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Roswatheist

Dexter, New Mexico, United States | Member Since 2009

11
HELPFUL VOTES
  • 33 reviews
  • 103 ratings
  • 454 titles in library
  • 45 purchased in 2013
FOLLOWING
2
FOLLOWERS
1

  • We the Living

    • UNABRIDGED (18 hrs and 6 mins)
    • By Ayn Rand
    • Narrated By Mary Woods
    • Whispersync for Voice-ready
    Overall
    (329)
    Performance
    (133)
    Story
    (135)

    We the Living portrays the impact of the Russian Revolution on three people who demand the right to live their own lives. At its center is a girl whose passionate love is her fortress against the cruelty and oppression of a totalitarian state. Rand said of this book: "It is as near to an autobiography as I will ever write."

    Geoffrey says: "Emotionally intense, historically authentic"
    "Weepy"
    Overall
    Performance
    Story
    Would you listen to We the Living again? Why?

    I will. I appreciate Kira very much. I would hope to have the balls she has if I were in a similar situation.


    What other book might you compare We the Living to and why?

    Anna Karenina because there are some love triangle parallels, but overall, We the Living can't really be compared to another book.


    Which scene was your favorite?

    When Andrei thinks more of Kira after she explains why she has done what she did.


    Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

    Are you kidding?! I cried myself sick!


    Any additional comments?

    Ayn Rand's work is precious. It should be required reading for college freshmen at the latest.

    0 of 1 people found this review helpful
  • Primary Colors

    • UNABRIDGED (16 hrs and 13 mins)
    • By Joe Klein
    • Narrated By Peter Francis James
    Overall
    (10)
    Performance
    (2)
    Story
    (3)

    Primary Colors offers a richly detailed look at life on the political stump. As former congressional aide Henry Burton is dazzled and lured into presidential hopeful Jack Stanton's fledgling campaign, he becomes a cog in Stanton's unstoppable political machine. Burton illuminates, through his actions and observations, the sometimes seamy, sometimes steamy and sometimes surprisingly noble ascent to the presidency.

    Laurie says: "N"
    "Changed my life"
    Overall
    Performance
    Story

    No really. I was a Communications major, Political Science minor, in hopes of becoming a speechwriter. Unfortunately, I saw too much of Libby Holden in myself.

    Personal stuff aside, Peter Francis James does a marvelous job narrating what must, at times been difficult, with some of the subject matter. Hands down, the manic-depressive investigator is my favorite character.

    The staffer/candidate comes across quite candidly. I was intrigued by the firestorm that came with Primary Colors' release. The book was even better than the media frenzy surrounding its release.

    0 of 0 people found this review helpful
  • The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo: The Millennium Trilogy, Book 1

    • UNABRIDGED (16 hrs and 19 mins)
    • By Stieg Larsson
    • Narrated By Simon Vance
    • Whispersync for Voice-ready
    Overall
    (20856)
    Performance
    (7586)
    Story
    (7628)

    Why we think it’s a great listen: How do you one-up a book that’s already a global literary phenomenon? Hire Simon Vance to (flawlessly) interpret the loves, lives, and murders of Sweden’s cold and secret-filled world. A spellbinding amalgam of murder mystery, family saga, love story, and financial intrigue. It's about the disappearance 40 years ago of Harriet Vanger, a young scion of one of the wealthiest families in Sweden.

    Pamela Murphy says: "COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN"
    "I liked it."
    Overall
    Performance
    Story

    I do understand the hype, but don't think this novel, or the three that followed, deserving of *as much* attention as they received. I always appreciate reading/listening to novels with atheist protagonists who aren't treated with disdain or pity for their lack of belief.

    The three things that boosted (in my estimation) The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo are: 1) the treatment of religion was fair-it wasn't skewed, and 2) the realistic view into how society treats people they don't understand, namely Savants, was refreshing. 3) I think the author conveyed a genuine liking of females.

    Though I gave only 4 stars, I don't feel I wasted my time. The story was great.

    0 of 0 people found this review helpful
  • Gone Girl: A Novel

    • UNABRIDGED (19 hrs and 11 mins)
    • By Gillian Flynn
    • Narrated By Julia Whelan, Kirby Heyborne
    • Whispersync for Voice-ready
    Overall
    (9464)
    Performance
    (8216)
    Story
    (8195)

    It is Nick and Amy Dunne's fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick's clever and beautiful wife disappears from their rented McMansion on the Mississippi River. Husband-of-the-Year Nick isn't doing himself any favors with cringe-worthy daydreams. Under mounting pressure from the police and the media - as well as Amy's fiercely doting parents - the town golden boy parades an endless series of lies, deceits, and inappropriate behavior. Nick is oddly evasive, and he's definitely bitter - but is he really a killer?

    Teddy says: "Demented, twisted, sick and I loved it!"
    "Sadistically Entertaining"
    Overall
    Performance
    Story

    The first third is a tad slow, but hang in there. Once you get to the meat of the story, you're in for one hell of a ride! What's so striking is that the slow beginning is necessary to build tension.

    The narrators are great. The characters are over-the-top interesting, but real. They have the same vanities and hang-ups that we all have, just more so. Honestly, my favorite character is Go. She's as good a sister as she can be.

    I wish I could say more, but I'd spoil the story. If only I had three thumbs...sigh.

    0 of 0 people found this review helpful
  • The Ice Cream Girls

    • UNABRIDGED (14 hrs and 52 mins)
    • By Dorothy Koomson
    • Narrated By Robin Miles, Charlotte Parry, Tim Gerard Reynolds
    Overall
    (5)
    Performance
    (5)
    Story
    (5)

    Best-selling author Dorothy Koomson's novels have been translated into 28 languages. In The Ice Cream Girls, 18-year-old Serena Gorringe and 16-year-old Poppy Carlisle were tried for the murder of their teacher - but only Poppy was convicted of the crime. Twenty years later, Poppy is released from prison - and she's determined to force Serena to admit her part in the killing.

    Roswatheist says: "I couldn't quit listening."
    "I couldn't quit listening."
    Overall
    Performance
    Story

    The plot, language and narration were fantastic! With only one (understandably) one-dimensional character, I was intrigued by the protagonists' personalities, lives and plights. With one exception, I was unable to piece together exactly what happened in the past to make Serena and Poppy "The Ice Cream Girls".

    At the risk of being repetitive, I enjoyed this book immensely, and will enjoy listening to it again. Kudos to the author and narrators.

    0 of 0 people found this review helpful
  • Contact

    • UNABRIDGED (14 hrs and 42 mins)
    • By Carl Sagan
    • Narrated By Laurel Lefkow
    Overall
    (130)
    Performance
    (116)
    Story
    (119)

    The future is here...in an adventure of cosmic dimension. In December, 1999, a multinational team journeys out to the stars, to the most awesome encounter in human history. Who - or what - is out there? In Cosmos, Carl Sagan explained the universe. In Contact, he predicts its future - and our own.

    A. Ferguson says: "Great book, significant differences from the movie"
    "WWSD"
    Overall
    Performance
    Story

    Making science popular for at least two generations of people, Carl Sagan's Contact goes a long way in doing just that: making science comprehensible in the form of this novel. Dr. Eleanor Arroway is an accessible, likable character and Laurel Lefkow performs her beautifully. Theists, atheists, and agnostics, and even the scientifically illiterate can all equally enjoy this book.

    If you've ever been even slightly interested in SETI-the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence, or in astronomy, please read or listen to Contact, but don't expect it to be like the movie.

    0 of 0 people found this review helpful
  • Truth in Advertising: A Novel

    • UNABRIDGED (11 hrs and 42 mins)
    • By John Kenney
    • Narrated By Robert Petkoff
    Overall
    (123)
    Performance
    (106)
    Story
    (104)

    Finbar Dolan is lost and lonely. Except he doesn’t know it. Despite escaping his blue-collar Boston upbringing to carve out a mildly successful career at a Madison Avenue ad agency, he’s a bit of a mess and closing in on 40. He’s recently called off a wedding. Now, a few days before Christmas, he’s forced to cancel a long-postponed vacation in order to write, produce, and edit a Superbowl commercial for his diaper account in record time. Fortunately, it gets worse....

    glamazon says: "A Riotous, Rollicking Rollercoaster!"
    "Midlife Crises (plural)"
    Overall
    Performance
    Story

    Obviously from my ratings, I loved this story. The narrator was brilliant and the story was great! Fin is a fun character and a guy with whom I could knock back a few. His hangups are a bit much, but realistic, as people don't ever just "get over" tragedies in their lives, especially when they happen at a very young age.

    Even Fin's attitude toward his job (at least he has one) is realistic. This is a great story for anyone who just wants a fun, light read/listen.

    2 of 2 people found this review helpful
  • Deconverted: A Journey from Religion to Reason

    • UNABRIDGED (4 hrs and 51 mins)
    • By Seth Andrews
    • Narrated By Seth Andrews
    • Whispersync for Voice-ready
    Overall
    (73)
    Performance
    (70)
    Story
    (69)

    Assertions like these seem comical until you realize that many Christian parents aren't kidding when they teach them to their children as facts. Every day, impressionable young minds are conditioned to blindly accept wild biblical tales of floating zoos, talking shrubbery, 900-year-old humans, the undead, curses, levitation, demon/human hybrids and men who obtain super-human strength from the length of their hair. Allegiance to these teachings is expected, often demanded.

    Michael says: "A man's spiritual journey out of religiousity"
    "Thank you, Seth Andrews!"
    Overall
    Performance
    Story

    Deconverted was all that I hoped for and expected. It's the story of how a fundamentalist Christian went from solid, unquestioning faith to logical, reasoning atheist. Narrating his own book, Seth gives his account in a straightforward, often humorous manner.

    Though he was (forgive the expression) preaching to the choir, and though I was already familiar with a good portion of his story, I still found myself unable to quit listening for a minute. Yes. I listened nonstop from start to finish, and it was worth every second and every penny.

    Deconverted is a great gift for your theist friends and family if you are unable to articulate certain aspects of your disbelief to them. I strongly encourage theists who are under the impression that atheists are unhappy, immoral and hold deep hatred for their god to read or listen to this book. It may not "deconvert" you, but it should radically alter their perspectives about why atheists are atheists. After all, Seth's deconversion story is very similar to many atheists' own journeys from faith to skepticism.

    4 of 6 people found this review helpful
  • Gone with the Wind

    • UNABRIDGED (49 hrs and 7 mins)
    • By Margaret Mitchell
    • Narrated By Linda Stephens
    • Whispersync for Voice-ready
    Overall
    (2280)
    Performance
    (1329)
    Story
    (1348)

    Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Literature, Margaret Mitchell's great novel of the South is one of the most popular books ever written. Within six months of its publication in 1936, Gone With the Wind had sold a million copies. To date, it has been translated into 25 languages, and more than 28 million copies have been sold. Here are the characters that have become symbols of passion and desire....

    dallas says: "not to miss audible experience"
    "I <3 Rhett Butler."
    Overall
    Performance
    Story

    First, let me say that besides this book, I generally don't like American Civil War novels. I also didn't give the 5 star ratings under duress. I can handle an unhappy ending. Margaret Mitchell's characters are very genuine, even in their dishonesty. GWTW is a great, standalone novel and should have been left alone by Alexandra Ripley and Donald McCraig.

    That said, Rhett Butler is truly the most fascinating atheist character ever written. Scarlett is a product of her father-spoiled and reckless. However, her loyalty and strength are touching. I'm not too ashamed to admit that I don't like Suellen on Scarlett's behalf. It's really a shame that Scarlett's conscience, Will Benteen was left out of the movie, though Mammy did well enough in shouldering the extra character.

    Wow. It's too easy to get off track. If you haven't read or listened to this book, don't wait until you're about to die.

    0 of 0 people found this review helpful
  • Candidate Without a Prayer: An Autobiography of a Jewish Atheist in the Bible Belt

    • UNABRIDGED (11 hrs and 10 mins)
    • By Herb Silverman, Richard Dawkins (foreword)
    • Narrated By Herb Silverman, Richard Dawkins
    • Whispersync for Voice-ready
    Overall
    (20)
    Performance
    (17)
    Story
    (17)

    In this deeply revealing and engaging autobiography, Herb Silverman tells his iconoclastic life story. He takes the listener from his childhood as an Orthodox Jew in Philadelphia, where he stopped fasting on Yom Kippur to test God's existence, to his adult life in the heart of the Bible Belt, where he became a legendary figure within America's secular activist community and remains one of its most beloved leaders. Never one to shy from controversy, Silverman relates many of his high-profile battles with the Religious Right.

    Diana says: "Humanism vs religious intolerance"
    "The coolest autobiography"
    Overall
    Performance
    Story

    Herb Silverman's account of his life is a delight to read or hear. He sheds light on the inequality of atheists of any class or profession. That he narrated the book himself was lovely.

    Mr. Silverman had the audacity and bravery to go up against the Christian establishment. His tale is inspirational to atheists everywhere.

    I adored his humorous tale very much and look forward to more books from him in the future.

    1 of 1 people found this review helpful
  • Why Are You Atheists So Angry?: 99 Things That Piss Off the Godless

    • UNABRIDGED (5 hrs)
    • By Greta Christina
    • Narrated By Greta Christina
    • Whispersync for Voice-ready
    Overall
    (146)
    Performance
    (133)
    Story
    (131)

    Why are atheists angry? Is it because they're selfish, joyless, lacking in meaning, and alienated from God? Or is it because they have legitimate reasons to be angry - and are ready to do something about it? Armed with passionate outrage, absurdist humor, and calm intelligence, popular blogger Greta Christina makes a powerful case for outspoken atheist activism, and explains the empathy and justice that drive it. This accessible, personal, down-to-earth book speaks not only to atheists, but also to believers who want to understand the so-called new atheism.

    C. Telfair says: "Not An Angry Book, but an Honest One"
    "Everything I've said and then some"
    Overall
    Performance
    Story

    This is a *must read* for atheists, theists, and on-the-fencers. If you're religious and have ever wondered why we atheists are so angry, read or listen to this book. If you are an atheist and have trouble articulating your reasons for being angry, read or listen to this book; it will help you state your argument better.

    1 of 3 people found this review helpful

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