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Ex Libris
- 100+ Books to Read and Reread
- Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert
- Length: 8 hrs and 1 min
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Ex Libris
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Ex Libris
- 100+ Books to Read and Reread
- By: Michiko Kakutani
- Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert
- Length: 8 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 13
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 11
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Story4 out of 5 stars 11
“Books can connect people across time zones and zip codes, across cultures, national boundaries, and historical eras”, Kakutani writes in her introduction to Ex Libris. Here listeners will discover novels and memoirs by some of the most gifted writers working today; favorite classics worth listening or relistening; and nonfiction works, both old and new, that illuminate our social and political landscape and some of today’s most pressing issues, from climate change to medicine to the consequences of digital innovation.
By: Michiko Kakutani
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Who Ate the First Oyster?
- The Extraordinary People Behind the Greatest Firsts in History
- By: Cody Cassidy
- Narrated by: Dennis Boutsikaris
- Length: 4 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 362
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 305
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 305
Who wore the first pants? Who painted the first masterpiece? Who first rode the horse? Who invented soap? This madcap adventure across ancient history uses everything from modern genetics to archaeology to uncover the geniuses behind these and other world-changing innovations. With a sharp sense of humor and boundless enthusiasm for the wonders of our ancient ancestors, Who Ate the First Oyster? profiles the perpetrators of the greatest firsts and catastrophes of prehistory.
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2 out of 5 stars
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It could be better...
- By Alex on 04-06-21
By: Cody Cassidy
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This Is Shakespeare
- By: Emma Smith
- Narrated by: Emma Smith
- Length: 9 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 24
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 20
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 19
A genius and prophet whose timeless works encapsulate the human condition like no other. A writer who surpassed his contemporaries in vision, originality, and literary mastery. A man who wrote like an angel, putting it all so much better than anyone else. Is this Shakespeare? Well, sort of. But it doesn't tell us the whole truth. So much of what we say about Shakespeare is either not true, or just not relevant.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Excellent and accessible listen
- By Amanda L. Hughes on 01-05-21
By: Emma Smith
-
For the Love of Music
- A Conductor's Guide to the Art of Listening
- By: John Mauceri
- Narrated by: John Mauceri
- Length: 6 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 31
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 27
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 28
With a lifetime of experience, profound knowledge and understanding, and heartwarming appreciation, an internationally celebrated conductor and teacher answers the questions: Why should I listen to classical music? How can I get the most from the listening experience? Unpretentious, graceful, instructive, this is a book for the aficionado, the novice, and anyone looking to have the love of music fired within them.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Divine Time with a Maestro
- By Meg on 12-18-19
By: John Mauceri
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Fantastic Numbers and Where to Find Them
- A Cosmic Quest from Zero to Infinity
- By: Antonio Padilla
- Narrated by: Antonio Padilla
- Length: 13 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 54
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 48
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 48
For particularly brilliant theoretical physicists like James Clerk Maxwell, Paul Dirac, or Albert Einstein, the search for mathematical truths led to strange new understandings of the ultimate nature of reality. But what are these truths? What are the mysterious numbers that explain the universe? In Fantastic Numbers and Where to Find Them, the leading theoretical physicist and YouTube star Antonio Padilla takes us on an irreverent cosmic tour of nine of the most extraordinary numbers in physics, offering a startling picture of how the universe works.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Exciting, Strange, Difficult = Meh
- By Michael on 05-23-23
By: Antonio Padilla
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Written in History
- Letters That Changed the World
- By: Simon Sebag Montefiore
- Narrated by: Simon Russell Beale, Tuppence Middleton, Rupert Penry-Jones, and others
- Length: 7 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 16
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 15
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 15
Written in History: Letters that Changed the World celebrates the great letters of world history, and cultural and personal life. Bestselling, prizewinning historian Simon Sebag Montefiore selects letters that have changed the course of global events or touched a timeless emotion—whether passion, rage, humor—from ancient times to the twenty-first century. Some are noble and inspiring, some despicable and unsettling, some are exquisite works of literature, others brutal, coarse, and frankly outrageous, many are erotic, others heartbreaking.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A great collection.
- By brian on 06-11-20
-
Ex Libris
- 100+ Books to Read and Reread
- By: Michiko Kakutani
- Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert
- Length: 8 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 13
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 11
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 11
“Books can connect people across time zones and zip codes, across cultures, national boundaries, and historical eras”, Kakutani writes in her introduction to Ex Libris. Here listeners will discover novels and memoirs by some of the most gifted writers working today; favorite classics worth listening or relistening; and nonfiction works, both old and new, that illuminate our social and political landscape and some of today’s most pressing issues, from climate change to medicine to the consequences of digital innovation.
By: Michiko Kakutani
-
Who Ate the First Oyster?
- The Extraordinary People Behind the Greatest Firsts in History
- By: Cody Cassidy
- Narrated by: Dennis Boutsikaris
- Length: 4 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 362
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 305
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 305
Who wore the first pants? Who painted the first masterpiece? Who first rode the horse? Who invented soap? This madcap adventure across ancient history uses everything from modern genetics to archaeology to uncover the geniuses behind these and other world-changing innovations. With a sharp sense of humor and boundless enthusiasm for the wonders of our ancient ancestors, Who Ate the First Oyster? profiles the perpetrators of the greatest firsts and catastrophes of prehistory.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
It could be better...
- By Alex on 04-06-21
By: Cody Cassidy
-
This Is Shakespeare
- By: Emma Smith
- Narrated by: Emma Smith
- Length: 9 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 24
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 20
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 19
A genius and prophet whose timeless works encapsulate the human condition like no other. A writer who surpassed his contemporaries in vision, originality, and literary mastery. A man who wrote like an angel, putting it all so much better than anyone else. Is this Shakespeare? Well, sort of. But it doesn't tell us the whole truth. So much of what we say about Shakespeare is either not true, or just not relevant.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Excellent and accessible listen
- By Amanda L. Hughes on 01-05-21
By: Emma Smith
-
For the Love of Music
- A Conductor's Guide to the Art of Listening
- By: John Mauceri
- Narrated by: John Mauceri
- Length: 6 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 31
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 27
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 28
With a lifetime of experience, profound knowledge and understanding, and heartwarming appreciation, an internationally celebrated conductor and teacher answers the questions: Why should I listen to classical music? How can I get the most from the listening experience? Unpretentious, graceful, instructive, this is a book for the aficionado, the novice, and anyone looking to have the love of music fired within them.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Divine Time with a Maestro
- By Meg on 12-18-19
By: John Mauceri
-
Fantastic Numbers and Where to Find Them
- A Cosmic Quest from Zero to Infinity
- By: Antonio Padilla
- Narrated by: Antonio Padilla
- Length: 13 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 54
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 48
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 48
For particularly brilliant theoretical physicists like James Clerk Maxwell, Paul Dirac, or Albert Einstein, the search for mathematical truths led to strange new understandings of the ultimate nature of reality. But what are these truths? What are the mysterious numbers that explain the universe? In Fantastic Numbers and Where to Find Them, the leading theoretical physicist and YouTube star Antonio Padilla takes us on an irreverent cosmic tour of nine of the most extraordinary numbers in physics, offering a startling picture of how the universe works.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Exciting, Strange, Difficult = Meh
- By Michael on 05-23-23
By: Antonio Padilla
-
Written in History
- Letters That Changed the World
- By: Simon Sebag Montefiore
- Narrated by: Simon Russell Beale, Tuppence Middleton, Rupert Penry-Jones, and others
- Length: 7 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 16
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 15
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 15
Written in History: Letters that Changed the World celebrates the great letters of world history, and cultural and personal life. Bestselling, prizewinning historian Simon Sebag Montefiore selects letters that have changed the course of global events or touched a timeless emotion—whether passion, rage, humor—from ancient times to the twenty-first century. Some are noble and inspiring, some despicable and unsettling, some are exquisite works of literature, others brutal, coarse, and frankly outrageous, many are erotic, others heartbreaking.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A great collection.
- By brian on 06-11-20
-
Dreyer's English
- An Utterly Correct Guide to Clarity and Style
- By: Benjamin Dreyer
- Narrated by: Benjamin Dreyer, Alison Fraser
- Length: 9 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 339
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 295
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 282
As Random House’s copy chief, Dreyer has upheld the standards of the legendary publisher for more than two decades. He is beloved by authors and editors alike - not to mention his followers on social media - for deconstructing the English language with playful erudition. Now, he distills everything he has learned from the myriad books he has copyedited and overseen into a useful guide not just for writers but for everyone who wants to put their best prose foot forward.
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5 out of 5 stars
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You'll be horrified at a lifetime of usage errors.
- By RTaylor on 05-16-19
By: Benjamin Dreyer
-
Underqualified Advice
- (and Other Amusing Diversions)
- By: Drew Hayes
- Narrated by: Kirby Heyborne
- Length: 11 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 245
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 221
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 220
My name is Drew Hayes, and for the past six years I've made my living as a writer. In that time, I've published 20 books, written hundreds of thousands of words, and made countless mistakes - most of which I like to think I've learned from. Underqualified Advice (and Other Amusing Diversions) is my attempt to compile those lessons and share them with others, as well as have some fun along the way. Half of the book is dedicated to detailing specifics about writing, maneuvering the industry, and keeping fiscally afloat in largely unstable waters.
-
5 out of 5 stars
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Enter the Mind of Drew Hayes. The Spiders Need You
- By Tony E. on 01-30-20
By: Drew Hayes
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Oxygen
- The Molecule That Made the World
- By: Nick Lane
- Narrated by: Nigel Patterson
- Length: 16 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 209
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 165
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 163
Oxygen takes the listener on an enthralling journey, as gripping as a thriller, as it unravels the unexpected ways in which oxygen spurred the evolution of life and death.
-
5 out of 5 stars
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A Story About Pretty Much Everything
- By ZebraBear on 09-09-20
By: Nick Lane
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The Dream Universe
- How Fundamental Physics Lost Its Way
- By: David Lindley
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 7 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 30
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 29
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 29
In the early 17th century, Galileo broke free from the hold of ancient Platonic and Aristotelian philosophy. He drastically changed the framework through which we view the natural world when he asserted that we should base our theory of reality on what we can observe rather than pure thought. In the process, he invented what we would come to call science. This set the stage for all the breakthroughs that followed - from Kepler to Newton to Einstein.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Provocative Argument
- By Craig Doner on 05-26-20
By: David Lindley
-
A History of the Human Brain
- From the Sea Sponge to CRISPR, How Our Brain Evolved
- By: Bret Stetka
- Narrated by: Sean Pratt
- Length: 7 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 114
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 83
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 83
Just over 125,000 years ago, humanity was going extinct until a dramatic shift occurred—Homo sapiens started tracking the tides in order to eat the nearby oysters. Before long, they’d pulled themselves back from the brink of extinction. The human brain, and its evolutionary journey, is unlike anything else in history. In A History of the Human Brain, Bret Stetka takes listeners through that far-reaching journey. He also tackles the question of where the brain will take us next, exploring the burgeoning concepts of epigenetics and new technologies like CRISPR.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Fascinating survey of the evolution of the human brain
- By Cosmos on 03-30-21
By: Bret Stetka
-
Praying with Jane Eyre
- Reflections on Reading as a Sacred Practice
- By: Vanessa Zoltan
- Narrated by: Vanessa Zoltan, Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 7 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 59
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 55
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 55
Our favorite books keep us company, give us hope, and help us find meaning in a chaotic world. In this fresh and relatable work, atheist chaplain Vanessa Zoltan blends memoir and personal growth as she grapples with the notions of family legacy and identity through the lens of her favorite novel, Jane Eyre.
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5 out of 5 stars
-
A new appreciation for secular texts
- By Cassandra on 04-07-24
By: Vanessa Zoltan
-
Burning Questions
- Essays and Occasional Pieces, 2004 to 2021
- By: Margaret Atwood
- Narrated by: Margaret Atwood, full cast
- Length: 19 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 67
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 51
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 51
In more than fifty pieces, Atwood aims her prodigious intellect and impish humor at the world, and reports back to us on what she finds. This roller-coaster period brought the end of history, a financial crash, the rise of Trump, and a pandemic. From when to dispense advice to the young (answer: only when asked) to Atwood’s views on the climate crisis, we have no better guide to the many and varied mysteries of our universe.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A delicious box of chocolates
- By Christine Currie on 03-23-22
By: Margaret Atwood
-
How to Make an Apple Pie from Scratch
- In Search of the Recipe for Our Universe, from the Origins of Atoms to the Big Bang
- By: Harry Cliff
- Narrated by: Harry Cliff
- Length: 11 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 71
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 62
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 62
Harry Cliff - a University of Cambridge particle physicist and researcher on the Large Hadron Collider - sets out in pursuit of answers. He ventures to the largest underground research facility in the world, deep beneath Italy's Gran Sasso mountains, where scientists gaze into the heart of the Sun using the most elusive of particles, the ghostly neutrino. He visits CERN in Switzerland to explore the "Antimatter Factory," where the stuff of science fiction is manufactured daily (and we're close to knowing whether it falls up).
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5 out of 5 stars
-
Down the rabbit hole in a most fascinating way!
- By Rick B on 10-04-21
By: Harry Cliff
-
Einstein's War
- How Relativity Triumphed Amid the Vicious Nationalism of World War I
- By: Matthew Stanley
- Narrated by: Matthew Stanley
- Length: 12 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 36
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 35
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 33
Few recognize how the Great War, the industrialized slaughter that bled Europe from 1914 to 1918, shaped Einstein’s life and work. While Einstein never held a rifle, he formulated general relativity blockaded in Berlin, literally starving. He lost 50 pounds in three months, unable to communicate with his most important colleagues. Some of those colleagues fought against rabid nationalism; others were busy inventing chemical warfare - scientists trapped in the power plays of empire. Meanwhile, Einstein struggled to craft relativity and persuade the world that it was correct.
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5 out of 5 stars
-
Great story but they should have hired a pro to read it
- By Richard Rozier on 06-18-19
By: Matthew Stanley
-
Mud and Stars
- Travels in Russia with Pushkin, Tolstoy, and Other Geniuses of the Golden Age
- By: Sara Wheeler
- Narrated by: Sara Wheeler
- Length: 8 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 20
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 17
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 17
With the writers of the Golden Age as her guides - Pushkin and Tolstoy, among others - Sara Wheeler searches for a Russia not in the news, traveling from rinsed northwestern beet fields and the Far Eastern Arctic tundra to the cauldron of nationalities, religions, and languages in the Caucasus. Wheeler follows local guides; boards with families in modest homestays; eats roe, pelmeni, and cabbage soup; invokes recipes from Mastering the Art of Soviet Cooking; learns the language; and observes the pattern of outcry and silence that characterizes life under Vladimir Putin.
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4 out of 5 stars
-
Great idea for a book!
- By GogolGirl on 01-21-20
By: Sara Wheeler
-
The Things We Make
- The Unknown History of Invention from Cathedrals to Soda Cans
- By: Bill Hammack
- Narrated by: Jonathan Todd Ross
- Length: 7 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 135
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 103
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 103
For millennia, humans have used one simple method to solve problems. Whether it's planting crops, building skyscrapers, developing photographs, or designing the first microchip, all creators follow the same steps to engineer progress. But this powerful method, the "engineering method", is an all but hidden process that few of us have heard of—let alone understand—but that influences every aspect of our lives.
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5 out of 5 stars
-
Blends history and technical method explanations
- By Aaron Trachtman on 05-26-23
By: Bill Hammack
-
Con/Artist
- The Life and Crimes of the World's Greatest Art Forger
- By: Tony Tetro, Giampiero Ambrosi
- Narrated by: Richard Ferrone, Tony Tetro, Giampiero Ambrosi
- Length: 8 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 271
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 218
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 218
The art world is a much dirtier, nastier business than you might expect. Tony Tetro, one of the most renowned art forgers in history, will make you question every masterpiece you’ve ever seen in a museum, gallery, or private collection. Tetro’s “Rembrandts,” “Caravaggios,” “Miros,” and hundreds of other works now hang on walls around the globe.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Incredibly interesting!
- By Carole Wooten on 12-07-22
By: Tony Tetro, and others
Publisher's summary
From ‘the most powerful book critic in the English-speaking world’ (Vanity Fair) comes an inspiring selection of the life-changing books that none of us should miss.
‘Why do we love books so much?’
For legendary literary critic Michiko Kakutani, books have always been an escape and a sanctuary, the characters of some novels feeling so real to her childhood self that she worried they might leap out of the pages at night if she left the book cover open. In Ex Libris, she offers a personal selection of more than 100 works of fiction, nonfiction and poetry, with passionate essays on why each has had a profound effect on her life.
From Homer’s The Odyssey to The Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale to Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan Novels, Ex Libris covers a rich and vast range of classics, old and new, that will help build a well-rounded listener and citizen of the world. Ex Libris points us to our next great listen - and proves an unmissable reminder of why we fell in love with books in the first place.