.
Twelve-year-old CeeCee Honeycutt is in trouble. For years, she has been the caretaker of her psychotic mother, Camille-the tiara-toting, lipstick-smeared laughingstock of an entire town-a woman trapped in her long-ago moment of glory as the 1951 Vidalia Onion Queen. But when Camille is hit by a truck and killed, CeeCee is left to fend for herself. To the rescue comes her previously unknown great-aunt, Tootie Caldwell.
In her vintage Packard convertible, Tootie whisks CeeCee away to Savannah's perfumed world of prosperity and Southern eccentricity, a world that seems to be run entirely by women. From the exotic Miz Thelma Rae Goodpepper, who bathes in her backyard bathtub and uses garden slugs as her secret weapons, to Tootie's all-knowing housekeeper, Oletta Jones, to Violene Hobbs, who entertains a local police officer in her canary-yellow peignoir, the women of Gaston Street keep CeeCee entertained and enthralled for an entire summer.
Laugh-out-loud funny and deeply touching, Beth Hoffman's sparkling debut is, as Kristin Hannah says, "packed full of Southern charm, strong women, wacky humor, and good old-fashioned heart." It is a novel that explores the indomitable strengths of female friendship and gives us the story of a young girl who loses one mother and finds many others.
©2010 Beth Hoffman; (P)2010 Penguin Audiobooks
The Secret Life of Bees
UNABRIDGED
by Sue Monk Kidd
Narrated by Jenna Lamia
Publisher's Summary
Sue Monk Kidd's ravishing debut novel has stolen the hearts of reviewers and readers alike with its strong, assured voice. Set in South Carolina in 1964, The Secret Life of Bees tells the story of Lily Owens, whose life has been shaped around the blurred memory of the afternoon her mother was killed.
When Lily's fierce-hearted "stand-in mother", Rosaleen, insults three of the town's fiercest racists, Lily decides they should both escape to Tiburon, South Carolina - a town that holds the secret to her mother's past. There, they are taken in by an eccentric trio of black beekeeping sisters who introduce Lily to a mesmerizing world of bees, honey, and the Black Madonna who presides over their household.
This is a remarkable story about divine female power and the transforming power of love - a story that women will share and pass on to their daughters for years to come.
©2003 Sue Monk Kidd; (P)2008 Penguin
Traveling with Pomegranates: A Mother-Daughter Story
UNABRIDGED
by Sue Monk Kidd , Ann Kidd Taylor
Narrated by Sue Monk Kidd
Publisher's Summary
In this intimate dual memoir, Sue Monk Kidd and her daughter, Ann, offer distinct perspectives as a 50-something and a 20-something, each on a quest to redefine herself and to rediscover each other.
Between 1998 and 2000, Sue and Ann travel throughout Greece and France. Sue, coming to grips with aging, caught in a creative vacuum, longing to reconnect with her grown daughter, struggles to enlarge a vision of swarming bees into a novel.
Ann, just graduated from college, heartbroken and benumbed by the classic question about what to do with her life, grapples with a painful depression. As this modern-day Demeter and Persephone chronicle the richly symbolic and personal meaning of an array of inspiring figures and sites, they also each give voice to that most protean of connections: the bond of mother and daughter.
A wise and involving book about feminine thresholds, spiritual growth, and renewal, Traveling with Pomegranates is both a revealing self-portrait by a beloved author and her daughter, a writer in the making, and a momentous story that will resonate with women everywhere.
©2009 Sue Monk Kidd; (P)2009 Penguin
Firefly Cloak
UNABRIDGED
by Sheri Reynolds
Narrated by Jenna Lamia
Publisher's Summary
Eight-year-old Tessa Lee and her little brother, Travis, are left at a campground by their mother and her boyfriend, a crooked-nosed man named Goose. All the two children have is a tent, their bags of clothes, the firefly cloak they'd used for covers the night before, and a phone number printed in magic marker on Travis' back. Tessa Lee knows that her momma and Goose have skedaddled in a car with recently changed license plates. She just doesn't know why.
So begins a journey that will take Tessa Lee into the home of her grandparents, then off in search of the mother she longs for. Her quest is steeped in Southern atmosphere and characters: the owner of the cheesy boardwalk show where Tessa Lee finds her mother and loses her again; the bingo-playing grandmother who holds her close; the old man who thinks the CIA is after him and boards up his house. Running throughout, like threads in a cloak, are themes of guilt, loss, and reunion.
©2006 Sheri Reynolds; (P)2006 HighBridge Company
What the Critics Say
"Uplifting in its explorations of family, forgiveness, and redemption." (Publishers Weekly)
"Reynolds' newest novel delivers more of the rich southern atmosphere and coming-of-age drama that made The Rapture of Canaan an Oprah Book Club selection and best seller." (Booklist)
Water for Elephants
UNABRIDGED
by Sara Gruen
Narrated by David LeDoux , John Randolph Jones
Publisher's Summary
An atmospheric tale of life and love in a Depression-era traveling circus.
Nonagenarian Jacob Jankowski reflects back on his wild and wondrous days with a circus. It's the Depression Era and Jacob, finding himself parentless and penniless, joins the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. There he meets the freaks, grifters, and misfits that populate this world. Jacob introduces us to Marlena, beautiful star of the equestrian act; to August, her charismatic but twisted husband (and the circus' animal trainer); and to Rosie, a seemingly untrainable elephant.
Beautifully written, with a luminous sense of time and place, Water for Elephants tells of love in a world in which love's a luxury few can afford.
©2006 Sara Gruen; (P)2006 HighBridge Company
What the Critics Say
Book Sense Book of the Year Award, Adult Fiction, 2007
Audie Award Finalist, Fiction, Unabridged, 2007
"Just like a circus, the magic of the story and the writing convince you to suspend your disbelief." (Booklist)
"Gruen skillfully humanizes the midgets, drunks, rubes, and freaks who populate her book." (Publishers Weekly)
Faerie Wars
UNABRIDGED
by Herbie Brennan
Narrated by Gerard Doyle
Publisher's Summary
Henry doesn't think he'll ever be able to get his mind off his parents' divorce. That is, until he meets Pyrgus Malvae, prince of the faerie world. Now Henry must help Pyrgus return home to fight the evil Faeries of the Night.
Best-selling author Herbie Brennan magically combines real-life London with the fantasy realm of faeries while delicately exploring such sensitive topics as divorce, politics, and sexuality.
©2003 Herbie Brennan; (P)2004 Recorded Books
What the Critics Say
"[A] solid adventure [that will] keep listeners on the edge of their seats." (Booklist)
"[Brennan] is a master of the hairpin turn, leading readers in one direction and suddenly reversing their expectations." (The New York Times Book Review)
"Narrator Gerard Doyle does a remarkable job of bringing each character alive. He reads clearly with great enthusiasm and vibrancy, allowing whimsy and mischief to emerge. Fantasy readers will thoroughly enjoy this audiobook, especially fans of Artemis Fowl and Harry Potter." (School Library Journal)
Faerie Lord
UNABRIDGED
by Herbie Brennan
Narrated by James Daniel Wilson
Publisher's Summary
Two years have passed since Henry left the Faerie Realm. And he is about to discover that much has changed since his last visit. Living a normal life in the Analogue World, Henry is shocked when his old friend Pyrgus shows up with terrible news. A mysterious plague is decimating the Faeries of the Light, causing them to age prematurely, and even Henry's mentor Mr. Fogarty is ill. Compelled to help, Henry travels back to the Faerie Realm to find a cure and to repair his relationship with the Faerie Queen, Holly Blue. Could Lord Hairstreak and his dark faeries be behind this rampaging sickness? And how do the machinations of demonologist Silas Brimstone fit in?
A fantasy lover's dream, this thrilling conclusion to the Faerie Wars Chronicles is a tale of passion, bravery, and intrigue. Narrator James Daniel Wilson perfectly voices this thrilling clash between good and evil.
©2007 Herbie Brennan; (P)2008 Recorded Books, LLC
Ruler of the Realm: The Faerie Wars Chronicles, Book 3
UNABRIDGED
by Herbie Brennan
Narrated by James Daniel Wilson
Publisher's Summary
It is Henry's third visit to the Faerie Realm, but this time in a rather different guise and to a rather different kind of place. Holly Blue is Queen and Lord Hairstreak appears to be proposing a truce between the Faeries of the Night and the Faeries of the Light.
Meanwhile, Prince Pyrgus has stumbled across some mysterious crystal flowers with an apparently formidable secret weapon, and there are rumours of a demon invasion led by Beleth, the Prince of Darkness.
Queen Blue, wary of her uncle's uncharacteristic generosity, pays a visit to the Spicemaster's labyrinth in an attempt to divine the possible future of the Realm. She is warned to beware someone close, little realising just how careful she will need to be.
©2006 Herbie Brennan; (P)2006 W F Howes
The Purple Emperor
UNABRIDGED
by Herbie Brennan
Narrated by Gerard Doyle
Publisher's Summary
The emperor of the enchanted Faerie Realm has been murdered and now Pyrgus, his son, is the Emperor Elect. As Pyrgus contemplates his new responsibilities as emperor, his father's body is stolen! Hairstreak, evil leader of the Faeries of the Night, and his wicked henchmen have resurrected it as a zombie and plan to take control of the kingdom. Pyrgus and his courageous sister Holly Blue are banished from the realm and stripped of their magical powers.
©2005 Herbie Brennan; (P)2005 Recorded Books, LLC
~Happy Reading Folks!
Saturday, June 4, 2011
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
AUDIOBOOK
The Help
UNABRIDGED
By Kathryn Stockett
Narrated by Jenna Lamia, Bahni Turpin, Octavia Spencer, Cassandra Campbell
Length:18 hrs and 19 mins
Release Date:01-28-09
Many books take on the days of the civil rights movement in the south, but none quite like The Help by Kathryn Stockett. This book is written from not only the perspective of the people who had help, but from the perspective of the help themselves. While I was not born nor raised in this day and age, but a whole generation later, this era has always held my imagination hostage as it is truly a world of black and white, north and south.
I always grew up believing that this was a simpler time, that I would have loved to have grown up in, because I grew up in the north and the amount of separation leveled in the south during the civil rights days had been changed many years before during the civil war according to our history books as well as the culture. The Help shows how the south was very different from the north by allowing the reader to become engrossed in the story from the southern black perspective while having a northern character from New York City in the publisher who states that she would be willing to look over the manuscript put together by the brave women who told their stories.
even though this book is fiction, it could as easily be non fiction and depict any city in any southern state below the Mason Dixon Line. In studying the Jim Crowe South, this would be a great book of reference to give children the feeling of that era.
The Help is on its way to theater's this August (I for one cannot wait). This is the book that introduced me to Jenna Lamia a wonderful Narrator who has also Narrated Saving Ceecee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman
as well as The secret Life of bee's
, Velva Jean Learns to Drive By Jennifer Niven
, The Kitchen House By Kathleen Grissom
, and Firefly Cloak By Sheri Reynolds
. If you plan on visiting the theatre to see The Help
I recomend reading the book first, thought I have heard that many of the audible narrators will be within the cast of the movie, I know that the book is always better than the movie, considering the book was 10 hours long and there is much cut out to fit into movie format. You cannot go wrong with any of the books I have mentioned in this post, but my two top favorites are The Help
and Saving Ceecee Honeycutt
. I also recommend trying the audible versions as they sweep you away into the time the stories are written about, nearly so much that you can smell the honeysuckle and magnolia blooms.
~Happy Reading Folks!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)