John

How to Live: Or a Life of Montaigne in One Question and Twenty Attempts at an Answer

• UNABRIDGED (13 hrs and 26 mins)
• By Sarah Bakewell
• Narrated By Davina Porter
• Whispersync for Voice-ready

This question obsessed Renaissance writers, none more than Michel Eyquem de Montaigne, perhaps the first recognizably modern individual. A nobleman, public official, and winegrower, he wrote free-roaming explorations of his thought and experience, unlike anything written before. He called them essays, meaning “attempts” or “tries.” He put whatever was in his head into them: his tastes in wine and food, his childhood memories, the way his dog’s ears twitched when it was dreaming, as well as the religious wars....

The Odyssey

• UNABRIDGED (13 hrs and 26 mins)
• By Homer (translated by Robert Fagles)
• Narrated By Ian McKellen
• Whispersync for Voice-ready

Emerson: The Mind on Fire

• UNABRIDGED (26 hrs and 8 mins)
• By Robert D. Richardson
• Narrated By Michael McConnohie

Ralph Waldo Emerson is one of the most important figures in the history of American thought, religion, and literature. The vitality of his writings and the unsettling power of his example continue to influence us more than a hundred years after his death. Now Robert D. Richardson Jr. brings to life an Emerson very different from the old stereotype of the passionless Sage of Concord.

The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany

• UNABRIDGED (57 hrs and 13 mins)
• By William L. Shirer
• Narrated By Grover Gardner

Since its publication in 1960, William L. Shirer’s monumental study of Hitler’s German empire has been widely acclaimed as the definitive record of the 20th century’s blackest hours. The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich offers an unparalleled and thrillingly told examination of how Adolf Hitler nearly succeeded in conquering the world. With millions of copies in print around the globe, it has attained the status of a vital and enduring classic.

A Bit on the Side

• UNABRIDGED (6 hrs and 2 mins)
• By William Trevor
• Narrated By Josephine Bailey, Simon Vance
• Whispersync for Voice-ready

William Trevor is truly a Chekhov for our age, and a new collection of stories from him is always a cause for celebration.

Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders

• UNABRIDGED (26 hrs and 33 mins)
• By Vincent Bugliosi, Curt Gentry
• Narrated By Scott Brick
• Whispersync for Voice-ready

Prosecuting attorney in the Manson trial Vincent Bugliosi held a unique insider's position in one of the most baffling and horrifying cases of the 20th century: the cold-blooded Tate-LaBianca murders carried out by Charles Manson and four of his followers. What motivated Manson in his seemingly mindless selection of victims, and what was his hold over the young women who obeyed his orders? Now available for the first time in unabridged audio, the gripping story of this famous and haunting crime is brought to life by acclaimed narrator Scott Brick.

The Consolations of Philosophy

• UNABRIDGED (6 hrs and 3 mins)
• By Alain de Botton
• Narrated By Simon Vance

Alain de Botton has performed a stunning feat: He has transformed arcane philosophy into something accessible and entertaining, useful and kind. Drawing on the work of six of the world's most brilliant thinkers, de Botton has arranged a panoply of wisdom to guide us through our most common problems.

The Trial

• UNABRIDGED (8 hrs and 58 mins)
• By Franz Kafka
• Narrated By George Guidall

If Max Brod had obeyed Franz Kafka's dying request, Kafka's unpublished manuscripts would have been burned, unread. Fortunately, Brod ignored his friend's wishes and published The Trial, which became the author's most famous work. Now Kafka's enigmatic novel regains its humor and stylistic elegance in a new translation based on the restored original manuscript.

David Bowie's Low (33 1/3 Series)

• UNABRIDGED (3 hrs and 31 mins)
• By Hugo Wilcken
• Narrated By Victor Bevine
• Whispersync for Voice-ready

Low is a kaleidoscope in which Bowie's obsessions and traits explode into fragments and reform in a new pattern. Sonically, it is hugely adventurous: combining a driving R&B rhythm section with the experimental soundscapes of Brian Eno, it evolves a whole new musical language. Thematically, it's the sound of a man struggling to get well. Bowie has often talked about his fear of insanity.

Christine Falls: A Novel

• UNABRIDGED (9 hrs and 31 mins)
• By Benjamin Black
• Narrated By Timothy Dalton

It's not the dead that seem strange to Quirke. It's the living. One night, after a few drinks at an office party, Quirke shuffles down into the morgue where he works and finds his brother-in-law, Malachy, altering a file he has no business even reading. Odd enough in itself to find Malachy there, but the next morning, when the haze has lifted, it looks an awful lot like his brother-in-law, the esteemed doctor, was in fact tampering with a corpse, and concealing the cause of death.