-
Riven
- Poems
- Narrated by: Catherine Owen
- Length: 1 hr and 19 mins
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Prime members: New to Audible?Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Riven
Buy for $17.19
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Metamorphica
- By: Zachary Mason
- Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot, Kevin Kenerly, Robertson Dean, and others
- Length: 6 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 65
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 58
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 58
In the tradition of his best-selling debut novel The Lost Books of the Odyssey, Zachary Mason's Metamorphica transforms Ovid's epic poem of endless transformation. It reimagines the stories of Narcissus, Pygmalion and Galatea, Midas, and Atalanta and strings them together like the stars in constellations - even Ovid becomes a story. It's as though the ancient mythologies had been rewritten by Borges or Calvino.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Fantastic
- By Morgon O'Kelley on 01-29-21
By: Zachary Mason
-
Underland
- A Deep Time Journey
- By: Robert Macfarlane
- Narrated by: Matthew Waterson
- Length: 12 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,356
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,139
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,137
Hailed as "the great nature writer of this generation" (Wall Street Journal), Robert Macfarlane is the celebrated author of books about the intersections of the human and the natural realms. In Underland, he delivers his masterpiece: an epic exploration of the Earth's underworlds as they exist in myth, literature, memory, and the land itself.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Wonderful book, disappointing narrator
- By Clare Woods on 07-05-19
-
Desert Solitaire
- A Season in the Wilderness
- By: Edward Abbey
- Narrated by: Michael Kramer
- Length: 11 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,830
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,498
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,502
When Desert Solitaire was first published in 1968, it became the focus of a nationwide cult. Rude and sensitive. Thought-provoking and mystical. Angry and loving. Both Abbey and this book are all of these and more. Here, the legendary author of The Monkey Wrench Gang, Abbey's Road and many other critically acclaimed books vividly captures the essence of his life during three seasons as a park ranger in southeastern Utah.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Wrong narrator for Abbey
- By Todd Steele on 02-06-12
By: Edward Abbey
-
Wintering
- The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times
- By: Katherine May
- Narrated by: Rebecca Lee
- Length: 6 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,651
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 1,436
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,422
Sometimes you slip through the cracks: unforeseen circumstances like an abrupt illness, the death of a loved one, a breakup, or a job loss can derail a life. These periods of dislocation can be lonely and unexpected. For May, her husband fell ill, her son stopped attending school, and her own medical issues led her to leave a demanding job. Wintering explores how she not only endured this painful time, but embraced the singular opportunities it offered. Ultimately Wintering invites us to change how we relate to our own fallow times.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
I look forward to my next time of Wintering!
- By bgilmore on 01-12-21
By: Katherine May
-
This Is How You Lose the Time War
- By: Amal El-Mohtar, Max Gladstone
- Narrated by: Cynthia Farrell, Emily Woo Zeller
- Length: 4 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,952
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,482
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,476
Among the ashes of a dying world, an agent of the Commandment finds a letter. It reads: Burn before reading. Thus begins an unlikely correspondence between two rival agents hellbent on securing the best possible future for their warring factions. Now, what began as a taunt, a battlefield boast, becomes something more. Something epic. Something romantic. Something that could change the past and the future. Except the discovery of their bond would mean the death of each of them. There’s still a war going on, after all. And someone has to win. That’s how war works, right?
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Flowery poetic word salad
- By Austin on 02-11-20
By: Amal El-Mohtar, and others
-
Crossing Open Ground
- By: Barry Lopez
- Narrated by: Barry Lopez
- Length: 2 hrs and 39 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 65
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 49
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 47
Elegantly told against a haunting melodic backdrop, Crossing Open Ground's brilliant descriptions will sweep you into a new perspective - the land both gives us strength and molds our souls.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Poetry or prose or both.
- By yosemiteguide on 03-14-22
By: Barry Lopez
-
Metamorphica
- By: Zachary Mason
- Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot, Kevin Kenerly, Robertson Dean, and others
- Length: 6 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 65
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 58
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 58
In the tradition of his best-selling debut novel The Lost Books of the Odyssey, Zachary Mason's Metamorphica transforms Ovid's epic poem of endless transformation. It reimagines the stories of Narcissus, Pygmalion and Galatea, Midas, and Atalanta and strings them together like the stars in constellations - even Ovid becomes a story. It's as though the ancient mythologies had been rewritten by Borges or Calvino.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Fantastic
- By Morgon O'Kelley on 01-29-21
By: Zachary Mason
-
Underland
- A Deep Time Journey
- By: Robert Macfarlane
- Narrated by: Matthew Waterson
- Length: 12 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,356
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,139
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,137
Hailed as "the great nature writer of this generation" (Wall Street Journal), Robert Macfarlane is the celebrated author of books about the intersections of the human and the natural realms. In Underland, he delivers his masterpiece: an epic exploration of the Earth's underworlds as they exist in myth, literature, memory, and the land itself.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Wonderful book, disappointing narrator
- By Clare Woods on 07-05-19
-
Desert Solitaire
- A Season in the Wilderness
- By: Edward Abbey
- Narrated by: Michael Kramer
- Length: 11 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,830
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,498
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,502
When Desert Solitaire was first published in 1968, it became the focus of a nationwide cult. Rude and sensitive. Thought-provoking and mystical. Angry and loving. Both Abbey and this book are all of these and more. Here, the legendary author of The Monkey Wrench Gang, Abbey's Road and many other critically acclaimed books vividly captures the essence of his life during three seasons as a park ranger in southeastern Utah.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Wrong narrator for Abbey
- By Todd Steele on 02-06-12
By: Edward Abbey
-
Wintering
- The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times
- By: Katherine May
- Narrated by: Rebecca Lee
- Length: 6 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,651
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 1,436
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,422
Sometimes you slip through the cracks: unforeseen circumstances like an abrupt illness, the death of a loved one, a breakup, or a job loss can derail a life. These periods of dislocation can be lonely and unexpected. For May, her husband fell ill, her son stopped attending school, and her own medical issues led her to leave a demanding job. Wintering explores how she not only endured this painful time, but embraced the singular opportunities it offered. Ultimately Wintering invites us to change how we relate to our own fallow times.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
I look forward to my next time of Wintering!
- By bgilmore on 01-12-21
By: Katherine May
-
This Is How You Lose the Time War
- By: Amal El-Mohtar, Max Gladstone
- Narrated by: Cynthia Farrell, Emily Woo Zeller
- Length: 4 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,952
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,482
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,476
Among the ashes of a dying world, an agent of the Commandment finds a letter. It reads: Burn before reading. Thus begins an unlikely correspondence between two rival agents hellbent on securing the best possible future for their warring factions. Now, what began as a taunt, a battlefield boast, becomes something more. Something epic. Something romantic. Something that could change the past and the future. Except the discovery of their bond would mean the death of each of them. There’s still a war going on, after all. And someone has to win. That’s how war works, right?
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Flowery poetic word salad
- By Austin on 02-11-20
By: Amal El-Mohtar, and others
-
Crossing Open Ground
- By: Barry Lopez
- Narrated by: Barry Lopez
- Length: 2 hrs and 39 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 65
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 49
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 47
Elegantly told against a haunting melodic backdrop, Crossing Open Ground's brilliant descriptions will sweep you into a new perspective - the land both gives us strength and molds our souls.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Poetry or prose or both.
- By yosemiteguide on 03-14-22
By: Barry Lopez
-
People of the Whale
- A Novel
- By: Linda Hogan
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 10 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 145
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 123
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 124
Raised in a small Native American village by the sea, Thomas Witka Just has just married his childhood sweetheart when an ill-fated decision to fight in Vietnam changes his life forever. Cut off from his community and traumatized by war, he finds refuge in another tribal village there and fathers a child with another woman. When he returns home many years later, he finds his tribe in conflict over a decision to hunt a whale, a spiritual symbol for his people.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
People of the Whale
- By Kay on 03-15-09
By: Linda Hogan
-
Almost Anywhere
- Road-Trip Ruminations on Love, Nature, Recovery, and Nonsense
- By: Krista Schlyer
- Narrated by: Marisa Vitali
- Length: 10 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 76
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 66
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 66
What do you do when your world ends? At 28 years old, Krista Schlyer sold almost everything she owned and packed the rest of it in a station wagon bound for the American wild. Her two best friends joined her - one a grumpy, grieving introvert, the other a feisty dog - and together they sought out every national park, historic site, forest, and wilderness they could get to before their money ran out or their minds gave in.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
No a travelogue - its a diary
- By Jonathan on 12-29-20
By: Krista Schlyer
-
Good Poems
- Selected and Introduced by Garrison Keillor
- By: Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman, Robert Frost, and others
- Narrated by: Garrison Keillor
- Length: 4 hrs and 23 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 201
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 162
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 151
Good Poems includes poems about lovers, children, failure, everyday life, death, and transcendence. It features the work of classic poets, such as Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman, and Robert Frost, as well as the work of contemporary greats such as Howard Nemerov, Charles Bukowski, Donald Hall, Billy Collins, Robert Bly, and Sharon Olds Good Poems includes poems about lovers, children, failure, everyday life, death, and transcendence.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Very good, but. . .
- By KSmith on 01-27-11
By: Emily Dickinson, and others
-
A Severe Mercy
- By: Sheldon Vanauken
- Narrated by: Peter Chanice
- Length: 8 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 629
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 558
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 560
Beloved, profoundly moving account of the author's marriage, the couple's search for faith and friendship with C. S. Lewis, and a spiritual strength that sustained Vanauken after his wife's untimely death.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Outstanding
- By Jeffrey on 12-03-16
By: Sheldon Vanauken
-
Where Hope Comes From
- Poems of Resilience, Healing, and Light
- By: Nikita Gill
- Narrated by: Nikita Gill
- Length: 1 hr and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 22
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 21
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 21
Instagram superstar and poet Nikita Gill shares a collection of poems crafted as the world went into lockdown, tackling themes such as mental health and loneliness, and the precarity of hope. Through the life cycle of a star, she invites the listener to feel connected to the universe, taking us on a journey through the five stages of grief to the five stages of hope.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Beautifully healing
- By Jennifer on 05-26-23
By: Nikita Gill
-
The Book of Disquiet
- By: Fernando Pessoa
- Narrated by: Adam Sims
- Length: 17 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 148
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 121
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 119
Assembled from notes and jottings left unpublished at the time of the author’s death, The Book of Disquiet is a collection of aphoristic prose-poetry musings on dreams, solitude, time and memory. Credited to Pessoa’s alter ego, Bernardo Soares, who chronicles his contemplations in this so-called "factless" autobiography, the work is a journey of one man’s soul and, by extension, of all human souls that allow their minds and hearts to roam far and free.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
The book that saved my life
- By Hutchinson on 03-09-21
By: Fernando Pessoa
-
The Wild Places
- By: Robert Macfarlane
- Narrated by: Simon Bubb
- Length: 9 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 90
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 77
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 77
Are there any genuinely wild places left in Britain and Ireland? Or have we tarmacked, farmed and built ourselves out of wildness? In his vital, bewitching, inspiring classic, Robert Macfarlane sets out in search of the wildness that remains.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Magical
- By Jennifer on 01-27-22
-
To the River
- A Journey Beneath the Surface
- By: Olivia Laing
- Narrated by: Kate Reading
- Length: 8 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 117
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 102
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 102
Over 60 years after Virginia Woolf drowned in the River Ouse, Olivia Laing set out one midsummer morning to walk its banks, from source to sea. Along the way, she explores the roles that rivers play in human lives, tracing their intricate flow through literature, mythology, and folklore. Lyrical and stirring, To the River is a passionate investigation into how history resides in a landscape - and how ghosts never quite leave the places they love.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Virginia Woolf Serves as a Walking Companion
- By Bobbe Nunes on 09-04-20
By: Olivia Laing
-
Dark, Salt, Clear
- Life in a Cornish Fishing Town
- By: Lamorna Ash
- Narrated by: Lamorna Ash
- Length: 10 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 31
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 30
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 28
There is the Cornwall Lamorna Ash knew as a child – the idyllic, folklore-rich place where she spent her summer holidays. Then there is the Cornwall she discovers when, feeling increasingly dislocated in London, she moves to Newlyn, a fishing town near Land’s End. This Cornwall is messier and harder; it doesn’t seem like a place that would welcome strangers. Before long, however, Lamorna finds herself on a week-long trawler trip with a crew of local fishermen, afforded a rare glimpse into their world, their warmth and their humour.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Brilliant Writers Should Not Narrate
- By Kindle Customer on 11-09-20
By: Lamorna Ash
-
The Faraway Nearby
- By: Rebecca Solnit
- Narrated by: Rebecca Solnit
- Length: 7 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 206
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 183
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 184
In this exquisitely written new audiobook by the author of A Paradise Built in Hell, Rebecca Solnit explores the ways we make our lives out of stories, and how we are connected by empathy, by narrative, by imagination. In the course of unpacking some of her own stories - of her mother and her decline from memory loss, of a trip to Iceland, of an illness - Solnit revisits fairytales and entertains other stories.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Great Book - Author shouldn't read it
- By S. Earle on 02-29-16
By: Rebecca Solnit
-
The Flame
- Poems and Notebooks
- By: Leonard Cohen
- Narrated by: Margaret Atwood, Rodney Crowell, John Doe, and others
- Length: 4 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 38
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 33
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 32
Just weeks before his death in late 2016, Leonard Cohen told The New Yorker that he was ready for the end to come. He just wanted enough time to put his last book in order. Fortunately, that time was granted. The Flame is Cohen’s eloquent farewell, a valedictory collection of lyrics and poems that maps his singular creative journey. As noted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s citation, “For six decades, Leonard Cohen revealed his soul to the world through poetry and song - his deep and timeless humanity touching our very core.”
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Surprisingly boring
- By Melissa S. on 04-02-23
By: Leonard Cohen
-
Gift of the Red Bird
- The Story of a Divine Encounter
- By: Paula D'Arcy
- Narrated by: Paula D'Arcy
- Length: 3 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 62
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 52
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 52
When Paula D'Arcy lost her husband and baby in a car crash, she began an inner search for a faith that was stronger than fear. In Gift of the Red Bird she shares her remarkable spiritual adventure. Grief, she shows us, is an ongoing, never-completed process, one that becomes woven into the fabric of the grieving person's spiritual life.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Relatable story
- By Maryjane Hadaway on 07-15-19
By: Paula D'Arcy
Publisher's summary
Winner of the Stephan G. Stephansson Award for Poetry
In 2010, Catherine Owen's 29-year-old spouse died of a drug addiction. A year later, she relocated to an apartment by the Fraser River in Vancouver, BC. As she moved beyond the initial shock, the river became her focus: a natural, damaged space that both intensifies emotion and symbolizes healing. In a sequence of aubades, or dawn poems, Owen records the practice of walking by or watching the river every morning, a routine that helps her engage in the tough work of mourning. Riven (a word that echoes river and means rift) is an homage to both a man and an ecosystem threatened by the presence of toxins and neglect. Yet, it is also a song to the beauty of nature and memory, concluding in a tribute to Louise Cotnoir's long poem The Islands with a piece on imagined rivers. While Designated Mourner honors grief, Riven focuses on modes of survival and transformation through looking outward, and beyond.
Related to this topic
-
Borne
- By: Jeff VanderMeer
- Narrated by: Bahni Turpin
- Length: 12 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 1,659
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,491
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 1,490
In Borne, a young woman named Rachel survives as a scavenger in a ruined city half destroyed by drought and conflict. The city is dangerous, littered with discarded experiments from the Company - a biotech firm now derelict - and punished by the unpredictable predations of a giant bear. Rachel ekes out an existence in the shelter of a run-down sanctuary she shares with her partner, Wick, who deals his own homegrown psychoactive biotech.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Bizarre and Bracing!
- By The Casual Nerd on 02-08-18
By: Jeff VanderMeer
-
The Old Ways
- A Journey on Foot
- By: Robert Macfarlane
- Narrated by: Robin Sachs
- Length: 11 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 721
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 634
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 638
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.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A perfect pairing of prose and narrator
- By chris on 11-05-12
-
The Wild Places
- By: Robert Macfarlane
- Narrated by: Simon Bubb
- Length: 9 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 90
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 77
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 77
Are there any genuinely wild places left in Britain and Ireland? Or have we tarmacked, farmed and built ourselves out of wildness? In his vital, bewitching, inspiring classic, Robert Macfarlane sets out in search of the wildness that remains.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Magical
- By Jennifer on 01-27-22
-
Darwinia
- By: Robert Charles Wilson
- Narrated by: Kevin Pariseau
- Length: 10 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall3.5 out of 5 stars 93
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 69
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 70
In 1912, history was changed by the Miracle, when the old world of Europe was replaced by Darwinia, a strange land of nightmarish jungle and antediluvian monsters. To some, the Miracle was an act of divine retribution; to others, it is an opportunity to carve out a new empire. Leaving an America now ruled by religious fundamentalists, young Guilford Law travels to Darwinia on a mission of discovery that will take him further than he can possibly imagine.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Not much about Darwinia.
- By Clavaine on 10-02-09
-
Almost Anywhere
- Road-Trip Ruminations on Love, Nature, Recovery, and Nonsense
- By: Krista Schlyer
- Narrated by: Marisa Vitali
- Length: 10 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 76
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 66
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 66
What do you do when your world ends? At 28 years old, Krista Schlyer sold almost everything she owned and packed the rest of it in a station wagon bound for the American wild. Her two best friends joined her - one a grumpy, grieving introvert, the other a feisty dog - and together they sought out every national park, historic site, forest, and wilderness they could get to before their money ran out or their minds gave in.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
No a travelogue - its a diary
- By Jonathan on 12-29-20
By: Krista Schlyer
-
The Snow Goose
- By: Paul Gallico
- Narrated by: Steve Mackintosh, Georgia Groome, Deborah Findlay, and others
- Length: 57 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 90
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 78
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 77
A BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation of Paul Gallico’s The Snow Goose by Nick Warburton, starring Steven Mackintosh.
When Open Book asked various authors to champion a favourite neglected classic on the programme, Michael Morpurgo chose The Snow Goose - perhaps no surprise, with his own story 'War Horse' depicting a friendship between a boy and his horse which takes them both into the horror of World War I.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
The Snow Goose
- By Sarah FitzGerald on 08-29-11
By: Paul Gallico
-
Borne
- By: Jeff VanderMeer
- Narrated by: Bahni Turpin
- Length: 12 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 1,659
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,491
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 1,490
In Borne, a young woman named Rachel survives as a scavenger in a ruined city half destroyed by drought and conflict. The city is dangerous, littered with discarded experiments from the Company - a biotech firm now derelict - and punished by the unpredictable predations of a giant bear. Rachel ekes out an existence in the shelter of a run-down sanctuary she shares with her partner, Wick, who deals his own homegrown psychoactive biotech.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Bizarre and Bracing!
- By The Casual Nerd on 02-08-18
By: Jeff VanderMeer
-
The Old Ways
- A Journey on Foot
- By: Robert Macfarlane
- Narrated by: Robin Sachs
- Length: 11 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 721
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 634
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 638
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.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A perfect pairing of prose and narrator
- By chris on 11-05-12
-
The Wild Places
- By: Robert Macfarlane
- Narrated by: Simon Bubb
- Length: 9 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 90
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 77
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 77
Are there any genuinely wild places left in Britain and Ireland? Or have we tarmacked, farmed and built ourselves out of wildness? In his vital, bewitching, inspiring classic, Robert Macfarlane sets out in search of the wildness that remains.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Magical
- By Jennifer on 01-27-22
-
Darwinia
- By: Robert Charles Wilson
- Narrated by: Kevin Pariseau
- Length: 10 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall3.5 out of 5 stars 93
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 69
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 70
In 1912, history was changed by the Miracle, when the old world of Europe was replaced by Darwinia, a strange land of nightmarish jungle and antediluvian monsters. To some, the Miracle was an act of divine retribution; to others, it is an opportunity to carve out a new empire. Leaving an America now ruled by religious fundamentalists, young Guilford Law travels to Darwinia on a mission of discovery that will take him further than he can possibly imagine.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Not much about Darwinia.
- By Clavaine on 10-02-09
-
Almost Anywhere
- Road-Trip Ruminations on Love, Nature, Recovery, and Nonsense
- By: Krista Schlyer
- Narrated by: Marisa Vitali
- Length: 10 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 76
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 66
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 66
What do you do when your world ends? At 28 years old, Krista Schlyer sold almost everything she owned and packed the rest of it in a station wagon bound for the American wild. Her two best friends joined her - one a grumpy, grieving introvert, the other a feisty dog - and together they sought out every national park, historic site, forest, and wilderness they could get to before their money ran out or their minds gave in.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
No a travelogue - its a diary
- By Jonathan on 12-29-20
By: Krista Schlyer
-
The Snow Goose
- By: Paul Gallico
- Narrated by: Steve Mackintosh, Georgia Groome, Deborah Findlay, and others
- Length: 57 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 90
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 78
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 77
A BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation of Paul Gallico’s The Snow Goose by Nick Warburton, starring Steven Mackintosh.
When Open Book asked various authors to champion a favourite neglected classic on the programme, Michael Morpurgo chose The Snow Goose - perhaps no surprise, with his own story 'War Horse' depicting a friendship between a boy and his horse which takes them both into the horror of World War I.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
The Snow Goose
- By Sarah FitzGerald on 08-29-11
By: Paul Gallico
-
Leaves of Grass
- By: Walt Whitman
- Narrated by: Robin Field
- Length: 18 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 209
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 148
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 151
One of the great innovators in American letters, Walt Whitman created a daringly new kind of poetry that became a major force in world literature. Leaves of Grass is his masterpiece, written in a pure, uninhibited style, combining sensual and mystical sensibilities. Its bold, joyous voice, its expansive optimism, and its transcendental vision made it uniquely American.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
No chapters! Can't skip to a particular poem :(
- By April Antoniou on 02-08-13
By: Walt Whitman
-
Area X
- The Southern Reach Trilogy - Annihilation, Authority, Acceptance
- By: Jeff VanderMeer
- Narrated by: Carolyn McCormick, Bronson Pinchot, Xe Sands
- Length: 26 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 5,143
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 4,682
-
Story3.5 out of 5 stars 4,693
Dive into the mysteries of Area X, a remote and lush terrain that has inexplicably sequestered itself from civilization. Twelve expeditions have gone in, and not a single member of any of them has remained unchanged by the experience - for better or worse.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Book 1: intriguing! Book 2: Zzzz. Book 3: WTF!
- By KR on 02-03-15
By: Jeff VanderMeer
-
Dog Years
- By: Mark Doty
- Narrated by: Mark Doty
- Length: 6 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 66
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 44
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 43
When Mark Doty went looking to adopt a small dog, a cuddly creature who might comfort his terminally ill partner, Wally Roberts, he was surprised to find himself returning home from an animal shelter with a full-grown golden retriever, a dog whose "absolute openess of regard", and paw gently offered through the bars of a cage, proved irresistable to him.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
I cried my face off
- By Brad on 10-27-08
By: Mark Doty
-
A Severe Mercy
- By: Sheldon Vanauken
- Narrated by: Peter Chanice
- Length: 8 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 629
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 558
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 560
Beloved, profoundly moving account of the author's marriage, the couple's search for faith and friendship with C. S. Lewis, and a spiritual strength that sustained Vanauken after his wife's untimely death.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Outstanding
- By Jeffrey on 12-03-16
By: Sheldon Vanauken
-
We Stood upon Stars
- Finding God in Lost Places
- By: Roger W. Thompson
- Narrated by: John McLain
- Length: 5 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 71
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 62
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 62
You are made for freedom and adventure, friendship and romance. Yet too much of your life is spent unfulfilled at work, restless at home, and bored at church. All the while, you know there is something more. You'll find some of life's best moments waiting for you over a campfire, on a river - even in that coffee shop or brewery you didn't know you'd discover along the way. It's time to begin the search.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Such a good book
- By The Great Bambino on 06-16-21
-
The Selected Poems of Li Po
- By: Li Po, Po Li, David Hinton, and others
- Narrated by: David Shih
- Length: 2 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 38
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 28
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 28
Li Po (AD 701-762) lived in T'ang Dynasty China, but his influence has spanned the centuries: the pure lyricism of his poems has awed readers in China and Japan for over a millennium, and through Ezra Pound’s translations, Li Po became central to the modernist revolution in the West. However ethereal in spirit, his poems remain grounded in the everyday experience we all share. He wrote 1,200 years ago, half a world away, but in his poems we see our world transformed.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
An intriguing experience
- By Paula on 02-10-18
By: Li Po, and others
-
Orange World and Other Stories
- By: Karen Russell
- Narrated by: full cast
- Length: 8 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 184
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 157
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 158
Karen Russell’s comedic genius and mesmerizing talent for creating outlandish predicaments that uncannily mirror our inner in lives is on full display in these eight exuberant, arrestingly vivid, unforgettable stories. In “Bog Girl”, a revelatory story about first love, a young man falls in love with a 2,000-year-old girl that he’s extracted from a mass of peat in a Northern European bog. In “The Prospectors”, two opportunistic young women fleeing the depression strike out for new territory, and find themselves fighting for their lives. Plus much more.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Wild Ride
- By Georgia on 02-07-20
By: Karen Russell
-
Small Graces
- The Quiet Gifts of Everyday Life
- By: Kent Nerburn
- Narrated by: Kent Nerburn
- Length: 1 hr and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 32
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 25
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 25
Small Graces is a journey into the sacred moments that illuminate our everyday lives. In 20 elegant pieces, writer, sculptor, and theologian Kent Nerburn celebrates the daily rituals that reveal our deeper truths. Through the exploration of simple acts, Small Graces reminds us to chart a course each day that nourishes the soul, honors the body, and engages the mind.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
worth every minute spent listening
- By Jory on 02-25-18
By: Kent Nerburn
-
Gift of the Red Bird
- The Story of a Divine Encounter
- By: Paula D'Arcy
- Narrated by: Paula D'Arcy
- Length: 3 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 62
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 52
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 52
When Paula D'Arcy lost her husband and baby in a car crash, she began an inner search for a faith that was stronger than fear. In Gift of the Red Bird she shares her remarkable spiritual adventure. Grief, she shows us, is an ongoing, never-completed process, one that becomes woven into the fabric of the grieving person's spiritual life.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Relatable story
- By Maryjane Hadaway on 07-15-19
By: Paula D'Arcy
-
The Book of Disquiet
- By: Fernando Pessoa
- Narrated by: Adam Sims
- Length: 17 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 148
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 121
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 119
Assembled from notes and jottings left unpublished at the time of the author’s death, The Book of Disquiet is a collection of aphoristic prose-poetry musings on dreams, solitude, time and memory. Credited to Pessoa’s alter ego, Bernardo Soares, who chronicles his contemplations in this so-called "factless" autobiography, the work is a journey of one man’s soul and, by extension, of all human souls that allow their minds and hearts to roam far and free.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
The book that saved my life
- By Hutchinson on 03-09-21
By: Fernando Pessoa
-
Good Poems
- Selected and Introduced by Garrison Keillor
- By: Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman, Robert Frost, and others
- Narrated by: Garrison Keillor
- Length: 4 hrs and 23 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 201
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 162
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 151
Good Poems includes poems about lovers, children, failure, everyday life, death, and transcendence. It features the work of classic poets, such as Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman, and Robert Frost, as well as the work of contemporary greats such as Howard Nemerov, Charles Bukowski, Donald Hall, Billy Collins, Robert Bly, and Sharon Olds Good Poems includes poems about lovers, children, failure, everyday life, death, and transcendence.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Very good, but. . .
- By KSmith on 01-27-11
By: Emily Dickinson, and others
-
House Made of Dawn
- A Novel
- By: N. Scott Momaday
- Narrated by: N. Scott Momaday, Darrell Dennis
- Length: 6 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 141
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 121
-
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.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Novel great, reader not so much.
- By Marcia on 05-17-20
By: N. Scott Momaday