by Anura Guruge
on December 16, 2021
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I have really, really lucked out over the last 15 months with my ‘Plus’ subscription to Amazon’s amazing ‘Audible’ audiobook service. I have got to listen to some stunning works & get to know some brilliant authors, well worth knowing.
‘Audible’ is the nearest thing I have come to, in 65-years as an avid, daily reader of books, to belonging to ‘anything‘ that recommends titles that might interest I. Prior to that it has always been kind of pot luck.
I, as I had with ‘Carl Goodman‘, ‘Catherine Ryan Howard‘ & ‘Rose Tremain‘ (just to mention but three), only discovered Bernice McFadden thanks to coming across her in the Audible ‘Plus Catalog’. I title I initially came across was ‘Tisoy‘ (slang for a mixed Filipino). I do pick books by their cover! I am not embarrassed to admit that. In this case the cover picture portrayed ‘Monument Valley’ (which I have visited 3 times) & an Arizona cactus. That caught my eye. Then I saw the reviews that accused it of being racist. How could I resist. I was intrigued. I downloaded it … The rest is history.
I just loved ‘Tisoy’. Was CRUSHED when it finished so quickly. Wanted it to go on and on. That is my main criticism of this book. It was too short. Yes, there are some improbable (& not properly thought out) scenarios BUT I can forgive those because the rest of the book was so good. SO, GOOD.
So, I went looking for other titles by her. That is how I found ‘The Book of Harlan’. I am sure glad, yet again, that I downloaded this book. WOW. What a story & furthermore, so WELL written. She writes like an angel.
Yes, I already have another of her titles downloaded. I plan to read/listen to a lot of her works. I think she is beyond gifted. I am glad. I wish her all the best. I hope she goes from strength to strength.
