Robin P’s Comments (group member since Feb 20, 2014)

Robin P’s comments from the Audiobooks group.

John wrote: "After several years' hiatus, I've returned to the Inspector Lavender series with Murder in Park Lane - Michael Page is perfect for the series, though I understand the latest book ha..."

I've gone through book 7, I didn't know there was a newer one. I don't think I want to change narrators. I have always liked Michael Page in various genres.

Kristie wrote: "John wrote: "Fran wrote: "My husband and I have been listening to I See You've Called in Dead while traveling around Newfoundland and Nova Scotia. We're almost finished and both of..."

I got that book in a recent sale but maybe I will pass on it now!

I am listening to Red Clay which is free in the Audible Plus catalog, at least right now. Narrator Dion Graham is excellent, as always. It looks like this is the author's first book and it's based on his own family history. I'm about 1/3 of the way through and find it quite good.

Kathleen wrote: "Ron Charles, a former book reviewer at the Washington Post, writes about his experiences with a scammer at his substack site

https://roncharles.substack.com/p/cha..."

That's hysterical - it seems that even famous names are being used for these!

Philip wrote: "Robin P wrote: "Thanks, Dee, but I don't think a broadcast message would help since the authors are never part of the existing group. My hope is that if they get such a message purporting to be fro..."

Thanks for the author's view, Philip! I imagine many fake or even real publicists contact authors. My brother in New York heard an announcement on WNYC radio alerting musicians/songwriters that emails purportedly from the station offering to "feature" their song - for a fee- are totally scams.

I didn't remember that you are an author. I have the audio of your book To the Survivors in my (too big) stash of Audible TBL!

I listened to Planetside because I so loved R.C. Bray in The Martian. It was fine but I wasn't compelled to continue.

I am really liking The Homemaker. This book is 102 years old and so revolutionary. Wife Evangeline is the perfect housekeeper, with a spotless home and well-dressed children, active in church and community affairs. Husband Lester has a steady job in accounting, though he hates it, and would like to spend more time reading and thinking, as he did in college. Evangeline's perfectionism has led her to micromanaging him as well as their children, criticizing their every movement. No surprise that one child is withdrawn, another is constantly ill, and the youngest has constant tantrums. Then something happens, which seems tragic. Lester is paralyzed from an accident, and Evangeline takes a job in the department store. Her excellent skills in dressmaking and decorating and her ability to read people make her a success. And she is so interested in her job that she doesn't notice a little dust at home. Lester takes up cooking with the help of the daughter, and everyone pitches in. He is actually a much more nurturing figure, and he has plenty of time to think while washing dishes and peeling potatoes. The kids all blossom, free from Mother's all-seeing eye. (Kind of a spoiler but all this happens pretty early on and if you start it without knowing that, you might quit because the original situation is so miserable.)

It's astounding that this book, 40 years before The Feminine Mystique, saw that society's gender roles can be confining to both sexes. The audio is excellent. The narrator is Anne Hancock, who I don't know, but she sounds very much like the actress Elizabeth McGovern, who read The Chaperone and of course played Cora on Downton Abbey.

Thanks, Dee, but I don't think a broadcast message would help since the authors are never part of the existing group. My hope is that if they get such a message purporting to be from this group, they would come here to check.

John, I trust you are ok that I posted the above message. Without direct messages, we can't even easily contact each other! In another group where I am a Mod, just since posting a similar message 2 weeks ago, we have gotten 6 authors coming to the site because they got such an email. Most were skeptical and came to check, but a couple were taken in because of how specific the praise was (from AI undoubtedly).

If you want to see a sample, here is an article from the online newsletter Literary Hub that just appeared today. It shows that even George Orwell is not immune!

I think anyone can access this article without membership or fee:

https://lithub.com/the-latest-literar...

There is currently a flood of emails targeting authors, claiming to be from GR members or Mods and mentioning specific groups. These emails include flattering statements about the author's book, including details undoubtedly picked out by AI, and offering to "feature" the book in a group. If the author responds, they are asked for a fee.

These are ALWAYS SCAMS! No GR group promotes authors for a fee, and most don't ever "feature" an author. These can be linked to totally inappropriate groups, like offering to promote a self-help book in a classics group, or a book that isn't even on audio to this group.

There are also lots of glowing reviews claiming to be from individuals posted in random threads in any group that has open membership. The profiles of those posters shows them as new members with only 1 book and the same message posted in many groups on that day.

In keeping with our rules, any such message that is not in our specific Promotions threads will be immediately deleted, and the poster will be removed and blocked from the group. Legitimate promotions in the proper threads are still fine.

Since GR removed direct messaging, there isn't an easy way for members to contact a Mod if you see something like this, so if you see something concerning, you may post it here for a Mod to review.

I have a bunch I got in various sales - on history, music, psychology. But I generally find myself picking up fiction instead. I should just listen to them in segments as they are always broken up into lectures.

I recently listened to The Rags of Time by Peter Grainger, read by Gildart Jackson. I like this series a lot because the hero, D.C. Smith, is such a decent guy, and the culture of the station house is so positive. Turns out the author did that on purpose, tired of dysfunctional, depressed, violent police in fiction. I didn't realize the books were self-published. Luckily he got an early deal from Audible with a great narrator.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/26/bo...

I love Andy Carpenter too. I’m only up to Book 10.

It might be fine for people who like full cast narration. I never have cared for them. A great narrator can singlehandedly do all genders, ages, nationalities, etc.

I'm listening to Seven Days A Duchess: A Historical Regency Romance. It has 2 narrators, male and female, which is fine, especially since the male is Alex Wyndham, who I like. They have separate chapters, all ok, but then when there is a conversation, they have the other person chime in on their lines, for instance,

Female narrator: She heard a knock on the door and said, Come in.
As he entered, the Duke said
Male narrator: Good evening, my dear
Female narrator: She backed away from the door
etc.

It just feels weird.

The Louisa Adams book is great. Her life was amazing, traveling across Europe in winter in the wake of Napoleon's army, being an ambassador's wife in several countries - and having Abigail as a mother in law. John Quincy's life was fascinating too. His parents expected so much of him, when he was a teenager and accompanied his father abroad, Abigail wrote that if he couldn't keep to the high moral standards they set, it would be better if his ship sank!

(I do talks on historical women and I did one on Louisa some years back, based on this book.)

It looks like Audible Plus members can get free the upcoming podcasts on books by Barack Obama, with guests.

I am really enjoying Run for the Hills, a road trip book with a misfit group, read by Marin Ireland.

Lisa wrote: "Can you let me know how to do a giveaway for my audio book?"

You are in the right place, thank you for using the correct thread! Go ahead and supply the information in this thread.

I see on my Rewards Active Promotions page (which isn't obvious to get to) that I now have a Spend $40, Get a $10 offer. I wish I had known that before I spent $36 on sale items recently! Though maybe that's why they now offered it? It's good till Nov 1. I wonder if you can save up $5 and $10 credits from the other promos and use them toward that $40?

Summer of the Monkeys is a charming upper grade book by the author of Where the Red Fern Grows. The narrator does a good job with the 14-year-old main character as well as many others.

Pamela wrote: "This week started three different titles:

Fictional book, liked his vampire-type series books, but this one is just regular fiction: The Summer Guest by Justin Cronin

A book of short..."

I went through The Hemmingses with a class where we read it over about 10 weeks. It's not as readable as I would have liked. The main thing is that this author wrote it before there was DNA proof that she was right about the relationship, but all her other info was very convincing.