Briar Patch Books

Category: Audio Books

  • Afloat with love and literature

    Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson THE LITTLE PARIS BOOK SHOP. By Nina George. Read by Steve West and Emma Bering, with Cassandra Campbell. Random House Audio. 11 hours; 9 CDs. $46. Also available in print from Crown. Monsieur Perdu runs a floating bookshop, on a barge moored in the Seine in Paris. But he’s more…

  • Israel, the U.S. and one man’s journey

    If Paul O’Connor indulges in light books for summer reading, he keeps it a secret. Here he tackles a hefty book on a serious – and timely – subject. Reviewed by Paul T. O’Connor ALLY: MY JOURNEY ACROSS THE AMERICAN-ISRAELI DIVIDE.  By Michael B. Oren. Books on Tape. $50. 16 hours, 52 minutes. Read by…

  • Heroes and myths

    Paul O’Connor, who’s putting his summer break from teaching aspiring journalists to good use, reviews a book about the Doolittle Raiders, who struck back against the Japanese just months after Pearl Harbor. Reviewed by Paul T. O’Connor TARGET TOKYO: JIMMY DOOLITTLE AND THE RAID THAT AVENGED PEARL HARBOR. By James M. Scott. Read by L.J.…

  • History is what we make it

    Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson I approached this book with hope but also some trepidation, having loved The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society so much that I read it in print AND listened to it as an audio book. Annie Barrows co-wrote that wonderful book with her aunt, Mary Ann Shaffer. As its…

  • Who will be the next prey?

    Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson. GATHERING PREY. By John Sandford. Read by Richard Ferrone. Penguin Audio. 9 CDs, 11 hours. $40. Also available in hardcover from G. P. Putnam’s Sons. When a novelist has a long-running successful series, as John Sandford certainly does with his ‘Prey” thrillers starring Lucas Davenport, fans know what to expect.…

  • Great achievement, great story

    Paul O’Connor takes a look at a new book from a master storyteller about the brothers whose genius transformed the world in 1903. Reviewed by Paul T. O’Connor THE WRIGHT BROTHERS. By David McCullough. Audible.com. Read by the author. 10 hours, 2 minutes. $17. Also available in hardback from Simon & Schuster. 336 pages. $30.…

  • The real Reagan

    Paul O’Connor has tackled an exhaustive (and exhausting?)  but worthwhile new biography of Ronald Reagan. Reviewed by Paul T. O’Connor  REAGAN: THE LIFE. By H.W. Brands. Penguin Random House Audio. Read by Stephen Hoye. 32 hours. $60. Also available in hardcover from Doubleday. 737 pages. $60. My mother really liked Ronald Reagan. She considered him…

  • Just in time for the movie

    Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson I’m hearing good things about the new movie version of Far From the Madding Crowd, and I hope to see it sometime. But before seeing a movie adaptation of a classic novel, I wanted to read the novel. Despite having been an English major, I’d never read this book. Fortunately,…

  • The real dangers on campus

    Paul O’Connor is a father. He’s a veteran journalist. And he teaches college students. He has considerable insight into this book, and he says that every parent should read it. Reviewed by Paul T. O’Connor MISSOULA: RAPE AND THE JUSTICE SYSTEM IN A COLLEGE TOWN. By Jon Krakauer. Read by Mozhan Marno and Scott Brick.…

  • A different view of Bunker Hill

    About  a year ago, Paul O’Connor acquired an audio version of a history of Bunker Hill and the origins of the American Revolution, and then promptly forgot it. Recently he found the book, began to listen – and found there was a lot to learn about that history. Reviewed by Paul T. O’Connor BUNKER HILL:…