The Secret History

The Secret History ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
Read by Donna Tartt
22:8

Bunny is dead. Richard along with his Greek Studies classmates are responsible for the murder Bunny only to cover up another shameful secret .  Under the influence of their charismatic classics professor, a group of clever, eccentric misfits at an elite New England college discover a way of thinking and living that is a world away from the humdrum existence of their contemporaries. But when they go beyond the boundaries of normal morality their lives are changed profoundly and forever, and they discover how hard it can be to truly live and how easy it is to kill.

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Across the Nightingale Floor

Across the Nightingale Floor ♥ ♥ ♥
Read by Kevin Gray and Aiko Nakasone
8:30

Sixteen-year-old Takeo’s village has been massacred by an evil warlord, and he is about to be slain by the men who murdered his parents and neighbors. At the last moment, his life is saved by a nobleman, who claims the boy as his kin and begins his education.  But nothing is as it seems. Takeo discovers that he has rare powers that are useful to those around him. As he grows into manhood, he must decide where his loyalties lie: with his noble master and adoptive father; with the Hidden, a secret, spiritual sect whose beliefs are forbidden; or with the Tribe, the assassins and spies who consider him one of their own.  A story of treachery, political intrigue, and the intensity of first love, set in a world ruled by formal ritual and codes of honor.

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Sepulchre

Sepluchre  ♥ ♥ ♥
Read by Donada Peters
Download 20:17

The stories of two women separated by more than a century are brought together by a series of visions that are related to the tarot and a small church, known as a Sepulchre in the grounds of the Domaine de la Cade.

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Nefertiti

Nefertiti  ♥ ♥ ♥
Read by Cassandra Campbell
13 discs

Nefertiti and her younger sister, Mutnodjmet, have been raised in a powerful family that has provided wives to the rulers of Egypt for centuries. Ambitious, charismatic, and beautiful, Nefertiti is destined to marry Amunhotep, an unstable young pharaoh. It is hoped by all that her strong personality will temper the young Amunhotep’s heretical desire to forsake Egypt’s ancient gods, overthrow the priests of Amun, and introduce a new sun god for all to worship. From the moment of her arrival in Thebes, Nefertiti is beloved by the people. Her charisma is matched only by her husband’s perceived generosity: Amunhotep showers his subjects with lofty promises. The love of the commoners will not be enough, however, if the royal couple is not able to conceive an heir, and as Nefertiti turns her attention to producing a son, she fails to see that the powerful priests, along with the military, are plotting against her husband’s rule. The only person wise enough to recognize the shift in political winds—and brave enough to tell the queen—is her younger sister

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A Murderous Procession

A Murderous Procession  ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
Read by Jill Tanner
10 discs

Medieval forensic pathologist Adelia Aguilar has been an enjoying a quiet life in the countryside with her daughter and friends. Then Henry II demands that she accompany his daughter, Joan, and her formal procession to Italy and offers to keep her daughter with Queen Eleanor until her safe return. But death stalks the procession, and Adelia and her loyal friends soon realize that the killer is someone from her past bent on revenge.  -Booklist

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The Sweet Far Thing

The Sweet Far Thing ♥ ♥ ♥
Read by Josephine Bailey
16 discs

Gemma has relied on an unsuspected strength and has discovered an ability to travel to an enchanted world called the realms, where dark magic runs wild. Despite certain peril, Gemma has bound the magic to herself and forged unlikely new alliances. Now, as Gemma approaches her London debut, the time has come to test these bonds. The Order – the mysterious group her mother was once part of – is grappling for control of the realms, as is the Rakshana. Spence’s burned East Wing is being rebuilt, but why now? Gemma and her friends see Pippa, but she is not the same. And their friendship faces its gravest trial as Gemma must decide once and for all what role she is meant for.

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The White Queen

The White Queen  ♥ ♥ ♥
Read by Bianca Amato
6 discs (abridged)

In this account of the wars of the Plantagenets, a woman of extraordinary beauty and ambition, Elizabeth Woodville, catches the eye of the newly crowned boy king, marries him in secret and ascends to royalty. While Elizabeth rises to the demands of her exalted position and fights for the success of her family, her two sons become central figures in a mystery that has confounded historians for centuries: the missing princes in the Tower of London whose fate is still unknown.

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Angelology

Angelology ♥ ♥ ♥
Read by Susan Denaker
17 discs

When twenty-three-year-old Sister Evangeline accidentally stumbles upon some mysterious letters exchanged between the late mother superior of her convent and the famous philanthropist Abigail Rockefeller, she is thrust into an ancient conflict between the Society of Angelologists and the monstrously beautiful descendants of angels and humans, the Nephilim.

Note: It started out well with good character development, a  good plot, and a firm storyline – but somehow, somewhere it turned into a melodrama.  What could have been 4 out of 5 hearts sadly became 3.  Too bad.  Susan Denaker is an excellent narrator though.  I’m impressed with her abilities and hope to find her work again soon.

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The Swan Thieves

The Swan Thieves ♥ ♥ ♥
Read by Sarah Zimmerman, Treat Williams, Anne Heche, John Lee and Erin Corttrell
17 discs

Psychiatrist Andrew Marlowe, devoted to his profession and the painting hobby he loves, has a solitary but ordered life. When renowned painter Robert Oliver attacks a canvas in the National Gallery of Art and becomes his patient, Marlow finds that order destroyed. Desperate to understand the secret that torments the genius, he embarks on a journey that leads him into the lives of the women closest to Oliver and a tragedy at the heart of French Impressionism.

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The Children’s Book

The Children’s Book ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
Read by Rosalyn Landor
24 discs

When Olive Wellwood’s oldest son discovers a runaway named Philip sketching in the basement of the new Victoria and Albert Museum, the talented working-class boy is introduced into a completely new world.   Olive takes Philip home to meet her family and friends all of whom could be characters out of one of  her magical tales.  Yet this world conceals more treachery and darkness than Philip has ever imagined and that will soon be eclipsed by far greater forces.

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