MC

Inspirational 12-Step Stories

Revisado: 05-05-25

This is from the Greysheeters Anonymous group, a 12-Step program for people struggling with eating disorders, particularly food addiction, sugar addiction, and compulsive overeating. I'm so glad I found this and found a copy of the Greysheet program online. Interesting stories from people who got abstinence and found freedom from the food and weight.

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Perfect Book.. Horrible Narrator

Revisado: 02-04-25

i LOVE this book, but Cherry Jones nearly ruins it with her smoker's voice and off-key singing. Why they chose her for this series I will NEVER understand. They needed a soft, younger voice of someone who can actually sing, given the number of songs throughout the books. She could have read the lyrics, but no, she saws her way through them. Even Jingle Bells is painful. I hope they redo these with a better narrator now that a new TV series has been ordered.

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Butchered

Revisado: 01-05-24

The narrator is amazing and the translation makes things easier to understand. But this book is abridged so much, it no longer makes sense. "And so they talked." or "And his words were flattering" or "Then they discussed profitable things." These phrases take out huge portions of text, so the allegory is mostly lost. This was a free book, so it is what it is. I just wish they had changed the language of the original without butchering the book and its message.

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Showing instead of Telling

Revisado: 12-31-23

This is an important book of the Harlem Renaissance, but not a terribly well-written one. We take an achingly slow walk through Boise only to skip through California and rush through scenes in Harlem. The narrator gives almost no detail about any character, save their skin colors, and no one is likeable. Emma Lou is a victim of self-hatred and internalized racism, but she's also an idiot who makes every wrong, ridiculous decision, and it's difficult to care when the end finally comes. The narrator does an excellent job with the material, but you can skip this and check out Zora Neale Hurston or Langston Hughes or even Alain Locke's The New Negro if you want something better to represent the Harlem Renaissance.

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Not the Sweet Christmas Romance it Seemed

Revisado: 11-22-23

This is a did not finish (dnf) or me. I wanted to love this book, and it seemed like it had a cute premise. But it's a weird mishmash of wholesome Hallmark movie and tawdry erotica. "Spicy" is in some reviews. Be forewarned because that's putting it mildly.
My guess is that we started with a wholesome romance, but the author doesn't know how to construct a narrative, so she put a ton of sex scenes in to stretch it out. The book is thin. The tone is uneven, and the male narrator sounds like he's reading a mystery/thriller. He's got a great voice, but it isn't suited for this genre.
I'm glad this was free. I just wanted a fun, light, frothy Christmas book. This wasn't what I expected.

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Giggling Idiots

Revisado: 12-01-22

There are a lot of great true crime podcasts out there. This is not one of them. If you want two idiots giggling over rape and murder, this is the show for you. This isn't dark humor, which I appreciate. It's just saying things like, "And then he severed her head!" "Te he he he he."
And, it's impossible to follow, from a storytelling perspective. How this got picked up by Wondry is beyond me.

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A Rehash of the Podcast

Revisado: 06-04-22

The book is just a rehash of the podcast. There is nothing new here and because of the difference in format, it becomes quite dull. Both Jenna and Angela went through a divorce during the filming of the show. I wish they had at least talked about the role that played in their friendship. I'm sure they supported each other through it.

As it is, this book was a let down. I thought there would be more depth, but it's very surface-level. All we get are sing-song voices retelling us all about how they auditioned, how they met, who ate what at craft services etc. etc. Save your money and time and just enjoy the podcast.

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Horrible Hosts

Revisado: 05-09-22

The hosts have pre-scripted banter and it does not work. The stories have promise, but I couldn't get through them. The two hosts just sounded very fake , like 2 Valley Girls trying to have a podcast. Not up to the usual Wondery standards.

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Like A Radio Play

Revisado: 03-11-22

This was marked as a podcast. It's not. It's a full-cast audio drama mixed with true crime reporting. It's unfortunate because this is an interesting story, but the format is awful. If you like full-cast recordings, you may like this. I didn't and couldn't finish the "podcast." I love the others from Wondery. I have no idea why they deviated from their typical format here.

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An Interesting Story with Serious Issues

Revisado: 02-13-22

This is an interesting piece of reporting, though we find out later that the podcast is merely one of dozens of entries on the case. The interviews are compelling, particularly the last.

However, there are a few major issues:
1. They talk about these children as commodities and the sperm as a "defective product." There are so many problems here. IVF is a long, difficult process that (if successful) results in a chid. Talking about kids in this way is absolutely disgusting, and the medical ethics are never fully explored.

2. The entire podcast is edited to stigmatize those with mental illness. And ONE interview toward the end of the show cannot take away the four previous hours of material where schizophrenia is essentially equated with violent, criminal behavior.

Ultimately, like "Dr. Death," we learn that medical establishments need much more oversight and regulation. They should be accountable for not disclosing health history and failing to do background checks.

But the reporter also has an ethical journalistic responsibility that he fails to live up to.

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