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This is a journey into sound: a journey into BorrowBox Audiobooks
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17-11-2025 08:11PM#1
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Review #1
- Title: How to Build a Boat
- Author: Elaine Feeney
- Published: 2023 (Penguin)
- Narrator: Ciaran O'Brien
- Length: 8hr 11min
- Link to BorrowBox
Set in the fictional West of Ireland town of Emory, this book explores the lives of three primary characters: Jamie, a neurodivergant boy just starting secondary school; Tess, a worn-down special education teacher who is struggling in her personal life, and Tadgh, a blow in from the islands and new woodwork teacher at the school, with the air of a man who is running away from where he came.
The novel starts and ends with Jamie's obsession to build a perpetual motion machine, which in his mind, is a way he can connect with the mother he lost at his birth, perpetually at motion as a swimmer in the only video he has of her.
I found myself fully immersed the book, and was particularly taken by the portrayal of Jamie. Arguably the book could have centered only on him, but I also enjoyed the development of the other two main characters (and a sub cast of maybe a dozen more), and the interplay between them. The role of community and how it might help to heal is a diminating theme, and it impacts each of the three characters in different ways.
While it is set in 2019, the town of Emory seems to be also time warped 15-25 years earlier, with old-school attitudes and Catholic school patriarchy more present in the novel than in modern day Ireland.
The writing is very evocative, the characters are well developed and I found the setting of the town and the school that contain them to be really well brought to life, helped along with a good narrator.
A beautiful listen from the start to the finish. 8.5/10
Next up is "Dynasty" by Matt Cooper.
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Review #2
- Title: Dynasty
- Author: Matt Cooper
- Published: 2025 (Eriu)
- Narrator: Matt Cooper
- Length: 12hr 27min
Link to Borrowbox
Dunnes Stores is the undisputed giant of Irish retail. Still a family business, still focussed on just Ireland, in many ways it's starkly different to the multinational, equity fund owned grocery and retail brands that dominate our streets and shopping centres.
And if you are under 70 and grew up here, then Dunnes will probably have played some part in your life: the local supermarket you were sent for 'messages', the clothes you wore to school and on your school holidays, maybe they were the key part of your parents income and helped put you through school, or maybe they were your first part time job.
Matt Cooper takes this institute of Irish life from its early days and first generation Ben to the current family, who we find on the brink of moving on to the next generation.
Told in chronological order of three main parts, this is a never-dull tale of a very private family that seems to never really out of the public eye.
There are some quite unbelievable episodes: kidnapping, narcotics, also holism, corruption right to the top of Government, trade union battles, tragedy and immense wealth. There are three fantastic lead characters and several support roles too, each of them flawed yet each of them brilliant too, each in their own tight making a fascinating subject.
Matt Cooper is someone I can't warm to on radio, so I worried if him both narrating and writing this audiobook might become all too much; but to be fair,Matt does a great job on both fronts. He is also well positioned to write the book having marker them through his print career.
Give this one a listen, I think you'll love it too.
Next up: The Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams
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Review #3
- Title: The Restaurant at the End of the Universe
- Author: Douglas Adams
- Published: 2012 (McMillan Digital Audio), original print 1980
- Narrator: Martin Freeman
- Length: 5hr 47min
Usually speaking, the audiobook is a secondary format; a book is published in print, and, as of an after thought, follows in audio.
While that's technically true of "The Restaurant at the End of the Universe" the printed book is the sequel to a book that began life in audio. Douglas Adams began writing what became his trilogy of five books as a BBC audio play in 1978, and this book came out as the second in the series two years later.
Adams is a brilliant author, combining intellect with humour, imagination with foresight and character with context. His reduction of life as we know it here on earth to little more than a meaningless experiment-gone-wrong challenges our confidence in understanding the Universe; confidence in spite of not really knowing much at all.
I enjoyed this adventure, filled with perverse, random absurdity and suspense throughout. We get the ludicrous juxtaposition of a man trying to make a cup of tea and by doing so inhibiting the control system of the mother ship needed to escape a species ending attack; we have a future where the end of the universe has become a repeatable cabaret act for the wealthiest in society, and a planet that became populated by the most useless survivors of an earlier civilisation. And a depressed android who self actualises to save the rest of the cast.
This audiobook is not over long, and it benefits from its BBC production and Martin Freeman's excellent narration. A really enjoyable, very funny story that fully inhabits its audio format.
Next up: Intermezzo by Sally Rooney
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Review #4
- Title: Intermezzo
- Author: Sally Rooney
- Published: 2024 (Faber and Faber)
- Narrator: Éanna Hardwicke
- Length: 16hr 30min
Like most people I knew Sally Rooney as a successful Irish writer from the TV adaptation of Normal People; but until I listened to this audiobook I had yet to read any of her novels.
Intermezzo is a captivating look at a family unit that is fracturing as it matures, held together only superficially until the death of the patriarch, Mr. Koubek.
The narrative begins just after his funeral, following two brothers separated by a decade. Peter, the elder, appears grounded: he is a successful lawyer, financially stable, busy social life, popular with women. In contrast, Ivan is a socially awkward, highly intelligent and a brilliant chess prodigy but still navigating the complexities of adulthood.
The story captivated me as both brothers are embarking on personal journeys that inevitably collide in the aftermath of their fathers death, appearing to be permanently damaged before reaching a more hopeful ending.
Set in early 2020s Ireland, and written with a stream-of-consciousness style, the novel offers a faithful look at contemporary life for young men in Ireland. It asks how these men cope with grief while navigating intimacy and interpersonal relationships, moral dilemmas, housing challenges, and the prospect of their own future families.
I loved the book's pace and the intimacy Rooney injects into every scene. I feel she has done a great job in crafting the story from a male persoective, with a methodical and intelligent narrative that uses female characters as mirrors, reflecting the brothers' internal struggles back at them. Give it a go, especially if like me it's your first Sally Rooney book.
Next up: The Long Shoe by Bob Mortimer.
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