Audiobook Review: The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill

The Woman in the Library

by Sulari Gentill, audiobook narrated by Katherine Littrell (CD Gentill)

 

Based on the “jacket blurb” description, I thought The Woman in the Library was going to be a “locked room” mystery — four strangers — Winifred “Freddie” Kincaid, Whit Metters, Marigold Anastas and Cain McLeod — are sitting in the central Boston Public Library’s reading room, when a scream rings out elsewhere in the building. Security asks that the foursome remain where they are while the building is searching, and the four strangers share an extended conversation that turns into friendship…except that one of them is a murderer. I presumed that this was going to be a mystery in which all of the action took place in the library, and the tricky, unfolding story would reveal how one of them managed to commit a murder in the library, with the ultimate goal of revealing who the guilty party is.

 

The “blurb” didn’t lie, but my presumption about the book was incorrect. It is, indeed a mystery novel. In fact, it is two mystery novels in one. The mystery of the foursome in the library is merely a work of fiction — the “book within the book”, written by the The Woman in the Library‘s Australian narrator, interspersed with chapters that take the form of letters from a Boston resident to his Australian writer pen pal, which grow increasingly troublesome. The reader must watch as the plots of both the “library” story and the “real world” story increase their levels of tension, and begin to affect each other’s plots.

 

I’ll have to admit, I thought that the endings of both stories felt a touch anticlimactic, and yet I really did enjoy listening to this one in audiobook format. Narrator Katherine Littrell does a terrific job of bringing Freddie Kincaid to life, and I really found myself invested in the lives of the foursome of library customers. And then the plot of the other layer — the correspondence between the novel’s author and her Boston “friend” becomes more and more creepy. All in all, a fun read, and I recommend trying it on audio!

 

( official Sulari Gentill web site )

 

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Audiobook Review: The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece by Tom Hanks

The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece

by Tom Hanks, narrated in audioform by Tom Hanks and many others (Compact Disc Hanks)

 

Oscar-winning actor, producer, director and author Tom Hanks released his first novel in 2023, and it was a terrific read. I greatly enjoyed listening to the audiobook-on-cd version of his first book, Uncommon Type, a collection of short stories, in 2017, so I had my fingers crossed that his first novel, The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece, would similarly come out in audiobook form. I was not disappointed — Tom Hanks is the primary narrator, but is joined by a large number of his entertainment industry friends, to create something that is just shy of a “full cast recording” of this novel.

 

Hanks’ decades of experience in the film industry lend a great deal of authenticity to this oversized tale of movie-making. The stage is set with opening sequences in the 1950s and 1970s, creating some of the background that will come into play in the bulk of the novel. And that bulk is set in the modern era (2020s — COVID-19 is referenced), as a crew and cast is assembled to film a stand-alone entry in a superhero franchise (think the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but under another name), helmed by legendary director Bill Johnson. 60% of this novel then tells of the experiences of a multitude of characters as they participate in the the filming in little Lone Butte, CA, a dusty flyspeck town in northern California. Every moment of this novel is filled with the little details that show how well Hanks knows his topic — central characters aren’t just the big-name actors, but also include associate producers, locals hired to drive or to appear in bit parts, the make-up designers, the stunt coordinators, the families of the cast members, and the security people whose jobs are to prevent overly enthusiastic fans from penetrating the safety bubble around the stars.

 

I loved The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece, and plan to purchase the book-on-CD set. But it isn’t without its flaws. At 417 pages, it feels like it could have used a tighter editorial touch to bring it down to 350 pages. There’s really no “villain” in the story, or sense of over-arching “conflict” — characters that you think are going to be a problem for the central characters are dealt with fairly quickly. Moments that could show the the possibility of critical flaws are glossed over. And some of the film-industry jargon will certainly go over the heads of many readers. But, in the end, this is a loving look at a bunch of creative people combining their talents to make a piece of art that can be appreciated by the rest of the world…and their passion in doing the best job they possibly can is contagious.

 

If you love the film industry and would like a tale that really goes into the nuts and bolts of filmmaking, don’t mind a somewhat slower pace, and love listening to Tom Hanks’ voice, I strongly recommend the audiobook version of The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece. If you’re not a big fan of audiobooks, then I recommend the print version — which includes three graphic novel segments, which are the inspiration for the plot of the movie being made. (Those graphic novels are available to listeners of the audiobook via a weblink.)

 

I was going to give this an “8” due to its slow pace and lack of dramatic conflict, but ultimately choose to give it a “9” because I grew to love all the characters and was very sorry to see the story end.

 

(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try the short story collection Uncommon Type by Tom Hanks, which I also recommend as an audiobook read by Hanks himself.)

 

( Wikipedia page for Tom Hanks )

 

See Scott C.’s review of the audiobook version of Tom Hanks’ short story collection Uncommon Type in the June 2018 Staff Recommendations here on BookGuide!

 

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Audiobook Review: Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney

Daisy Darker
by Alice Feeney (Compact Disc Feeney)

Daisy Darker showed up on many “Best Mysteries/Thrillers of the Year” lists for 2022 releases, so I was excited to read (or listen to) this for the June 2023 meeting of the libraries’ Just Desserts mystery book group. Indeed, I chose to enjoy this as an audiobook-on-cd, narrated by Stephanie Racine.

 

It’s a little hard to effective review this, since Alice Feeney’s stock in trade is mysteries or thrillers with a shocking twist near the end, that completely recalibrates the reader’s interpretation of the novel. In a nutshell, however, this novel features an awkward family reunion on an island off the British coast, isolated until the next day by changing tides. The novel is narrated by Daisy Darker, seemingly the only family member who actually loves her grandmother, Nana, a famed children’s author. When a dramatic death occurs, and it’s only the first of several, the survivors must come to terms with some unresolved issues from the past, while scrambling to survive until the receding tides will allow them to escape in the morning.

 

The suspense ratchets up effectively, though jumping back and forth between modern scenes and flashbacks to the past diminishes some of that building tension. The ultimate twist is telegraphed somewhat early on in the novel, but several of our Just Desserts members were still surprised…which may be reason enough to recommend this title. Personally, I really enjoyed the narration by Racine, so I do recommend Daisy Darker, particularly, as an audiobook. And if you like twisty, turny plots, check out Feeney’s other novels as well!

 

( official Alice Feeney web site )

 

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Audiobook Review: I Have Some Questions For You by Rebecca Makkai

I Have Some Questions For You

by Rebecca Makkai (Downloadable Audio)

 

Your roommate is murdered during your senior year of high school at boarding school. Now you are back to teach a class at your alma mater. Was it really the school athletic trainer who killed her in a love affair/drug deal gone bad? If you had just been more forthcoming and told the police everything you knew back then…

 

A now-famous podcaster and film professor, Bodie Kane, returns to Granby High in New Hampshire to teach a class about podcasts. It’s an emotional return, considering that Bodie’s roommate Thalia Keith was found drown in the gymnasium pool in 1995. The conviction of the athletic trainer Omar Evans never sat well with Bodie. She feels guilty that she initiated the idea that drugs were an issue; Thalia wasn’t into drugs. Bodie never forgave herself for not revealing Thalia may have been having an affair with a teacher. Could that have been a factor in her death?

 

As part of the podcast class, Bodie instructs students to pick an old unsolved crime to review. Of course one of her students picks Thalia Keith — Omar has been looking for a retrial. Bodie struggles with the choice. Will justice really be served by stirring up old secrets? Will she be perceived as a fame seeker? Is everyone better off just moving on?

 

I loved this modern whodunit by award-winning author Rebecca Makkai. I Have Some Questions for You grabs you in the first chapter and keeps you guessing if or how justice will be served. I enjoyed the inclusion of modern elements in Makkai’s novel: the true-crime podcasts, and the social media outrage and trolls. This is the world we have come to live in now. I also am a fan of how the main character envisioned how each suspect could have committed the crime. Don’t we all have a little bit of a dark side?

 

If you love a good mystery, check this one out.

 

(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try One by One by Ruth Ware or The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai.)

 

( official Rebecca Makkai web site )

 

Recommended by Cindy K.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Audiobook Review: Bark to the Future by Spencer Quinn + reminder of tonight's Just Desserts meeting

Bark to the Future
by Spencer Quinn (audiobook-on-cd ordered through InterLibrary Loan — libraries only own in physical book format)

 

This is the 13th entry in the Chet & Bernie mystery series, by Spencer Quinn, which are told from the point-of-view of Chet the dog, the canine partner of private detective Bernie Little. I particularly enjoy all entries in this series as audiobooks, read by James Frangione (which I have had to order through the libraries’ InterLibrary Loan service since the Lincoln City Libraries haven’t been buying the audiobook versions since the 7th in the series back in 2015).

 

In this latest installment (another is due in late 2023), an encounter with a homeless man panhandling at a highway off-ramp turns personal for Bernie, who recognizes the man as a former teammate on Bernie’s high school baseball team. “Rocket” has obviously fallen on some hard times, and may also be facing some mental and emotional challenges. But when the troubled man disappears, Bernie and Chet start digging into his background, as well as the history of some of Bernie’s other former classmates. Included in their investigation are several visits to the “slot canyons” in the desert outside the (unnamed) U.S. Southwestern city where Chet and Bernie live.

 

Frangione once again captures the overly-enthusiastic yet easily distracted voice of Chet’s story narration perfectly. And the unswerving love of Chet for his human “partner” is always appealing in these tales. The fact that this case is so close to Bernie’s own life adds a certain level of poignancy, and even if the ending is a tad bit predictable, the process of getting to that ending is the true joy in reading a Chet & Bernie story.

(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try all of the Chet & Bernie novels and short stories, by Spencer Quinn, preferably as audiobooks if you can find them!)

 

( official Spencer Quinn (a.k.a. Peter Abrahams) web site )

 

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

 

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If you're a mystery fan, you're invited to join us for this month's Just Desserts meeting tonight, May 25th, at 6:30 p.m. in the 4th floor auditorium of the Bennett Martin Public Library downtown at 14th & "N" St. -- this mystery-themed discussion group meets on the last Thursday of each month, January through October. This month's is our annual "Series Share" meeting -- all participants are encouraged to read the first or second entry in any new mystery/suspense/thriller series that has started in the last two years (2021-2023), and report on your opinion about it to the group in a Round Robin discussion format.

 

Even if you haven't read anything for this specific discussion, you can still participate, and learn about great new mysteries to try! For more information, check out the Just Desserts schedule at https://lincolnlibraries.org/bookguide/book-groups/#justdesserts

Audiobook Review: Brief Encounters: Conversations, Magic Moments, and Assorted Hijinks by Dick Cavett

Brief Encounters: Conversations, Magic Moments, and Assorted Hijinks
by Dick Cavett (Compact disc Biography Cavett)

Based on his columns in the New York Times, Cavett reads his own essays about his life growing up in Lincoln, behind the scenes in movies, TV, and Broadway, college life at Yale, and general comments on current events. Probably only interesting to those who remember his TV talk show or appreciate the classic stars and celebrities. His stories, over eight hours on seven discs, were humorous, interesting, and poignant, and ended far too quickly.

 

This recording was a 2015 Grammy nominee for Best Spoken Word Album (losing out to Jimmy Carter reading his own biography). For more Cavett entertainment, the library owns other Cavett books as physical copies and on Hoopla, four various sets of The Dick Cavett Show on DVD, and his interview with John G. Neihardt is on DVD in the Heritage Room.

 

( official Dick Cavett index on the New York Times web site )

 

See Scott C.’s earlier review of Brief Encounters in the July 2015 Staff Recommendations here on BookGuide!

 

Recommended by Charlotte M.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Audiobook Review: Desert Star by Michael Connelly + reminder of this month's Just Desserts meeting tonight

Desert Star
by Michael Connelly (Compact Disc Connelly)

 

Desert Star is the fifth novel by Michael Connelly to feature his newest protagonist, Renee Ballard. At the same time, it is the 24th novel to feature his longest-running series character, Harry Bosch. And Harry’s half-brother, roguish attorney Mickey Haller even pops up in a cameo late in the novel.

 

Ballard first appeared as a solo character in 2017’s The Late Show, but from her second novel onwards, she’s been teamed up with retired detective Harry Bosch in one capacity or another. Following crucial events in 2021’s The Dark Hours, Renee was given the plumb job of heading up a newly revived Open Unsolved Unit, focusing on cold cases, and when she’s given free reign to pick the volunteer researchers she wants to work with…Harry is #1 on her list. Though he’s dealing with some heavy personal baggage in his own life, the opportunity to have access to police resources again to try to close the one big case that has eluded him in his career is enough to pull the aging Bosch onto Renee’s team of volunteer specialists. But before he can focus on the Gallagher Family case, Bosch has to join forces with the other researchers to try to find new leads on the murder of a city councilman’s sister (from two decades ago) — the continued backing of the councilman, for the Open Unsolved Unit may hinge on them making some progress.

 

During the course of this novel, both of these cases reach conclusions, with some shocking developments along the way. The relationship between Renee and Bosch, who’s become a father-like mentor to the young detective, is tested. The dialog, plot and pacing are absolutely top notch — Connelly novels always feel like they’re captures of a bit of the lives of real people doing real jobs. Personally, I’ve listened to all of the Ballard titles as audiobooks-on-cd, and these are some of the absolute best audiobook out there. In the case of the Ballard & Bosch titles, Christine Lakin voices the chapters told from Ballards p-o-v, and Titus Welliver, who has portrayed Harry Bosch in the Amazon streaming series Bosch, voices the chapters told from Bosch’s p-o-v (and in scenes where the two converse, both voices are heard), and in the brief moments where Mickey Haller shows up, he is voiced by Peter Giles — who narrates the audiobooks of Connelly’s Haller novels).

 

I absolutely love these Ballard and Bosch collaborations, and will rue the day when Connelly brings Harry’s long and convoluted literary journey to a conclusion…which, rumor has it, may be coming sooner than his fans may wish.

 

(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try all of the Renee Ballard novels, of which this is the fifth, and the later entries in the Harry Bosch series (which has been going since 1992), particularly those since Harry retired from active police work.)

 

( official Michael Connelly web site )

 

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

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If you're a mystery fan, you're invited to join us for this month's Just Desserts meeting next week, April 27th, at 6:30 p.m. in the 4th floor auditorium of the Bennett Martin Public Library downtown at 14th & "N" St. -- this mystery-themed discussion group meets on the last Thursday of each month, January through October. This month's book assigned topic of discussion is also the title selected for annual statewide One Book One Nebraska reading program, Mignon G. Eberhart's 1930 novel, The Mystery of Hunting's End.

 

Even if you haven't read anything for this specific discussion, you can still participate, and learn about great new mysteries to try! For more information, check out the Just Desserts schedule at https://lincolnlibraries.org/bookguide/book-groups/#justdesserts

Audiobook Review: The Winners by Fredrik Backman, narrated by Marin Ireland

The Winners
by Fredrik Backman, narrated by Marin Ireland (Compact Disc Backman)

Fredrik Backman returns to the characters and settings of Beartown and Us Against You to conclude a trilogy of devastatingly emotional storylines in The Winners. Beartown (2017) was a One Book – One Lincoln finalist in 2018, and introduced us to the small forest towns of Beartown and Hed (in Sweden, though it is never explicitly said), where both communities entire identities were tied into their individual hockey teams. When a rape occurs involving Beartown’s star player and the daughter of the team’s general manager, society breaks down. In Us Against You the possible dissolution of Beartown’s hockey team leads to a new configuration of star players, new types of friendships, and new antagonisms.

 

In The Winners, a few more years have passed, and Beartown hockey is once more on the rise, while a devastating storm destroys Hed’s hockey facility and causes even more friction between the two towns’ fanbases as the two teams must share an arena. Brewing resentments and hatreds slowly percolate beneath the surface, as old friendships are rekindled or re-explored, and characters who found themselves uprooted in the previous books face new beginnings.

 

Backman’s storytelling style, in which, throughout the book he throws in little asides about the long-term future of all the characters, makes you realize that before this book is done, there is going to be a life-changing event that impacts every single one of these people who readers have grown to admire and care about. The tension is slowly ratcheted up bit-by-bit, with occasionally moments of levity. But by the final few chapters you are on the edge of your seat, concerned with who will survive to the final page.

 

I really admired actress Marin Ireland’s narration of The Winners. She manages to create unique voices for nearly all of the characters, making me emotionally buy in to their journey. I generally listened to audiobooks-on-cd in my car, and I can honestly say that I was talking back to my CD player and my eyes were misting over as this story came to its climax. An excellent book, and I’ll only drop it from a “10” to a “9” for some minor pacing issues. Still highly recommended.

 

(You really, REALLY, have to have read/listened-to Beartown and Us Against You before you read/listen-to The Winners. Seriously, take my word for it! Otherwise, the rest of Fredrik Backman’s novels should also appeal to you, although this trilogy is Backman’s darkest works — the rest are significantly darker and more humorous than these three.)

 

( official The Winners page on the official Fredrik Backman web site )

 

See Scott C.’s review of the audiobook of Beartown in the June 2018 Staff Recommendations here on BookGuide!

See Scott C.’s review of the audiobook of Us Against You in the March 2019 Staff Recommendations here on BookGuide!

 

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!