139. The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry (2008)

Read By: Alyssa Bresnahan
Length: 11h 40m (400 pages)

Genre: Somewhere between Literary Fiction and Mystery.

Started: 13 November 2009
Finished: 17 November 2009

Where did it come from? The library.
Why do I have it? The Lace Reader was one of the books that I remember getting major blog buzz not long after I started blogging myself, and it’s been on my radar ever since.

Death in the family
reveals secrets that Towner
didn’t know were there.

Summary: Towner Whitney comes from a long line of women who can “read” lace – that is, see and interpret visions when looking through a lace panel. When her great-aunt dies, Towner returns from California to her childhood home in Salem, Massachusetts, to deal with her family and the mass of secrets and memories that her great-aunt Eva has left behind. But things aren’t as easy for Towner as simply selling the house and moving on; no one in town believes that Eva died in an accident, and most people are pointing their fingers at a local group of religious fanatics, lead by a man who is convinced that the women in Towner’s family are witches. However, when one of the women from their church disappears as well, the waters are muddied even further. Towner not only has to deal with the tangled web of the present, but also with her own fractured past of mental illness and psychiatric treatment following the death of her twin sister when they were teens.

Review: While I really enjoyed this book, an unfortunate vagary of timing kept me from really loving it. See, I started this book soon after finishing Her Fearful Symmetry. Both novels feature storylines involving Huge Unspeakably Bad Secrets from the Past, and both star at least one set of twins. Because my brain was already primed for sniffing out Unspeakably Bad Secrets, and because I knew going in that Towner was an unreliable narrator (that’s not a spoiler, she tells us as much within the first paragraph of the book), I was double- and triple-guessing everything that happened instead of just letting the story carry me along, and as a result, I figured out what was going on *way* earlier than I would have otherwise.

The good news is that figuring out the book’s twists didn’t stop me from enjoying it. The pieces of backstory and the layers of deception are applied – and removed – so carefully and so masterfully that the whole thing hangs together perfectly. Barry’s also very good at describing her setting; you can practically feel the salt air blowing off the pages. (Or out of your headphones, in my case.) Towner was an excellently crafted character, feeling full and real and just slightly broken, with minute cracks below the surface that start to widen and show as the novel progresses. Barry’s secondary characters are just as wonderful, particularly Rafferty, the detective, and Ann Chase, the leader of the local coven of witches.

The only real thing I had a problem with – other than figuring out the twists too early, which was my fault, not the book’s – was the pacing. Or, not exactly the pacing, since things move along at a good clip and I never really noticed any dragging. It’s more that I found the frequent narrative tone shifts – from Taylor’s first-person narration, to third-person from the point of view of the detective, to Towner again, but reading a story about her past, etc. – a little bit unexpected and wrong-footing. Nevertheless, I tore through this book much faster than average, and only barely stopped myself from immediately starting it again to hunt for the clues I’d missed the first time. 4 out of 5 stars.

Recommendation: Just because it is set in Salem and involves fortune-telling women does not mean that it is historical fiction about witchcraft. I think it would probably appeal most to fans of psychological mysteries and unreliable narrators, or anyone who likes an intricate and very involving story.

This Review on LibraryThing | This Book on LibraryThing | This Book on Amazon

Links: Brunonia Barry’s blog

Other Reviews: Adventures in Reading, Book Chatter and Other Stuff, The Book Lady’s Blog, Bookopolis, Books and Movies, Boston Bibliophile, Caribousmom, Devourer of Books, Fizzy Thoughts, Hey Lady! Whatcha Readin’?, In the Shadow of Mt. TBR, The Life and Times of a New New Yorker, The Literate Housewife Review, Outlandish Dreaming, Peeking Between the Pages, S. Krishna’s Books, She is Too Fond of Books, Shh I’m Reading…, Trish’s Reading Nook, The Written World
Have you reviewed this book? Leave a comment with the link and I’ll add it in.

First Line: My name is Towner Whitney. No, that’s not exactly true. My real first name is Sophya. Never believe me. I lie all the time.

Cover Thoughts: I love the combination of the lace pattern with the rocky island cliff. The half-transparent girl is just icing.

Nigel Planer

Veo que mucha gente llega aquí buscando audiolibros de Terry Pratchett, así que he pensado que sería buena idea dedicarles una entrada.

Los audiolibros que yo tengo están en inglés  y se pueden conseguir en mininova, aunque seguro que se encuentran en cualquier sitio de torrents, o incluso en la mula. Los pocos audiolibros en castellano que he conseguido (no de Pratchett) eran de muy mala calidad, casi siempre leídos por un sintetizador al que no se le entiende nada y que no cambia nunca el tono, lo que lo convierte en una experiencia horrorosa. En cambio, las versiones inglesas suelen ser estupendas. Los audiolibros de Mundodisco son casi todas leídas por Nigel Planer, que es una actor británico con una dicción estupenda, y en mi opinión  muy fácil de entender. Recomiendo especialmente la Trilogía de los Gnomos, que me hizo reír tanto que la gente me miraba raro en los atascos.

En general, para los audiolibros en inglés cogen a unos actores buenísimos que hacen un trabajo increíble. La versión de El Señor de los Anillos leída por Rob Inglis, que hasta pone distintas voces a los personajes, es absolutamente genial. Ojalá se aplicaran el cuento los editores españoles.

The Christmas Sweater is an audiobook written and read by Glenn Beck.

When Eddie was twelve years old, all he wanted for Christmas was a bike. Although his life had gotten harder — and money tighter — since his father died and the family bakery closed…Eddie dreamed that somehow his mother would find a way to have his dream bike gleaming beside their modest Christmas tree that magical morning.

What he got from her instead was a sweater. “A stupid, handmade, ugly sweater” that young Eddie left in a crumpled ball in the corner of his room.

Scarred deeply by the realization that kids don’t always get what they want, and too young to understand that he already owned life’s most valuable treasures, that Christmas morning was the beginning of Eddie’s dark and painful journey on the road to manhood. It will take wrestling with himself, his faith, and his family — and the guidance of a mysterious neighbor named Russell — to help Eddie find his path through the storm clouds of life and finally see the real significance of that simple gift his mother had crafted by hand with love in her heart.

Based on a deeply personal true story, The Christmas Sweater is a warm and poignant tale of family, faith and forgiveness that offers us a glimpse of our own lives — while also making us question if we really know what’s most important in them.

We here at Recorded Books are thankful for all of our wonderful customers, and to say thanks we’re offering a free audio excerpt from The Adventurous Life of Myles Standish and accompanying lesson plans. Click here for information on how to download the audio and lesson plans.

Two other excellent suggestions for Thanksgiving reading are The Thanksgiving Beast Feast by Karen Gray Ruelle or Molly’s Pilgrim by Barbara Cohen.

Éste me parece que es el séptimo libro de Mundodisco, en esta ocasión sin ninguno de los personajes habituales. A menos que contemos Ankh-Morpork como un personaje, cosa que no sería tan descabellada.

El joven Ptepppic, heredero al trono de Djelibeybi (la versión descabellada del antiguo Egipto), es enviado a Ankh-Morpork para asistir a la escuela del Gremio de Asesinos, y justo el día de su graduación siente de alguna forma la muerte de su padre y regresa a casa a toda prisa.

Al haberse criado lejos de las tradiciones de su tierra tiene varios enfrentamientos con Dios, el sumo sacerdote, que piensa que asuntos  como el gobierno del  país son demasiado mundanos para que el rey se ocupe de ellos.

Por si eso fuera poco, la construcción de la enorme pirámide en la que van a sepultar a su padre provoca una ruptura en el continuo espacio-tiempo, que trae a la vida a todos los dioses de Djelibeybi, y de paso a todas las momias del país. Ptepppic consigue restaurar el orden destruyendo las pirámides, y ya de paso se libra de Dios y del trono.

No es la más divertida de la novelas de Mundodisco que he leído hasta ahora, pero tiene su punto. Qué puedo decir, me encantan los libros en los que se habla de física y matemáticas, aunque sea de guasa.

KISS OF DEATH

The Morganville Vampires, Book 8
estimated release: April/May 2010
by Rachel Caine

pre-order from Amazon Immortal Fiction

The way the Glass House worked, on a practical level, was that there was a schedule for the stuff that had to be done. Cooking, cleaning, fixing things, laundry. Technically, they were all on every housemate’s list. In practice, though, what happened was this: the boys (Michael and Shane) bribed the girls (Eve and Claire) to do laundry, and the girls bribed the boys to fix things. 

The basement of the Glass House was big, dark and creepy, which wasn’t really such a surprise. Most basements were, and this was Morganville. Morganville went in for dark and creepy the way Las Vegas went in for neon. Apart from the one area Claire was in, with a battered washer and dryer, a table that had once been painted some kind of industrial green, and some shelves filled with unidentifiable junk, the rest of the basement was dim and quiet. 

She had the music cranked up so high that she failed to hear steps coming down the stairs. In fact, she had no clue she wasn’t completely alone until she felt a hand touch her shoulder, and hot breath against her neck.

• read full excerpt on RachelCaine.com

Dieses Kapitel ist San Franciscos Booksmith gewidmet, versteckt im legendären Haight-Ashbury-Viertel, nur ein paar Türen hinter Ben and Jerry’s an eben dieser Ecke Haight und Ashbury. Die Leute von Booksmith wissen genau, wie man eine Autorenlesung veranstalten muss – als ich in San Francisco lebte, war ich ständig dort, um unglaubliche Autoren zu hören (William Gibson war unvergesslich). Sie produzieren auch kleine Sammelkarten für jeden Autor – ich habe zwei von meinen eigenen Lesungen dort.
Booksmith http://thebooksmith.booksense.com 1644 Haight St. San Francisco CA 94117 USA +1 415 863 8688

Anmerkungen:

The Brady Bunch = Die Brady Family

Little Brother – Kapitel 16 (Zum Download rechtsklick “Ziel speichern unter…” oder einfach den Feed abbonieren)

Wenn euch eklatante Fehler auffallen, oder ihr sonstige Anmerkungen machen wollt: Ich freu’ mich drauf!

Segnaliamo la recensione apparsa oggi su Il Mattino di Padova, La Tribuna di Treviso e La Nuova di Venezia-Mestre, di Sugarpulp, l’audiolibro pulp/noir pubblicato da Good Mood Edizioni nella collana Libri in Auto.

Ecco la classifica degli audiolibri più venduti su iTunes Store in Italia dal 16 al 23 novembre 2009.

01. Il Manifesto del Partito Comunista, di Karl Marx, 2008, Meravoce, 1h 36′, 0.95 €

02. Gli uomini vengono da Marte, le donne da Venere, di John Gray, 2009, Good Mood Edizioni, 1h 48′, 11.95 €.

03. Racconti italiani di Natale, AAVV, 2009, Il Narratore, 2h 15′, 7.95 €.

04. Dracula, di Bram Stoker, 2009, Good Mood Edizioni, 2h 59′, 9.95 €.

05. Scopri le tue potenzialità – Come trasformare le tue potenzialità nascoste in talenti con il coaching e la psicologia positiva, di Luca Stanchieri, 2009, Good Mood Edizioni Sonore, 2h 48′, 12.95 €.

06. Cappuccetto Rosso, Fratelli Grimm, 2005, Good Mood Edizioni, 13′, 3.95 €.

07. Le avventure di Sherlock Holmes Vol. II, di Arthur Conan Doyle, 2009, Good Mood Edizioni Sonore, 1h 03′, 9.95 €.

08. Sun Tzu L’arte della guerra – Riletto a uso dei manager, di Livio Buttigno, 20008, Good Mood Edizioni, 2h 6′, 11.45 €.

09. Manuale d’uso per la mente, di L. Ron Hubbard, 2003, 53′, 5.95 €

10. Storie di fantasmi per il dopocena, di Jerome K. Jerome, 2009 Il Narratore, 1h 05′, 5.95%.

Mais uma vez, o especialista em comportamento humano e o consultor empresarial e politico Robert Abraham surpreende seus alunos com seus chocantes revelações sobre a maneira e forma que o ser humano pode ser manipulado enganado e lido.

A leitura da mente não é uma mágica. É um processo racional que pode ser aprendido. Dúzias de indicadores que a ciência reconheceu e documentou podem permitir-lhe ganhar um notável aprofundamento nos pensamentos, sentimentos e atitudes das outras pessoas. Líderes influentes da História conheciam alguns desses fatores. De fato, a maioria das pessoas sabe alguns poucos.

Mas aprendendo a reconhecer e usar todos os Fatores Raio-X, as verdadeiras metas das pessoas, agendas secretas e segredos de motivação podem se tornar um livro aberto para você. As portas que essas habilidades abrirão para você em reuniões de trabalho, situações de emprego das leis, entrevistas, encontros sociais, negociações e sessões de vendas podem fazer toda a diferença. Descubra o poder que este novo nível de percepção pode trazer para a sua vida.

Estilo: Audiobook

Gênero: —

Autor: Robert Abraham

Tamanho: 56 Mb

Formato: Rar

Idioma: Português

*clubedodownload.info/?s= Robert+Abraham

O METODO ALPHA POWER DA VISUALIZAÇÃO HOLOGRAFICA E AUTO HIPNOSE

O PODER DOS SEUS PENSAMENTOS É AMPLIFICADO POR 1000 VEZES QUANDO SUA MENTE ESTA EM ESTADO ALPHA!

Seus pensamentos possuem um enorme poder criativo. E se você deseja criar e mudar suas condições atuais, (tais como melhorar seu desempenho mental, físico, financeiro, etc.) a chave seria- controlar sua mente Consciente, Subconsciente e Superconsciente. Este **Controle** é realizado quando você consegue baixar as frequencias do seu cerebro a um nivel Alpha. Enquanto neste estado, você vai aplicar um processo de mentalização e visualização chamado – Visualização Holografica em estado mental Alpha.

O segredo verdadeiro de como criar e manifestar tudo que quiser na vida é usar a Visualização Holografica enquanto sua mente vibra em freqüências do tipo Alpha. Imagine-se tendo o poder de realizar qualquer desejo, manifestar qualquer objetivo e realizar qualquer sonho. Será que tudo isso é possivel? A resposta é ALPHA POWER, um processo revolucionário de visualização criativa realizado no estado mental ALPHA. O Alpha Power é um método de auto hipnose que combina a visualização dinâmica e comandos afirmativos enquanto no estado mental ALPHA. Para atingir este estado, o estudante deve se-hipnotizar e realizar um processo de relaxamento progressivo auxiliado por uma visualização holográfica. A auto hipnose vai ajudar você a descer para níveis mais profundos de consciência e realizar coisas incríveis.

Estilo: Audiobook
Gênero: —
Autor: Robert Abraham
Tamanho: 209 Mb
Formato: Zip
Idioma: Português

* Aprenda passo a passo como acessar o lado direito do seu cérebro

* Melhorar a sua saúde

* Seus relacionamentos

* Melhorar sua renda

* Seu desempenho para estudar e lembrar qualquer fato

* Tomar decisões corretas

* Achar soluções para todos os problemas que você encara

Descrição:

Baixe aqui

Parte 1
Parte 2
Parte 3

137. Graceling by Kristin Cashore (2008)
Graceling, Book 1

Read By: David Baker and a full cast
Length: 12h 30min (480 pages)

Genre: Young Adult; Fantasy

Started: 02 November 2009
Finished: 12 November 2009

Where did it come from? The library.
Why do I have it? I like young adult fantasy in general, and the wave of “OMGyouhavetoreadthis”-ness from my fellow book bloggers was pretty convincing, but I’ll give Darla’s review the nod for tipping me over the edge.

Make fun of her eyes
and she’ll kick your ass. But she’ll
feel bad about it.

Summary: Katsa is special. Born with one blue eye and one green – the mark of the Graced – Katsa is a near-unbeatable fighter, either with her hands or with any weapon she holds. Her uncle, King Randa, has turned Katsa’s Grace to his advantage, using her as his enforcer, thug, and assassin. Katsa’s not happy with this role, however, and has started a secret society committed to righting wrongs on the sly. On one of their missions to rescue a kidnapped old man from the dungeons of a neighboring king, Katsa meets Po, who is a prince in his own right, the grandson of the old man, and who possesses a fighting Grace that can match Katsa’s own. They become sparing partners, and eventually friends, but the question of Po’s grandfather’s kidnapping gnaws at them. Who would order such a thing, and why? They set out to investigate, but what they find is a threat so great that it might engulf all of the seven kingdoms… if they can’t find a way to stop it.

Review: The short version? I enjoyed the heck out of it. I enjoyed it so much I was creating opportunities to go and listen to more of it, cheerfully volunteering for one of the most boring tasks at work, just because it’s a task I could do with my headphones on. I’m actually having a really hard time putting my finger on exactly why I liked it so much, but before I start dissecting it, I just want to reiterate: Graceling was compelling, relatable, exciting, and a thoroughly great read.

In almost all particulars, Graceling is very very similar to a Tamora Pierce novel. Teen heroine who has some special ability that sets her apart from everyone else, who’s good at almost everything she does, even though these powers make her somewhat of an outsider? Check and check. Romantic interest who is also special/supernatural/powered in some way, and is therefore the only guy who can ever hope to keep up with our heroine? Both have ‘em. (As a side note, I now have enough of a bookcrush on Po that I’m willing to overlook his metallic-colored eyes, which is ordinarily a huge pet peeve.) Plot involving political intrigue and corruption within a medieval fantasy kingdom? Yup. A healthy mix of coming-of age, romance, action, plotting, and witty banter? Yes across the board. The only real difference I can pick out is that Pierce’s books have more magic/mythology, with direct involvement by the gods, while the origin of the Graces is never really explained. There’s not even a method-of-consumption bias: I listened to both of them done by Full Cast Audio (which took me a while to get into, but eventually wound up being very enjoyable; a lot of the voice actors did really excellent work). So, even though there’s not much to chose between them, while Pierce’s books are reliably enjoyable, none of them knocked my socks off the way Graceling did.

In fact, the only thing I can find to ding Graceling for is a bit of heavy-handed expository worldbuilding in the early chapters. The nature of the Graces, the political layout of the various kingdoms, etc., are all presented flat out in a way that doesn’t feel particularly organic to the story or the characters, instead of being more subtly woven in. Still, it is a very interesting world that’s being set up, and once it’s established, everything flows much more smoothly, and the character development and story development are handled with considerable skill, especially given that this is Cashore’s first novel. I also really appreciated both the strong feminist lead, and the overall sensibility and mature handling of some thorny issues. Overall, even though I can’t entirely define *why* I enjoyed it so much, I found it absolutely engrossing, I was sad that it was over, and I already have Fire queued up on my iPod. 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Recommendation: Fans of Tamora Pierce or those who like YA fantasy with a strong feminist twist should definitely put Graceling at the top of their list. Even those who aren’t particular fantasy fans but who like a good coming-of-age story with solid doses of romance, humor, and action should check it out; I don’t think the fantasy elements are prevalent enough to be off-putting.

This Review on LibraryThing | This Book on LibraryThing | This Book on Amazon

Links: Kristin Cashore’s blog

Other Reviews: Angieville, At Home with Books, Becky’s Book Reviews, The Book Nest, Books and Movies, Books and Other Thoughts, Bookshelves of Doom, Boy With Books, Dear Author, Into the Wardrobe, The Magic of Ink, Medieval Bookworm, Page 247, The Reading Zone, Regular Rumination, S. Krishna’s Books, Stella Matutina, Tiny Little Reading Room, Today’s Adventure, YA Fabulous, YAnnabe
Have you reviewed this book? Leave a comment with the link and I’ll add it in.

First Line: In these dungeons the darkness was complete, but Katsa had a map in her mind.

Cover Thoughts: It’s pretty standard fare as far as medieval fantasy covers go, but I like the color palette, and I only just realized when looking at the large version that there’s an eye reflected in the blade. Tres cool.

The stated objective of LibriVox is to make all books in the public domain available, for free, in audio format on the internet.  

You can even volunteer to read and record audio to help create the content on file.  LibriVox volunteers record chapters of books in the public domain and release the audio files back onto the net.

Join us for the last three chapters of Alice in Wonderland!

Saturday November 21st, 12:00 pm PST, http://slurl.com/secondlife/FRANCE3D%20Marseille/97/242/498

Dieses Kapitel ist Chapters/Indigo gewidmet, der nationalen kanadischen Mega-Kette. Ich arbeitete zu der Zeit bei Bakka, der unabhängigen Science-Fiction-Buchhandlung, als Chapters seine erste Filiale in Toronto eröffnete; und es war mir schnell klar, dass da was Großes am Werden war, weil zwei unserer klügsten und bestinformierten Kunden bei uns reinschneiten, um mir zu berichten, dass sie für die Leitung der dortigen Science- Fiction-Abteilung angestellt worden seien. Von Beginn an legte Chapters die Messlatte für eine große Buchhandels-Filiale hoch – mit erweiterten Öffnungszeiten, einem freundlichen Café mit vielen Sitzplätzen, Selbstbedienungs-Terminals und einem erstaunlich vielfältigen Sortiment.
Chapters/Indigo: http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/Little-Brother-Cory-Doctorow/9780765319852-item.html

Little Brother – Kapitel 15 (Zum Download rechtsklick “Ziel speichern unter…” oder einfach den Feed abbonieren)

Wenn euch eklatante Fehler auffallen, oder ihr sonstige Anmerkungen machen wollt: Ich freu’ mich drauf

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Thank goodness, I enjoyed this one much more than the previous Sookie Stackhouse book!

Sookie has her love life under control, and is pursuing only one man– Quinn, a were tiger. She’s dealing with feelings from past relationships (or almost relationships), and that’s fine. We have an explanation for her rather extreme attractiveness to supernatural men.

I like how her relationship with Eric is playing out– she’s making it clear she isn’t falling in line as one of his subjects. Both are dealing with emotional fallout from past events, and are struggling for a grip on what this means to them.

I was interested in the background we get on Bill. I like the new character of Amelia.

Better yet, we have a plot or two! There were actual mystery/adventures that held my interest. There were also details of how vampire society works, and I always like that part of the world-building.

Looking around the net a bit, I found out there is a short story that falls between Dead as a Doornail and this one that fills in some of the details that I was wondering if I’d missed somewhere.

I read Dead as a Doornail for the Sookie Stackhouse Reading Challenge. This is book 6 of 9.

Other reviews:

• Alison’s Book Marks
• Chick Loves Lit
• Bellas Novella
• A Reader’s Random Ramblings
• Moonlight to Twilight Blog
  
• Ashley’s Library