Susan
- 14
- reviews
- 20
- helpful votes
- 58
- ratings
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The Casual Vacancy
- By: J.K. Rowling
- Narrated by: Tom Hollander
- Length: 17 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 3,235
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,515
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Story4 out of 5 stars 2,512
When Barry Fairbrother dies in his early 40s, the town of Pagford is left in shock. Pagford is, seemingly, an English idyll, with a cobbled market square and an ancient abbey, but what lies behind the pretty facade is a town at war. Rich at war with poor, teenagers at war with their parents, wives at war with their husbands, teachers at war with their pupils.... Pagford is not what it first seems. And the empty seat left by Barry on the parish council soon becomes the catalyst for the biggest war the town has yet seen.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Stick with it
- By Amazon Customer on 05-10-12
- The Casual Vacancy
- By: J.K. Rowling
- Narrated by: Tom Hollander
Dreadful, too dull for words
Reviewed: 16-06-24
This was like listening to paint dry. One dimensional characters. I did not invest in any of them. The story line turgid and boring. I struggled to get as far as I did. One third in and yet no sense of any building tension, plot twists……come to think of it no plot at all. I abandoned it so may have missed a plague, murder spree or plane crash.
Life is too short to waste time reading bad books!
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A History of Loneliness
- By: John Boyne
- Narrated by: Owen McDonnell
- Length: 11 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 820
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 744
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Story5 out of 5 stars 743
Odran Yates enters Clonliffe Seminary in 1972 after his mother informs him that he has a vocation to the priesthood. He goes in full of ambition and hope, dedicated to his studies and keen to make friends. Forty years later, Odran’s devotion has been challenged by the revelations that have shattered the Irish people’s faith in the church. He has seen friends stand trial, colleagues jailed, the lives of young parishioners destroyed and has become nervous of venturing out in public for fear of disapproving stares and insulting remarks.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Utterly compelling
- By Karen on 25-07-20
- A History of Loneliness
- By: John Boyne
- Narrated by: Owen McDonnell
Thought provoking at times humorous
Reviewed: 18-05-24
Very thought provoking book. A very serious subject but John Boyne humour was laced through out. The observationist humour was not done to minimise the seriousness of the subject matter, its use was appropriately timed within the story.
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A Pocketful of Happiness
- By: Richard E. Grant
- Narrated by: Richard E. Grant
- Length: 8 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 992
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 906
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Story5 out of 5 stars 900
Born in Swaziland in 1957, Richard E. Grant moved to the UK to pursue his acting career and has been a fixture on our screens since his breakout role in Withnail and I in 1987. When his beloved wife, Joan, died in 2021 after almost 40 years together, she set him a challenge: to find a pocketful of happiness in every day. The result is this book.
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5 out of 5 stars
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moved but baffled
- By Amazon Customer on 04-10-22
- A Pocketful of Happiness
- By: Richard E. Grant
- Narrated by: Richard E. Grant
Beautiful and touching…..
Reviewed: 09-10-22
Joan would be so humbled Swazi boy. Beautiful and touching. A true love story, so rare in show business.
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Happy-Go-Lucky
- By: David Sedaris
- Narrated by: David Sedaris
- Length: 7 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 641
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 577
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 574
Back when restaurant menus were still printed on paper, and wearing a mask—or not—was a decision made mostly on Halloween, David Sedaris spent his time doing normal things. As Happy-Go-Lucky opens, he is learning to shoot guns with his sister, visiting muddy flea markets in Serbia, buying gummy worms to feed to ants, and telling his nonagenarian father wheelchair jokes. But then the pandemic hits, and like so many others, he's stuck in lockdown, unable to tour and read for audiences, the part of his work he loves most.
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5 out of 5 stars
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latest and possibly last excellent work by maestro
- By Julian Konczak on 19-06-22
- Happy-Go-Lucky
- By: David Sedaris
- Narrated by: David Sedaris
My favourite so far….
Reviewed: 03-06-22
Not recommended reading when you are in public places as it’s laugh out loud funny!
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The Heart's Invisible Furies
- By: John Boyne
- Narrated by: Stephen Hogan
- Length: 21 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 8,065
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 7,375
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Story5 out of 5 stars 7,371
Cyril Avery is not a real Avery, or at least that's what his adoptive parents tell him. And he never will be. But if he isn't a real Avery, then who is he? Born out of wedlock to a teenage girl cast out from her rural Irish community and adopted by a well-to-do if eccentric Dublin couple via the intervention of a hunchbacked Redemptorist nun, Cyril is adrift in the world, anchored only tenuously by his heartfelt friendship with the infinitely more glamourous and dangerous Julian Woodbead.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Phenomenal
- By Kerri on 19-02-17
- The Heart's Invisible Furies
- By: John Boyne
- Narrated by: Stephen Hogan
Wonderful ……
Reviewed: 26-06-21
One of the best books I have ever “read”. The narrator was wonderful great characterisation. Desperately sad at times, funny in equal measure.
I loved it !
.
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Finding Freedom
- Harry and Meghan and the Making of a Modern Royal Family
- By: Omid Scobie, Carolyn Durand
- Narrated by: Omid Scobie
- Length: 11 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall3.5 out of 5 stars 726
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Performance3.5 out of 5 stars 627
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Story3 out of 5 stars 631
For the very first time, Finding Freedom goes beyond the headlines to reveal unknown details of Harry and Meghan’s life together, dispelling the many rumours and misconceptions that plague the couple on both sides of the pond. As members of the select group of reporters that cover the British royal family and their engagements, Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand have witnessed the young couple’s lives as few outsiders can.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Boring
- By Marjory on 11-08-20
- Finding Freedom
- Harry and Meghan and the Making of a Modern Royal Family
- By: Omid Scobie, Carolyn Durand
- Narrated by: Omid Scobie
Dire.
Reviewed: 16-09-20
This is just a love fest for these two. Not objective journalism. Written like fairy story.
I couldn’t stomach more than one chapter.
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Me
- Elton John Official Autobiography
- By: Elton John
- Narrated by: Elton John, Taron Egerton
- Length: 12 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 5,044
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 4,513
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Story5 out of 5 stars 4,497
In Me Elton writes powerfully about getting clean and changing his life, about finding love with David Furnish and becoming a father. In a voice that is warm, humble and open, this is Elton on his music and his relationships, his passions and his mistakes. This is a story that will stay with you, by a living legend.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Don't expect Elton to read this...
- By Aimee on 01-12-19
- Me
- Elton John Official Autobiography
- By: Elton John
- Narrated by: Elton John, Taron Egerton
Eagerly awaited......
Reviewed: 16-10-19
I pre ordered this book and luckily it was released whilst I was on holiday so I had the time to listen to it in one sitting. On one level it was a fascinating read. Funny and frank, Elton not afraid to tell all about his long career in show business warts and all, and there are plenty of warts. Whilst I learnt a great deal more than I knew about his life away from his flamboyant stage shows, including his coke and alcohol fuelled antics, his insatiable, unsatisfying sexual encounters, his more recent ill health I was left feeling ‘short changed’ because Elton completely ‘skipped over ‘ the super injunction debacle of most recent times. Despite discussing his relationship with David, his husband, including revealing David’s alcoholism, this is one area of his private life that he ignored. His silence on this issue and the state of his relationship with David remains at odds with his frankness on all other areas of his life’s experiences. I was eager to hear Elton’s take on those events and expected his usual frankness but he chose not to shine a light on this aspect of his life so I felt that the book painted a ‘rose tinted’ picture of happy family life when it’s clear all is not domestic bliss.
Overall entertaining, however I thought Elton’s own reading sounded like he was breaking in a new pair of false teeth!
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4 people found this helpful
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The Tattooist of Auschwitz
- By: Heather Morris
- Narrated by: Richard Armitage
- Length: 7 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 18,498
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 16,643
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Story5 out of 5 stars 16,607
The Tattooist of Auschwitz is based on the true story of Lale and Gita Sokolov, two Slovakian Jews who survived Auschwitz and eventually made their home in Australia. In that terrible place, Lale was given the job of tattooing the prisoners marked for survival - literally scratching numbers into his fellow victims' arms in indelible ink to create what would become one of the most potent symbols of the Holocaust.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Heart-rending story, sensitively narrated.
- By bookylady on 01-03-18
- The Tattooist of Auschwitz
- By: Heather Morris
- Narrated by: Richard Armitage
Quality of the recording spoiled the experience...
Reviewed: 12-10-19
Very sadly this recording was spoilt by the poor quality of the audio book. Shame.
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1 person found this helpful
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Go Set a Watchman
- By: Harper Lee
- Narrated by: Reese Witherspoon
- Length: 6 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 1,621
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,482
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Story4 out of 5 stars 1,488
Scout (Jean Louise Finch) has returned to Maycomb from New York to visit her father, Atticus. She is forced to grapple with issues both personal and political as she tries to understand both her father's attitude toward society and her own feelings about the place where she was born and spent her childhood.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Ignore all the hype - just listen!
- By Rachel Redford on 27-07-15
- Go Set a Watchman
- By: Harper Lee
- Narrated by: Reese Witherspoon
Dreadful
Reviewed: 27-07-15
Downloaded this book because I was curious to read it after all the publicity. I found it dry and uninteresting. If it wasn't for the fact that it was written by Harper Lee the author of 'To Kill A Mocking Bird' this book would have sunk without trace.
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1 person found this helpful
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The Code of the Woosters
- By: P. G. Wodehouse
- Narrated by: Jonathan Cecil
- Length: 7 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 123
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 89
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 89
Take Gussie Fink-Nottle, the soupy Madeline Bassett, old Pop Bassett, the unscrupulous Stiffy Byng, the Rev. H.P. ('Stinker') Pinker, an eighteenth-century cow-creamer, a small brown leather-covered notebook, and mix well with a liberal dose of aged relative Aunt Dahlia, and there you have it, a dangerous brew which spells toil and trouble for Bertie and some serious thinking for Jeeves.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Worst Soundtrack I've Heard
- By Barry Griffiths on 21-05-15
- The Code of the Woosters
- By: P. G. Wodehouse
- Narrated by: Jonathan Cecil
Sound quality is poor....
Reviewed: 28-06-15
I do adore the PG Wodehouse books narrated by Jonathan Cecil. However the sound quality on this book was atrocious, and completely ruined the listening experience
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4 people found this helpful