BirderMame

Excellent story marred by performance

Revisado: 05-26-24

One of my biggest pet peeves is audiobook narrators who don't do their homework in learning the correct pronunciations of words, particularly proper names, in the books they record. In this case the Yugoslavian dictator Tito (tee-to) was rendered as Tie-to; the U.S. state of Iowa became ee-OH-wa, and any French word including the diphthong "oi" (pronounced "wah," as in Miss Piggy's "moi") became OY, to name but a few. I did think the reader's choices of voice for different characters was generally quite well done.
The book itself is very fine, as the recollections at the end of life of a strong and independent woman who, when gutted by the loss of her great love, becomes yet stronger and more independent in her relations with her family.

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Moving, persuasive

Revisado: 09-15-23

Hearing Prince Harry read his memoir to us made the performance moving and persuasive. If only there were not the cabal of courtiers of the Palace, abetting the Fleet Street press that learned nothing from Diana’s death and pursued Harry and anyone close to him. As things are, the Sussexes’ self-exile seems to offer them the best chance of happiness.

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Nice light entertainment

Revisado: 01-12-23

I enjoyed this book despite its predictability. I had not read earlier books in the series and enjoyed meeting characters who were old friends for other readers. It was a fun escapist story.
I continue to be irked, however, by an episode where the narrator did not do her homework on an important pronunciation: the Irish name Niamh is pronounced "Neev" or "Nee-iv" but a character in the book pronounces it Nee-am and is complimented by another character for pronouncing it right, because so few people do! The name comes up again a second time as a significant moment for the couple, and it's still pronounced wrong.

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Not for adults

Revisado: 07-13-22

I did not realize when I bought this book and began to listen to it that it is aimed at adolescents. For them, it is probably quite a good book, with inspiring stories of a good number of Native women from around the U.S. and Canada overcame difficult childhoods and youths and other obstacles to have significant achievements later in their lives. For an adult, the book mentions (for example) the sexual abuse, poverty, lack of opportunity, etc. that a woman suffered as a child but omits to tell more complicated stories of how they worked to get past these obstacles to achieve the things they are celebrated for.But kids probably would not identify with the adult actions as much as with the obstacles encountered early in life, and the women are or were all wonderful examples of women's lives and in particular Native women's lives, so I recommend it. For adolescents. (The reader is not good at all--mispronounces many words, including many Indian tribal names, and breaks sentences in odd places, etc.

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A powerful story from one of my favorite writers

Revisado: 09-22-21

This story about the Hurricane of 1935 that devastated Islamorada, Florida, is a great example of the wonderful in-depth research and writing that characterize Jim Shepard's work. He is one of my favorite living American writers. Even though the dramatic story ends badly for hundreds of people, the story is highly recommended.

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Very timely thing to read right now

Revisado: 04-11-20

As the 100th anniversary of the 1918 pandemic approached, this public health doctor researched the more general subject of pandemics and influenza, and his book frequently touches on the question of prediction of pandemics (versus the regular appearance of mutating flu viruses) and preparedness (or lack of need to do so) for a new pandemic. Well, we know how that turned out. A very interesting and timely thing to be reading right now.

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esto le resultó útil a 2 personas

Okay story, if you aren't fussy about accents

Revisado: 12-22-19

The narrator may have been raised by Germans and specialize in Russian accents, but there are no Russian accents needed for this book, and her French pronunciation is very poor, which is annoying all through the book. Maybe she is afraid that if she pronounces things correctly English speakers will not understand? Where no foreign words are present, her English narration is soothing, and she changes voices for different characters quite well. - As to the story, there's not much of it and it's slow, but I learned quite a lot about the Battle of the Bulge.

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Little-known historical drama

Revisado: 10-01-19

Having read River of Doubt I knew that Candice Millard is a wonderful writer, so I read this eagerly and was not disappointed. President James Garfield’s tenure was so short that it is little remembered, but he was an extraordinary man who accomplished much in his life, and a noble soul whose assassination shocked the nation. His death after 71 days of dreadful suffering brought the nation, still divided 16 years after the end of the civil war, together in mourning.

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The purest delight

Revisado: 10-28-18

Whoever proposed this production was brilliant. Jane Austen’s Emma is among the world’s great books, Emma Thompson is a peerless actress and narrator, and the large cast who perform the dialogue is excellent. I’ve recommended it to several friends already and will be talking it up to many more.

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Listeners should be alerted--this is not a book

Revisado: 02-28-18

Out of 8 hours, probably at least a whole hour is devoted to duplicative intro material and production credits at the beginning and end of each of the 13 podcast episodes. Very annoying if you're expecting a book; and "an original series" did not suggest to me that it was not a book that was the beginning of a series, since Audible promotes book series so much. The story is so chopped up by all these extraneous parts that it is a frustrating experience to try to follow the story. I haven't finished listening to it yet and I may just return it.

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