October Audiobooks

I spend entirely too much time on YouTube watching chateau renovations, crochet videos and such. That has taken some of my reading time but I still managed to finish 6 books this month and made it part way through 2 more. This month I've added a TLDR feature. Every time I write a review I seem to have a one sentence review in my head. Now I"m writing them down.

By far, my favorite book of the month was Listen For The Lie. Aside from the DNF books, none of them were bad.

What book recommendations do you have from your reading this month?

DNF:
Guardians of the Valley by Dean King - It's the story of John Muir and after 2 hours I was kind of bored, unfortunately. It might be a narrator problem. I'll probably look for this in paper.
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The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon - This is a very popular book but, 3 hours in, and I realized I wasn't paying attention​

The Glassmaker
By Tracy Chevalier, Read By Lisa Flannigan

TLDR: Started strong but lost steam as centuries passed.

The story opens in Murano in 1486. Orsolo Rosso is the daughter in a family of glassmakers on the island of Murano. Her father dies in a studio accident and the family struggles to make ends meet. Her brother isn't quite mature enough to run the shop successfully. Orsolo is introduced to the skill of bead making as a way to bring in extra money for the family.

I love glass and I  love history, I was hooked after the first chapter. But then there's this "stone skipping" that happens between chapters. You, the reader are skipping a stone and time moves forward decades. The people of Murano age slower parallel to the universe so that Orsolo is still living during the 2019 pandemic. 

I suppose the purpose was to tell the story of Orsolo and her family, but also tell the whole history of Murano glass. It's was a clever plot tool but I'm no fan of time travel stories. I also felt it got a little slow in the last third. Living for 600 years could possibly become a drag.

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Listen For The Lie
By Amy Tintera, Read By January LaVoy and Will Damron

TLDR: Perfect melding of crime podcast into a crime novel with great narration.

One night Lucy was found wandering the streets covered in her best friend's blood. Savvy was found bludgeoned to death in the woods. Lucy doesn't remember anything. 

Everyone thinks Lucy did it but there's not enough evidence to charge her. Lucy's wealthy husband divorces her and Lucy leave her small town in Texas for LA.

Several years later a popular podcast, Listen For The Lie, decides to take up this cold case. Part of the objective is to get Lucy's memory back.

There have been several books lately that integrate a podcast into the story but, in my opinion, none have done it as well as this book. If you decided to give it a try, consider the audiobook because the narration is outstanding. January LaVoy is masterful at doing Lucy and her inner demon that talks to her often.

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The Midnight Feast
By Lucy Foley, read by a cast

TLDR: A good story but very much like her previous books

Lucy Foley has a template so if you like a previous book, you will like this one. They are all very similar in setting, storyline and character type. 

Francine grew up in The Manor and has now inherited it. She's reimagined it as a luxury hotel and the book opens at the opening. She has meticulously curated the experience for her guests and planned a Midnight Feast for the Solstice.

​There are secrets on this estate and in the town. Many of those secrets go back to when Francine (Frankie) was a teenager. Unknown to her, old friends and foes are among the guests and staff. 

It moves along quickly and, like all of her books, there's some mysticism, half-told stories, darkness, and a young, arrogant, unlikable protagonist.

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First Lie Wins
By Ashley Elston, Read By Saskia Maarleveld

TLDR: One of Charlie's Angels goes rogue in an outrageously complex tale.

This one requires you to pay close attention because there are dozens of twists as the story goes back and forth in time.

Evie Porter has a mystery boss: Mr. Smith and she's just met her new mark, Ryan Sumner. The problem is that Evie actually likes her relationship with Ryan. But Evie's past is super complex, starting with her life of thievery as a teen trying to care for her dying Mom. 

After being caught, she was "saved" by Mr. Smith and started working for him on "special cases". 

This book is really different but also very complex. Every chapter has a twist as it goes between her various jobs and current day. If you are looking for a different kind of mystery, you might like this one.

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Hello Beautiful
By Ann Napolitano, Read By Maura Tierney

TLDR: Family saga with a nod to Little Women. Great character development.

William Waters was born as his young sister was dying. His parents never recovered from their grief. He was greatly affected by their neglect. He found solace in basketball. 

When he went to college he met Julia Padavano and, through her family of 4 sisters, he found family. William has never really dealt with and recovered from his childhood neglect. Stresses of life after graduation cause a crisis in his life and in the lives of the Padavano family.

It's a story of family loyalty, love, betrayal and forgiveness. The characters were very well developed and sympathetic.
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Vanished Arizona
By Martha Summerhayes

TLDR: Very interesting diary of an Army wife in post-Civil War Arizona.

I picked up this book when we were on Tucson last January and just got around to reading it this month. It was fascinating!

Martha Summerhayes was raised in new England and Germany. After the Civil War she returned to America and married an Army officer not having any idea of what her life would be like.

They were immediately stationed in rugged and undeveloped Arizona. The book was put together after they retired from the Army and it's based on the collections of letters that she sent home. It's really fascinating  and very readable. Chris enjoyed it too.

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