StoryAddict

Weiner delivers...on the page and in the ears!

Revisado: 10-11-17

I had previously read this book--and loved it--but I decided to give it a try on audio. I'm incredibly picky about narrators and I've returned a number of books by Weiner, which I had loved when I read them, because the narrators didn't work for me. Because of that, I was nervous about her narrating her own book. The book I had listened to before this was another memoir narrated by the author and it was not the best experience.

Weiner, however, blew me away. I felt as though she was right there telling me thing, not just reading something. She has a pleasant voice and great comic timing--and she's not afraid to let her feelings show through.

I was sad to have this audiobook end. If I had my druthers, Weiner would narrate all her books!

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A good story, but I wish I had read it

Revisado: 08-30-17

Would you listen to Who Thought This Was a Good Idea? again? Why?

Let's just say I don't regret listening to it, but I wish I had read it. The story was fascinating, but I found the non-chronological format a bit hard to follow in audio (and I don't think that would be an issue for me in print).

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

I will say that I wish someone other than Mastromonaco had narrated. The book itself is funny. Mastromonaco is not a bad narrator, but I don't feel "delivered" on the more humorous bits.

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A fun listen for fans of Emma Thompson

Revisado: 08-24-17

Would you listen to Nanny McPhee and The Big Bang again? Why?

Maybe. It's a strange book in that there is the story and, interspersed with it, is Emma Thompson's diaries from the filming. I think that switch back and forth can be hard for some, but my kids actually liked it. For myself, I will say that I preferred the diaries to the actual story.

If you’ve listened to books by Emma Thompson before, how does this one compare?

Again, it is hard to compare because of the format. However, I loved that there is just so much honesty from Emma Thompson in this.

What does Emma Thompson bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Honestly, I don't think anyone could read this story (or diary) like Thompson.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Ummm.....there is a film of this book.

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A clear, informative book

Revisado: 08-21-17

What does Mayim Bialik bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

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Any additional comments?

I got this one to "preview" in case I wanted to give the book to my daughter in a few years. I found it to be well thought out and informative and Bialik does a great job of narrating it. However, I do think that I would give the print book to my daughter, only so that it can be used more easily as a reference.

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A Tale of Two Narrators

Revisado: 08-12-17

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Before I start getting into my thoughts, I need to make 2 things clear. First, I am incredibly critical when it comes to the narrators of audio novels. I return over half the novels I get from Audible because I don't like the narrators enough to actually listen to them.

Secondly, I listened to this book because of the narrators. I actually had no interest in this book at all, but I enjoyed both David Giuntoli and Claire Coffee in "Grimm", which I watched--until it became utterly unwatchable. Even though I gave up on that show, I always said I'd follow the cast and this was apparently my first stop.

So, because of that, I was incredibly excited to give this one a listen. I actually purchased some extra audible credits so that I wouldn't have to wait until the end of the month to download it. My hopes were high as I push play and the story began....

...and then I worried that I had made a horrible mistake.

I really don't want to write what I'm about to write, but what is the purpose of a review if not to share how you felt about something? Claire Coffee is the first narrator and the first thing that I noticed is that her voice is much higher and reedier than I realized. I don't know if she modulates in her acting roles or if I just never noticed it when I was actually watching her, but her voice is not the type that I prefer to listen to. Still, I wanted very much to like this so I told myself that I could get over the timbre issues and continued. Then I noticed that she seemed to never have enough breath to finish her sentences. I think we've all had those times when we are just trying to squeeze out the last bit of breath in our lungs to get out that last thought, but she seemed to be doing this for nearly every sentence. That is indicative of breath control, and something I find horribly irritating (in part because it induces flash backs of my college voice instructor yelling, "SUPPORT!" and jabbing her fingers into my side). Honestly, I was shocked that Coffee was having this issue, as it is something that actors master early in their training. Things were not going well.

Still, I continued to listen and I was, frankly, floored by her one-note performance. There was barely any animation to her voice and her character, June, came across as lifeless. In one of the early action scenes, Coffee did liven things up a bit, but in a way that really didn't make any sense. She was more animated in the description passages, but the actual dialogue was almost lifeless. I wasn't even sure how I was supposed to feel during this section. Then, there were the accents. Or what should have been accents. I'm not exactly what she was trying to do, but the result was not any accent that I recognized, which was that thing that just made every.single.thing.worse. for me. Honestly, if a narrator can't do an accent, they just should even try.

In short, I felt that Coffee was just reading a book..and let's just keep that sentiment in mind for a moment.

Coffee and Giuntoli alternate chapters, with Coffee reading the present day sections told from June's point of view and Giuntoli reading the sections set in the past told from Peter's point of view. Once I got about 30 seconds into his first chapter, I was all, "What strange magic is this?" Look, I've always known Giuntoli was a capable actor (probably more than capable, but "Grimm" really didn't give the actors much to work with), but I never would have pegged him as someone up to the task of giving the performance I found in this audiobook. It wasn't that he was animated (although he was), but that he drew me into the story. His pacing was spot on, he imbued his passages with great humanity (keep in mind, he was reading the part of what is essentially a robot. A robot with a soul, but still.), he brought to life not only Peter, but any character he read, he hit all the accents nearly spot on, and I could not stop listening.

When it came down to it, he wasn't reading a book, as Coffee was, but telling me a story..and I didn't want it to end. Within his first chapter, I put him on that list of narrators who I would listen to for any book. That list, by the way, now has a whopping two names on it (and that other name happens to have 2 Oscars, 2 BAFTAs, 2 Golden Globes, and an Emmy--among many other awards). Of course, just my luck that this is the only book he's narrated...so far (yes I checked...and keep checking...)

I wish that Audible gave me the opportunity to rate the narrators separately, so that I could Giuntoli the 5 stars he deserves and Coffee probably a star more than she deserves, but that's not a possibility. Thus, I settled on 3 stars for the performance, a fair average of the two.

I had a problem. I desperately wanted to finish this book because of Giuntoli's narration, but I couldn't bear to suffer through any more of Coffee's narration. There was only one way to remedy this--I ended up downloading the Kindle version of the book and synced the two. I would read June's chapters and listen to Peter's chapter and that worked surprisingly well. As an aside, though, I should point out that when you do this, you can listen to the book through either the Audible app or the Kindle app. I tried both and found the Kindle app to be buggy for listening. If you try this, just stick to the Audible app. As long as you have WiFi, or have your apps set to use cellular data, the two will still sync.

The experience of this book, for me, was mostly about the narration, but I do want to address the story itself. I was lukewarm on it, but I am chalking that up to preference instead of quality. Steampunk is an acquired taste and is not for everyone. I know the basics of Steampunk and have read one other book in the genre, a middle grade novel, but this one was just a bit too much for me. From other reviews, it looks like those who enjoy steampunk are loving this book. But, if you aren't too familiar with the genre, I wouldn't call this a gateway novel and you might want to start with another title.

When it comes to recommending this book, if you like Steampunk, you'll probably love this. If you want a truly exceptional listening experience, get the audio book and listen to David Giuntoli's chapters. If you aren't really in to either of those, I'd skip this one.

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A truly special book

Revisado: 08-09-17

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The Humorous Memoir genre is my favorite when it comes to audio books and I have almost universal good luck with them. So, I went into No Land's Man expecting to really enjoy it. After all, it promised to be funny and I've always enjoyed Aasif Mandvi on The Daily Show (for the record, Mandvi was my vote to replace Jon Stewart).

What I didn't expect is how profound this book could be. Yes, there are some purely fun moments and it dips now and then into potty humor (which I am not against!), but there are also essays on identity and belonging and family that are far more deeply written than anything I have ever read in other (more highly-hyped) books in this vein.

This book is not just a collection of funny stories--it is Mandvi's quest to define himself. He doesn't fit into any of the niches we have - he was born in India, but isn't "Indian" as we know it; he was raised in England, but doesn't look English; he was raised Muslim, but doesn't act like any Muslim most Americans would recognize. He battles the expectations put on him by his family and by society and, in the midst of this, blazes his own trail.

This memoir differs from other such memoirs (for example, Yes, Please and Bossypants) because very little of it deals with his life once he "makes it." He doesn't talk about The Daily Show until the last chapter of the book. There are a few chapters talking about his days before making it big, but most of the book is about his experiences growing up as an East Asian immigrant, first in the north of England and then in Tampa, Florida.

I will say this is probably the best written book in this genre that I've read. His essay dealing with profanity is one of the best I've read on the subject (strangely, I have read more than a few essays on profanity). There is also an essay in the middle of the book--because I listened to this book, I can't go back and find the title--that is just beautiful. It talks about his parents coming to Bradford and settling--both with each other and in this new land. If I had any complaints about this book, it would only be that that this particular essay would have been more effective as a closing essay than buried in the middle of the book.

I really can't recommend this book highly enough. I could barely stop listening to it (which meant that I was hitting the gym whenever possible--that alone is pretty impressing) and it made me both laugh and think.

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AKA "How to give your child an eating disorder"

Revisado: 08-09-17

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I feel I should start this review with a bit about myself. I was an overweight child and I was on a diet for my entire childhood--the kind of diet where everything was policed and I was never allowed to forget the fact that I was not like other children, something I know was very damaging. I still struggle as an adult and am working to change my focus from a "diet" to a healthy lifestyle. I am also the mother of two children and, recently, the weight of one of my children became the concern of our doctor. In 6 months, we corrected the problem with minimal stress for our child and are currently maintaining our success.

I say this because I know very well what this book is about, both from the point of the child and the parent. I do have strong opinions of what I heard on this book, and thanks to my own experiences, believe that my opinions are fair and well-grounded. I also need to admit that I am a bit biased.

So, onto the book. I wasn't sure what to expect of this. There were items in the synopsis that intrigued me--mostly the mentions that Weiss had to struggle against society to maintain her daughter's eating plan. I get that--I don't like my children to eat a lot of sugar or junk food and I do have to fight that battle in a world where kids are given treats at every turn.

And, frankly, I was just interested about how Weiss handled this with her daughter. The epidemic of childhood obesity should not be minimized and is an important topic for all to consider.

So, onto the book. It begins a bit with Weiss talking about her own weight history (a little disordered, but not uncommonly so). Then she talks about her daughter. Jumping ahead a little bit, Weiss later pats herself on the back for addressing her daughter's problem early. However, in the opening chapters of the book, she mentions that, at 3, her daughter's preschool teachers had brought her daughter's eating habits to her attention. Weiss also mentions that others had made comments from that point on about her daughter's increasing weight. Yet, Weiss doesn't start to actually do anything until her daughter is 7--over half her life later! Weiss deserves no kudos for "acting early" when she was 4 years (more than half her daughter's life) late to the game.

Weiss chalks her daughter's weight gain up to a large appetite, not bad food choices or inactivity. I can buy that her daughter was eating healthy food, but at inappropriately large portions. However, I question Weiss claims that her daughter was not inactive. Never once did Weiss mention how much television her children watched. Yes, it could be that her kids didn't watch much television--but, later, she makes a mention of a scene where she is in bed with her kids and everyone has their own laptops (the kids are, I think 7 and 8 at this time) and the kids are updating their Twitter accounts! Obviously, technology is a big factor in their home--I'm sure that TV was a big part of it but, even if it was not, computers obviously were). When we dealt with this issue with our own child, the very first recommendation had nothing to do with food--it was to limit screen time.

Once Weiss decides to start working to get her daughter's weight under control, she flounders for a while as she tries to do it on her own, which is understandable and I think any parent in her position would have done the same thing. Ultimately, she opts for the entire family to go to a nutritionist. The nutritionist's program, as Weiss describes it, sounded rather complicated to me and I cringed at the importance on fat-free foods. However, it was only in the last couple of years that the acceptance of the importance of healthy fats was widespread, so I chalked it up to it being a different time.

Then, Weiss decides to drop the nutritionist and I was never really clear why. All I could figure out is that she didn't like the "3rd string" nutritionist who didn't acknowledge that her daughter's jeans weighed more than her leggings. And, it is from that point that things became horrifying.

Weiss is a drill-master with her daughter--she insists on naked weigh-ins on Saturdays and is very focused on the numbers (when dealing with children, the number on the scale is problematic as children are growing in height as they are losing weight. Instead doctors and health professionals work with BMI's.). When it comes to food, Weiss is heavy handed in controlling everything that goes near her daughter's mouth. And she does this publicly--at birthday parties, at friends' houses, at restaurants, at the corner Starbucks. When her daughter has a school lunch, or if there is a school event where food is available, she interrogates her daughter the moment she sees her. When her daughter goes someplace without her, be it an afternoon with a friend or a month visiting her grandmother, Weiss sends along caloric guidelines for what her daughter is allowed to eat.

Through all this, Weiss moans about how long they will have to keep doing this and when will the diet be over. Right there, she has set her daughter--and herself--up for failure. I am convinced that the way to combat childhood obesity is to get kids moving and to teach them how to eat in a healthy manner--nutritious foods and appropriate portions--so that they can continue that through their lifetime. Yet, Weiss really didn't do any of that. Yes, she signed her daughter up for gymnastics and karate, but she even said she didn't think activity was as important. Instead, she taught her daughter how to be neurotic about food and her body.

Weiss's daughter eventually hits her goal weight, after almost exactly a year. Weiss then devotes a couple of chapters to the fallout she experienced after she published an article in Vogue about this experience. To cut several chapters short, Weiss believed that nothing she did was damaging and only good parents would have done what she did and anyone who questions her as she has presented herself is cruel and unfair. She then talks about when her daughter, now at a healthy weight, went off to camp. Weiss contacts the camp to get their menu to decide what her daughter can eat and asks that her daughter be weighed weekly and that information be emailed to Weiss. I don't think I'm the only one who considers this way past extreme.

Weiss says that she sometimes worries that her daughter will develop an eating disorder, but then says that probably won't happen because she read an article that said that there is a strong genetic component to it. As far as I can tell from interviews with Weiss around the publication of this book, her daughter is probably about 11 now. So, she's right at the beginning of puberty. To Weiss, I direct the old adage "you reap what you sow," because Weiss planted the seeds of at least disordered eating, if not a full-blown eating disorder, in her daughter and then watered and fertilized those seeds. She has taught her daughter that food is something dangerous, that calories are more important than nutrients, and that there is intrinsic guilt in eating. And those are lessons that her daughter will carry with her for her entire life.

There is no question that Weiss loves her daughter and I'm not going to say that she's a bad mother. I will say, though, that I believe that she projected her own issues onto her daughter, which caused her to make decisions that were not in her daughter's best interests. I really can't recommend this book to others, unless they are looking for something on how NOT to help a child with a weight problem.

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If you're a NPH fan, you'll like it

Revisado: 08-09-17

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I can't say I'm a huge NPH fan. I mean, I like him well enough, but I only vaguely remember Doogie Howser and I never watched How I Met Your Mother, so I'm certainly not a super-fan. In fact, the one slice of his work that I would say I follow is his audiobook narrations (which are some of the best). So, when my book club chose this book, I opted to take the audio route (which I didn't finish in time for my book club, which I couldn't attend anyway, but oh well....).

I am a fan of humorous celebrity memoirs in audio. In fact, they are my go-to as they are a nice carrot to get my tush to the gym so I can listen while I sweat. I was a little apprehensive about how this would work in audio as the whole "Choose Your Own Adventure" genre isn't really suited for that medium. The book was edited a bit for it to work...and it does, sort of. Honestly, I'm not sure if I would have been able to get through this book if I actually tried to read it. I liked having the narration just go straight through, but there were some chronological issues. Still, I think the benefits of this in audio outweigh the drawbacks.

However, I can't deny the fact that I found this to be very gimmicky. Neil Patrick Harris's life story is, well, not exactly that exciting. He doesn't have a unique story, such as those written about by Aasif Mandvi or Rachel Dratch. And he never finds some overarching message to convey, like Amy Poehler or Tina Fey do in their books. Basically, he's had it pretty easy. I can see how putting his "uneventful for Hollywood" life in a Choose Your Own Adventure format might be an attractive option, but it was still obvious to me that there really wasn't much there.

If you are a NPH fan, you will love this book. However, I'm not sure there is really anything here for anyone else...except magic tricks and drink recipes.

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A fascinating look behind the scenes at the WH

Revisado: 08-09-17

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This audiobook had been sitting on my phone for a while and I actually started it some months ago, listened to less than an hour, and then--for some reason--switched to something else. Recently, I was looking for something that I could listen through a speaker (instead of headphones) while my kids were around. Frankly, this was probably not the best book for that--thanks to Lyndon Johnson and the Clintons--but luckily my kids weren't really paying attention, so it wasn't an issue.

Here is this book in a nutshell. It is Upstairs/Downstairs except the "Upstairs" is the White House with a revolving door of residents. If you like history, this book has it. If you like gossip, this book has it. If you like personal stories of people who really find a higher calling in jobs that many would label "menial," this book has it in spades.

Anderson has done her research and this book covers from the Kennedy presidency (although it really picks up with the Johnson presidency) up into the Obama residency. Now, she is able to go into these presidencies in various depths. There really isn't that much about the Obama presidency as most of her source pool is still currently employed in the White House. The farther back she goes in history, the more anecdotal her sources become because more of the employees are now deceased. Also, the vast majority of employees, past and present, were not interested in "spilling dirt" on the Presidents and their families, and most of this book is devoted to the lives of the men and women who serve in the White House.

Brower begins by outlining the different positions in the White House, which is quite useful because some jobs are not what most people would expect. Also, the only exposure that most Americans have modern (or modern-ish) domestics is through Downton Abbey. While there are some similarities, the life of a mid- to late-20th and 21st century domestic worker is vastly different from that of an early 20th-century domestic worker in an English estate.

Dozens of mostly former employees shared their memories of their life working at the White House and with the various First Families. There was a spectrum. At one end is Lyndon Johnson, who was a headache for most of the staff. At the other end is George H.W. and Barbara Bush, who seemed to be deeply loved by the everyone on the staff. Everyone else falls somewhere in between the two. And, yes, there is some dirt. For example, did you know that Lyndon Johnson nicknamed his penis "Jumbo"? Well, now you do. And you will never, ever un-know that. (If it makes you feel better, that tidbit came up in regards to hygiene, not sex.) Nearly none of the "dirt," however, is anything new. It isn't a secret that Kennedy and Clinton had a wandering eye or that Nancy Reagan really liked "nice things." If anything, this book confirms that what you thought of the First Families is true.

Frankly, I was far more interested in the household staff than the household residents. If I want to know about the private lives of the Presidents, there are piles of tomes to tell me about that. But I wanted to know about the people who had to flip light switches for Nancy Reagan, watch Amy Carter, or build a custom shower for Lyndon Johnson (and Jumbo).

My favorite chapter of the book was the one that dealt with two most devastating events of the modern Presidencies--the assassination of John F. Kennedy and 9/11. I thought I had heard everything there was to hear about Kennedy's assassination, but hearing it from the eyes of the household staff put an entirely different spin on the event.

I was more deeply affected by her discussion on 9/11--probably because I lived through it (no, I'm not so old that I was alive, much less remember, the Kennedy assassination). The chaos of that day went to another level for those working at the White House--many of whom were evacuated, by the Secret Service coming at them and yelling at them to run out of the house as fast as they can--without even knowing what happened.

Finally, Karen White's narration was really spot on here. She doesn't do the "thing" where she tries to do different voices for different people, but she does alter her own voice to capture the character of whose words she is repeating. Her voice was clear and steady, which is essential for narration.

All in all, this was an enjoyable and fascinating listen--and I'm sure that, if I had opted to read this book instead, would have had the same experience. It is a book or audiobook that I would recommend to pretty much anyone--but you might not want to listen with your kids around.

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Shonda Rhimes stands out

Revisado: 08-09-17

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I think it is important, before I start spouting off about how this audiobook rocked my world, to let you all know where I stand with Shondaland. I have never watched Private Practice or How To Get Away With Murder (yet...Netflix may change that) and I only made it through one season of Scandal before I got fed up and turned it off. However, I am in a long term relationship with Grey's Anatomy. It's not a perfect relationship--I've been tempted to break it off many times and have even "gone on a break," but I always, always come back. I stuck through the hard times--when McSteamy was killed off--and the bad times--all that ghost sex with Denny--yet, I'm still there for you, the hospital now known as Grey-Sloan Memorial Hospital. My husband doesn't understand this and has a standard monologue that I hear every.single.Thursday.night when he finds me watching it--you know, how can I watch this silly soap opera?--things like that. But even that isn't enough to get me to break it off with TV's character with the worst luck ever. Never fear, Meredith Grey, I'm there for you.

So, here's the deal. If I was a wizard and lived in that world, Shonda Rhimes would be my patronus. I actually didn't know much about her until I listened to this book, but then I realized that she was like me in so many ways. She's also, by her own admission, like Cristina Yang, which means I'm like Cristina Yang...and that makes me happy, but I digress.

Shonda Rhimes is an introvert--I know, that surprised the heck out of me, too. And, as a fellow introvert, I get her need to insulate herself from the world and the fear she feels when in comes to trying new things. Her project--to say Yes to everything that scares her for a year--starts out timidly, but then ends up changing her life. I'll admit, some of the things she she said yes to really resonated with me. Her chapter on saying yes to being healthy is one of the best I've read or heard. It's not a "diet" and she doesn't really tell you what to do (well, she does reluctantly at the end of the chapter, but it really isn't anything that we haven't heard before), but her discussion on what led to her weight gain and how she dealt with it emotionally was excellent.

Because she spends much of her life writing TV shows, her book is heavy with references to those shows. This is partly because many of the cast members have become close family members and partly because parts of her life are reflected in the shows she writes. As I said, I only watch one of her shows, but I had no problem following what she was writing about. Of course, I watch the show that has been on the air the longest, and her "flagship" show, so most of the references do come from Grey's Anatomy, so that did help things. But I don't feel that you need to have watched any of her shows to follow her story.

Rhimes also serves as narrator for this audiobook, which did make me a bit nervous. Writers who can deliver on the page can't always deliver in the studio and I knew that a high level of personality would be needed for this. Rhimes delivers wonderfully. In fact, I never really felt that she was reading her book, but rather just talking to me. When I first heard about this book, I wasn't sure if I should read it or listen to it--and now I am very happy that I opted for the latter (but I may still invest in a print copy for reference. Trust me, you will definitely want to revisit parts of this book!)

I cannot recommend this audiobook (or book) enough. Even if you don't find it as inspiring as I did, I can guarantee that you will find it entertaining. Shonda Rhimes is one of a kind and well worth your time!

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