Janet

The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature

• UNABRIDGED (22 hrs and 44 mins)
• By Steven Pinker
• Narrated By Victor Bevine
• Whispersync for Voice-ready

In The Blank Slate, Steven Pinker, one of the world's leading experts on language and the mind, explores the idea of human nature and its moral, emotional, and political colorings. With characteristic wit, lucidity, and insight, Pinker argues that the dogma that the mind has no innate traits, denies our common humanity and our individual preferences, replaces objective analyses of social problems with feel-good slogans, and distorts our understanding of politics, violence, parenting, and the arts.

Winter of the World: The Century Trilogy, Book 2

• UNABRIDGED (31 hrs and 48 mins)
• By Ken Follett
• Narrated By John Lee
• Whispersync for Voice-ready

Winter of the World picks up right where the first book left off, as its five interrelated families - American, German, Russian, English, Welsh - enter a time of enormous social, political, and economic turmoil, beginning with the rise of the Third Reich, through the Spanish Civil War and the great dramas of World War II, up to the explosions of the American and Soviet atomic bombs. As always with Ken Follett, the historical background is brilliantly researched and rendered, the action fast-moving, the characters rich in nuance and emotion.

World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War

• ABRIDGED (6 hrs and 3 mins)
• By Max Brooks
• Narrated By Max Brooks, Alan Alda, John Turturro, and others

The Zombie War came unthinkably close to eradicating humanity. Max Brooks, driven by the urgency of preserving the acid-etched first-hand experiences of the survivors from those apocalyptic years, traveled across the United States of America and throughout the world, from decimated cities that once teemed with upwards of 30 million souls, to the most remote and inhospitable areas of the planet.

Outlander

• UNABRIDGED (33 hrs and 8 mins)
• By Diana Gabaldon
• Narrated By Davina Porter
• Whispersync for Voice-ready

Why we think it’s a great listen: An all-time Audible favorite that mixes historic fiction, adventure, and romance with one of the most fascinating literary devices: time travel. Outlander introduces an exhilarating world of heroism and breathtaking thrills as one woman is torn between past and present, passion and love. In 1945, former combat nurse Claire Randall returns from World War II and joins her husband for a second honeymoon. But their blissful reunion is shattered....

Don't Vote - It Just Encourages the Bastards

• UNABRIDGED (7 hrs and 53 mins)
• By P. J. O'Rourke
• Narrated By Christopher Lane
• Whispersync for Voice-ready

In Don't Vote - It Just Encourages the Bastards, best-selling humorist P. J. O’Rourke delivers a hilarious theory of politics.

America’s most subversive conservative, O’Rourke describes government as a devil’s bargain between power, freedom, and responsibility, and goes on to hilariously skewer the politicians who have bargained with us to consolidate power, and the many mini-bargains and evasions that citizens have made with the consequences of their choices.

In a Sunburned Country

• UNABRIDGED (11 hrs and 54 mins)
• By Bill Bryson
• Narrated By Bill Bryson
• Whispersync for Voice-ready

Every time Bill Bryson walks out the door, memorable travel literature threatens to break out. His previous excursion on the Appalachian Trail resulted in the best seller A Walk in the Woods. Now, we follow him "Down Under" to Australia with this delectably funny, fact-filled, and adventurous performance that combines humor, wonder, and unflagging curiosity. More from Bill Bryson.

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest: The Millennium Trilogy, Book 3

• UNABRIDGED (20 hrs and 20 mins)
• By Stieg Larsson
• Narrated By Simon Vance
• Whispersync for Voice-ready

Lisbeth Salander—the heart of Larsson’s two previous novels—lies in critical condition, a bullet wound to her head, in the intensive care unit of a Swedish city hospital. She’s fighting for her life in more ways than one: if and when she recovers, she’ll be taken back to Stockholm to stand trial for three murders. With the help of her friend, journalist Mikael Blomkvist, she will not only have to prove her innocence, but also identify and denounce those in authority.

The Pleasure of My Company

• UNABRIDGED (4 hrs and 54 mins)
• By Steve Martin
• Narrated By Steve Martin
• Whispersync for Voice-ready

Daniel Pecan Cambridge, 30, 35, 38 or 27, depending on how he feels that day, is a young man whose life is rich and full, provided he never leaves his Santa Monica apartment. After all, outside there are 8-inch-high curbs and there's always the horrible chance he might see a gas station attendant wearing a blue hat. So, except for the occasional trip to the Rite Aid to admire the California girl Zandy and to buy earplugs because they're on sale, he stays home a lot. And good thing, too.

Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void

• UNABRIDGED (10 hrs and 28 mins)
• By Mary Roach
• Narrated By Sandra Burr

Space is a world devoid of the things we need to live and thrive: air, gravity, hot showers, fresh produce, privacy, beer. Space exploration is in some ways an exploration of what it means to be human. How much can a person give up? How much weirdness can they take? What happens to you when you can’t walk for a year? Have sex? Smell flowers? What happens if you vomit in your helmet during a space walk? Is it possible for the human body to survive a bailout at 17,000 miles per hour?

The Mind's Eye

• UNABRIDGED (8 hrs and 44 mins)
• By Oliver Sacks
• Narrated By Oliver Sacks, Richard Davidson

An exploration of vision through the case histories of six individuals - including a renowned pianist who continues to give concerts despite losing the ability to read the score, and a neurobiologist born with crossed eyes who, late in life, suddenly acquires binocular vision, and how her brain adapts to that new skill.