40. The Time Between - Karen White

Audio read by the three voices (though Eleanor's is the primary voice) Jennifer Ikeda, Barbara Rosenblat, and Angela Goethals

13 unabridged cds/15.5 hours) - think I might have enjoyed an abridged version....

2013 Recorded Books

352 pgs.

Written for adults

Finished 9/15/2013

CRF with flashbacks to WWII Hungary

GoodreadsRating: 4.14

My Rating: 2/It was okay

TPPL

Setting: Contemporary Charleston, SC and nearby Edisto Island

My comments: This one dragged....and I felt like slapping the protagonist and yelling, "get over it!" The foray into history - world war two and the Holocaust - was interesting, but also incredibly dragged out and predictable.  Oh well, I finished an afghan while listening to it, and it wasn't horrible....there were some beautifully written descriptive passages.

from Goodreads:  Thirty-four-year-old Eleanor Murray is consumed with guilt for causing the accident that paralyzed her sister—and for falling in love with her sister’s husband. But when her boss offers her a part-time job caring for his elderly aunt, Helena, Eleanor accepts, hoping this good deed will help atone for her mistakes.

On the barrier island of Edisto, Eleanor bonds with Helena over their mutual love of music. Drawing the older woman out of her depression, Eleanor learns of her life in Hungary, with her sister, before and during World War II. She hears tales of passion and heartache, defiance and dangerous deception. And when the truth of Helena and her sister’s actions comes to light, Eleanor may finally allow herself to move past guilt and to embrace the song that lies deep in her heart

Song of Middle C - Alison McGhee

Illustrated by Scott Menchin
Candlewick, 2009
Ages 5-8
Rating: 4
Endpapers: colonial blue with musical notes

"Hoo boy!" I've got to get this book for Dede. It's a wonderful story for anyone who takes piano lessons and enjoys them enough to practice, practice, practice.

Told in the first person, our nameless heroine practices and practices and practices "The Dance of the Wood Elves" for her recital. She knows it. She owns it. She is ready. Her piano teacher, Miss Kari says, "True artistry requires great imagination." But she's nervous, so for the recital she wears her lucky hat, shoes, and underwear. She's the last to perform. "Hoo boy!" And what happens? You guessed it - she forgets everything she's practiced. So she improvises, to everyone's great delight. And now Miss Kari says, "True artistry requires great imagination....and great improvisation!"

Colored pen and ink drawings go perfectly with the story.