CheC&W
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Time's Eye
- A Time Odyssey, Book 1
- By: Stephen Baxter, Arthur C. Clarke
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 11 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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For eons, Earth has been under observation by the Firstborn, beings almost as old as the universe itself. The Firstborn are unknown to humankind - until they act. In an instant, Earth is carved up and reassembled like a huge jigsaw puzzle. Suddenly the planet and every living thing on it no longer exist in a single timeline.
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I expected better from these two
- By Kennet on 06-04-08
- Time's Eye
- A Time Odyssey, Book 1
- By: Stephen Baxter, Arthur C. Clarke
- Narrated by: John Lee
🪄Inspired, brilliant ✨️✨️
Reviewed: 08-26-24
Performance was brilliant, so glad this title got the narration it deserved.
Flawless, truly inspiring for other scifi writers. A refreshing example of how to tell a thought provoking tale, without excessive gratuitous violence. And bless Arthur C Clark for not finding misogyny necessary to tell a story that does not mince on the frailties of humanity.
This is a wondrous story that goes deep, and kept me thoroughly engaged from opening to close. I know I will return to this trilogy at least a few more times throughout my life.
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Hold Fast
- The Unadulterated Story of the World’s Most Scandalous Website
- By: Trevor Aaronson, Sam Eifling, Michael Mooney
- Narrated by: Trevor Aaronson, Sam Eifling, Michael Mooney
- Length: 7 hrs and 40 mins
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Hold Fast is the uncompromising story of Backpage.com, the world’s most scandalous website, and the rise and fall of alternative weekly newspapers nationwide.
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An amazing, crazy ride. Highly recommend.
- By Tara N on 04-17-24
- Hold Fast
- The Unadulterated Story of the World’s Most Scandalous Website
- By: Trevor Aaronson, Sam Eifling, Michael Mooney
- Narrated by: Trevor Aaronson, Sam Eifling, Michael Mooney
A Warning, Excellent Journalism about what's at stake for democracy
Reviewed: 06-18-24
This is such a well put together story! It makes a case not just for Justice for two men who championed atl press, but also a riveting expose on the dangers of mainstream media's misdirection of the public will, and people's capacity to capably reason, to take in the big picture.
The injustices, political corruption, and just plain stupidity exposed throughout the course of this narrative had me yelling at my speaker at times. I really have a hard time with the dumming down that has crippled huge swaths of the US. I have to pray for more patience over the way our democracy is being destabilized.
And again, it felt good to hear such excellent journalism that caught and asks about all the big picture issues that most Americans seem to miss these days. Wake up everyone! Don't let what's happening snow you into oblivion. And if you suspect that all your ideas about democracy have been stuffed into your head by lying scheisters on network TV, or Twitter, etc. ask yourself when the last time you thought clearly was. And what do you need to grasp more of our world, to stretch your compassion and understanding, to become impervious to "us against them" thinking.
Because our world needs this level of mental liberation. If humanity stands a chance in the face of what's coming at us. Truth. Not shrill and screaming rhetoric. Truth .
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Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight
- An African Childhood
- By: Alexandra Fuller
- Narrated by: Lisette Lecat
- Length: 10 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Alexandra Fuller tells the idiosyncratic story of her life growing up white in rural Rhodesia as it was becoming Zimbabwe. The daughter of hardworking, yet strikingly unconventional English-bred immigrants, Alexandra arrives in Africa at the tender age of two. She moves through life with a hardy resilience, even as a bloody war approaches. Narrator Lisette Lecat reads this remarkable memoir of a family clinging to a harsh landscape and the dying tenets of colonialism.
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An African Childhood of Harrowing Proportions
- By Sara on 10-12-15
- Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight
- An African Childhood
- By: Alexandra Fuller
- Narrated by: Lisette Lecat
Took me away—Brilliant story, brilliantly told
Reviewed: 03-01-24
This is a title I could really listen to again, at least every so many years.
The story is delivered so perfectly, I would call it mandatory reading if I were teaching writers how to write.
Fuller recounts what would seem like an impossibly hard life while growing up in the extreme remote corners of Africa. But with humor and madness and devastating grief, every bit a deftly pictured tale, as lovingly constructed as the family's insane Christmas cake.
Won't give a spoiler here, you've got to listen to this story to find out what happens with the cake, and the owl, and the gun weilding baboon-like encroachers coming through the bedroom window.
And the performance, brilliantly read. I laughed so hard at times, it's really good that Lizette Lecat did the reading, really captured all of the characters, with color and timing. So spot on.
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Fingerprints of the Gods
- The Quest Continues
- By: Graham Hancock
- Narrated by: Graham Hancock
- Length: 18 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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Fingerprints of the Gods is the revolutionary rewrite of history that has persuaded millions of listeners throughout the world to change their preconceptions about the history behind modern society. An intellectual detective story, this unique history audiobook directs probing questions at orthodox history, presenting disturbing new evidence that historians have tried - but failed - to explain.
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Classic in Historical Mysteries
- By Kelly on 09-05-19
- Fingerprints of the Gods
- The Quest Continues
- By: Graham Hancock
- Narrated by: Graham Hancock
A Brilliant Scholarly Work in Thrilling Detail
Reviewed: 01-19-24
This is one of many titles written by a brilliantly curious mind, possessing a relentless desire to find the roots of homo sapien sapiens. Through exhaustive research and the gift of clarity in presentation, Graham Hancock time and again pursues the questions about our existence on earth.
He and his beloved wife, Santa, have criss-crossed our planet over the decades, from high mountain tops, and via scuba to the depths of our oceans in search for what has gone before us. And through extensive search for details from scholars of all stripes, serious scientists, mathematicians, and other highly credible professionals who work in the varying fields of natural science. Through his capacity to distill what he has culled from such a wide sampling, he presents a thrilling narrative.
Most appreciated, he dares to think critically, to think clearly, and he powers his work through his willingness to ask the right kind of questions while in pursuit.
As for the fools who have decried his work and wrongfully attacked his person and credibility, I will say that it's a pity that none of them have actually read any of his books. Because he doesn't write didactically, he engages the mind with the questions that he's driven to find answers for. The kind of questions that anyone seriously interested in the subject of the human trajectory through time on Earth would want to pursue. As for the daft accusation that Graham is a racist, that accusation is simply a fabrication and too low to expect from any real scientist. In fact, Santa is a woman of color. And in any media/online appearance he makes, it's very clear that he loves her. So listen not at all to those lying ninnies!
And do get ready for a marvelously wonderful tour through time, reflected through the lens of the many faceted fields of study presented. You won't be disappointed.
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We Are As Gods
- By: David Alvarado, Jason Sussberg
- Narrated by: Jason Sussberg, David Alvarado
- Original Recording
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“We are as gods and might as well get good at it.” These are the opening lines that radical thinker, environmentalist, and technologist Stewart Brand wrote for The Whole Earth Catalog. His thesis—that humans should use our god-like powers to build a better way to live—is at the core of his extraordinary life. At key historical moments in the 20th century, Stewart Brand was behind the scenes shaping things. As founding editor of Wired Magazine Kevin Kelly says, “Stewart has a Forest Gump-like superpower—he can sense where the future is and be there.”
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An important story, produced beautifully
- By I. David Rein on 10-11-22
- We Are As Gods
- By: David Alvarado, Jason Sussberg
- Narrated by: Jason Sussberg, David Alvarado
Heartlifting with so much inspiration
Reviewed: 09-03-23
We gobbled it up and wished that the series would continue wish that we could see parts of it in video.
Bravo!
Yes, The questions raised, The sensibility to nourish the lifeweb, The Daring explorations into answers that might possibly work to make our world so much more viable, A more thriving place.
Lofty. Perhaps. But for those of us who also hear The Calling To cherish our world, And to nourish into it with a deep awe, and love for who we might become far into the future.
Such lovely food for thought. And since we had to have an ending, what a great way out. For the many aspects of deep thinking throughout, in the end, to me, it is about art. The creation of a thing that feels akin to the great cathedrals of Europe. About inspiring our thoughts upwards. And longwards. To feel the loftiness within ourselves as we consider who we might be. And what role we've come to fulfill in the eternal act of our Universe forever recreating itself.
Brilliant. ✨️ And lovely
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Cassandra Speaks
- When Women Are the Storytellers, the Human Story Changes
- By: Elizabeth Lesser
- Narrated by: Xe Sands
- Length: 6 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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Elizabeth Lesser believes that if women’s voices had been equally heard and respected throughout history, humankind would have followed different hero myths and guiding stories - stories that value caretaking, champion compassion, and elevate communication over vengeance and violence. Cassandra Speaks is about the stories we tell and how those stories become the culture. It’s about the stories we still blindly cling to, and the ones that cling to us: the origin tales, the guiding myths, the religious parables, the literature and films and fairy tales passed down....
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Wow
- By jamie gass on 11-12-20
- Cassandra Speaks
- When Women Are the Storytellers, the Human Story Changes
- By: Elizabeth Lesser
- Narrated by: Xe Sands
Everything that Can Save Humanity's Place on Earth
Reviewed: 08-15-23
...if only courage could be as infectious as a virus.
And this lovely bit of writing does make an eloquent call to courage. To define ourselves beyond fear and violence. To believe in ourselves, that we have a role in our lives, on our planet, that all of life can only hope that we will dare to dream, and beyond that, that we will choose our own agency, find and cherish our voices, to speak with real power, and pursue a more nourishing existence, a kinder way of being, fearlessly embracing all that our great Mother Earth has to offer.
All for the small gifts of our awe, our gratitude for all of life. And for our willingness to make room for all of consciousness, as embodied in both our like-minded kin, and in the mysterious unknown of those of us who seem different from us.
So very much a work likened by Keats' Ode to a Grecian Urn. "Let Truth be Beauty. And Beauty, Truth..."
Read this and feel your call to dare stir in your heart.
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Beginner's Mind
- Words + Music, Vol. 13
- By: Yo-Yo Ma
- Narrated by: Yo-Yo Ma
- Length: 1 hr and 32 mins
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Journey with musical virtuoso Yo-Yo Ma as the iconic performer and global phenomenon delves into the world of self-discovery and our deeply interwoven humanity. This is Beginner's Mind, Ma’s extraordinary addition to Audible’s Words + Music series, blending vivid personal memoir and breathtaking exclusive performances with indelible lessons gained over a lifetime pursuing meaning, connection, and shared purpose.
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Simply beautifully, deeply humane ...
- By lesley ann on 04-08-21
- Beginner's Mind
- Words + Music, Vol. 13
- By: Yo-Yo Ma
- Narrated by: Yo-Yo Ma
Meaning and healing
Reviewed: 02-21-23
Meaning out of the wordless, our absurdly improbable existence, that yet, exquisitely pierces to the depths of being. Kindness, compassion, undaunted love of what evades being known. Healing us all the same. Music.
All these things Yoyo Ma gives us with this work. And with his heart.
This recording brought on tears and such profound grief at times. And I know that I will treasure this, playing it ever again, to lift me home.✨️
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Babel
- Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution
- By: R. F. Kuang
- Narrated by: Chris Lew Kum Hoi, Billie Fulford-Brown
- Length: 21 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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1828. Robin Swift, orphaned by cholera in Canton, is brought to London by the mysterious Professor Lovell. There, he trains for years in Latin, Ancient Greek, and Chinese, all in preparation for the day he’ll enroll in Oxford University’s prestigious Royal Institute of Translation—also known as Babel. Babel is the world's center for translation and, more importantly, magic. Silver working—the art of manifesting the meaning lost in translation using enchanted silver bars—has made the British unparalleled in power, as its knowledge serves the Empire’s quest for colonization.
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The novel language lovers have been waiting for
- By LisaLee on 09-06-22
- Babel
- Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution
- By: R. F. Kuang
- Narrated by: Chris Lew Kum Hoi, Billie Fulford-Brown
Sheer brilliance
Reviewed: 02-08-23
If a global cataclysm should come to pass where all libraries were to evaporate. All books being lost– save a small handful spirited away to a deep cave made ready to save a few precious items, to give record of the once existence of humanity. I would stage a revolt should this book be omitted from that fateful selection for the cave at the end of time.
Gobsmacking in its breadth, with characters developed as if hewn from the archetypal mud. And the story, a massive one, told so artfully. With so much insight and perspective into the pathos of humanity that binds us all.
Given its length, I am so appreciative
that never, not once was I drawn away over a sentence or a paragraph to rework in my mind, to improve flow or meaning, or for any of the other distractions that come up with writers who are less capable.
What we get in Babel is a unique and artful treatment of passion -for knowledge, for justice, for becoming, for courage and self knowing –in all its guises, never before told like this.
If Pinocchio would have read this story, he would have shed his wooden valence long before being swallowed by the whale. Yes, Babel invokes an alchemy of great power. And never shrinks before it.
RF Kuang is a writer who clearly loves language, and who gives us who do also, a joyous and passionate tour of the very deepest questions - of what it means to be alive. To triumph against impossible forces that would otherwise have us not be.
Bravo!👏🏽 A word pair on a silver amulet for RF Kuang –
pathos (Indo-European 16th century)
thriambos (from Old Latin triumpus, probably via Etruscan from Greek thriambos "hymn to Dionysus," a loan-word from a pre-Hellenic language).
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Mythos
- By: Stephen Fry
- Narrated by: Stephen Fry
- Length: 15 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Here are the thrills, grandeur, and unabashed fun of the Greek myths, stylishly retold by Stephen Fry. The legendary writer, actor, and comedian breathes life into ancient tales, from Pandora's box to Prometheus's fire, and transforms the adventures of Zeus and the Olympians into emotionally resonant and deeply funny stories, without losing any of their original wonder. Learned notes from the author offer rich cultural context. This volume is a doorway into a captivating world.
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Please, will you tell me a story?
- By L. Kampp on 09-24-19
- Mythos
- By: Stephen Fry
- Narrated by: Stephen Fry
A wonderful presentation
Reviewed: 07-25-22
Stephen Fry clearly loves his subject in prisons with energy and humor. He also does a good job of connecting the mythic stories through ancient cultures On their way to the Greeks, Who in turn added poetry to the symbology.
And on, explaining the lasting nature of Shakespearean tales, steeped in the stories of the gods of so long ago. No wonder Shakespeare's tales possess a soupçon of the immortality so possessed by the gods that have visited upon humanity from so long ago.
These ancient tales that initially arrived from civilizations much older than the Greeks and they're myths, still live on in our psyches today.
Much like the strains of music that our ears intuitively recognize as being in tune, each note in perfect relation to another, we instantly know. So it is with our ancient stories that make their way the world round, ever returning to be reborn in each age. Never to be forgotten.
Steven Fry has done an excellent job in presenting with mirth, and a certain tender love of these immortal tales.
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Mockingbird
- By: Walter Tevis
- Narrated by: Robert Fass, Nicole Poole
- Length: 9 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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In a world where the human population has suffered devastating losses, a handful of survivors cling to what passes for life in a postapocalyptic, dying landscape. A world where humans wander, drugged and lulled by electronic bliss. A dying world of no children and no art, where reading is forbidden.
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overlooked apocalyptic masterpiece
- By Darryl on 07-01-16
- Mockingbird
- By: Walter Tevis
- Narrated by: Robert Fass, Nicole Poole
Diminished humanity, robots, sentience, consciousn
Reviewed: 02-28-22
And life prevails in it's persistent wish to know itself. To know joy. Profound. Visually gorgeous!
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2 people found this helpful