jenbsbooks's reviews
2129 reviews

I liked this. Sometimes I struggle with mystery/thriller types ... I'm always second guessing and trying to figure out "the twist". There weren't any real surprises here for me. As things were revealed, I'd already assumed what was now uncovered. It kept my interest and I cared about the characters.

First person, past tense, very conversational tone. Just basic chronological chapters, no headers. Some slight time shifts as memories and past events were uncovered. 

Start of a series ... this wrapped up, looks like the sequels carry on with a couple of the characters, but not a direct continuation. Not sure if I'll get to them. Possibly. 

Content concerns - proFanity x 24 and discussion/description of rape/murder (burned body)/war.

I liked this ... I'm not sure how much I'll really remember. There were reviews of things I already knew, and lots of new information too. I wouldn't mind having a copy on my bookshelf, but I don't know that I'd really re-read it.  I went with the audio edition, but also checked out the Kindle copy. The narrator had a British accent ... and I think that made it all feel more "intellectual"? With a David Attenborough sound, where we are used to having that be an authority on documentaries and such. I'm not sure if the "grand" feel would be there with a regular ol' American accent. 

I was NOT impressed with the transition from disks to an audiobook file - throughout we'd get the "this is the end of disk 7" statement. Seriously, there wasn't an editing team that could take the time to edit that out? The Table of Contents in the audiobook was also lacking ... I am a person who looks at the TOC and any offered headers, to help keep things in context (what is our subject this chapter?) There was a nice TOC in the Kindle copy ... I figured I'd retype it here for reference (if I ever have the audio file again without the Kindle copy, or just to remember what "everything" discussed was, and where/which chapter). 

Introduction
Part 1 - Lost in the Cosmos
1. How to Build a Universe
2. Welcome to the Solar System
3. The Reverend Evan's Universe
Part 2- The Size of the Earth
4. The Measure of Things
5. The Stone-Breakers
6. Science Red in Tooth and Claw
7. Elemental Matters
Part 3 - A New Age Dawns
8. Einstein's Universe
9. The Mighty Atom
10. Getting the Lead Out
11. Muster Mark's Quarks
12. The Earth Moves
Part 4 - Dangerous Planet
13. Bang!
14. The Fire Below
15. Dangerous Beauty
Part 5 - Life Itself
16. Lonely Planet
17. Into the Troposphere
18. The Bounding Main
19. The Rise of Life
20. Small World
21. Life Goes On
22. Goodbye to All That
23. The Richness of Being
24. Cells
25. Darwin's Singular Notion
26. The Stuff of Life
Part 6 - The Road To Us
27. Ice Time
28. The Mysterious Biped
29. The Restless Age
30. GoodBye

In the Kindle copy, there were also notes and some illustrations - a full biography too. 

It was all interesting ... one of my boys did online high school (pre&post covid) and was struggling, so I would sit through all his school classes and lectures and take notes and then tutor him privately. Years after my own high school and college, I was back learning biology, chemistry and physics. It was interesting here to hear a lot of what I knew, plus additional information. Presented in a more "storytelling" way, very conversational, 1st person, a little like a Ted Talk or professor giving a lecture. I am glad there isn't a test though ;) Listening just for "enjoyment" I'm not sure how much I'll really remember. 

Per proFanity - x2 ... quoting someone

I really enjoyed this ... a lighter rom/com (although there are some serious moments), a little time travel, which the title and blurb indicate, but this was one I'd put on hold, and then just started without looking into what it was about. There was some language (proFanity x 36) and some sex, not super explicit, but not closed door either.  So depending on if those content concerns are a deal breaker or not, this is one I would absolutely recommend. 

One of the characters is a chef - so there is quite a bit of cooking talk. My family had just been enjoying a skirt steak (prepared by my man) and talked about how it wasn't one many were familiar with (it's a favorite in our family now). I mentioned I had come across it in a book before, and then, here it was again "the beef was tender - it must have been flank or skirt, so juicy it melted in my mouth..." The name Grayson also made an appearance (Hub's name, so something I note). 

Time travel is always a complicated and mind-boggling. Here, I never knew when that moment was in the "present" where she realized he knew, that she must have told him at some point (she hadn't yet) and that he'd believed her. I felt like something was lacking, that it needed a bigger moment. There was another storyline that seemed to be introduced, then dropped, and not addressed ...

This was just an enjoyable read, a little lighter, with some laughter and sweetness, a little romance. There were some quoteables, I went with the audio edition (Brittany Pressley narrating, and her name and voice are familiar, but as I looked through her other titles ... and there are a LOT, I couldn't place which one I'd listened to recently that made her sound so familiar). Available at the library, but popular, so I had a wait. 

1st person. Past tense.

Listened to this audiobook on May 4th ... May the Fourth Be With You. I had a hardcopy I put into the little library. I remember having this series 10+ years ago, and #3 got into folding origami critters. Fond memories of that. I felt like I had read this, but it wasn't in my GoodReads history. At least not on this account. I have a separate "kids" account (BlackhamBoys) to track what they were reading, or what I read to them. I had read it, listened to it, before (in 2011).

Quick listen - just over two hours. Available in AudiblePlus and at the library. There are some illustrations, but I'd still recommend it as an audiobook. Cute, with different voices for the various characters, each telling their experiences with Origami Yoda.

1st person. Past tense. Very easy, conversational tone ... different voice feel from the characters (even without the different voices in the narration. Various fonts and presentations to make them all separate). It IS very young. The kids are in middle school ... but they like girls (do boys like girls that young?)

4* rating based on what I think the target audience would give it.  It's one I would, and did, recommend to my boys. 
 

When I see "Audible Original" I think of an audio created for Audible ... not an actual novel (different than "exclusively on Audible"). This series has been marked as an Audible Original, yet I was able to find the first two books in kindle format at my library. I totally recommend the audio version though ... there is a musical touch that is missed if reading on your own.

This third installment does seem to be Audible Only ... no ebook option (I like to have that, while I prefer audio, I like having the words in print to skim over when writing a review). Without having a reference, I'll just have to go off memory (and I didn't write down any notes). I miss being able to see all the punny chapter headings at a glance (unlike the previous installments, only the generic numerical chapters are listed, without their helpful headings ... WHY aren't they included in the Audible TOC?)

The kids have been off for winter break for three weeks, and book 3 picks up upon the return of the students to school. The kids are going on a field trip to Europe (this reminded me a little of Spiderman: No Way Home).  Amelia is introduced to the title concept ... the dark refrain. Is it something she has, inherited from her father? 

This installment, while still good, felt a little more YA ... a little more crazy action. With some time shifts, it felt a little reminiscent of the Magic Treehouse books, with kids from modern day going back into time. That goes for the "Missing" series by Margaret Peterson Haddix too (the first book sets things up, with the sequels having the kids go back in time).  Young Mozart and Marie Antoinette and an electric guitar way before its time (shades of "Back to the Future" and "A Knight's Tale ... just the music and the dance).  Desyncranization, a tempest, portals, NBI, save the world. 

That's a Rap-sody ... (final chapter heading) ... is this the last installment?

I was happy to come into the series after three+ books were out (is that it?) I don't always want to continue on with a series back to back, but I like to have the option. Here, I started the second book (also included in AudiblePlus, it is an AudibleOriginal, exclusive) immediately after finishing the first (and I've read the third before getting around to writing this review). 

I like that all three stories, while continuing and connected, have their own storyline. Book 1 wrapped up with Amelia connecting with her mother, saving the school, and being revealed as a composer. Here, the kids have had summer break and are back at the school.

Enter ... Amelia Jones. The other Amelia Jones (the "real" one per se). Also, as the title indicates, there is the Midnight Orchestra, with a mysterious conductor/Necromuse who may have evil plans.

This matched the first installment, same narrator (she's great) and the background music adding ambience to the audio edition. The punny chapter headings (and here, there were chronological chapters as well as headings, something the first book lacked). 

There was a "Pitch Perfect" feel ... a competition between schools.
A little time manipulation ... baby Jai.

The reveal ... I was pretty much expecting that, and there was an event to set up further adventures, while bringing this conflict to a conclusion. 

1st person/present tense. YA - no content concerns.

I was looking for something in Audible's PLUS catalog that was NOT also available at the library ... this is an exclusive (although I was able to grab the Kindle copy from the library). YA ... but I thoroughly enjoyed this. I think the audio edition really has the edge. Great narration, but it's the music that really makes the difference. Now, normally I don't care for music in audiobooks - random music at the beginning/end or chapter changes. Annoying! Here though, it was part of the story and added SO much. When it mentioned the tune of "itsy bitsy spider" and then that was heard there playing in the background ... and then there were full fledged classical orchestrations. Perfect balance though, the music never overwhelmed the narration. 

Told in a very conversational 1st person/present tense ... the first line is "It's harder to charm a chicken than you might think" as that's what our MC is doing as the book starts up. In this world, music is magical, play a tune and it's a spell for all sorts of things, even coaxing a chicken to to come out from her hiding place.

Many comparisons to Harry Potter ... our MC does end up at a school for the musically gifted, learning more about music and magic. For me, it reminded me of E.E.Holmes books (The Gateway Trilogy ... older girls going to a school to learn magic. The boy side-kick had some similarities too). 

This was pretty light and fun, although there were some serious and sad moments too ... every chapter heading is a play on words/punny (Catch Us If You Cannon, Nothing But Treble, Overture and Out). No numerical chapters listed, just the headers ... I like to have both.

There were some additional pictures in the kindle/print copy (matches the cover illustration). 

I can see there are two sequels and a prequel ... I plan on continuing on. Immediately ;) 

This was recommended to me highly by my SIL and I liked this a lot. It would be one I'd recommend to my boys (if they were reading) or for a family listen together.  The timing for me was interesting, as this same month I read another YA where the MC's parents had been killed in an accident (Counting by 7s). My next book is also a YA (The Mystwick School of Musicraft ) where the MC's mother died and her dad is is gone. What's up with all these young kids and their parents?

I've always liked mythology, and here, the MC's name is Hercules. His brother is Achilles ... apparently their parents liked mythology too. A school assignment has young Hercules writing up how the famous twelve labors of Hercules might be performed today. The "recognition of the relevance of these Labors, how they connect to your own life."  It's a big assignment, but it's a year long one, and all the kids have a big mythological challenge.

The first two chapters of the book introduce the characters and the situation ... I'm who who notes POV and tense. It's all 1st person, very conversational, with Hercules talking to US, the reader. It's mostly past tense, but it slides a little, especially at the start, from present, and even futuristic. That confused me a bit ("this fall, I'm going to the Cape Cod Academy" ... then same chapter "so that's why on the last day of August I walked on my own two feet to the seven o'clock Cape Cod Academy Orientation" and then same chapter delved into the first day of school ... it just seems like it should have all been past tense?) 

After those first two chapters, the remaining chapters are the "Labors of Hercules" ... The Nemean Lion, The Hydra, The Hind, The Boar of Erymanthus, The Augean Stables, The Birds of Stymphalus, The Cretan Bull, The Mares of Diomedes, The Belt of Hippolyta, The Cattle of Geryon, The Golden Apples of the Hesperides, Cerberus.  I feel like I have a decent background in mythology, but I wasn't that familiar with ALL twelve labors (certain ones are more memorable, have been addressed more in other books/movies, etc). It was really interesting how the author (and Hercules) came up with present day correlations. 

I was attached to the characters ... like several other books, it has a group of people coming together, helping, growing. There were times I was hit emotionally. 

Listening to the audio, it was very obvious how often "said" was said ... he said, she said, he said, she said. 1083 times in a 350 page book. It was grating at times.  I'm not sure of the time setting, I think it was contemporary, but it seemed like 12-year old Hercules and friends were in a lot of situations that weren't the average daily activities for a 7th grader. 

This was really cute and I absolutely enjoyed it. Packed a lot in for a novella ... I haven't tried any of the others in Amazon's "Meet Cute" collection, but had just finished another book by this author so I figured I'd give this one a go too. In audio ... that's actually a bit of an issue, listening to the audio back to back, because, as talented as Zachary Webber is ... it's a little hard to have him be a character in one book, then be someone else (he sounds the same!)

In addition to the male character sounding the same, the situation felt a little familiar to Just for the Summer ... with the two characters corresponding in writing for a bit, before ever meeting in person.

Included as part of Amazon Prime - Kindle and audio included. 

This is an anthology of eight short stories ... it seems most people have picked this up because of the link between the story "Story of Your Life" which was adapted into the movie "Arrival". I happened upon the author and his stories because of [book:Uglies|24770] ... which I read many years ago, and then again more recently when it was part of my son's school study. I noticed a dedication "This novel was shaped by a series of email exchanges between myself and Ted Chiang about his story 'Liking What You See: A Documentary.' His input on the manuscript was also invaluable."  THAT is what made me look up that story, and found it was included in this compilation. I was able to find the audio on Hoopla, and a Kindle copy on Libby. 

Two narrators on audio - one male, one female. The first two stories were the male narrator, while the second two were the female narrator, and there just wasn't really a break or notice as one story ended and another started. I'm not a fan of music interludes, but this needed SOMETHING in the audio  (or if they had switched up the stories so it was male/female/male/female ...) Hoopla's display was also entirely lacking, no table of contents or notification of where you were (which story). With Amazon's short story collections, I don't always read all of them, but I read all the ones here ...

Tower of Babylon: This one was okay ... the biblical idea of building a tower, I struggled a bit with the names (Hillalum, Nanni, Elam, Karun, Beli, Lugatum, Yahweh, Kudda, Damquiya, Ahuni, ) I think perhaps I was working so hard trying to remember the names and who was who that I didn't pay enough attention to the story. I didn't quite follow (build up, hit a roof? vault? Now have to dig? resivoir - swimming to heaven?) People living on the tower, never going down to the land/earth below. "Their labor would not reveal to them any more of Creation than they already knew. Yet through their endeavor, men would glimpse God's work." 

Understand: This one was interesting ... a bit of a "Flowers for Algernon" feel, but except going from a mental handicap to brilliance, this went from regular to beyond brilliant after a hormone therapy after an accident. Regrowing neurons, increased intelligence to genius levels. There is a danger in an individual becoming SO smart ... pulling back (but now the patient has progressed too far to agree to this). But he's not alone ... there is another. Who will win the battle of the brain?

Division by Zero: This one was a little (okay, a lot) "mathy" ... too much so. I didn't really understand the equation or its impact. The presentation was interesting though. There were nine sections, each started with a general idea, then did (a) her side and then (b) his side. The final one is 9A=9B.  Her side is how she's lost belief in the world/life because of this mathematical proof that underlies everything ... his is how his reality has changed, because he has fallen out of love with her.

Story of Your Life: This is the one that "Arrival" is based on. I watched the movie years ago and loved it.  This shifted from a very strange first person POV/present tense ... ish, sometimes a little past-ish, sometimes future-ish (talking about different times as if they are yet to happen, talking TO a person, her daughter) to a first person/past tense telling the story of Louise Banks and the aliens. Made me want to watch the movie again. 

Seventy-Two Letters: This short story centered on automatons ... I have read a few "golem" stories, parts here sounded a little like modern-day issues (replacing humans with AI/mechanics). It got a little too scientific, with genetics ... I struggled a bit to follow. Hit on the idea of the government controlling who could have children, comparing men (the assassin) to an automata (just doing what they are told). I didn't quite get the whole "name" thing...

The Evolution of Human Science: very short ... barely remember this one ... does bring up the question, if you could augment your child's brain (has to be in before birth) ... do you? Your child would be "metahuman" and grown beyond your own comprehension, or do you not, and is that "deprivation"? 

Hell Is the Absence of God: This made me think of "The Boys" a little ... there, SuperHEROES, they are wonderful, right? But sometimes bad things happen around them too. Here, it's angels. There are visitations, where there are healings and blessings, but sometimes causalities from their appearances also.  Interesting views of heaven and hell (hell not being some horrid place, just without God) ... the thought "if he had to choose between going to Hell while Sarah went to Heaven, or having both of them go to Hell together, he would choose the latter; he would rather she be exiled from God than separated from him." Sad ending ...

Liking What You See: A Documentary: This story was the reason I picked up this compilation (as mentioned above). I really liked the presentation (the documentary take, the different POVs and voices) and the story itself ... more than Uglies ;)  So many interesting things to think about ...