Review: Faith by Jennifer Haigh

Genre: Fiction

Publisher: Harper

Format: Unabridged Audio

Source: Library

Challenge: 2012 Audio Book Challenge

Purchase: IndieBound

Once again, I continue on an awesome audio roll. This book I have seen reviewed many times around the blogosphere. I've only read good things. For some reason, I held off on it because I didn't think I would want to read a story about a priest as an alleged child molester. Not usually my cup of tea. But I gave in and am glad I did.

The narrator did an excellent job in portraying the multitude of characters in this novel. Each had their own heaviness, history and spirit, I was astounded that the narrator could jump so easily and gracefully between them all. Each character's story had its own power and she brought them all to life as if there were ten different people doing the recording.

Now that I have established some audio rules, I would say this passed quite splendidly. The story took place in and around Boston and for those of you new to my blog, I used to live there many years ago. I will always have a soft spot for Beantown; the accents, the drinking, the sites, the politics, everything about it, I loved. These characters are perfect examples of what makes Boston so unique. You have the hardworking single mother, the guilty priest, the proud former cop, the prodigal daughter. I loved them all.

Goodreads description:

When Sheila McGann sets out to redeem her disgraced brother, a once-beloved Catholic priest in suburban Boston, her quest will force her to confront cataclysmic truths about her fractured Irish-American family, her beliefs, and, ultimately, herself. Award-winning author Jennifer Haigh follows her critically acclaimed novels Mrs. Kimble and The Condition with a captivating, vividly rendered portrait of fraying family ties, and the trials of belief and devotion, in Faith.

This is my first taste of Jennifer Haigh. I've been curious about her other novels. If they are as good as this one, I'm all over it. The way she captured the feel of a community was flawless. I enjoy when an author can make the setting of a book just as strong of a character as its humans.

Rating: Recommend

Because the narrator was so strong, this book was brought to such life that I am glad I chose to listen to it rather than read. It was such a strong human story filled with characters that move you. For fans of familial dramas, this is for you.

Author Website:

Jennifer Haigh

Happy Reading and as always, thanks for stopping by!

red headed book child

Oh Audio Books some of you have failed me!

This year I have jumped into the world of "listening" to books as well as reading them. This adventure into audio books has been quite lovely however, I have stumbled on a few clunkers. I decided at the beginning of this year to not do reviews for everything and anything I read or listen to. I wanted to be a bit more selective and just post what I wanted whether I felt it should be recommended or not.

I do want to share with you all my thoughts on some audio books I did not finish and to get your feedback on what you all look for when you pick a book to listen to.

I have listened now to almost five audio books now in their entirety and I am starting to get what works and what doesn't...for me. The number one thing I feel strongly about is the narrator. They have to be believable. I have to feel that they are indeed the character they are reading about and portraying. Second, I think I just have to stick to fiction. Non-fiction feels like I am listening to NPR for ten hours. Interesting yes but not as captivating as the ups and downs of a fictional tale. This could change, however. I am still a newbie in the world of audio books. Third, I think I have a disc limit, meaning I don't have the attention span to listen to anything over ten or eleven discs. So many rules, I know! But really, I am only listening to them in my car and it is taking me about a week and a half to get through a 10 disc book, maybe two weeks. I looked into listening to The Game of Thrones by George R.R Martin. It's almost 28 discs. Good lord! No thank you!

With this said, here are some of the "clunkers" that I tried to listen to within the last few weeks.

Swamplandia by Karen Russell

The narrator was flat. The story was boring and did not go anywhere. And alligators scare me.

Enough said.

The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka

Unfortunately, for how interesting in sounded in description, it was a bit too disjointed to listen to. Because it was a story of a group of women, there was no real character connection for me. It was all told in a more generic sense. "We did this" "We did that" I just didn't feel it.

The Tiger's Wife by Tea' Obreht

I liked this but I don't think it came at the right time for me. It was a bit too involved and I was looking for a lighter fare. Perhaps I may save this one to read. My book club may want to pick this one up.

Not too many, I guess but it felt like a lot of my time was spent trying to find my interesting next pick. I think I found it though in Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro.

Any thoughts from any audio book listeners out there?

Happy Reading (or listening) and as always, thanks for stopping by!

red headed book child