My Last Two Audie Award Reviews

I finished listening to all of the nominees for the 2020 History/Biography this month. Here are short reviews of the last two I listened to:

I loved the idea of this book- Theodore Roosevelt goes to court to save his legacy- but in practice this was really bogged down by all of the court transcripts. I wish Abrams had used his words to tell the story instead.

I absolutely loved this book when I read it in print, but then I was disappointed that the audio didn’t really add anything.

So there you have it. Blame 2020, but I didn’t love any of these nominees. I have high hopes for 2021 though!

[REVIEWS] 2020 Audie Awards - History and Biography

It’s one of my things to listen to all of the nominees from the History and Biography category of the Audie Awards to see if I agree with the winner. I listened to American Moonshot earlier this year, and this week I listened to two more.

The First Conspiracy by Brad Meltzer - I didn’t love this one, and I think it was because of the audio format. Personally when there are dates and names I need to remember I need to see them. I’m also just tired of learning about the Revolutionary War. I much prefer to listen to books about things I didn’t learn about in school.

The Queen by Josh Levin - This was a really interesting topic. Turns out the welfare queen that Ronald Regan vilified during his presidential campaign did things that were way worse than welfare fraud. I do wish Levin had gone more into the politics of the situation because I think these types of things are still happening today, and a tie in to current events would have enhanced the story.

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REVIEW: American Moonshot by Douglas Brinkley

American Moonshot is a different look at the space race than I’m used to. From World War II until the assassination of President Kennedy so many things had to come together in order to give the moon landing momentum, and this book is a very detailed and interesting look at them. I’ve read many, many books about NASA in the 60’s, but never one that looked at the behind the scenes politics in the way this one did.

Readers should be aware that the astronauts never make it to the moon in this book. It wraps up right around the time Kennedy was assassinated. I did enjoy learning about all of the back channel negotiations that took place in the early years of NASA, but missed the payoff of the successful moon landing. I would recommend this to any NASA fan.

One of my favorite things to do every year is to listen to all of the nominees of the Audie Awards history/biography category. This year’s nominees were:

American Moonshot by Douglas Brinkley Narrated by Stephen Graybill, published by HarperAudio
The First Conspiracy by Brad Meltzer and Josh Mensch, narrated by Scott Brick, published by Macmillan Audio
Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud, and the Last Trial of Harper Lee by Casey Cep, narrated by Hillary Huber, published by Penguin Random House Audio
The Queen by Josh Levin, narrated by January LaVoy, published by Hachette Audio
Theodore Roosevelt for the Defense by Dan Abrams and David Fisher, narrated by Roger Wayne and Dan Abrams, published by Harlequin

June 2017 Audiobooks

Memorial Day meant a road trip to Cleveland. 

Once the Armchair Audies ended I went on a podcast binge, and have only recently found my way back to audio books. I am a huge fan of history books on audio, but listening to so many of them in a row was a bit much. I had fun, but I'm glad it's over.

Here's what I've been listening to since I stopped listening to Audie books.

Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner -- I was surprised that this book was written in the 1980's. The slow building story of adult friendships reads more like a classic. If you need something soft and gentle to read in your hammock, pick this one up. It's lovely.

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman -- I listened to this book about a grumpy old man for the Imaginary Book Club. It had been on my TBR forever, and I was so glad for the push to get to it. It's great on audio if for no other reason than to get the correct pronounciation of Ove.

The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Spere -- I loved this book. I got it out of the library to listen to with the kids, and ended up listening ahead after I had dropped them off. I don't know how I never read this one growing up, but I'm glad I got the chance now.

A Great Reckoning by Louise Penny -- Another winner by Louise Penny. I was on a train with co-workers when I got to the end; I hope they didn't see me crying.

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And The Armchair Audie Goes To...

In Harm's Way by Doug Stanton is my pick for the 2017 Audie Award in the History/Biography category.

This was a hard decision, but in the end this was the book that stuck with me the longest.

Audie Awards are announced on June 1. Follow @ArmchairAudies on Twitter to see if my pick matches up with the real thing.

UPDATE: The official results are in, and In Harm's Way won the Audie! Congrats to Doug Stanton!

All Audie Award Reviews:

In Harm's Way

Paul McCartney: The Life

A Time to Die

Valiant Ambition

The Year of Lear

[REVIEW]: Valient Ambition by Nathaniel Philbrick

Valiant Ambition by Nathaniel Philbrick is my 4th review for the Armchair Audies. I'll admit before I even get started that even though I minored in history at a fine liberal arts school, anything to do with war battles goes right through my head. So, there were large parts of this book where my only thought of substance was "Ugh, why is Washington trying so hard to take Trenton?" (I spent a large part of last week on the New Jersey turnpike, and that may have clouded my thoughts a bit.)

HOWEVER, I know a lot of people, like my husband, really enjoy that type of thing. Those parts of this book were very well written, but just not for me. I will seek out more of Nathaniel Philbrick's writing after this one, but won't seek out anything else by any author that includes battles for a long time. I almost DNF this one, but I kept on, and I'm glad I did.

Along the coast of Lake Champlain, an Arnold hang out.

On to the part I liked. This last quarter or so of this book was about Benedict Arnold in comparison to George Washington during the Revolutionary War. My previous knowledge of the two was skin deep. Cherry trees, house tours, wigs, traitors, and that episode of the Brady Bunch where Peter was in a play. That kind of thing. Philbrick goes deeper though to show how two men who were subject to similar circumstances reacted in different ways. If you're into personality studies you will love the last section of this book. Also, I feel like if you are a CEO you should read this book. There's a powerful example here of why you should pay attention to your people.

The narration of this book was very good, and kept things moving even during the battle scenes.

I recommend this audio book to history lovers, CEOs, and anyone who loves to take a deep dive into what makes people tick.

This is my fourth review in the History/Biography category for the Arm Chair Audies. Check back for more reviews, and to see who I think should be the winner.

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Armchair Audies

I'm super excited to be a judge in the History/Biography category of this year's Armchair Audies. (Although since these are audiobooks maybe I should call them laundry time/driving to baseball practice/tedious work time Audies.)

Here are the books I will be listening to:

• In Harm’s Way: The Sinking of the U.S.S. Indianapolis and the Extraordinary Story of Its Survivors by Doug Stanton, narrated by Mark Boyett
• Paul McCartney: The Life by Philip Norman, narrated by Jonathan Keeble
• A Time to Die by Robert Moore, narrated by Pete Cross
• Valiant Ambition: George Washington, Benedict Arnold, and the Fate of the American Revolution by Nathaniel Philbrick, narrated by Scott Brick
• The Year of Lear by James Shapiro, narrated by Robert Faas

These books are all brand new to me, and I'm excited to dig in.

If you'd like to be a judge too there's still plenty of time. Sign up here.