-
Essential Muir
- A Selection of John Muir’s Best (and Worst) Writings
- Narrated by: Graeme Malcolm, Ana Osorio
- Length: 6 hrs and 17 mins
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Essential Muir
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Publisher's summary
Essayist. Preservationist. Mountain man. Inventor. John Muir may be California’s best-known icon. A literary naturalist and founder of the Sierra Club and Yosemite National Park, Muir left his legacy on the landscape and on paper. But the celebrity of John Muir does not tell the whole story. In Essential Muir, for the first time, Muir's selected writings include those that show his ecological vision without ignoring his racism, providing a more complete portrait of the man. Taking the best of John Muir’s writings on nature and placing them alongside his musings on religion, society, and his fellow humans, Essential Muir asks the listener to consider how these connect and what that means for Muir’s legacy in environmentalism today.
Fred D. White’s selections from Muir’s writings, and his illuminating commentary in his revised introduction, reveal the complex man and writer behind the iconic name. In the new foreword, Jolie Varela (Tule River Yokut and Paiute) of Indigenous Women Hike speaks back to Muir, addressing the impact of his words and actions on California Indians. This collection, which highlights John Muir’s charms and confronts his flaws, is vital for understanding the history of environmental thought.
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The Solution to the Indian Problem
- By Samar on 09-26-16
By: Isabella L. Bird
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The Old Ways
- A Journey on Foot
- By: Robert Macfarlane
- Narrated by: Robin Sachs
- Length: 11 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 724
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 637
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 641
In this exquisitely written book, Robert Macfarlane sets off from his Cambridge, England, home to follow the ancient tracks, holloways, drove roads, and sea paths that crisscross both the British landscape and its waters and territories beyond. The result is an immersive, enthralling exploration of the ghosts and voices that haunt old paths, of the stories our tracks keep and tell, and of pilgrimage and ritual. Told in Macfarlane’s distinctive voice, The Old Ways folds together natural history, cartography, geology, archaeology, and literature.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A perfect pairing of prose and narrator
- By chris on 11-05-12
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The Man Who Walked Through Time
- The Story of the First Trip Afoot Through the Grand Canyon
- By: Colin Fletcher
- Narrated by: Matthew Josdal
- Length: 8 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 50
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 46
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Story4 out of 5 stars 46
In 1963 Colin Fletcher became the first man to walk the length of Grand canyon, below the Rim. It began with a dream, when he and a friend detoured from a cross-country trip to take a hurried look at the great natural wonder. Standing on the Rim, surrounded by the profound and almost mystical silence, Fletcher knew that something had happened to the way he looked at things. He also knew that the Canyon, with its depths and distances, cliffs, buttes, and hanging terraces, beckoned to him, calling him on a journey that would challenge both his body and his mind.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Eloquent
- By Bill J on 07-20-20
By: Colin Fletcher
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The Whisper on the Night Wind
- The True History of a Wilderness Legend
- By: Adam Shoalts
- Narrated by: Adam Shoalts
- Length: 7 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 48
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 44
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 44
Traverspine is not a place you will find on most maps. A century ago, it stood near the foothills of the remote Mealy Mountains in central Labrador. Today it is an abandoned ghost town, almost all trace of it swallowed up by dark spruce woods that cloak millions of acres. In the early 1900s, this isolated little settlement was the scene of an extraordinary haunting by large creatures none could identify. Strange tracks were found in the woods. Unearthly cries were heard in the night. Sled dogs went missing.
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1 out of 5 stars
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This book should’ve been billed as a travel log quote we put up the tent we slept weird noises we took down the tent”
- By S. Harms on 10-29-21
By: Adam Shoalts
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Five Weeks in a Balloon
- By: Jules Verne, Frederick Paul Walter - translator
- Narrated by: Graham Scott
- Length: 9 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 41
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 36
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Story4 out of 5 stars 35
Initially published in 1863, Five Weeks in a Balloon was the first novel in what would become the author's Extraordinary Voyages series. It tells the tale of a 4,000-mile balloon trip over the mysterious continent of Africa, a trip that wouldn't actually take place until well into the next century. Fusing adventure, comedy, and science fiction, Five Weeks has all the key ingredients of classic Verne: sly humor and cheeky characters, an innovative scientific invention, a tangled plot that's full of suspense and surprise, and visions of an unknown realm.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A grand adventure
- By Tad Davis on 01-19-20
By: Jules Verne, and others
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The Smoky God or A Voyage to the Inner World
- Esoteric Classics: Occult Fiction
- By: Willis George Emerson
- Narrated by: Shea Taylor
- Length: 2 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 157
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 139
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 139
The Smoky God is a classic tale from the genre of hollow Earth or subterranean literature. A once-favorite tale of Amazing Stories publisher Ray Palmer, The Smoky God is the (purportedly true) tale of two Norwegian fishermen Jens and Olaf Jansen, who sailed their fishing vessel into the inner Earth in the year 1829. While in the center of the Earth, they find an entire society and meet a race and of advanced giants.
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5 out of 5 stars
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great story
- By Rodney C Kilgore on 07-25-21
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The Voyage of the Beagle
- By: Charles Darwin
- Narrated by: Barnaby Edwards
- Length: 25 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 320
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 278
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 279
I hate every wave of the ocean', the seasick Charles Darwin wrote to his family during his five-year voyage on the H.M.S. Beagle. It was this world-wide journey, however, that launched the scientists career.
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5 out of 5 stars
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High Adventure - Well Written
- By wbiro on 09-16-17
By: Charles Darwin
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Beyond the Trees
- A Journey Alone Across Canada's Arctic
- By: Adam Shoalts
- Narrated by: Adam Shoalts
- Length: 9 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 115
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 101
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 101
What does it mean to explore and confront the unknown? Beyond the Trees recounts Adam Shoalts's epic, never-before-attempted solo crossing of Canada's mainland Arctic in a single season. It's also a multilayered story that weaves the narrative of Shoalts's journey into accounts of other adventurers, explorers, First Nations, fur traders, dreamers, eccentrics, and bush pilots to create an unforgettable tale of adventure and exploration.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Impressive accomplishment but a boring story
- By chris on 02-01-22
By: Adam Shoalts
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Down the Great Unknown
- John Wesley Powell's 1869 Journey of Discovery and Tragedy Through the Grand Canyon
- By: Edward Dolnick
- Narrated by: Danny Campbell
- Length: 13 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 285
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 249
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 249
On May 24, 1869 a one-armed Civil War veteran, John Wesley Powell, and a ragtag band of nine mountain men embarked on the last great quest in the American West. The Grand Canyon, not explored before, was as mysterious as Atlantis - and as perilous. The 10 men set out from Green River Station, Wyoming Territory, down the Colorado in four wooden rowboats. Ninety-nine days later, six half-starved wretches came ashore near Callville, Arizona.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Modern references take away
- By HC-2 NAS Norfolk '92 on 08-17-19
By: Edward Dolnick
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Jules Verne Collection
- Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, Journey to the Center of the Earth, Around the World in 80 Days and The Mysterious Island
- By: Jules Verne
- Narrated by: Jim D. Johnston
- Length: 43 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 204
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 176
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 175
From the pen of one of the literary world’s finest explorers of the imagination, these classic tales of fantastical habitats and intrepid adventurers delve deep into every mysterious corner of planet Earth. Whether you’ve adventured with Verne before or are only just setting off on your maiden voyage, this collection encompasses the most extraordinary adventures the father of science fiction has to offer.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Classics, But Hours of Scientific Exposition.
- By Sarah on 05-02-21
By: Jules Verne
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A Most Remarkable Creature
- The Hidden Life and Epic Journey of the World's Smartest Birds of Prey
- By: Jonathan Meiburg
- Narrated by: Jonathan Meiburg
- Length: 9 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 653
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 559
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 556
An enthralling account of a modern voyage of discovery as we meet the clever, social birds of prey called caracaras, which puzzled Darwin, fascinate modern-day falconers, and carry secrets of our planet's deep past in their family history.
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5 out of 5 stars
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I don't leave reviews often, but . . .
- By Steven L Peck on 06-24-21
By: Jonathan Meiburg
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House Made of Dawn
- A Novel
- By: N. Scott Momaday
- Narrated by: N. Scott Momaday, Darrell Dennis
- Length: 6 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 142
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 121
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 119
A young Native American, Abel has come home from war to find himself caught between two worlds. The first is the world of his father’s, wedding him to the rhythm of the seasons, the harsh beauty of the land, and the ancient rites and traditions of his people. But the other world - modern, industrial America - pulls at Abel, demanding his loyalty, trying to claim his soul, and goading him into a destructive, compulsive cycle of depravity and disgust.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Novel great, reader not so much.
- By Marcia on 05-17-20
By: N. Scott Momaday
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To Build a Fire and Other Stories
- By: Jack London
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 5 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 47
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 37
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 36
"To Build a Fire," the best-known of Jack London's many short stories, tells the tale of a solitary traveler on the Yukon Trail accompanied only by his dog as they endure the extreme cold. A classic narrative of a battle for survival against the forces of nature, "To Build a Fire" is London at his best. Also included here are "The Red One," "All Gold Canyon," "A Piece of Steak," "The Love of Life," "Flush of Gold," "The Story of Keesh," and "The Wisdom of the Trail."
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3 out of 5 stars
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Classic stories, poorly read
- By Lyle C Brown on 12-31-12
By: Jack London