Roberta Westwood

Transported me

Reviewed: 2019-08-04

What a lovely little audio drama. It felt like a docu drama. At first, it was simply entertaining, then I became aware of how the lives of these 'illegal immigrants' parallel the lives of people today. The ups and downs, the joys and the fears. Always the fears. Although set in New York City, and our treatment of immigrants is different in Canada, it gave me new compassion for those establishing new lives here. And empathy for refugees and immigrants everywhere. Listen and let Aliens of Extraordinary Abilities transport you...

1 of 2 people found this review helpful

A bubble escape story

Reviewed: 2019-07-07

I wanted to read this book simply because I thought it was so interesting that a former President of the United States had written a mystery with one of the best authors of the day. Who else would know about that secret passage, or could describe the details of a famed room in so much detail? So the book was fascinating in that regard. The story was pretty good, but what I came away with most was a sense of what it must be like to live in the POTUS bubble, and the freedom of driving away from the White House, all alone, in a disguise, and entering a cafe or ball park and not being recognized. The current occupant aside, I imagine its a fantasy of any President, so it was intriguing to hear how he must have imagined such an escape unfolding. Lots of drama follows, but it was less entertaining to me than the disappearance itself.

Secrets without a lot of drama

Reviewed: 2019-07-07

A great listen, and easy to digest over a day or two of the TDF. Lots of recent relevant observations, including happenings in the 2018 Tour de France. Having read several books about professional cycling, and having followed the ups and downs of doping and scandals, not much would surprise me, and nothing here did. Instead, I got a refreshingly positive inside look at the life of a professional cyclist, one who has stayed grounded and clean over the years. But it's not bland. Our secret cyclist has strong opinions and shares them with conviction. Insights on other riders relate mainly to the stories behind and around crashes and controversies, but are respectful of others privacy. It's not a tell-all, it's a tell-some. Good choice of narrator, it sounded like it was the rider himself.

An incredible tale

Reviewed: 2019-05-04

Jason Rezaian had a story to tell, but it's not the one he expected. The man was, and is, a journalist, and he was held without cause in an Iranian prison. At first his wife, also a journalist, was also held, but she was released after a relatively short period of time. Telling his story in his own voice, Jason shares the long stretches of solitude he experienced, the surprising (to me) stretches held in a prison house of sorts with another prisoner, the hope, the dashed hopes, and all the false starts before he was eventually released. It's a compelling story.

The early days of Google, from an insider

Reviewed: 2019-05-04

I enjoyed this account of the early days of Google, from one of the earliest hired employees. It was a stage of the company's history that could only be told by someone who worked there at the time. Douglas Edwards was well suited to the task, as he is both a writer and a non-engineer, enabling him to give the rest of us non-engineer types a sense of the happenings. As one of those set up for life from IPO, I appreciated the time he took to tell the story. I have a feeling the history post his departure won't be quite as fascinating.

A brave account

Reviewed: 2019-05-04

Until now I had not thought about what indicators someone might have of a brain hemorrhage, as the person experiencing it. Kavita Basi took me there, inside her head, as she underwent an assault of excruciating headaches, and her world fell apart. This is an amazing story of recovery, and lessons on the fragility of life.

Dry at times, but fascinating

Reviewed: 2019-05-04

Of course I listened to The Mueller Report, why wouldn't I? It's a looong listen, but very complete. In addition to a verbatim reading of the report itself (complete with many 'redacted, conflict with ongoing matter' hiccups), The Washington Post provides context and a timeline. They also provide some analysis, but this is clearly separated. Some interesting background on Mueller vs Trump towards the end too. The multiple voices was interesting, presumably used in order to get the darn thing read and produced in a timely manner.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

A brilliant approach to this story

Reviewed: 2019-04-23

As a Canadian, I have long known about the Dionne quintuplets, and have thought it a sad and disturbing story. In recent years I have heard bit of news about the surviving sisters and their difficulties later in life. So, I wanted to read an account, to understand more. I was initially hesitant about a fictional account but Shelley Wood has done the story justice ~ and it really works. The history of what actually happened has been woven into the fictional story of a young nurse who was with the girls from birth to girlhood. It's rather clever, and a great listen.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Great telling of a tragic story

Reviewed: 2019-04-15

This was a very well done series, although I listened to it all one go. I particularly liked the approach taken to tell the story: through the story (eyes/heart/words) of one of the (very few) survivors, supplemented with words from the others. These perspectives were balanced with those of a woman who lost two sisters in the tragedy. There is much that is so very disturbing in this story, but it is told in a way that was listenable, calmly and without hysterics. If you don't know the Jonestown story, it's worth a listen.

Adapting when things go wrong

Reviewed: 2019-04-14

This wasn't my normal type of book, as it was really about marriage. But the calamity that was at the heart of the story ~ a 'quack' medical procedure gone wrong ~ was interesting to me: how they got into doing the procedure in the first place, what did (and didn't) happen, and the aftermath ~ was what drew me. That part of the story was well told. The rest of the book was still interesting enough to keep me listening.