Month: December 2019

4/5 Stars: The Great Bobbert by Debbie Manber Kupfer

Julie Gilbert Audiobooks, children's , ,
Cover from Audible.

Narrated by George Sirois

Run Time:

4 Minutes (Story is ~3.5 min; 30 seconds is about the author)

Summary:

Pretty sure this review will be longer than the entire book. It’s a cute story set in the P.A.W.S. world. Bobbert is a clown hanging around a park where he thinks he sees a kangaroo.

Additional Comments:

  • Kid-safe.
  • I don’t remember much about the P.A.W.S. world, but I do remember the name of one of the side characters mentioned in here.
  • Not sure why it needs to be its own book, but if you’re a fan of the world, it’s a nice enhancement piece.

Conclusion:

Cute story, but going for the record of the shortest story I’ve ever heard.

Associate links to follow…

Note: I’m starting to use a few ad sites for audiobooks, so codes are disappearing quickly.

Available Audiobooks: I have free codes for almost everything. That will change very soon.

New Release: The Shadow Council Series 1: Money Makes it Deadlier – An FBI agent gets caught up in a robbery gone wrong.

Shadow Council Book 2: Revenge Makes it Sweeter – A midnight summons calls FBI Special Agent Megan Luchek into a fight for a young girl’s life.

Shadow Council Book 3: Christmas Makes it Chaos – The FBI agent gets a strange ally in the quest to prevent chaos from rocking a lot of people’s holiday season.

Shadow Council Book 4: Treachery Makes it Tense – The agent and the assassin have to team up if they want to survive.

Shadow Council is also available as a ~13 hr bundle.

The Collins Case – 2 FBI agents track down a kidnapped family. Kid friendly.

If fantasy’s more your thing, go Redeemer Chronicles. The first, Awakening, is available as an audiobook.

Ashlynn’s Dreams Shorts – a kid deals with her parents’ divorce, bullies, and the wonder of discovery.

Try The Dark Side of Science – Genetically altered kids fight for the right to live.

Beyond Broken Pencils – Contemporary literary tale of a school shooting. Ian unleashes his inner demons on his classmates and teachers…

Scratched Off – FBI agent vs a serial killer. When Sam Kerman sets out to hunt a serial killer, he has no idea how personal the case will become.

3.5/5 Stars: Sally Stanford: California’s Grand Bordello House Madam by Alton Pryor

Julie Gilbert Audiobooks, Based on True Story, Nonfiction , ,
Rather awesome cover from audible

Narrated by Curt Troutwine

Run time: 2 hrs, 20 min

Summary:

It’s actually only about ½ about Sally Stanford. Then, it goes into a litany of about 6-8 other madams. Interesting history, but it reads like a book report.

Additional Comments:

  • Please note that I’m not a huge non-fiction fan, so I tend to get nitpicky.
  • Not sure why the title centers in on Sally when the second half is about other people. It’s slightly misleading. Should have been something like Sally Stanford and other Dynamic Bordello House Madams that Shaped the West (or something like that).
  • The author is 110% on the side of the House Madams and vilifies the somewhat corrupt committees that tried time and again to shut them down.
  • It’s definitely a unique topic. Seems well researched.
  • Relatively clean, despite the topic. Still, wouldn’t exactly file under clean reads.
  • I’m totally blanking on Sally Stanford’s real name now, but it was interesting to see how she chose her new name.

Conclusion:

If you’re up for learning more about a slightly shady side of history, this worth checking out.

Associate links to follow…

Note: I’m starting to use a few ad sites for audiobooks, so codes are disappearing quickly.

Available Audiobooks: I have free codes for almost everything. That will change very soon.

New Release: The Shadow Council Series 1: Money Makes it Deadlier – An FBI agent gets caught up in a robbery gone wrong.

Shadow Council Book 2: Revenge Makes it Sweeter – A midnight summons calls FBI Special Agent Megan Luchek into a fight for a young girl’s life.

Shadow Council Book 3: Christmas Makes it Chaos – The FBI agent gets a strange ally in the quest to prevent chaos from rocking a lot of people’s holiday season.

Shadow Council Book 4: Treachery Makes it Tense – The agent and the assassin have to team up if they want to survive.

Shadow Council is also available as a ~13 hr bundle.

The Collins Case – 2 FBI agents track down a kidnapped family. Kid friendly.

If fantasy’s more your thing, go Redeemer Chronicles. The first, Awakening, is available as an audiobook.

Ashlynn’s Dreams Shorts – a kid deals with her parents’ divorce, bullies, and the wonder of discovery.

Try The Dark Side of Science – Genetically altered kids fight for the right to live.

Beyond Broken Pencils – Contemporary literary tale of a school shooting. Ian unleashes his inner demons on his classmates and teachers…

Scratched Off – FBI agent vs a serial killer. When Sam Kerman sets out to hunt a serial killer, he has no idea how personal the case will become.

Audiobook Reviews 4/5 Stars: Will There be Watermelons on Mars by Debbie Manber Kupfer

Julie Gilbert Audiobooks, drama, short stories , , , ,

Narrated by Jennifer Bossio

Summary:

I’m not sure if it’s one story or two, but it sounded like two short stories about the end of the world in Jerusalem.

Additional Comments:

  • Susie’s story is short and bittersweet.
  • Na’ima’s story is short and hopeful. Couldn’t tell what her significant other’s name was, Reuben or Reuven.
  • The whole book was 35 minutes long. Makes me wonder how long the manuscript is.
  • Not exactly an action-packed story, but the author has a lot of experience writing tiny tales that are more like life vignettes.
  • The narrator had a nice voice. I listened at 1.5x because 2.5x was too fast to follow with her lovely accent. 1x would have been horribly slow.

Conclusion:

If you’re in the mood for a quirky short, give this a shot.

Associate links to follow…

Note: I’m starting to use a few ad sites for audiobooks, so codes are disappearing quickly.

Available Audiobooks: I have free codes for almost everything. That will change very soon.

New Release: The Shadow Council Series 1: Money Makes it Deadlier – An FBI agent gets caught up in a robbery gone wrong.

Shadow Council Book 2: Revenge Makes it Sweeter – A midnight summons calls FBI Special Agent Megan Luchek into a fight for a young girl’s life.

Shadow Council Book 3: Christmas Makes it Chaos – The FBI agent gets a strange ally in the quest to prevent chaos from rocking a lot of people’s holiday season.

Shadow Council Book 4: Treachery Makes it Tense – The agent and the assassin have to team up if they want to survive.

Shadow Council is also available as a ~13 hr bundle.

The Collins Case – 2 FBI agents track down a kidnapped family. Kid friendly.

If fantasy’s more your thing, go Redeemer Chronicles. The first, Awakening, is available as an audiobook.

Ashlynn’s Dreams Shorts – a kid deals with her parents’ divorce, bullies, and the wonder of discovery.

Try The Dark Side of Science – Genetically altered kids fight for the right to live.

Beyond Broken Pencils – Contemporary literary tale of a school shooting. Ian unleashes his inner demons on his classmates and teachers…

Scratched Off – FBI agent vs a serial killer. When Sam Kerman sets out to hunt a serial killer, he has no idea how personal the case will become.

Awesome Audiobooks 4.5/5 Stars: Alistair by Debbie Manber Kupfer

Julie Gilbert Audiobooks, Fantasy, short stories , ,
cover from audible

Narrated by Matt Lovell

Duration: 16 minutes

Summary:

Alistair, a character from the author’s main series (P.A.W.S.), tells the tale of his childhood to his apprentice, Joshua.

Additional Comments:

  • I don’t think the word apprentice ever appeared, but they’re sitting there playing chess. The relationship seemed very master/apprentice like.
  • Fantastic performance.
  • For such a short story, there’s a lot packed in here. Though it firmly fits in the fantasy genre, certain themes are very relevant.

Conclusion:

I kind of expected to find the book meh because I didn’t like him in the regular series, but the story’s dark and compelling and definitely worth hearing.

Associate links to follow…

Note: I’m starting to use a few ad sites for audiobooks, so codes are disappearing quickly.

Available Audiobooks: I have free codes for almost everything. That will change very soon.

New Release: The Shadow Council Series 1: Money Makes it Deadlier – An FBI agent gets caught up in a robbery gone wrong.

Shadow Council Book 2: Revenge Makes it Sweeter – A midnight summons calls FBI Special Agent Megan Luchek into a fight for a young girl’s life.

Shadow Council Book 3: Christmas Makes it Chaos – The FBI agent gets a strange ally in the quest to prevent chaos from rocking a lot of people’s holiday season.

Shadow Council Book 4: Treachery Makes it Tense – The agent and the assassin have to team up if they want to survive.

Shadow Council is also available as a ~13 hr bundle.

The Collins Case – 2 FBI agents track down a kidnapped family. Kid friendly.

If fantasy’s more your thing, go Redeemer Chronicles. The first, Awakening, is available as an audiobook.

Ashlynn’s Dreams Shorts – a kid deals with her parents’ divorce, bullies, and the wonder of discovery.

Try The Dark Side of Science – Genetically altered kids fight for the right to live.

Beyond Broken Pencils – Contemporary literary tale of a school shooting. Ian unleashes his inner demons on his classmates and teachers…

Scratched Off – FBI agent vs a serial killer. When Sam Kerman sets out to hunt a serial killer, he has no idea how personal the case will become.

Audiobook Reviews 4/5 Stars: The Wide Awake Loons by Katherine L. Holmes

Julie Gilbert Audiobooks, children's, Family, nature , , , ,

Narrated by Aven Shore

Summary:

The story revolves around a lake. Part of the time, we observe the daily kid-adventures of Wes and Ginny who spend the summer canoeing. The other part, we see the lives of the loon family of Owala and Yudal and their chicks.

Additional Comment:

  • I’m used to a very different type of book, but this one was okay as a change of pace.
  • Much of the story felt like it lacked a conflict, but that got sorted by the end.
  • Would probably mean more if you lived near a lake or got to visit a summer house near a lake.
  • Seems high on details about the inner workings of loon lives, so I guess it could be considered educational too.
  • The performance worked well.
  • Not really feeling the cover or the title. I get that it’s about loons, but if I just saw the cover, I’d think “boring nature thingy” not fiction anything. Yes, I’m judging the book based on cover. People do it all the time. You see shirtless dude, you think trashy romance. You see photo of an actual loon, the brain says book equivalent of a nature documentary. The title sounds documentary-esque too.

Conclusion:

Kid-safe story. The awkward tagline sort of spells things out. (It’s about a girl, a loon family, and their lives which revolve around the lake.)

Associate links to follow…

Note: I’m starting to use a few ad sites for audiobooks, so codes are disappearing quickly.

Available Audiobooks: I have free codes for almost everything. That will change very soon.

New Release: The Shadow Council Series 1: Money Makes it Deadlier – An FBI agent gets caught up in a robbery gone wrong.

Shadow Council Book 2: Revenge Makes it Sweeter – A midnight summons calls FBI Special Agent Megan Luchek into a fight for a young girl’s life.

Shadow Council Book 3: Christmas Makes it Chaos – The FBI agent gets a strange ally in the quest to prevent chaos from rocking a lot of people’s holiday season.

Shadow Council Book 4: Treachery Makes it Tense – The agent and the assassin have to team up if they want to survive.

Shadow Council is also available as a ~13 hr bundle.

The Collins Case – 2 FBI agents track down a kidnapped family. Kid friendly.

If fantasy’s more your thing, go Redeemer Chronicles. The first, Awakening, is available as an audiobook.

Ashlynn’s Dreams Shorts – a kid deals with her parents’ divorce, bullies, and the wonder of discovery.

Try The Dark Side of Science – Genetically altered kids fight for the right to live.

Beyond Broken Pencils – Contemporary literary tale of a school shooting. Ian unleashes his inner demons on his classmates and teachers…

Scratched Off – FBI agent vs a serial killer. When Sam Kerman sets out to hunt a serial killer, he has no idea how personal the case will become.