Tim

It's Tom Hanks. Reading Tom Hanks = Great

Revisado: 11-24-18

My one criticism of this audiobook version is there is no separation, pause, or crucially, any audio-cue that one story has finished and the next begins. Because there are so many stories, all read by the same person, and some are long, some are short, I did find this confusing at times. Why the producer or editor could not have put a 3-5 second audio-sting between stories is a mystery.

That aside, I really enjoyed the easygoing stories with an easygoing reader. The thematic aspect of the typewriter doesn't feel contrived, and neither adds nor detracts from the stories. If you didn't know this a theme of the collection, or a passion of Tom Hanks, you might not even notice.

Overall a great collection ready by one of the best actors of modern times.

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Worst produced audiobook I've ever read

Revisado: 09-24-16

How is this Audible title rated so highly ? It has to be adding the ratings of the Amazon folk who read the paper/e-book version.

The story itself is passable... although I swear at times I had to ask myself if this was Baldacci's 14yo nephew doing the writing. The dialogue and conversations so often wooden, stilted and unnatural.

Perhaps my thoughts above were a product of the horrible over producing of this audio title. The sound effects are awful and totally unnecessary. Good writing and quality narration will always be enough to create the "effects" in the mind of the reader. I wonder if the same 14yo nephew that did the writing also manned the studio during the recording. The producers' job is to press RECORD and let the talent bring the story to life and stay out of the way.

The female voice is miscast and struggles to nail any of the female voices. Would rather have had Ron Mclarty (who should feel unfortunate to be caught up in all this) doing all the voices.

I was so close to asking for a refund after the first 6-7 chapters... but I stuck through it and completed this book because I had to see how it ended. Fairly predictable and even squeezed an obligatory Deus Ex Machina plot twist just to tick all the boxes of Mystery Writing 101.

I purchased this through Daily Deal for $3.95 and very glad I did not waste a credit.

I've read several other David Baldacci titles and thoroughly enjoyed them. I'm now very gun-shy of his titles, at least in audio format.

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Engaging story by a passionate man

Revisado: 02-04-16

Great book. I grew up with the music of Midnight Oil and my memories of Peter are the bigger than life front man singing his heart out. Autobiographies read by the author are always the best and this is no exception. There's something special about sitting back and listening to someone tell you their own story in their own words.

Unlike some bios that can spend a long long time dealing with early years.. this one gets to the "fun stuff" quickly and stays there throughout keeping interest levels high.

Having grown up through most of the events in this book it was fascinating to get an insiders perspective and I learnt a lot about the real Peter Garrett and have a far deeper appreciation for the ideals and issues that he has been passionate about for his whole life.

If there was one thing I would have like to hear more about it would be the musical side of the Midnight Oils days. There is plenty in there and the chronology of events is comprehensive. But I really love hearing the nitty gritty details of how songs were written and recorded and the deep dive into musicianship. Then again... this is book about Peter Garrett not a biography of Midnight Oil. So we can't be too hard on that score.

Fantastic book that hits the bullseye dead on in all aspects. Well written, edited and perfect narration. Thanks Pete.

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Rama meets Mote meets Coyote

Revisado: 03-10-15

Thoroughly enjoyed this book. For me it combined the best elements, ideas and themes from the books Rendezvous With Rama, The Mote In God's Eye and the Coyote series. Doing so within it's own unique universe and in a fresh new way.

For me this book seemed much longer than it's nearly 20 hours, but never dragged on such was the ever developing plot lines and solid characters. Long in the good way. It was also refreshing to read a long book that was well written and self-contained and not having to commit to reading a series of several books just to find out what happens - where there are inevitably flat spots, flat books even, from all but the very best writers.

Will definitely grab another of Alastair Reynolds' books.

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So when is the next edition coming out ?

Revisado: 01-04-15

What a fantastically geeky, funny, serious and entertaining book. I've been reading XKCD for years but only found out about this book yesterday. Then finished it this afternoon. Any book read by Will Wheaton is always a treat and he puts in a perfect performance here. What a combination - Munroe and Wheaton. Get this book and prepare to be entertained, learn something and have a laugh.

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Story is good. Narrator is OK. Production is bad.

Revisado: 01-01-15

Another solid Mitch Rapp book. Flynn is building a nice universe with well threaded narrative and plots. However this is an example of how bad or lazy Production can really detract from the experience and even distract a reader from enjoying the book.

Many people will tell you the narrator is terrible. I disagree. He's no George Guidall, but few are. I believe most of the what this narrator is being blamed for is the fault of the Producer.

Changing the pronunciation of main character names is not acceptable. (Ruttan / Rieley)
Changing the styling and demeanour of the titular character is NOT acceptable. Rapp comes across in this book as a whiney grumpy angry old man. These are things a good producer should not have allowed to occur. Especially in a Series.

Thankfully I'm back into the Guidall books and it appears George has more than enough talent to negate the effects of any bad lazy producers that may be assigned to this series.

My advice to those invested in the series is to grin and bare these three non Guidall read books and you'll be glad you stuck it out. The talent of Vince Flynn is enough to carry these through.

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Don't quit the series because of narrator change

Revisado: 12-01-14

I nearly dropped the series when I found out George Guidall had been replaced as narrator. Glad I stuck with it though, especially when I noticed that from Book 6 Guidall is back.

Once you get over the difference in narrator this was a good solid Mitch Rapp book. The timeline seems to have jumped markedly forward from the previous Book 2, so much so that on more than one occasion I was sure I'd missed one or more books by accident.

All that aside I really enjoyed this book and will continue with Book 4 and 5, with the knowledge that the series returns to it's original and best narrator George Guidall. Nick Sullivan was good... a bit wooden perhaps.. but that's comparing him to an elite like Guidall.

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Wonderfully entertaining and accessible book

Revisado: 01-15-14

As a Kiva lender for last few years I was very keen to read this book as soon as it came out. I bought the hardcover version from Amazon (in then absence of audiobook)... read the first two chapters and then remembered why I gave up printed reading.

Then my late Xmas present arrived when I found this written-and-read-by version on Audible in the new year. What a treat. Bob Harris is extremely down to earth and easy to listen to as a reader. Coupled with the already fantastic content of the book itself and you're in for a funny, wild, entertaining ride into the World of micro finance.

I love that Bob covers the entire micro finance supply chain from lenders like me, through Kiva and it's fellows, the MFI's to The Borrowers... and beyond.

As someone who's made +300 Kiva loans, I gained from this book a deep and fascinating appreciation for the role of Kiva Fellows and the MFI's. (Micro Finance Institutions).

If you are a Kiva lender then this book is for you. If you've heard of micro finance and are not really sure what it's all about then this book is for you If you have never heard of Kiva and micro finance and wondering what's all this about. Then this is THE book for You.

Thanks to Bob, Kiva, The Fellows, The MFI's and The Borrowers for making this book possible.

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If you're on a plane and this is your only book...

Revisado: 11-13-13

Had been a long time since I read a Grisham book. I have read, re-read and thoroughly enjoyed many of his older works. While still enjoyable I found this book to be serviceable and pedestrian at best. There were no surprises, no twists and plot turns. Even in terms of a courtroom procedural this book lacked any punch. It was like reading the (PG) version of a once great (R) writer. As if someone has turned the TV color setting from 8 down to 3. It's not unpleasant but lacks a lot.

I almost gave up on this early in the piece after too many far fetched contrivance's were used to setup the scenarios for the remaining three quarters of the book. It was only the fact I was on a plane and had no other books loaded on my iPhone (lesson learnt there) that I stuck it out and gave the fanciful story setup a free-pass. If you can do that too then this book will happily fill eleven hours of your life with no effort required on your part.

In the end I would rather have spent my time reading The Partner again.

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Holds up so well after four score years

Revisado: 11-18-12

I have to admit I was not aware this was written in 1932/33 when I started reading. It was only a couple hours in that some clues prompted me to find out. My point being that the work holds up very well after all this time. That it was penned before even the first dalliances of mans ascent to the heavens lends more admiration.

I hope that one day this book is made into a modern big blockbuster Hollywood spectacular. One that would far outshine 2012 and it's razor thin premise. The events portrayed in When Worlds Collide are as utterly plausible and real today, as they were in 1932.

The narration was excellent. I always enjoy Peter Ganim's performances.

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