River Readers

This is an intense story which has very sad parts. I loved listening to it because I caught all kinds things I missed when I read it and things that aren't in the movie. Jim Dale is so amazing to listen to that I am eagerly making my way through the series!

Gorey's creepy-cozy drawings accurately project the ambience of the big old house in tiny New Zebedee, Michigan, where ten year-old Lewis, newly orphaned by an auto accident, goes to live with his benign and rather seedy warlock uncle Jonathan. With the help of gray-haired Mrs. Zimmerman, the cookie-baking witch next door, Jonathan amuses his nephew with an eclipse of the moon and other frivolous pastimes -- but the uncanny happenings become more sinister when Lewis himself, to impress a friend, manages to summon malignant Mrs. Izard, the house's former occupant, from her tomb.

There were so many things I had forgotten when I listened to this book. I find new facts every step of this listening journey. I can't wait to start the next one.

I am truly enjoying listening to the Harry Potter books. Jim Dale is amazing and I am finding all kinds of small details I didn't catch or didn't remember. Makes me want to have a movie marathon!

On the eve of her sixteenth birthday, the young sorceress Sabrina Spellman finds herself at a crossroads, having to choose between an unearthly destiny and her mortal boyfriend, Harvey. But a foe from her family's past has arrived in Greendale, Madame Satan, and she has her own deadly agenda. Archie Comics' latest horror sensation starts here! For TEEN+ readers. Compiles the first six issues of the ongoing comic book series Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. goodreads.com

The children being cared for at Eleanor West's Home for Wayward Children, the children have traveled to different worlds and for some reason or other had to return. They spend their days trying to find their doors to their worlds again or trying to move on and exist in the "real" world. When the students start dying, it is up to the new girl, Nancy, and her new found friends to try to find out what is happening and why.

I liked this book a lot because it was a bit different. While the dysopian society is similar to others, I liked the idea of belonging to a passion. I'm not sure I would want that passion to decide my fate, but I guess in a way that is what choosing a career does - just not usually at seventeen. I had a little trouble keeping everyone straight, but the charts at the front were a good reference tool. I began to care for many of the characters and look forward to the next book to see how Brienna and the others fare.

Listening to this second book gave me new insights into my favorite series. I keep uncovering things I don't remember reading or have forgotten since watching the movies after reading the book. Jim Dale once again transports the listener back to Hogwarts and makes you feel such a part of the action. I can visualize the characters and the places with ease - even ones I had forgotten about. As always it was fun to rediscover Dobby, the Forbidden Forest and the beginning of Harry and Ginny's love.

This was not exactly what I was expecting. It was a much darker look at the fairy tales I love. While I enjoy a good fractured tale or a remake, this book had me looking at the stories in too much of a literal tunnel. The idea of Snow White being a 7-9 year old girl who "marries" the dwarves or the more pagan/Wiccan rituals that are suggested were not my cup of tea. I know Grimm's stories are much darker than Disney's, but that doesn't mean I enjoy looking at them through the eyes of a pedophile either.

This graphic novel was recommended by Kayla and I really enjoyed it. The story was done in a subtle fashion that didn't preach. The differences between Aster and the other boys was defined, however neither the girls or the boys seemed to know what to make of him. It took his elderly grandmother and a girl from the wrong neighborhood to help Aster discover who he truly is and how to accept the differences about him.

As the hunt for the Star of Ice leads the six guardians to Ireland, Doyle, the immortal, must face his tragic past. Three centuries ago, he closed off his heart, yet his warrior spirit is still drawn to the wild. And there’s no one more familiar with the wild than Riley—and the wolf within her...

To celebrate the rise of their new queen, three goddesses of the moon created three stars, one of fire, one of ice, one of water. But then they fell from the sky, putting the fate of all worlds in danger. And now three women and three men join forces to pick up the pieces.

Mermaid Annika is from the sea, and it is there she must return after her quest to find the stars. New to this world, her purity and beauty are nothing less than breathtaking, along with her graceful athleticism, as her five new friends discovered when they retrieved the fire star.

Sasha Riggs is a reclusive artist, haunted by vivid dreams and nightmares that she turns into extraordinary paintings. Desperate to understand her visions, she finds herself drawn to the Greek island of Corfu.

Kingdoms wobble, crowns topple and knives flash on the magical Discworld as the statutory three witches meddle in royal politics. The wyrd sisters battle against frightful odds to put the rightful king on the throne. At least, that's what they think...
-- From Goodreads