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Being a Ballerina
- The Power and Perfection of a Dancing Life
- Narrated by: Lexi Mae
- Length: 8 hrs and 42 mins
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Being a Ballerina
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Publisher's summary
Inspiring, revealing, and deeply relatable, Being a Ballerina is a firsthand look at the realities of life as a professional ballet dancer. Through episodes from her own career, Gavin Larsen describes the forces that drive a person to study dance; the daily balance that dancers navigate between hardship and joy; and the dancer's continual quest to discover who they are as a person and as an artist.
Starting with her arrival as a young beginner at a class too advanced for her, Larsen tells how the embarrassing mistake ended up helping her learn quickly and advance rapidly. In other stories of her early teachers, training, and auditions, she explains how she gradually came to understand and achieve what she and her body were capable of.
Larsen then re-creates scenes from her experiences in dance companies, from unglamorous roles to exhilarating performances. Working as a ballerina was shocking and scary at first, she says, recalling unexpected injuries, leaps of faith, and her constant struggle to operate at the level she wanted-but full of enormously rewarding moments.
An ideal listen for aspiring dancers, Larsen's memoir will also delight experienced dance professionals and fascinate anyone who wonders what it takes to live a life dedicated to the perfection of the art form.
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-
Story5 out of 5 stars 60
In this poignant and uplifting memoir, Dancing with the Stars sensation Amy Purdy reveals the story of how losing her legs led her to find a spiritual path. When the Las Vegas native was just nineteen, she came down with bacterial meningitis and was given less than a two percent chance of survival. In a near-death experience, she saw three figures who told her: “You can come with us, or you can stay. No matter what happens in your life, it's all going to make sense in the end." In that moment, Amy chose to live.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A Powerful Memoir of Truimph over Tragedy
- By ElizOF on 01-31-22
By: Amy Purdy, and others
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My Year with Eleanor
- A Memoir
- By: Noelle Hancock
- Narrated by: Emily Beresford
- Length: 9 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 78
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 68
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 66
After losing her high-octane job as an entertainment blogger, Noelle Hancock was lost. About to turn 29, she'd spent her career writing about celebrities' lives and had forgotten how to live her own. Unemployed and full of self-doubt, she had no idea what she wanted out of life. She feared change - in fact, she feared almost everything. Once confident and ambitious, she had become crippled by anxiety, lacking the courage required even to attend a dinner party - until inspiration struck one day in the form of a quote on a chalkboard in a coffee shop.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Right on time!
- By Leah on 02-19-18
By: Noelle Hancock
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Fierce
- How Competing for Myself Changed Everything
- By: Aly Raisman
- Narrated by: Natalie Roy Camargo, Aly Raisman
- Length: 8 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 340
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 295
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 293
Discover Aly Raisman's inspiring story of dedication, perseverance, and learning to think positive even in the toughest times on her path to gold medal success in two Olympic Games - and beyond. Aly Raisman first stepped onto a gymnastics mat as a toddler in a "mommy and me" gymnastics class. No one could have predicted then that 16 years later, she'd be standing on an Olympic podium, having achieved her dreams.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Excellent gymnastics memoir
- By Brittany Cook on 11-21-17
By: Aly Raisman
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Some Girls
- My Life in a Harem
- By: Jillian Lauren
- Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert
- Length: 8 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 427
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 338
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Story4 out of 5 stars 342
A jaw-dropping story of how a girl from the suburbs ends up in a prince's harem and emerges from the secret Xanadu both richer and wiser. At 18, Jillian Lauren was an NYU theater school dropout with a tip about an upcoming audition. The "casting director" told her that a rich businessman would pay pretty girls $20,000 if they stayed for two weeks to spice up his parties. Soon, Jillian was on a plane to Borneo, where she would spend the next 18 months in the harem of Prince Jefri Bolkiah....
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1 out of 5 stars
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Boring, Pretentious Book
- By Marcos on 04-23-11
By: Jillian Lauren
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Course Correction
- A Story of Rowing and Resilience in the Wake of Title IX
- By: Ginny Gilder
- Narrated by: Janis Ian
- Length: 10 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 44
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 39
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Story4 out of 5 stars 37
From her first strokes as a novice, Ginny Gilder found herself in a new world, training with Olympic rowers and participating in the famous Title IX naked protest, which helped define the movement for equality in college sports. Short, asthmatic, and stubborn, Gilder made the team against all odds and for the next 10 years devoted herself to answering a seemingly simple question: how badly do you want to go fast?
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4 out of 5 stars
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Every young woman should read this book
- By BCE on 11-13-17
By: Ginny Gilder
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Running Like a Girl
- Notes on Learning to Run
- By: Alexandra Heminsley
- Narrated by: Elizabeth Sastre
- Length: 6 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 748
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 676
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 677
Until five years ago, Alexandra Heminsley was decidedly not a runner. Nor was she athletic in any sense of the word. She was an ordinary, curvy woman who was convinced that sports of any kind, especially running, were beyond her. But she's made running part of her life, and gets to reap the rewards: not just the obvious things, like a touch of weight loss, health and glowing skin, but self-belief, and immeasurable daily pleasure.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Meh... not what I thought...
- By Maria on 12-03-14
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The Magician's Lie
- A Novel
- By: Greer Macallister
- Narrated by: Julia Whelan, Nick Podehl
- Length: 10 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 1,458
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 1,312
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Story4 out of 5 stars 1,317
The Amazing Arden is the most famous female illusionist of her day, renowned for her notorious trick of sawing a man in half on stage. One night in Waterloo, Iowa, with young policeman Virgil Holt watching from the audience, she swaps her trademark saw for a fire ax. Is it a new version of the illusion, or an all-too-real murder? When Arden's husband is found lifeless beneath the stage later that night, the answer seems clear.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Too Fantastic
- By Ms. Lucy on 02-22-15
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A Little Bit Wicked
- Life, Love, and Faith in Stages
- By: Kristin Chenoweth
- Narrated by: Kristin Chenoweth
- Length: 6 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 479
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 307
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 308
In this frank and funny memoir, the Tony Award-winning star of stage and screen shares her journey from small-town Oklahoma to big-time Broadway, vamping on what it takes to stand firmly on a foundation of family and faith while wearing a hot pair of Jimmy Choo platform sling-backs.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Salt of the Earth + Sparkles
- By Holly on 10-01-09
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This Is How I Save My Life
- From California to India, a True Story of Finding Everything When You Are Willing to Try Anything
- By: Amy B. Scher
- Narrated by: Amy B. Scher
- Length: 6 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 92
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 82
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 84
When Amy B. Scher was struck with undiagnosed late-stage, chronic Lyme disease, the best physicians in America labeled her condition incurable and potentially terminal. Deteriorating rapidly, she went on a search to save her own life - from the top experts in Los Angeles and the world-renowned Mayo Clinic in Minneapolis to a state-of-the-art hospital in Chicago. After exhausting all of her options in the US, she discovered a possible cure - but it was highly experimental, available only in India, and had as much of a probability of killing her as it did of curing her.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A great comfort
- By Sue on 07-07-18
By: Amy B. Scher
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Size Zero
- My Life as a Disappearing Model
- By: Victoire Dauxerre
- Narrated by: Emily Lucienne
- Length: 6 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 135
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 119
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Story4 out of 5 stars 120
memoir of a brief career as a top model - and a brutally honest account of what goes on behind the scenes in a fascinating closed industry. Scouted in the street when she was 17, Victoire Dauxerre's story started like a teenager's dream: within months she was on the catwalks of New York's major fashion shows and part of the most select circle of in-demand supermodels in the world.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Self-indulgent twaddle
- By Adeliese Baumann on 05-19-17
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Courage to Soar
- A Body in Motion, a Life in Balance
- By: Simone Biles
- Narrated by: Imani Parks
- Length: 6 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 296
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 254
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 251
In Courage to Soar, the official autobiography from four-time Olympic gold-winning and record-setting American gymnast Simone Biles, Simone shares how her faith, family, passion, and perseverance against tremendous odds made her one of the top athletes and record-breaking gymnasts in the world - and how you too can overcome challenges in your life. In this audiobook, Simone shares the details of her inspiring personal story - one filled with the kinds of daily acts of courage that led her, and can lead you, to even the most unlikely of dreams.
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2 out of 5 stars
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A little thin
- By Rachel2450 on 11-24-16
By: Simone Biles
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Russian Winter
- A Novel
- By: Daphne Kalotay
- Narrated by: Kathleen Gati
- Length: 14 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 166
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 116
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Story4 out of 5 stars 114
In Russian Winter, the beautiful debut novel by critically acclaimed writer Daphne Kalotay, a famed ballerina’s jewelry auction in Boston reveals long-held secrets of love and family, friendship and rivalry, harkening back to Stalinist Russia. Called “tender, passionate, and moving” by Jenna Blum, the New York Times bestselling author of Those Who Save Us, Russian Winter is a perfect choice for fans of the novels of Debra Dean (The Madonnas of Leningrad), Ann Patchett (Bel Canto), and Ian McEwan (Atonement).
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5 out of 5 stars
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Read this review; Sophisticated and wonderful!
- By Cookie on 01-15-12
By: Daphne Kalotay
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Going Om
- Real Life Stories On and Off the Yoga Mat
- By: Melissa Carroll - editor
- Narrated by: Eva Kaminsky, Luke Daniels, Allyson Johnson, and others
- Length: 5 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 68
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 59
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Story4 out of 5 stars 60
With candid, witty, and compelling experiences of yoga from renowned memoirists, including Cheryl Strayed (author of the number one New York Times best-seller Wild), Claire Dederer (author of national best-seller Poser: My Life in 23 Yoga Poses), Dinty W. Moore (author of The Accidental Buddhist), Neal Pollack (author of Stretch: The Making of a Yoga Dude) and many others, Going Om shares a range of observations about this popular practice.
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3 out of 5 stars
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a couple of good stories, but overall just eh
- By Melissa on 05-31-16
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I Am Not Myself These Days
- A Memoir
- By: Josh Kilmer-Purcell
- Narrated by: Johnny Heller
- Length: 6 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 158
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 141
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 141
I Am Not Myself These Days follows a glittering journey through Manhattan's dark underbelly---a shocking and surreal world where alter egos reign and subsist (barely) on dark wit and chemicals...a tragic romantic comedy where one begins by rooting for the survival of the relationship and ends by hoping someone simply survives.
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3 out of 5 stars
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depressing
- By Barry Morrison on 08-02-16
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Winning Balance
- What I've Learned So Far about Love, Faith, and Living Your Dreams
- By: Shawn Johnson, Nancy French
- Narrated by: Shawn Johnson
- Length: 6 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 97
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 88
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Story5 out of 5 stars 88
Twenty-year-old American gymnast Shawn Johnson is a four-time Olympic gold and silver medalist; a national- and world-champion athlete. Already a popular role model to all ages, in 2009 she captured the national spotlight again when she won on the widely popular Dancing with the Stars. Yet Shawn is no stranger to hard work and adversity.
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5 out of 5 stars
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LOVED HER STORY!
- By Anonymous User on 12-04-19
By: Shawn Johnson, and others
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Why I Hate Green Beans
- And Other Confessions About Relationships, Reality TV, and How We See Ourselves
- By: Lincee Ray
- Narrated by: Lincee Ray
- Length: 4 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 61
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 53
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 53
If there is one thing Lincee Ray has learned over the years, it's that the majority of women on the planet struggle with insecurities. Our skinny jeans mock us. Our just-trying-to-help mothers are just driving us crazy. Our social media feeds taunt us with everyone else's picture-perfect lives. It's enough to send you on a gummy-bear bender while binge-watching Friends reruns and not showering for a week. Lincee knows. She's been there. Right there, in fact. Gummy bears and all.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Perfect in every way!
- By Anonymous User on 10-19-22
By: Lincee Ray
What listeners say about Being a Ballerina
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Kimberly
- 12-11-22
Good Story Bad Narration
As dancers are perfectionists, I find it odd that the author didn't pre listen and correct the mispronunciation of more words and names than I can count. It got to be laughable after a while. Rosein? One ballet term had me scratching my head to figure out what step it was and wondering why had I never heard of it. .....Too bad I wanted to like this.
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Susan R. Sosna
- 11-16-22
Mispronunciations so annoying
In a ballet book the reader can’t pronounce words like rosin, Balanchine, the titles of famous ballets, even the word “choreographer.” Shame for ruining a good book.
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