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Scott

Santa Clara, CA, United States | Member Since 2011

8
HELPFUL VOTES
  • 10 reviews
  • 22 ratings
  • 226 titles in library
  • 21 purchased in 2013
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  • A Short History of Nearly Everything

    • UNABRIDGED (17 hrs and 48 mins)
    • By Bill Bryson
    • Narrated By Richard Matthews
    Overall
    (5169)
    Performance
    (1115)
    Story
    (1112)

    Bill Bryson has been an enormously popular author both for his travel books and for his books on the English language. Now, this beloved comic genius turns his attention to science. Although he doesn't know anything about the subject (at first), he is eager to learn, and takes information that he gets from the world's leading experts and explains it to us in a way that makes it exciting and relevant.

    Corby says: "Very informative, fun to listen to"
    "A great listen for fans of science"
    Overall
    Performance
    Story

    Well read and written. If you're a science buff, it will likely put some missing pieces into place. If you're a science novice, it's a great place to start. In either case, very entertaining and well read.

    0 of 0 people found this review helpful
  • Stages of Meditation

    • ABRIDGED (3 hrs and 39 mins)
    • By The Dalai Lama
    • Narrated By Ken McLeod
    Overall
    (50)
    Performance
    (13)
    Story
    (13)

    The Dalai Lama analyzes a rare text by ninth-century Indian Buddhist Kamalashila - a key to all Buddhist scripture - in this elegant, accessible explanation of the principles of meditation.

    Bryan says: "Good material but poor editing"
    "Wonderful. Very insightful, and very well read."
    Overall
    Performance
    Story

    I have listened to this book four times, and will undoubtedly re-visit it again. A truly valuable and wonderful guide.

    0 of 0 people found this review helpful
  • The Path to Tranquility: Daily Meditations by the Dalai Lama

    • ABRIDGED (2 hrs and 34 mins)
    • By His Holiness the Dalai Lama
    • Narrated By Robert Thurman, Laurie Anderson, B. D. Wong
    Overall
    (18)
    Performance
    (7)
    Story
    (7)

    The Dalai Lama, a living symbol of holiness and selfless triumph over tribulation, has shared his philosophy of peace with today's turbulent world. Yet rarely do we hear him speak with such directness as in this collection of quotations drawn from his own writings, teachings, and interviews.

    Scott says: "The narration is just too demeaning to bear."
    "The narration is just too demeaning to bear."
    Overall
    Performance
    Story

    I don't understand why "Path to Tranquility" has to be read in a tone fit to put a two-year-old to sleep. The reading is ridiculously syrupy, actually demeaning. Try instead "Stages of Meditation," read by Ken McLeod.

    1 of 1 people found this review helpful
  • The Modern Scholar: Enlightenment: Reason, Tolerance, and Humanity

    • UNABRIDGED (7 hrs and 51 mins)
    • By James Schmidt
    Overall
    (25)
    Performance
    (8)
    Story
    (8)

    This course will explore and discuss the work of such influential thinkers as Voltaire, John Locke, Denis Diderot, Adam Smith, Immanuel Kant, and Benjamin Franklin. It will also spend some time with less well-known figures such as Joseph Priestly: a clergyman, scientist, and philosopher who was one of the most passionate defenders of the American Revolution in England: and the remarkable John Toland, a man whose writings on religion changed the way many Europeans thought about the Scriptures.

    Scott says: "Brilliant--nearly flawless"
    "Brilliant--nearly flawless"
    Overall
    Performance
    Story

    Nicely read, well thought out. Connects the dots on many points in history. An important series of lectures.

    1 of 1 people found this review helpful
  • Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand

    • UNABRIDGED (19 hrs and 5 mins)
    • By Leonard Peikoff
    • Narrated By Johanna Ward
    Overall
    (194)
    Performance
    (56)
    Story
    (57)

    This brilliantly conceived book is based on a lecture course given by Dr. Leonard Peikoff in 1976 entitled, "The Philosophy of Objectivism". The lectures were attended by Ayn Rand, who helped prepare them and who also joined Peikoff in answering questions.

    L. Hattery says: "The very best overview of Objectivism"
    "Yawn!"
    Overall
    Performance
    Story

    If you really, really, really care about this kind of stuff, you might try to get through it. The narration is perfect--it's read with the same kind of sneering superiority one would expect from Ayn herself.

    1 of 3 people found this review helpful
  • Recursion

    • UNABRIDGED (11 hrs and 6 mins)
    • By Tony Ballantyne
    • Narrated By Simon Vance
    • Whispersync for Voice-ready
    Overall
    (7)
    Performance
    (7)
    Story
    (7)

    It is the 23rd century. Herb, a young entrepreneur, returns to the isolated planet on which he has illegally been trying to build a city - and finds it destroyed by a swarming nightmare of self-replicating machinery. Worse, the all-seeing Environment Agency has been watching him the entire time. His punishment? A nearly hopeless battle in the farthest reaches of the universe against enemy machines twice as fast, and twice as deadly, as his own.

    Scott says: "Well-crafted language, and great narration, but..."
    "Well-crafted language, and great narration, but..."
    Overall
    Performance
    Story

    Wonderful narration, and the writing is good, but the story is really confusing. I didn't even bother to finish. It got off to such a promising start, but quickly became obscure. The characterizations are weak. There are a fair number of protagonists, but who, exactly, are they? If I have to wait until the end to find out, that's too long for me.

    0 of 0 people found this review helpful
  • At Home: A Short History of Private Life

    • UNABRIDGED (16 hrs and 38 mins)
    • By Bill Bryson
    • Narrated By Bill Bryson
    • Whispersync for Voice-ready
    Overall
    (2053)
    Performance
    (843)
    Story
    (844)

    Bill Bryson and his family live in a Victorian parsonage in a part of England where nothing of any great significance has happened since the Romans decamped. Yet one day, he began to consider how very little he knew about the ordinary things of life as he found it in that comfortable home. To remedy this, he formed the idea of journeying about his house from room to room to “write a history of the world without leaving home.”

    Tina says: "Another wonderful Bryson"
    "Bill Bryson delivers"
    Overall
    Performance
    Story

    A very good listen. Wonderful historical and personal insights, and Bill Bryson tells the story wonderfully. Perhaps not quite as inspired as "A Short History of Nearly Everything," but very worthwhile.

    0 of 0 people found this review helpful
  • Redirect: The Surprising New Science of Psychological Change

    • UNABRIDGED (7 hrs and 47 mins)
    • By Timothy D. Wilson
    • Narrated By Grover Gardner
    • Whispersync for Voice-ready
    Overall
    (61)
    Performance
    (49)
    Story
    (49)

    Why might some sex education programs result in more teen pregnancies? Why did reading that self-help book make you feel less happy? What's the best way to recover from trauma? Can we actually improve our lives by redirecting our thinking?

    Brian says: "Why programs fail."
    "Grover Gardner turns a dry book into a good listen"
    Overall
    Performance
    Story

    A fascinating look at human behavior and the intervention strategies we use to try to modify it. Grover Gardner's narration is, as always, top-notch and thoroughly professional. This book is a must read for sincere parents of children of any age.

    4 of 4 people found this review helpful
  • The Magic of Reality: How We Know What's Really True

    • UNABRIDGED (6 hrs and 42 mins)
    • By Richard Dawkins
    • Narrated By Richard Dawkins, Lalla Ward
    • Whispersync for Voice-ready
    Overall
    (671)
    Performance
    (592)
    Story
    (583)

    Richard Dawkins, the world’s most famous evolutionary biologist, presents a gorgeously lucid, science book examining some of the nature’s most fundamental questions both from a mythical and scientific perspective. Science is our most precise and powerful tool for making sense of the world. Before we developed the scientific method, we created rich mythologies to explain the unknown. The pressing questions that primitive men and women asked are the same ones we ask as children. Who was the first person? What is the sun? Why is there night and day?

    Connie says: "Audio version is superb for us grown-ups"
    "Should be on every high school reading list."
    Overall
    Performance
    Story

    Pretty basic stuff if you are a science buff. However, pass this one along to one of those adults who really didn't pay attention in school, or to an adolescent that you care about. A great superstition-buster.

    1 of 1 people found this review helpful
  • The Terror

    • ABRIDGED (8 hrs and 54 mins)
    • By Dan Simmons
    • Narrated By Simon Vance
    Overall
    (146)
    Performance
    (48)
    Story
    (48)

    Their captain's insane vision of a Northwest Passage has kept the crewmen of HMS Terror trapped in Arctic ice for two years without a thaw. But the real threat to their survival isn't the ever-shifting landscape of white, the provisions that have turned to poison, or the ship slowly buckling in the grip of the frozen ocean. The real threat is whatever is out in the frigid darkness, stalking their ship, snatching and brutally killing their fellow seamen.

    Edward A. Kokkila says: "Great Story - better if unabridged"
    "No one narrates better than Simon Vance"
    Overall
    Performance
    Story

    Dan Simmons' writing is masterful--a modern Dickens. Simon Vance is, as always, flawless. A dynamite combination. Very enjoyable.

    0 of 0 people found this review helpful

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