I liked the story, but the audiobook narrator had some extremely annoying voices, and all the calling of each other‘s names and “come ooon”s at the end really got on my nerves. This one is probably better read than listened to.

Actually enjoying this audio book pretty much so far!

Can‘t put this one down.

I really love Magda Szabo, but unfortunately not this book. It just felt like it never really got started.

Forgot to review this one, but I like all McCammon‘s books.

Loved it. And there‘s a movie?? Has anyone seen it?

Oh how I love Albert Sterne. Second time reading this book.

This was just so great to listen to. Sad at times but in general just such a feel good book, and I don‘t even like those. I just wish some of Lopez‘ attitude towards running could rub off on me.

This is fascinating stuff! I had no idea they were so raunchy in the 30‘s and 40‘s 😅

Not sure about this one yet. The beginning reads like a copy of the Gacy case...?

This book was not at all what I thought it would be. I bought it years ago and by the time I picked it up to read it I had no idea what it was about anymore, and I was expecting something heavier. What it is is actually YA, but less predictable and obvious than the usual stuff. Overall pretty good.

During the first 30% of this book I didn‘t really think I‘d be able to enjoy it. I had almost had enough of fine ladies and ridiculous customs when all of a sudden I just got pulled in. Scales does an excellent job with the narration, even though I couldn‘t stand some of the mouth noises she made when imitating some (very annoying) characters. I do admire her skill though.

Now, this was what I thought I was getting when I started Vassar‘s “Black”.

And this was simply perfect.

I have yet to meet a McGammon book I didn‘t like. I never know what to expect and I feel like his books are always original, well structured and perfectly paced.

I can‘t believe I finished this. This is one of those cases where I should have researched the book better before purchasing it (no worries though, it will be promptly returned to Audible). I thought it was a historical novel about slavery. It is not. It is a ridiculous alpha male romance masquerading as a historical novel. Someone wanted to write cringeworthy sex scenes and needed an alibi to do so.

I‘ve been reading this book since January 2020 🤣

Aaaah, and I stumbled upon a gem! Great book. Great sci-if of the type I thought wasn‘t written anymore. Highly recommended! Great narration, and great book DESPITE the MC being something of a douchebag.

What I felt most while reading this book was annoyance. Annoyance that this was published. It is such an unnecessary book that just combines the worst aspects of all the genres it touches. The friendship, the romance, the finding oneself, the crime story, the family sob stories, UGH, I couldn‘t wait to finish this book so that I could just forget about it

Ah, how I dislike this book. It will be returned the second I finish it, which will not be a second too soon.
I need a good book soon 😒

Definitely among the best true crime books I have ever read. I went into this thinking it was fiction, but it‘s actually one of those cases where if it had been, I‘d have said it was implausible

There are so many weird cults.

I don't get it, how do all these cult leaders get so many followers? What's wrong with people?

Or rather, why is so much wrong with people?

Very instructive, but not ideal for the audiobook format.

I won't call this a new favorite, but I enjoyed some of the stories. It got a little bit tiresome with all the useless men and gold digging women after a while though, and I think I would have appreciated the stories more if I had read it as a sort of annotated text, with cultural references and context explained.

This is such a weird story. I understand that someone might be able to abuse and manipulate their own children if they start early, but to do it to two separate non-family members AND without any romantic ties? There are just so many people in this book who should have put a stop to the madness earlier. I feel like some part of the story is missing for it to make any kind of sense.

One of the downsides of audiobooks is the pronunciation of non-English words. For this book, when the narrator made all Scandinavian names and words barely recognizable I thought “no big deal, there will be so many languages in this book that she can‘t get them all right”, but then she proceeds to pronounce anything southern American with exaggerated Spanishness. Couldn‘t she at least have *researched* the non-Spanish/Mayan/Incan etc words then?

Reading with my peeps!

So far quite interesting but seriously, what useless and horrible men! My current audiobook while working on my wool project

I never really got the point of that cryptic map 🤷‍♀️

Bailed because I didn‘t continue with my German reading, not because it was bad!

I‘m such a sucker for all things expeditions + cold + why-on-earth-would-you-do-that, and after watching the movie and realizing that what happened to Beck ACTUALLY HAPPY I immediately bought the book. Beck turns out to be a huge douchebag (even when he tells his own story!!), but that story is still good. And the second part of the book is also quite interesting, I have to give it that. Very honest.

Very easily forgettable it seems, I had to look up what this was all about and I finished it like a week ago. Not bad as entertainment though!

I‘ve probably read too many modern true crime books to really appreciate this classic. And for whatever reason I could not keep the two perpetrators apart, which probably ruined the “story” quite a bit for me. Still a pick though!

Random pic of Walter just to spruce this up a bit.

Such a lovely story. Highly recommended!

This gets three stars for entertainment - but two for quality. It all felt a bit too YA and stereotypical for my taste, and all of a sudden there‘s a religious experience thrown in that was just a huge WTF moment. Many characters are too black or white (like the psycho dad - that whole storyline is just ridiculous!) and I forgot this book too fast to make me want to continue reading the series.

I really liked The first girl child, so I thought I‘d give another Harmon book a try. This was, however, more of a romance only type of novel, and a bit “too much” for me. I‘ll give this author one more try though - any recommendations?

This story could have been grand, if it weren‘t so cramped. The time frame was just wrong, all this melodrama in the space of months or years - it would have needed DECADES to be justified. The last twenty pages justifies some of it, but that‘s a lot of pages to read just to get there. An annoying book that would never have been published today, but that could make a good 10 episode historical drama.

This would make such a crappy - albeit entertaining - Hollywood movie. I could really see it before my eyes as I was listening to the book. Now, this is not great literature. The author really could use a partner who deals with the characters and their motivations, while he focuses on the VERY engaging story. If you can put up with all women being psychopaths (or ugly! You can be nice as long as you‘re ugly!) then give this one a go.

Sewing a bralette while listening to this on audio. It‘s fairly amusing so far. I would go for a long run with it as well if it weren‘t for a killer headache that just hit me 😐

Saturday morning reading.

Not sure why, but I can‘t really get involved in this book...? There‘s just something missing 😐

Trying to get back into reading (not just listening) and posting on Litsy. It‘s tough having as many hobbies as I do, but I‘ll try.

Today was a good Audible day. Or a good day for Audible. A horror section in a sale? How can I resist that? I‘m all out of credits now.

About to finish this audiobook. McCammon books make the best audiobooks! (9 km run 🏃‍♀️)

Haha, uhm, well! 🤓 Not sure what I was thinking here but there was an Audible sale and you know how that goes. You know, this could have been a decent story if it weren‘t for the religion getting shoved in your face all the time. Starting this book, I didn‘t know the author was a “reformed” romance author. The way she talked about it in the interview made it seem she had been into porn and was now born again 😄 I wonder how filthy her books were?

I had some difficulty focusing on this book and keeping track of people. Perhaps not the best audiobook material, but in print I suspect I would never have gotten through it at all...

Seriously loving this.

What a masterpiece! (And I need to read more about China.)