Kate Spencer
- 8
- reviews
- 1
- helpful vote
- 159
- ratings
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Where'd You Go, Bernadette
- A Novel
- By: Maria Semple
- Narrated by: Kathleen Wilhoite
- Length: 9 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 17,241
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 15,456
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Story4 out of 5 stars 15,436
Bernadette Fox is notorious. To her Microsoft-guru husband, she's a fearlessly opinionated partner; to fellow private-school mothers in Seattle, she's a disgrace; to design mavens, she's a revolutionary architect, and to 15-year-old Bee, she is a best friend and, simply, Mom.
Then Bernadette disappears. It began when Bee aced her report card and claimed her promised reward: a family trip to Antarctica. But Bernadette's intensifying allergy to Seattle - and people in general - has made her so agoraphobic that a virtual assistant in India now runs her most basic errands.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Misleading cover contains excellent novel
- By JillHen on 01-28-16
- Where'd You Go, Bernadette
- A Novel
- By: Maria Semple
- Narrated by: Kathleen Wilhoite
Excellent book about losing yourself
Reviewed: 02-14-23
Spoilers**As a mom of two daughters, I completely understand how it feels to lose yourself in the lives of the children you are raising. This book is about grief, and about the need to let go and move on. It is about the period of limbo some moms enter when they stop living their lives to live for others. I related to Bernadette quite a bit, but could not understand her acceptance of her husband’s infidelity. I cheered for her and her daughter, but I found myself sad at the thought of the pulling away that will happen between them so that they both can grow.
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Winter Street
- By: Elin Hilderbrand
- Narrated by: Erin Bennett
- Length: 6 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,046
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,808
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Story4 out of 5 stars 1,802
Kelley Quinn is the owner of Nantucket's Winter Street Inn and the proud father of four, all of them grown and living in varying states of disarray. Patrick, the eldest, is a hedge fund manager with a guilty conscience. Kevin, a bartender, is secretly sleeping with a French housekeeper named Isabelle. Ava, a school teacher, is finally dating the perfect guy but can't get him to commit. And Bart, the youngest and only child of Kelley's second marriage to Mitzi, has recently shocked everyone by joining the Marines.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Interesting family drowns in drinking
- By Elaine Richards on 11-03-16
- Winter Street
- By: Elin Hilderbrand
- Narrated by: Erin Bennett
Tangled family, not enough character
Reviewed: 02-06-23
This book is firmly in the “fluff” category, and it’s decent fluff at that. My big complaint here is that there is almost no character development. Lots of characters intersecting with their messy lives, but absolutely zero sense of who they are. I’d be a lot more invested in the plot if I knew who these people were.
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The Power of the Dog
- A Novel
- By: Thomas Savage, Annie Proulx - afterword
- Narrated by: Chad Michael Collins, Annie Proulx
- Length: 8 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,139
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 983
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 977
Set in the wide-open spaces of the American West, The Power of the Dog is a stunning story of domestic tyranny, brutal masculinity, and thrilling defiance from one of the most powerful and distinctive voices in American literature. The novel tells the story of two brothers—one magnetic but cruel, the other gentle and quiet—and of the mother and son whose arrival on the brothers’ ranch shatters an already tenuous peace.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Abrupt Ending and Hard to Follow Story
- By Trevor on 09-08-21
- The Power of the Dog
- A Novel
- By: Thomas Savage, Annie Proulx - afterword
- Narrated by: Chad Michael Collins, Annie Proulx
Better than the movie, of course!
Reviewed: 02-06-23
I started to watch the movie but was so immediately turned off by Cumberbatch’s character that I went for the book instead. Phil is softened somewhat in Savage’s portrayal, and I can only imagine a how a real life Phil would function in a society as repressed and intolerant of homosexuality and ranch culture as the American West. Such a sad book…I was left wondering about George’s true understanding of the situation, since the book is mainly from Phil’s perspective.
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The Snow Child
- By: Eowyn Ivey
- Narrated by: Therese Plummer
- Length: 10 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,644
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,380
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,373
Alaska, 1920: a brutal place to homestead, and especially tough for recent arrivals Jack and Mabel. Childless, they are drifting apart - he breaking under the weight of the work of the farm; she crumbling from loneliness and despair. In a moment of levity during the season's first snowfall, they build a child out of snow. The next morning the snow child is gone - but they glimpse a young, blonde-haired girl running through the trees. This little girl, who calls herself Faina, seems to be a child of the woods.
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5 out of 5 stars
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WOW!!! A MUST Listen - even better than reading.
- By Edmund W. Cheung on 02-13-19
- The Snow Child
- By: Eowyn Ivey
- Narrated by: Therese Plummer
Title should be “Men Kill Everything Good”
Reviewed: 02-02-23
My favorite line in the book was “Jack, what have we done.” I feel that the underlying questions in the story are about the negative influences and expectations of family, society, and relationships. How much should one person change to please someone - anyone - else. Reading this on the heels of Covid quarantine, newly having to adjust to people and the world in general was such a revelation. We can all do hard things, but when we do these things under the influence of others the hard part shifts to fulfilling expectations.
Great book…one to think about!
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Priest: A Love Story
- By: Sierra Simone
- Narrated by: Jacob Morgan, Elena Wolfe
- Length: 8 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 8,893
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 8,015
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 7,999
There are many rules a priest can't break. A priest cannot marry. A priest cannot abandon his flock. A priest cannot forsake his God. I've always been good at following rules. Until she came. Then I learned new rules.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Forbidden Romance at its Finest!!
- By Shannon on 06-28-17
- Priest: A Love Story
- By: Sierra Simone
- Narrated by: Jacob Morgan, Elena Wolfe
Surprisingly good read!
Reviewed: 01-23-23
I thought this might be more fantasy sex fiction than anything, and it does have some spicy parts that - not going to lie - were worthy of watching on repeat in my head, but I was surprisingly interested in the plight of the priest finding himself in love with a woman. I am not at all religious, and the author’s tender treatment of all things God in this story were tasteful and interesting and well written. I found myself unexpectedly downloading other books by this author because I want to hear more!
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Blaze Me a Sun
- A Novel About a Crime
- By: Christoffer Carlsson
- Narrated by: Peter Noble
- Length: 13 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 144
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 127
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Story4 out of 5 stars 126
In February 1986, the Halland police receive a call from a man who claims to have attacked his first victim. I’m going to do it again, he says before the line cuts off. By the time police officer Sven Jörgensson reaches the crime scene, the woman is taking her last breath. For Sven, this will prove a decisive moment. On the same night, Sweden plunges into a state of shock after the murder of the prime minister. Could there possibly be a connection?
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5 out of 5 stars
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complicated story
- By Barbara S on 01-25-23
- Blaze Me a Sun
- A Novel About a Crime
- By: Christoffer Carlsson
- Narrated by: Peter Noble
Not this author’s best work
Reviewed: 01-23-23
I assume this was originally written in Swedish, so I understand that reading or hearing this in its originally intended language would be a completely different experience. For me, an English speaker, this was a difficult book to listen to. The narrator did a fabulous job, but the names of people and places were so jarring I couldn’t get a feel for the story and felt myself zoning out quite a bit.
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A Winter's Promise
- By: Christelle Dabos
- Narrated by: Emma Fenney
- Length: 14 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 833
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 734
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Story4 out of 5 stars 731
Plain-spoken, headstrong Ophelia cares little about appearances. Her ability to read the past of objects is unmatched in all of Anima, and, what’s more, she possesses the ability to travel through mirrors, a skill passed down to her from previous generations. Her idyllic life is disrupted, however, when she is promised in marriage to Thorn, a taciturn and influential member of a distant clan. She must leave all she knows behind and follow her fiancé to Citaceleste, the capital of a cold, icy ark known as the Pole, where danger lurks around every corner and nobody can be trusted.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Extraordinary
- By Eliza on 08-11-19
- A Winter's Promise
- By: Christelle Dabos
- Narrated by: Emma Fenney
Nothing but narcissism and abuse
Reviewed: 01-19-23
Ugh…I couldn’t finish this. The author chose not to focus on the magical elements of the story but instead on the constant and relentless abuse this poor girl suffers at the hands of absolutely everyone she encounters! Women who have dealt with this in real life do NOT want to read about it for pleasure!
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1 person found this helpful
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First Grave on the Right
- Charley Davidson, Book 1
- By: Darynda Jones
- Narrated by: Lorelei King
- Length: 8 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 10,273
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 8,990
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Story4 out of 5 stars 8,966
Charley sees dead people. That's right, she sees dead people. And it's her job to convince them to "go into the light." But when these very dead people have died under less than ideal circumstances (i.e., murder), sometimes they want Charley to bring the bad guys to justice. Complicating matters are the intensely hot dreams she's been having about an Entity who has been following her all her life...and it turns out he might not be dead after all. In fact, he might be something else entirely.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Great choice for Stephanie, Lorelai or Buffy fans!
- By Austin gal on 03-07-12
- First Grave on the Right
- Charley Davidson, Book 1
- By: Darynda Jones
- Narrated by: Lorelei King
Solid entertainment
Reviewed: 06-15-16
I listened to this book while packing up a friend's house for a move...I didn't hear every single word, but I don't feel I missed any of the action, either. I was intrigued by the book's premise, but felt that its tone was a little flippant, and the main character too shallow, to buy future installments.
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