Artemis Fowl - Eoin Colfer

Artemis Fowl
By: Eoin Colfer
Published: 2001
Audiobook Read by: Nathaniel Parker
My rating: Wonderful







When I listened to the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, I liked it so much I decided to get the rest of the books in the series. I discovered that the last of the six books is actually written by Eoin Colfer so I did a little research on him and discovered that he wrote this Artemis Fowl series of children's books. Now, confession time, I got this to listen to with the kids but since I didn't know what it was like I decided to listen to a little bit of it and make sure I approved. Well, after listening to a little bit I couldn't stop and listened to the whole thing!

Artemis is a genius. Artemis is a criminal mastermind. Artemis is fabulously wealthy. Artemis is twelve years old.

Yes, Artemis is only twelve but his genius makes him a far more formidable adversary than age could have done. He knows that his family's fortunes are starting to dwindle since his father's disappearance, so he devises a plot to bolster them. Who can have enough wealth to give Artemis a chance to get what he needs in one shot? The fairies do! But they're just the stuff of myth and legend aren't they? Artemis knows better, and to make him even more dangerous, he knows the secrets behind their magic. All he needs to do is use their own magic and rules against them. The boys in LEPrecon, trained soldiers of the highest degree that they are, don't stand a chance. Artemis is one step ahead of them at every turn. What they see is a foe that is calm, efficient, brutal, and has nerves of steel and ice water in his veins. But is he really that hard? Artemis has his weaknesses but they'll never be able to use them against him.

This book was a masterpiece of imagination! I love the image of fairies, leprechauns, dwarfs and trolls that flies in the face of all the fairy tails. The personalities Eoin gives them are so much fun and so very different from anything we read about in our bedtime stories! I also love the human characters. Artemis, while being a criminal, is still someone you can have sympathy for and his henchmen are also likeable. The plot of the story keeps you guessing and in the end ties up nicely. I was fully engrossed in it from the very beginning!

I listened to the audio book read by Nathaniel Parker. He did a spectacular job with all the voices and his accent was wonderful!

Overall, this is a great book and I wouldn't hesitate to share it with my kids! In fact, I will be listening to it again, with them, and I'm sure I'll enjoy it just as much the second time around!

The Cat Who Turned On And Off - Lillian Jackson Braun

The Cat Who Turned On And Off
By: Lillian Jackson Braun
Published: 1968
Audiobook Read by: George Guidall
My rating: Wonderful









OK, I'm hooked on Koko, Yum-yum, and Qwill! I have listened to several of the books in this series and have been enjoying them more and more!

In this third book of the series, Qwill is still getting himself established and is finding it difficult to find an affordable place to live. When he finds out about a substantial prize being offered to the staff of the Daily Fluxion for the best story for the Christmas season, he decides to win it with a series on the antiquing scene in the run down part of the city known as Junktown. Well, of course we all know that Qwill can't write a nice feel good story with heart! As always, murder calls to him and he ends up trying to solve the mystery surrounding the death of one of Junktown's most loved and sometimes most hated dealers! The problem is, it wasn't a murder at all, it was just a tragic accident....or was it? Only Koko seems to know!

Once again, Lillian has created a unique mystery here that kept me on the edge of my seat right up to the very end. I have been impressed so far with the variety of mysteries she presents. Each one has been significantly different from the others and presents new possibilities and new characters every time. The one wonderful constant in all the books, though, is the wonderful descriptions of the two cats and their antics. I have never found an author better at conveying the unique nature of cats than Lillian! Her descriptions give me a vivid picture of what Koko and Yum-yum are doing and I often laugh a little as I recognize the very things I see my own cat do!

I listened to the audiobook read by George Guidall and as always, I loved his performance! I think he is probably my favorite narrator of all the ones I have heard so far!

Overall, this is a lot of fun and if you are looking for some light, entertaining reading, you can't go wrong with these books!

John Adams - David McCullough

John Adams
By: David McCullough
Published: 2001
Audiobook Read by: Nelson Runger
My rating: Wonderful








After listening to Washington: A Life by Ron Chernow, I decided to set out to go through biographies of all or our presidents in chronological order. It is going to be a long process considering the vast number of other books I love to listen to but I think it will be very rewarding as well as greatly educational!

John Adams as president did not seem to be the most popular since he was voted down for a second term. However, his intense love for our country and undying zeal for freedom are a testament of where his heart was.

Adams spent much of his adult life in the service of our country, enduring hardships that would have brought a lesser man to his knees. As a diplomat to foreign countries such as France and Holland, he had to fight not only the view of America as a backwater upstart country with little chance of succeeding, but personal struggles with his health, loneliness, and the feeling of being cut off due to the length of time it took to communicate with home. Despite all the obstacles, he never gave up and was able to produce results wherever he was posted.

Never to be one that let opposition hold him down, he moved into the presidential office prepared for his opponents and ready to deal with the mountains of criticism his decisions would bring. In everything he did, he acted according to his own values and with a clear conscience that what he did was done for his country and not out of any hope for personal gain.

This has been an interesting experience for me. I must admit that I was never much interested in history and therefore did not pay attention in school. I have learned a lot about the founding of our country from these biographies that I should have already known! What has interested me most was seeing the same time period from different perspectives as I have with Washington's biography and now this one. It's the same time with the same activities going on but it looks vastly different through each man's eyes! I am starting to see that I will be getting a very well rounded view of our nation's history as I travel through the stories of each president!

I listened to the audiobook read by Nelson Runger. Nelson did a great job with this and I loved his choice of voice for John Adams. I got a sense of the good natured attitude that John had and could hear the good humor in the voice that Nelson gave him.

Overall, this was a well done biography of John Adams that kept me interested without sacrificing the historical accuracy. If you are looking for an Adams biography, don't hesitate to give this one a try!

Death Of A Celebrity - M. C. Beaton

Death Of A Celebrity
By: M. C. Beaton
Published: 2002
Audiobook Read by: Graeme Malcolm
My rating: Wonderful








I have come to love hearing about Hamish MacBeth's antics as the constable of Lochdubh! This time he finds himself under the scrutiny of a television show host who has no scruples about digging up scandals and causing someone else pain if it gives her the ratings she wants! As she is about to bring his dubious career down around his ears she is found dead! Fortunately for Hamish he escapes being a suspect but now he is faced with the possibility that someone he knows and likes might be a murderer! As he goes about his own brand of investigation he discovers a disturbing connection to the local horoscope columnist, Elspeth Grant. He also discovers he has a disturbing attraction to this same person and decides it's better to be rude and cold than to fall in love. He fails to maintain his hard demeanor and ends up spending quite a bit of time in her company. Fortunately for Hamish, she is a very astute young lady and helps him immensely as he struggles with the seemingly unsolvable case! Unfortunately for Elspeth, she realizes Hamish is never going to give himself over to her advances and she resigns herself to the fate of all of Hamish's many lady friends!

This is yet another wonderful tale in the long series of Hamish MacBeth mysteries! I have now gone through several and each one is just as fun as the rest! I love the way Hamish is willing to sacrifice his possibility of advancement in the police force in order to stay in Lochdubh. He loves his village and his people and cares deeply about what happens to each and every one of them. I also very much enjoyed the escape from CI Blair who is on holiday and is replaced by a much more likable CI Carson. Hamish is finally recognized for his skills as an investigator and if he isn't careful, might just find himself promoted!

I listened to the audiobook read by Graeme Malcolm who, as always, is absolutely wonderful with these books! I love his accent and am looking forward to many more hours of enjoyment as he narrates other Hamish books!

Overall, this is a wonderful book in a wonderful series! You won't go wrong with them!! :)