Brave Girl, Quiet Girl by Catherine Ryan Hyde
Narrated by: Kate Rudd, Jess Nahikian
Length: 8 hrs and 58 mins
Unabridged Audiobook
Release date: 05-19-20
Language: English
Publisher: Brilliance Audio

Brooke is a divorced single mom, financially strapped, living with her mother, and holding tight to the one thing that matters most: her two-year-old daughter, Etta. Then, in a matter of seconds, Brooke’s life is shattered when she’s carjacked. Helpless and terrified, all Brooke can do is watch as Etta, still strapped in her seat, disappears into the Los Angeles night.

Miles away, Etta is found by Molly, a homeless teen who is all too used to darkness. Thrown away by her parents, and with a future as stable as the wooden crate she calls home, Molly survives day to day by her wits. As unpredictable as her life is, she’s stunned to find Etta, abandoned and alone. Shielding the little girl from more than the elements, Molly must put herself in harm’s way to protect a child as lost as she is.

Out of one terrible moment, Brooke’s and Molly’s desperate paths converge and an unlikely friendship across generations and circumstances is formed. With it, Brooke and Molly will come to discover that what’s lost – and what’s found – can change in a heartbeat.

Thoughts
Every book I’ve read by this author has been really good and this one is too. The book is about a little girl being in a car that is carjacked. I wasn’t sure if this was a good book choice right now with everything going on in the world, but the book took all of that out of my head and into Brooke, Molly, and Etta’s world.

I loved Molly. She was having a hard time just surviving since her mother threw her out of the house. But when she found Etta she did everything she could to keep the little girl safe, and get her back to her mom.

Then there’s Brooke, Etta’s mom. I didn’t like her for a big part of the book, but I love characters that make me want to shake some sense into them. I didn’t like the way she talked to and about her mother, who was letting her and Etta stay with her until Brooke got back on her feet. After Etta was found safe Brooke acted ungrateful to Molly, even though if it wasn’t for her she may not have ever gotten Etta back. Thankfully in the end Brooke and Molly formed a bond and became close.

I hope Hyde continues this story. I would love to find out how things went for all the characters after this book ended. Great characters, great story, great narration!

A Life Without Water by Marci Bolden
Narrated by: Tanya Eby
Series: Life Without Water, Book 1
Length: 7 hrs and 42 mins
Unabridged Audiobook
Release date: 04-28-20
Language: English

Carol Denman divorced her husband over 20 years ago and has never looked back. But on the day before their daughter’s 30th birthday, John barges back into Carol’s life with a request that threatens the fragile stability she has built.

John Bowman is sick. Very sick. While he still can, he has some amends to make and some promises to fulfill. But to do that, he not only needs his ex-wife’s agreement…he needs her.

With the past hovering between them like a ghost, Carol and John embark on a decades-overdue road trip. Together they plunge back into a life without water…but which may ultimately set them free.

Thoughts
Oh my goodness, this was so good but it was also very sad. I loved going with John and Carol on the journey to fulfill the promise they made concerning their daughter. If it had been me, I would have wanted each of us to do it on our own but since John was sick I would have done it with him like Carol did, no matter what my feelings about him were. I knew the reason why they made the promise but finding out the details of what happened took quite a way into the book.

The trip they took was very interesting, lots of stops in different states and even one stop that really surprised me. In the end Carol realized that not all the things that made her resent John were his fault, some of them were hers.

Even though this book is such a sad story, there are also some uplifting moments and even a few that are funny.

The narrator did a good job and made this a very easy book to listen to.

This is the first book by this author that I’ve read but I’m patiently waiting for the audio of book #2 in this series, A Life Without Flowers which is expected to be released on September 29th of this year.

Break Shot: My First 21 Years by James Taylor

Narrated by: James Taylor
Length: 1 hr and 33 mins
Performance
Release date: 01-31-20
Language: English
Publisher: Audible Original

“I’m James Taylor and I’m a professional autobiographer,” says the celebrated folk singer at the start of this tender audio memoir. Through decades of music by one of the best-selling musicians of all time, who created classics like “Fire and Rain” and “Carolina in My Mind,” James Taylor has doled out his history in the poetry of his work. Taylor says his early life is, “the source of many of my songs,” and Break Shot is a tour of his first 21 years in rich, new detail. Praised by Forbes magazine as going “beyond the spoken word,” Break Shot combines storytelling, music and performance to create a one-of-a-kind listening experience. Longtime fans will savor a crop of musical gems, including an unreleased recording of the beloved hymn “Jerusalem,” selections from his newest release American Standard, as well as new original scoring by Taylor specially recorded for Break Shot and more from the Grammy Award-winning artist.

Recorded in his home studio, The Barn in western Massachusetts, Taylor tells the deeply personal story of his youth, which is entwined with the story of his family. What started as an idyllic tight unit soon became a family sent to different emotional corners—like a break shot in the game of pool, he says, when you slam the cue ball into the fifteen other balls and they all go flying off. By the time Taylor released his breakout second album in 1970, Sweet Baby James, he had seen the disintegration of his parents’ marriage and his family crumble in the aftermath. He had committed himself twice to a psychiatric hospital, battled depression, a heroin addiction, suffered a relapse, and traveled far away from the wood smoke and moonshine of the North Carolina landscapes in which he came of age. Despite it all, he was also on the cusp of superstardom and on his way to bringing light and joy to millions. He was 21.

Journey with James Taylor to a time before he became a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee, a recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors and both the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the National Medal of Arts—and a beloved voice to millions.

Thoughts
I’ve always liked James Taylor’s songs. They are very mellow and calming. I knew nothing about him other than his music so when I saw this Audible Original I knew I wanted to listen to it.

A few things I learned were… he came from a well to do family, he wasn’t as squeaky clean as I thought he was, he had 3 brothers and a sister and that many of  Taylor family members suffered from alcoholism and depression.

This was a short book at just over an hour and a half, but it was packed with information and I was glued to the story.

Taylor narrated the book himself and did a good job.

I think fans and non fans of James Taylor will enjoy this.