Weekly Round-Up 6/30

Weekly Round-Up is my wrap-up of last week's activities and includes what I'm reading this week, reviews I've posted, books in the mail and anything else of interest plus From the Library, my weekly listing of what I've checked out from the library.

I'm reading Once Upon a Thriller by Carolyn Keene (Nancy Drew Diaries) and All Joy and No Fun by Jennifer Senior. I'm listening to Chronicles of the Red King: The Secret Kingdom by Jenny Nimmo, read by John Keating.

Last week I reviewed The Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie, narrated by Richard E. Grant. 

This week on SYNC you can download Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick, narrated by Noah Galvin (Hachette Audio) and October Mourning: A Song for Matthew Shepard by Lesléa Newman, narrated by Emily Beresford, Luke Daniels, Tom Parks, Nick Podehl, Kate Rudd, Christina Traister (Brilliance Audio). Downloads are free till Wednesday.
Thursday the new downloads are Torn from Troy by Patrick Bowman, narrated by Gerard Doyle (Post Hypnotic Press) and Peter and the Starcatchers by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson, narrated by Jim Dale (Brilliance Audio)

Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie, read by Full Cast. 6 hours, 54 minutes

An international cast of suspects, all passengers on the crowded train, are speeding through the snowy European landscape when a bizarre and terrible murder brings them to an abrupt halt. One of their glittering number lies dead in his cabin, stabbed a mysterious twelve times. There is no lack of clues for Poirot - but which clue is real and which is a clever plant?  

Chronicles of the Red King: The Secret Kingdom by Jenny Nimmo, read by John Keating. 5 hours, 43 minutes.

An extraordinary quest, a magician’s powers, and the journey to find a kingdom.... Timoken is a prince from a secret kingdom. Before his birth, a forest-jinni bestowed upon him two magical gifts: a cloak made from the web of the last moon spider, and a potion called Alixir, the water of eternal life. Yet in exchange for the protection of these gifts, Timoken will always have one foot in the world of men and the other in the strange world of magic. When his peaceful kingdom is suddenly attacked, Timoken, and his sister, Zobayda, flee in search of a new land to call home, with only the jinni’s gifts and a talking camel. But the journey is wrought with danger, as Timoken and Zobayda are being hunted by viridees - evil creatures from the realm of enchantments that desperately seek the moon cloak. If Timoken ever hopes to escape the viridees and find a new kingdom, he must learn to harness his powers, and trust those he meets along the way. 

The Private School Murders by James Patterons and Maxine Paetro (Confessions series #2), read by Emma Galvin. 7 hours, 36 minutes.

Tandy Angel may have played the hero when she solved the case of her magnificently wealthy parents' mysterious deaths, but she isn't done yet. Her brother, Matthew, stands trial for homicide, young girls are found murdered all around New York's Upper West side, and Tandy is determined to use her piercing intellect to get to the bottom of both cases. But the biggest mystery of all may be what actually happened to James Rampling, the handsome son of a family enemy, whom Tandy fell in love and ran away with - though most of her memories of the affair are disturbingly absent....
The confessions keep coming as Tandy delves even deeper into her own tumultuous history and the skeletons in the Angel family closet.

Once Upon a Thriller by Carolyn Keene (Nancy Drew Diaries #4)

Nancy and her friends need more than book smarts to get to the bottom of a literary mystery in this fourth book of the Nancy Drew Diaries, a new take on the classic series.

A rash of crimes in a neighboring town—a blazing fire at a bookstore, a boat that sinks in the harbor, and a valuable dog’s dognapping—are eerily similar to the plots from famous mystery writer Lacey O’Brien’s popular books. So who’s behind the crimes? Could it be Lacey looking for publicity? One of Lacey’s superfans? Or maybe it’s Paige Samuels, owner of the bookstore that burned. Nancy, Bess, and George will have to read between the lines as they dig deep into a dangerous mystery.

 

The Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie (audio)

When  Colonel Protheroe is found dead at the vicarage, it causes quite the stir in St. Mary Mead. Even after there are two confessions, the police and the townsfolk are wondering how it happened. But little old Miss Marple is the one who solves the case.

I read a lot of Agatha Christie as a teenager, like a lot. But it's been a while so when SYNC offered up The Murder at the Vicarage I knew I had to give it a listen. And I'm glad I did. I love a good murder mystery especially one that features Miss Marple who is clearly one of the best detectives ever conceived. It's interesting that everyone views her as a nosy old lady even the vicar at the start of the book. But by the end he comes to respect her keen observation powers and skills at deduction. Miss Marple is an example to us all.

I don't remember reading this book though I'm sure I did so I couldn't remember the solution. It was simple yet not at all obvious like most of Christie's mysteries. I didn't remember it being from the vicar's view point but I liked that. He had the most clues and was the most involved so it makes sense. Now I feeling like a mystery kick and will have to grab a few more Agatha Christie mysteries.

Weekly Round-Up 6/23

Weekly Round-Up is my wrap-up of last week's activities and includes what I'm reading this week, reviews I've posted, books in the mail and anything else of interest plus From the Library, my weekly listing of what I've checked out from the library.

I'm reading  All Joy and No Fun by Jennifer Senior. I'm listening to The Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie, narrated by Richard E. Grant.

Last week I reviewed Confessions of a Murder Suspect by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro, narrated by Emma Galvin.

This week on SYNC you can download I’d Tell You I Love You, But THen I’d Have To Kill You by Ally Carter, narrated by Renée Raudman (Brilliance Audio) and Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery, narrated by Colleen Winton (Post Hypnotic Press).  Downloads are free till Wednesday.
Thursday the new downloads are  Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick, narrated by Noah Galvin (Hachette Audio) and October Mourning: A Song for Matthew Shepard by Lesléa Newman, narrated by Emily Beresford, Luke Daniels, Tom Parks, Nick Podehl, Kate Rudd, Christina Traister (Brilliance Audio).

Confessions of a Murder Suspect by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro (Confessions #1) (audio)

Tandy Angel is a member of the elite Angel family, known for their perfectionism and lack of emotion. Some people call them sociopaths, she just thinks of them as family. When her parents are found dead in their room, the police suspect foul play and everyone including the Angel kids are under suspicion.

Confession: I found Tandy Angel extremely hard to relate to, but then she is almost the exact opposite of me. Her parents have encouraged, beyond encouraged, made her into a emotionless, laser focus practically automaton. So much so I expect the big reveal to be that Tandy and her brothers were created in a lab of some kind. Not quite it turns out, but close (unless that comes up in the next book).  She methodically tries to find out who killed her parents believing she has a better shot than the police and in the midst of her investigation, without her parents' influence, she beings to develop emotions as more and more of the Angel parents' secrets come to light. In the end I still wasn't attached to Tandy or any of her brothers but the story was good and the mystery was interesting (even if the solution was a cop-out).

Highlight for SPOILERS:
The fact that the death of her parents was suicide felt completely like a cop-out though it does fit with how selfish and irresponsible Malcolm and Maude were. They didn't care at all about their kids judging by how they used to them to test out drugs and made them into emotionless robots or try to anyway. And the saddest thing in the whole book was the ending where the Angel children try to convince themselves their parents loved them. The suicides were anti-climatic after learning so much about them and how they handled their personal AND professional lives. Also why would it say in a journal on Tandy that she can read for 6 hours without moving but then the cameras were hidden cameras leading to the neighbors apartment? Malcolm at least would have had to review the footage himself to know what the kids were doing so that couldn't have been a secret. That last part was confusing. It was just a too easy way to show that the parents had committed suicide and to wrap up the book. (end)

6 hours, 3 minutes

Emma Galvin narrates this books and she does a good job of capturing Tandy's emotionless state and then later the one where she starts to gain emotions. I enjoyed her reading. My only issue with the audiobook is that there were sometime long pauses between chapters. It's like they took the CD version and transfer it directly to mp3 without taking out the change of CD pause. The first time it happened I thought my device had failed or something. So that was disconcerting.

Weekly Round-Up 6/16

Weekly Round-Up is my wrap-up of last week's activities and includes what I'm reading this week, reviews I've posted, books in the mail and anything else of interest plus From the Library, my weekly listing of what I've checked out from the library.

I'm reading  All Joy and No Fun by Jennifer Senior. I'm listening to Confessions of a Murder Suspect by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro, narrated by Emma Galvin.

Last week I reviewed The Reluctant Assassin by Eoin Colfer, read by Maxwell Caulfied.

This week on SYNC you can download Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein, narrated by Morven Christie and Lucy Gaskell (Bolinda Audio) and The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom, John Sherrill, Elizabeth Sherrill, narrated by Bernadette Dunne. Downloads are free til Wednesday.
Thursday the new downloads are I’d Tell You I Love You, But THen I’d Have To Kill You by Ally Carter, narrated by Renée Raudman (Brilliance Audio) and Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery, narrated by Colleen Winton (Post Hypnotic Press). 

The Reluctant Assassin by Eoin Colfer (W.A.R.P. #1) (audio)

Riley, a teen orphan boy living in Victorian London, has had the misfortune of being apprenticed to Albert Garrick, an illusionist who has fallen on difficult times and now uses his unique conjuring skills to gain access to victims’ dwellings. On one such escapade, Garrick brings his reluctant apprentice along and urges him to commit his first killing. Riley is saved from having to commit the grisly act when the intended victim turns out to be a scientist from the future, part of the FBI’s Witness Anonymous Relocation Program (WARP). Riley is unwittingly transported via wormhole to modern day London, followed closely by Garrick.

In modern London, Riley is helped by Chevron Savano, a nineteen-year-old FBI agent sent to London as punishment after a disastrous undercover, anti-terrorist operation in Los Angeles. Together Riley and Chevie must evade Garrick, who has been fundamentally altered by his trip through the wormhole. Garrick is now not only evil, but he also possesses all of the scientist’s knowledge. He is determined to track Riley down and use the timekey in Chevie’s possession to make his way back to Victorian London where he can literally change the world.
 
Eoin Colfer always delivers even if it takes me a while to get into it. I wasn't too keen on Chevie at first. She seemed too much a FBI agent stereotype but I think, in the end, that was the point of her. She was trying so hard to be a grownup and fit into the idea she had of being an FBI agent and then things get out of hand and way beyond her wildest dreams or experiences. Meanwhile, Riley is a more sympathetic character who is pretty smart for a kid who was essentially raised by a psychopath. But then I guess you'd have to be to stay alive for any length of time. I enjoyed the, as a team and I was glad that they got together quickly and any mistrust between was done away quickly. It made the story stronger.

Time travel can be hard to do but if you largely ignore the science, then it is usually fun. The Reluctant Assassin largely ignores the science and I think the consequences don't show up til the 2nd book based on the description I read of that one. This is sort of a science fiction mystery with a bit of thriller thrown in as Riley and Chevie run from the madman Garrick literally through time. Thrown in are bits of Riley's past and how Chevie got into the FBI in the first place. It was slow to start for me but then, when it took off it was really good and I look forward to the next book.

 

9 hours, 29 minutes

Maxwell Caulfield is the narrator who in my mind is from Grease 2 and Empire Records but that might show my age. Anyway, he also co-narrated Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell when I wondered how he'd do with an entire book and I got my answer. Pretty good it turns out. He has a good voice for the reading though his distinct voices need work. I also feel like this book would done well with a female narrator but I didn't mind Caulfied at all.

Weekly Round-Up 6/9

Weekly Round-Up is my wrap-up of last week's activities and includes what I'm reading this week, reviews I've posted, books in the mail and anything else of interest plus From the Library, my weekly listing of what I've checked out from the library.

I'm reading  All Joy and No Fun by Jennifer Senior. I'm listening to The Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie, Narrated by Richard E. Grant

This week on SYNC you can download All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill, narrated by Meredith Mitchell (Tantor Audio) and Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, performed by Richard Dreyfuss, JoBeth Williams, Stacy Keach, Kelsey Grammer, and a full cast (L.A. Theatre Works)
Thursday the new downloads are Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein, narrated by Morven Christie and Lucy Gaskell (Bolinda Audio) and The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom, John Sherrill, Elizabeth Sherrill, narrated by Bernadette Dunne (christianaudio).

Weekly Round-Up 6/2

Weekly Round-Up is my wrap-up of last week's activities and includes what I'm reading this week, reviews I've posted, books in the mail and anything else of interest plus From the Library, my weekly listing of what I've checked out from the library.

I'm reading  All Joy and No Fun by Jennifer Senior. I'm listening to WARP: The Reluctant Assassin by Eoin Colfer, narrated by Maxwell Caulfield.

This week on SYNC you can download Confessions of a Murder Suspect by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro, narrated by Emma Galvin (Hachette Audio) and The Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie, narrated by Richard E. Grant (Harper Audio). Downloads are free til Wednesday.
Thursday the new downloads are All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill, narrated by Meredith Mitchell (Tantor Audio) and Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, performed by Richard Dreyfuss, JoBeth Williams, Stacy Keach, Kelsey Grammer, and a full cast (L.A. Theatre Works)