January Audiobooks

It was an interesting month of books. I read fewer books because the last one, Atlas Shrugged, counted for about 5 book on it's own just in length. My biggest disappointments were The Last Palace and Pacific. All of the others were winners. I was so happy to read Atlas Shrugged again, it's one of my favorite books of all time.
What have you been reading? Any good recommedations for the rest of us?

The Last Palace
By Norman Eisen, Narrated By Jeff Goldblum

I was looking forward to reading this book because I know very little about the history of Czechoslovakia. So the first point that needs to be made is that this is not the story of Europe's Turbulence, as the title says. It is barely a history of Czechoslovakia. The premise is that this is the history of Europe told through the history of the inhabitants of this one palace. It is the story of the man who built the palace, the author's family, briefly, the Nazi and then Soviet occupation of the country and of some of the US diplomats who lived in the palace. I felt short-changed on all fronts. 

The main bit of information that I took out of it is that a diplomat fell in love with the palace after WWII and through his machinations we, the US taxpayers, are funding the maintenance and upkeep on an obscene 100 room palace to house our diplomats. That part annoys me no end. The author was the diplomat there during the Obama administration and I have it from a very reliable source that he wasn't a particularly good diplomat. But his own opinion of his effectiveness is very different.

As to the narration, it's horrible. Jeff Goldblum reads this novel the way that an adult reads a children's book with exaggerated intonation. It is soooooo annoying! His voices for female characters are ridiculous and almost offensive. I hope he sticks to acting. I had to listen at 1.3 speed to get through it.

I did finish the book but didn't really learn much new except about the man who built the house and how he destroyed his family relationships in the process. That's not a particularly unique story among the super-wealthy and obsessive.

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A Steep Price
By Robert Dugoni, Narrated By Emily Sutton-Smith

This is #6 in the Tracey Crosswhite series. Crosswhite is a detective in Seattle. She is asked to consult on the case of a missing young woman. She is estranged from her family because she refuses to have an arranged marriage. Meanwhile, back at the office, it seems her boss has discovered that she's pregnant and has already hired her replacement.

This is an enjoyable series. I like the characters and the story line moves along at a good pace. It's not particularly gruesome with details of murder and torture which probably give it a larger potential audience of mystery readers.

The narrator has been narrating most of the series and I'd be disappointed if that changed. Her voice is Tracey to me.

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A Land Remembered 
By Patrick D. Smith, Narrated by George Guidall

A beautifully written book that tells the story of Florida before Disney and the Snowbirds discovered it. The story spans 3 generations of the MacIvey family from the first generation of dirt poor homesteaders to the third generation real estate tycoon. The characters are so well developed that you become completely immersed in their lives. It's a great way to learn a little about the fascinating history of Florida.

It's narrated by George Guidell, one of my favorite narrators. He narrates the Longmire and Mitch Rapp series of books and he does a great job with this one too. This is an "old" book that was published in paper in 1984 and in audio in 2011. I'm glad that Audible featured it as one of it's Daily Deals.

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Pacific
By Simon Winchester, Narrated by Simon Winchester

I really enjoyed Winchester's The Men Who United the States and that's what led me to select this one. The challenge, I think, is trying to write a cohesive book with a giant ocean as the binding theme. I don't feel that he really met that challenge.

Pacific is really a collection of stories about different aspect of the Pacific Ocean from the birth and popularity of surfing, the invention of the transistor radio, beating up Australia for their immigration policies, the rise of North Korea and the Chinese takeover of the Asian Pacific. It was far too random for my taste. There are whole books written on some of the topics that would be better. It's really difficult to go from reading about the moving Gidget to China's desires to take over the world.

He also carried his personal political views into the book much more so than in the last book so the geo-political topics weren't presented in any balanced sort of way. It's not a bad book but I expect that there are better books on these topics.

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Dark Sacred Night
By Michel Connelly, Narrated by Titus Welliver and Christine Lakin

This is the 21st book in the Harry Bosch series and second in Renee Ballard. In the last book Bosch exposes a pill mill in LA and saves one of he victims. The woman he saves is the mother of Daisy Clayton, a 15 year old girl who was abducted and killed some years before. This book picks up where the last left off with Bosh investigating Daisy's cold case.

He's reviews some old files at LAPS when the night detective, Renee Ballard, starts looking into the case with him.

Connelly is doing a nice job of slowly retiring Bosch while bringing along Ballard. The two characters work well together.  That said, it wasn't one of my favorites. Bosch come across as quite lethargic. His wit is gone. Frankly, I'm not convinced that Connelly actually wrote the book. There are lots of little side stories so that, in the end, the Daisy Clayton case is only about half of the book. It was a fine read and I enjoyed it, but it's not vintage Bosch.

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Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
Narrated by Scott Brick

I first listened to Atlas Shrugged in 1998 and with the current political climate I felt it was time for a refresher course. This is no frivolous read. It comes in at 62 hours! But it is probably one of the most prescient books ever written that shows what happens when free will is restricted and wealth is demonized. Rand grew up in Russia during the revolution and she saw her father's business confiscated and the family had to escape to Crimea. She came to the US in 1926 and I think this book shows how a socialist revolution would happen in the US....and how it would be fought.

The hero of this book is John Galt. "Who is John Galt?" is the response to ever new policy/restriction/theft executed against society. John Galt sets out to show what would happen if all of the heroes of innovation and industry went on strike. It's part science fiction (she even references fracking and color TVs in a book written in 1957), part love story, part mystery and part philosophical fiction. I loved this book the first time I read it and I loved it more this time.

A note about listening to this book. I downloaded it from Libby (and had to wait MONTHS to get it). It's a huge book and caused a lot of problems with the app. You have to be really patient with this one. It takes the app a long time to get itself set and ready to go. Many times I had to restart the app. Just be patient. The library really needs to break this into 2 separate downloads.

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