November 28, 2012

Audio Books: Round 2

The Confession, by John Grisham

 

After I read Defending Jacob, my manager at the bookstore asked me if it was similar to any of John Grisham's books. I told her I couldn't answer that because I've never actually read anything by John Grisham before. His books have always seemed more like crime solving fluff to me. I swear, I'm not a book snob, and I won't judge you if you like his books, but that's just how I've always thought of them as being - you've read one, you've read them all type of books. But then I got thinking that maybe, for the sake of my bookstore customers, that I should read at least one Grisham novel. Because what if I try to sell someone Defending Jacob and they ask me if it's like John Grisham, who they just love? I can stretch the truth when talking about books to my customers, but I cannot flat out lie.

So, and I promise this is going somewhere, then one weekend shortly after I had the above conversation with my manager, I was heading out to Red Deer and decided I was ready to give another audio book a shot. (My first audio book experience was a total fail, but I am determined to find a place for audio books in my life.) I didn't have my library card yet, so I went to the nearest Chapters on the hunt for the cheapest audio book I could find, but that was also something I actually wanted to listen to. Well you know who's audio books are some of the most inexpensive? Yup, Mr. Grisham's. So, I decided on The Confession. Cheap audio book plus "work related research" equalled win, win.

Looking back, this really was a great choice for my second audio book. The plot was easy to follow and kept my attention. Did my mind still wander? Of course, but not nearly as often as during my first audio book. Audio books are hard! You really have to pay attention, and I naturally have a wandering mind. The Confession took me about 3 weeks to listen to (I only listened to it when I was in my car), and this was a HUGE improvement over the SIX MONTHS the first one took me!

In The Confession, the crime has already been committed, and the young man, Donté, who has been charged with murder is on death row, only four days away from his execution. Keith, a young minister, receives a visit from Travis Boyette who confesses to the murder that Donté has wrongfully been accused of. Travis claims he is dying of an inoperable brain tumour and has for once in his sorry life decided that he wants to do the "right thing" by confessing to the murder. The catch is, Travis doesn't want to go to the police because while he wants to do the "right thing", he also doesn't want to spend his last few living months in jail. (*eye roll*). For whatever reason, Travis has decided to trust in Keith in getting the truth to the right people. 

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I have no sympathy for a murderer trying to do the "right thing".


So we have your whole "race against time" story. Is Travis too late? I mean, 4 days isn't much time to prove his confession and get Donté exonerated. Can we even trust Travis to follow through with his confession? Will Donté's fate be changed? Is the death penalty a fool-proof system? Hmmm, aren't you just dying to know all these answers?! 

I noticed after I was done listening to this book that I had purchased the abridged version! At first I was pissed because WELL WHAT DID I MISS? But then once I calmed down, I realized, for a book like this, it probably didn't make a difference in the overall experience of listening to a book like this.

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Stupid unabridged books. Who reads you?!


Now, would I ever listen to or read another novel of Grisham's? Meh, Probably not. Or at least not anytime in the near future. Oh wait, that's a lie! I *might* read Skipping Christmas next month because I own it and I want to read something Christmassy this year. But that's it. I'm sorry you had to listen to me babble on, really about nothing, and not even get a recommendation out of this. Except! If crime thrillers (and I use that term veerrrry loosely for this book, because it wasn't really high on the thriller end), are your thing, then I totally do recommend Defending Jacob. I really quite enjoyed that one.


4 comments:

  1. You're first audio book took you 6 months to listen to? Holy cow! I always think about starting one, because I see people who love them, but then I try to think of when I would actually sit down and listen to it and I just don't see that happening, like... ever. The kids are always in the van and at the house and they're loud little buggers. Also, I would sit there to listen and probably think about the million things that I have to do and not know what the hell is going on in the freaking book anyway! Gah! This one sounds pretty cheesy too. Like the Siverstone gif.

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    1. It sure did! Dude, I think I ended up listening to the book twice over with all the "rewinding" I had to do. It was such a hard book to concentrate on. This one was kinda cheesy, but a plot driven book (one with an easy plot at that) is so much easier to follow. And I don't think I could ever listen to a book at home. I much prefer music! My mind wanders way too much too - even in printed books lol!

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  2. No! Not the abridged version! You know, I had a library patron phone me the other day to get the Ken Follett Pillars of the Earth BoT, and we got the unabridged version in -- something like 36 discs! That's a LONG time. I'm so picky about the audiobooks I read -- they have to be a certain genre, the narrator has to be good, and they have to be the kind of book that I can go a few days without listening to, but still remember what's going on, since I listen mostly in the car.

    The only times I really enjoy listening to audiobooks is in the car, or while I'm cleaning the house. But I'm like you, too -- I adore listening to music! I go in spurts. :) Glad you gave it another try!

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    1. I think most of the Diana Gabaldon audio on disc are like 50 discs! That's so crazy to think about. I don't know that I could listen to a super long book like that, I'd much prefer to get lost in the physical words.

      I think about this a lot - like I want to listen to more audiobooks, but that would be when I would normally be listening to music, so then when would I listen to music?!

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