JohninMaine

Great story, excellent reader

Revisado: 01-12-25

I'm so glad I gave this book a try. not only is it a great story but it's an interesting view into America in the early 1900s. And the reader/narrator is excellent, just right. Highly recommended.

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Crippling Anxiety, A Loving Family, and Delicious

Revisado: 07-03-22

What a gem this book is. I came to love Kitty and her father & the whole family. I wish all families were as down to earth, accepting of their realities and realistically supportive as this one.

Is this the story of a gloomy teen who discovers baking and starts her own bakery, snaps out of depression and goes to college and then a career in London--an accomplished woman with perfect nails? No, thank goodness. It's the very real memoir of a girl with a severe case of depression+ anxiety, her worried parents and siblings, and a budding interest in baking bread. Budding then turns to love & zeal.

I loved this well written, entertaining memoir. it's one of my favorite books ever.

One more wish: that every teenager (no, every person) discovers something that makes them come alive and feel like they belong in that world.

P.S. you might have to pause this book to race to a bakery and get some fresh baked bread.

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Glad I gave it a try - it was a real pleasure

Revisado: 01-26-22

I know (knew) nothing about the subject matter but I liked the sample audio so I gave this audiobook a try. Wow, I really enjoyed it! The writing is quite good, entertaining, informative and well paced. She brings the reader behind the scenes to where scientists struggle with mechanical failures, lightning strikes, grant funding, and the occasional complete failure of Plan A. Still, her scientific zeal for exploring & understanding life in the deepest depths of the ocean keeps her going.

For me this was the perfect nonfiction experience: a book that brings me into a world I knew nothing about and tells an interesting (and true) story. Very enjoyable.

The narrator, Allyson Ryan, did an excellent job too. She brought the prose to life and also the moments of humor. Just right, I thought.

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Fascinating and a well told tale

Revisado: 04-13-21

To me, this is "history" at its best. It succeeds on many levels. First, it's an interesting mystery that is eventually solved by the unlikeliest of people. It also exposes human understanding *and* inability to accept new scientific data that falls outside of current understanding. And it's a story of events that contributed very valuable things to public health (which used to be a low-interest topic until the COVID-19 pandemic took over our lives). Well written! Also, while the subject matter is grim, the author brings you into the day to day lives of the poor souls who lived through it, and ultimately the result of the cholera pandemic (i.e., the "Ghost Map") is much better public health policies that all modern people enjoy today. Fascinating.

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Tom does a great job

Revisado: 08-23-20

Ann Patchett is a very good writer and I've enjoyed other books of hers. With this one, the plot felt forced and struggling to the end. Some circumstances seem just not believable. Just my experience--this story didn't work well, even though the prose was well done.

Tom Hanks' reading was engaging and well suited to the main character. Read some more books for us, Tom!

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A wonderful book to settle into

Revisado: 08-23-20

Here comes a cliche but it's the truth: I didn't want it to end! The story, which happens over many years, shows the depth of the main character, Count Rostov. He is a very good man, well sketched. All the characters were well done and their stories together in the Metropol Hotel weave together to make a book that you settle into and enjoy like a good vacation. All that with a terrific ending!

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Fascinating and Rich

Revisado: 08-23-20

It's quite an accomplishment that this book not only paints an interesting and detailed picture of Saint Domingue (now Haiti) and France in the 1700s, but also tells a rich, compelling story. This could easily be a darn good novel. Thank you, Tom Reiss. I learned so much from this book--and you made the experience quite a pleasure.

I could go on and on about the many topics, big and small, global and intimate, that come up in the book. A few: the importance of love and inegrity, especially in a family; slavery and freedom; political protections or lack of them; and most surprising for me: how much of a ruthless egotist Napoleon Bonaparte was!

The reader, Paul Michael, did an excellent job.

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Narrator Will Patton is . . . indescribable.

Revisado: 11-15-19

I enjoyed this book very much. When it was over, I wasted no time looking up the next Dave Robicheaux story I was going to listen to. James Lee Burke is quite a writer. His prose makes it all worthwhile. And fortunately, somebody hired Will Patton to narrate the audiobooks. WP is right up there at the very top, one of the best. I can feel the heat, steam, humidity, light rain falling as I sit and listen--oh and the nearly constant threat of one criminal or another, armed and completely lacking in moral fiber. THE NEON RAIN is a good one, glad I listened to it.

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Enjoyable and unusual

Revisado: 11-15-19

On a whim I gave this a try. The author is an interesting person, an unusual young woman, and she takes on a very, very unusual challenge. She has a lively mind, this 19 year old, and she tells her story from having her interest piqued by a notice announcing the race through to the finish line. A likable kid, a Brit way the hell out of her orbit--and yet, she loves horses and gives the race her all. I'm glad I listened to this story.

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Incredible story of a financial trainwreck

Revisado: 11-02-19

Very interesting--intriguing--details in this book. What a crazy world we live in! Crazy money, crazy people. Both hard to believe and yes, believable. Lots of details, and only occasionally difficult to follow who's who, but given the topic that's okay. International finances--international shenanigans is more like it. I'll never forget the ultra high tech warehouses in Switzerland where billionaires store their insanely priced works of art. Doesn't that say it all? You're mega-rich and buy the costliest art, but you have to store it in a warehouse. So the writing is good, detailed. Listening to this book, I said "No way!" out loud a few times. The central character is . . . indescribable. Lots of people got duped by the guy. And everybody is friggin' swimming in money!

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