Reviews of Social Commentary Audio Books

Mystic River by Dennis Lehane

Mystic River
Author: Dennis Lehane
Reader: Scott Brick
Short Review: A well-read, strong mystery with one major flaw.
Long Review: I’ve been sitting on this review for ages, because I like almost everything about this book except for the thing I absolutely hate about it. And of course, I can’t explain what I dislike about the book without [...]

By Lanea | Find more reviews of Intrigue Audio Books, Mystery Audio Books | , , | Comments (0)

Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides

Middlesex: A Novel
Available from Audible.com
Author: Jeffrey Eugenides
Reader: Kristoffer Tabori
Short Review: A novel I absolutely love, full of gorgeous language, beautifully-rendered characters, and entrancing history and myth. Tabori’s reading is downright fantastic, and Eugenides remains one of the most talented writers of his generation. This is one of the best books I’ve ever read [...]

By Lanea | Find more reviews of Award Winning Audio Books, Funny Audio Books, Historical Fiction Audio Books | , , | Comments (0)

Rag and Bone Shop by Robert Cormier

Rag and Bone Shop
Author: Robert Cormier
Reader: Scott Shina
Short Review: Cormier’s final novel, published posthumously, read by the talented Scott Shina. It’s disturbing, and upsetting, and good despite its flaws.
Long Review: The title alone would have made me listen to this audiobook. I am an obsessive W.B. Yeats fan, [...]

By Lanea | Find more reviews of Intrigue Audio Books, Mystery Audio Books, Young Adult Audio Books | , , | Comments (0)

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

The Hunger Games
Available from Audible.com

Author: Suzanne Collins
Reader: Carolyn McCormick
Short Review: Creative, captivating and intense young-adult drama with a strong 16-year-old female protagonist and set in a brutal far-future. Decent reader, but I kept wishing for a bit more emotion in her reading. That said, the story was so captivating that I couldn’t stop listening!
Long [...]

By Jeanne | Find more reviews of Sci-fi Audio Books, Young Adult Audio Books | , , | Comments (0)

Skinny Dip by Carl Hiaasen

Skinny Dip
Author: Carl Hiaasen
Reader: Stephen Hoye
Short Review: An engaging, funny, environmental crime novel set in the Florida Everglades. Hiaasen is a gem, and Hoye is good but doesn’t shine quite as brightly.
Long Review: As the book opens, Hiaasen has us witness an attempted murder at sea. The beautiful young [...]

By Lanea | Find more reviews of Funny Audio Books, Mystery Audio Books | , , | Comments (0)

Making Money by Terry Pratchett

Making Money
Author: Terry Pratchett
Reader: Stephen Briggs
Short Review: This follow-up to Going Postal follows Moist Von Lipwig as he embarks on a new venture: running the Mint at the all-too-pointed behest of Lord Vetinari. Briggs, as usual, reads well and beautifully. Pratchett, as usual, is funny and satirical. What’s not to love?
Long [...]

By Lanea | Find more reviews of Fantasy Audio Books, Funny Audio Books | , , | Comments (0)

The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly

The Book of Lost Things
Author: John Connolly
Reader: Steven Crossley
Short Review: A decent book with a major flaw, read beautifully by Steven Crossley. Connolly’s book starts out as a promising depiction of the interior life of a bookish, depressed boy with apparently undiagnosed epilepsy and OCD. Unfortunately, it continues on into an all-too-familiar [...]

By Lanea | Find more reviews of Award Winning Audio Books, Fantasy Audio Books, Historical Fiction Audio Books, Irish Audio Books, Mythology Audio Books, Young Adult Audio Books | , , | Comments (2)

Anathem by Neal Stephenson

 Anathem
 Author: Neal Stephenson
 Reader: Oliver Wyman, Tavia Gilbert, William Dufris, Neal Stephenson
 Short Review: A pretty good but overly long book from one of my favorite authors, read less-than-ideally. This alternate future tale depicts a world where the intellectual elite are forcibly cloistered in pseudo-monastic communities around the world where they’re free to think and [...]

By Lanea | Find more reviews of Alternate History Audio Books, Audio Books Read By The Author, Fantasy Audio Books, High Tech Fiction Audio Books, Sci-fi Audio Books | , , , , | Comments (4)

The Yiddish Policemen’s Union by Michael Chabon

The Yiddish Policemen’s Union: A Novel
Author: Michael Chabon
Reader: Peter Riegert
Extra features: The audiobook includes an interview with Michael Chabon about his inspiration for the book, his favorite books and genres, and his writing process.
Short Review: Chabon’s Hugo and Nebula award-winning alternate history of a world without Israel but with a temporary Jewish [...]

By Lanea | Find more reviews of Alternate History Audio Books, Award Winning Audio Books, Intrigue Audio Books, Mystery Audio Books, Mythology Audio Books, Native American Audio Books, Sci-fi Audio Books | , , | Comments (1)

Thud! by Terry Pratchett

Thud! (A Discworld Novel)
Author: Terry Pratchett
Reader: Stephen Briggs
Short Review: This fun, funny, and often thoughtful story follows Sam Vimes as he investigates the murder of dwarven leader Grag Hamcrusher. Vimes is a father and husband, an unwilling member of the nobility, Commander of the watch, and a good old copper. He is [...]

By Lanea | Find more reviews of Fantasy Audio Books, Funny Audio Books, Intrigue Audio Books, Mystery Audio Books, Vampire Audio Books | , , | Comments (1)