#audiobookreviewer – Rosepoint Publishing

Broken Country, Whistler, Nothing Ventured, Surviving Savannah–Audiobook Mini-Reviews –– #LiteraryFiction #HistoricalFiction #TBT

Here are four more short reviews of audiobooks that will hopefully pique your interest. (Links on individual covers are to Amazon.)

Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall

A Reese Book Club selection
A 2026 Audie Award Finalist for Fiction
Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Readers’ Favorite Historical Fiction (2025)
Nominee for Readers’ Favorite Audiobook (2025)
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
Narrator: Hattie Morahan

Ah, first love, now a thing of her past. Gabriel Wolfe was Beth’s first love and is now a successful writer who moved back to her rural community where she is married to Frank. Frank is a hard-working, caring, and devoted man who unfortunately bears the searing guilt of the loss of their son.

It’s also unfortunate that Gabriel has a son who is at the age that her son would have been, had he lived. She can’t help but be drawn to him. The problem that might foster, however, will weave an emotional, tension-filled storyline that grows with each chapter as it recreates that first love affair in a balancing act with the love she feels for Frank.

There is a split timeline, eloquently describing that earlier time with the present as secrets unravel a tale of tragedy and guilt and, ultimately, forgiveness.

The characters are fully developed, full of nuance, and the plot flows smoothly. The love triangle brought out a less attractive side of Beth and my sympathy went to Frank.

Whistler by Ann Patchett
Publisher: Harper
Narrator: Ann Patchett

Amazon Charts #9 this week

Sometimes those random happenings are not coincidences. Maybe it’s true—there are no coincidences. Everything happens for a reason. Such is the plot of this beautifully written story about Daphne Fuller and Eddie Triplett. Eddie was her step-father for two years during her childhood, whom she had come to love as deeply as a biological father.

It was purely by accident that Daphne was visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art when he happened to be there and recognized the adult of the child who had truly been his daughter for such a short time.

The profound impact of their shared relationship stayed with both and now won’t be separated. Ever again. It’s a story of found familial relationships and the story of a horse named Whistler.

The characters feel real and as they share their stories of the past forty years, the narrative layers successes and losses, secrets and revelations. Daphne discovers the sudden absence of Eddie was not her fault..

It’s a lovely celebration of the memories and histories that shape us, the people who make a sincere and lasting impact, and that love never truly fades.

Nothing Ventured by Jeffrey Archer
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Narrator: George Blagden

I struggled with this one. Big time. Somehow the character of William Warwick just didn’t click with me. Warwick joins London’s Metropolitan Police Force instead of being a lawyer like papa.

Lucky or well connected, he starts his first big case in Scotland Yard’s arts and antiquities squad. A blessing really as he has an uncanny knowledge of fine art. What follows is a romp in the art world, which did interest me, and the world of forging and art traffickers. Goodness!

Throw in the romance and a light-hearted, fast-paced almost tongue-in-cheek police procedural and you have the making of a new series for the author.

While the world of art history and forgery kept my attention, it tended to seriously wane with the balance of the book, creating some implausible situations or threads not tied off. Not sure this is one for me although I understand the author has quite the history and fan base. You might well enjoy.

Surviving Savannah by Patti Callahan
Publisher: Penguin Audio
Narrators: Brittany Pressley, Catherine Taber, Patti Callahan

Love it when I get into the history of these old ships! The Pulaski, then known as “the Titanic of the South,” sank off the coast of North Carolina in 1838. She was carrying some well-known and wealthy residents of Savannah. The novel is written with a dual timeline—1838 and the present.

Everly Winthrop is a curator and will help in the museum collection consisting of artifacts recovered from the sunken steamship. It’s been 180 years, but there are a lot of mysteries surrounding the sinking and the loss of so many passengers and crew.

Everly’s research uncovered a known survivor and her niece. Is it possible she can combine a human story to add to her curation of artifacts? The storylines of both timelines kept my interest, especially the older one with Augusta and Lily, the explosion and their survival in such detail it’ll have you gasping sea water.

I really enjoyed the details of the Pulaski and the stories of the women of the era. Everly is approached by Oliver, engaged to Mora when she died, a best friend of Everly who has not gotten over the accident that killed Mora and is deeply conflicted to be working with Oliver on the project, with whom she must admit attraction. The narrative is well paced and plotted, though once again, I could have done without the requisite romance, which side-tracked somewhat the main plot theme for me.

Whistler was released June 2, 2026; one of the other three in 2025, and the others are older.

Many thanks to my local library for providing me with the opportunity to listen to these audiobooks. Any opinion expressed here is my own.

Audiobook heaven

The Final Target, The Keeper, Yesteryear, Buckeye—Audiobook Mini-Reviews -–#HistorialFiction #Suspense #TuesdayBookBlog

Four short reviews of audiobooks on one page; short, sweet, and that hopefully will pique your interest. (Links on individual covers are to Amazon.)

Quite the variety of genres in the books below as well as authors but all unique and recommendable! Give a peek into each.

Take a peek!

The Final Target by Nora Roberts
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Narrator: January LaVoy

Arden is a successful debut author being stalked by a wannabe. Or is it worse than that? Dustin is totally obsessed. Following an assault, he is sent away but absence only appears to make his heart angrier and more determined. He’ll find her wherever she went.

Arden is a strong, independent character and meets Gideon in her new location. They form a loving, relaxed relationship that doesn’t overpower the suspense dwelling in the background.

Including Dustin’s POV provides a sense of tension and desperation. Of course, he feels he is intellectually superior and has everything planned out. She’ll be his to do as he bids.

It’s a suspense thriller that’ll be hard for you to put down. Of course, I’ve long been a Nora Roberts fan. You too?

Suspense fans? Thriller fans? It doesn’t get much more thrillerish than this one. Totally recommended.

The Keeper by Tana French
Publisher: Penguin Audio
Narrator: Roger Clark

This is the third book in the Cal Hooper trilogy (read #2, The Hunter back in 2024 and The Searcher before that). If you read Tana French, you know her books can tend to get…lengthy. That is because she loves to write long-winded Guinness-driven discussions by the good ole boys in the local pub. I’ve said before, she might be a master of thrillers, but she is definitely a mistress of dialogue. I listen to the audiobooks to get that Irish flavor and obviously I can listen to it for quite some time.

As with the first and second, this tale is wholly atmospheric. You can live between these pages, lost in the characters. Even if you didn’t start with the first installment, these characters will grow on you. Well, maybe not everyone, but I learned to love them all and watched with interest the growth and maturity of Trey. Cal Hooper is the ex-Chicago PD detective well out of his element but thrust into the center of Ardnakelty business anyway.

This time, young, soon-to-be-engaged Rachel Holohan goes missing and turns up in the river. Dead.

The gossip runs rampant. The whole village in arms and divisive in theory. Deeply descriptive prose has you feeling the chill of the fog, the collision of sentiments. Such an immersive story and sad to see the end to this series. If you haven’t read it yet—yeah—it’s long but delightfully easy listening.

Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke
Publisher: Random House Audio
Narrator: Rebecca Lowman

A debut novel that sparked a lot of controversy over whether it was meant to be a satire–or not. What you thought you were getting, you weren’t. I was interested in the premise, not really a new one, but definitely deceived.

Natalie has created a lifestyle and made herself a controversial influencer by adopting a “traditional” family, living the good life. But it’s a front and a front she detests. That includes the kids (all six of them), her husband, the whole scene, her eight million followers (particularly “the angry women.” If only they could see behind the scenes. That kitchen? A front. All those homecooked meals? Yeah, she has a cook, nanny for the kids, and the farm is not particularly idyllic either.

It’s okay if she doesn’t like anyone. The reader doesn’t like her either. She’s nasty and whiny.

So does she get her comeuppance when she wakes up in 1855 to an old farmhouse where the bathroom is a hike outside, the kids are dirty and she must (gasp!) care for them, her husband is exhausted and worn and never was exciting in bed. She has to cook on what? Wash clothes in a wash tub? Are you kidding?!!

Well, this could have been a real lesson in contradiction: a culturally, politically, morally flawed individual. She created this version of herself. Can’t she also change it? End it? Is she trapped in 1855, a victim of herself?

I found it a difficult and long audiobook, easily distractible. Maybe I’m just too tired or too short on time to dig for the deeper meanings. You may love it; it’s rather cerebral.

Buckeye by Patrick Ryan
Publisher: Random House Audio
Narrator: Michael Crouch

The novel spans several decades and generations and focuses on Cal Jenkins and Margaret Salt. The sympathy all goes to Cal, the empathy to Margaret. And yes, the novel a long one. I actually started this one once before and lost the loan before I could finish it. On a wait list, took a while to come back around.

WWII only highlighted Cal’s childhood deformity, denying him participation in the fight when all the others left. He marries Becky, who practices her gift as a spiritual medium, which annoys Cal and drives a wedge between them.

Margaret was abandoned to an orphanage and her early life consisted of foster placements until she got to an age where she struck out on her own and discovered how cruel the world really could be. She eventually marries a gay man who finds the love of his life. It isn’t her.

These two flawed main characters find each other in a novel of multiple themes, including love and loyalty. While it paints a transparent picture of post-war middle America, written in beautiful emotional prose, I found it incredibly sad. Four lifetimes, the sacrifice, and the loss.

A literary hangover with these four characters, their decisions, obligations, strengths, and weaknesses in a look back during a historically turbulent time. You may enjoy the authenticity and the major events noted during the decades, but this one didn’t provide sufficient grief relief for me.

The first three of these books were released during the second quarter of this year all receiving acclaim. Buckeye achieved a Goodreads Choice Award as a Nominee for Readers’ Favorite Historical Fiction in 2025.

Many thanks to my local library for providing me with the opportunity to listen to these audiobooks. Any opinion expressed here is my own.

Audiobooks

Captain Hope and The Battle of Attu by Neil Perry Gordon – #BookReview #MilitaryHistoricalFiction #NetGalley

The Alaskan Adventures of Percy Hope

Book Blurb:

At the edge of the world, where the North Pacific collides with the Aleutian Islands, one of the least remembered—and most brutal—battles of the Second World War unfolded.

Captain Hope & The Battle of Attu, the fifth installment in The Alaskan Adventures of Percy Hope series, brings readers into the frozen fog of the Aleutian campaign through the eyes of a father and son drawn into the same war.

When Percy Hope, a seasoned journalist and Alaskan pioneer, receives a telegram informing him that his son Walter has been deployed to the remote island of Attu, he refuses to remain a distant observer. Securing a place as a war correspondent, Percy travels west into the harshest battlefield imaginable—where wind, ice, and volcanic rock are as deadly as the enemy.

Captain Walter Hope, now leading American soldiers in one of the most unforgiving environments on earth, must guide his men through terrain designed for ambush and survival measured in seconds. On Attu, there are no clear front lines—only fog-covered ridges, frozen ground, and an enemy determined to fight to the last man.

As Percy witnesses the invasion firsthand, father and son move through the same battlefield from different directions—one documenting history, the other shaping it. Between them lies a legacy carried through generations: resilience, leadership, and the quiet weight of hope itself.

Blending meticulously researched history with vivid storytelling, this novel captures the human experience of war in a place where nature and combat merge into a single relentless force.

Captain Hope & The Battle of Attu is a story of endurance, sacrifice, and the bond between father and son—set against one of the most overlooked battles of World War II, where courage was measured not by glory, but by the simple act of continuing forward into the storm.

His Review:

The Aleutian Island chain stretches across the north Pacific Ocean to within sight of the Russian Coastline. The Japanese figured out that the islands’ remote location and nearly zero population made it a perfect location for covert listening posts. The Japanese army took extensive measures to insure that their base was well fortified and entrenched.

Attu Island is a jagged island of volcanic rock and ash often shrouded in fog and icy mist. Retaking this position was not going to be easy. At times men walking on this forbidding landscape could not see someone five feet in front of them. The surface was ash and sand with sharp edges of solid magma poised to destroy the equipment utilized by the unwary.

The Japanese are a proud people with the attitude of the offspring of the proud Samari warriors. They were not going to be removed easily. However, the United States could simply not have that listening post on U.S. territory. Author Neil Perry Gordon paints a horrible picture of the sacrifice and courage it took to wrestle this island back from Japanese hands. The unforgiving landscape and conditions are abysmal and creates an extreme atmospheric picture.

C E Williams The author recreates the dynamic and nail-biting struggle fought in deplorable and often times blinding conditions. Perfect for fans of US military war fiction. 4.5 stars – CE Williams

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with the opportunity to read and review this ebook. The thoughts expressed here are my own.

Rosepoint Publishing: Four point Five Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Military Historical Fiction, War Fiction, US Historical Fiction
Publication Date: April 14, 2026
Source: Publisher and NetGalley

Title Link(s):

Amazon-US | Amazon-UK | Barnes & Noble

The Author: Neil Perry Gordon approaches storytelling as more than a craft—it is both his passion and his calling, a way to explore the extraordinary and render it vividly real. Through his work, he seamlessly intertwines history, metaphysics, and speculative inquiry, creating immersive narratives that reveal hidden truths and resonate deeply on a human level.

The author of eighteen novels, Neil is best known for his acclaimed The Alaskan Adventures of Percy Hope series, including The Wizard of Hope and his latest installment, Captain Hope and The Battle of Attu. In that powerful work, he brings readers into the stark, unforgiving landscape of World War II’s Aleutian campaign, where courage, sacrifice, and destiny converge at the edge of the known world.

With his newest novel, The Lemurians: A New Testament for the Soul, Neil expands his literary reach into bold new territory—exploring the origins of consciousness, the continuity of the soul, and humanity’s forgotten past. Blending narrative storytelling with philosophical depth, the novel challenges conventional ideas of identity, memory, and creation, inviting readers into a story that feels as much remembered as it is imagined.

Neil’s writing bridges historical fiction and metaphysical exploration, grounded in meticulous research yet elevated by a visionary imagination. His stories do more than recount events—they reawaken them, drawing readers into moments where history and mystery converge.

At the heart of his work is a deep belief in the power of narrative to connect, transform, and illuminate. His novels unfold as rich tapestries where myth, memory, and “what if” possibilities intertwine, opening doors to alternate realities and deeper dimensions of human existence.

For Neil, writing is an act of discovery. Each book becomes a living canvas where the seen and unseen, the temporal and the eternal, meet. His prose carries both intellectual depth and emotional clarity, offering stories that are as thought-provoking as they are deeply felt.

Whether exploring the nature of consciousness, uncovering hidden forces shaping history, or tracing the invisible threads that bind past and present, Neil’s work invites readers to see the world—and themselves—with fresh eyes.

Relax, it's Sunday

The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper by Phaedra Patrick #AudiobookReview #bookclub #TBT

Bookclub at the YMCA

Another book I’d have never picked up, but a book club read that turned enjoyable. An author from the UK, this debut now among her six novels, but the most successful. I was told it was turned into a movie, but have not found evidence of such on the internet. She generally writes “uplifting, life-affirming fiction.”

My Thoughts

It’s a simple book. Sweet plot.

Arthur Pepper is a widower who has settled into a deep depression following the death of his wife of forty-plus years. At sixty-nine years of age, he has developed a routine that varies little from minute to minute—none of which has to do with his children, his neighbors, or the simple act of shopping for groceries. He has little interest in anything outside of his fern and garden.

So it is upon facing the first anniversary of her death that he has decided to clear some of her belongings and it is in this project that he discovers a gold charm bracelet that he has never seen before, well hidden.

Finding a telephone number on one of the charms, he can’t resist calling it, as he can’t imagine how or why Miriam would have a charm with an Indian telephone number on it. It begins the odyssey to find out more about her life before himself.

I loved how each of the charms left a tiny hint as to what the next charm might have represented and the amazing story behind each. The stories were touching, hilarious, tragic, simple, and powerful. Each a testament to the woman he married who had never shared her life (and that was an early difficult part to understand).

The characters are well developed, each conveying the story of their experience with his wife. Each of the adventures in which Arthur was led opened a new door to the woman he thought he knew. It was inspirational, compulsive, and emotional, a book you’ll enjoy if you love light, fast, and fun reading.

Many thanks to our local well-stocked library for providing me with the opportunity to listen to and review this audiobook. The thoughts expressed here are my own as well as my interpretation of the consensus of the book club participants.

Book Club Thoughts

The publisher provides questions for discussion at the book club, aided this time by questions additionally posed by the library.

A few of the items specifically examined were:

►How was Arthur Pepper changed? Obviously from a grieving and depressive widower to one who discovered there was still life out there that confirmed the love from Miriam for him was genuine.

►Was the book really an adventure, mystery, or family life fiction? All three, although Amazon has it classed as Later in Life Romance, Contemporary British & Irish Literature, and Travel and Vacation Fiction.

►Can intergenerational friendships work? Extended discussion appeared to agree that it could.

►The question was posed as to the favorite character. There were a number of lively and completely diverse characters. This led to an extensive discussion on all the adventures and the character each introduced as the reason for the charm. Most were…charming. Many, including myself, noted Mike as being particularly interesting and generous, while some also noted Bernadette as being a bit too much or as the busy-body opposite to the positive characters.

Book Details:

Publisher: Harlequin Audio
Narrator: James Langton
Publication Date: May 3, 2016

Title Link(s):

Amazon-US | Amazon-UK | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

Phaedra Patrick - author — Phaedra Patrick – author

The Author: Hello and welcome to my author page! If you click the yellow ‘Follow’ button, Amazon will send you an email when I have a new release, or if there’s a special deal you might be interested in.

I’ve always wanted to write books but came to it the long way around. I originally studied art and marketing and then worked as a stained glass artist, film festival organiser and communications manager. I won several awards for my short stories and have now written six novels, four of which became USA Today bestsellers. I live with my family in Saddleworth, UK, where I write full time.

My debut novel, The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper, was translated into twenty five languages worldwide and was optioned by a major Hollywood film studio.

My second novel, Rise and Shine, Benedict Stone (named Wishes Under the Willow Tree in the UK), was made into a Hallmark movie in 2021.

My third novel, inspired by my love of stories, is The Library of Lost and Found. It was selected as ’The Great North West Read,’ to be read across 300 libraries in the UK in 2019.

My fourth is titled The Secrets of Love Story Bridge (The Secrets of Sunshine in the UK) and my fifth, The Messy Lives of Book People (titled The Book Share in the UK) was the Barnes & Noble fiction pick for June 2022 in the USA.

I hope you enjoy my sixth novel, The Little Italian Hotel, a warm, uplifting escape about the power of love, friendship and following your dreams.

Please visit my website at http://www.phaedra-patrick.com for more info, writing tips and to sign up to my newsletter. You can also get in touch with me via Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

The YMCA Bookclub

Rosepoint Reviews – June Recap – July Heat and Firecrackers

June first ushered in a whole new lifestyle and schedule around here with the sudden emergency we experienced with the CE.

Notified that his Loop (cardiac implant) went off, he was sent to Emergency at our nearby hospital where he ended up with a whole new device. Unfortunately, he proved to be allergic to the wound adhesive and round two occurred one week later. He got his staples out two days before his birthday. Needless to say, I’ve taken a blog sabbatical. His estimated full recovery is expected to be eight weeks.

Now with the heat dome and temps at the century mark, the water garden isn’t looking too healthy and my mosquito fish (the Rosy Red Minnows) agreed it was too much for them. The Mystery snails are quite happy with each other, but it’s a struggle to keep that water temperature below 85^o F and that won’t work for them either, sad to say. We don’t usually experience these temps, so the whole thing must obviously be my fault.

The veggie garden doesn’t need a whole lot of attention except for some water. Going to the YMCA is out for the CE, although I might try to do one or two days a week, including book club next week and Bingo the next. One of our Navy buddies has passed away, a friendship of almost sixty years, so our son will be driving us to Texas. Yes, Texas in July. From the frying pan to the fire.

The CE and I did have six books we struggled to finish and I to post. The links on the titles are to our reviews that also include purchase information.

Rosepoint Reviews - June Recap

eBooks

Abigail Trench by Randy Overbeck (buddy read with the CE)
Mayhem in the Mountains by Jane Loeb Rubin

Audiobooks

Ironwood by Michael Connelly
Still Alice by Lisa Genova (book club)
The Divorce by Freida McFadden
Lorne by Susan Morrison

Favorite Book of the Month

The CE loved Randy Overbeck’s book. It was unique and very timely as well as thought-provoking. I greatly enjoyed it as well and can recommend for our America250 celebration. The favorite book for June:

Favorite for June – Abigail Trench

My Reading Challenges page…I’ve been lucky to turn on the computer. My Goodreads count won’t be accurate anyway but opening page shows 75 books (eleven behind schedule). I think it’s obvious I’ll have to edit the goal. Also, I have several audiobooks finished but not posted.

To my readers and fellow bloggers, I appreciate every open and like, and thank you so much for taking the time to check out my posts and leave your comments.

A little light summer reading.

Just a little overwhelmed right now and see a blog break in my future

Time for a sabbatical!

This time of year can be overwhelming with spring cleaning, gardens, and projects, but now the CE is needing some special attention. Hopefully, he’ll be on the mend soon, but in the meantime, I must step away from the blog for a while except for a few planned posts. I hope to be back in July and look forward to resuming my schedule then.*

Stay cool and safe!

*Graphic courtesy ChatCPT

Lorne: The Man Who Invented Saturday Night Live by Susan Morrison #AudiobookReview #ThrowbackThursday

Best Biographies and Memoirs

Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Readers’ Favorite History & Biography (2025)

Book Blurb:

Over the fifty years that Lorne Michaels has been at the helm of Saturday Night Live, he has become a revered and inimitable presence in the entertainment world. He’s a tastemaker, a mogul, a withholding father figure, a genius spotter of talent, a shrewd businessman, a name-dropper, a raconteur, the inspiration for Dr. Evil, the winner of more than a hundred Emmys—and, essentially, a mystery. Generations of writers and performers have spent their lives trying to figure him out, by turns demonizing and lionizing him. He’s “Obi-Wan Kenobi” (Tracy Morgan), the “great and powerful Oz” (Kate McKinnon), “some kind of very distant, strange comedy god” (Bob Odenkirk).

Lorne will introduce you to him, in full, for the first time. With unprecedented access to Michaels and the entire SNL apparatus, Susan Morrison takes readers behind the curtain for the lively, up-and-down, definitive story of how Michaels created and maintained the institution that changed comedy forever.

Drawn from hundreds of interviews—with Michaels, his friends, and SNL’s iconic stars and writers, from Will Ferrell to Tina Fey to John Mulaney to Chris Rock to Dan Aykroyd—Lorne is a deeply reported, wildly entertaining account of a man singularly obsessed with the show that would define his life and have a profound impact on American culture.

My Review:

Can I count you among those, including myself, who mourn the “old days” of Saturday Night Live when it was still topical, satirical, and politically incorrect? The edginess poked fun at just about anyone before it dissolved in crotch shots and fart jokes.

To say that it’s “the definitive biography of Lorne Michaels, the man behind America’s most beloved comedy show” (NYTimes) might be a misnomer in that it appears to me more like an intro to the man but a blow-by-blow of the “warts-and-all week in the life of SNL.” (Variety)

Whether Michaels actually “invented” SNL or that it more likely evolved cooperatively with his acquiescence might produce an argument. As I read it, it was more a collaboration and he took it from there. There was a hiatus from 1980 to 1985 (seasons 6 through 10) where Michaels was absent and looking for other opportunities. So to say he has helmed SNL for fifty years also might be a stretch to the truth since he started with the show in 1975 but found other sources of creativity for those five years.

And, for my money, the Not Ready for Prime Time Players were the best—my favorite being Gilda Radnor and Jane Curtin. Not that I haven’t greatly enjoyed a number of cast members since, including Eddy Murphy (“It’s Mista Landlord, children.”) and Tina Fey. Then you might argue Bill Murray, Will Ferrell, Chris Rock, and Kenan Thompson, and I’d counter Adam Sandler, Dana Carvey, and Amy Poehler.

Go ahead, name your own favorites! There’s been a solidly rotating door since the early days and, I’m sorry to say, few that bring the magic or have the power to duplicate strong interest outside of SNL.

From Michaels at an early age to his first tentative step into show business, the author has done a fine job of research, coaxing out all the nuances that would become a Lorne hallmark. Whether his standard for comedic sketches has waned or not, one of the standard talents in Lorne is his considerable ability to see and acquire star talent.

Lorne is viewed later as a father figure to many of his cast members and shown often struggling with how much into their private lives he should have been projecting his wisdom. If you ever considered the culture, looking at many of the cast members that might have been living an over-the-top food, sex, and drugs existence, you’d be right. Witness those whose connection with the show has ended in their early deaths.

Does the quality of the show all come down to good actors interpreting lousy scripts? No. I don’t think so. If they are presenting these mind-numbing skits and Lorne thinks them funny and approves of them, then the buck stops on his desk. His demographic is young adults.

It’s just not the same, do you think? Not the same show. Not the level of writers. Not the level of the good-natured absurdity poking fun at topical events. I must admit that there are Saturday nights when we’ll hang on after news to watch the “cold open.” Unfortunately, that also tells us whether or not we’ll watch further or go to bed.

In a 655 page book and almost 23 hour audiobook, I think it could be said that the deep dissection of myriad weeks of SNL show structure from choice of guest stars to discussion of skits and the tediousness of timing could be cut from decades to samples of weeks that include some of the most notables mentioned.

If you enjoy an occasional, very long, biographical account of an American TV institution and its producer, you may find this of interest, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Many thanks to my local library for providing me with the opportunity to listen to and review this audiobook. The thoughts expressed here are my own.

Rosepoint Publishing: Three point Four Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Television Comedy, Comedian Biographies & Memoirs, Celebrity & Popular Culture Humor
Publisher: Random House Audio
Narrators: Kristen DiMercurio, Susan Morrison
Release Date: February 18, 2025

Title Links:

Amazon-US | Amazon-UK | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

The Author: Susan Morrison is the Articles Editor of “The New Yorker.” She is the former editor-in-chief of the “New York Observer,” an original editor of “SPY” magazine, and the one-time features director of “Vogue.” She lives in New York City.

#ThrowbackThursday

Seven Audiobooks – Stories to Hear Anywhere – #BookHaul – #TuesdayBookBlog

Impossible to Pause

Catching recommendations from Goodreads and good buddies, thought it might be time to share some of the wealth. Do you like historical fiction, literary fiction, police procedurals, or perhaps a memoir? Here are audiobooks in the queue from my library with an eye of what might look good to you also. (Book links are to Amazon-US.)

On My Audiobook Shelf

Just Finished:

Lorne by Susan Morrison (scheduled for my review on June 18 – Editors’ pick Best Biographies and Memoirs)

Currently listening to:

Buckeye by Patrick Ryan (I also listed this in February then ran out of time. Editors’ pick Best Books of 2025)

Up Next:

The Keeper by Tana French (Editors’ pick Best Books of the Year So Far 2026)

Currently on library hold:

Wait time on these holds is anywhere from 2 weeks to 16 weeks and they represent a few different genres, including two of my favorites, historical and crime fiction.

Four audiobooks

Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall (Editors’ pick Best Books of the Year 2025 and a Reese’s Book Club pick.) 1^st in line
Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke – 4 weeks (second try on this one, too)
Whistler by Ann Patchett – 6 weeks
The Final Target by Nora Roberts – 8 weeks

I’d be willing to bet you’ve read at least one of these! I can’t vouch for those on my hold list, but a wait of two months is down from four and I can’t wait to get into them. Which one have you already read or listened to? Did one of these catch your attention? So what did you think?