William C. Cohen-Kiraly

One of my all-time favorite listens

Revisado: 11-07-23

I’m not sure I have the words to say how much I loved this audiobook.

It is one of the few books I have consumed that so completely captivated me, both emotionally and intellectually. It is a beautiful story of love, loss and growth—in turns funny and bitter-sweet.

Though inspired by a Japanese folk tale and entwined with magical realism, the story is not a fantasy. It is the story of a man, his daughter, and many other finely-crafted characters touched by the grace of a beautiful, gentle, but enigmatic woman.
What makes the book so powerful is that Ness writes these characters so we can identify with them and feel their strengths, desires, foibles and insecurities.

Parts of this book left me laughing out loud, other parts were tense or sad. But start to finish, it was engrossing and demanded to be finished.

And just to add the chef’s kiss, the narration by Jamie Glover was superb. His voice is as beautiful as Ness’ prose. It is musical, calming and perfect in tone throughout the book.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Lyrical, moving love story, narrated brilliantly

Revisado: 10-10-23 El oyente recibió este título gratis

Tunnel of Mirrors is a beautiful, dense, lyrical, moving book. Ferne Arfin’s command of language and imagery is as evocative as poetry.

Tony Reynolds matches her prose with narration that envelops you into the story. This is all the more impressive since he has to bring to life not only his own native Irish dialect but also the cadence and vocabulary of Orthodox Jews in early 20th century New York.

This book is not for everyone. If you want light, breezy reading or something formulaic, you want to pass it over.
But if you are willing to completely immerse yourself into two parallel lives, one in Ireland, the other in New York’s Lower East Side then you should dive into Tunnel of Mirrors.

It is a meticulously crafted story, peppered with ghosts and magic, but it is not a fantasy story. It is a love story in which the lovers don’t meet until well into the second half of the book. But when they do meet, you know them both so well that you fall in love with both of them yourself. It is not erotica but has a love scene you’ll never forget.

Because it is so dense and lyrical, it took me longer to listen to than most books. I had to be in both a place and mindset that I could pay complete attention while listening, but the book was worth every bit of effort.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Weill treated Flat-Earthers as real people

Revisado: 06-04-23

I grabbed this book thinking it would be a light listen, something fun listening to stories about nutjobs.

Weill surprised me. She treated the subjects empathetically, as real people, not clowns. And in the process, she explores why people fervently believe in bizarre, illogical conspiracy theories, even at the cost of family and friends and respectability.

Weill argues that these flat earth true believers, like others in QAnon, Heaven's Gate, anti-vaxxer groups and other cults, often follow similar paths. They are not necessarily stupid, crazy, mean or delusional, but they often follow similar paths. Do listen if you want to be challenged, whatever your own beliefs,. Pass on it if you only want arguments for or against flat-eartherism. This is a book about people and psychology, not theories, and is so much better for that.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

Fascinating, informative, dry-ish study of cults

Revisado: 06-04-23

This book is not sensationalist, funny, demeaning, histrionic, terribly political or even philosophical. It is "drier" than I guess I expected but after finishing it, that is probably a good thing. But it is a good, workmanlike history of cults through history, particularly modern ones like Heaven's Gate, the Branch Davidians, Scientology, Amway, Falun Gong and many, many more.

Ross details in psychological terms what leads people into cults, why they stay despite, perhaps because of, abuse and isolation, and why some of them get out either with help or by themselves. He spends a lot of time talking about his own experience being brought in by spouses, parents and other family and friends to break the hold cults have on their adherents. Most of the time, he says, he succeeds, but not always.

Besides discussing the cults themselves, he provides some very interesting history on how police, governments, the press, and mainstream religions react to and (usuallyt) try to battle cults.

I grabbed this book from Audible to get away from the long list of political books I've been reading and failed in that goal. Though this book was written before Trump's campaign and election, I couldn't help hearing just how much Trump's rhetoric resembled that of cult leaders in convincing them that he, and only he, could "fix" things and every time someone challenges him, it is a "witchhunt" or an attack.

It is also interesting that Ross discussed not only religious cults but many other types of organizations that try to control their adherents, including multilevel-marketing scams, yoga Gurus, and even family cults.

He does try to make a distinction between mainstream religion and dangerous cult religions, but sometimes it feels like he glosses over inconvenient facts there.

The reader in my Audible version, Daniel Day Adams, was pretty much as staid and workmanlike in reading as Ross was in writing the book. So don't expect an emotional experience listening to this book, but he is clear and concise in reading and, I guess, makes the book everything Ross intended. At 16h 20m, it is a long book and I admit I found myself wandering occasionally and having to go back and re-listen to parts, but overall, I feel I learned a lot by listening.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Short, fun, quirky stories just for pure enjoyment

Revisado: 11-28-22

I really enjoyed listening to this book. Maybe it's not the absolute deepest writing or flawless, moving narration, but its casualness adds to the charm and makes it all that much more fun to listen to.

It is a series of short, sometimes very short, fun, quirky stories, none of which end up where you expect them to. Don't buy if you are looking for profound writing and immersive narration. Do buy if you want a series of quick hits of interesting and sometimes wonderfully odd ideas read pleasantly and charmingly.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

One of best listens in a long time

Revisado: 04-12-22

Unflinching look at world today with still a positive personal message. Helps you look at your regrets and put them in perspective. Both book and narrator were superb.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

This was pure fun!

Revisado: 01-27-19

Story was good with twists I didn’t see coming, great characters and a gorgeously perfect narrator. Well worth the credit.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Great Story, Narrator Fantastic

Revisado: 06-14-18

This was a really good story with interesting twists that I didn't see coming and by the end, I was riveted. But what I think made this book so incredibly great was the narration by Imogene Church. Not only does she have a beautiful voice but her acting ability really brings the characters and the story to life.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 17 personas

One of the Best Most Horrible Books I Have Read

Revisado: 11-27-16

I don't love post-apocalypse books and not a big fan of the "zombie" genre. This book blows all the genre concerns away. It is beautifully written, with what could have been standard sci-fi characters given real lives. The story is unrelenting in its intellectual twists and turns and having to watch Melanie, the main character come to terms with what she really is, will haunt me for a long time.
The best audio books have narrators that bring the book and characters to life and I'm not sure I can separate this book from Williams' incredible performance. I don't know if it would or would not have been such a great book without her, all I can say is her reading, her intonation, her gentle, beautiful and insistent voice had to have helped shape this into one of the best, most intriguing books I have listened to in a long time.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Human and full of heart

Revisado: 07-07-15

I forgot just how good it is to listen to a great audio book, a book that draws you so completely into it's own world for a while that when it's done, you have to turn off the audio for a while and just sit back and absorb it.

It's a small book about normal people who might live next door to you. There are no world changing events, no great ideas, no wars, no great passionate drama.

But it is a real gem of a book because the characters seem so completely human, warts and all. You come to love Fikry (and his family) despite his flaws and get drawn into his life which is both extraordinary and ordinary at the same time. Zevin maintains a sense of humor and a sense of the absurdity of human life while telling a moving, bittersweet story.

And if you are a book lover, the setting in a little, slowly failing, independent bookstore with lots of literary references is a great added bonus.

Scott Brick does a superb job bringing this book to life. Definitely one of my most favorite audio books in a long time.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 1 persona