Penelope Diamanti
- 12
- reviews
- 15
- helpful votes
- 143
- ratings
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War Cry
- A Courtney Family Novel
- By: Wilbur Smith, David Churchill
- Narrated by: Sean Barrett
- Length: 17 hrs
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 218
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 197
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 196
As a member of the remarkable Courtney family, Leon Courtney knows how quickly fortunes can be won and lost. Over the course of more than two centuries, generations of his family have risen and fallen with the tides of history. Leon, too, has experienced his own share of triumph and pain. In the wake of his beloved wife's death, the renowned big-game hunter is raising his young daughter, Saffron, alone in colonial Kenya.
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5 out of 5 stars
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FABULOUS
- By Michele Haines on 12-12-19
- War Cry
- A Courtney Family Novel
- By: Wilbur Smith, David Churchill
- Narrated by: Sean Barrett
Accurate depiction of life in colonial EastAfrica
Reviewed: 01-11-25
Accurate desscriptions of life in colonial east Africa Strong female characters
Engaging story that pulls you in and makes you want the next book
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Sylvia's Second Act
- A Novel
- By: Hillary Yablon
- Narrated by: Jane Oppenheimer
- Length: 11 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 162
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 153
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 153
When sixty-three-year-old Sylvia finds her husband in bed with the floozy of their Boca retirement community, she’s shocked and furious . . . at first. By the time her head stops spinning, Sylvia realizes that actually, this isn’t what she wants anymore anyway. So she enlists her best friend, the glamorous older widow Evie, to join her in setting up a new life in Manhattan. Sylvia’s ex-husband may have lost her life savings, but Sylvia and Evie are scrappy and determined, unopposed to pawning jewelry and roughing it in tiny apartments.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Wonderful Listen
- By Iteachart on 06-26-24
- Sylvia's Second Act
- A Novel
- By: Hillary Yablon
- Narrated by: Jane Oppenheimer
Finally! grownups in starring roles
Reviewed: 01-03-25
Dialog humor mostly strong female adult lead characters and the recognition that life and sex don’t end at 50 Hurray for second acts
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Without a Trace
- By: Danielle Steel
- Narrated by: Nick Mills
- Length: 6 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 657
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 586
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Story4 out of 5 stars 587
Charles Vincent seems to have it all—a beautiful wife, two successful children, and a well-paying career. Yet happiness remains out of reach. He is trapped in a loveless marriage and his job is simply a paycheck. But his life changes forever as he drives along the Normandy coast, heading to their lavish château for the weekend. In one terrifying moment, Charles falls asleep at the wheel and veers off the road, plunging thirty feet down the face of a rocky cliff. Miraculously, Charles survives.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Hard time finishing
- By Jltrova on 06-30-24
- Without a Trace
- By: Danielle Steel
- Narrated by: Nick Mills
Terribe writing reads like juvenile fiction written by AI
Reviewed: 11-18-24
Tooal waste of money can’t bear listening any more Moronic redundat writing and reader makes it even worse Can’t believe this is written by a famous writer So cliche and flat I suspect it’s written by AI Anyway I’m not wasting any more of my time
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Dark Harbour
- By: Abi Hynes, Victoria Rigby, Somalia Nonye Seaton, and others
- Narrated by: full cast
- Length: 7 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 65
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 61
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Story4 out of 5 stars 60
1812. In Bath and London, Jane Austen's characters are attending balls, and the Bridgerton family are making waves in Regency high society. But these are the grimy streets of Liverpool: a city where the extreme wealth of international commerce meets brothels and brawls, smugglers and secrecy; where both high and low society operate amidst revolutionary rumblings from France and the shadow of the recently abolished slave trade.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Stunning
- By Bobby B on 10-15-23
- Dark Harbour
- By: Abi Hynes, Victoria Rigby, Somalia Nonye Seaton, Helen Simmons
- Narrated by: full cast
Annoying dramatization and music
Reviewed: 07-20-24
Hard to even grasp the story with too much intrusive noise and music Almost all characters seem unsympathetic with little hope for a good outcome so I quit
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The Bird Hotel
- A Novel
- By: Joyce Maynard
- Narrated by: Joyce Maynard
- Length: 12 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 650
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 576
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 576
After a childhood filled with heartbreak, Irene, a talented artist, finds herself in a small Central American village where she checks into a beautiful but decaying lakefront hotel called La Llorona at the base of a volcano.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Review of ‘The Bird Hotel’.
- By g. marks on 11-13-23
- The Bird Hotel
- A Novel
- By: Joyce Maynard
- Narrated by: Joyce Maynard
I’ve lived in this lake too
Reviewed: 11-04-23
I too have found my home away from home on the shores of lake Atitlan and this book portrays the place and the people with gread depth of understanding and love.
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The Lion of Venice
- By: Mark Frutkin
- Narrated by: David DeSantos
- Length: 6 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall2.5 out of 5 stars 4
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Performance2.5 out of 5 stars 3
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Story2.5 out of 5 stars 3
This magical new audiobook by Mark Frutkin, set in 13th century Venice and Cathay, is a dazzling fresco of shimmering language, brimming with golden tableaus of arid deserts and cobblestone alleys, the wafting scent of cardamom and the mystical trill of a praying friar. It is the story of Marco Polo, as he is about to set sail on an arduous and lengthy pilgrimage with his father, uncle, and faithful guide across the sun-soaked silk route - the rich path of the carpet-makers and the black seas of the Indian Ocean.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Horrible reader
- By Penelope Diamanti on 08-25-23
- The Lion of Venice
- By: Mark Frutkin
- Narrated by: David DeSantos
Horrible reader
Reviewed: 08-25-23
Unbearable reader could not finish
Overdoneannoying distracting had to give up after several tries Bea reading totally owerwhelmed the story
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The Tuscan Contessa
- By: Dinah Jefferies
- Narrated by: Imogen Church
- Length: 12 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall3.5 out of 5 stars 11
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Performance3.5 out of 5 stars 11
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Story3.5 out of 5 stars 11
In 1943, Contessa Sofia de' Corsi's peaceful Tuscan villa among the olive groves is upturned by the sudden arrival of German soldiers. Desperate to fight back, she agrees to shelter a wounded British radio engineer in her home, keeping him hidden from her husband, Lorenzo - knowing that she is putting all of their lives at risk. When Maxine, an Italian-American working for the resistance, arrives on Sofia's doorstep, the pair forge an uneasy alliance. Feisty, independent Maxine promised herself never to fall in love.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Intollerable reader
- By Penelope Diamanti on 07-03-23
- The Tuscan Contessa
- By: Dinah Jefferies
- Narrated by: Imogen Church
Intollerable reader
Reviewed: 07-03-23
I wanted to like this but the overdramatization ever every single wird made it unbearable to continue
I even tried to speed up the narration to 1.5 which helped a liile but not enough Of the more than 600 books in my librarr this is one of a hadful I had to give up on and throw back as unbearable to listen to I ca’t really rate the story b/c I couldn’t endure the reader long enough to to find out how it unfolded
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Chasing Dreams
- By: Carolyn Brown
- Narrated by: Bailey Carr
- Length: 1 hr and 58 mins
- Original Recording
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 545
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 479
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Story4 out of 5 stars 480
Nita, Sharlene, and Billy Joe, all about to turn 80, are tired of waiting their turn for a funeral dinner. They each have a bucket list and are determined to tick off at least a few of the items before they go. So what’s left but to hit the road? They enlist two drivers—Billy Joe’s great-grandson, Ford, who has just gotten out of the Air Force, and Sharlene’s great niece, Joelle, a schoolteacher who has the summer free.
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5 out of 5 stars
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I’m in love again!
- By Satinstitcher on 05-19-23
- Chasing Dreams
- By: Carolyn Brown
- Narrated by: Bailey Carr
Narrator couldn’t save it
Reviewed: 07-03-23
The only good thing about this book was the narrator but I still couldn’t get past the third chapter. Dumb cartoonish characters endless cliches no substance whatsowver
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Sky Woman Falling
- By: Kirk Mitchell
- Narrated by: Dick Hill
- Length: 13 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 675
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 595
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 590
FBI Special Agent Anna Turnipseed, a Modoc Indian from California, and Bureau of Indian Affairs Investigator Emmett Parker, a Comanche from Oklahoma, are a team, sent by the Feds wherever there are problems in tribal territory.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Intersting
- By Jane Marple on 04-07-07
- Sky Woman Falling
- By: Kirk Mitchell
- Narrated by: Dick Hill
Reader made it almost unbearable to continue
Reviewed: 05-15-23
Truly awful reader. Narrator voice was fine, but women's voices were offensively awful and any other males almost as bad.
Hard to even describe, but women were represented as speaking like a cross between a whining sarcastic adolescent and a cartoon character. Just horribly distracting and completely out of synch with the character's actual personality. It was a real struggle to finish because of this, but the story strong enough to keep me going despite the cringe-worthy narration.
It borders on criminal to damage a story this way.
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Chasing Shadows
- By: Lynn Austin
- Narrated by: Stina Nielsen
- Length: 14 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 1,216
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 1,123
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Story5 out of 5 stars 1,120
For fans of best-selling WWII fiction comes a powerful novel from Lynn Austin about three women whose lives are instantly changed when the Nazis invade the neutral Netherlands, forcing each into a complicated dance of choice and consequence.
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5 out of 5 stars
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EXCELLENT!l
- By Terry McNew on 06-28-21
- Chasing Shadows
- By: Lynn Austin
- Narrated by: Stina Nielsen
Prosthetizing ruined it
Reviewed: 12-03-22
Overtly forcing references to god into it greatly damaged the story which could have been good if told with more subtle references to faith
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1 person found this helpful