Denise Dilworth
- 21
- reviews
- 4
- helpful votes
- 46
- ratings
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The Door to Tamba
- A Short Story
- By: Ishmael Beah
- Narrated by: Maduka Steady
- Length: 51 mins
- Original Recording
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Award-winning author and human rights activist Ishmael Beah brings us The Door to Tamba, a powerful story centered on a mining village in West Africa where the destruction of earth and pollution of life impacts the mind, body, and soul of communities. Hindolo, a storyteller, returns to his hometown after 30 years and recalls the solitary and formidable old man who opened his home to him and introduced a world of literature and imagination, which for many years, was his only escape. Hindolo begins writing the stories down on paper stolen from a nearby mine to share with his classmates.
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Excellent
- By Tereza Jenkins on 02-04-24
- The Door to Tamba
- A Short Story
- By: Ishmael Beah
- Narrated by: Maduka Steady
Sweet and beautiful
Reviewed: 03-26-24
A tender story in an impossible place, with a man who was everyone and no one teaching chikdren who could not be contained. It doubled my imagination.
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The Keeper Origins: The Complete Trilogy
- Book 1-3
- By: JA Andrews
- Narrated by: Kate Reading
- Length: 75 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Sable would do anything to break free from the ruthless gang boss she's indebted to before he corrupts her younger sister or discovers Sable's magical ability to sense the truth in people's words. In a last desperate attempt at freedom, Sable stumbles into unexpected help—Atticus, the famous playwright, and his traveling theater troupe. Far more than a means of escape, the mismatched band of actors is destined to become the family Sable never knew she wanted. They help awaken her magic until she becomes the burning symbol of truth that the entire land needs.
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Not done yet will update
- By Mack Florida on 08-17-23
- The Keeper Origins: The Complete Trilogy
- Book 1-3
- By: JA Andrews
- Narrated by: Kate Reading
“Real” characters in an epic story
Reviewed: 03-17-24
The depth of the characters, the genuine affection they had for one another, and the realistic ebbs and flows in the evolution of their relationships added so much to an already epic story. I read this trilogy first, although it seems it’s a prequel. I feel sure the author matured into this one, so I’ll keep that in mind as I start on the Keepers saga. (But I secretly have high hopes…)
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Good Luck with That
- By: Kristan Higgins
- Narrated by: Xe Sands, Lori Gardner, Suzy Jackson
- Length: 15 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Emerson, Georgia, and Marley have been best friends ever since they met at a weight-loss camp as teens. When Emerson tragically passes away, she leaves one final wish for her best friends: to conquer the fears they still carry as adults. For Marley, it's coming to terms with the survivor's guilt she's carried around since her twin sister's death, which has left her blind to the real chance for romance in her life. For Georgia, it's learning to stop trying to live up to her mother's and brother's ridiculous standards and learning to accept love.
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Depressing
- By Christine on 09-06-18
- Good Luck with That
- By: Kristan Higgins
- Narrated by: Xe Sands, Lori Gardner, Suzy Jackson
Heartbreaking & beautiful — and I learned much
Reviewed: 11-01-23
Man, I don’t know where to start.
The main characters, particularly, had depth & were easy to empathize with. Our culture is so…freakishly obsessed with body image, so willing to engage in pointless comparisons and cruel judgments.
As many good writers do, this one had me reflecting not only on my own feelings and interactions, but also my observations of the world & the people in it. There is no single “master story” about body types, weight loss/gain, and the ways in which people navigate what they see as “ideals” or their own “imperfections.” This story did an excellent job of unpacking the complexities of how body image (and, even in the cases of a few of the more minor characters, self-image) is shaped, internalized, and even institutionalized — all without preaching or shaming or leaning too far into stereotypes.
But for mentions of adult topics, this is one of those books that should probably be read with pre-teens of all sizes & shapes to help widen perspectives and develop empathy.
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The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse
- By: Charlie Mackesy
- Narrated by: Charlie Mackesy
- Length: 58 mins
- Unabridged
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Charlie Mackesy offers inspiration and hope in uncertain times in this beautiful audiobook, following the tale of a curious boy, a greedy mole, a wary fox and a wise horse who find themselves together in sometimes difficult terrain, sharing their greatest fears and biggest discoveries about vulnerability, kindness, hope, friendship and love. The shared adventures and important conversations between the four friends are full of life lessons that have connected with listeners of all ages.
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Awesome
- By Lady in the Pink House on 12-13-20
- The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse
- By: Charlie Mackesy
- Narrated by: Charlie Mackesy
Sweet, gentle, and wise — a tiny miracle
Reviewed: 10-22-23
Thank you for this, Charlie. I listened to this lovely story right at a time when I most needed it. Your story of these four friends is a gift.
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1 person found this helpful
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Lucy
- By: Erica Schmidt
- Narrated by: Brooke Bloom, Lynn Collins, Charlotte Surak
- Length: 1 hr and 28 mins
- Original Recording
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Ashling is every busy parent’s dream: a professional nanny with experience and a warm, sunny attitude. But from the moment Mary hires her to look after her young children, things start to feel just a little...off. Are Mary’s stressful work schedule and lack of sleep playing games with her own sanity, or has she welcomed an unstable troublemaker into her home?
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Not sure what the point was
- By Kari on 09-21-23
- Lucy
- By: Erica Schmidt
- Narrated by: Brooke Bloom, Lynn Collins, Charlotte Surak
Disturbing & difficult to follow
Reviewed: 10-13-23
I’m not sure what part of this was AT ALL funny. Or entertaining. And the voices were sometimes too similar to distinguish one character from the other. Really sad I sat through this one.
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A Man Called Ove
- A Novel
- By: Fredrik Backman
- Narrated by: J. K. Simmons
- Length: 9 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Meet Ove. He’s a curmudgeon—the kind of man who points at people he dislikes as if they were burglars caught outside his bedroom window. He has staunch principles, strict routines, and a short fuse. But behind the cranky exterior there is a story and a sadness. So when one November morning a chatty young couple with two chatty young daughters move in next door and accidentally flatten Ove’s mailbox, it is the lead-in to a comical and heartwarming tale of unkempt cats, unexpected friendship, and the ancient art of backing up a U-Haul.
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By Far the Best Narrator of a Book I've Had
- By WanderLaw on 04-05-20
- A Man Called Ove
- A Novel
- By: Fredrik Backman
- Narrated by: J. K. Simmons
I need to read everything written by this author
Reviewed: 05-21-23
My sister recommended My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry, which was one of the wisest, funniest books I’ve ever read. When I told her I wanted to read A Man Called Ove next, she said she’d tried some time ago but couldn’t get into it.
She texted me a few weeks later to change her answer.
Backman magically captures the complex, vulnerable, miraculously (sometimes heart-rendingly) beautiful beings that form impossibly meaningful bonds of love and friendship in a way that somehow doesn’t forget to make the reader laugh and cry and reflect — and recognize something of themselves in the telling.
Ove made me want to bang my head against the wall, even as I grew to love him (and that dear Parvana!) more with every tiny insight into how he became the loyal, honorable, maddening man he was. When I found myself groaning at and arguing with him, I knew I’d read anything of Backman’s I could find.
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Love at First Psych
- By: Cara Bastone
- Narrated by: Santino Fontana, Stephanie Einstein, Mary Ann Jacobs, and others
- Length: 4 hrs and 35 mins
- Original Recording
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This Psych 312 assignment just might send me off the deep end. Determining whether love at first sight really exists with Robbie Moravian as my project partner of all people? He’s the sappiest man alive, so upbeat I could scream, and clearly rooting for happy endings at every turn. How does he not learn from experience considering our own meet-cute last semester almost got us expelled? But we both need to pass this course to graduate. So we’re interviewing five random couples about their meet-cutes and relationships and spending all this time together. Which is certainly...educational.
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Ruined by woke agenda crap
- By christopher nunya on 03-16-23
Completely adorkable
Reviewed: 05-21-23
Sooo corny. And funny. And delightful. And sweet. I’m not sure if the characters were easy to like because they were well-written or well-played — and I don’t care. (Although both things are true.)
A great way to spend a couple of hours laughing (and rolling my eyes). I sorta wish I knew these two in real life.
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Ghost Child
- By: Caroline Overington
- Narrated by: Tai Hara, Zindzi Okenyo
- Length: 8 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Caroline Overington's stunning fiction debut is a multi-voiced novel centred around a child's death and its terrible repercussions. In 1982 Victorian police were called to a home on a housing estate an hour west of Melbourne. There, they found a five-year-old boy lying still and silent on the carpet. There were no obvious signs of trauma, but the child, Jacob, died the next day. The story made the headlines, and hundreds attended the funeral. Few people were surprised when the boy's mother and her boyfriend went to prison for the crime.
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relìgion
- By William Zoller on 12-18-21
- Ghost Child
- By: Caroline Overington
- Narrated by: Tai Hara, Zindzi Okenyo
Deeply affecting, rich, and beautiful
Reviewed: 01-08-23
This is the second book I’ve read by Overington, and it’s just as engaging as the first. Her characters are complex, and the story is woven with cultural insights and critiques that manage to avoid out-and-out proselytizing while also exploring hard realities.
And, once again, the ending hit me right in the feels.
Where Jodi Picoult’s books have started to feel a little formulaic at times (still a devoted fan!), Overington’s storytelling is, to me, still fresh and poignant.
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I Came to Say Goodbye
- By: Caroline Overington
- Narrated by: Tai Hara, Jennifer Rani
- Length: 7 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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It was four o'clock in the morning. A young woman pushed through the hospital doors. Staff would later say they thought the woman was a new mother, returning to her child - and in a way, she was. She walked into the nursery, where a baby girl lay sleeping. The infant didn't wake when the woman placed her gently in the shopping bag she had brought with her. There is CCTV footage of what happened next, and most Australians would have seen it, either on the internet or the news.
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Free and Fantastic!
- By Marilyn Welch on 02-07-22
- I Came to Say Goodbye
- By: Caroline Overington
- Narrated by: Tai Hara, Jennifer Rani
Didn’t expect THAT
Reviewed: 12-11-22
This is a beautiful evolution (and falling apart) of a an engaging cast of characters who manage to grow and adapt emotionally without losing their essential selves along the way. The story is raw and honest and tragic, and the ending…well, I didn’t put it together until Med’s very last line. And, yeah, I was an emotional mess. In a good way.
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MEM
- By: Bethany C. Morrow
- Narrated by: Soneela Nankani
- Length: 5 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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MEM is a rare novel, a small book carrying very big ideas, the kind of story that stays with you long after you've finished listening to it. Set in the glittering art deco world of a century ago, MEM makes one slight alteration to history: a scientist in Montreal discovers a method allowing people to have their memories extracted from their minds, whole and complete.
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Some may like this
- By Darren Fleischer on 01-04-19
- MEM
- By: Bethany C. Morrow
- Narrated by: Soneela Nankani
So many Big Truths packed into this small book
Reviewed: 10-02-22
Through the character of Elsie, Morrow gently and subtly probes ethical, moral, and emotional issues regarding the nature of identity, what defines independence, and the essence of our humanity in a new and imaginative twist on a familiar story.
Morrow dives even deeper than The Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind, exploring what might happen when we try to protect ourselves from the things that wound us rather than heal them. She somehow keeps the story from tipping into the full-on horror the reader skirts with every chapter by telling the story through a heroine (not choosing that word lightly) whose empathy and intellect deftly lead us through the maze.
The ending left me gobsmacked.
And the overall story has me seeing my own memories — both happy & painful — in a whole new light.
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