Audiobook Books

This is one of the most offensive books I have read about marriage--this book demeans both men and women. I am a SAHM of three kids, been married since 2000, and know that putting out and putting my needs last doesn't work. It creates resentment. I do not fit the horrible stereotype of women (bitty, nagger, manipulator) Dr. Laura writes about. The premise of the book is that women cause the problems in their marriages (pretty much all by themselves). But the truth is that it's not all a man's or a woman's fault usually. Marriage is a two-way street.

Just be prepared to know that Dr. Laura says you should shag your hubby as often as he wants it--even if he doesn't talk to you or help around the house or meet your needs. Somehow that will magically fix everything wrong in your marriage.

I know this book is going to infuriate all the feminists out there who demand women are equal to men and feel absolutely horrified at the idea of putting out to make their husband happy. But ladies, deal with her advice- it works. She makes some compelling arguments and is not afraid to state the numerous practical ideas that can help save or revitalize a marriage. It's time for women to stop being to PC about everything, and realize that if they do not want to end up divorced, they should pay attention to what Dr. Laura says. As for her degree- I've known numerous therapists and psychologists who were so far off I am quite certain they purchased their degree. So what if she is a physiologist by training? At the end of the day, she makes compelling arguments and her ideas WORK. If women are interested in saving their marriage, they'll get over their pride and all the I'm-a-woman-hear-me-roar business and follow her advice.

A must have book for future brides and wives alike! This book changed my understanding of men, especially my husband - I have made many positive changes in how I love and treat my husband!

This is an excellent book. She opened my eyes to how discriminatory our society can be in the way men are portrayed on TV, etc. and how their desires become secondary to the woman's. It definitely shows that men deserve a lot more respect than many are getting. It's been great for my marriage!

Dr. Schlessinger's advice is right on.
If you are looking for a GREAT relationship - she's got a valuable point of view.

There is currently a war between men and women in our culture that inevitably threatens our relationships if we do not bring awareness to the fact that it exists and are not mindful of our unconscious participation in it.
Her point is very direct: on the whole, women want relationship, so since we want it, why trash men so much? I am impressed by her honesty about this volatile issue because she is really interested in people having great, supportive, respectful, loving and satisfying relationships, and is not afraid to suggest that dropping the war with men can be the answer.
I also highly recommend Ariel and Shya Kane's books: How to Create a Magical Relationship and Being Here: Modern Day Tales of Enlightenment. They address how to have a relationship that is satisfying and magical by dropping both the war with men and the need to be 'independent' when what we really want is to be in a satisfying relationship. I deeply appreciate both Dr. Schlessinger's and the Kane's refreshingly direct points of view!
Many thanks.

Like all the Arkangel Shakespeare, this production of "Julius Caesar" is great listening. I've listened to it many times and I never get tired of hearing it. I'd especially single out for praise the superb sound effects: the thunderstorm early in the play sounds so real you almost feel wet! Highly recommended.

These audio CDs were a valuable addition to my unit. Students were able to hear the text's tone, inflection, and nuances and then more accurately pattern their own oral readings after that of the professional actors on the CD. The CDs also aided students' comprehension. I used them with Acts 4 and 5, and next year I will play the key speeches in Act 3 for students before we engage in role play. Students read along in their texts while listening to the audio.

I have used this version in teaching Julius Caesar to sophomores in high school with great luck. The actual length of each scene shows on my computer (Windows Media Player), so I can plan lessons appropriately. The actors do an excellent job and my students enjoy listening as they follow along in the lit. texts. I whole-heartedly endorse this item.

High School English students never loved Julius Caesar, and the dated movie versions that our school owns don't help any. This recording brings the emotion of the story to life, and I think my sophomores secretly enjoyed it (but would die before they admitted it.)

Grammar Girl's, Quick and Dirty Tips is really a condensed, audio version of The Elements of Style, excluding the section, (in The Elements of Style) on the approach to style.

Though it is not as detailed as Strunk and Whites excellent work, and should not be considered a replacement for it, it is a worthy addition to it. The emphasis in Mignon Fogarty's Work is on punctuation and proper use of confusing word groups.

The one thing that I really like about this CD is that it holds my interest; with Fogarty's cheerful and perky voice, it is easy for me to listen to, and absorb, while on the road at work. This maximizes my study time.

The information is solid, and chock full of information that aspiring and experienced writers alike, will find useful. The more we both hear, and read about the elements of style, the more it improves our writing skills. Repetition after all is at the core of habit development.

Combine your listening time of this CD, with your study time of The Elements of Style, and you will be certain to rapidly increase your writing skills

I'm a professional writer with a dirty secret: I don't know my gerunds from my dangling participles, but mostly go off of what feels right, thanks to a lifetime of voracious reading (and, of course, my AP Stylebook).

Grammar Girl to the rescue! She breaks down sometimes thorny grammatical questions in a real world, no-nonsense way. Although she herself is interested in a lot of the fiddly aspects of grammar, she writes (and podcasts -- this is a cleaned-up collection of past podcasts) for those who just want to know how to write better.

There may be someone who can't benefit by listening to Grammar Girl's audiobook -- although I certainly don't know anyone who couldn't -- but even they would be charmed by her presentation and clever examples.

A must-buy for anyone who has ever wanted to improve their writing, whether for professional purposes or just for personal ones.

I was very disappointed in this CD on grammar.

First, the voice is so far from polished that it grates severely
on the ear. Second, I listened as far as the disjointed analysis of
affect/effect and just gave up.

I've enjoyed Grammar Girl's podcast, and this book is a delightful addition to my reference collection. As a former English as a foreign language teacher I wish this had been around during my teaching days. Each topic is a lesson in itself complete with excellent examples and no-nonsense explanations. My teaching days are over, but my love of grammar and learning are not. I recommend this book to anyone who loves a good sense of humor and a nicely turned out sentence.

I really enjoy listening to Grammar Girl. She's not just for people who want to improve their writing! It's a very enjoyable short listen on topics of interest. The one big downside about the podcasts is that you have to listen to the sponsorship ads before and after the Quick & Dirty tip of the day. I think this CD (with no ads!) would make a delightful gift for anyone.

Haven't read the book yet, but the way Amazon sent it was awful!
I submitted an order for this book and an order for canned goods. They arrived together in one box. The book had just been tossed in with the cans and you can imagine what shape the book was in. I had assumed the book would have been boxed or wrapped separately, even if they put it into the larger box of canned items. Makes you wonder what kind of idiots work in their shipping department and what kind of supervision is in place at Amazon. In the future I will never order a book WITH any other item.

When I first picked up this book, I was concerned that it would simply be a lesson on how plants and animals would overtake our cities and houses once humans had disappeared from our planet. That is a major part of the book, but I never found it to be overdone. The parts of the book that I loved were the history and places that are explored in this book. From the DMZ zone in Korea to the nuclear fallout of Chernobyl to the beginnings of human history in Africa. There is a lot more to this book than should be judged from the cover.

I also loved the look into the everyday things that we use and how they affect the world around us. It really made me think about how small changes in what I use could make a difference.

This book is great for anyone interested in the effect that humans have had and are having on this world.

Alan Weisman's book is an extension of a previous essay article, and unfortunately, that is how it often reads. The chapters (and sections within chapters) jump from subject to subject and through different time lines without real feeling for order or reason. The statements he makes are backed up by well researched evidence and via discussion with some very interesting characters but sometimes, one gets lost in trying to figure out what the point is of each section, rather than go with the flow.

However, he does make some very interesting and important points in regards to human impact and the fact that there are large numbers of species and populations that will not even notice that we are gone. He does also point out the fact that some of our inventions are likely to still be hanging around for mellenia and beyond.

Overall it is an interesting read, though I feel that if it was written by someone with more of a science background rather than journalistic, than it would have made for excellent reading.

Weisman offers us an interesting glimpse of how the world would be if humanity ceased to exist tomorrow. He explores several interesting places around the world and asks experts in various Fields such as Plastics, Horticulture, Forestry, Pertroleum, and others how long it would take for various manmade structures to deteriorate and what the effects of this would be?

Over all he makes it sound as though 20th and 21st Century humans are a Bane to the Earth and it would be better for us to become extinct. He does however show how many people are making progress in making others aware of environmental condidtions and trying to reverse their impact.

His best chapter describes what would happen to New York City if people disappeared and there was no one left to repair the infrastructure. He describes how the roads, buildings, sewers, subways, and other manmade objects would slowly disappear into the reemerging forest like Ur of the Chaldees disappeared into the Desert when the course of the Euphrates changed.

Another chapter I found interesting was the one on the Petroleum producing centers of the Houston and Galveston areas in Texas. The 'nuclear winter' that might hapen if humans disappeared and the fascilities fell into disrepair and exploded. This was especially poignant this week as the Colonial Pipeline mentioned was shut down By hurricane Gustav and we all the way east in Charlotte NC has no Gasoline!!

I would say it is a great book to make you more environmentally conscious. It is also a great What if to make you ponder a Future without us.

A wonderful book. Anyone who cares about the world they live it should read it. And those that do not should read it twice.

What a great guide for information, descriptions, color,and feel. I liked how the pages felt like they had a protective coating over them. This book will last a long time it the field.

Very good collection of bird songs. Great companion to 'Field Guide to the Birds of Eastern and Central North America'. Includes list of songs and calls. Very interesting!

The CD is marvelous! Bird songs that I have heard for years now can be identified. Birds that I did not realize are in our area can be given a name. The CD coordinates with Peterson's 5th Edition Field Guide to Birds of Eastern & Central North America.

On the positive side, there are a LOT of different bird songs recorded in this cd. It would be much more user-friendly, however, if each track contained only one bird. The sheer number of different bird songs, combined with the not-so-convenient access to individual bird songs, makes this cd more appropriate as a comprehensive reference for use with the written field guide, or perhaps a field guide for someone already an expert, rather than a usable field guide for a more casual birder. Not something I would recommend if you simply want a cd that will help you recognize common bird songs as you are walking through the woods.

A good CD and helpful index booklet. A booklet with color pictures of the male and female birds would be a helpful option even if it was at an additional cost.

This is a copy for our 3 year old because our 10 year old wants to keep his forever!
What a fun story to read to any child!

My two nieces and I read this one all the time.

Gritch the Witch needs piggies to make the piggy pie she craves. But pigs are very clever animals (trufax!), and they quickly disguise themselves.

Every time Gritch asks one of the (disguised) animals where the pigs are, they hilariously quack quack, moo moo, and cluck cluck her all over the farm! Eventually she stops before the Old MacDonald, the man himself, for him to look look here, look look there, etc. and tell her the same as everybody else - no piggies!

All her tantrums don't help. She can't have piggy pie :(

Even the Big Bad Wolf sympathizes, while both of them plot, at the end, to eat the other.

Very funny book. Every page, every word and illustration. My nieces (5 and 2.5) even act this one out!

Only thing is that sometimes they get scared of it, occasionally for a week or two at a time. Other times they bring it out to me and request it, but sometimes they're scared and won't have anything to do with it. Kinda like a roller coaster, maybe?

Check this one out at the library, see if it suits your child's temperment, and consider that it might be better meant for an older child.

Also, be aware that Gritch, being a Wicked Witch, isn't a very nice person. Aside from her tantrums, she insults nearly everybody in the book when they give her the bad news - dumb duck, lousy seed spreader, walking milk machine - and threatens them as well. If this sort of thing concerns you, please be aware of it.

This is one of my favorite children's book and I love to give it as a gift.
As a Kindergarten teacher it is my pick!

My family loves this book. My husband reads it to my children, ages 13, 5, and 1. They love it, he does the voices of the characters, which is great fun for everyone. My oldest says this is her favorite book from when she was little. I'm buying copies for my toddler aged neice and nephew.

This fractured folktale is about a witch that is craving some `Piggie Pie.' She goes through her pantry and finds she has everything she needs except for that all important ingredient--PIGGIES! At first she is outraged but eventually composes herself and devises a plan. Where can she find a piggy? The zoo? The circus? She finally decides that the best place to secure some pigs would be on a farm. After looking through the yellow pages, she travels to Old MacDonald's farm to grab the missing ingredient. She gives her victims a warning as she writes in the clouds, "Surrender Piggies!" The pigs devise their own plan; they plot to outsmart the witch by dressing up as other farm animals. They fool her by disguising themselves as ducks, cows, chickens, and even old MacDonald. When the big bad wolf happens to come along, he offers advice to the witch and tells her to give up--after all, he remembers those 3 pig brothers! Now, her taste changes from piggie to wolf and she graciously invites him over for `lunch'...
Piggie Pie is a delightful story that incorporates several classic folktales including The Three Little Pigs, Old MacDonald nursery rhyme, the traditional evil witch as the villain, and the famous three little pigs. Due to the structure of this book, students will improve their understanding of the different subcategories of traditional literature. The author includes descriptive language such as repetition, alliteration, expressive language, and affective adjectives that highlight the text and bring the story to life. Such examples include the witch describing her tasty meal options with phrases like "boiled, black, buzzed feet" and "plump, juicy, pink piggies." This whimsical, witty story will capture student's attention and can be used as a model to enhance their understanding of what it means to read like a writer.
Throughout the book, Palatini's text enhances student's vocabulary and contains repetitive phonemes that enrich their growth as a reader. As Cunningham describes, tongue twisters, like ones found in the text, play a crucial role in developing students' phonemic awareness. For example, "eight plump piggies for piggie pie" is a silly and fun phrase that the students will enjoy saying and simultaneously will develop their oral language. Students will be exposed to new vocabulary words, such as curdle, passel, and muttered. Encourage students to use elements of Palatini's writing and transfer her techniques over when creating their own literature.

The author spent a considerable number of years living in an isolated small South Dakota home, and began frequenting monasteries for intellectual stimulation - hardly a good foundation for a vigorous intellectual life. Much stronger alternatives included moving to a larger city or becoming employed as a high-school or junior college instructor, heavy use of the Internet (reading respected sources such as the New York Times and Wall Street Journal, and posting her own thoughts), and use of satellite TV.

Whatever your spiritual path, or your curiosity about things spiritual, Kathleen Norris is a worthy guide. She chooses a discursive path through her own life. She's honest,frank and remarkably open.

Acedia may be an unfamiliar word, but from the moment Norris first describes it, you will recognize it. The vice of "not caring" is familiar to us all at least occasionally. The effect of acedia on Norris' marriage, prayer, writing, life helps us to understand how relevant her portrayal is for us today.

Her forays into explanations of acedia, its causes and effects are just deep enough. We return to her story with a renewed sense of her life's struggle.

It's been fifteen years since Kathleen Norris captured the spiritual imagination of readers with memoirs about leaving New York City for Lemmon, South Dakota (Dakota: A Spiritual Geography, 1993), and drinking deep at the well of monastic spirituality (Cloister Walk, 1996). Having passed her sixtieth birthday, her latest book reflects a maturing vision of what authentic Christian identity might look like for the contemporary pilgrim. Partly a story of love and lament for her husband David who died of cancer in 2003 at the age of fifty-seven, part historical and theological inquiry, and part psychological analysis, Norris weaves these themes around a singular plot about what the early desert monastics called the "noonday demon" of acedia.

The Greek word acedia has a semantic range that is broad, complex, and elastic. Translators pile up the synonyms: torpor, malaise, ennui, listlessness, apathy and even sloth. Acedia figures prominently in the lives and literature of the early monastics who fled the chaos and clamor of the cities, only to discover a cacophony of voices in the human heart. Norris relates how she too has battled acedia since her teenage years, although she did not always know what it was. Trying to identify with precision just what this ancient and arcane experience really is proves elusive.

Is acedia an external attack by the devil? Interior bad thoughts? A temptation you can resist? How do personality types, your inherited neurobiology, family of origin, and developmental psychology inform the analysis? Most important of all is the similarity between acedia and clinical depression. Is acedia a spiritual sin or a medical sickness? Maybe both at the same time? Is this a matter of "do not," "will not" or "cannot" (204)? Norris is acutely aware of this dangerous territory; she knows that in our contemporary culture to distinguish between acedia and depression "can make one suspicious of being in denial, or worse, of judging people who are ill as being morally deficient." She admits that teasing out distinctions is murky and wants to avoid the "false assurances of either/or thinking" (268; cf. 35). But she draws upon her own experiences and the reflections of writers like Evagrius, Kierkegaard, Dante, and contemporary psychiatrists to maintain that whatever their many similarities, acedia and depression are not the same.

Readers can judge for themselves whether Norris succeeds in her task. At times I thought of the joke that when all you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail. For example, her final chapter is called "Acedia: A Commonplace Book" (289-329); it simply quotes without comment about 125 authors across four thousand years who speak broadly about her theme. A related problem is that the subject dies the death of a thousand qualifications, resulting in a distinction without a clear difference. Norris herself is a wise spiritual pilgrim, but an unintended consequence of her book might be that it encourages popular self-analysis of a complicated phenomenon by sufferers who are far less adept than she is, and who ought to seek professional help (whether spiritual or medical).

Let the scholars howl, says Norris (47). She knows her own story, she knows the early monastics and modern studies, and she's done her homework. She points us toward genuine human wholeness, to greater self-knowledge and less self-consciousness, and to the deep longing of Sarapion of Thmuis (4th century), "Lord! We entreat you, make us truly alive." Acedia and Me might be Norris's most controversial book; it also might be her best one.

Norris says in the introduction to this book that she's been working on it for a long, long time, gathering materials, reading, and writing. I suspect that what she was waiting for - consciously or intuitively - was an organizing structure. She never found it.

"Acedia & Me" is full of lots of wisdom and reflection on the spiritual problem of depression/apathy/boredom/distraction, as well as a smattering of wonderful quotes and stories from church literature that has been largely forgotten by the church, and stories about her husband's illnesses, and her own battles with depression (etc.) and quotes from modern authors about society's ills, and... anything else that managed to fall into her file marked "Acedia" over the years.

The problem is that it's barely organized at all. And at 327 pages, it's an awful lot of unorganized notes and thoughts. Some things repeat almost verbatim; often variations on the same theme are twenty pages apart. It gets kind of hard to keep plugging through after the first hundred pages or so; while new stuff does turn up now and then, maintaining a sense of progression through the book is almost impossible.

There is an awful lot of great stuff here. Norris has diagnosed a problem in society and written some excellent words of insight and reflection about it.

Too bad she never found that organizing structure.

This is a really stunning book, poised on the boundary between psychology and religion. What to do about that stuporous state of motionless that is not quite severe depression but is also more than just a temporary sadness or bad mood? It seems to be a problem that afflicts writers in particular, and Norris writes eloquently about it. I felt like she described what therapists have described as dysthymia and my parents see as lack of discipline precisely, insightfully, and helpfully. The interweaving of her exploration of literary and religious sources with her own personal narrative is fascinating and enlightening for the reader. Reading this book gave me hope and courage to face my own difficulties.

The poetry of Hafiz is beautiful, delicate and hits you right between the eyes.
I came to Hafiz via Rumi and while I can't easily tell you that one or the other is better, it is Hafiz I go back to most often for his purity, love, enthusiasm, humor, grit and how he can grab you when and where you dont expect.
The poems on this CD are read with a seductive love that suits the content, every poem convincing me more and again that it is by love we see the face of God, in anything.
Obviously, I love this CD. Not all Rumi fans are so easily shifted in their loyalty... but it's worth the time to find out how you feel about Hafiz.

I had never read Hafiz before purchasing this disk, but now you can say that I am enamored. Music accompanies the written word to make the flow lovely.

I ADORE this CD!!!
Immersing oneself in Hafiz's verse this way is such a perfect way to experience the beauty of his poerty. I have listened to this CD about 25-30 times now and yet each time a new depth in my heart is touched.
This CD is most likely not for everyone. It speaks only to those ripe and ready to open to the ancient and estatic wonders of Hafiz's poetry.
I implore the creators to PLEASE DO MORE of these wonderful CDs and make sure Nataraja Killio is "THE VOICE." His is the perfect voice for Hafiz's works.

Beautiful beyond my expectations! When this arrived I popped it into the CD player to check it out (I took a chance on buying it) - I immediately realized it wasn't for casual listening, so I sat down to REALLY listen - and appreciate. It was worth every minute! When you are feeling quiet (or want to be) - treat yourself to this - it's very Heart-Centering!

This is a great book. its intense at first, then its slows down but it picks right up.
but it is awesome, there are so many unexpected ( i didnt expect them at least)twists and when you think you got it figured out, you dont.
i really recommend it to anyone who likes mystery or has ever thought about a quickie. lol

I always look forward to reading the next James Patterson book, and this one certainly did not dissapoint me...it was wonderful, suspense filled, and kept me turning pages! I finished it in less than a day...and it left me now to wait for his next one...Keep em coming!

This is the first book by Patterson I read. I only checked it out from the library because the book I wanted was checked out and I had seen The Quickie on one of those best murder mystery novel lists on the side of amazon pages when you're browsing. I expected to take about two weeks to read the book. I finished it in two days! For a man, he tells one hell of a story from a woman's point of view, and his chapters are so short you never want to put it down. You always feel like the conflict is done, but then something else comes up. Fabulous plot and twist after twist!

Once again, James Patterson and his cohorts disappoints. Why do I keep returning for more torture? Because, I remember the great Patterson books Alex Cross series, and The Women's Murder Club books.

In THE QUICKIE, the plot sounded like a fun read......

Lauren, a Homicide Detective decides to surprise her hubby for lunch, and discovers he's fooling around with someone else. Lauren gets even by having an affair herself.

Once the story got going the plot was so far-fetched, it was laughable. The only saving grace was that the reader of this audio book, Mary Stuart Masterson, did a great job reading the ridiculous story, and I hung on until the end. Why? I'm not sure.

BORROW this one.

Disappointed, only stuck with first half of story because author usually is so good, in my opinion. Had to push to read until second half or so, then pace, interest and prose picked up to what I expect from this author.

Almost seemed like two different authors wrote two separate sections of book!!!