Almost wordless: This was near the pond and was probably a Red-Winged Blackbird’s Nest.
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More Wordless Wednesday. © 2015 Under My Apple Tree. All rights reserved.
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A Rapid Review
Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult
Publisher: Random House | October 2014
Format: Audio Download | 15 hours | Rating: 4½ stars
Audio Listening Level: Intermediate
For more than a decade, Jenna Metcalf has never stopped thinking about her mother, Alice, who mysteriously disappeared in the wake of a tragic accident. Refusing to believe that she would be abandoned as a young child, Jenna searches online for her mother, a scientist who studied grief among elephants, and pores over the pages of Alice’s old journals.
With the help of Serenity, a psychic, and Virgil, a retired detective who was an investigator in her mom’s disappearance, Jenna sets out to find the truth. Is Alice alive or dead? And what really happened that night?
The book uses alternate perspectives – Jenna, Serenity, Virgil, and Alice – a device that works well with this mystery, and also serves to engage the reader as new details are revealed and observations made from the different points of view. In addition to the mystery itself, I was fascinated by the background story of the elephants and the sanctuary.
If it seems like I’m being vague, it’s because I am! Knowing too much about the mystery would spoil the story because of the way events are revealed and how the puzzle comes together. I should have seen the ending coming a mile away, but I didn’t, and that speaks to how well the story was written and how it unfolded.
Audio production:
The audio production consisted of an ensemble cast of Rebecca Lowman, Abigail Revasch, Kathe Mazur, and Mark Deakins, each giving voice to one of the four characters. When a book is long, complex, or has multiple perspectives, I prefer having more than one narrator. It provides a better sense of each character as opposed to one narrator attempting to give a believable voice to each. And, more importantly, it makes it easy for the listener to remember who is speaking, and makes the audio more enjoyable.
Audio Sample:
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Source: Review copy provided by the publisher.
© 2015 Under My Apple Tree. All rights reserved.
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Welcome to Mailbox Monday, created by Marcia of To Be Continued, a place where readers share the books that came in their mailbox during the last week.
After several years of being on tour with different blogs as the monthly host, the Mailbox Monday Blog is now the permanent home for the meme.
No new print books this week but I did receive a few new audio downloads:
New Arrivals
From Random House Audio:
A Touch of Stardust by Kate Alcott
A blockbuster novel that takes you behind the scenes of the filming of Gone with the Wind, while turning the spotlight on the passionate romance between its dashing leading man, Clark Gable, and the blithe, free-spirited actress Carole Lombard.
The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy by Rachel Joyce
From the bestselling author of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry comes an exquisite love story about Queenie Hennessy, the remarkable friend who inspired Harold’s cross-country journey.
Act of God by Jill Ciment
Part horror story, part screwball comedy, Jill Ciment’s brilliant suspense novel looks at what happens when our lives—so seemingly set and ordered yet so precariously balanced—break down in the wake of calamity.
From Penguin Audio:
The Interstellar Age by Jim Bell
The story of the men and women who drove the Voyager spacecraft mission— told by a scientist who was there from the beginning.
Dead Wake by Erik Larson
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author and master of narrative nonfiction comes the enthralling story of the sinking of the Lusitania, published to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the disaster.
How was your week?
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© 2015 Under My Apple Tree. All rights reserved.
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A Rapid Review
The Rosie Effect by Graeme Simsion
Publisher: Simon & Schuster | December 2014
Format: Audio Download | 9 hours | Rating: 3½ stars
Audio Listening Level: Easy
The Rosie Project was an international publishing phenomenon, with more than a million copies sold in over forty countries around the world. Now Graeme Simsion returns with the highly anticipated sequel, The Rosie Effect.
At the end of the first book, we leave Don and Rosie happily married and living in New York. Don is a professor of genetics, and Rosie is finishing up her PhD and preparing to enter medical school. We pick up ten months later when Rosie announces that she is pregnant.
From the first book, The Rosie Project, we know that Don is a socially challenged individual whose often inappropriate, although innocent, actions indicate he probably has Asperger’s Snydrome. Adding a pregnancy into the mix gives Don a whole new set of challenges. He now begins researching children with the same zeal that he researched potential girlfriends. For example, following children at the playground is not a good way to learn about them! Well, you get the picture; I won’t spoil the fun.
These are the same likable, fun characters back for another adventure; sort of like tuning in to your favorite sitcom ever week, you pretty much know what to expect. I enjoyed the book and found it entertaining, but it was little too much like the first book and got predictable after a while.
Audio production:
The audiobook was delightfully narrated by Dan O’Grady, whose voice and accent I now associate with the quirky Don Tillman.
This was a quick, easy listen. A good choice for the car or while multitasking. This would also be a good choice for readers new to the audio format with its fun, simple, and easy to follow plot.
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Source: Review copy provided by Simon & Schuster.
© 2015 Under My Apple Tree. All rights reserved.
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I adopted Jentrie, a Senegal Parrot, a few weeks ago. He recently arrived at the bird shelter in need of a new home after his owner of 21 years could no longer care for him. He is still getting used to us but adjusting nicely.
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More Wordless Wednesday. © 2015 Under My Apple Tree. All rights reserved.
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A Rapid Review
The Jaguar’s Children by John Vaillant
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt | January 2015
Format: Hardcover | 288 pages | Rating: 3½ stars
… a gripping survival story of a young man trapped, perhaps fatally, during a border crossing.
Héctor is trapped. The water truck, sealed to hide its human cargo, has broken down. The coyotes have taken all the passengers’ money for a mechanic and have not returned. Those left behind have no choice but to wait.
The entire story is related through Héctor’s point of view. Using his phone, he records sound and text files chronicling the time in the tanker. He spends much of it reflecting back on his life, his family, and his reasons for undertaking this journey.
While the book started out strong, with the opening pages finding everyone already trapped in the tanker for over a day and conditions fast deteriorating, it began to slow down and, at times, drag, as we spent more time on the story of Héctor’s life, his family, and his ancestors in Oaxaca.
The part I found the most compelling and riveting – the survival story itself – was not the primary focus. Other than Héctor’s friend, César, who is with him in the tanker, we learn little about the other people trapped in there. César’s story about a corporate plot to spread GMO seeds with a terminator gene into the wild was fascinating, but only briefly explained towards the end.
This was a compelling plot that could be ripped from the headlines as so many people are willing to risk their lives to cross the border. I would have liked to have heard their stories. And in the end, much is left to our imagination, and for that, the story felt a little incomplete.
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Source: Review copy provided by the publisher.
© 2015 Under My Apple Tree. All rights reserved.
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Welcome to Mailbox Monday, created by Marcia of To Be Continued, a place where readers share the books that came in their mailbox during the last week.
After several years of being on tour with different blogs as the monthly host, the Mailbox Monday Blog is now the permanent home for the meme.
Just when I start to get caught up, I lose two days with a nasty stomach virus. And the irony of it – I’m pretty sure I picked it up at the Doctor’s Office. Ah well, I’m all better now. And a few new books showed up in the mail to cheer me up.
New Arrivals
A Small Indiscretion by Jan Ellison from LibrayThing.
With the brilliant pacing and emotional precision that won Jan Ellison an O. Henry Prize for her first published story, A Small Indiscretion announces a major new voice in suspense fiction as it unfolds a story of denial, obsession, love, forgiveness—and one woman’s reckoning with her own fateful mistakes.
Ask the Dark by Henry Turner from Clarion Books.
Billy Zeets has a story to tell. About being a vandal and petty thief. About missing boys and an elusive killer. And about what happens if a boy who breaks all the rules is the only person who can piece together the truth.
Ella by Mallory Kasdan from Tandem Literary and Penguin Books.
This is ELLA. She is six years old. She lives at the Local Hotel. She has a nanny called Manny. He has tattoos for sleeves and he might go in with some guys to buy a grilled cheese truck.
If Ella and Kay Thompson’s Eloise got together for a play date, they would have a very good time indeed.
Less Medicine, More Health by H. Gilbert Welch from LibrayThing.
The author of the highly acclaimed Overdiagnosed describes seven widespread assumptions that encourage excessive, often ineffective, and sometimes harmful medical care.
How was your week?
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© 2015 Under My Apple Tree. All rights reserved.
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