Tuesday, November 30, 2021

Letters From the Past, by Erica James (author), Jemma Redgrave (narrator)

Whole Story Audiobooks, April 2020

It's 1962, in the Suffolk countryside of England, and the Devereaux family is prospering and happy.

But Evelyn has a secret she's never told her beloved husband, Kit. Hope, Kit's sister, has never felt completely secure in her happiness, despite her loving husband, Evelyn's brother Edmund, her successful career writing children's books, and her adopted daughter, Annalise. Julia, married to the oldest Devereaux sibling, Arthur, has been trained most of her life, by her father and new by Arthur, to believe it's her duty to be obedient, and that anything that goes wrong is her fault.

Monday, November 29, 2021

Fan Fiction: A Mem-Noir: Inspired by True Events, by Brent Spiner (author, narrator)

Macmillan Audio, ISBN 9781250821393, October 2021

This is a somewhat noir fictional memoir about Brent Spiner's time playing Data on Star Trek: The Next Generation, and an experience with an off-balance fan turned stalker.

Spiraner portrays himself as still rather naif and not fully aware what a fan favorite Data has become. One morning in his trailer on the lot, he's reading fan mail, and he gets a disturbing piece of mail. This one is a box, and its odor is soon explained by the fact that it contains a pig's penis. An actual pig's penis.

It is, allegedly, from Lal, the "daughter" Data made in the third-season episode, "The Offspring." Lal didn't survive the episode, and now "Lal" wants her daddy, Data, to join her...in death?

Sunday, November 28, 2021

A Fairy Tale (Fairy Tale #1), by Shanna Swendson (author), Suzy Jackson (narrator)

Audible Audio, December 2014

Sophie Drake used to dance with the faeries in the woods behind her grandparents' house. Then the fae tried to steal her little sister, Emily, and Sophie rescued her sister and turned her back on Faerie forever.

Fourteen years later, Emily has left Louisiana for New York City and an acting career. She's just had a huge break; working as the understudy for the lead, she gets her chance when the lead has to pull out. She's a hit, and after that night's closing curtain, she and a few friends go out to celebrate. Along the way, they meet a guy named Eamon (my best guess at spelling, since I listened to the audio), and somehow it seems perfectly normal when he tags along with them. They wind up in Central Park at some point, and the next day, Emily's friends eventually work out that that's the last time they saw her.

Wednesday, November 10, 2021

The Uninvited Corpse (Food Blogger Mysteries #1), by Debra Sennefelder (author), Callie Beaulieu (narrator)

Tantor Audio, ISBN 9781977372147, March 2018

Hope Early, after a less than stellar turn as a competitor on a baking reality show, a divorce, and leaving her publishing career in New York City, has moved back to her little home town of Jefferson, Connecticut, and is making her living as a successful food blogger. With her family, as well as old friends and new, nearby, the future is looking good.

Then she attends the book launch of friend Audrey Bloom. Audrey is a gardener, with a profitable career writing about gardening, and this launch party is also a tour of her own garden. Hope's sister, Claire, a real estate agent, also attends, against Hope's advice. Claire wants Audrey to list her house with Claire; Audrey has no obvious reason to sell. It's potentially contentious.

Monday, November 8, 2021

Sleight of Paw (Magical Cats Mystery #2) by Sofie Kelly (author), Cassandra Campbell (narrator)

Random House Audio, June 2014

Kathleen Paulson moved from Boston to Mayville Heights, MN, to become the librarian of the small town's library while it was undergoing renovation. It's been about a year, the renovation has essentially been successfully completed, and she has a year left on her two-year contract. She's starting to consider whether Mayville Heights will ask her to stay, and whether she will want to accept if they do. The little town is very different from her prior live, but she's enjoying it, and making friends.

She's also acquired two cats, Owen and Hercules, whom she found as kittens, last winter at Wisteria Hill, the local feral cat colony. They're rather unusual cats; Owen can become invisible, and Hercules can walk through walls.

When Kathleen's friend Ruby finds a dead body, and quickly becomes a prime suspect in what proves to be a murder, we know the cats' abilities will be important.

Monday, November 1, 2021

The Apollo Murders by Chris Hadfield (author), Ray Porter (narrator)

Random House of Canada, ISBN 9781039002791, October 2021

This is a murder mystery that's also an alternate history about the late Apollo program and the Cold War.

We start with an Apollo mission that's a departure from our own history. Apollo 18 was planned, and planned as a fully military mission, but canceled due to both budgetary and political reasons. In this story, Apollo 18 escapes cancelation, and is focused on checking out the site on the Moon that an unmanned Soviet Moon rover has been investigating. Kazimieras "Kaz" Zemeckis, a test pilot and astronaut eliminated from space launches after an in-flight bird collision costs him an eye, is appointed as flight controller for Apollo 18, responsible for the safety of the crew from Mission Control. But once he thinks he's settled in and well connected with all the crew, several unsettling changes occur.