Countdown by Deborah Wiles
The audiobook Countdown by Deborah Wiles is amazing! It includes actual radio and television news clips, snippets of popular songs, and excerpts from famous speeches. Realistic sound effects have been added to really bring the story to life. This was the second book I listened to for the Audiobook Tour. Countdown, the first book in the Sixties Trilogy, takes your “ears” back in time to 1962. The story is chock full of references to pop culture and trivia. Franny Chapman, 11 … Read more
Talking Leaves by Joseph Bruchac
This is the first audiobook I listened to for the Audiobook Tour of US History project and I highly recommend it! I learned a lot and Joseph Bruchac did an excellent job of narrating his book. I’m definitely interested in reading more by this prolific author. Talking Leaves is the fictionalized story of Uwohali and his relationship with his father, Sequoyah, the inventor of the written Cherokee language. At thirteen years of age, Uwohali is ready to learn a trade … Read more
Cold Fear by Rick Mofina
I listened to the audio version of Cold Fear by Rick Mofina. It was narrated by Christian Rummel, who did a great job. Emily Baker takes her 10-year-old daughter Paige, Paige’s dog, and her husband Doug to a remote part of the Rockies. She has been in therapy and has been unable to tell her husband about something from her past that has been troubling her. To help put the bad experience behind her, she returns to the Rockies, where … Read more
The Queen’s Poisoner by Jeff Wheeler
I listened to the audiobook version of The Queen’s Poisoner by Jeff Wheeler, read by Kate Rudd. The story opens with the Duke of Kiskaddon returning home from battle. His side was victorious, but there was a small problem, or rather a major problem. At a crucial point in the battle, when it looked like they might lose, the King ordered the Duke to take his men into battle. Sensing that the King would lose the battle and be deposed, the … Read more
The Line by Bob Mayer
The Line by Bob Mayer was a fun read, or rather I should say listen. I listened to the audio version of the book on my phone. From the beginning, I was hooked. It is a military thriller and the writing and use of military jargon made it seem authentic. The story is about two West Point grads who are in the army. Major Boomer Watson, a member of the Army’s Delta Force and Major Benita Trace who is a … Read more
Camino Island by John Grisham
Camino Island by John Grisham is an easy to read book. The characters are interesting and the story has a lot of promise. After the rather long beginning, the story draws the reader in and it is a light, fun read. That earns the story 3 stars, but I expect more from Grisham. Spoiler alert. The remainder of the review contains a lot of story details which I go into in order to show how badly the book missed opportunities. … Read more
The Gifting by K.E. Ganshert
“According to science, humans have no souls. There is no afterlife or guardian angels or ghosts or spirits or anything at all supernatural. Our world is purely physical. The government has systematically removed God from society.” So begins The Gifting by K.E. Ganshert, a dystopian science fiction story where “science won.” The protagonist of the story, seventeen-year-old Tess, has a problem. If there is no supernatural, why is she having visions and dreams that come true? Before the government can classify … Read more
The Enhanced by T.C. Edge
I enjoyed reading The Enhanced by T.C. Edge. It is the first book of a series. The story takes place in the city of Haven which is a relatively safe place in a world that has been decimated by nuclear war. It is a class-based society. At the top are the Enhanced, people who have special abilities through genetic modifications of their ancestors and live in the inner city, and the Unenhanced, aka normal people who live in the outer city. … Read more
Zeroes by Scott Westerfeld, Margo Lanagan, and Deborah Biancotti
I’m a big Scott Westerfeld fan and was pretty psyched to start reading Zeroes. It is the story about 6 teenagers who each have a unique, special power. I wouldn’t call them “super powers,” though they were pretty cool: Flicker is blind but can see through other people’s eyes. Crash is able to “feel” electric and electronic fields and manipulate them. Mob can influence the mood of a crowd. Anonymous is someone who people immediately forget about. Scam has a … Read more
The Survivors Club: The True Story of a Very Young Prisoner of Auschwitz by Michael Bornstein
Michael Bornstein was 4 years old when he was rescued from Auschwitz by Russian soldiers on January 27, 1945, which made him one of the youngest Auschwitz survivors. A few days later the Russians photographed the children that had been rescued to document the event. Michael Bornstein didn’t see the picture until he stumbled across it many years later as an adult. Then he found the picture again, but this time on a website for Holocaust deniers. He decided it … Read more