Tracy

I like Kornfield and I've listened to his Teachings on the Ten Perfections, and the much more in-depth (and longer and more expensive) Buddhism for Beginners.

I really enjoyed (and continue to enjoy) this, a shorter but very informative and comforting, book.

This book begins with a good bit of the history of Buddhism, from its inception in India with Sidhartha Guatama, to it's spread to South East Asia and the rest of the world. I always like to be reminded of the different sects, and Kormfield clearly helps provide understanding of the differences and locations of Theravada Buddhism, Mahayana Buddhism (under which large umbrella falls Zen) and Vajrayahana Buddhism (Tibetan).

He then provides guided meditations, which are very peaceful and help guide the mind toward serenity (perhaps eventually to enlightenment??).

He has anecdotes and reflections, and reminders on how we cause ourselves suffering, trying to hold onto our bodies and not wanting them to age, grasping for things or ideas...

Really - I won't just keep telling you what he says - I enjoy this book and have listened to it fully twice and continue to "skim" through it while resting quietly or walking.

(PS - not much of a story to this book, but Audible wouldn't let me write a review unless I rated the story!)

Like an earlier reviewer, I was a bit put-off with the author/narrator's immediate information that this audio-book was highly abridged, and if the reader felt any lack, he/she had best buy the written copy.

Honestly, I hadn't read the description carefully and would not have bought this audio book if I'd known it was abridged beforehand. HOWEVER - I am very, very glad that I made this purchase, and I have already listened to the book more than once.

I have either listened to or read others of Kabat-Zinn's work - Mindfulness for Beginners (Super Excellent!! Buy it first!); Full Catastrophe Living (audio book), and Wherever You Go, There You Are (print and audio!) and now Coming to Our Senses (audio).

I had thought about buying the print version before the audio version, but I LIKE Kabat-Zinn's voice, I like his narration, and his soothing style.

In this audio book - Coming to Our Senses - Kabat-Zinn talks about becoming awake, being aware, "intentionally and with purpose" on a daily basis. He talks about mindfulness, and becoming mindful through use of all our senses. He touches on each sense - sight, hearing, touch, taste, smell and also our sense of being in the world around us.

For me, this book was excellent, and I will continue to listen to it, or to "audio-skim" it, regularly. It reminded me to be aware, to reminded me to be present.

I did NOT feel that anything was missing. Though I will likely keep an eye out for the printed version, I felt that the audio was excellent.

This was my first time reading a Libby Sarjeant mystery, and I enjoyed it.

I was a little wary because of the other weak reviews, but I think some people who listened are not into the "cozy" genre. This book IS slow, and...well, cozy.

Libby and her friend Fran, two middle-aged retired women basically get asked to help investigate a mysterious death in a church, and in the process become entangled in a deeper mystery.

The narration was good, the story was ok even if requiring a suspension of belief, and I enjoyed the characters.

Not awesome, but not bad at all.

This audio-book is a series of talks by Kornfield rather than an actual "book". They are recorded live, and so you do hear the audience's laughter or shufflings. This is fine by me - I feel like Kornfield is talking directly to me, as if I were present in the audience.

The talks are sequential, and, I am sure, were delivered over several days at the same conference, so there is cohesion and development. The theme of the series is Buddhist Psychology, but each talk, varying in length from about 45 minutes to an hour, focuses on one main common aspect of the Buddhist Psychology. For example, the first talk is really a sort of introduction, which talks about what Buddhism isn't and also introduces the "types" of personalities we all embody - the "grasping", or greed, type; the avoidance type; etc.

The other talks then have a specific focus - one is on greed, and how it corrupts; one on loving kindness; one on generosity - be generous to all ("and that doesn't mean everyone except moi", quips Kornfield! - so be generous to yourself, too!); etc...

I really enjoyed this audio, and I continue to listen to it or different parts of it regularly.

I recommend this to anyone who enjoys Buddhist talks or Kornfield.

I downloaded this "freebie", and I LOVED it. I'm not really a sci-fi kind of person, but this wasn't really a sci-fi kind of book, either. It was a really good mystery/detective novel. The main character just happens to have a whole bunch of personalities, each of which has a different essential skill used to solve the case.

It's a short story, well narrated, with excellent characterization. I'm sincerely hoping to see more "episodes" with the same characters by Sanderson.

I loved the Monk TV series, and have either read or listened to all of the books by Lee Goldberg.

Angela Brazil does an excellent job narrating as Nathalie, capturing the character and making me see Monk through her eyes.

The story is very good - if you like enjoyable, not-dark mysteries. While there is a main story, a main mystery to be solved, Monk (as in the other books) solves "mini-crimes" along the way. So, it's entertaining, does not drag on, and is a nice, pleasant listen.

I accidentally stumbled upon "dramatised" audio books, and have fallen in love with them. They are short (often less than two hours); and fully acted out. And if it is a BBC production, then you get a full cast of excellent (known!) actors.

I love Miss Marple, and frequently buy a dramatised production for a quiet, soothing listen. This one was purchased for a similar reason - restless with insomnia, needing a good relaxing listen, I bought At Bertram's Hotel.

The performance, of course, was superb. June Whitfield, who played Miss Marple in the BBC TV Series, is irreproachable as Miss Marple. The other characters are excellent as well.

I did have an issue with the plausibility of the story, and the later Miss Marple's are not my favourites - but I did thoroughly enjoy the book (except when the young female (?) began screaming hysterically and disturbed my peace!).

I will be buying more BBC dramatised books, for certain, as I've barely scratched the surface of the Agatha Christie collection!!

I know - just another knock-off piece of chick-lit... NOT. I had such a good time listening to this book. Ok, no, it is NOT going to win the next Booker Prize ('cuz it's American, and the Booker only goes to Brits! hahaha). No, seriously - it's not literature. But it's super fun. A strong, funny lead woman character, gets embroiled in a seemingly-implausible serial-killer-stalking thing.

I did suspect who the bad guy was before the end, but had such a good time, enjoying the dynamic between the best friends, the mom, the sister, and of course, the leading man.

An easy listen - cotton candy for the brain. Perfectly ok to listen to when drunk because it isn't hard to follow!

I usually like cozy mysteries, or police procedurals, or, in any case, straight-up mysteries.

But this book looked like it would be suspenseful and a bit different. And it so totally was!

I loved the way the story unfolded, going between Catherine (four years ago) and Cathy now. And we, the reader, know what happened, we feel it. So we feel it coming, and we already know the effect it had on Cathy, but how will this all culminate in the climax??

The narration was well done, BUT at one point there was a cough. I didn't know if it was the character or the reader (I suspect the narrator). And occasionally she (the narrator) didn't change voice/intonation between characters. But mostly it was very very good.

One reviewer felt that the book was hard to follow - I didn't find this to be the case, but I realize that you DO have to listen for the dates, so you know the "now and then". It helps to know when you start listening that the two seemingly different central narrating characters are the same woman, just changed by trauma.

In any case, I could not stop listening to this book. I stayed up extra-late, and kept telling myself, "Just half an hour more, then I'll go to bed...". Ha.

I highly recommend this book if you like suspenseful stories, and you don't mind knowing who the bad guy is from the beginning.

I could listen while I slept and not really miss much!

Not the genre, but this was the first from this author, and, well, the last.

It was just ok.

Probably - house-wifey drama some people might really eat up.

I didn't hate this book. I really didn't. But it was a poor and inconsistent portrayal of children 5 and 6 years old. I mean - six year olds being soccer stars? And what 5 year old has the keys to the house and a cell-phone (Maybe I'm behind the times). And it WAS very predictable. And not all that interesting.