Audio book summary

I enjoy listening to audio books before I fall asleep, but sometimes forget to record which ones I listen too!  Here is a compilation of all I could recall.

Princess Ben - Catherine Gilbert Murdock

Wrapped - Jennifer Bradbury

Boston Jane - Jennifer L. Holm

Book of a Thousand Days - Shannon Hale

Stargirl - Jerry Spinelli

The Selection by Kiera Cass ~ Good :)

Of Poseidon by Anna Banks ~ Great!  Though a few mildly intimate scenes

Twilight by Stephanie Meyer ~ I enjoyed it. I had read it before, and enjoyed listening to it as well.  Again with the intimate.  Not for younger audiences...or listeners or readers

Something like Fate by Susane Colasanti ~ Alright.  It seemed quite popular, which should have been a warning.  No great message, no great plot.  Eh.

Wings, Spells, and Illusions by Aprilynne Pike ~ Fantastic! Love this series! I had read all of these before, but was listening again as a prep for the final book :)

Audio 5 - Stargirl

Stargirl, Jerry Spinelli.  This book was different.  That having been said, I enjoyed it very much!  I'm sure there was some worldview at the end, but it wasn't drastic (that I remember, anyway.)  It was a little sad, the book, but still inspiring.  Some parts were just so simple, but show how complicated we make things...  I liked the reader as well.  He did a very good job.  

"Stargirl. From the day she arrives at quiet Mica High in a burst of color and sound, the hallways hum with the murmur of “Stargirl, Stargirl.” She captures Leo Borlock’s heart with just one smile. She sparks a school-spirit revolution with just one cheer. The students of Mica High are enchanted. At first. 

Then they turn on her. Stargirl is suddenly shunned for everything that makes her different, and Leo, panicked and desperate with love, urges her to become the very thing that can destroy her: normal. In this celebration of nonconformity, Newbery Medalist Jerry Spinelli weaves a tense, emotional tale about the perils of popularity and the thrill and inspiration of first love." - From Amazon

Skyeler

Audio 4 - Book of a Thousand Days

A book by one of my favorite authors: Shannon Hale!  Book of a Thousand Days very good.  I have enjoyed her other books (The Books of Bayern, and Princess Academy) and this one as well.  Perhaps not quite so much as the others, as I did not relate to Dashti so much as Isi or Miri, but the story was very enjoyable.  Full Cast Audio did an amazing job with recording the book! I am rarely let down with their adaptations.

"When Dashti, a maid, and Lady Saren, her mistress, are shut in a tower for seven years for Saren’s refusal to marry a man she despises, the two prepare for a very long and dark imprisonment.

As food runs low and the days go from broiling hot to freezing cold, it is all Dashti can do to keep them fed and comfortable. But the arrival outside the tower of Saren’s two suitors—one welcome, and the other decidedly less so—brings both hope and great danger, and Dashti must make the desperate choices of a girl whose life is worth more than she knows.

With Shannon Hale’s lyrical language, this forgotten but classic fairy tale from the Brothers Grimm is reimagined and reset on the central Asian steppes; it is a completely unique retelling filled with adventure and romance, drama and disguise." - from Amazon

I would suggest reading some books by Shannon Hale; I have read and listened to them several times, and enjoy each book every time I revisit it!

Skyeler

Audio Book 3 - Boston Jane

My third audio book finished this year; Boston Jane by Jennifer L. Holm.  This book was enjoyable.  I definitely liked the reader, who could perform several accents quite well.  The story line was very good, though there were some parts about the Indian's gods which were, though not promoted or demoted, a bit...strange.  There were a few creepy/unnerving scenes with ghosts, of all things, but nothing terribly scary.  All in all it was about a "young lady" on the frontier, and I enjoyed it!  I will probably look for the next book in the series eventually :)

1855. The unknown wilds of the Pacific Northwest—a land not yet tamed, and certainly not fitting for a proper young lady! Yet that’s just where Miss Jane Peck finds herself. After a tumultuous childhood on the wrong side of Philadelphia high society, Jane is trying to put aside her reckless ways and be accepted as a proper young lady. And so when handsome William Baldt proposes, she joyfully accepts and prepares to join him in a world away from her home in Washington Territory. But Miss Hepplewhite’ s straitlaced finishing school was hardly preparation for the treacherous months at sea it takes to get there, the haunting loss she’ll face on the way, or the colorful characters and crude life that await her on the frontier." - Amazon

Skyeler

Audio Book 2 - Wrapped

This is the second audio book I have listened too so far this year: Wrapped by Jennifer Bradbury.  This book is set in the 1800's and was amazing!  The reader also had a lovely voice.  I very much enjoyed listen to her British accent.  Several references to Jane Austen and Mr. Darcy ^_^  A beautiful and intriguing mystery.

"Agnes Wilkins is standing in front of an Egyptian mummy, about to make the first cut into the wrappings, about to unlock ancient (and not-so-ancient) history. 

Maybe you think this girl is wearing a pith helmet with antique dust swirling around her. 

Maybe you think she is a young Egyptologist who has arrived in Cairo on camelback. 

Maybe she would like to think that too. Agnes Wilkins dreams of adventures that reach beyond the garden walls, but reality for a seventeen-year-old debutante in 1815 London does not allow for camels—or dust, even. No, Agnes can only see a mummy when she is wearing a new silk gown and standing on the verdant lawns of Lord Showalter’s estate, with chaperones fussing about and strolling sitar players straining to create an exotic “atmosphere” for the first party of the season. An unwrapping. 

This is the start of it all, Agnes’s debut season, the pretty girl parade that offers only ever-shrinking options: home, husband, and high society. It’s also the start of something else, because the mummy Agnes unwraps isn't just a mummy. It’s a host for a secret that could unravel a new destiny—unleashing mystery, an international intrigue, and possibly a curse in the bargain. 

Get wrapped up in the adventure . . . but keep your wits about you, dear Agnes." - Amazon

Definitely a recommended book!!!

Skyeler

Audio Book 1 - Princess Ben

I also decided to keep track of all the audio books I listen to this year, since I like to listen to them at night before I fall asleep.  The first one I chose (and borrowed from the library's digital library) was Princess Ben by Catherine Gilbert Murdock.  Unabridged, recorded by Brilliance Audio, and read by the author. I did enjoy this book, though not as much as others I have read.  There were some parts that would have made slow reading, but as I was listening to them, I didn't turn it off as I would have set a book down to go do something else for a bit.  Also, as it was read by the author, she put some amusing and enjoyable emphasis into some of the scenes.  The characters were enjoyable, though Ben was not the most charming heroine for a while, until she realized how unkind and apathetic she had been.  Still, the plot was rather good, and I enjoyed following her journey before I fell asleep.

"Benevolence is not your typical princess and Princess Ben is certainly not your typical fairy tale. With her parents lost to unknown assassins, Princess Ben ends up under the thumb of the conniving Queen Sophia, who is intent on marrying her off to the first available “specimen of imbecilic manhood.” Starved and miserable, locked in the castle’s highest tower, Ben stumbles upon a mysterious enchanted room. So begins her secret education in the magical arts: mastering an obstinate flying broomstick, furtively emptying the castle pantries, setting her hair on fire . . . But Ben’s private adventures are soon overwhelmed by a mortal threat facing the castle and indeed the entire country. Can Princess Ben save her kingdom from annihilation and herself from permanent enslavement?"  From Amazon

Skyeler