OYENTE

prussianette

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  • 14
  • votos útiles
  • 95
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Short, but Hysterical

Total
5 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
5 out of 5 stars
Historia
5 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 01-07-25

Need a quick uplifting, funny story to improve your mood? This is it. And, please, you have to listen until the end, as that is the most amusing part.

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Penelope Keith Narration makes all the difference

Total
5 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
5 out of 5 stars
Historia
5 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 12-16-24

I haven't read an Agatha Raisin Mystery since 2022. I just kind of lost interest after reading "The Dead Ringer". Between an Audible monthly promotional price, the fact some of the Agatha Raisin books were in the Plus Catalog and the recent big sale where many books were a fraction of their price I decided to take a chance on this book especially seeing that Penelope Keith had returned as a narrator. And I am glad I did.

Yes, Agatha Raisin is her usual often obnoxious self, but I would say she is at least "reasonably" obnoxious, meaning you and I probably know someone in real life that is like this. She does have moments of self reflection and Tony keeps her in line by standing up to her when she becomes a bit overbearing. So, some of the cringe factor and wondering if she would ever "grow" as a character seems to be less of an issue in this book. The story line is also quite good. So, my 5 out of 5 rating should be taken in context of rating it with other Agatha Raisin books AND the fact that Penelope Keith is the narrator. (I am just glued to listening to these books when she is narrating, not so much with other narrators.)

One last item I would like to address--some have indicated they felt some of the scenes were "over sexualized". I really did not sense this. The only thing that I can think of where someone might think this were when a bad guy "touched" her breast and later on, someone to whom she was attracted "touched" her on the breast. That is it --simply "touched" nothing more graphic or sinister (although clearly, the bad guy had worse intentions than "the good guy"). My feeling is, hey, she woke up numerous times with Charles in bed in previous books. Clearly, there must have been some touching here, But, that's just me.

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A "Young Adult" Book with a Big "Ick" Factor

Total
2 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
2 out of 5 stars
Historia
2 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 08-27-24

(Some potential spoiler alerts) This book was published in 2014, so before the Me Too movement had gained momentum--and it shows. This book is clearly written for a younger female crowd as more experienced readers would immediately spot the poorly developed and cliche characters and the absolutely unbelievable scenario of someone just out of school with only a few months of some complicated training suddenly saving the day by herself.

The "Ick" factor comes in when Ceony graduates from school and is sent to live in the house of her assigned mentor who is close to being old enough to be her father, and who she finds out was the one who financed her education. Now, even that might have been tempered if there had been someone else who also lived in the house who could appropriately monitor the situation, but nope! Only paper creatures made by said mentor are roaming the premises. And this was supposed to be in a time period where chaperones for young women were usually required in most situations. There is a reason that, even today, teachers/mentors are not supposed to have such a relationship.

Also, the whole thing about making the physical heart literally the holder of love memories, well that was comical for me (please note, I don't think the author meant this to be funny). And I guess I wasn't the only one who had this reaction as it has been mentioned in some other reviews as well.

All I can think of after reading this book is how many pubescent and slightly older youth who read this book are going to validate and fuel that super huge crush on some unsuspecting teacher or mentor. So, parents, best to have a discussion about that if you know your child wants to, or has, read this book.

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Need to Remember It Is Fiction Based on History

Total
5 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
4 out of 5 stars
Historia
5 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 02-17-24

I was impressed with how well the author gave a picture as to how life was back in the 1800s for wealthy British women. Clearly, not all glamour as some assume. Since it is fiction, though, I was wondering how close to Miss Cust's life the story was. I was glad that part was somewhat explained at the end, Make sure you listen to that, so you can see where the author had to fill in with "plausible" explanations to provide a coherent story.

With regards to the narrator, Ms. Rayner did an excellent job with multiple voices that you could easily identify who was speaking when. My biggest complaint (and sorry had to knock one star off) pertains to the parts of narration (meaning the narration in the story) and when Miss Cust was thinking (as opposed to speaking). Ms. Rayner seemed to use this almost monotone, sing song voice where her voice would gently go up and then down. I almost felt like I was in church praying. Also, I don't know about you, but I think as emotionally as when I speak, and I can't imagine that Ms. Cust would not do the same. and not in some monotone voice to herself. Those two things irritated me to no end, and affected how long I could listen to the book in one sitting, so it took me much longer to get through this book than other books of the same length.

One amusing note--every time I asked Alexa to read my book she responded that she was reading "The Invincible Miss Customer"!!

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Story Okay, Acting Better

Total
4 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
4 out of 5 stars
Historia
4 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 11-11-23

I did enjoy this book, but mostly for the various nostalgic 1960s references having lived through that period as a child/pre-teen. I somewhat doubt that unless you lived through that period, or are very familiar with that period for other reasons, that all those references could truly be recognized and appreciated. For me, the story was a bit shallow, but I still enjoyed the romp through an alternate timeline. The only other downside is that. with so many characters, you really have to pay attention as your only way of identifying them is by how they sound and this is really more like a play than a novel. More than once I had to replay parts to identify the voices correctly.

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These books were really quite childish.

Total
1 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
4 out of 5 stars
Historia
1 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 10-27-23

As this month is October, I thought it would fun to listen to primarily Halloween season related books. Since I also do like a "cozy mystery" now and then I decided to add a few to my reads this month. I had one credit left on my year's subscription, and so decided to try this series out. What a disappointment,

As a couple of other readers point out, the first problem is the plot of every book moves sooo slow. I thought I could speed up the reading of the books, but I listen through Echo devices and they apparently burp when trying to speed up 22 hours of reading, so I had to suffer through at regular speed. But, this was the least of the problems with the books for me.

This series almost seems like it was written for teenage girls, but someone decided to throw a few sexual references/euphemisms in there to convince adult women they were reading a grown-up book. Evelyn Eldritch is in her twenties and acts like, yes, a love-struck teenager. When she is confused, upset, or angry she uses the words "butter beans". You hear "butter beans" over and over and over again. As is as stereotypical of a lot of cozy mysteries, she has a huge crush on the detective and she will lie, cheat, and steal as she tries to impress him with her investigative skills, but needs to be careful that if any of that activity is done through witchcraft as she has to cover that up. But, for me, the really disturbing thing for me is that she almost tries to get the detective angry because, well, she appears to get really turned on by his anger. For me, this was just wrong on so many levels.

There is no involved plot in any of these books. You can figure out whodunnit quickly in each story. If you want more involved plots and well developed characters with a Halloween theme (i.e. witches, demons, werewolves, etc.) and ones not so childish, I would recommend either the Nun of Your Business mystery series, or if you really want something "more mature", How to Flirt with a Naked Werewolf (this was a little too much for me in the opposite direction, but at least it kept my attention until the end).

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Very Through Balanced Analysis of a Turbulent Time

Total
5 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
3 out of 5 stars
Historia
5 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 07-16-23

Having lived in this period of time (in the US), but being very young when The Troubles started and only catching snippets of TV news or seeing a front page photo when something really horrific happened, it made no sense to me as a child/teenager. I couldn't grasp why people who lived in the same country were fighting each other due mainly to religious issues, especially since both religions were Christian. Time moves on and I have to admit, I didn't really follow the Ireland saga during the 80s and 90s as I was in the prime of my life and, well, had other things on my mind. Fast forward to the 21st century and suddenly I am working (remotely) with people from Northern Ireland. I just assumed that somewhere along the line their issues had been resolved and I missed the news. Didn't ask them about it, as I figured they wouldn't feel comfortable speaking about it.

When I saw this lecture series by The Great Courses, I immediately put it in my queue as I wanted to find out what happened, and since I've had very good experiences with The Great Courses, I trusted them to give me a balanced and thorough explanation. And, they did. As life normally goes, the situation was far more complex than I thought and this series addressed all angles of the situation, nationally and internationally. It is a bit difficult to get into as initially there is a bit of date hopping back and forward which, if reading a book is a little easier to follow as you see the numerical dates and your eyes can flick up and down the page if you lost your orientation. Hearing and having to keep all those dates in your head is a bit more difficult and numerous times I had to ask Alexa to reread certain passages. Also, a lot of players so a lot of names to keep straight. But, it was worth sticking with.

I found my answers and can now feel more comfortable about going on my upcoming trip to Ireland. If you are at all curious about this time in Irish history, please listen to this. The thing I was most shocked about was this really did not completely resolve itself until this century. There are even some references to the 2010s and even 2020. My point is that there are still people out there bearing wounds (physical and/or emotional), Again, good to know before traveling there.

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Only Wish It Was Not Abridged

Total
5 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
5 out of 5 stars
Historia
5 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 07-13-23

I thoroughly enjoyed Mr. Takei's story (even learned how to properly pronounce his name). I may at some point buy the written book for the full story. I have read the written books "I am Spock" by Leonard Nimoy, "Beyond Uhura" by Nichelle Nichols, and now have listened to this autobiography by George Takei. What I found interesting across the books is that Nimoy, Nichols, and Takei all have similar recollections (not so positive) about how William Shatner treated his fellow co-workers and how he always had to be number one in everything, even to the point of stealing lines or scenes from them.

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How Can Any Well Read Adult NOT Know This Stuff?

Total
1 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
3 out of 5 stars
Historia
1 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 04-14-23

This was a complete waste of money for me. If you find the content of this book "mind opening" and "life altering" then shame on you for NOT knowing it. I had been trained to deal with people this way for decades. I hate to think of how many people were hired by any of the reviewers giving this book a high rating. Not because the content was bad, but because any half way decent company should have already been training its people to interview and interact with people like this already. But, yes, I know how some of the "other" companies hire people -- "I met so and so on the golf course, and he is a really good guy." "Yes", but you ask, "What was the most recent technology project he has implemented and how did you question him on the issues and struggles with implementing such a project?" Crickets. And...two months later after new employee starts working everyone wants to know who the fool was who wanted him hired.

So, if you really feel you are at square one with communicating with people and can't figure out why people don't live up to your expectations, then maybe you should read the book because it might help you. If you have a solid base of friends, great relationships with co-workers new and old, and a wonderful family that you love being around, this book probably won't help because you probably are doing most if it already.

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Yes, this is a documentary

Total
5 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
5 out of 5 stars
Historia
5 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 03-17-23

I always like to read the one and two star reviews on an Audible book, and when I did so on this selection, it appears that many thought this was a comedy show and so rated it low. If they had simply read the description, they would have known that that the book was about the journey from combat to comedy, not just the destination (i.e. the "comedy").

Others in the one and two star category thought the language was unacceptable. Seriously? So, you think there is no swearing in the military?? These people are relating their experiences and telling how they experienced things and what their response is/was.

I thought this was well done, and the short length of it probably increased the number of those who listened as it did not require a long time commitment. My thoughts and support goes out to all veterans struggling with the demons that often come with fighting wars.

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