Debbie Duncan

"Don't talk to me. I'm listening to my book."

Revisado: 03-24-25

I cannot remember the last time I zipped through a 13-hour audiobook in a week. Wowzer. I knew Facebook was evil (I asked my daughter to scrub me from the site after the 2016 election), but the details Sarah goes into here are so, so damning, and kept me looking forward to the next chapter. I hope she makes a mint from "Careless People." She deserves it. Listen and learn, everyone!

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Where's the story?

Revisado: 09-18-23

I'm glad to know this book, since so many in publishing are talking about it. Egads, I was disappointed. I hated the main character (which is fine, since not all protagonists need to be likable), so I speeded up the audio to find out what happened. What *did* happen? The protagonist didn't change one bit because of the plot—she justified what she did in the beginning, she justified what she did at the end, with several justifications in between. (I had to listen to the last chapter twice, since it basically ping-ponged back to a previous justification of hers.) She called herself a writer, but she could only tell one story, which all began with someone else's story!

I feel the need to listen to a palate-cleansing audiobook, perhaps a prior Reese's Book Club pick, Tom Lake.

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Families are complicated, especially these!

Revisado: 05-17-23

I can understand how this would be a difficult book to follow on audio. I'd liked the author's first two so much, I asked my daughter to get me the hardcover for my 70th birthday, So I toggled between the two versions, Still, I needed to make a cheat sheet cast of characters of the generations because of the large cast and the jumps and expanse of time covered. That helped me make sense of the story. I may listen to the audiobook straight through, now that I know who's who and what happens. I appreciated meeting these families, and expect I'll continue to think about them. Though sad at times (that's promised in the flap copy and publisher's description), it had a feel-good ending.

I can't comment on pronunciation of place names in Minnesota, as I've never been there. (Ask me about Diane Keaton taking California out of Joan Didion in her butchering of "Slouching Towards Bethlehem," and I'll never stop.) I love learning about different regions of the country, and J. Ryan Stradal is my guy for the Midwest. "Lager Queen" is my favorite—that audiobook is the best. And I loved, loved, LOVED it when Stradal brought that book into this one: Brenda pulling out two cans of Blotz Light (ha!), and Mo Akbar, Diana's future hip master brewer working for Mariel as a teenage janitor at the Lakeside Supper Club! Maybe there were others like that. I hope so.

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Terrific immigrant and family story

Revisado: 02-11-23

I loved this book and all of its complexities. It’s funny and heartbreaking, and kept me telling my dog we had to go on another walk so I could listen to it. Kudos to the author and the narrator for giving us a story worth knowing.

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Loved it, but honestly ,.,

Revisado: 01-20-23

Someone needed to tell the reader that Jack LaLanne’s name is pronounced just as it is spelled, and not as if it were la+lawn.

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Distracting noises take away from the story

Revisado: 12-12-22

I had to stop listening after about two hours. The sound effects and different voices at various volumes made it hard to follow the story. One narrator and no side effects, please!

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An all-time favorite audiobook

Revisado: 07-04-22

This is one book I listen to every summer. The story and narration could not be better. The writing pulled me in, and the reader showed an amazing ability to render female AND male voices of numerous ages, many with a flat Midwestern accent that kept me listening until (sob!) it was over. (The ending was perfect too. And I'm fussy about endings.) Brava! a thousand times, and then some.

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The perfect summer read!

Revisado: 06-19-22

I listen to this book at the beginning of summer every year. I just love it. Please don’t be dissuaded by the Netflix movie. This audiobook is so much better! The narrator does a wonderful job with my favorite Sarah Dessen novel. I appreciate both artists more and more every year.

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If I wanted to hear about torturing children ...

Revisado: 02-21-22

... I would watch TV news. I give up on this book. I so wanted to like Cloud Cuckoo Land after loving All the Light We Cannot See. I began three times; the farthest I got was a little more than two hours. But I don't want to hear any more about these poor children! (And I don't demand a book be cheerful. My last audiobook was Anna Karenina, not known for its giggles.) Silly me, I also bought the hardcover. At least I have a Little Free Library on my block. I hope it finds an appreciative reader. Listener, you have been warned—and not just by me.

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Best audiobook of the year

Revisado: 11-05-21

I enjoyed The Lincoln Highway so much, I'm starting over. (I haven't done that since A Gentleman in Moscow. And this one's better.) All the characters—lovable, despicable, admirable and non-—hooked me from the start. Amor Towles can tell a story, and these narrators bring those voices alive. Sally is my favorite. Well done!

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