Audiobook Books

I suffer from anxiety attacks every once in a while and fear every now and then of having one. I went to therapy for it...but this Audio help me understand MENTALLY how to control and help stop it. It really did make me feel better to know that I can stop it and showed me HOW. Gave me peace of mind. I recommend the AUDIO.

This CD set received great reviews, which led me to purchase it----but I discovered it mainly contains peoples' "stories" and basic information. I have been there and done that; I'm not a panic disorder "newbie", I know I'm not alone, I know the symptoms, etc. If you want more involved information regarding actual TREATMENTS, they advise you to purchase the book. The problem is, some people are wired to learn by LISTENING rather than having to sit down with a book and I feel short-changed.

Not always we have the time to sit down and start working on a new project. Not always we can concentrate good enough to have food for thought right out of the box. This CD of the well known Dr. David Burns does a good job to introduce to some ideas how to deal with cognitive therapy and to the point, to help you get the way of thinking in many situations where our mind thinks wrong and have missleading atitudes.

Well read, good enough examples/stories of how CBT and way of thinking, and some rules of this kind of (well thought out) therapy works.

I dont think that from this CD package (of 3) you can know every situation how to deal with, but enough good to get you gasoline until getting to the gas station.

By listening to it a few times in my driving time I picked up alot of clues.. and from there I picked up a book on CBT ..only after I listened to the CDs of this package I was able to read the book more fluently knowing many of the concepts. This CD tells you interesting enough situatons in the form of (real?) stories to get your attention into the learning curve easily.

David Burns, psychiatrist and author of best selling book "Feeling Good," once again writes a book that is easy to understand, and fascinating to read. This can help you with anxiety. The CD is a summary of the book. Burns addresses many causes of anxiety, and shows ways of reducing them, using Cognitive Therapy. If you don't like to read, but have anxiety, try the CD, and you might even decide to read the book.

Excellent audio cd/self help. Everyday listening and as needed, to get you back on track in life. I love to hear positive and motivating ways to steer through the curves of life's highway.

These are the best stories told by the best in the car business.

Buy confidently

Car Talk: The Greatest Stories Ever Told: Once Upon a Car Fire... (Car Talk) I've fogotten how to listen to my radio(s) because they make me mad when I can't find a clear station or a certain station. So I don't hear Car Talk often enough in real time. I have been buying books to read to myself (but bothering others) by bursting into sharp and loud laughter, or with CD's in the car where I can laugh and laugh all alone. I connect with your family because ours is much the same except we don't laugh much anymore. I FORGOT HOW TO DO IT! Thanks for reminding me, guys!

If you try to drive while listening this you will surely laugh yourself right off the road!

I guess you either love these guys or you hate them. My wife finds them incredibly annoying when she hears them on the radio.

Myself, I love them. Their accents are not off-putting to me, and I love how they laugh together.

What I've learned over time, though, is that the 'straight' answers they provide are actually pretty authoritative. They actually know what they're talking about, based not only on their extensive formal education but also based on their hands-on work with many, many cars.

If I personally found anything annoying, it's only their constant self-referencing which gets old. However, it's a part of their "shtick" which we would not want to do without...

This is a timeless classic enjoyed again and again. Illustrations are great and the story capivates young & old audiences alike.

This audio book has no read along for kids, a big disappointment!

Paul Galdone's adaptation of The Gingerbread Buy is a wonderful version of the story. It is great for teachers and for families. I use it in my classroom every year with my first grade students.

This is one of the great books for parents to get for their kids bookshelves. I've really enjoy reading this book when I was kid. It's about a childless old couple who got lonely and the old woman decide to bake herself a gingerbread boy, who ran away once done and kept on running from and cow and a horse, but only to end up getting outsmarted and eaten by the fox. A great classic tale and racy read. You even found yourself running along the gingerbread boy as you read this book.

An old woman and an old man have no kids, so the old woman makes a gingerbread boy. When she opens the oven, the gingerbread boy jumps out and runs away. He gets chased by the old woman and old man, a cow, a horse, and some farmers out threshing. Eventually, a fox manages to catch the gingerbread boy through cunning, and the fox eats him up. Some kids may find the story quite scary, and may find the unhappy ending a bit disconcerting. But it's a classic tale and quite engaging. The book has about 1300 words.

Great historical review, a good staple for any investor that is already in the game and understands the basics.

This book is specifically for invertors not speculators. Haveing this on CD and a book format, its easier to grab the ideas that were written couple of decades and still its worth.

Have the book and the CD. They work well together. The CD is great just after reading the book to hammer some of the big picture concepts. The CD is wonderful rush hour material to get you out of that rush hour driving sooner! It is worth the $$ to have both.

I am an eager reader of books on Warren Buffett's investing methods. I really want to like "The Intelligent Investor", but I don't. Unfortunately, Benjamin Graham did not write his books to be timeless. Instead, he wrote them specifically for the investing environments as they existed at the times of publication. This audiobook is of the 1972 edition of "The Intelligent Investor", and it reflects the investing environment of the early 1970's.

The story of Mr. Market and the principle of "a margin of safety" are important concepts contained in this book, but they can be found in other writings by and about Warren Buffett.

There is an updated edition of "The Intelligent Investor" by Jason Zweig. It was published in 2003. Hopefully that is better than the older, outdated editions. It is not (yet) available in audio format.

If you are looking for a good audiobook on Warren Buffett's investing methods, I highly recommend "How to Pick Stocks Like Warren Buffett" by Timothy Vick. The best book on Buffett's investing methods that I have read is "The New Buffettology" by Mary Buffett, but it is not available as an audiobook.

Pimsleur is the real deal for learning languages by listening to CDs or tapes. The cheaper alternatives just don't do the job like Pimsleur does. Useless memorization of colors, letters of the alphabet and such that most the other programs are based on are painfully boring and mostly useless. Don't spend your money on the cheaper programs if you're serious about learning.

The Pimsleur lessons each build logically on the previous lesson but they take you back enough to reinforce what you've already learned. There is no workbook or tedious word drills. You just listen and repeat and answer their questions in Italian. Everyone who listens to the first lesson is amazed at how easy it is and how much they remember. All of the lessons are the same format as the first, just building on what you already learned.

The lessons are easy but they're also challenging and it does take commitment to get through them. You can't rush through them and you do need to concentrate while you're listening to absorb the lesson. I hit a few plateaus where I had to repeat lessons several times until I felt comfortable enough to move on. That did get a little boring at times, but once I got it, the retention stuck and made the next lesson easier. The first ten lessons are the most painful because things seem so different than what you're used to but then you begin to get into the area where you can combine vocabulary to form simple phrases and it gets much more fun. By the end of the lessons you're able to put together much more meaningful phrases and begin to understand the basics of the grammar.

They don't teach much grammar but it is a "beginners" lesson so you get about what you would expect. Beginner is deceptive. After completing this program you will be fathoms further ahead than you would from following any other alternative short of a classroom and even then it's debatable if classroom instruction would teach you more.

I know the price is painful but don't waste your money on anything else.

I purchased this in conjunction with taking Italian classes at the local community college. The DVDs are wonderful. The length of each lesson is perfect and the method fabulous. I intend to continue with Italian II and Italian III in the series. I already feel prepared for my trip to Italy!

I am currently in the middle of Pimsleur Italian II and am thrilled with all I have learned. I spent a lot of time and money in college German classes and cannot say or understand much of anything in German. In comparison, Pimsleur seems cheap.

I have a long commute to work, and studying Italian has made the drive much more enjoyable. I also think I am a better and less stressed-out driver because I have something to focus on in the car other than what other drivers are doing.

As other reviewers have pointed out, it's good to get a grammar book and other supplemental materials. Also, I check out Yahoo Italia and other Italian websites to help work on my reading skills. It's really exciting to feel like I am finally learning a foreign language!

Pimsleur Italian is typical of other Pimsleur courses I have purchased.
Expensive, rigid, and for the money, you get very little vocabulary.
I am much more impressed with Behind the Wheel Italian Revised by Language Dynamics. Much more solid approach, more vocabulary, sentence building with originality and a complete text.Behind the Wheel Italian 1 Revised/Complete 226 Page Illustrated Text & Audioscript/Answer Keys/6 One Hour Multi-Track Audio CDs

My friend and I went in on buying this together since we'll both be traveling to Italy next summer (if you can find someone to split the cost with, be sure to do it!)
I've always had a "knack" for learning languages (this is my fourth language) and I found the program to move at a comfortable speed with lots of reinforcements (which is very important!)
My friend had more trepidations about learning a language, she's got a speech impediment and flunked her French class in high school. But she found the program to be very helpful too! She had to do a few of the lessons over before moving on, but at the end of the 30 lessons, WE BOTH TEST INTO 2nd YEAR ITALIAN! We took the free aptitude test at the local college and we both know as much as a student after a full year of college-level Italian.
Her 12 year old son recently started the program, and he's doing well with it (probably better than either of us actually haha). It's keeping his interest, and he's able to have simple conversations and make up his own sentences after only 6 lessons. So, the program isn't just for grown-ups.
It's true that the course is only audio, but after 15 lessons or so, look up the spelling rules for Italian and you'll see that spelling and reading is a breeze since it's so phonetic.
We're saving up to get the next two levels now and looking forward to being able to competently converse with Italians this summer.

Excellent use of science and economics to explain some of the irrational decisions we make every day. Other reviews have captured the good parts adequately.

I agree with the review below me. His science is seemingly unassailable, but many of his "solutions" to problems seem to come from a left perspective. However, this was rare and the book generally refrains from normative analysis.

Overall excellent read, but not as captivating as Freakonomics was when it first came out.

This book is a combination of a very entertaining reading with great content. Ariel presents the results of several social experiments he has conducted during years of research. Most of them are unexpected, or should I say irrational? But most of those behaviors are really predictable regardles of how ilogical they seem.

You can apply the lessons learned in this book to your daily life, if you are going to business school this would be a great complement to any of your courses (marketing, ethics, finance, etc.)

Best of all, it is very, very entertaining.
I hope you enjoy this reading.

Today's mainstream economics is largely based on assumptions of rationality. Ariely shows that such assumptions are completely wrong. This has large implications for running an economic system that achieves a good life for people. People are constantly trying to improve their lives by buying more "stuff," but within very short time periods they find themselves dissatisfied again. The most common measure of economic prosperity used by mainstream economists is the GDP--which essentially counts up what people spend on stuff. Is it any wonder that GDP statistics do not correlate well with quality of life? No economist can afford to miss reading this book. For more on this, see The Loss of Happiness in Market Democracies and Beyond Growth: The Economics of Sustainable Development.

One of Ariely's fascinating findings is that most people would not steal money directly from someone else, but that if the fact that one is stealing is disguised even slightly, most people will do it. This principle is in my opinion why pollution, deforestation, and exhaustion of resources are so difficult to control. We wouldn't steal a fisherman's wallet, but dumping a half-gallon of chemicals in a stream seems different to us, even if the effect on the fisherman's income is the same.

I was especially intrigued by Ariely's analysis of the power of "free". Ariely doesn't mention this, but free parking is a fantastic example. One form of destructive government subsidy that many people don't know about is local regulation requiring the provision of certain numbers of parking spaces around businesses and residences. Most American localities have such regulations, which are known as parking requirements. The idea behind parking requirements is to make sure that free parking is always available. Unfortunately, the effect is to favor automobile travel over other forms of transportation, like walking, that don't require all that vehicle storage space. It's a form of enforced inefficiency. U.S. building codes also favor the automobile in other ways, such as by requiring very wide streets. Parking requirements are one of the main reasons why housing is so expensive in the U.S. The cost of parking requirements in the United States is in the hundreds of billions of dollars per year. For more on this, see Donald Shoup's book The High Cost of Free Parking.

In this book, Dan Ariely describes some of the ways people act and react to various real life economic situations. He provides great insight into context of why we do some of the things we do and supports his conclusions with examples of some of the research he has performed with other researchers.

Incredibly well written and a quick read.

The behavioral economics and studies behind this book are genuinely fascinating. It will challenge the way that you make decisions and reveal irrationality behind your most recent purchases. I had a great time reading it but I did move past some of the social recommendations that he makes in the book.

It's not that I think they are not good ideas, its just that I see them as irrelevant to the overall theme of the book. That is just the way that I read the book, but if you are interested in social commentary and possible solutions to irrationality in society, it can give you some interesting topics to think about.

Having read and loved Garth Nix's OLD KINGDOM books (SABRIEL, LIRAEL, and ABHORSEN) as well as his SEVENTH TOWER series, I had pretty high expectations when I started in on SUPERIOR SATURDAY. I wasn't
disappointed. The action moves along quickly, with new and original presentations of magic at every turn, and major and minor characters worth cheering for (or, in the case of the antagonists, against).

The sixth book in Nix's KEYS TO THE KINGDOM series picks up right where the fifth book left off, making it a little confusing to understand at first, especially if you're a newcomer to the series, like I was when reading this. The book is certainly good enough to merit your going to the library and checking out all of the previous ones in order to get up to speed, but in case your library is as negligent as mine, here's the background that I wish I could have had going in.

Our protagonist, asthmatic twelve-year-old Arthur Penhaligon, through a series of complicated circumstances described in previous novels, is taken from his home on Earth and granted the power of being the Heir to the Kingdom. Nix's complicated but fascinating universe centers around a grand House that is the epicenter of all universes, and is ruled by seven Trustees, all named for the days of the week. Within the House, each Trustee has its own domain. As the Heir, Arthur's duty is to wrest the Keys to the Kingdom from the corrupt Trustees, and to recreate the Will of the Architect, which the Trustees have consistently disobeyed. The Architect is a mysterious figure responsible for creating both the House and the "secondary realms," including Earth.

In this sixth book in the series, Arthur is up against one of the toughest of the Trustees: Superior Saturday, with her power to work great sorceries with the help of the sixth Key. With the help of friends and acquaintances throughout the House, Arthur attempts to infiltrate Saturday's portion of the House and find the sixth part of the Architect's Will. He's running out of time, though, as the dangerously corrosive Nothing eats away at the House's foundations.

Arthur must retrieve the Key, and the next part of the Will, in time to ensure that the House is not destroyed--for if the epicenter of all universes is demolished, the secondary realms that depend upon its survival will also crumble and fall, making for the end of Earth and Arthur's home.

Nix always has a unique perspective on magic, and this series is no different in that respect. His innovations draw heavily upon archetypes and numerous different branches of mythology that add a richness and texture to his world, even if the average reader does not see them all on the first read-through. I also enjoyed his characterization of Arthur, a young boy who is taking on increasingly difficult tasks and succeeding at them, so that although he is young, there is a strength and maturity to his outlook. Of course, this doesn't prevent him from having his share of doubts.

Overall, I highly enjoyed this book and would recommend the series to anyone interested in fantasy adventure.

Reviewed by: Candace Cunard

The book was good. But it wasn't what I expected. When it got to the point where the main character would normally finish what he started it just ends.

It wasn't all that good. It could of been just a bit longer and drawn out it was so rushed. but then again it makes a great steping stone for the last book as well.

In this sixth installment in the Keys to the Kingdom series by Garth Nix some readers might be disappointed some readers might be satisfied, I was the latter of the two.

It's Saturday for Arthur Penhaligon and it's not getting any easier for him, The Lower House and Far Reaches are being eaten away by nothing and there's not much that can be done to stop it and as usual Arthur has too many things to do at once, but the most important of these things if finding the sixth part of the will and the claiming the sixth key this is easier said then done as Arthur will have to claim it from the great sorcerer Superior Saturday, while doing all these things away from earth Arthur can not forget the things that are happening there, between whats happening in the secondary realms and what's happening on Earth Arthur soon realizes that the Keys are changing making him angrier towards people among other things.

Superior Saturday is a good book, to me it was not a definitely not a disappointment although one thing that did bother me was that we don't see much of Saturday since were hearing so much about this sorcerer it would be nice to see and learn more about beside that fact Garth Nix keeps us asking for more in this great series 5/5

I was very excited when Superior Saturday first came in and I got it. I will say right now that this book had all the imagination, action, and suspense that Garth Nix's previous Keys to the Kingdom books possessed. Yet, the over all story of the book seemed a litte 'rushed'. Like Garth Nix wanted nothing more than to just get this book over with already. I also thought that this book would give out more answers, but instead presented more mysteries (if you read the previous books you'll agree that the last thing we need is mysteries). And like the previous books Superior Saturday ends with a clincher. I will recommend reading Superior Saturday only to those that read the earlier novels, and I can hardly wait until Lord Sunday comes out.

I purchased this as gift, and frankly have had no feedback from the parents as of yet. However, I thought it was a fun gift to give...especially since the baby's grandfather was born in Italy and still speaks Italian. Toys are quickly outgrown, but if the CD is used, this will have a lasting impact.

My husband & I are both teachers, and we found this CD to be of excellent quality. I was truly impressed with the variety of songs & dialogue that are offered on it. It's helping both of us to improve our Italian as we teach our daughter.

The CD comes with the lyrics to the songs which is great if you like to sing to your child. It's very hard to find good italian materials for babies so this is better than anything else that I've found. It could have been so much better if it came with a colorful book to go with the rymes.

your child will instantly clap to all of the songs. I have been playing this since my child was 5 months old.

I was really happy with this CD. I'm 100% Italian, and speak Italian fluently. My parents are both Italian immigrants. This CD is great because it teaches the proper way to speak Italian, and everything is pronounced correctly. My 1 year old son loves listening to the songs. He loves one song especially. The song teaches you about different animals, and the sounds that they make. We always laugh together when we hear it. I am looking forward to finding out wether or not he will pick up Italian words from the CD. If so, my parents would be so proud. This CD is a good blend of vocabulary and music.

I am pretty sure that,if the cd was working, it is very good, but mine starts on the story number 9. It does not matter where I try playing the cd , it always starts on number 9 and there are only 10 stories. I need another cd.

I enjoyed this CD very much. I felt like I had really slept the night through and woke up refresshed at more at peace. I highly recommend this to anyone especially moms that need to relax and energize at the same time.

This was not what I expected. The good reviews led me to believe it would be great. Unfortunately, it does not do justice to the hype. Some stories are very long and are read too slowly.

Soothing bedtime stories - what a great idea! I was looking forward to listening to this CD, especially considering all the great reviews. Unfortunately, I found most of the tracks are Dr. Estes *talking about* stories rather than telling stories. There are 10 tracks on this CD. I did not expect the 38-second introduction to be a story. However, of the other nine tracks only four, in my opinion, are actually Dr. Estes telling stories. Those four are "The Sleeping Beauty", "The Lion and the Mouse Fable", "The Jumping Mouse Tale", and "Winken, Blinken and Nod". Also, listening to these stories, or at least the style in which she tells them, did not help me relax or fall asleep. For me, when I go to bed I basically want to relax and "turn off" my mind. These stories did not help me do that.

If you really want a CD that will help you relax and fall asleep, I recommend "Your Present: A Half Hour of Peace" by Susie Mantell, or "Journey into Deep Relaxation" by Doreen Blumenfeld. Those two worked for me.

I have a terrible insomnia issue at times. Clarissa has such a soothing, beautiful voice, you can't help but be relaxed listening to her. The first time I listened, I was so interested in the stories, I didn't want to fall asleep and miss the endings! But, after the first time, it was very easy to fall asleep to her soothing voice. Excellent cd for fellow-insomniacs!

I have read many of Daniel Goleman books. This CD is basically listening to Goleman breathing. Very, very disappointed after his other great works.

Basic review (preview) of 4 types of meditation.... a must for those interested in the persuit of spiritual enlightenment of any kind. Great for all religions as well...

This is a 2 CD set that includes 4 mediations: a guided body scan meditation, a breath meditation, a mindfullness mediation and a walking meditation. The body scan is about 20 minutes in length. I particulary enjoy the slowness and detail of the body scan meditation. The breath and mindfullness meditations have helped me stay focued at times when it is particularly difficult. This CD has helped me understand what to do as I sit in silence and I highly recommend this CD for people who are looking for assistance and/or guidance in mediation. (of course, the hard part of sitting and staying is still ours!!)

An older book but very clear and detailed explanation of the stages and types of meditation. A very helpful comparison on similarities and differences of the many types. Highly recommended for the serious student. May be too much information for those with general interest.

This two CD set is a wonderful introduction to meditation by a respected teacher and author. It is particularly well-suited to Western audiences although Goleman has pretty deep and thorough knowledge of the Eastern traditions. However, he sticks to the basics here which is exactly what most people need.

With respect to his choice of meditations, I agree with them completely and this combination is not always easy to find on other audio programs. Specifically, he covers breath meditation, body scan meditation, walking meditation and mindfulness meditation.

The breath meditation is important because it's a practice foundation and trains the attention to stay on the desired object. It also illicits the relaxation response and it important preparatory work for any other methods. The body scan is a nice compliment to this meditation because it focuses on body awareness, relaxing the muscles and coming into the body while getting out of the head. In short, this is great for deep relaxation and increased body awareness which often results in heightened awareness and experience of emotions as well.

The walking meditation is not something I see in a lot of audio programs, but it is well suited to people who like to move and particularly for Westerners who may not want to meditate sitting down. It uses the sensations of walking as the object of meditation and there are different levels of attention and speed that could be applied in order to match the current mind state. I particularly like walking meditation because if you are agitated, you can start out at a bit faster a clip and just focus on left.... right.... left... right... and the major sensations going on. As you become calmer, you can dial into to more subtle sensations and break the walking into more stages such as lift.... move.... and place..... As the mind slows down, you can slow down your pace following your intuition and this is often a good way to calm a very agitated mind.

The mindfulness meditation talks about the basics of a more expanded practice that widens the awareness to include other bodily sensations and emotional states. It uses the breath as an anchor for attention, but whatever is most coming up can be used as a temporary object. This increases the practioners awareness of sensations, subtle emotional states, etc. This increased awareness carries over to daily life and overall the meditation form a good progression.

All of the meditations are short, maybe around 15-20 minutes. This is a good length for a beginner and the audio program doesn't contain so much detail to be overwhelming. There is also a lot of useful commentary, but he keeps it simple and clean. I am confident to recommend this product to first time meditators without reservation.

As you progress, you may want to purchase BREATH BY BREATH by Rosenberg and then maybe Buddhadassa Bikkhu's MINDFULNESS WITH BREATHING - A Guide for Serious Beginners. The latter of these two is a big step up all at once. However, it is concise, an excellent refernce and makes a nice forward progression from BREATH BY BREATH. You can check out my listmania list for additional meditation resources which appears on my profile. You may have to page through more than one page to get to it because I've done quite a few lists.