Review: Record of a Spaceborn Few by Becky Chambers

Record of a Spaceborn Few by Becky Chambers
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

THIS is my favorite kind of science fiction! So may questions about what might happen if we were to get out among the stars! Patricia Rodríguez (Narrator) made the story even better! Becky Chambers writes such different and intriguing books!

I am still feeling the charm, so I have downloaded the first two books to read again. I just didn’t want to leave Ms. Chambers’s universes.

What if we left Earth. What if it were doable to save as many as possible and fly through space. What if other worlds were found? What if other beings were found and able to learn from us and vice versa? What if whole generations lived, died, and were born on a spaceship of some kind? How do we deal with the dead? How do we document life and death to make it understandable for us and others? How do religion and politics play a part? Sexuality? So many questions!

So many characters. A friend mentioned keeping track of the characters. I may need to do that on the next read. I think I’ll need to dedicate a whole notebook for this next read!

Don’t worry. No matter that you don’t know who or what is speaking, it all works out that you realize you did follow it and are so happy to have been there with the author in the end.

I can’t wait to start again!

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Review: Virgins by Diana Gabaldon

Virgins by Diana Gabaldon
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

In my attempts to soothe my addiction to all books Gabaldon, I found this, a short story sequel. Thank goodness I found it on Libby as I would have been very disappointed to have spent any money on it.

I was so used to Davina Porter’s voice that this new narrator was harsh and not as easy to follow. I could not tell who was who. Allan Scott-Douglas has a great accent to help make the story feel Scottish. And though having a male voice for the males, I think Davina could have done this better.

The story is quite forgettable. I had hoped for more about how Ian lost his leg, but it was even before that happened. I don’t know that we gained anything about the characters that we didn’t already know.

Please don’t take it from me, there are lots of five-star ratings for this book, so I don’t want to discourage you from trying it out for yourself. It could just be a moment in my life that didn’t fulfill me as I hoped.

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Review: Midnight in Washington: How We Almost Lost Our Democracy and Still Could by Adam Schiff

Midnight in Washington: How We Almost Lost Our Democracy and Still Could by Adam Schiff
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Midnight in Washington was not a good book to read before going to sleep. It was a Libby (library) audio in the author’s voice, so I wanted to neither keep myself awake on reliving the horror of January 6th or miss parts of the story by falling asleep as the recording continued. So I settled on listening while busy with my hobbies, keeping my hands busy but my mind engaged in the reading.

I saw the author, Adam Schiff, on several talk shows and knew I wanted to hear his account of what had happened. I was surprised and pleased to see he included an autobiography. Meaning you were seeing what happened from his point of view.

I felt the book was honest and fair to others as it occurred to the author.

It is interesting having read this before the hearings we are listening to today. I feel more engaged and understand more. I highly recommend this book, especially in Adam Schiff’s calming voice.

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Second Review: A Breath of Snow and Ashes by Diana Gabaldon

A Breath of Snow and Ashes by Diana Gabaldon
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Below is the review from the last time I read/listened to this book. I have re-rated this and given it five stars. I think this reading corresponds with the newest episodes on the show. The last episode I watched was exactly what I had just listened to that day. I love following both the book and the show and seeing how they translate the written word, especially a long book like this, into a show excellently done.

Though I stay with the thought that the narrator, as excellent as she is, for the most part, had a hard time helping the listener to know who’s point of view she was portraying. Still, I followed better this time than the last read.

I highly recommend these books. Like last time, I have already started book 7. Yay, William as a grown-up!

***

Wow! Am I finally finished with this book? It is the longest book I think I have ever read. I don’t think it needs to be that long, either.

Look. Don’t get me wrong. I still love the story, the characters, and the time travel element concept. I just found the length unbearable with the thousands of books on my TBR shelf.

It is fun to explore the early days in America with the characters. I have to admit that I loved the time in Scotland the most, so this book is missing that aspect.

The other problem with this book is that our magical narrator, Divina Porter, couldn’t handle all the characters. Now that Brea is an adult, she sounds like Clair. Now that Roger is an adult, he sounds like Jamie. All the children sound the same. Maybe if I could read simultaneously as listening, I could sort them out. But that is not possible for me and my eyes.

The last thing I need to point out, in case it counts for your reading the book is that I am already reading book 7, so…

It is worth the read. Stay with it. There are rewards in the story. And in this crazy world, a sweet time-travel romance can calm the worries that like to strike at bedtime.

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Review: Lexicon by Max Barry

Lexicon by Max Barry
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I’m so glad I found this on Libby as an audio recording. The narrators, Heather Corrigan and Zach Appelman, made this story come to life.

At first, the book seemed to have a lot of aspects of things we face today. Not as heavily as the author’s other book I loved Jennifer Government. I highly recommend it also. I am going to need to read his other books now!

Reading this before going to sleep was problematic for sure. First of all, it was hard to put the book aside. Second, some scary concepts can keep you awake.

The most fun concept is the power of words and poets presented here.

This book might be too violent for some. It was for me at times. Still, it keeps you on the edge of your seat as you move through the story. Read if you dare!

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Review: A Breath of Snow and Ashes by Diana Gabaldon

A Breath of Snow and Ashes by Diana Gabaldon
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Wow! Am I finally finished with this book? It is the longest book I think I have ever read. I don’t think it needs to be that long, either.

Look. Don’t get me wrong. I still love the story, the characters, the concept of the time travel element. I just found the length unbearable with the thousands of books I have on my TBR shelf.

It is fun to explore the early days in America with the characters. I have to admit that I loved the time in Scotland the most, so this book is missing that aspect.

The other problem that I had with this book is the magical narrator, Divina Porter, just couldn’t handle all the characters. Now that Brea is an adult, she sounds like Clair. Now that Roger is an adult, he sounds like Jamie. All the children sound the same. Maybe if I could read at the same time as listening, I could sort them out. But that is not possible for me and my eyes.

The last thing I need to point out, in case it counts for your reading the book is, I am already reading book 7, so…

It is worth the read. Stay with it. There are little rewards in the story. And in this crazy world, a sweet time-travel romance can calm the worries that like to strike at bedtime.

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Review: Becoming by Michelle Obama

Becoming by Michelle Obama
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Oh, how I miss proper English. Oh, how I miss people who care for others and not just themselves. That is what I found in this audiobook. A person who can read their own words in a book with such elegance was so beautiful I didn’t want to stop reading. I was awake until four in the morning two or three nights.

It wasn’t as if most of the story was new. We all lived through those eight years. I didn’t know about much of Ms. Obama’s life before the White House. So that was interesting.

When I was young, I loved spending the night with friends or cousins. It was fun to see how other people live their lives. I think that is why I like honest memoirs like this one. Michelle didn’t try to pretty it up and sweep the bad parts under the carpet. This was her life. Period.

Most of the story was pre-election, before children. She is a confident woman. Her parents’ influence was the basis of her life along with extended family. The love she felt for and from family gave her the strength to be herself. Being raised financially challenged gave her the wisdom to deal with money properly. Knowing that politics was the least of her aims in life, makes her all the more interesting.

I think it was that deep love that she got as a child that made her the loving adult she became. It was evident in how she treated people of all ilk. I am so interested in what Michelle Obama becomes now that her life is closer to what is her kind of life.

This is a book I highly recommend as an audiobook. Her voice is rich and brings the words to life.

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Review: Dragonquest

Dragonquest by Anne McCaffrey
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a continuation of The Dragonriders of Pern. I didn’t have the money for the Kindle version so I managed to listen to this Audible version while attempting to decypher the book with its tiny font. Because of the narrator’s wonderful voice and character depictions I was able to keep track of where I was in the story even when my eyes refused to read any more.

I loved this book the first time I read it nearly two decades ago and found it equally exciting this time. Other books in this series are about the dragons and their riders and the fight against thread. This books challenged us to look at traditions and even break them to see if there might be a better way to do things. New sciences were discovered or recovered in this book. These kept me involved wondering if our own descendants may run into similar discoveries should we let go of our tightly held concepts. Who know, maybe gravity will cease to be so grave!

Anyway, I am lucky to have the next of the Dragonrider books in Audible form and have already cheated ahead. I remember White Dragon as one of my favorites, so I’m getting back to my ‘reading’ um, listening. 😉

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