Wakela Runen's World

Remedial Magic by Melissa Marr narrated by Jeremy Carlisle Parker & Max Meyers There are 2 narrators for this audiobook.  Jeremy Carlisle Parker is a woman who is a trained opera singer.  I have heard and enjoyed her narration before in The Witches of Thistle Grove series by Lana Harper.  Max Meyers who has acted in Off-Broadway productions.  I have not listened to any of their previous work.  I think that both narrators did the best job that they could in order to portray so many different POVs in one audiobook.  However, this book would have benefited better from a much larger cast of narrators in order to help differentiate.  Anyone who has read my previous reviews will know that I rarely DNF a book.  Even if there are points about the book that I don't like, I will generally try to stay until the end in order to give the author a chance of redemption.  However, I just could not continue listening to this book.  I really did try, but I couldn't. Now the blurb that I read

A Midnight Puzzle by Gigi Pandian narrated by Soneela Nankani I have been impatiently waiting for this audiobook to be released.  I was excited when I learned that I could review the eALC for NetGalley. First, let me tell you how I learned of this great series.  I am a HUGE fan of the narrator.  I absolutely love the work of Soneela Nankani and I was wanting something to read, but really didn't feel like tackling my TBL pile.  Well, I did a search to see what books Soneela Nankani narrated and came across this series about a stage magician, locked room mysteries and hidden rooms.  I was intrigued.   Let me tell you that Soneela doesn't disappoint with her voicing of the characters.  From creating the accents for the Indian grandparents to the Scottish grandmother to her American friends, Soneela seems to manage it all without skipping a beat. As for the story, most cozy mysteries you can skip around in the series without an issue.  However, in this particular book, I advise tha

Bless Your Heart by Lindy Ryan narrated by Stephanie Németh Parker This book is listed as a horror-mystery.  I do feel that it is more of just a horror book.  That is perfectly fine with me.  I spent my teen years reading Clive Barker and Leigh Nichols (Dean Koontz pseudonym).  Plus, being a teen in the 80s, I spent time watching horror films such as Nightmare on Elm Street.  So, going into this book, I was ready for horror and blood.   This book is based on the Romanian mythology of the Strigoi.  I know that many people are not aware of the stories surrounding them.  So, the picture on the cover doesn't really make sense to many.  The Strigoi are a mix between a vampire and a zombie.  They start out as a zombie/ghoul type of being that will feed on humans and gain strength.  As they gain strength, they will start to appear more and more human.  In the original tales of the Strigoi, they can turn invisible and shapeshift.  That didn't occur in this book though.  However, the be

The Fortune Seller by Rachel Kapelke-Dale narrated by Stephanie Cannon Audiobook publication date: Feb 13, 2024 For the most part, I liked the book.  However, at times the pacing was a little too slow for me.  An audiobook this length would normally take me a day or two at max to get finished.  I kept finding myself pausing and it ended up taking me about 4 days to finish.   I loved how each chapter was started with a card from the tarot deck and its meaning.  I have loved the tarot since I was young.  The "theme" of what was happening in each chapter then revolved around the meaning of the card.   I also don't feel like there was much tension built up to the big reveal.  When it came down to it, it was just put out there.  But the story along the way was interesting enough to keep me listening.   Would I listen to another book by this author?  I am really not sure.  Like I said, the story was interesting, but I didn't find myself invested enough to want to keep readi

Living the Artist's Way by Julia Cameron narrated by Eliza Foss I was so excited when I was accepted to review this book.  I had read The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron ages ago when it was first published.  I had done my morning pages religiously up until I had my stroke.  Then I got frustrated.  I was so angry that words didn't come easy to me.  I struggled for even the simplest of thoughts.  So, I shut myself off from something that really would have been beneficial to me.  When you think about it, morning pages aren't about what you write, they are about just the act of writing.   Living the Artist's Way reminded me of that and then took it one step further.  In this book, Julia Cameron talks about how we can use our writing to ask our higher self (the higher being or whatever else you feel guides you) to answer questions in our writing.  These pages are done separately from our morning pages.   She takes you through 6 weeks of learning how to listen to that guid

The Expectant Detectives by Kat Ailes Narrated by Kitty Kelly It has been ages since I have reviewed any books.  I would like to apologize for that.  I had a stroke, and it took away my ability to read regular books.  I was too proud to turn to audiobooks.  I finally did and I have been enjoying them.  I was too afraid to do reviews because I didn't feel that my words would come to me.  Maybe they will, maybe they won't.  However, this is my true feelings about this book.   It has been ages since I was pregnant.  My youngest would have been 24 this year if she would have survived.  So, to say that reading this took me back in time to when I was pregnant is to definitely say something.  The author wrote it in such a way that it brought back those memories for me.  I could remember the weight of the baby on the bladder and how it felt to walk.   The main character of the book is Alice.  She and her partner Joe have just moved to a lovely little village in England named Penton.  D