January Danubio

These are the men we avoid

Revisado: 12-22-21

My husband had a cute idea to watch Hallmark Christmas movies and listen to Christmas romances together this year. The problem is, he’s never read a romance before. I have and I’m not a fan. But I wanted to be cute with him, so…

His review:
I laughed all the way through it, but I don’t think it was supposed to be funny. Did the two authors even communicate while writing this? It seems like they were writing two different stories. Now I understand all the things you’ve said about romances.

My review:
The guy gives off red flags from the beginning. He’s not just normal creepy. He’s kill you and bury you creepy. He says things that she conveniently doesn’t hear or forgets about and they just keep going like he didn’t just whisper that in her ear. And just showing up to take the same flight on a whim because she just happened to mention she was flying home the next day? Girl. You better run! None of this behavior is sexy, let alone ok.

Thank goodness it was short. I couldn’t have handled much more of this. This story is exactly why I don’t like romances. Stories like this tell women that creeps are ok. They’re not! Expect better for yourself and from the stories you read! And why does it have such a high rating when the first full page is one star reviews?

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Someone made a terrible decision

Revisado: 07-08-21

Like all the other reviewers, I love these books. Mma Ramotswe’s kindness, the slow, easy pacing, and Licette LeCat’s wonderful narration.

I understand the desire to be progressive in these unusual times. AMS has gotten some backlash for these books. But changing narrators after 20 books is alienating to those of us who’ve gone this far with Ms. LeCat.

Adjoa Andoh is a fine narrator and I’ve enjoyed her in several tv shows. But she’s not right for these books. I’m afraid my audio journey with Mma Ramotswe ends here.

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There is no murderer

Revisado: 05-22-21

People get so involved with details they can’t see the whole picture. The journalists here did the same thing they say the police did. Fixate on one person. I knew from the second episode that this wasn’t a murder. It’s a tragic story of a woman being attacked by an animal in the middle of nowhere, and the more tragic story of a man being falsely accused.
I understand that the whole thing revolves around a man being falsely accused, but the podcast is sad, unsatisfying, and absurd. They spent about 3 minutes talking to someone who says it was an animal attack, then never mention it again. Instead, they focus on a larger than life man who loves getting attention. Even if it’s negative.
Pay attention! You solved the case. This guy’s troubles could all be over.

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Like an action movie

Revisado: 05-12-21

My husband and I share this Audible account and try to get books we’ll both like. We got this first in the series on sale. My husband turned it off after 5 minutes, I kept going. It’s not my normal kind of read/listen, but it was so much fun, like an action movie. They don’t really need a plot or good actors as long as the explosions are epic.
I was excited when I found the next 3 on Audible’s streaming service. I downloaded them and sped through all of them. After posting a review and recommendation to stream them on a book related social media account, I got a not so friendly comment from the author. Then we received an email from Audible saying all his books were being taken off the streaming service.
I had further contact with the author in which he complained about not making money from people streaming his books. That’s a fair concern. Everybody’s gotta eat. But taking up those grievances publicly isn’t a good look.
Do what you want, but I won’t be continuing with his books or recommending them to anyone else.

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Not a great Great Course

Revisado: 01-04-20

The information is interesting, but the presentation is lacking. I usually don’t have a problem with verbal ticks, and his many ums and ahs didn’t bother me too much. But his pronunciation is a big distraction. The worst is when he says European as Euro-peen. Ugh.

I’m only half way through, but I don’t know if I can take much more.

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Is this real life?

Revisado: 12-04-19

I listened to the podcast based on this book, then couldn’t wait for a new episode, so I had to get the book. (Good marketing strategy.)
If I hadn’t seen all the things he talks about come out in the news, I would have thought he made some of it up. It’s a real life spy drama.
This book is well paced and full of detail. I don’t agree with the bad reviews about the narration. I quite enjoyed his performance and thought he did a good job giving each person their own voice. I also didn’t mind the personal aspects of the story. Although he’s telling a difficult story, he’s still a human being with worries and concerns. (Like losing a job or relationship because you just can’t leave it alone.)
We’re so bombarded with unbelievable stories that we’ve become numb to the outrageous. But I hope people get outraged. The behavior described in this book is inexcusable.

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A wobbly three stars

Revisado: 04-14-19

If you think this is a one star book, you definitely haven’t read The Atlantis Gene. I base my rating system from Atlantis Gene (1) to Stephen King (5). This one falls somewhere in the low middle.
The writing didn’t bother me at first, though I did notice some unnecessary that’s and inconsistencies in symptoms of the disease, or whatever the illness was. The biggest problem with this book is John Waters. I’m sure having a big name read a book is supposed to attract listeners, but he should not be allowed to read audiobooks. He pronounces the soft A sound as a soft O and it drove me crazy. (Example: rother instead of rather.) And his cadence is bizarre.
The writing was okay, if a bit uneven and unpracticed. The story had me wondering what would happen next and how it would end, but the inclusion of witches was a little off putting and the ending was contrived.
Overall, I think it’s a forgettable book, but not a terrible one.

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Flawed title, good book

Revisado: 02-24-19

As other reviewers have said, I was expecting something completely different. Upon first listening, I paused the book to go look up this crack pot. Turns out, he’s probably the most badass linguist around. Maybe a better title would be “How I lost everything through linguistics.” I’m dubious about some of his assertions, but generally found the book interesting.
Knowing a little background about the author might help make sense of some of his claims. His childhood was less than ideal. His mom died when he was young and he was raised by his alcoholic, cowboy dad. (A for real cowboy.) When he was a drug taking teenager, he met the daughter of a minister. They fell in love, he converted, went to a religious linguistics school, and they had babies. The church sent them to a remote village in the Amazon to convert some heathens. He learned the language, but the heathens weren’t interested in being converted. He lost his faith and his family, but discovered something cool that languages can do. He went to a real college and studied under Noam Chomsky. He got in a big fight with Chomsky and the linguistics community. (Chomsky pulled strings and had him banned from Brazil.) It took several years, and many independent studies, but he was proven right in the end.
If you like this story better than this book, go check out “Don’t Sleep, There’s Snakes.”
I know this is an overly long review, but knowing all this helped me enjoy the book more. I hope it can help you, too.

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So many great ideas

Revisado: 02-23-19

I read this as a kid and really didn’t understand how truly amazing it is. The ideas are astounding. But I think serious space opera fans would be put off by the somewhat outdated views of sexuality and fantastically bad dialogue. Anne McCaffrey tried to portray strong female characters who owned their bodies, but the idea that men should be grateful to be sexually harassed doesn’t play well in today’s society.
Let’s be honest though, there are some widely read books out there that are way out of date and don’t represent modern ideas. (Anything by H. P. Lovecraft and Alas, Babylon off the top of my head.) We read them for the ideas. A planet that’s used as a farm?! A deportation planet for naughty slaves?! These are amazing ideas!
As for the dialogue, well, authors can’t be good at everything. She builds complex characters that we love who have stupid inner monologues. To me that’s a success. You love them, and root for them, despite the lackluster dialogue.
I agree (and disagree) with the other reviews on narration. The narrator is bad at accents and there’s background noise. But having listened to hundreds of audiobooks, I can say, this is definitely not the worst. It didn’t distract from the story, at least for me.

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Another trip to Pern

Revisado: 02-16-19

Best series ever written!!
Even though the bad guys are all bad and have little depth, and the love scenes are cheesy, and the narrator mispronounces words and makes smacking noises with his mouth, I find myself loving this book just as much as ever. Just thinking about Brekke screaming, “Don’t leave me alone!”, makes me start crying. Excuse me while I get a tissue.
If you’re reading this review, you probably already know this series and are just curious about the narration. It’s fine. He makes weird mouth noises, but who doesn’t? You’ll forget all about it after awhile. If you don’t know Anne McCaffrey and Pern, don’t start here. You’ll be so confused. Look up a reading sequence online. You can go chronologically, or as it was written. I’ve done both. It doesn’t really make a difference. By the end you’ll be ready to start over again. Happy listening!

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