Books and Swoons: Library

Showing posts with label Library. Show all posts

Second Chance Read: The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (Sisterhood #1)
Author: Ann Brashares
Release Date: December 10, 2002
Publisher: Books on Tape Childrens
Format: Audiobook
Source: Library/Overdrive
Review by: Jenn

Some friends just fit together.

Once there was a pair of pants. Just an ordinary pair of jeans. But these pants, the Traveling Pants, went on to do great things. This is the story of the four friends—Lena, Tibby, Bridget, and Carmen—who made it possible.

4 stars out of 5 stars

I first read The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants the summer between my freshman and sophomore year of high school. Which is basically the same timeline as the girls in the book. I refuse to say how long that was but it’s been ages. So when I saw the book as an audiobook on my library, I snatched it up.

First off, I loved the narrator. Angela Goethals made the girls come alive for me. She did a wonderful job and made the girls’ voice and friendship all the more real and authentic. Secondly, this it had been a while since I read this series, it was like I was reading/hearing the story for the first time so I appreciated Angela all the more for a job well done.

I will admit that some of the girls’ actions, specifically Carmen and Bridget, kind of bothered or annoyed me. When they would act naively or wrong, since they’re so young and inexperienced, I wanted to step in and inform them not to do what they were about to do or act the way they were going to. However, this is me speaking with experienced and as an adult. I know that while I would have never done what Carmen or Bridget had done/acted at that age, I too was a teenager and things always felt dire and like the end of the world was coming. So while the story of Carmen and Bridget weren’t my favorite, I loved how they, in the end, learned and grew up a little. And like before, Lena was my favorite girl and Tibby’s story bought me to tears.

Time for The Second Summer of Sisterhood.

Second Chance Read: Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Anna and the French Kiss
Author: Stephanie Perkins
Release Date: October 11, 2011
Publisher: Listening Library
Format: Audiobook
Source: Overdrive/Library
Review by: Jenn

Kim Mai Guest (Narrator)

Anna was looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. So she's less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris—until she meets Étienne St. Clair. Smart, charming, beautiful, perfect, Étienne has it all ... including a serious girlfriend.

But in the City of Light, wishes have a way of coming true. Will a year of romantic near-misses end with their long-awaited French kiss?

Stephanie Perkins keeps the romantic tension crackling and the attraction high in a debut guaranteed to make toes tingle and hearts melt.

4 stars out of 5 stars

Listening to the audiobook of one of my favorite YA contemporary novels was going back and falling in love with characters that I know so well. The narrator for this book bought the character alive and made me feel like I was reading Perkins' book was for the first time. I fell in love with the setting and characters and it gave me the wanderlust to visit Paris. Wonderful narration of an already beautiful story.

If you already read and loved this book in it's print version, you will love the audiobook. And if you haven't already read this book, go read/listen to it!

Second Chance Read: Last Sacrifice by Richelle Mead

Last Sacrifice (Vampire Academy #6)
Author: Richelle Mead
Release Date: December 7, 2010
Publisher: Penguin Audio
Format: Audiobook
Source: Overdrive/Library
Review by: Jenn

Read by Emily Shaffer

Murder. Love. Jealousy. And the ultimate betrayal. Now, with Rose on trial for her life and Lissa first in line for the Royal Crown, nothing will ever be the same between them.

4 stars out of 5 stars

Reading Last Sacrifice in audiobook version reminded me how much I love this series. The narrator captivated me with the way she told Richelle's story and made it come alive in a different medium. Her Russian accent to portray Dimitri Belikov (my love!) was a little funny at times but certainly made the story all the more authentic. I certainly want to go back and listen to all the books but unfortunately, my library doesn't have the audiobooks on their collections.

If you haven't picked up this series, I really implore you to do so. It's so good! And if the rest of the audiobooks are as good as this one, you won't regret it.

Second Chance Read: Just One Day by Gayle Forman

Just One Day (Just One Day #1)
Author: Gayle Forman
Release Date: January 3, 2013
Publisher: Penguin Audio
Format: Audiobook
Source: Library Overdrive
Review by: Jenn

When sheltered American good girl Allyson "LuLu" Healey first meets laid-back Dutch actor Willem De Ruiter at an underground performance of Twelfth Night in England, there’s an undeniable spark. After just one day together, that spark bursts into a flame, or so it seems to Allyson, until the following morning, when she wakes up after a whirlwind day in Paris to discover that Willem has left. Over the next year, Allyson embarks on a journey to come to terms with the narrow confines of her life, and through Shakespeare, travel, and a quest for her almost-true-love, to break free of those confines.

4 stars out of 5 stars

The audiobook for Just One Day was such a breeze to get through. The narrator did a great job of capturing Gayle's way with words. She made the world Gayle wrote come alive. I felt all of Allyson's confusion, indecision, and eventual rebellion in her quest to find the answers that have plagued her for a year. I fell in love with Gayle's storytelling ability all over again.

Audiobooks are becoming the best way for me to go back and fall in love all over again with books that I initially read and loved a while ago. And that is exactly how I felt about this audiobook.

Have you listened to the audio or read the book? What do you think?

Second Chance Read: The Program by Suzanne Young

The Program (The Program #1)
Author: Suzanne Young
Release Date: April 30, 2013
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
Format: Audio
Source: Library/Overdrive
Review by: Jenn

Sloane knows better than to cry in front of anyone. With suicide now an international epidemic, one outburst could land her in The Program, the only proven course of treatment. Sloane’s parents have already lost one child; Sloane knows they’ll do anything to keep her alive. She also knows that everyone who’s been through The Program returns as a blank slate. Because their depression is gone—but so are their memories.

Under constant surveillance at home and at school, Sloane puts on a brave face and keeps her feelings buried as deep as she can. The only person Sloane can be herself with is James. He’s promised to keep them both safe and out of treatment, and Sloane knows their love is strong enough to withstand anything. But despite the promises they made to each other, it’s getting harder to hide the truth. They are both growing weaker. Depression is setting in. And The Program is coming for them.

4 stars out of 5 stars

If I loved The Program way back when I first read it a few years ago, hearing the audiobook made me realize how much I loved Suzanne's ways with words. The narrator hooked me in and I couldn't put the book down, so to speak. I was crying at all the right places and hurting along with Sloane. I was reminded of how heartbreaking this book was and how scary the program is. I'm looking forward to listening to the rest of the series and I really hope that it is the same narrator for all of them as I think she did a great job.

Have you heard this audiobook? Or have you read the book? Tell me down below!

Second Chance Read Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

Shatter Me
(Shatter Me #1)
Author: Tahereh Mafi
Release Date: November 15, 20111
Publisher: Harper
Format: Audiobook
Source: Library
Review by: Jenn

Juliette hasn’t touched anyone in exactly 264 days.

The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette’s touch is fatal. As long as she doesn’t hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don’t fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color.

The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war– and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she’s exactly what they need right now.

Juliette has to make a choice: BE A WEAPON. OR BE A WARRIOR.

In this electrifying debut, Tahereh Mafi presents a world as riveting as The Hunger Games and a superhero story as thrilling as The X-Men. Full of pulse-pounding romance, intoxicating villainy, and high-stakes choices, Shatter Me is a fresh and original dystopian novel with a paranormal twist that will leave readers anxiously awaiting its sequel.

When I picked out the Shatter Me audiobook, I was super excited. It has been years since I first read the series, let alone the first book. I wanted to go back and fall in love with Tahereh’s words. However, I forgot how much in a bad place Juliette was in the first book. She hadn’t spoken to anyone in almost a year, only stuck in her own head. Unfortunately, I didn’t really get that far into the audiobook, only up to when Adam enter the jail cell she’s in. The narrator did a great job but there were times, I just wanted press the fast forward button. The scene when Juliette just repeats to herself, like a mantra, “I’m not insane,” it made an even bigger impact at how destroyed Juliette was in the beginning. I remembered that when I first read Shatter Me, I really liked but it wasn’t my favorite. The best came afterwards, with the first novella and the second book of the series.

I’m not sure if I’ll listen to the other audiobooks, maybe I’ll reread the books instead but it won’t be the same since rereading as audiobook helps me look at my favorite books in a new light. However, I’m trying to reread some of my favorites so who knows.

Have you listened to Shatter Me on audio?

Stacking the Shelves (#31)

Stacking the Shelves, which is hosted by Team Tynga's Reviews, is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This mean you can include books you buy in a physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course, ebooks.

Morning friends!

So far, in the month of April I've gotten a few books.

For review: