Kate’s 2¢: National Geographic November, 2020

National Geographic November, 2020

Kate’s 2¢: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as,     describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ merely shares my thoughts about what I read.  I’m just saying…

   Back in the day, in my grandmother’s Connecticut salt box home, my aunt’s bedroom had a wall of bookshelves. Most of the shelves were crammed with National Geographics. They dated from the early Harper’s to what was then current. I liked the rows of even, yellow spines all lined up chronologically. The stories were usually lengthy with full color photographs of exotic, unique places from far and wide  around the world.

   Sometime after I started my own collection in 1970, the format of the magazine changed. Most of the “articles” were just print bites, instead of well thought out, photographed, and documented treatises based on Geographic Society sponsored explorations .

   The November, 2020, issue had two articles each under one hour in reading length. The other items were quick bites of information. I think this was supposed to be a special issue dealing with Covid-19, environment, and social ills affecting the impoverished. I found myself skipping from bite to bite, rather than listening to the fragments of information.

   Perhaps, the problem is that I’m in information over-load. It wasn’t telling me anything new, so let’s get on with it already!

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

National Geographic November, 2020

Reading time not available.

Read by MaryBeth Wise. A production of the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped.

Downloaded: December 13, 2020

Kate’s 2¢: “The Mountains Wilde” by Sarah Stewart Taylor

“The Mountains Wilde” by Sarah Stewart Taylor

Kate’s 2¢: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as,     describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ merely shares my thoughts about what I read.  I’m just saying…

    Many of the stories ( or the publishers) I’ve read during 2018, 2019, and 2020 seem to prefer the format of a prologue, alternate an old date  chapter with a current date chapter, then reconcile them in the end

   Taylor used this strategy, as well as inserting childhood flash-backs. At times it get confusing. At the end of the story, I would have deleted the final childhood flash-back, letting the reader wonder about Maggie and her Irish lover.

   Marisa Calin’s Irish dialect got so thick sometimes, I had to slow the reading speed down to catch what she was saying, only to find that it was Galic or something.

From sarahstewarttaylor.com

Sarah Stewart Taylor is the author of the Sweeney St. George series and the Maggie D’arcy series. She grew up on Long Island, and was educated at Middlebury College in Vermont and Trinity College, Dublin, where she studied Irish Literature. She has worked as a journalist and writing teacher and now lives with her family on a farm in Vermont where they raise sheep and grow blueberries.

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

The mountains wild DB101158

Taylor, Sarah Stewart. Reading time: 10 hours, 52 minutes.

Read by Marisa Calin.

Mystery and Detective Stories

Twenty-three years ago, Maggie D’arcy learned from the Dublin police that her cousin Erin was missing. Maggie spent weeks in Ireland, but no trace was found. When Maggie–now a divorced Long Island detective–learns that Erin’s scarf has now been found and another young woman has gone missing, she returns to Ireland. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2020.

Downloaded: December 24, 2020

Kate’s 2¢: “The house on Foster Hill” by Jaime Jo Wright

“The house on Foster Hill” by  Jaime Jo Wright

 Kate’s 2¢: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as,     describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ merely shares my thoughts about what I read.  I’m just saying…

   If you keep in mind the name at the beginning of the section/chapter, you won’t get confused as to which era you’re in at the moment. It is interesting how the author paralleled the ‘days of yore’ era with the ‘current day’ drama, romance, and  social issues.

https://www.jaimewrightbooks.com/about-jaime-joActions for this site

Professional coffee drinker, Jaime Jo Wright, resides in the hills of Wisconsin. She loves to write spirited turn-of-the-century romance, stained with suspense. Her day job finds her as a Director of Sales & Development. She’s wife to a rock climbing, bow-hunting Pre-K teacher, mom to a coffee-drinking little girl, and a little boy she fondly refers to as her mischievous “Peter Pan”.

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

The house on Foster Hill DBC15451

Wright, Jaime Jo. Reading time: 16 hours, 50 minutes.

Read by Tom Littelmann. A production of Wisconsin Talking Book and Braille Library.

Suspense Fiction

Mystery and Detective Stories

After her husband’s suspicious death, Kaine Prescott moves into a mysterious old house in her grandfather’s small Wisconsin hometown. There, she discovers a dark and complicated history that sheds light on her own life. Adult. Unrated.

Downloaded: December 24, 2020

Kate’s 2¢: “Invisible girl” by Lisa Jewell

“Invisible girl” by  Lisa Jewell

Kate’s 2¢: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as,     describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ merely shares my thoughts about what I read.  I’m just saying…

   It is unfortunate that small minded, prejudiced people and troubled children at risk can so thoroughly ruin a teacher’s career  with unsubstantiated charges

   This story under-scores the saying that you  can’t tell a book by its cover.

   Connor Swindells did a good job of reading this tory for the NLS.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Lisa Jewell was educated at St. Michael’s Catholic Grammar School in Finchley, north London, leaving school after one day in the sixth form to do an art foundation course at Barnet College followed by a diploma in fashion illustration at Epsom School of Art & Design.

She worked in fashion retail for several years, namely Warehouse and Thomas Pink.[3]

After being made redundant, Jewell accepted a challenge from her friend, Yasmin Boland, to write three chapters of a novel in exchange for dinner at her favourite restaurant. Those three chapters were eventually developed into Jewell’s debut novel Ralph’s Party, which then became the UK’s bestselling debut novel in 1999.[4][5]

Jewell is one of the most popular authors writing in the UK today, and in 2008 was awarded the Melissa Nathan Award For Comedy Romance for her novel 31 Dream Street.[6]

She currently lives in Swiss Cottage, London with her husband Jascha, and daughters Amelie Mae (born 2003) and Evie Scarlett (born 2007).[3]

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

Invisible girl DB100991

Jewell, Lisa. Reading time: 9 hours, 47 minutes.

Read by Connor Swindells.

Suspense Fiction

Owen Pick is in his thirties and living in his aunt’s spare bedroom. He has just been suspended from his job as a teacher after accusations of sexual misconduct–which he strongly denies. Across the street from Owen lives the Fours family, who have a bad feeling about him. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2020.

Downloaded: December 13, 2020

Kate’s 2¢: “Voices in the ocean: a journey into the wild and haunting world of dolphins”

by Susan Casey

“Voices in the ocean: a journey into the wild and haunting world of dolphins”

by Susan Casey

Kate’s 2¢: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as,     describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ merely shares my thoughts about what I read.  I’m just saying…

   My high school friend studied to be a marine biologist. She said her biggest thrill was to swim with the dolphins. The plight of some of the dolphins in this book would have made her very sad.

   I have visited several aquariums and I don’t like them any better than I like zoos. Let’s leave wild life animals to live in the wild, their natural habitat be it land or water and go about our own business as they go about their business.

From: https://susancasey.com/about-susan:

ABOUT ME: As a writer and photographer, my work has appeared in Fast Company, Women’s Sports, USAir Magazine, Soap Opera Digest, the Los Angeles Times, the San Francisco Chronicle and Examiner, Inventors Digest, Electrical Contractor, and many other publications. 

Since the publication of Women Invent!  Kids Inventing! and Women Heroes of the American Revolution, I have had the honor of doing many presentations about those books at venues including the Houston Forum, the Montana Educator’s Conference, the UCLA Women’s Leadership Conference, Edufest, the Charlotte S. Huck Children’s Literature Festival, the Orange County Children’s Book Festival, Humboldt County Children’s’ Author Festival, Cal Day at UC Berkeley, Confratute, the Conference of the Montana Association of Gifted and Talented Education,  at conventions of the California School Librarians Association, the California Reading Association, the California Teachers of English, and at branches of the Los Angeles Public Library, the Los Angeles County Library, the Orange County Library, community organizations, and the Malaysia Invention, Innovation and Technology Exposition (ITEX).

I live in Los Angeles.  In my free time, I read, hang out at coffee shops like so many others, working some and chatting some, visit libraries for the quiet, go to theaters and museums for inspiration and row on a crew with others in Marina del Rey.   As I make my way around Southern California I am always up to stop at random ethnic restaurants and the ubiquitous taco trucks.  It’s always a delight to discover new foods and places.  Life is full of surprises!

From NLS/BARD.LOC:

Voices in the ocean: a journey into the wild and haunting world of dolphins DB82327

Casey, Susan. Reading time: 11 hours, 29 minutes.

Read by Cassandra Campbell. A production of the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Library of Congress.

Animals and Wildlife

Nature and the Environment

Recounts author’s two-year global adventure exploring the nature of dolphins and their interactions with humans. Examines the careers of others who work with dolphins and communities in which dolphins play interesting roles. Discusses how they are mistreated by the captivity industry. Violence, strong language, descriptions of sex. Commercial audiobook. 2010.

Kate’s 2¢: “Camino winds” by John Grisham

“Camino winds” by John  Grisham

Kate’s 2¢: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as,     describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ merely shares my thoughts about what I read.  I’m just saying…

   Another book I read used Camino Island as its setting. Reading “Camino Winds” seemed as if I was revisiting a beloved vacation spot.

   This story, however, did not live up to my expectations of a book by Grisham.  What do you think about this alleged best seller?

https://www.jgrisham.com/bio  and Wiki

   John Ray Grisham Jr. (/ˈɡrɪʃəm/; born February 8, 1955)[2][3] is an American novelist, attorney, politician, and activist, best known for his popular legal thrillers. His books have been translated into 42 languages and published worldwide.

   Grisham graduated from Mississippi State University and received a J.D. degree from the University of Mississippi School of Law in 1981. He practiced criminal law for about a decade and served in the Mississippi House of Representatives from January 1984 to September 1990.[4]

   His first novel, A Time to Kill, was published in June 1989, four years after he began writing it. According to Academy of Achievement his books have sold 300 million copies and he has written 28 consecutive number one bestsellers.[5] A Galaxy British Book Awards winner, Grisham is one of only three authors to sell two million copies on a first printing, the other two being Tom Clancy[6] and J. K. Rowling.[7]

   Long before his name became synonymous with the modern legal thriller, he was working 60-70 hours a week at a small Southaven, Mississippi, law practice, squeezing in time before going to the office and during courtroom recesses to work on his hobby—writing his first novel. Born on  February 8, 1955 in Jonesboro, Arkansas, to a construction worker and a homemaker,

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

Camino winds DB99615

Grisham, John. Reading time: 8 hours, 44 minutes.

Read by Michael Beck.

Suspense Fiction

Mystery and Detective Stories

Bestsellers

Bruce of Bruce Cable’s Bay Books survives Hurricane Leo hitting Camino island. One of the dozen apparent victims is Nelson Kerr, a friend of Bruce’s and an author of thrillers. But the nature of Nelson’s injuries suggests that the storm wasn’t the cause of his death. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. Bestseller. 2020.

Downloaded: November 29, 2020

Kate’s 2¢: “The Otter of Death: a Gunn Zoo mystery” by Betty Webb

“The Otter of Death: a Gunn Zoo mystery” by Betty Webb

Kate’s 2¢: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as,     describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ merely shares my thoughts about what I read.  I’m just saying…

   When I researched Webb, I found that she’d written several “…of Death” stories, reminding me of J.D.Robb’s series “…In Death”; however, I found I like the “…of Death” series much better. Webb’s stories in this series include numerous species of animals in the zoo where she works “Otter In Death” and Teddy comes across as a much warmer character than Eve Dallas in the “…In Death” series.

   Carol Jacobanis reading of the “Otter Of Death” is well done and kept me reading long after my bed-time.

From the web:

Betty Webb is one of the highly reputed authors and a former journalist from Arizona, United States, who has written several well-known books in her writing career. Most of the novels written by her are based on the mystery, suspense, and thriller genres.

   Webb belongs to:

• National Federation of Newswomen

• Mystery Writers of America

• Society of Southwestern Authors

• Authors Guild

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

The otter of death: a Gunn Zoo mystery DB96694

Webb, Betty. Reading time: 9 hours, 56 minutes.

Read by Carol Jacobanis.

Mystery and Detective Stories

While taking the yearly otter count at a marsh near Gunn Landing Harbor, California, zookeeper Teddy sees her favorite otter clutching someone’s expensive smartphone. When Teddy rescues the device, she discovers a photograph of a murder in progress. A search reveals the still-warm body of a marine biology instructor, notorious for sexual harassment. 2018.

Kate’s 2¢: “The boy in the field” by Margot Livesey

“The boy in the field” by Margot Livesey

Kate’s 2¢: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as,     describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ merely shares my thoughts about what I read.  I’m just saying…

   I thoroughly enjoyed this story. Livesey’s style of writing resonated with me. I liked the way the book was organized, alternating each character’s life, yet advancing the narrative arc to its moving conclusion. The essence of each character shone through with his own uniqueness, age appropriateness, and warmth.

   Imogen Church’s reading this story added just the right sound. Thank you.

From her website:

   Margot Livesey grew up in a boys’ private school in the Scottish Highlands where her father taught, and her mother, Eva, was the school nurse. After taking a B.A. in English and philosophy at the University of York in England she spent most of her twenties working in shops and restaurants and learning to write.

   Her first book, a collection of stories called Learning By Heart, was published by Penguin Canada in 1986. Since then Margot has published eight novels: Homework, Criminals, The Missing World, Eva Moves the Furniture, Banishing Verona, The House on Fortune Street, The Flight of Gemma Hardy, and Mercury. Her ninth novel, The Boy in the Field, will be published in August 2020 by HarperCollins in the US and by Hoddard & Stoughton in the UK. The Hidden Machinery, a collection of essays on writing, was published by Tin House Books in 2017.

   Margot has taught at Boston University, Bowdoin College, Brandeis University, Carnegie Mellon, Cleveland State, Emerson College, the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, Tufts University, the University of California at Irvine, the Warren Wilson College MFA program for writers, and Williams College. She has been the recipient of fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the N.E.A., the Massachusetts Artists’ Foundation and the Canada Council for the Arts. Margot is currently teaching at the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop. She lives with her husband, a painter, in Cambridge, MA, and goes back to London and Scotland whenever she can.

   Alice Sebold says, “Every novel of Margot Livesey’s is, for her readers, a joyous discovery. Her work radiates with compassion and intelligence and always, deliciously, mystery.”

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

The boy in the field DB100990

Livesey, Margot. Reading time: 7 hours, 51 minutes.

Read by Imogen Church.

Suspense Fiction

One September afternoon in 1999, teenagers Matthew, Zoe, and Duncan Lang are walking home from school when they discover a boy lying in a field, bloody and unconscious. Thanks to their intervention, the boy’s life is saved. In the aftermath, all three siblings are irrevocably changed. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2020.

Downloaded: December 13, 2020

Kate’s 2¢: National Geographic November, 2020

National Geographic November, 2020

Kate’s 2¢: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as,     describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ merely shares my thoughts about what I read.  I’m just saying…

   Back in the day, in my grandmother’s Connecticut salt box home, my aunt’s bedroom had a wall of bookshelves. Most of the shelves were crammed with National Geographics. They dated from the early Harper’s to what was then current. I liked the rows of even, yellow spines all lined up chronologically. The stories were usually lengthy with full color photographs of exotic, unique places from far and wide  around the world.

   Sometime after I started my own collection in 1970, the format of the magazine changed. Most of the “articles” were just print bites, instead of well thought out, photographed, and documented treatises based on Geographic Society sponsored explorations .

   The November, 2020, issue had two articles each under one hour in reading length. The other items were quick bites of information. I think this was supposed to be a special issue dealing with Covid-19, environment, and social ills affecting the impoverished. I found myself skipping from bite to bite, rather than listening to the fragments of information.

   Perhaps, the problem is that I’m in information over-load. It wasn’t telling me anything new, so let’s get on with it already!

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

National Geographic November, 2020

Reading time not available.

Read by MaryBeth Wise. A production of the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped.

Downloaded: December 13, 2020

Kate’s 2¢: “One By One” by Ruth Ware

“One By One” by Ruth Ware

Kate’s 2¢: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as,     describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ merely shares my thoughts about what I read.  I’m just saying…

   As an aficionado of murder mysteries and human nature, I suspected the correct perp from the beginning  of the story. However, the actual, startling motive wasn’t revealed until the end.

   This was a good story and I even liked the ending.

From the Web:

I found a lot of books by Ruth Ware, but no background information.

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

One by one DB100607

Ware, Ruth. Reading time: 13 hours, 10 minutes.

Read by Imogen Church.

Suspense Fiction

A French Alps trip for the team of a trendy London-based tech company starts out as a typical corporate retreat. But as soon as one shareholder upends the agenda by pushing a buyout offer, tensions simmer. When an avalanche leaves them stranded, the group dwindles one by one. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2020.

Downloaded: November 19, 2020