nomadreader

narrated by Graham Halstead and Julia Whelan The basics:  The first in a new young adult trilogy, A Study in Charlotte  follows Charlotte Holmes, a descendant of Sherlock Holmes, and Jamie Watson, a descendant of Dr. Watson, as students at a Connecticut boarding school. My thoughts: I typically file Sherlock Holmes under the "things I simply don't really like--but people with similar taste always seem to love." And I haven't read a young adult novel in several years. So what made me pick up a young adult Sherlock Holmes-inspired mystery? Brittany Cavallaro's Twitter bio . Despite not really caring for most adaptations or appropriations of Sherlock Holmes I've encountered, I really like the smart ways Cavallaro uses Holmes. Most importantly, she makes Holmes and Watson real people. Sometimes I have to remind myself my favorite characters aren't real people, and after so many years and iterations, doesn't it seem like Holmes and Watson were  real? ...

narrated by Julia Whelan The backstory: Girl at War is on the 2015 Center for Fiction First Novel Prize longlist. Update: Girl at War  has been longlisted for the 2016 Baileys Prize . The basics: In 1991, Ana is living a typical ten-year-old's life in Zagreb, the capital of Croatia, when the Yugoslavian war breaks out. My thoughts: I'm about the same age as Ana, so I was immediately drawn into her story. As a ten-year-old, she doesn't understand what's happening, and as a reader, neither did I. I've heard of the war, but my knowledge of it was slim at best. While coming of age stories set against a war backdrop are hardly new, Novic takes Ana's story in unexpected directions. We enter the story in 1991, but the story is told in several nonlinear parts. The action next jumps to New York City in 2001, where Ana is in college. Novic skillfully moves locations and times in a way that enhance the story, both emotionally and in structurally. Again, I could ...

narrated by Julia Whelan The backstory: As a holiday gift to members, Audible enlisted its 2014 narrator of the year, Julia Whelan, to record a new edition of the classic fable, The Snow Queen . ( It's free on Audible until January 31, 2015 .) The basics: The Snow Queen , most recently made more famous as the inspiration for Frozen , is the story of two friends: one who gets lost in the woods and the other who goes on a journey of rescue. My thoughts: I was curious to listen to this inspiration for Frozen . I assumed it would look quite different than the film, which I liked but did not love the way everyone else seems to. And it did, but it was not quite the cozy, winter read I envisioned. The story is divided into seven parts, and I found this structure odd, as not all of the pieces seemed essential. Perhaps the most unexpected part of this story was how overtly Christian it was. Comically, when the story veered to the religious, I turned to look at my car's dashboa...