Abridged. Read by Victoria Smurfit with Rupert Degas on 5 compact discs; approximately 6 hours. "Featuring a conversation with the author." 2004, Hyperion Audiobooks. Received in the mail from St. Paul, Minnesota, through PaperbackSwap. Listen to a clip at ceceliaahern.ie. Reading guide available at hyperionbooks.com.

From AudioFile
Holly and her husband, Gerry, would joke about leaving each other a list of things to do to help them move on if one of them passed away. When Gerry dies, Holly is amazed to find that he actually did make her a list. Each month he has left an envelope with instructions for a task that helps get her back into the world. Victoria Smurfit gives Holly an expressive Irish voice that lacks the depressed tones one would expect from a grieving widow. Rupert Degas portrays the male voices, which are loving and supportive. The story is charming, and the characters are well suited to the tale.

Rupert Degas only reads the notes from Holly's late husband, Gerry. Victoria Smurfit voices the rest of the male characters, and they all pretty much sound the same. Gerry's first note made my eyes misty, but they got more and more treacly. Maybe it's just me -- I had lent this to my friend, Erin (my friends never, ever journal), and she said she spent the entire time bawling her eyes out.

This is my first audiobook read with an Irish accent (the rest've been Americans & Brits), which I really liked. I also liked the ending. One of my pet peeves is when a man tells a woman how much he loves her, the woman says she needs time, and the man waits around forever, putting his entire life on hold for her. The other is when a woman has to choose between two men and one of them is revealed to be a horrible human being -- thus making the choice for her. Why can't she ever have two nice guys really like her?

P.S. In the author interview, Cecelia Ahern says she wrote this (her first book) in three months(!).