Lynette Caulkins

5 books read for LibriVox

filter sort genre era

Lay Down Your Arms Bertha von Suttner, translated by T. Holmes
Martha starts as an Austrian countess who thinks war is glorious, then it takes her first husband at Solferino and keeps coming for everyone she loves. It's earnest and sometimes preachy, but her fury feels earned, and knowing Suttner wrote it decades before 1914 gives it a chill.
The Beggar’s Opera John Gay
The Bolshevik Myth Alexander Berkman non-fiction
You get a painfully firsthand account of Berkman’s journey through Soviet Russia, from early hope to growing disillusionment. His visits to prisons, encounters with workers, and sharp self-criticism make it compelling reading, though the political detail can feel repetitive.
The Vortex Noël Coward
You get sharp, brittle dialogue and a surprisingly bruised family drama, with Nicky’s drug use exposing the rot beneath his mother Florence’s glamorous social life. It’s melodramatic and a little dated, but Coward’s cruelty and comic timing make the emotional collisions land.
Whose Body? Dorothy L. Sayers
A stranger's body turns up in a bathtub wearing nothing but a pince-nez, and Lord Peter Wimsey investigates mostly because it amuses him. The banter is the point here, though Sayers gives him real shell shock underneath, which keeps the froth from floating away entirely.

5 books read for LibriVox

filter sort genre era

Lay Down Your Arms Bertha von Suttner, translated by T. Holmes
Martha starts as an Austrian countess who thinks war is glorious, then it takes her first husband at Solferino and keeps coming for everyone she loves. It's earnest and sometimes preachy, but her fury feels earned, and knowing Suttner wrote it decades before 1914 gives it a chill.
The Beggar’s Opera John Gay
The Bolshevik Myth Alexander Berkman non-fiction
You get a painfully firsthand account of Berkman’s journey through Soviet Russia, from early hope to growing disillusionment. His visits to prisons, encounters with workers, and sharp self-criticism make it compelling reading, though the political detail can feel repetitive.
The Vortex Noël Coward
You get sharp, brittle dialogue and a surprisingly bruised family drama, with Nicky’s drug use exposing the rot beneath his mother Florence’s glamorous social life. It’s melodramatic and a little dated, but Coward’s cruelty and comic timing make the emotional collisions land.
Whose Body? Dorothy L. Sayers
A stranger's body turns up in a bathtub wearing nothing but a pince-nez, and Lord Peter Wimsey investigates mostly because it amuses him. The banter is the point here, though Sayers gives him real shell shock underneath, which keeps the froth from floating away entirely.