2015 Audiobook Challenge

Reading Challenge Details: •Runs January 1, 2015 – December 31, 2015. You can join at anytime. •The goal is to find a new love for audios or to outdo yourself by listening to more audios in 2015 than you did in 2014. •Books must be in audio format (CD, MP3, etc.) •ANY genres count. •Re-reads and crossovers from other reading challenges are allowed. •You do not have to be a book blogger to participate; you can track your progress on Goodreads, Shelfari, Booklikes, Facebook, LibraryThing, etc. – I’ve created a Goodreads Group for the challenge, feel free to join. •If you’re a blogger grab the button (on the sidebar) and do a quick post about the challenge to help spread the word. If you’re not a blogger you can help by posting on Facebook or Tweeting about the challenge. By request, a new level (Marathoner) has been added this year for the hardcore listeners and the numbers for My Precious has been changed from 30+ to 30-50. Levels: •Newbie (I’ll give it a try) 1-5 •Weekend Warrior (I’m getting the hang of this) 5-10 •Stenographer (can listen while multi-tasking) 10-15 •Socially Awkward (Don’t talk to me) 15-20 •Binge Listener (Why read when someone can do it for you) 20-30 •My Precious (I had my earbuds surgically implanted) 30-50 •Marathoner (Look Ma no hands) 50+ We’ve decided to go back to having quarterly updates to help keep everyone motivated and to snag new participants through out the year. There will be posts on the following dates for you guys to check in to let us know how your listening is going for 2015. Update Schedule: •March 27th: 1st Quarter Update •June 19th: 2nd Quarter Update – Giveaway included •September 25th: 3rd Quarter Update •December 18th: 4th Quarter Update and Wrap – Giveaway included •December 18th: 4th Quarter Update and Wrap – Giveaway included Audio Resources: Audible.com Audiobooks.com Downpour.com Tantor.com Scribd.com FREE audio resources: Overdrive through your local library Audiobook Jukebox audios for review MY LEVEL •Socially Awkward (Don’t talk to me) 15-20 http://thebooknympho.com/2014/12/sign-up-2015-audiobook-challenge/

2015 Let Me Count The Ways

HERE ARE THE LEVELS FOR PAGES: Bronze: 0 - 2000 pages Silver: 2,001 – 4,000 pages Gold: 4,001 – 6,000 pages Platinum: 6,001 – 8,000 pages Diamond: 8,001 – 10,000 pages Multi-Diamond: 10,001 + pages HERE ARE THE LEVELS FOR AUDIO: Bronze: 0 – 75 hours Silver: 76 – 150 hours Gold: 151 – 225 hours Platinum: 226 – 300 hours Diamond: 301 – 375 hours Multi-Diamond: 376+ hours I'm doing both: LEVELS/PAGES - Silver: 2,001 – 4,000 pages LEVEL/HOURS - Gold: 151 – 225 hours http://www.avanticiera.com/2014/12/2015-let-me-count-ways-reading-challenge.html

Kill Switch by Baer & Greene

Kill Switch

By Neal Baer and Jonathan Greene

Narrator: Bernadette Dunne

Rating: 3 stars (2.8)

Overview (from Barnes and Noble)

A heart-pounding glimpse into the world of forensic psychiatry, Kill Switch marks the powerful fiction debut of Neal Baer and Jonathan Greene—former executive producers of television's acclaimed Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Filled with breakneck suspense, vivid characters, and riveting detail, it is a mindbending thriller you'll never forget. . .

Meet Claire Waters, a young, dedicated forensic psychiatrist with unnervingly personal insights into the criminal mind. Haunted by a disturbing childhood incident—and driven by her demons—Claire has always been drawn to those rare "untreatable" patients who seem to have no conscience or fear. She has a natural ability to put people at ease, to help them face their darkest secrets. But one shocking case could make or break her career—and it's waiting for her in the psychiatric wing of New York City's Rikers Island.

His name is Quimby. A deranged inmate whose boyish good looks hide a sordid history of dysfunction and abuse, Quimby triggers something in Claire she'd rather not face. As she tries to unlock Quimby's past, she unwittingly reveals her own painful secrets—leaving herself dangerously vulnerable. For Claire, the patient's obsessions are just the beginning. When the case propels her into the mind of another killer—a homicidal maniac who's watching her every move—it could only end in madness, or murder, or both. . .

Brilliantly constructed and breathtakingly suspenseful, Kill Switch is a masterful combination of murder, mystery, and modern forensics that will keep you turning the pages to the final shocking conclusion.



My Review

Claire Waters has accepted a fellowship working with inmates at Rikers Island. Her first patient, Quimby, reminds her of deed seeded emotions from her childhood.  When a blond turns up dead Quimby is the likely suspect. Waters being hard headed and quite frankly too nosy dives head first into the case. Detective Lawler is assigned to the case after returning from one personal tragedy and going through another. Lawler and Water work together to find the serial killer who may turn out not to be Quimby after all while coming to terms with their own personal demons.

Ok this book had action. It kept you engaged all the way through. There are many side stories. Fortunately they are all intertwined so it works. Main story: the serial killings. Side story A (strongly linked to main story): Claire’s friend from childhood being abducted. Side story B (weakly linked to main story): Lawler career ending medical condition.

The way the story is written is choppy in the beginning. The purpose for the choppiness is clear, it is written that way to show the confusion that Waters is experiencing. The rest of the book is written in alternating point of views of Waters and Lawlers. There isn’t much character development for any of the characters. You know what ails them but you don’t know them. The book is about events that happened, how they happened, and how they are solved period. Overall, it’s a good read. Or in this case a good listen.

Plot: 3  Writing: 3  Characters: 2  Other: 3* Overall feel: 3**

*side story B was unnecessary to the story. If he didn’t have the medical problem and was just a regular detective the story would have still worked

** I was interested but it didn’t bother me if I had to put it on pause

Challenges:
Mixing It Up 2012
2012 Support Your Local Library

A Good Yarn by Debbie Macomber

A Good Yarn by Debbie Macomber
narrator: Linda Emond
Audiobook
5cds 6hrs
Rating:4stars
05/20/2011

From back of book:
In the year since it opened, A Good Yarn has thrived-and so has Lydia Hoffman, the owner. A lot of that is due to Brad Goetz. But when Brad’s ex-wife reappears, Lydia is suddenly afraid to trust her newfound happiness. Elise Beaumont joins one of Lydia’s popular knitting classes. Living with her daughter, Aurora, Elisa learns that her onetime husband plans to visit and that Aurora wants a relationship with her father, regardless of how Elise feels about him. Bethanne Hamlin is facing the fallout from a divorce and joins the knitting class as the first step in her effort to recover a sense of dignity and hope. Courtney Pulanski is depressed and overweight teenager. She’s staying with her grandmother, who’s trying to help by taking her to the knitting class.


My Review:
This is a chick lit book that deals with the lives of several women all center around the knitting store called A Good Yarn. Lydia, the owner of the store, has survived two bouts with cancer. She has made friends with the ladies of her knitting class. She starts a new class for sock knitting and it’s a rocky start at first.

Bethanne is recently divorce and has lost all self-confidence. I have to admit she was a bit pathetic and annoying. Elise had lost most of her money in a bad real estate scam and is living with her daughter when her ex-husband shows up. Courtney is living with her grandmother while her father is out of the country on assignment.
The novel does a great job of telling each individual story while linking them all together. It is about love and friendship. It is about women coming together to support one another.

The narrator voice was pleasant. Her voice draws the listener into the story. I am a crocheter learning to knit so I really enjoyed this story. tbr list #3...it's a great story and a quick read

Challenges:
Whisper Stories in My Ear 2011
2011 Chick Lit Challenge
2011 Where Are You Reading?

Wild Fire by Christine Feehan

Wild Fire by Christine Feehan

narrator: Phil Gigante

Audio Book

12discs 14hrs 44min

04/14/2011

2stars

From back of book:

Called on a dangerous assignment, leopard shifter Conner Vega returns to the Panama rain forest of his homeland, looking every bit the civilized male. But as a member of the most lethal of the shifter tribes, he doesn’t have a civilized bone in his body. He carries the scent of a wild animal in its prime, he bears the soul-crushing sins of past kills--and he’s branded by the scars of shame inflicted by the woman he betrayed. Isabeau Chandler’s a Borneo shifter who’s never forgiven Conner--or forgotten him. The mating urge is still with her, and when she crosses Connor’s path, passions run like wild fire. But as Connor’s mission draws Isabeau closer, another betrayal lies waiting in the shadows--and it’s the most perilous and intimate one of all.

My Review:

I was torn with this book, like with her Carpathian series, Feehan has a repetitive style. Having read so many of her Carpathian novels it can become tiring. Liquid heat this, dark desire that. The love scenes just don't do that much for me anymore. This book in particular did not get my temperature warm. The story lagged. I found myself just waiting for it to end. Speaking of the end. I enjoyed the last disc, especially the last few tracks. In fact, without the love scene and the passion felt descriptions between the two main characters the book was actually interesting. The drug trafficking, the kidnappings, the force servitude could have made for a great story. Unfortunately, Feehan novels are romances focused on the relationship between the two main characters anything else that happens in the book is just a backdrop. I would have preferred the backdrop in this novel. TBR list #4

Challenges:

I Spy Title Challenge

A to Z Around The World Challenge

Olympic Challenge London 2012

Turbulent Sea by Christine Feehan

Turbulent Sea

by Christine Feehan

rating: 3.5 stars

Audio Book 12cds 14hours 4minutes

The star: Joley Drake was born with a legacy of unexpected magical gifts, but it was the gift of singing that made her an overnight sensation—a rock and roll goddess trapped by fame, fortune, and ambition. Heated by the flush of success, Joley could have any man she wanted. But there’s only man who can give her what she really needs.
The bodyguard: Ilya Prakenskii, cool, inscrutable, dangerously sexy, and working in the shadow of his infamous reputation—that of a secret Russian hit man on the payroll of a notorious mobster. He’s the last man Joley should get close to, yet when her life is threatened on tour she has nowhere left to turn. But in the seductive safe keep of Ilya’s embrace, is Joley really as secure as she imagines?