Julie Gray

Required Reading

Revisado: 09-05-23

More than a book, this is a clarion call for a better, more abundant America.

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A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius

Revisado: 06-08-23

Demon Copperhead swept me away, from heartbreak to heartbreak but ultimately to redemption and hope. Demon is an unforgettable character, something like Holden Caufield meets Huckleberry Finn, yet utterly unique. Thurston was born to narrate this stunning story and Kingsolver has outdone herself, which isn't easy to do. I think this book will be her crowning achievement.

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Gripping

Revisado: 02-17-21

I loved this book so much. The combination of Hargrave's writing and Buckley's narration is a powerful one. I'm honestly a bit speechless; I cannot recommend this book enough.

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Engrossing and Fun!

Revisado: 11-01-20

I really enjoyed this title. The performances are superlative and the story and characters layered and so human. The production is creative and engaging. There is nothing not to like here; I binged on it for a couple of days and was sad when it was over! My ONLY complaint is that it seems to beg a sequel!

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Thoroughly meanspirited disappointment.

Revisado: 10-22-20

Listen, I'm no fan of Rudy Giuliani but this is a terrible book. The tone is SO sour and SO meanspirited - and let me once again say, that I'm on the same "side" as Wolff here. His descriptions of the women in Guiliani's life are narrow, ugly, and misogynist and he stoops to fat-shaming Guiliani and Steve Bannon which is a lazy way of impugning character that in this case is not necessary whatsoever. Bannon has no character to impugn. It's really a shame because the rise and fall of Guiliani is indeed interesting. Being a Californian, my image of Guiliani was of the brave, calm mayor of New York after 9/11, with his hardhat on, bringing New York together in the wake of tragedy. I didn't realize he was relatively unhinged and unsavory before that time. I'm really disappointed because I wondered how this brave, noble mayor turned into a screaming Trump acolyte but Wolff's book puts the pieces together but in such an ugly way that I didn't have the stomach to finish the book.

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Blackwater, I Can't Quit You

Revisado: 05-16-20

Friends, it has taken me a long, long time to finish this book. So many memories accompanied this read - a lifetime it almost seems - weekends, evenings, holidays, birthdays, a pandemic. Turns out "complete saga" is very accurate in this case. Twenty-seven hours of listening, and friends, it wasn't always easy. I began to grow confused as to what day it was. I grew suspicious of creeks, kudzu, and certain relatives. I lost track of the seasons. I can't find my pants.

Emily, a much wittier reviewer than I said of this book: "River monster crawls out of river, marries scion of rich Southern family, embroils self in soap opera family shenanigans, occasionally tears townspeople limb from limb." This is completely spot-on. Someone else said, "You will never read a book like this again." Or maybe it was "You have never read a book like this before." I don't remember, really, but both are true. Blackwater is what would happen if Garrison Keillor and Stephen King wrote a book together but Keillor mostly won out and King was relegated to writing only a few scenes just for the hell of it. Matt Godfrey's, sure, lackadaisical narration performance matched the story perfectly.

Don't look for logic, exactly, in Blackwater, or any kind of resolution to the burning questions you will develop like a rash starting in chapter one. Gradually, this becomes pleasantly okay, as a kind of dazed literary Stockholm Syndrome sets in.

Reader, if you like southern gothic, sweeping family sagas, and the occasional mysterious reptile, this book is for you. I can honestly say I enjoyed the book(s) but when I was washed back to the shore of reality once more, I felt a mixture of triumph - and relief.

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Great writing, disappointing ending

Revisado: 02-20-20

Lindquvist is one of my favorite writers and the narration is really great, but I felt very let down by the ending.

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Great story, incredible narration!

Revisado: 12-02-19

I read this book when it came out, way back when. I avoided watching the series because it looked so graphic and upsetting. When The Testaments came out, I ordered it on my Kindle. But then I saw this and I thought maybe I would refresh myself. WOW. Not only had it been some time since I read the book the first time, but it is more relevant today than ever. Claire Danes absolutely inhabited the role of Ofred and brought the material to life. Honestly, I was just floored. So glad I read the book again. The narration was very powerful and well worth listening to. One of the most powerful stories I have ever read. It will never leave me.

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The Most Consequential Socio-Political Read

Revisado: 11-16-19

If you like Rachel Maddow and her deep-dive investigative journalism, you will love this book. It's like watching back-to-back Maddow episodes that all stitch together in an expert, disconcerting, inexorable way. With today's headlines and the (ugly) machinations in US politics today, Blowout is an indispensable primer and veritable who's-who of baddies. And it all ties back to the oil and gas industry, a self-destructive industry if there ever was one. Highly recommend.

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This book floored me.

Revisado: 07-20-19

First, even though I was already a fan of Richard Yates, props to narrator Kristoffer Tabori and why is he not the narrator of Revolutionary Road?! His gravelly voice could not be more perfect for the writing of Yates, who wrote about the so-called "Age of Anxiety" in post-WWII America, as the rise of the middle class becomes, in the world of Yates, a kind of slow dance of hopes, despair, chophouse steaks, and very, very too many martinis. The book reminded me very much of the world depicted in Mad Men, Matthew Weiner's popular television series, with the blatant sexism and limited horizons of women, and the hale, hearty, self-centered hopes of men - who - in Yates' world - are also destined to come face-to-face with the reality of their own limitations and the dog-eat-dog nature of capitalism. Great dialogue, skillful writing, a great narrator - this audiobook title has everything, though you will not end the book feeling very hopeful - you will have questions, as I did, about how Yates really felt about women, new chapters and the possibility of reinvention, which is, as much as lingering disappointment and failure, also part of the American ethos. But not for Yates.

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