Thursday, May 21, 2015

Red Rising

by Pierce Brown
In this story, the main character is Darrow.  He is 16 and a “Helldiver,” which is a driller for helium. His job is helping to prepare the surface of Mars for habitation, or so he thinks.  He is also a red, or a slave.  Tragedy strikes Darrow and his wife EO, throwing him into a world he didn’t even know existed.  Darrow had no idea he was a slave. His wife had opened his eyes to a world of injustice.   Darrow is a reluctant leader chosen to lead a rebellion.  The mission is to infiltrate the Golds (the people that already inhabit the surface), and he will undergo a major transformation to do so.  Eventually he will embrace his mission and it will become everything to him. 
This book is not yet on our shelf, but will be soon.  It is also available to download through our digital library, One Click Digital. You can start listening today, or reserve the CD book.  Tim Gerard Reynolds’ voice brings the story to life; you will not want to stop listening even when you reach the end. I will definitely be looking for more books that he narrates.  
The sequel to this book is Golden Son and I cannot wait to start listening to this book.

Theft of swords by Michael Sullivan, narrated by Tim Gerard Reynolds, will be coming soon as well.

Happiness for Beginners

by Katherine Center
Narrator Marguerite Gavin

Everyone experiences disappointment in life so severe that it becomes necessary to learn how to be happy again. In Happiness for Beginners, Helen loses her baby, divorces her alcoholic husband and realizes she has just forgotten how to be happy. While listening to this book, I was surprised to find that the plot takes the reader to wonderful Wyoming. Helen signs up to take a Wilderness survival course in Evanston, Wyoming with her younger brother’s annoying best friend Jake. Searching for something to replace the losses in her life, she goes on an adventure, initially realizing that she might be in over her head. She finds what she really had not expected:  love. You probably guessed this. The journey she goes on to discover love improves her life in many ways; she does some soul searching on her trip and settles on trying to find the positive in every day.     

The Bullet

by Mary Louise Kelly
Narrator: Cassandra Campbell
From the beginning I was hooked. This mystery by Mary Louise Kelly was very entertaining.  Caroline Cashion goes to the doctor for what she assumes will be a routine visit; she is having pain in her wrist. Given her symptom of wrist pain, the examination leads to more than she ever could have imagined. She has a bullet in her neck with no idea how it got there. No scar, no memory nor any other sign of how or when she was shot. This development turns her life upside down. This book was so riveting, I could not stop listening; I will be adding this author to my favorite author list. I don’t want to spoil the ending, so I’ll stop there. Definitely a book to try.



One Plus One

by Jojo Moyes
Narrator: Elizabeth Bower
I got really involved in this story. However, it is not a happy go lucky kind of story.  You follow two characters, Ed and Jess, whose lives seem to have a lot of downs and not a lot of ups.  Ed makes a decision that at first seemed like a good idea, but he did not really think about the consequences.  Now he is looking at possible prison time.  He has had a failed marriage and several unhappy relationships, and his life decisions make him feel like he is way behind everyone else he knows.  Then there is Jess, who is a single mom of two, trying to keep a positive outlook on everything.  She can’t seem to get ahead financially, works all the time and has a gifted child looking at private school.  Her son is having a really hard time with the local bully and is closing himself off to everyone.  Ed, Jess and her two kids end up on a journey together that should only have taken a few hours.  Instead, it stretches out to several days.  You will laugh and you will feel like crying for these characters, but you will definitely want to find out what happens to them.  I really recommend listening to this book; the narrators were excellent and it was a pleasure to listen to.