Holes

By Lois Sachar

Holes is a win. It’s a short book that holds your interest from beginning to end. The basic plot is Stanley Yelnats gets falsely inprisoned at Camp Green Lake where he and other troubled boys are forced to dig holes all day to build character. He makes friends along the way that he is more deeply connected to that he first realizes. All along the story of Stanley, there is a back story to his “No-good-pig-stealing-uncle” , a gipsey curse, and an outlaw named Kissin' Kate Barlow. This audiobook is really easy to follow, and very easy to listen to awhile you’re trying to get other things done. It is geared towards a younger crowd, but is a fun story for any age. I recommend that you add this story to your “to-listen” list.

★★★★☆ 4/5 Stars

Run time 4 hours 23 minutes

Genre: Humor, Fiction, Suspense

Book to Movie Rating: A

Orange is the New Black

By Piper Kerman

The story of a girl who falls for another girl, the second girl being a drug mule who convinces the first girl to occasionally mule too. Ten years pass; prison, while engaged to a nice understanding young man. OITNB is the story of the adventures and misadventures of the author Piper Kerman, in and out of a womens prison.

I enjoyed the tv show, while feeling it was pretty sensationalized and unbelievable. I decided to try out the audiobook just for fun and found it to be pretty entertaining. It’s very similar the the television series but gives you the feeling that it could actually be plausible.

It was an interesting audiobook and I would recommend it to you especially if you like true stories about yuppie women going to prison and the kindly people you meet within. 

★★★☆☆ 3/5 Stars

Approximate Length:  11 hours and 14 minutes

Suited for ages 17 and up.

Genre: Biography, Memoir, True-Story

Gone Girl

By Gillian Flynn

Gone Girl was about a three day listen for me, the first day it was long but not terrible, the second day I started loving the audiobook, then the third day I was hooked all the way up to the end. The end of the audiobook felt really rushed. The first half of the book was really drawn out then the end was too quick, a lot developed in way too short a time. The actual ending of the book was very unsatisifying. I read a couple of blogs about the ending to see where other people were at, and it seemed that no one really liked the ending, but someone liked it enough to make an Affleck movie out of it. 

Now, what’s the book about? Basically a murder mystery, Nick the main character’s wife disappears and the entire world is looking at him as the main suspect. Did he do it? Is he innocent? You’ll have to listen and see. There is blood, a destroyed living room, a secret lover, a treasure hunt, rapists, stalkers! There are some cool parts where there are kind of puzzles to figure out, and there are some twisted scenarios. Give Gone Girl a try, but put the audiobook towards the middle or bottom of your list.

★★☆☆☆ 2/5 Stars 

Length 18 hours 11 minutes.

Audience: Ages 17 & up.

Genre: Thriller, Drama, Mystery