A Singular Woman

President Obama's mother, Stanley Anne Dunham, was a champion of the unconventional, blasting through social mores across two hemispheres. NEW YORK TIMES journalist January Scott combs every possible correspondence, photograph, professional paper, and interview to elucidate the mother of President Obama. Still, tackling a biography of a person who was never a public figure is difficult. The second half of the book sounds at times like a fleshed-out resume. Narrator January LaVoy helps make the book engaging with an astonishingly fast-paced narration that manages to be clear as well. At times, she speed-talks, a welcome approach for audiobook listeners, who lack the ability to skim for the good stuff. J.T. (c) AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine