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Warm & Melancholy

Revisado: 07-28-19

A family saga that moves through history seamlessly. A safe and predictable read for those that would like an easy escape to a long gone England. Wonderful on point narration by Hayley Atwell (Agent Carter, Captain America's best girl)...her clipped accent and lovely, but by no means girly, voice is perfect. While not an all time favorite for me, I know many people that dearly love this novel...and I did enjoy the story.

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He does short horror better...

Revisado: 07-09-19

I had recently read a book of short stories in the horror genre of Masterton that were really good, so I figured I'd give this a try. It's middling at best... The characters combined don't have the smarts it would take to flip a light switch. When the most likely to be the villain character threatens you and your child repeatedly, why would you then go right back home alone? It's just frustratingly foolish. Also....weak research...terms like 'driveway' and others were not in common usage at the time or place in this book...I found that really jarring and irritating. It's just not good. And don't even get me started on the spoiler title...

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No gratification here....

Revisado: 10-05-18

8 hours of self pity followed by 45 minutes of complete foolishness. Dull....nothing happens until the end and it comes basically out of nowhere and at the point I was so uninterested in the characters and worn down by the monotony of the complaining that I couldn't muster the energy to care...I just wanted it to end!

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What dwarf?

Revisado: 09-01-18

This may be my favorite of the books. It's told very differently and it's great fun!

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Want to start all over again..

Revisado: 05-03-18

magical, delightful, transporting... perfect naration, wonderful story... planning a trip to Russia next year...first stop, Metropole Hotel!

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Perfect listen in perfect location.

Revisado: 04-26-18

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I just got home from a solo trip to Greece and this was the audiobook I took on with me - it was perfect! I listened in the hotel, which was great because there were few English tv channels, I listened during long road trips between Athens, Olympia & Delphi...I listened while walking around the Acropolis...it was so perfect! Good story, good narrator...pleasant and relaxing...both trip and book! I really enjoyed the novel and being on location was even better!

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delightful!

Revisado: 01-12-18

Would you listen to L'Appart again? Why?

just know....you are going to wind up buying the book! this was such a fun listen that I wanted to just make every recipe in the book...so...I'm buying the book to have. on my way home from work today I picked up the ingredients for three of the recipies and two pot de creme...because they were there and I was there...and they are French! david also cured me of any fantasy I might have had about wanting to live in Paris...I'll just continue to visit. my only issue with the book is the narration. it's perfectly fine...but it would have been so much better if david had done his own narration. I think a lot of the humor is lost in the straight forward telling of graham halstead, pun intended. david lebovitz, like david sedaris, has a voice that is full of sly wit...and that is missing. well....off to make chocolate dipped oatmeal cookies!

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Will she or won't she marry?

Revisado: 12-07-16

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What a disappointment! Listening to this book would leave one to believe that Elizabeth I was one of the most one dimensional and uninteresting monarchs in history. Literally - hours could have been edited out of this work that focus solely on the question of will she or won't she marry! It's so dry in the telling...Sahara dry! It was a real slog to get through. Such an interesting time in history reduced to the banal. Weir is so focused on facts there is no story - the best stories are usually true! Why didn't she let fly with the colorful people, pirates, wars, economy, etc? I'm by no means suggesting she color in the details, she didn't need to, good telling would have done it easily for her. This Elizabeth I is a card board cut out...not brought to life at all. It was like sitting through a class taught by the the kind of history professor that causes your eyes to water with the struggle of keeping them open. Where there is so much focus on dates on facts the life's breath of the people are sucked out and wasted in pedantic verbiage. A little insight into the nature and motivations of these people and time would have gone a long way....

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Should be titled "A Partial History of The..."

Revisado: 07-09-16

Is there anything you would change about this book?

There are a few things I thought other readers should get a heads up about. This is actually the 2nd book in a non-fiction history of the Tudors, which presents some issues you should understand if picking this. It starts right at the end of the 1st book, "The Six Wives of Henry VIII" which had a brief mention of Henry's bastard son, so he's not mentioned at all here, which I found odd....I wanted to know more about him and any other illegitimate children Henry may have had even if only rumored, but they are not addressed here.

And again....while the title says, "The Children of Henry VIII", it really only covers Edward - which is done well, Jane Grey - very interesting, though not a child of Henry, and Mary. Because Mary's early life was covered in book 1 - it's brief here and while you see Elizabeth in the backgrounds of her siblings stories, she is not focused on from her own perspective, but more how she affects the others. I have just begun, " The Life of Elizabeth I" which seems to be picking up at the death of Mary. I hope we go back a bit more into her earlier life, but after an hour, it doesn't seem so.

If you are looking for a fuller understanding of Henry's brood - you really need the first book. The first book is where you hear the full brunt of Henry's abusive behavior towards his children and get an understanding of why they were such strong personalities and tragically flawed in many ways. He really was a cruel bastard of a father. That is very important and missed in the second book, so I don't think you can really understand them if you start here. And the sad life of the Nine-Day Queen was so interesting - but again, not in this book.

I would have enjoyed a little more historical context about the lives, customs, and every day practices of the people of this time...but it's not a very imaginative work. The best parts of these types of books for me are the tidbits about the times, the food, the clothing, travel, personal habits, toiletries, bathing, wars, costs, health care, etc - but there really isn't any of that unless absolutely germane to a point. Just the facts ma'am.....

To really understand the people in this book - you must read the 'The Six Wives of Henry VIII' first, or their behavior won't make emotional or psychological sense, which could be seen as an epic fail considering the title...

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While not for everyone....

Revisado: 12-21-14

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Tanith Lee is to fantasy what Siouxsie Sioux is to punk. A darker beauty.

My first experience of Tanith Lee was finding a copy of Red As Blood back in the early 80's at Forbidden Planet in NYC. I remember sitting on the floor and scouring the shelves for a special book...money was tight and I wanted to pick just the right book and that was it! It began a life long love of this amazing writer...

Tanith's work is dark and sensual. It has a grace and beauty that is purely imaginative. Her writing is like poetry...strong on imagery and ideas. She creates moods and dreams.

I was happy to revisit this world and I thought Susan Duerden's narration was good for this particular series, but I understand why others didn't quite get it - I think they are more familiar and comfortable with modern narration, but this it more like classical myth story telling, so I do believe strongly she is what this piece requires for the proper tone. This series has the feel of old myths and legends and the point of view from the darker side has a fascinating appeal.

Tanith Lee's books are hard to find in the USA, so I hope this helps bring her to a wider audience...she writes so beautifully.

Really looking forward to the rest of the series and anything else by her that Audible adds in the future.

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