Audiobook Books

Alice and Wonderland was one of my favorite stories when I was a kid. Although Disney had done the productions for the story album, the original is just wonderful. Jim Dale is fantastic. I laughed my head off a couple of times. His approach to the story put me in tuned with the characters that it made the storyline even more enjoyable.

I haven't yet bought this. I have other Jim Dale narrations and find his performances consistently excellent.

I had a quick question before I buy this.

Does this recording include Through the Looking Glass as well ? The description on Amazon does not specify that.

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is an unabridged audiobook production of Lewis Carroll's classic children's storybook of a young girl lost in a magical land of fantasy. Read aloud by Grammy and Audie Award-winning performer Jim Dale, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is a delightful performance that adroitly captures this whimsical spirit of the story. Highly recommended as a giftbook to listeners of all ages, as well as for public library audiobook collections. 3 CDs, 2 hours 57 minutes.

Is there *anyone* on the planet who doesn't like Beverly Cleary's books and the wonderful characters she created?

Beezus and Ramona (along with Henry Huggins and the rest of the gang on Klikitak Street) were part of my childhood. 40 years later, they were just as appealing to my own son. And don't tell anyone -- although we bought these audiobooks when he was about 8, at 12 he still likes to put these on ocassionally and listen. Why? In large part because of Stockard Channing's masterful performance here. Her rendition of Ramona is EXACTLY how we imagine this impish little creature would talk.

I highly recommend these books, both because of the delightful stories and characters that Mrs. Clearly created for us, and because Stockard Channing has brought them to life so perfectly here. The stories are reminiscent of simpler times and will take parents back to their own childhoods while providing toddlers to tweens with good, wholesome entertainment.

We listened on road trips, and unlike certain kids entertainment (a certain purple dinosaur comes to mind), you won't want the kids to wear headphones to preserve your sanity. You'll want it on the main speakers for everyone in the car to enjoy.

Five stars!

The power of thought has more influence in our physical and mental health than we can imagine. A group of Western and Eastern influencial people work together to discover how our own thinking creates changes in our brain. This book has already changed my brain This is one of many great books that talk about neuroplasticity. I strongly recommend this book to anyone and everyone.

This was a very good read on a subject--the brain, neuroplasticity, and the power of the mind--that I have long found particularly interesting. The author writes very eloquently, and at times, in just such a way that I felt was also quite touching. I found this to be an absorbing book, both due to the nature of the subject matter and the writer's wonderful ability to present it. I would highly recommend this book, especially to anyone with a bit higher than average curiosity regarding this particular sort of subject matter. If you are looking for a "self-help" style of book, written in a more personal style, this is not that book.

Train Your Mind Change Your Brain
By Sharon Begley
We no longer live in a world where our mind is set in stone. Sharon Begley makes the science of Neuroplasticity and mind science not only comprehensible but meaningful on a very personal level. For anyone who meditates and wonders about the effects of meditation on the brain. [...]

In this extrodinary book is one statement I disagree with. That is that Christianity presents more of a conflict with the results of the scientific research on the human brain than another religion. I think if the author will read Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis she will find out how well the Faith lines up with the scietific research!!

Sharon Begley's "Train Your Mind Change Your Brain" does a fine job of exploring the science of neuroplasticity which upends long thought beliefs that the brain becomes hardwired early in life and can't be changed other than through physical techniques like medication, etc. Rather, by concentrating one's thinking in certain ways, actual physical changes can be effected in the brain. That is, the brain affects the mind and the mind affects the brain, a two-way process. Plus, she shows how actual scientific testing proves this, both in animals and humans.

She sees Buddhism as an example of neuroplasticity in action.

The book offers a lot of things to ponder. These are the ones which stuck with me:

1. Unlike most other religions, there is no antagonism between Buddhism and science. Experience comes first, then reason, then scripture.

2. A shrunken hippocampus in the brain exists with depression, but not sure which came first. The result being the inability to recognize novelty.

3. The brain's cortical representation of the reading finger of proficient Braille readers is enlarged at the expense of other fingers. Such reader's brain's visual cortex is active, not just the somatosensory cortex, hence brain plasticity.

4. The loss of vision early in childhood, or before, makes peripheral hearing sharper, just as loss of hearing makes peripheral vision sharper.

5. Dyslexia can be at least partially ameliorated by behavior remediation actually repairing left temporal brain region dysfunction, therefore plasticity of the brain.

6. People who have lost a limb undergo some brain reorganization. For example, a missing hand can generate an itch relieved by scratching one's lower face. Also, stroke victims can benefit like from putting one's good arm in a sling to force the person to use the bad arm, resulting in repairing the brain by using the mind to concentrate on using the bad arm.

7. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) patients, by certain mental action can change the brain chemistry thereby preventing OCD.

8. For piano players, mentally rehearsing can activate the same brain circuits as actually physically rehearsing.

9. Genes can be silent or active, with the environment capable of activating the silent ones. For example, a child with an attentive mother will likely also become an attentive parent. However, a child with an inattentive mother will likely be an inattentive parent, however can also become an attentive parent if adopted later by an attentive mother.

10. Levels of brain hormones, oxytocin and vasopressin, can affect social bonding and parental care. Things like being very poor in a very rich country can cause a lack of these hormones, for example.

11. Cognitive functions (concentrating) can trigger emotional functions. For example, with Buddhist meditation it is possible to eliminate emotions of anger, hate, jealousy, envy, and greed.

12. "The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders", used by therapists, considers normality to be not having such disorders. However, no concentration of positive mental states like happiness, contentment, curiosity, drive, engagement and compassion. Why?

I have the original hardcover of this book and LOVED IT as a kid. I bought this book for a friend who was having a baby. I did not get to use the CD, so I do not have much to say about that feature, but the story is great and stretches kids minds into a world of imagination and fun.

Four favorite Car Talk shows selected by Tom and Ray Magliozzi (aka Click and Clack, the Tappet Brothers) are presented in this winning collection, from a visit by Martha Stewart to 'Bugsy' Lawlor's letters home, this offers broadcast radio drama at its best and is a pick any 'Car Talk' fan will relish.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

Many of these episodes are already on their other CD's. In fact one CD is dedicated to Mother's Day and is almost a duplicate of the Maternal Combustion CD. With so many programs and so few CD's I don't know why they duplicate them.

As a marital therapist, I highly recommend this book for those who have gone through an affair!

This says it was an unabridged version. The product that was sent to me was clearly marked "abridged." I bought the book too so I noticed how much was cut out of the audiotape. Book is excellent. Too much was missing from the tape.

It works at all stages. If you are trying to rebuild your marriage or just trying to rebuild yourself, read this book. The author helps you understand what you may be going through and how the other person may feel. I also strongly recommend the author's other book I Love You. Now What?: Falling in Love is a Mystery, Keeping It Isn't

After the Affair is the most balanced and helpful book I've read on the subject of affairs.

I actually read the author's second book, "How Can I Forgive You," before reading this one. I thought *that* book was spot-on, and her views on forgiveness rang very true with me. She basically says that genuine forgiveness must be earned by the other party and can be achieved when the victim no longer has to hold the wrongdoer accountable for his / her actions, but when the wrongdoer holds themselves accountable for them. While that book applies to many other situations besides infidelity, she really seemed to understand where the betrayed party was coming from.

Having read other books on infidelity, I read this book to see if it would be as helpful. This book was rather disappointing to me, and after reading several other reviews on this board, I'm glad to know that at least I'm not the only one to feel that way.

First of all, I take issue with what Dr. Spring says in her introduction, "I don't make blanket judgments about whether affairs are, in themselves, good or bad"......WHAT???? I'm really not sure why we can't all agree that affairs are bad. It often doesn't go over well when you tell someone who was sexually betrayed, disregarded, disrespected, and lied to that what was done to them "wasn't necessarily bad." Should we also try to say that stealing isn't necessarily good or bad too?

She then says, "What may be enhancing for one of you may devastate the other, and destroy the relationship." Uh, yes- but this is THE MAIN REASON WHY affairs are bad- it's one partner putting his/her own self-gratification first at the expense of the other partner, despite promises made NOT to do this. Cheating, no matter what form it takes- whether it's "cheating" as in infidelity or whether it's "cheating" at a game of Monopoly, you are denying someone else fair treatment. So, in what universe is this "not necessarily bad?"

The tone of her book didn't seem to place enough responsibility on the betraying partner. This book may serve to help the betraying partner feel better about what they did, but it sure won't help the betrayed partner feel as good about what was done to them.

If there are some cases where both partners do contribute to the affair happening, there isn't really much cold, hard evidence of that. I certainly don't believe that to be the case in ALL affairs, so I was really put off by her common "one-size-fits-all" approach to this. I feel that therapists all too often use this approach to make their jobs easier, but it often isn't helpful to both parties, which I thought was the goal.

She does say that the cheating spouse is ultimately responsible for their actions, but assumes that the faithful spouse helped to create the atmosphere in the marriage that contributed to the affair. Sometimes, this just isn't the case. How about when the faithful spouse sees their partner acting differently in the relationship, and makes many attempts to reach out to them, but the cheating spouse refuses their help?

There are many betrayed partners out there that never turned their partner down for sex, and did everything to make them feel special, needed, loved and secure, yet still had this happen. Affairs can happen in marriages that were otherwise happy.

Sure, both parties may have valid grievances in the relationship, but how is it that one partner is able to confront theirs honestly and fairly while the other dealt with their issues by sneaking around, lying and cheating? How about when one feels entitled to seek their fun elsewhere because they believe "men need it more" or holds other similar double-standards? The betrayed party didn't cause the other spouse's feelings of entitlement or lack of integrity. There may be blame on both sides for things gone wrong, but to assume both parties share blame *equally* is a mistake.

I also don't think it should be assumed that the betraying partner dealt with most of the pain in the relationship, "causing" them to do what they did, or that the source of pain necessarily was the spouse of the betraying partner. We all experience stress in our lives, and it comes from many sources, not just from our spouse. And often, it is the betraying partner that has issues that cause most of the pain / problems in the relationship.

I do think this book still has some good points. When she describes the "normal" range of feelings of someone who has been betrayed, it helped me understand that I was not alone. I took what she wrote to mean that these feelings are "normal" for someone to experience under the circumstances, as a result of the damage caused by betrayal. I also liked that she shared stories of many other couples who went through this.

All in all, I think you should take what you can from the book, but the all too common "two parties contributing" theory with a grain of salt.

A not perfect, but better read on the subject I can suggest is: "Private Lies" by Frank Pittman.

I am learning Latin on my own. The audio CD has been extremely helpful in learning how to read Latin. The production is professionally done, with a cast of voice actors, music and dramatization which helps with comprehension.

The audio dramatizations bring Latin to life.

I am addicted now. I started with Sue Grafton's first three books on audio. My husband had them in his collection. Since then I have ordered the next 6 in the alphabet series. I have to drive for my job and these books on CDs make it a short trip!

Really like using this form when taking long trips - makes the time fly but doesn't distract from driving. Her stories are always interesting and if you like this series, these are good ones.

I ordered the disc after I had bought the ABC stories. The stories themselves are not great, but I enjoyed the excellent narration and on the whole the disc is pretty amusing. I think I will buy the whole alphabet.

I have enjoyed all Sue Graftons' books and they are all good. She keeps your attention and interest all through the book

All of Sue Grafton's alphabet detective series books are good and fun to listen to. I find them all very entertaining and these are no exception. If you like to listen to books on CD as you drive these are an excellent choice.

this is T S Eliot's poetry as he heard it in his own mind, without "interpretation" by an actor, an unmissable experience. The recordings are archive material, so not up to modern standards, but that is a small price to pay!

This was better than expected. I read a lot, esp TSE, have many cds of recorded poetry and already had recordings of his work by "specialist" or celebrity actors, most absolutely dissappointing: you get the feeling that they were going for an effect without having grasped the essences of TSE's poetry, especially wrt the Wasteland from a recorded version of which I expect a lot of specific nuances and hues. When I ordered this product, I didn't set my expectation too high, as poets, though they are the creators, are not always necessarily the best oral communicators. However, TSE was not only amazing in his delivery, pace and colour, his readings actually gave me fresh insights, in some cases revelatory. This is an absolute must for any lovers of poetry. I must add, I was quite surprised at the extent of his accent's anglification.

You can hear The Waste Land as it was meant to be heard. T. S. Eliot's reading made the poem come alive. Be warned. Not all of the CD is high quality recordings. Some have background noise. Some are low quality. I don't think the tracks are listed anywhere, so I'll list them for you.

1. La Figlia Che Piange
2. The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock
3. Gerontion
4. Sweeney Among the Nightingales
5. The Waste Land
6. The Hollow Men
7. The Journey of the Magi
8. Ash-Wednesday
9. East Coker

This is worth it for The Wate Land alone. The rest is just icing on the cake.

This audio CD is a must-have for all fans of T. S. Eliot. Poetry is supposed to be read out loud; it is a pleasure and privilege to hear one of the greatest poets of the 20th century read his poems out loud, allowing us to hear the lines the way they were meant to be heard--and read.

This collection contains a short book with an introduction by J. D. McClatchy and the text of all the poem found on the audio CD. The CD contains 9 tracks: La Figlia Che Piange, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, Gerontion, Sweeney Among the Nightingales, The Waste Land, The Hollow Men, The Journey of the Magi, Ash-Wednesday, and East Coker. The poems are arranged in chronological order, offering insights into the development of both language and themes throughout Eliot's career.

The first track, "La Figlia Che Piange," is one of Eliot's earliest poems and explores, like much of his earlier poetry, the frustrations of a young man and thwarted love. It is a lovely short poem, full of the images that Eliot is well known for. Published at the same time (in the same volume in fact) was also "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock." One of the most well known poems, "The Love Song" is a culmination of Eliot's early poetry.

The highlight of the CD is the reading of "The Waste Land." The epic poem is the longest found in this collection, going over 25 minutes. "The Waste Land" by far is one of my personal favorites and I have read it countless of time. However, reading the poem along with this CD has allowed me to shed new meaning to this enormously difficult and marvelous poem. Eliot dramatizes his reading, allowing the dozens of narratives and narrators to come through. Spinning a multifaceted account of the deterioration of society in the early 20th century, a collage of the decay of love and fidelity, a haunting vision of the death of man and his rebirth; all shifting through time and space, drawing upon different histories and languages and cultures, all coalesced through the eyes of Tiresias. Indeed, "a heap of broken images."

"The Hollow Men" is the worst quality recording found on this CD. However it is still evocative as ever. Eliot's hypnotizing monotone, which prevails much of his readings, is exetremely effective in this case, bringing to life the hopelessness and stagnation of the hollow men.

"The Journey of the Magi" is a particularly fitting poem for December and the holiday season. It marks a progression of Eliot's poetry to more theological themes yet still picks on Eliot's fascination with death and rebirth, ending and beginnings.

"East Coker" is the second highlight of the CD. It is the last track and also one of the last poems Eliot composed before his death in 1965. "East Coker" is the second volume in his masterpiece "The Four Quartets." The poem draws upon Eliot's study into Christianity, philosophy, and mysticism. It is a deep exploration of the meaning of time and change. The poem is almost 15 minutes on the CD. Eliot's reading highlights his supreme command of the English language, his sophistication in diction, rhythm and meter. The first and last of the "East Coker" is engraved on Eliot's grave site in England as his chosen epitaph: in my beginning is my end, in my end is my beginning.

This is a well chosen collection of poems which highlights the body of Eliot's work. Hearing the poems being read by their author is a valuable experience. I definitely recommend this to anyone who reads Eliot and would like to learn more about his poetry.

It is a great experience to hear the voice of this master poet.

I ordered this out of the blue because of my love for animals and a dream to be like Dr. Doolittle. After listening to Carol I believe with all my heart that communication is possible. I highly reccomend this to anyone with love and an open heart. You won't be able to stop smiling or to turn it off.

This is an excellent book, but I admit, I initially did not believe I would ever get results. I still need to work more on perfecting my communication skills, but this really does work! Also, just her stories of communicating with various animals are very interesting.

This CD is very well thought out. Carol Gurney puts the information you need to know, in the order that makes the most sense. I have listen to other's ideas on the subject without success, but she reached me. I always had a difficult time meditating, or deliberately calming my mind down. She brought to light that I am relaxing my mind when I do needlework - my form of meditation, something I enjoy. I "hang up the busy phone" in my mind, in her own words, when I do needlework. This concept alone has raised my confidence level and enabled me to start communicating with my animals. I recommend this CD to all pet owners interested in the subject.