Lisa Op
- 8
- reviews
- 4
- helpful votes
- 10
- ratings
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Forbidden Notebook
- A Novel
- By: Alba de Céspedes
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 10 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 64
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 52
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 52
Valeria Cossati never suspected how unhappy she had become with the shabby gentility of her bourgeois life—until she begins to jot down her thoughts and feelings in a little black book she keeps hidden in a closet. This new secret activity leads her to scrutinize herself and her life more closely, and she soon realizes that her individuality is being stifled by her devotion and sense of duty toward her husband, daughter, and son.
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5 out of 5 stars
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UNSETTLING
- By Susan on 02-02-23
- Forbidden Notebook
- A Novel
- By: Alba de Céspedes
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
a must read
Reviewed: 11-16-24
The Forbidden Notebook came to my attention when searching for diary novels recommendations. I enjoyed accompanying Valeria, the main character and owner of the diary, in her journey of self discovery with its ups and downs, contradictions, affirmations, and deep reflections. The pacing was perfect for me. The audible narrator was flawless. Highly recommended for these topics: the diary genre, mid-20th Century worldview, feminism, tradition, psychology, values, history, work ethics, relationships.
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The Likely Resolutions of Oliver Clock
- By: Jane Riley
- Narrated by: Steve West
- Length: 9 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 363
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 316
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Story4 out of 5 stars 312
Oliver Clock has everything arranged just so. A steady job running the family funeral parlour. A fridge stocked with ready meals. A drawer full of colour-coded socks. A plan (of sorts) to stay trim enough for a standard-sized coffin. And in florist Marie, he’s even found the love of his life - not that she’s aware of it. When a terrible tragedy takes Marie out of his life but leaves him with her private journal, he discovers too late that she secretly loved him back. Faced now with a fast-approaching fortieth birthday, Oliver resolves to open himself up to love.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Kinda Sophie Kinsella-eqse
- By Commoncent$ on 04-05-20
- The Likely Resolutions of Oliver Clock
- By: Jane Riley
- Narrated by: Steve West
Funny, captivating, longish story
Reviewed: 12-22-21
Beautifully narrated, voice modulations were superb. Oliver Clock is the one telling us this story. He is a quirky, obsessive compulsive man that embarges in a journey of self discovery that he didn't plan to. Along the way, we meet a cast of well-crafted characters that contribute one way or another to understand who he is. Sometimes it felt that there were too many characters, but, they were important backboards to bounce Oliver's resolutions, thoughts, and feelings. It also felt at times a little lengthy, but not to the point to bother my patience. What at first seemed was going to be a knee-slapping comedy about a family-run funeral home, it branched out into a deeper story about family values, inhibited feelings, and personal transcendence.
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A Beginner's Guide to Free Fall
- By: Andy Abramowitz
- Narrated by: Andy Abramowitz
- Length: 9 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 167
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 146
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 147
Davis Winger has it all. A respected engineer who designs roller coasters in theme parks across the country, he is deeply in love with his wife and has a beautiful young daughter and a happy home. Until an accident strikes on one of his rides. Nothing fatal - except to his career. And to his marriage, when a betrayal from his past inadvertently comes to light. In one cosmically bad day, Davis loses it all.
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5 out of 5 stars
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"I like roller coasters ..."
- By Stephen on 01-17-20
- A Beginner's Guide to Free Fall
- By: Andy Abramowitz
- Narrated by: Andy Abramowitz
Loved everything about this story
Reviewed: 11-18-21
This is my first time reading a novel by Abramowitz. I enjoyed the well-crafted characters, the jokes between Davis and Molly, and the many musical references that Gen Xers will nod at. The story itself unfolds in many unexpected ways. Highly recommend.
P.S. It was a delight to read (I heard it at .85 speed).
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At the End of the Matinee
- By: Keiichiro Hirano, Juliet Winters Carpenter - translator
- Narrated by: Brian Nishii
- Length: 10 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 98
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 89
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Story4 out of 5 stars 89
Classical guitarist Satoshi Makino has toured the world and is at the height of his career when he first lays eyes on journalist Yoko Komine. Their bond forms instantly. Upon their first meeting, after Makino’s concert in Tokyo, they begin a conversation that will go on for years, with long spells of silence broken by powerful moments of connection. She’s drawn by Makino’s tender music and his sensitivity, and he is intrigued by Yoko’s refinement and intellect. But neither knows enough about love to see it blooming nor has the confidence to make the first move.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Platonic relationship at its best
- By Lisa Op on 09-22-21
Platonic relationship at its best
Reviewed: 09-22-21
Beautifully knitted-together story of two people that had too much going on in their lives and the people they cared about. The story is heavy laden with details of the characters' professional world: classical guitarist, international affairs journalist, record label staff, film maker, economist. I didn't mind the slow pace of the story because it is full of long philosophical passages, opinionated conversations, and description of the setting or circumstance. This is the second novel by Keiichiro Hirano that I listen to, and again the theme of the present that can change the past or how the present and the past can transform a person virtually overnight is in both.
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1 person found this helpful
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A Man
- By: Keiichiro Hirano, Eli K. P. William - translator
- Narrated by: Brian Nishii
- Length: 10 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 196
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 169
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 169
Akira Kido is a divorce attorney whose own marriage is in danger of being destroyed by emotional disconnect. With a midlife crisis looming, Kido's life is upended by the reemergence of a former client, Rié Takemoto. She wants Kido to investigate a dead man - her recently deceased husband, Daisuké. Upon his death she discovered that he’d been living a lie. His name, his past, his entire identity belonged to someone else, a total stranger.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Beautiful
- By Edward Erickson on 08-28-20
- A Man
- By: Keiichiro Hirano, Eli K. P. William - translator
- Narrated by: Brian Nishii
Superb, delightful complex storytelling
Reviewed: 03-04-21
This is my first novel translated from the original Japanese. At first, I wasn't sure where the narrator was leading me into as we "walked into a bar". Eavesdropping? Snooping? Hirano has a way of drawing us in into the characters of this story and weaving them into an amazing tale of perception, identity, self-doubts, dreams, and redemption. But it's more than that. It's more than that. It has art, architecture, literature, jazz, social commentary, history lessons, family feuds, inner struggles, late-night reflexions, thoughtful side-note vignettes... Very enjoyable, a delight to read.
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Find Layla
- A Novel
- By: Meg Elison
- Narrated by: Jesse Vilinsky
- Length: 6 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 181
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 163
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 162
Underprivileged and keenly self-aware, SoCal fourteen-year-old Layla Bailey isn't used to being noticed. Except by mean girls who tweet about her ragged appearance. All she wants to do is indulge in her love of science, protect her vulnerable younger brother, and steer clear of her unstable mother. Then a school competition calls for a biome. Layla chooses her own home, a hostile ecosystem of indoor fungi and secret shame.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Hidden Gem
- By Jules on 01-06-22
- Find Layla
- A Novel
- By: Meg Elison
- Narrated by: Jesse Vilinsky
Heartbreaking
Reviewed: 12-23-20
Meg Ellison crafts gripping portraits of teenager Layla, her brother Andy, her mother, and a cast of characters that include school cyber bullies and social workers. I entered Layla's world and suffered to see the infrahuman conditions she lived in and marvelled at her scientific mind. It's a heartbreaking story of a survivor. It should be a full feature film.
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Go the F--k to Sleep
- By: Adam Mansbach, Ricardo Cortes - illustrator
- Narrated by: Samuel L. Jackson
- Length: 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 22,895
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 17,285
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 17,110
Academy Award nominee Samuel L. Jackson ( Pulp Fiction) rocks this mock bedtime story, capturing a hilarious range of emotions as the voice of a father struggling to get his child to sleep. Go the F**k to Sleep is a bedtime book for parents who live in the real world, where a few snoozing kitties and cutesy rhymes don’t always send a toddler sailing blissfully off to dreamland.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Read the F--king REVIEW!
- By Darwin8u on 05-21-12
- Go the F--k to Sleep
- By: Adam Mansbach, Ricardo Cortes - illustrator
- Narrated by: Samuel L. Jackson
A parents' inside joke...NOT for kids!
Reviewed: 06-07-19
Sleep-deprived parents of wide-eyed small children can relate to this funny narration, and enjoy the comic relief that they are not alone.
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Goodnight Smartphone
- By: Arianna Huffington
- Narrated by: Arianna Huffington
- Length: 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall3.5 out of 5 stars 2,377
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 2,060
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Story3.5 out of 5 stars 2,051
Exclusively written for Audible, available only in audio. Sleep is central to every part of our lives, and a good night's sleep begins by putting aside the day's worries. But in today's technology-saturated world, saying goodnight to the day is harder than ever. Allow author Arianna Huffington (Thrive, The Sleep Revolution) to guide you to a peaceful night's slumber as she performs Goodnight Smartphone: a classic tale reborn for the modern age.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Quick Ideas About Sleep
- By Sara on 02-07-17
- Goodnight Smartphone
- By: Arianna Huffington
- Narrated by: Arianna Huffington
A brilliant nighttime reflexion
Reviewed: 01-20-17
Loved the background information provided by the author at the introduction. Many people really won't stop to make time for preparing mind and body for healthy rest. The rhyme is simple, fun, and imaginative. It's read in a soothing voice that makes it very appropriate for bedtime. 😴
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1 person found this helpful