Soldier Dogs: The Untold Story of America's Canine Heroes, by Maria Goodavage (author), Nicole Vilencia (narrator)

Blackstone Audio, March 2012

Maria Goodavage, like many people, became seriously interested in Military Working Dogs after hearing about Cairo, the dog who was part of the mission to get Osama bin Laden. She thought that surely this wouldn't be a hard subject to investigate; after all, these are dogs, not not nuclear weapons or stealth fighters.

It turns out that this is a very challenging area to investigate, precisely because these are "just dogs" and dogs who are in many ways quite secret. In many ways, in many places, they officially don't exist. This includes in veterinarian's offices, where the normal paperwork simply does not occur. She had her work cut out for her just getting in touch with the people who could tell her about these dogs and introduce her to their handlers.

The Duke and I (The Bridgertons #1),, by Julia Quinn (author), Rosalyn Landor (narrator)

Recorded Books, October 2016 (original publication January 2000)

Daphne Bridgerton has a problem.

'sShe beautiful, bright, charming, and everyone's friend. She grew up with four brothers, three of them older than herself, and the gentlemen love to talk with her. They just don't think of her as a romantic prospects, and in her second season, she has received proposals only from the elderly and, in one case, the crashingly stupid. Her mother and her eldest brother, the new Viscount Bridgerton, are not going to compel her to make an unhappy match, and she's in danger of being on the shelf.

The Duke of Hastings has a problem.

A Perfect Plan (Wiltshire Chronicles #1), by Alyssa Drake

Dream Big Publishing, May 2016

Ten years ago, Lord Matthew Hastings died, in odd circumstances, but the doctor determined it to be natural causes. Shortly thereafter, his wife also dies, leaving his children as orphans.

The son and heir, Edward, marries, has three daughters, and eight years later, leaves on a trip to France for business reasons.

He does not return. His fate is unknown, but he is ruled to be dead.

Two years later, his widow, Wilhelmina, reluctantly decides it is time for her to remarry, and for Edward's younger sister, Samantha, now twenty, to also marry.

Home Front: Life in America During World War II, by Audible Original, Martin Sheen (narrator)

Audible Original, September 2017

This is an Audible Original production; there is no previous book. It uses oral histories including contemporaneous materials to look at what life was like at home during World War II.

Long ago when I was young, World War II was truly a living memory; not only did we study it in school, but our parents had lived through it, often served in the war. We knew about Pearl Harbor, and we knew about Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Depending on where we lived, even if we were not Jewish we were likely to know people who had sadly truncated families because so many relatives had died in the death camps. We knew the names of the major battles in Europe and in the Pacific.

Called by Dragon's Song (Return of the Dragonborn #3), by N. M. Howell

Dungeon Media, July 2017S

Andie, Saeryn, and their friends and allies have won a great victory, but the war isn't over. Ashur has taken the Battalion out of Arvall to recover and plan a new attack. The Church of Sea and Stone is determined to recruit Andie--willingly or not--and make her their leader and tool to conquer Noelle. An old enemy of the dragonborn, an even older line of dragon-descended humans, who call themselves The Beautiful Dead, are determined to destroy the dragonborn and steal their magic.

All three of these enemy groups are joining as allies, at least temporarily cooperating to destroy the dragonborn and their allies in Arvall.

While they are fighting all these enemies, they have conflicts enough among themselves. Andie and Raesh have to work out their romantic issues. Andie and Saeryn have  serious disagreements about how to lead their people, and while they both have valid points, they also both manage to be remarkably pig-headed about it. Someone long thought dead returns unexpectedly, and has a new friend that Andie has a hard tome accepting as an ally.

The Stone Sky (The Broken Earth #3), by N.K. Jemisin (author), Robin Miles (narrator)

Hachette Audio, August 2017

What can one say about The Stone Sky?

It's the utterly wonderful third book of an uttlerly wonderful trilogy. One could make equally excellent cases for it being science fiction or fantasy, but Jemisin says it's fantasy. (And as the author, she gets a vote, right?)

It's the most complete, compelling, original world-building I've seen in fantasy in years. The characters are complex, interesting, and compelling.

The trilogy starts with the end of the world, and why not? And then we learn both how we got there, and where we're going after.

Emma (The Austen Project #3), by Alexander McCall Smith (author), Susan Lyons (narrator)

Recorded Books, April 2015 (original publication November 2014)

Retellings of the works of Jane Austen aren't exactly a new idea, but I really like what Smith has done with Emma. He's moved it to the 21st century, but otherwise left its setting unchanged, the small and close-knit English town of Highbury. The changes are only the changes of moving forward two centuries, uncomplicated by a move to, to use one example, Hollywood.

Sweet, Thoughtful Valentine (Isabel Dalhousie #10.7), by Alexander McCall Smith

Vintage, May 2016

Isabel Dalhousie is selecting the perfect Valentine's gift for Jamie when she encounters an old school acquaintance who wants to show her a painting on view at a nearby auction house. The school acquaintance, Roz, has run into some money difficulties, and believes she's identified the painting as misidentified and by a far more important artist than listed. Roz hopes to repair her fortunes by picking up the picture for a song and reselling it much closer to its true value.

Isabel promises to keep quiet, but has misgivings. A promise is a promise, though, so...

Then she discovers that the seller is an old friend whose mother is in a nursing home and whose financial reversals have been far more serious.

The Silence of the Snakes (Madigan Amos #2), by Ruby Loren

Ruby Loren, September 2017

Madigan Amos is on her second-ever zoo consulting job, doing a review of animal welfare conditions with the aim of recommending improvements. The Snidely Wildlife and Safari zoo is very different from the Avery zoo where she previously worked, including such additions as an impressive collection of venomous snakes and reptiles.

The Snidely family itself is more than a bit odd, even before more distant connections start turning up.

Madigan finds herself caught off guard by the venomous snakes, a string of thefts, and the unexpected arrival of Lowell, the detective who investigated the unexpected deaths at Avery.

The story is a bit haphazard, and not likely to be lasting literature, but it's entertaining and enjoyable.

Recommended for a light, quick read.

I received a free electronic galley of this book and am reviewing it voluntarily.

The Beekeeper's Apprentice (Mary Russell & Sherlock Holmes #1), by Laurie R. King (author), Jennie Sterlin (narrator)

Macmillan Audio, January 2014 (original publication January 1994)

In 1915, the aging Sherlock Holmes meets teenage Mary Russell, and is taken enough with her that she becomes a student and apprentice. There's war in Europe, old social rules and barriers are breaking down at home, and life is never going to be the same.

Mary Russell won't have to waste her energy, intelligence, and the education Holmes is giving her.