Audiobooks In General Archives - Page 6 of 18

Codenpendence, Eating Disorders, Abortion as Well as Many Others…”I’m Fine…And Other Lies”, by Whitney Cummings

You expect a book by Whitney Cummings, stand-up comic, actor and creator/co-creator of two network sitcoms, including the long-running “Two Broke Girls” would be funny. What you wouldn’t expect is that her memoir “I’m Fine … And Other Lies” would be such a frank, deeply moving account of her experiences with codependence, eating disorders, abortion, consent, fertility as well as many others.

“I feel I had dealt with a lot of my codependence in my personal life and professional life but it still was rearing its ugly head in other ways,” she told me. “Codependence is like a game of whack-a-mole. You think you’ve dealt with one part, another part pops up.”

“I so badly wanted everything to be easy that I ignored reality,” she continued. “The same mentality can be, ‘Oh, this guy will change. He’s done this with every other woman but if I just love him enough, he’ll change.’ Or, ‘My boss yells at me every day but if I just dress a certain way or get this brief in on time, she’ll stop.’ These things that we tell ourselves to self-soothe but ultimately end up putting us in dangerous situations, for me is a slippery slope.”

The theme of her book mimics her comedic style. There will be honesty and humor enough for any “2 Broke Girl” fan.

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Reinforcing the Idea That We Owe our Forefathers Much Respect….”Killing England”, by Bill O’Reilly

It has become a very popular series of books from authors, Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard, and the latest, Killing England, is considered by some to be the best yet. Some readers say that this book about the Revolutionary War, told through the eyes of George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and King George III, is a true chronicle of America’s battles to become independent of England. A protest resulted in a world war that would bring many casualties and create complete chaos.

It has always been a horrendous thought of how savage the combat in such a war must have been. Fighting face to face, hand to hand until death is the true brutality of such a war. The authors give realistic accounts of some of the iconic battles such as Yorktown, Bunker Hill, Saratoga, and Long Island. The real characters come to life as they are either brave Americans or known traitors. The book demonstrates how people who really want their lives bettered can accomplish the impossible.

Some readers may get a better idea of the roots of American Democracy, and why so many are so angrily defending the National Anthem and Flag. Killing England reinforces the ideas that we owe our forefathers the respect for all they endured to create our independent country. Being a former history teacher, O’Reilly is adept in presenting the subject with historical accuracy. Not only is the book narrative given from the American leaders, but also from the points of view of the English Monarchy, and even explains French society at the time of the war. In the words of one reader……..it is both an amazing and very instructional read.

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Like a Ghost, the Evil is not Easily Found…”Haunted”, by James Patterson

In this latest edition of the Detective Michael Bennett saga, James Patterson, in collaboration with James O. Born, presents a very satisfying, yet disturbing, novel following one of New York City’s premier investigators. Michael Bennett and his family have planned a much needed get away, and what better place than a small town in the heart of Maine. Bennett had been pushed to his limits by a series of several crisis situations, so a vacation seemed like a perfect remedy.

Once the Bennett family gets settled in for their hard earned vacation, almost immediately Michael was approached by the local authorities, asking if he could help them stop an evil perpetrator from destroying their population of children. The challenge for this street-wise investigator is that the existing evil in the town is like a ghost…….not easily found……or it might be next door. Once Detective Bennett gets involved in the case, the evil not only threatens law enforcement, the towns people, but also Bennett’s own beloved family.

A young “earthy” girl who has nobody to support her ends up being a partner, of sorts, in the solving of this mystery. The girl is haunted by what she knows, and it is a race against time before others will be statistics. What seemed like the idyllic small town in which to decompress became anything but for the Bennett family.

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Morphing Into his Victims Thoughts and Becoming Their Worst Nightmare…”It”, by Stephen King

For anyone who is already fearful of clowns, author, Stephen King’s novel, It, will be a true reading and watching nightmare. King has an amazing talent for bringing out the very worst (or the best depending how you look at it) in his maniacal, extremely clever, wicked main characters. Such is the character in It, who is Pennywise, the evil clown, who can morph himself to fit his victims thoughts. Quite a nightmare for those who try to stop him.

The place is Derry, Maine, which seems to have a deep, dark hold on author King. Back in the day, there were seven teenagers who survived the attack of children by something that came up from the sewer to hideously murder children. It picked on those who had various types of negativity in their lives. The seven teens had abusive or ill- caring parents, poverty, illness, ethnicity, a stutter, obesity, and chronic short-sightedness. As adults, they vowed to return to their hometown to confront the evil without a name…….It.

The newer movies by screenwriter Gary Dauberman and Muschietti, splits the book into two parts. This gives more detail ad attention to the teenagers, then the same in adulthood. The movie works well because it takes time with the kids, showing their comradeship as much as their fears. It is recommended to read and watch Stephen King’s It in a well-lit environment.

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Not Even Children are Safe…”Jack & Jill”, by James Patterson

Jack and Jill, another in the Alex Cross series of detective mysteries by American author, James Patterson, is another nail biting novel depicting a complex search to find the perpetrators of various murders in the Washington, DC area. The most disturbing of them being the murder of a child……not even children are safe.

A Senator is found murdered and then, the unthinkable, a little girl is found murdered ad left in front of the elementary school where Alex Cross’s son attends. As Cross is feverishly trying to connect the dots to the murders, the killer, or killers, strike again. It seems that only Alex Cross has the skills to expose the killer, but will he figure it out in time?

In this, the author’s third novel about police detective and psychologist, Alex Cross, he presents a true roller coaster of a heart pounding, intense, jolting plot………giving credence to those who say that James Patterson is “the aster of the nonstop nightmare”.

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Untold Heroism…”Sons and Soldiers: The Untold Story of the Jews Who Escaped the Nazis and Returned With the U.S. Army to Fight Hitler”, by Bruce Henderson

There have been numerous books written about Nazis Germany and the Holocaust, but the non-fiction book, Sons and Soldiers, is a very unique story among all others. It is the little known story of ten teenage, German Jews, and their fight to survive by escaping to the United States. Once safe, they wanted to do something to help, as well as be able to search for the families they left behind.

The U.S. Army considered the German-born Jewish boys to be an invaluable secret weapon in defeating Adolf Hitler. There were 2,000 of them who joined with small, elite interrogation teams throughout Europe. They would interrogate POWS, obtaining crucial information that ultimately helped save American lives and assisted in the victory over Hitler.

The ten who were featured in Sons and Soldiers, were called the Ritchie Boys, because they went through training at Fort Ritchie in Frederick, Maryland. Their interrogations provided key tactical intelligence on the strength of the enemy, troop and armored personnel movement, and defensive positions. It was discovered after the war, that the Ritchie Boys alone were responsible for 60% of the intelligence information collected!

Reviews for Sons and Soldiers are glowing from readers who previewed the novel. The subtitle gives the description pretty accurately…….The Untold Stories of the Jews who Escaped the Nazis and Returned with the US Army to Fight Hitler. Henderson writes the true story behind these ten brave young men, and their mission to defeat Hitler, and to also search for relatives who had been left behind.

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Skeletons of Scandal, Violence, and Murder in the Closet…”Crime Scene”: A Novel by, Jonathan Kellerman and Jesse Kellerman

The American team of father and son, Jonathan Kellerman and Jesse Kellerman have co-authored a page turning fictional novel entitled, Crime Scene: The Novel. A star athlete turned coroner’s investigator is drawn into a brutal, complicated murder. The novel is a true example of a psychological thriller at its best.

Clay Edison is the Kellerman’s main character, the coroner’s investigator whose normal job capacity entails determining natural causes or foul play in each body he examines. Figuring out motives and chasing down suspects is not a normal part of his job description. What should have been an open and shut case proves to be anything but that.

A loyal and defiant daughter of a dead professor convinces Clay to take a closer look at her father’s death. What appeared to be a nasty, fatal fall down the stairs turns out to be a grim and brutal murder. One key piece of information Clay finds is that a colleague of the professor had died in almost the same manner. The dead professor had many skeletons in his closet involving scandal, violence, and the murder of a coed.

The authors know they have a truly great work created when author, Stephen King says of the father and son writing team……… “Brilliant page turning fiction……..A rare collaboration where the sum is truly greater than the parts…….an extraordinary work of detection, suspense, and supernatural mystery”.

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Out For Revenge….”House of Spies”, by Daniel Silva

In quoting one reader………many thriller writers are writing about ISIS, but few grasp its history or even the fundamental nature of its barbarity. Instead, they plug into a cookie cutter plot and promote the result as something profound, when it is anything but……and worse are the authors who bash readers with their personal politics rather than being creative enough to give their characters life with actions that reveal what the author is “trying” to communicate. That quote, in this reader’s opinion, is such a fair and very impressive comment on the honesty and integrity written into the new book by author, Daniel Silva. As a continuation of his best seller of 2016, The Black Widow, his new offering, House of Spies continues the work of Gabriel Allon, who is out for revenge. He is dead set on hunting down a despicable, dangerous terrorist who goes by the name of Saladin.

Gabriel Allon has now assumed the position of chief of the Office, another term for Mossad, in Israel. Various other Silva characters have been brought back into House of Spies to help enrich and embolden the plot. As does usually happen, one loose end that is overlooked by the ISIS mastermind, gives Gabriel something to cling to as he begins to get closer to the world’s most dangerous terrorist.

Even after a long, successful string of novels, Silva still finds new ways to create surprises for his readers. One had assumed that once Gabriel Allon was said to have left field work, his importance might be insignificant. But with genius writing and character development, Gabriel will still carry the novels to come.
House of Spies “is just the type of relentless, high powered, headline – beating thriller that readers have come to expect from Daniel Silva, one of the truly great, must-read authors of his time.

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From Alternating Points of View, Family Issues, and an Epilogue…”Local Girl Missing”, by Claire Douglas

Just the title is chilling enough in today’s world, but the brand new book from author Claire Douglas might just surpass the thrill of the title, Local Girl Missing. It has all the components of what an excellent mystery should have…….suspense, mystery, makes your heart race, from alternating points of view, family issues, and an epilogue.

The two main characters, Francesca and Sophia have been friends what seems like forever. Frankie is a well to do, only child type who has beauty, money, and attention. Sophie is much quieter, preferring to curl up with a book, and lives an ordinary, non-dramatic life with her mother and brother. The big clue to everything is the age-old story of two friends falling for the same guy. Never good! As the mystery unfolds with twists and turns across almost two decades, Sophie’s remains have surfaced, and her older brother asked Frankie to return to their little seaside town to help solve the mystery of Sophie’s death. Thus begins the alternating points of view……….. Frankie gives the present day, and Sophie tells her story to the reader through her diary.

It has been called a perfect thriller, beautifully written, a page turner, with great character description, and great plots that connect all the dots. A challenge is to see if the reader can figure out the mystery before the end of book reveal……..and no cheating!

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The Miracle Of Dunkirk, “Dunkirk”, by Joshua Levine

We have all heard about the battle of Dunkirk with the Allied troops against Hitler’s Nazi army. It was truly a miracle that 400,000 Allied troops were trapped against the coast of Dunkirk, and sure to perish. However, 338,000 of those troops were rescued, and within eleven days were evacuated into England. Many wondered how that was possible against such a forceful army as Nazi Germany.

Author, Walter Lord took on the task of laying out the happenings of May 24, 1940 in the same methodical, deliberate method with which he wrote his most famous, acclaimed book, Titanic: A Night to Remember. It is said that he is so precise in his detail that he documented the sound in Titanic by counting the number of plates, cups, and pieces of glass that were breaking all at once. Some have said that had Lord only written that one book, he would still be the favorite author of many.

The Miracle of Dunkirk is a fast paced novel, with no explanations of how the Allied troops got themselves into that position in the first place, but jumps right into the rescue. Lord’s “in the weeds” perspective is focused on individuals, not a chain of events leading up to the battle, which some critics find to be problematic. But many wholeheartedly agree with the author’s method because he introduces interesting characters, from the soldier waiting to be rescued, to the captains dodging German torpedo boats, even including civilian day-sailors crossing the Channel to lend assistance. This rescue of so many by non-military transports surpasses any other similar attempt. Lord was totally immersed into the experiential aspect of the situation.

The Miracle of Dunkirk will be adapted to screen by Dark Knight director, Christopher Nolan. The film will be called Dunkirk and was shot in IMAX, and is a big budget film, retelling the BEF’s remarkable escape.

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