KAWAM

Not My Caffè

Revisado: 04-26-22

Despite Trieste’s allure, this couldn’t keep me past the first couple of chapters. The narrator’s accent and intonation and ho-hum plot predictability just didn’t have the zing one expects from Trieste’s fabled coffee houses.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

BUY THE HARDCOPY - not the Audio

Revisado: 05-05-19

The value of this book is in the "How To," not the "Why."

They WHY is great for audio, although if you're already keto-savvy, you won't learn too much that's new. But WHY is the type of information one can absorb while driving or fixing supper. You can also get it on recent podcasts in which Dr. Mercola discusses about the book.
Audio is dismal for the HOW. The Good Doctor (and I mean that) (a) refers you to another book of recipes for exactly WHAT to eat, then (b) goes into L-O-N-G lists of various supplements to take and tests to monitor progress. SERIOUSLY? On Audio, without a companion PDF? It's bloody time consuming to start/stop the book to get everything written down, so I'm buying the hard copy.
Dr. Mercola is not alone here. For the same reason, I also bought the hard copy of Dr. Dale Bredesen's excellent Alzheimer's book after first trying audio. Some authors thoughtfully include a PDF of this type of information for their Audible listeners, but Dr. Mercola is not particularly generous. I mean, really, not even ONE "sample meal" for his keto fast? He does provide the number of grams of protein, carbs, and fat, so I suppose a sample isn't critical.
All in all, I recommend the book, but not the format.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 67 personas

Rushdie Deserved A Better Narrator

Revisado: 11-24-17

Vikas Adam may be on Audible's hall of fame list, but his narration did not work for me here. Something in his voice made me dislike the character of the first-person storyteller. I pictured the young man as shallow, self-absorbed, and uninteresting. I don't think that's how Rushdie intended him to come across. I could be wrong, and I recognize I'm over-picky about narrators.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

Classic King, but Really Annoying Audio

Revisado: 11-24-17

I'm still in the middle of this, hanging around for King's as-ever-superb storytelling. The author's narration isn't bad--his voice is a little harsh to my ears (no Guidall, Vance, or Bramhall here), but it works for the plot. But oh my LORD--the music. Not a good idea. Intrusive, inappropriate, and distracting. And, as another reviewer said, "cheesy." I often listen to a book when I wake in the middle of the night--even other Stephen King books. This one, I don't. I feel as if I'm just sticking it out to the end.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Disappointing

Revisado: 10-31-17

SPOILER ALERT. I wish I were a more literary consumer--I might then be better able to convey my dissatisfaction with this novel. I'm returning it. Nine hours in and the story is nothing more than this: young girl loves her father, and the hired hand, who dies, but not her pleasant, personable, and appropriate betrothed. So goes off to a convent and eventually falls passionately for a gorgeous rogue and on and on and on. And various bad men try to rape her. I'd been so encouraged when, early in the book, she was learning herbal remedies and such from a witch. She sure didn't go on to do anything interesting with THAT. So far, this is merely an interminable story of a pretty girl and all the men who try to get into her underwear, one way or another. Maybe if written by George Eliot or Thomas Hardy . . .

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 3 personas

Too Silly To Stick With

Revisado: 08-21-17

I really liked Caleb Carr's Legend of Broken, so this is a real disappointment. There's really no Sherlock Holmes or Dr. Watson here--just some smug guys using the already-established back-story the names provide. The plot? Really, really silly. I'm about an hour from finishing and won't bother. Prebble, as ever, narrates beautifully.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

Irritating Narrator / Uninteresting Characters

Revisado: 11-26-16

It's the 1930s in New York. Young, pretty girls with ambition and no money meet rich guys. Bad things happen to careless, superficial people, thinly drawn. Nobody's happy. Eventually, everybody moves on. The end. Might have been saved by decent narration, but we'll never know.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

"The Kids?" "Don't go there!"

Revisado: 10-25-16

Apparently, it's just me. I had to stop listening to this deep, thought-provoking novel because the 2016 barely-middle-school English jars me from the textured pleasure of Hugo's themes and into a fierce desire to pull out an editor's red pen. Hearing a character "and his kids" went somewhere or did something? Seriously? The phrase "don't go there" inserted into a passage on considering uncomfortable thoughts? Too many examples.

I read a lot of classic novels and find particular enjoyment in the language used by our more literary and cosmopolitan forebears. This translation probably does make the story more accessible but at the high cost of historical dissonance.

Sadly, I'm turning this one back in (and losing the Most Excellent Mr. Guidall--no complaints there) for a more historically appropriate translation.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 2 personas

NOT Girl With A Pearl Earring

Revisado: 04-26-16

If I hadn't been expecting something at least vaguely literary, I might have listened to more than the first 15 minutes before deciding to return this title. Feels like straight genre fiction, and the narrator (another surprise) heightens that perception. Not my cuppa.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 2 personas

Not Up To Hype

Revisado: 04-02-16

Couldn't stand the female narrator, but maybe I just don't like "breathy teenage girl." The storyline went from "meh" to "you've GOT to be kidding." I'd had this on my wishlist because someone compared it to the incandescent "Night Circus." I wonder in what dimension that comparison might be appropriate. Didn't bother to finish it.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña