Tamara
- 57
- reviews
- 37
- helpful votes
- 116
- ratings
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Hold Strong
- A Novel
- By: Robert Dugoni, Jeff Langholz, Chris Crabtree
- Narrated by: Will Damron
- Length: 13 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 678
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 639
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Story5 out of 5 stars 639
Sam Carlson is a projectionist in small-town Minnesota, where fantasies unspool in glorious black and white—for him and for his sweetheart, college-bound math whiz Sarah Haber. When the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor, Sam is sent to the Philippines and captured as a POW. Brutalized but unbroken by the Bataan Death March and POW camps, Sam is one of eighteen hundred starved and weakened prisoners herded into the cargo hold of a barbaric hell ship called the Arisan Maru, his survival doubtful.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Historically Grounded, Amazing Book
- By MAC on 02-20-25
- Hold Strong
- A Novel
- By: Robert Dugoni, Jeff Langholz, Chris Crabtree
- Narrated by: Will Damron
Interesting history
Reviewed: 06-21-25
This fictional story offered some actual history that I knew very little about. It was interesting enough that it got me researching the ships and events included in the story.
The characters and love story were okay, but the historical background was what kept me engaged. The reader was good too.
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Precipice
- A Novel
- By: Robert Harris
- Narrated by: Samuel West
- Length: 12 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 356
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 323
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 323
In London, twenty-six-year-old Venetia Stanley—aristocratic, clever, bored, reckless—is part of a fast group of upper-crust bohemians and socialites known as “The Coterie.” She’s also engaged in a clandestine love affair with the Prime Minister, H. H. Asquith, a man more than twice her age. He writes to her obsessively, sharing the most sensitive matters of state.
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5 out of 5 stars
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outstanding in every way
- By Rosalind Britton on 10-10-24
- Precipice
- A Novel
- By: Robert Harris
- Narrated by: Samuel West
Fiction wrapped dramatic history
Reviewed: 05-03-25
This was a gripping story with intriguing details about the start of WWI. The main drama was very engaging and the narrator was fantastic. I also cannot say enough about the writing. A soap opera without the soap! The reading of the true actual letters really bring this out on a whole other level.
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The North Line
- A Novel
- By: Matt Riordan
- Narrated by: Dan Bittner
- Length: 8 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 104
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 91
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Story4 out of 5 stars 91
Everyone believes Adam to be something he’s not. Sometimes that’s because he’s told them a story. Sometimes he’s told himself one. But when Adam joins an Alaskan fishing crew that’s promising quick money, the dangerous work and harsh lifestyle strip away all fabrications and force a dark-hearted exploration of who he really is. On the unforgiving Bering Sea, Adam finds the adventure and authenticity of a fisherman’s life revelatory. The labor required to seize bounty from the ocean invigorates him, and the often crude comradery accompanies a welcome, hard-earned wisdom.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Great Summer Read!
- By J.R. on 06-13-24
- The North Line
- A Novel
- By: Matt Riordan
- Narrated by: Dan Bittner
Adolescent and boring
Reviewed: 11-04-24
My husband and I listened to this during a long car trip. We couldn’t get through it. The writing and dialogue were crude and juvenile and the reader’s tone did not match the story. Overall it was an adventure story that lacked excitement. We got about three hours in and gave up.
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The Beekeeper's Apprentice, or On the Segregation of the Queen
- Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes, Book 1
- By: Laurie R. King
- Narrated by: Jenny Sterlin
- Length: 13 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 5,923
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 5,385
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 5,359
In 1915, Sherlock Holmes is retired and quietly engaged in the study of honeybees in Sussex when a young woman literally stumbles onto him on the Sussex Downs. Fifteen years old, gawky, egotistical, and recently orphaned, the young Mary Russell displays an intellect to impress even Sherlock Holmes. Under his reluctant tutelage, this very modern, twentieth-century woman proves a deft protégée and a fitting partner for the Victorian detective.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A fabulous new take on Sherlock Holmes
- By Steph on 04-14-14
- The Beekeeper's Apprentice, or On the Segregation of the Queen
- Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes, Book 1
- By: Laurie R. King
- Narrated by: Jenny Sterlin
So Good!
Reviewed: 07-17-24
Loved the storytelling. Terrific, sympathetic, well-developed characters. Witty dialogue. Eloquent writing. Perfect narration. Now on to the next one in the series.
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Small Mercies
- A Novel
- By: Dennis Lehane
- Narrated by: Robin Miles
- Length: 10 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,499
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,343
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,343
In the summer of 1974 a heatwave blankets Boston and Mary Pat Fennessey is trying to stay one step ahead of the bill collectors. Mary Pat has lived her entire life in the projects of “Southie,” the Irish American enclave that stubbornly adheres to tradition and stands proudly apart. One night Mary Pat’s teenage daughter Jules stays out late and doesn’t come home. That same evening, a young Black man is found dead, struck by a subway train under mysterious circumstances. Mary Pat, propelled by a desperate search for her daughter, begins turning over stones best left untouched.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Sadly these streets are my home…
- By shipyardjay on 05-10-23
- Small Mercies
- A Novel
- By: Dennis Lehane
- Narrated by: Robin Miles
Excellent story!
Reviewed: 05-07-24
This was a tragic and dramatic murder mystery told against the highly fraught 70’s school bussing crisis in Boston. So well told and very raw.
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The Silent Patient
- By: Alex Michaelides
- Narrated by: Jack Hawkins, Louise Brealey
- Length: 8 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 82,857
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 72,844
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 72,689
Alicia Berenson’s life is seemingly perfect. A famous painter married to an in-demand fashion photographer, she lives in a grand house with big windows overlooking a park in one of London’s most desirable areas. One evening, her husband, Gabriel, returns home late from a fashion shoot, and Alicia shoots him five times in the face and then never speaks another word. Alicia’s refusal to talk, or give any kind of explanation, turns a domestic tragedy into something far grander, a mystery that captures the public imagination and casts Alicia into notoriety.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Librarian vs. Reader: Silent Patient
- By Alicia Herrington on 02-06-19
- The Silent Patient
- By: Alex Michaelides
- Narrated by: Jack Hawkins, Louise Brealey
Nice twist!
Reviewed: 02-14-24
Terrific story with very good narration. Very “twisty.” It will keep you engaged. Highly recommend.
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Sing, Wild Bird, Sing
- A Novel
- By: Jacqueline O'Mahony
- Narrated by: Aoife McMahon
- Length: 9 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 176
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 155
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 155
It’s 1849 on the west coast of Ireland. Resilient Honora O’Donoghue is accustomed to fending for herself and to reading the language of the natural world. It was always said she’d been marked for something different, but it’s not until she suffers devastating losses in a country gripped by the Famine that Honora begins to understand how that difference will save her. With the hope of a better life in America calling, Honora keeps moving toward her freedom.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Beautifully written and narrated
- By Grace B. Monroe on 11-07-23
- Sing, Wild Bird, Sing
- A Novel
- By: Jacqueline O'Mahony
- Narrated by: Aoife McMahon
Heartfelt Grim & triumphant
Reviewed: 01-30-24
First of all this was a solid and compelling story rooted in dark and sad history. It grabbed and took hold of me quickly, and kept me interested right until the very end. In addition, the narration was top notch. I loved the reader’s voice and a couple accents, and speed and tone were just right. I even learned some new history about connections between the Irish and Native Americans. I highly recommend this read/listen.
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1 person found this helpful
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I Am the Light of This World
- By: Michael Parker
- Narrated by: Michael Crouch
- Length: 8 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall3 out of 5 stars 80
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 66
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Story3 out of 5 stars 66
In the early 1970s, in Stovall, Texas, seventeen-year-old Earl—a loner, dreamer, lover of music and words—meets Tina, the new girl in town. Tina convinces Earl to drive her to see her mother in Austin, where Earl and Tina are quickly separated. Two days later, Earl is being questioned by the police about Tina’s disappearance and the blood in the trunk of his car. But Earl can’t remember what happened in Austin, and with little financial support from his working-class family, he is sentenced for a crime he did not commit.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Powerfully written with Perfect narration
- By GC on 11-20-22
- I Am the Light of This World
- By: Michael Parker
- Narrated by: Michael Crouch
Sad and beautifully told
Reviewed: 10-30-23
This is a story that will stick for a while. It is gorgeously written and perfectly read, sad in an aching and mournful way, but still beautiful. It is also riveting (as a “can’t look away” picture of tragedy.) And strangely, as inevitable as the ending felt, it was still a shock when it came. This is a coming of age story like no other, that’s for sure!
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Spare
- By: Prince Harry The Duke of Sussex
- Narrated by: Prince Harry The Duke of Sussex
- Length: 15 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 72,331
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 66,713
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Story5 out of 5 stars 66,505
It was one of the most searing images of the twentieth century: two young boys, two princes, walking behind their mother’s coffin as the world watched in sorrow—and horror. As Princess Diana was laid to rest, billions wondered what Prince William and Prince Harry must be thinking and feeling—and how their lives would play out from that point on.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Gutterball!
- By Jimmyjoejangles on 01-10-23
- Spare
- By: Prince Harry The Duke of Sussex
- Narrated by: Prince Harry The Duke of Sussex
Engaging and well read
Reviewed: 09-14-23
I didn’t expect to enjoy this as much as I did, but in the end I found it a terrific listen. Prince Harry’s reading was entertaining and charming, and even funny in parts. Though many of the stories were already familiar, getting the fuller picture of Harry’s life was fascinating. The love story between Harry and Meghan was compelling and romantic, the palace intrigue was sad— tough family to grow up in. In the end, the book helped me feel more empathy for this man of privilege.
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The School for Good Mothers
- A Novel
- By: Jessamine Chan
- Narrated by: Catherine Ho
- Length: 11 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall3.5 out of 5 stars 1,303
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 1,130
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Story3.5 out of 5 stars 1,134
Frida Liu is struggling. She doesn’t have a career worthy of her Chinese immigrant parents’ sacrifices. She can’t persuade her husband, Gust, to give up his wellness-obsessed younger mistress. Only with Harriet, their cherubic daughter, does Frida finally attain the perfection expected of her. Harriet may be all she has, but she is just enough.
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2 out of 5 stars
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What in the world?
- By Love2Read on 01-11-22
- The School for Good Mothers
- A Novel
- By: Jessamine Chan
- Narrated by: Catherine Ho
Engaging and scary
Reviewed: 05-11-23
This highly believable story about government overreach re: correct parenting was well written and engaging. The narrator was very good. Certainly a provocative discussion starter.
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