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Elliott

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REVIEWS

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HELPFUL VOTES

Miracle in the Andes: 72 Days on the Mountain and My Long Trek Home

UNABRIDGED
- by Nando Parrado , Vince Rause
- Narrated by Arthur Morey
Miracle in the Andes: 72 Days on the Mountain and My Long Trek Home

UNABRIDGED (10 hrs and 6 mins)

By Nando Parrado, Vince Rause

Narrated By Arthur Morey

Overall
(193)
Performance
(48)
Story
(48)

Nando Parrado was unconscious for three days before he woke to discover that the plane carrying his rugby team, as well as their family members and supporters, to an exhibition game in Chile had crashed somewhere deep in the Andes. He soon learned that many were dead or dying, among them his own mother and sister. Those who remained were stranded on a lifeless glacier at nearly 12,000 feet above sea level, with no supplies and no means of summoning help.
A User says: "A Must Listen"
"Great adventure, awesome spritual tale"

Overall
Performance
Story

I love survival tales and selected this for that reason. I recently heard Nando interviewed and the experience sounded literally over the top. On that count the book delivers - a well read, well told, narrative. It is a treat that Nando reads the first and last chapters, and Morey is good too. You also get an interview with Nando at the end.
But the true jewel in this book is Nando's spiritual journey. He ruminations about God and life, his relationships with his friends, and his awareness that love is what gave him the power to survive - a love of his father. Nando discovered God in all things; he does not believe that God "saved him" but that God was there.
There is also a substantial "epilogue." We learn of his life after the adventure and the truly uplifting story behind his coming to write his story so many years after the actual event.
This book is on my top 10 list. Highely recommended.

2 of 3 people found this review helpful
1Q84

UNABRIDGED
- by Haruki Murakami , Jay Rubin (translator) , Philip Gabriel (translator)
- Narrated by Allison Hiroto , Marc Vietor , Mark Boyett
1Q84

UNABRIDGED (46 hrs and 50 mins)

By Haruki Murakami, Jay Rubin (translator), Philip Gabriel (translator)

Narrated By Allison Hiroto, Marc Vietor, Mark Boyett

Overall
(3009)
Performance
(2597)
Story
(2565)

The year is 1984 and the city is Tokyo.
A young woman named Aomame follows a taxi driver's enigmatic suggestion and begins to notice puzzling discrepancies in the world around her. She has entered, she realizes, a parallel existence, which she calls 1Q84 - "Q" is for "question mark". A world that bears a question....
Howard says: "Worth the investment."
"it took 47 hrs to tell this story? really?"

Overall
Performance
Story

What did you like best about 1Q84? What did you like least?

A modestly interesting story with some lovely similes and creative twists.

Would you be willing to try another book from the authors? Why or why not?

I am not compelled to read another of his novels.

Any additional comments?

This is a modestly interesting story that is padded with way to much descriptive prose. There are long stretches where nothing happens. The volume of similes is quite amazing, and many of them creative, but oh so many. For a 47-hr listen I feel I could have heard the story in 1/4 that time. It just was not that grand a story.There were no great learnings or explanations, little action of interest, and some sections quite repetitive. How many times do I have to hear an NHK fee collector banging on a door?I purchased this book after listening to a fabulous TED talk by Chip Kidd who was the artist that designed the cover. He made it look and sound fabulous, but ah well, just a mediocre read and not at all worth 47 hrs. This is one of the few Audible books I have listened to a fast speed.

0 of 0 people found this review helpful
Mad River

UNABRIDGED
- by John Sandford
- Narrated by Eric Conger
Mad River

UNABRIDGED (9 hrs and 26 mins)

By John Sandford

Narrated By Eric Conger

Whispersync for Voice-ready

Overall
(866)
Performance
(737)
Story
(732)

Bonnie and Clyde, they thought. And what's-his-name, the sidekick. Three teenagers with dead-end lives, and chips on their shoulders, and guns. The first person they killed was a highway patrolman. The second was a woman during a robbery. Then, hell, why not keep on going? As their crime spree cuts a swath through rural Minnesota, some of it captured on the killers' cell phones and sent to a local television station, Bureau of Criminal Apprehension investigator Virgil Flowers joins the growing army of cops trying to run them down.
Bill says: "Good. Not Great. But Virgil is Hard to Skip."
"Disappointing, plodding, ok reader"

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Performance
Story

Is there anything you would change about this book?

The story was not compelling nor compellingly told. It plodded along and then carried on an hour after it should have ended. And where is Richard Ferrone? He makes Sandford books come alive. A large disappointment for a fan of Lucas Davenport novels.

0 of 0 people found this review helpful
The Art of Racing in the Rain

UNABRIDGED
- by Garth Stein
- Narrated by Christopher Evan Welch
The Art of Racing in the Rain

UNABRIDGED (6 hrs and 56 mins)

By Garth Stein

Narrated By Christopher Evan Welch

Whispersync for Voice-ready

Overall
(4441)
Performance
(2478)
Story
(2471)

Why we think it’s a great listen: If you’ve ever loved a dog - or even patted a dog - this book, told from the perspective of man’s best friend, will tug at your heartstrings...and won’t let go until long after Welch performs the last word. Enzo knows he is different from other dogs: a philosopher with a nearly human soul (and an obsession with opposable thumbs), he has educated himself by watching television extensively and by listening very closely to the words of his master.
Lora says: "Enzo (because he's so wize) for president."
"Delightful and unexpected."

Overall
Performance
Story

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Art of Racing in the Rain?

When Dennis takes Enzo for a ride in his BMW at race speeds around a race track.

0 of 0 people found this review helpful
The God Delusion

UNABRIDGED
- by Richard Dawkins
- Narrated by Richard Dawkins , Lalla Ward
The God Delusion

UNABRIDGED (13 hrs and 52 mins)

By Richard Dawkins

Narrated By Richard Dawkins, Lalla Ward

Whispersync for Voice-ready

Overall
(3597)
Performance
(1053)
Story
(1036)

Discover magazine recently called Richard Dawkins "Darwin's Rottweiler" for his fierce and effective defense of evolution. Prospect magazine voted him among the top three public intellectuals in the world (along with Umberto Eco and Noam Chomsky). Now Dawkins turns his considerable intellect on religion, denouncing its faulty logic and the suffering it causes.
Rick Just says: "Dangerous Religion"
"The beauty in godlessness"

Overall
Performance
Story

I am a scientist, born Jewish, and a long-time pantheist. I am now on the verge of embracing atheism. Having read many books this past year on religion from Sam Harris, Elain Pagels, Francis Collins, and Scott R. Sanders, I was already immersed in this topic of god/not god. Dawkins depth of thinking, breadth of knowledge, and reason and compassion were awesome. Every thinking person should read this book and make a reasoned choice of their own about the value belief, faith, and religion.

2 of 3 people found this review helpful
Stationary Bike

UNABRIDGED
- by Stephen King
- Narrated by Ron McLarty
Stationary Bike

UNABRIDGED (1 hr and 30 mins)

By Stephen King

Narrated By Ron McLarty

Overall
(324)
Performance
(35)
Story
(33)

Climb aboard Stationary Bike, a streamlined fever dream of a tale, in which an ordinary household object assumes otherworldly powers and a familiar journey takes a terrifying twist.
Thomas says: "Swan Peak"
"A yawn"

Overall
Performance
Story

I like some of King's works and do enjoy his wacky stories. But lost my interest shortly after it began.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful
Velocity

UNABRIDGED
- by Dean Koontz
- Narrated by Michael Hayden
Velocity

UNABRIDGED (9 hrs and 16 mins)

By Dean Koontz

Narrated By Michael Hayden

Overall
(601)
Performance
(82)
Story
(81)

Bill Wile is an easygoing, hardworking guy who leads a quiet, ordinary life. But that is about to change. One evening, after his usual eight-hour bartending shift, he finds a typewritten note under the windshield wiper of his car.
Carlotta says: "A True Dean Koontz Novel...as I see it"
"First taste is pleasing"

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Performance
Story

I have heard this author's name and am not big into crime fiction, and this worked for me. Interesting use of language, good pacing, and intriguing foe. I may try another

1 of 1 people found this review helpful
1776

UNABRIDGED
- by David McCullough
- Narrated by David McCullough
1776

UNABRIDGED (11 hrs and 32 mins)

By David McCullough

Narrated By David McCullough

Whispersync for Voice-ready

Overall
(3754)
Performance
(1023)
Story
(1032)

Why we think it’s a great listen: If you ever thought history was boring, David McCullough’s performance of his fascinating book will change your mind. In this stirring audiobook, McCullough tells the intensely human story of those who marched with General George Washington in the year of the Declaration of Independence, when the whole American cause was riding on their success.
Shawn says: "Great Book"
"An amazing story"

Overall
Performance
Story

Well researched and presented, this story of one of the greatest Americans, gives us a glimpse of the man as he was, with warts and blemishes. It is also interesting to relearn how the revolution was not supported by all Americans and how nearly we lost it all if not for Washington's steadfastness and some good luck.

0 of 0 people found this review helpful
Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything

UNABRIDGED
- by Steven D. Levitt , Stephen J. Dubner
- Narrated by Stephen J. Dubner
Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything

UNABRIDGED (6 hrs and 30 mins)

By Steven D. Levitt, Stephen J. Dubner

Narrated By Stephen J. Dubner

Overall
(5782)
Performance
(395)
Story
(397)

Which is more dangerous, a gun or a swimming pool? What do schoolteachers and sumo wrestlers have in common? Why do drug dealers still live with their moms? How much do parents really matter? What kind of impact did Roe v. Wade have on violent crime?
Timothy says: "Fascinating book, despite the title."
"One story alone is worth the price of admission"

Overall
Performance
Story

Freakonomics is a well thought-out examination of cultural phenomena by an economist who chooses to examine the facts and their inter-relationships (correlations) to attempt to deduce the causes of events as well as the irrelevancies. Among the trends that Levitt has chosen to examine is the dramatic reduction in crime in the 1990s. He carefully analyses the popular explanations that have been widely theorized such as innovative policing, more prisions, changes in drug markets, aging of the population, gun control, and the strong economy,to name a few, but dismisses them all.

The factor he identifies and then convincingly relates to the identified trend was the Supreme Court ruling in 1973 - Roe v Wade. The fact that legalized abortion was directly related to a drop in crime was unexpected, at least to the reader, and ironic as well. This aspect of the book alone, is worth the price of admission.

4 of 6 people found this review helpful