Rise and Shine, by Anna Quindlen

This audiobook was obtained for free from Netlibrary.com. It was 10 hours and 49 minutes long, and was narrated by Carol Monda.

Meghan and Bridget Fitzmaurice lost their parents at an early age. Meghan grew up to be a world famous host of a morning news show, Rise and Shine, while Bridget grew up to an unmarried social worker who also helps keep Meghan's family grounded. The city of New York is also a major character in this book, providing the classist backdrop that is constantly making itself heard.

Meghan's life takes a turn downward when she inadvertently drops a 4 megaton expletive before her mike is turned off on the way to a commercial. She is temporarily suspended while the show's producers figure out what to do, and Meghan decides to go into hiding while she sorts out her life, including her failing marriage.

It's an easy read and it wasn't boring. But I had a hard time caring enough about the characters to really get into it. I felt like a was treading water, waiting for my next book. For that, it's only worth 2 stars.

The Next Step in the Dance, by Tim Gautreaux

This audiobook was obtained from NetLibrary.com through the Alachua County Public Library. This book was 11 hours and 42 minutes long, and was narrated by Vernel Bagneris.

Paul and Colette Thibodeaux are a young married couple in an insular Cajun community called Tiger Island. Paul is a talented machinist who is happy with his work and just as happy to play his accordion and dance up a storm at the local pub. Colette is beautiful and bored, and deeply annoyed with her husband's contentment. One day she finds and excuse to leave him, and she makes her way to Los Angeles. She finds work similar to what she did at the bank back home, except there is more opportunity for advancement. She's smart, hard-working, and the boss likes her, so she is doing well when Paul decides to follow her. He is cool enough to give her some space, and he finds a job for his unique talents and he is doing well, too.

But not all that glitters is gold. They are both working for unscrupulous creeps, so they both end up returning to Tiger Island just after the jobs have all dried up. They are still separated, but now Colette is pregnant, care of a weak moment with Paul while they were living in California.

The hits just keep coming before they ever work it all out. It's a good story, but it seems to come from a different time. Paul seems way older than 24, and Colette does not seem like 23. They just seem so middle aged in their attitudes and demeanor. It was a big distraction that pecked away at the story's credulity. It had its good moments, but it was a little more work to read than I like a book to be. 2 stars.

One Mississippi, by Mark Childress

This audiobook was obtained from NetLibrary.com, through the Alachua County Public Library. It was 13 hours and 17 minutes long and was narrated by Jeff Woodman.

Daniel Musgrove gets to start his life over in Mississippi after his father is transferred to a new territory. Changing high schools is bad enough, but downgrading from Indiana to Mississippi is excruciating. But then he finds a friend, a local outcast named Tim Cousins.

It's 1973, and their high school is about to elect its first black prom queen. It's also the night that Tim and Daniel take a couple of girls to the prom, and Daniel gets his first kiss. After bringing their dates home, they accidentally hit the new queen, who was riding home on her bicycle. They flee in terror, come back to see that their nemesis, a popular jock and bully, is getting busted for it after stopping to see if she is alright. They let him hang, and when she comes to, she has a colorblind brand of amnesia: she thinks she is white.

The lunacy just keeps coming. This was very, very funny book, but it takes some very, very dark turns. Funny, thought-provoking, sad, disturbing: it gets a star for each, which makes 4 altogether.