Kindle Customer

A nice antidote to House of Mirth

Revisado: 05-26-23

As a happily married wife, mother of four, and teacher, I loved this story. I devour anything that Wharton wrote, but found myself frustrated while reading this as I saw many of the same themes found within House of Mirth. But the hopeful ending as opposed to the dreary one of House was much more to my liking. House seemed to say, “Life without money isn’t worth living. Love isn’t worth having if one must live in penury to obtain it.” This lovely little story argued the flip side of that coin. The love of family is worth more than diamonds and pearls. I especially liked it when Susie realized her perpetual lack of funds must be her payment for being blessed with so much love. It’s hokey, I know, and I can see how House was a higher quality piece of literature. But sometimes we need a happy ending!

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Distracting unnecessary mood music

Revisado: 04-05-23

I’ve been interested in the Jonestown massacre for years, so I was excited when a friend told me about this podcast. Unfortunately, the producers thought the tapes weren’t compelling enough on their own. All of the transmissions have creepy background music that makes the already-sketchy-sounding recordings almost impossible to hear. The story and the tapes are fascinating enough, so why on earth did they feel it necessary to include the scary movie soundtrack? I doubt I’ll finish the podcast. The music is too annoying.

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Lots of theology

Revisado: 12-18-22

I wish I would’ve read the afterword first. He tells us that his original plan for the book was to explore religious conviction and then he narrowed his book to an exploration of Mormonism. I was hoping for a book more like In Cold Blood. While this has elements of a true crime novel, there is A LOT of talk about religion in general. In fact, it seems the entire thesis of the book is that organized religion is bollocks. Hm. So says Jon Krakauer.

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Classic for a reason

Revisado: 11-26-22

There is a reason you’ve heard of this novel before. It’s wonderful. Literally a masterpiece. The story is horrifying and the cast of characters are so vibrant and compelling here almost 70 years later! If you haven’t read this book yet and you’re a fan of true crime or just beautiful writing, do yourself a favor and put this one on your to-read list. I literally could not put it down.

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Why not let the Russian sound Russian?

Revisado: 09-23-22

Perhaps it is a little-known fact to RandomHouse Audio or whatever, but the Russian accent (much like the French) is quite pleasing to the mundane American listening ear. Especially one who listens to audiobooks as a form of escapism (guilty). Certainly if they knew this, they would’ve allowed the lovely, native Russian narrator to inject at least a hint of her lilting accent into a story set in Ivan the Terrible’s Russia. I mean, it’s a bit jarring to hear Baba Yaga speak her lines in a perfect imitation of an educated American. I mean, sure, if they wanted to have the narration sound American for clarity or something, sure, that might pass. But, c’mon! The dialogue is in American, too???? Why spend all that time locating a voice actor who is Russian in order to narrate a Russian story and then BEAT all traces of accent out of her? I’m only a few minutes into the story and, I don’t care how compelling things may get, the fake American accent just might be a deal-breaker. Keep you posted!

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Amazing author!

Revisado: 09-01-22

I have read all of Ariana Franklin’s historical fiction published under the name Diana Norman. I’m not very interested in murder mysteries, but this tale was incredibly immersive and very satisfying. Henry II is also a particular favorite of mine, so his role as deux ex machina was much appreciated. I can’t wait to read about the further adventures of Mistress Doctor!

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Fantastically horrifying!

Revisado: 08-21-22

This book was straightforward and well-written. I got it for free in Prime. I wish all Prime offerings were this good!! I even recommended it to my brother who gobbled it up more quickly than I did!

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Awful narration!

Revisado: 08-04-22

I’m not finished with this book yet, but whoa. The narration is awful. Seeing as how the book is set in old Eastern Europe, couldn’t they at least have gotten someone who can do accents….ANY accents???? The guy reading this is all-American who doesn’t even attempt to make the dialogue sound believable. Just his flat, boring man-voice. Ugh. Horrible.

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A lot about police

Revisado: 07-31-22

If you’re a police buff, this one is for you. I read this book because I read and enjoyed another one of his books (The Cases That Haunt Us). That one spent more time digging deeply into cases. Mindhunter flits from one case to another, giving cursory details about how he saved the day in each. There was a lot about him and his personal journey. I’m not saying that’s bad. It just wasn’t what I was looking for. Great narration, though.

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Really interesting true crime

Revisado: 07-20-22

I really enjoyed this story, although I had to wonder if the author wasn’t building himself up a bit by saying how he kept beating everyone else’s butts in jail. But, hey, maybe he did? It made for good reading anyways.

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