We Love Pat Altschul
- 13
- reviews
- 7
- helpful votes
- 16
- ratings
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The Woman in Me
- By: Britney Spears
- Narrated by: Michelle Williams, Britney Spears - introduction
- Length: 5 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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In June 2021, the whole world was listening as Britney Spears spoke in open court. The impact of sharing her voice—her truth—was undeniable, and it changed the course of her life and the lives of countless others. The Woman in Me reveals for the first time her incredible journey—and the strength at the core of one of the greatest performers in pop music history. Written with remarkable candor and humor, Spears’s groundbreaking book illuminates the enduring power of music and love—and the importance of a woman telling her own story, on her own terms, at last.
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Lack of transparency
- By Lori K on 10-31-23
- The Woman in Me
- By: Britney Spears
- Narrated by: Michelle Williams, Britney Spears - introduction
A very troubled and troubling narrative
Reviewed: 11-15-23
If you are reading this book to better understand Britney’s mental illness, it offers a solid picture of disorder.
Whether or not that has always existed or brought on by excessive lithium, I do not know. All I know is that the conflict between what is said from chapter to chapter, complete lack of self awareness, and glass half full view of everything/everyone has left me in a state of profound sadness.
Sad that anyone wakes up and looks for darkness in all things. Sad for the loved ones who tried to help. Sad for Britney’s brain which, apparently, has suffered the consequences of lithium. Sad for Britney to have strangers cheering her on when, in fact, she is deeply troubled. Sad that when strangers who do not know all of what is happening, weigh in so loudly, the person who needs help will not receive.
Britney’s Father’s conservatorship was problematic and conflicted to be sure, but that did not mean she had the capacity to manage outside of a conservatorship. There are competent conservators who could make life better for Britney, but there’s no way with the environment fans have facilitated.
All very, very sad.
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7 people found this helpful
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The Swans of Fifth Avenue
- A Novel
- By: Melanie Benjamin
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell, Paul Boehmer
- Length: 12 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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Of all the glamorous stars of New York high society, none blazes brighter than Babe Paley. Her flawless face regularly graces the pages of Vogue, and she is celebrated and adored for her ineffable style and exquisite taste, especially among her friends - the alluring socialite Swans Slim Keith, C. Z. Guest, Gloria Guinness, and Pamela Churchill. By all appearances, Babe has it all. But beneath this elegantly composed exterior dwells a passionate woman - a woman desperately longing for true love and connection.
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If You Are Of Certain Age, You'll Enjoy This
- By Sudi on 02-22-16
- The Swans of Fifth Avenue
- A Novel
- By: Melanie Benjamin
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell, Paul Boehmer
Tremendously entertaining - a confectionary tale!
Reviewed: 07-22-23
I listen to books while walking. This one may have cost me what remains of the cartilage in my knees. I did not want it to end.
I look forward to searching this author’s works for the next one. I’ll save it for when I want to drop another 5 pounds!
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Carnegie's Maid
- A Novel
- By: Marie Benedict
- Narrated by: Alana Kerr Collins
- Length: 9 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Clara Kelley is not who they think she is. She's not the experienced Irish maid who was hired to work in one of Pittsburgh's grandest households. She's a poor farmer's daughter with nowhere to go and nothing in her pockets. But the other woman with the same name has vanished, and pretending to be her just might get Clara some money to send back home.
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Shallow
- By Mary Smiroldo on 06-26-18
- Carnegie's Maid
- A Novel
- By: Marie Benedict
- Narrated by: Alana Kerr Collins
If your first Benedict book, great. If it’s not…
Reviewed: 07-15-23
…Carnegie’s Maid is good, not great. I read “The Only Woman in the Room”, “The Personal Librarian”, and then “Carnegie’s Maid.” I do not read reviews before deciding on a book due to the spoilers that linger. If I had known the book was far more fiction,
than historical fiction perhaps I would have liked it more.
It’s an interesting story and totally conceivable. Benedict makes clear it’s speculation, not based in fact. For a reader such as myself who likes Benedict’s work for the historical research into real people, it was disappointing that my assumption did not pay off.
Had read this book first, then I may have liked it more. Benedict set the bar very high with the aforementioned two. If I had all 3 books to read again, it would be Carnegie’s Maid, Only Woman in the Room, then The Personal Librarian. Slow but sweet to gripping to grand.
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The Personal Librarian
- By: Marie Benedict, Victoria Christopher Murray
- Narrated by: Robin Miles
- Length: 12 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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In her twenties, Belle da Costa Greene is hired by J. P. Morgan to curate a collection of rare manuscripts, books, and artwork for his newly built Pierpont Morgan Library. Belle becomes a fixture in New York City society and one of the most powerful people in the art and book world, known for her impeccable taste and shrewd negotiating for critical works as she helps create a world-class collection.
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A Treat For This Academic Librarian!
- By AlTonya on 07-14-21
- The Personal Librarian
- By: Marie Benedict, Victoria Christopher Murray
- Narrated by: Robin Miles
Robin Miles may be my siren song and The Personal Librarian, a MUST
Reviewed: 07-09-23
The three books I listened to prior to The Personal Librarian in order:
Caste, Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. None were suggested for me by algorithms. All were personal recommendations from various sources that I chose at random...or so I thought. Who or what do those 3 (or 2.5 as Steinem features several) books share in common? The mellifluous tones of narrator, Robin Miles. The next time I am debating between titles, I will chose the one that Miles narrates.
Just as I did not want The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo to end, so too did I not want The Personal Librarian to end. This book is a wonderful tribute to the life of Belle and her role in building the institution we know today as the Morgan Library.
Heretofore, I assumed J.P. Morgan donated the funds for the Library, not that he built a personal library that Belle helped open to the world.
Assuming the parental dynamics offered in the book are at least somewhat accurate, I should like to further investigate whether Belle was that accepting of the reasons for her father’s abandonment. I hope she came to terms with it as peaceably as the book denotes. I should also like to explore how much Belle took accountability for her participation in passing vis-a-vis her mother’s initial decision to pass. Celebrating her father in the end without mention of her mother has stayed with me. Perhaps that’s the point, to highlight the conflict and confusion, as Belle’s mother did what she thought best at the time. I am not as prepared to celebrate Dad and condemn Mom as Belle.
Also, I want to kick Bernard in the b@lls...hard…many, many times.
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The Only Woman in the Room
- By: Marie Benedict
- Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
- Length: 8 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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Her beauty almost certainly saved her from the rising Nazi party and led to marriage with an Austrian arms dealer. Underestimated in everything else, she overheard the Third Reich's plans while at her husband's side, understanding more than anyone would guess. She devised a plan to flee in disguise from their castle, and the whirlwind escape landed her in Hollywood. She became Hedy Lamarr, screen star.
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incredible true story about heddy Lamar
- By S. Loew on 01-26-19
- The Only Woman in the Room
- By: Marie Benedict
- Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
Captivating (to my surprise)
Reviewed: 07-02-23
I have no idea what prompted me to purchase this book. I’m sure there was a good reason because I could not stop listening. Brava!
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1 person found this helpful
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Shoe Dog
- A Memoir by the Creator of Nike
- By: Phil Knight
- Narrated by: Norbert Leo Butz, Phil Knight - introduction
- Length: 13 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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In this candid and riveting memoir, for the first time ever, Nike founder and CEO Phil Knight shares the inside story of the company's early days as an intrepid start-up and its evolution into one of the world's most iconic, game-changing, and profitable brands.
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Just read it. (or listen, whatever)
- By Dan D on 07-07-16
- Shoe Dog
- A Memoir by the Creator of Nike
- By: Phil Knight
- Narrated by: Norbert Leo Butz, Phil Knight - introduction
Worth reading but not fantastic
Reviewed: 05-10-23
Nike’s rise is interesting, especially for those of us who do not remember days of the US being limited to runners by Converse and Keds.
If you’ve got a business and feeling like you’re doing something wrong, as you keep getting blindsided by big problems, then this book is for you.
Knight proves how far identifying a niche by a smart individual with qualities of ambition, perseverance, and not much aversion to risk can take you. More than anything, the power of identifying the right team.
Knight kept referring to his “management style”, which made me laugh. Nil style? Identifying it as a hands off approach does a disservice to those who assume an intentionally hands off approach. Reads more like an iconoclast who simply does not care. Those who helped build the company clearly jived with it so whatever works!
While I appreciated the historical timeline of Nike, I got very little about Phil Knight as a human. Although perhaps that’s the point. Perhaps the lack of interest in others is reflective of his lack of interest in self. He’s not overthinking anyone, including how he ticks.
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The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
- A Novel
- By: Taylor Jenkins Reid
- Narrated by: Alma Cuervo, Julia Whelan, Robin Miles
- Length: 12 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Aging and reclusive Hollywood movie icon Evelyn Hugo is finally ready to tell the truth about her glamorous and scandalous life. But when she chooses unknown magazine reporter Monique Grant for the job, no one in the journalism community is more astounded than Monique herself. Why her? Why now? Monique is not exactly on top of the world. Her husband, David, has left her, and her career has stagnated.
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Glucose Gluttony
- By W Perry Hall on 03-17-18
- The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
- A Novel
- By: Taylor Jenkins Reid
- Narrated by: Alma Cuervo, Julia Whelan, Robin Miles
Best modern fiction and I don’t like modern fiction
Reviewed: 05-04-23
Read under duress for book club. Typically, I limit myself to autobiographies and classic literature. So happy to have been forced to expand my horizons. This book spoke both to my love of Old Hollywood, and narratives about how we are limited by only seeing what others show. Take a deeper look…
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The House of Mirth
- By: Edith Wharton
- Narrated by: Eleanor Bron
- Length: 12 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Beautiful, sophisticated and endlessly ambitious Lily Bart endeavours to climb the social ladder of New York's elite by securing a good match and living beyond her means. Now nearing 30 years of age and having rejected several proposals, forever in the hope of finding someone better, her future prospects are threatened. A damning commentary of 20th-century social order, Edith Wharton's tale established her as one of the greatest British novelists of the 1900s.
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Like Henry James but more accessible
- By Merlin on 08-19-12
- The House of Mirth
- By: Edith Wharton
- Narrated by: Eleanor Bron
By far, the best book I’ve ever heard
Reviewed: 03-11-23
The narrator was good, but the book was absolutely incredible. I wish I could forget everything and reexperience.
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By Myself and Then Some
- By: Lauren Bacall
- Narrated by: Lauren Bacall
- Length: 6 hrs and 49 mins
- Abridged
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The epitome of grace, independence, and wit, Lauren Bacall continues to astound generations with her audacious spirit and on-screen excellence. Together with Humphrey Bogart, she produced some of the most electric scenes in movie history, and their romance on and off screen made them Hollywood's most celebrated couple.
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Wish it had been unabridged
- By Grace on 04-28-14
- By Myself and Then Some
- By: Lauren Bacall
- Narrated by: Lauren Bacall
Only for established Bacall fans
Reviewed: 12-25-22
Going into this memoir, my only interest in Bacall was as Humphrey Bogart’s last wife. I did not feel any way about Bacall, good, bad or otherwise. When I feel this way heading into new subject matter, be it a memoir or a concert, as a rule I emerge feeling good about the entertainer. That is, after all, what binds us as humans: relating to the other.
In my 42 years of life and 50 something book reviews, Bacall has the esteemed privilege of being the only person I transitioned from ambivalence to dislike and my only 1 star rating.
At several points in the book, I thought, “Did the publishers not send Galley copies to loved ones?” “Did Bacall not review before signing off on final copy?” “Perhaps all of her friends as insincere, vapid, and overweening as she and could not see past themselves to help a friend?” It does not take long to deduce that Bacall is not a woman who fosters or cares to foster intimate relationships with women. Bacall is that insufferable woman we have all met who shamelessly and actively pursues married men - admits as much without compunction or remorse - and when other women do not like her, Bacall reasons they are jealous. Perhaps some are jealous, but indubitably most women would find Bacall painfully insecure, morally reprehensible, and possessing personal character as deep as a puddle.
The “hurtful” anecdote about Katharine Hepburn is unsettling on so many levels. It takes a special kind of narcissist to make a so-called friend’s mental and physical deterioration about herself.
Bacall was of an era when 95% of memoirs were penned by ghost writers without any regard for the truth. Whether Bacall’s narrative is truth or lies is irrelevant, as the reader cannot even get to that consideration as they are too caught up in the confounding perspective of this malignant narcissist.
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The Lonely Life
- An Autobiography
- By: Bette Davis
- Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
- Length: 13 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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The Lonely Life details the first 50-plus years of Davis' life - her Yankee childhood, her rise to stardom in Hollywood, the birth of her beloved children, and the uncompromising choices she made along the way to succeed. The book was updated with new material in the 1980s, bringing the story up to the end of Davis' life - all the heartbreak, all the drama, and all the love she experienced at every stage of her extraordinary life.
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Bette really liked herself...
- By Anonymous User on 01-14-19
- The Lonely Life
- An Autobiography
- By: Bette Davis
- Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
Davis’s voice looms large
Reviewed: 12-25-22
I have read every old hollywood memoir I can get my hands on. The ones that are not sheer money grabs penned by ghostwriters are painfully transparent in their revisionist histories. This is a rarity, in that, Davis seems to be reporting the unvarnished truth and far more self-aware than the average movie star.
Where Davis’s perspective may be skewed, one gets the sense it’s due to her strong convictions and unreal reality of every superstar. Who knows if David is right or wrong, but a reader gets the sense that she’s offering a sincere recounting. If a retelling is objectively wrong in places, one is inclined to attribute it to ordinary betrayals of memory and not to intentional deception as was the case with most of her peers.
Every successful woman who desires nuclear family and every man attracted to them should read this tome for Davis’s powerful insight and lessons learned.
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