-
The Samurai's Garden
- A Novel
- Narrated by: David Shih
- Length: 8 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Release date: 03-07-17
- Language: English
- Publisher: Tantor Audio
- Whispersync for Voice-ready
Regular price: $26.59
People who bought this also bought...
-
The Street of a Thousand Blossoms
- By: Gail Tsukiyama
- Narrated by: Stephen Park
- Length: 14 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 205
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 104
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 105
It is Tokyo in 1939. On the Street of a Thousand Blossoms, two orphaned brothers are growing up with their loving grandparents. The older boy, Hiroshi, shows unusual skill at sumo wrestling, while Kenji is fascinated by the art of creating hard-carved masks for actors in the Noh theater. In an exquisitely moving story that spans almost 30 years, Gail Tsukiyama draws us irresistibly into the world of the brothers and the women who love them.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Another great story from Ms. Tsukyama
- By L. Walker on 12-13-07
-
The Underground Railroad (Oprah's Book Club)
- By: Colson Whitehead
- Narrated by: Bahni Turpin
- Length: 10 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 10,078
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 9,182
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 9,147
The Newest Oprah Book Club 2016 Selection. Cora is a slave on a cotton plantation in Georgia. Life is hell for all the slaves but especially bad for Cora; an outcast even among her fellow Africans, she is coming into womanhood - where even greater pain awaits. When Caesar, a recent arrival from Virginia, tells her about the Underground Railroad, they decide to take a terrifying risk and escape. Matters do not go as planned - Cora kills a young white boy who tries to capture her. Though they manage to find a station and head north, they are being hunted.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Stupendous book, hard to follow in audio
- By JQR on 12-01-16
-
The Wind off the Small Isles
- By: Mary Stewart
- Narrated by: Susie Riddell
- Length: 1 hr and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 78
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 68
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 68
Beloved author Mary Stewart's long-lost novella, now available again for the first time in 40 years. In 1879 a wealthy young woman elopes with an impoverished fisherman, leaving her family, who live on the volcanic island of Lanzarote, distraught. In 1968, 23-year-old Perdita West, secretary to the famous author Cora Gresham, visits Lanzarote, the strangest and wildest of the Canary Isles, on a research trip. They meet Cora's estranged son, Mike, and fall in love with the unusual, beautiful little island.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Classic Mary Stewart. Enchanting
- By Jenny on 06-10-17
-
War and Turpentine
- A Novel
- By: Stefan Hertmans, David Mckay
- Narrated by: Nicholas Guy Smith
- Length: 12 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 145
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 133
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 132
The life of Urbain Martien - artist, soldier, survivor of World War I - lies contained in two notebooks he left behind when he died in 1981. His grandson, a writer, retells his story, the notebooks giving him the impetus to imagine his way into the locked chambers of Urbain's memory. He vividly recounts a whole life: Urbain as the child of a lowly church painter, retouching his father's work; dodging death in a foundry; fighting in the war that altered the course of history, and much more.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Elegiac, poetic, Belgian perspective on one Great
- By James A. Dittes on 12-27-16
-
The Teahouse Fire
- By: Ellis Avery
- Narrated by: Barbara Caruso
- Length: 17 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 204
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 88
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 90
The fates of two women, one American, one Japanese, become entwined in this sweeping novel of 19th century Japan on the cusp of radical change and Westernization. The Japanese tea ceremony, steeped in ritual, is at the heart of this story of an American girl adopted by Kyoto's most important tea master and raised as attendant and surrogate younger sister to his privileged daughter, Yukako.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Captivating
- By Pamela on 04-18-07
-
The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane
- By: Lisa See
- Narrated by: Ruthie Ann Miles, Kimiko Glenn, Alexandra Allwine, and others
- Length: 14 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 6,372
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 5,887
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 5,874
The thrilling new novel from number-one New York Times best-selling author Lisa See explores the lives of a Chinese mother and her daughter who has been abandoned and adopted by an American couple.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
***EXCELLENT*** Six stars if I could !!
- By ROBIN on 04-10-17
-
The Street of a Thousand Blossoms
- By: Gail Tsukiyama
- Narrated by: Stephen Park
- Length: 14 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 205
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 104
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 105
It is Tokyo in 1939. On the Street of a Thousand Blossoms, two orphaned brothers are growing up with their loving grandparents. The older boy, Hiroshi, shows unusual skill at sumo wrestling, while Kenji is fascinated by the art of creating hard-carved masks for actors in the Noh theater. In an exquisitely moving story that spans almost 30 years, Gail Tsukiyama draws us irresistibly into the world of the brothers and the women who love them.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Another great story from Ms. Tsukyama
- By L. Walker on 12-13-07
-
The Underground Railroad (Oprah's Book Club)
- By: Colson Whitehead
- Narrated by: Bahni Turpin
- Length: 10 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 10,078
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 9,182
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 9,147
The Newest Oprah Book Club 2016 Selection. Cora is a slave on a cotton plantation in Georgia. Life is hell for all the slaves but especially bad for Cora; an outcast even among her fellow Africans, she is coming into womanhood - where even greater pain awaits. When Caesar, a recent arrival from Virginia, tells her about the Underground Railroad, they decide to take a terrifying risk and escape. Matters do not go as planned - Cora kills a young white boy who tries to capture her. Though they manage to find a station and head north, they are being hunted.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Stupendous book, hard to follow in audio
- By JQR on 12-01-16
-
The Wind off the Small Isles
- By: Mary Stewart
- Narrated by: Susie Riddell
- Length: 1 hr and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 78
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 68
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 68
Beloved author Mary Stewart's long-lost novella, now available again for the first time in 40 years. In 1879 a wealthy young woman elopes with an impoverished fisherman, leaving her family, who live on the volcanic island of Lanzarote, distraught. In 1968, 23-year-old Perdita West, secretary to the famous author Cora Gresham, visits Lanzarote, the strangest and wildest of the Canary Isles, on a research trip. They meet Cora's estranged son, Mike, and fall in love with the unusual, beautiful little island.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Classic Mary Stewart. Enchanting
- By Jenny on 06-10-17
-
War and Turpentine
- A Novel
- By: Stefan Hertmans, David Mckay
- Narrated by: Nicholas Guy Smith
- Length: 12 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 145
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 133
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 132
The life of Urbain Martien - artist, soldier, survivor of World War I - lies contained in two notebooks he left behind when he died in 1981. His grandson, a writer, retells his story, the notebooks giving him the impetus to imagine his way into the locked chambers of Urbain's memory. He vividly recounts a whole life: Urbain as the child of a lowly church painter, retouching his father's work; dodging death in a foundry; fighting in the war that altered the course of history, and much more.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Elegiac, poetic, Belgian perspective on one Great
- By James A. Dittes on 12-27-16
-
The Teahouse Fire
- By: Ellis Avery
- Narrated by: Barbara Caruso
- Length: 17 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 204
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 88
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 90
The fates of two women, one American, one Japanese, become entwined in this sweeping novel of 19th century Japan on the cusp of radical change and Westernization. The Japanese tea ceremony, steeped in ritual, is at the heart of this story of an American girl adopted by Kyoto's most important tea master and raised as attendant and surrogate younger sister to his privileged daughter, Yukako.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Captivating
- By Pamela on 04-18-07
-
The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane
- By: Lisa See
- Narrated by: Ruthie Ann Miles, Kimiko Glenn, Alexandra Allwine, and others
- Length: 14 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 6,372
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 5,887
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 5,874
The thrilling new novel from number-one New York Times best-selling author Lisa See explores the lives of a Chinese mother and her daughter who has been abandoned and adopted by an American couple.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
***EXCELLENT*** Six stars if I could !!
- By ROBIN on 04-10-17
-
The Monk of Mokha
- By: Dave Eggers
- Narrated by: Dion Graham
- Length: 8 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 323
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 305
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 304
Mokhtar Alkhanshali grew up in San Francisco, one of seven siblings raised by Yemeni immigrants in a tiny apartment. At age 24, unable to pay for college, he works as a doorman. Until: a statue of an Arab raising a cup of coffee awakens something in him. He sets out to learn the rich history of coffee in Yemen and the complex art of tasting and identifying varietals. He travels to Yemen, collects samples of beans, eager to bring improved cultivation methods to the farmers. And he is on the verge of success when civil war engulfs Yemen in 2015 and he is trapped in Sana'a.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
MOVING THE NEEDLE
- By Dog Fish on 02-20-18
-
No One Can Pronounce My Name
- A Novel
- By: Rakesh Satyal
- Narrated by: Amol Shah
- Length: 11 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 85
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 77
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 78
In a suburb outside Cleveland, a community of Indian Americans has settled into lives that straddle the divide between Eastern and Western cultures. For some, America is a bewildering and alienating place where coworkers can't pronounce your name but will eagerly repeat the Sanskrit phrases from their yoga class. Harit, a lonely Indian immigrant in his mid-40s, lives with his mother, who can no longer function after the death of Harit's sister, Swati.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Difficult to Review
- By Claudine on 10-25-17
-
Masked Ball at Broxley Manor
- A Royal Spyness Novella
- By: Rhys Bowen
- Narrated by: Katherine Kellgren
- Length: 1 hr and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,255
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,132
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,128
At the end of her first unsuccessful season out in society, Lady Georgiana has all but given up on attracting a suitable man - until she receives an invitation to a masked Halloween ball at Broxley Manor. Georgie is uncertain why she was invited, until she learns that the royal family intends to marry her off to a foreign prince, one reputed to be mad.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Fun, light prequel
- By CMMV on 01-01-15
-
Night of Many Dreams
- By: Gail Tsukiyama
- Narrated by: Anna Fields
- Length: 8 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 24
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 18
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 17
As World War II threatens their comfortable life in Hong Kong, young Joan and Emma Lew escape with their family to spend the war years in Macao. When they return home, Emma has developed a deep interest in travel and new experiences, while Joan has turned to movies and thoughts of romance to escape the problems of ordinary life.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Like listening to someone read their diary
- By Connie on 07-23-13
-
Pachinko
- By: Min Jin Lee
- Narrated by: Allison Hiroto
- Length: 18 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,198
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,899
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,896
Profoundly moving and gracefully told, Pachinko follows one Korean family through the generations, beginning in early 1900s Korea with Sunja, the prized daughter of a poor yet proud family, whose unplanned pregnancy threatens to shame them. Betrayed by her wealthy lover, Sunja finds unexpected salvation when a young tubercular minister offers to marry her and bring her to Japan to start a new life.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
The destruction a good book
- By Suramericana on 05-12-18
-
The Great Believers
- By: Rebecca Makkai
- Narrated by: Michael Crouch
- Length: 18 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 83
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 80
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 80
In 1985, Yale Tishman, the development director for an art gallery in Chicago, is about to pull off an amazing coup, bringing in an extraordinary collection of 1920s paintings as a gift to the gallery. Yet as his career begins to flourish, the carnage of the AIDS epidemic grows around him. One by one, his friends are dying, and after his friend Nico's funeral, the virus circles closer and closer to Yale himself. Soon the only person he has left is Fiona, Nico's little sister.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Best book for a long time!
- By jenny b/hudson oh on 07-01-18
-
The Practice House
- By: Laura McNeal
- Narrated by: Angela Dawe
- Length: 14 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 587
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 516
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 514
Nineteen-year-old Aldine McKenna is stuck at home with her sister and aunt in a Scottish village in 1929 when two Mormon missionaries ring the doorbell. Aldine's sister converts and moves to America to marry, and Aldine follows, hoping to find the life she's meant to lead and the person she's meant to love. In New York, Aldine answers an ad soliciting a teacher for a one-room schoolhouse in a place she can't possibly imagine: drought-stricken Kansas.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Well, written, interesting, different family saga
- By NMwritergal on 05-06-17
-
Before We Were Yours
- A Novel
- By: Lisa Wingate
- Narrated by: Emily Rankin, Catherine Taber
- Length: 14 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 35,164
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 32,030
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 31,910
Memphis, 1939. Twelve-year-old Rill Foss and her four younger siblings live a magical life aboard their family's Mississippi River shantyboat. But when their father must rush their mother to the hospital one stormy night, Rill is left in charge - until strangers arrive in force. Wrenched from all that is familiar and thrown into a Tennessee Children's Home Society orphanage, the Foss children are assured that they will soon be returned to their parents - but they quickly realize the dark truth.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
I was rivetted, finished in three days.
- By Lin Cloward on 06-26-17
-
A Gentleman in Moscow
- A Novel
- By: Amor Towles
- Narrated by: Nicholas Guy Smith
- Length: 17 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 19,036
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 17,656
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 17,592
A Gentleman in Moscow immerses us in an elegantly drawn era with the story of Count Alexander Rostov. When, in 1922, he is deemed an unrepentant aristocrat by a Bolshevik tribunal, the count is sentenced to house arrest in the Metropol, a grand hotel across the street from the Kremlin. Rostov, an indomitable man of erudition and wit, has never worked a day in his life and must now live in an attic room while some of the most tumultuous decades in Russian history are unfolding outside the hotel's doors.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Brilliant, heartfelt, inspiring
- By Jon K. Rust on 07-24-17
-
A Hundred Flowers
- A Novel
- By: Gail Tsukiyama
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 7 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 80
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 67
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 71
China, 1957: Chairman Mao has declared a new openness in society. “Let a hundred flowers bloom; let a hundred schools of thought contend.” Many intellectuals fear it is only a trick, and Kai Ying’s husband, Sheng, a teacher, has promised not to jeopardize their safety or that of their young son, Tao. But one July morning, just before his sixth birthday, Tao watches helplessly as Sheng is dragged away for writing a letter criticizing the Communist Party and sent to a labor camp for “reeducation”. Once again, Tsukiyama brings us a powerfully moving story of ordinary people facing extraordinary circumstances with grace and courage.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Excellent book about China revolution.
- By Kathleen on 09-29-12
-
Child of Vengeance
- A Novel
- By: David Kirk
- Narrated by: Mark Bramhall
- Length: 15 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 145
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 132
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 132
Japan in the late 16th century was a land in turmoil. Lords of the great clans schemed against one another, served by aristocratic samurai bound to them by a rigid code of honor. Bennosuke is a high-born but lonely teenager living in his ancestral village. His mother died when he was a young boy, and his powerful warrior father Munisai has abandoned him for a life of service to his Lord, Shinmei. Bennosuke has been raised by his uncle Dorinbo, a Buddhist monk who urges the boy to forgo the violence of the samurai and embrace the contemplative life.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Clever weaving of history and fiction.
- By Jonathan W Crummett on 02-25-16
-
A Taste for Vengeance
- A Bruno, Chief of Police Novel
- By: Martin Walker
- Narrated by: Robert Ian Mackenzie
- Length: 11 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 175
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 165
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 164
When a British tourist fails to turn up for a luxurious cooking vacation in Bruno's usually idyllic Dordogne village of St. Denis, the worried hostess is quick to call on Bruno for help. Monica Felder is nowhere to be found, and her husband, a retired British major, is unreachable. And not long after Bruno discovers that Monica was traveling with a mysterious Irishman (her lover?), the two turn up dead. The Irishman's background in intelligence and his connection to Monica's husband only raise more questions for Bruno.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Best of the best
- By Sharon Major on 06-28-18
Publisher's Summary
The daughter of a Chinese mother and a Japanese father, Gail Tsukiyama uses the Japanese invasion of China during the late 1930s as a somber backdrop for her unusual story about a 20-year-old Chinese painter named Stephen who is sent to his family's summer home in a Japanese coastal village to recover from a bout with tuberculosis. Here he is cared for by Matsu, a reticent housekeeper and a master gardener. Over the course of a remarkable year, Stephen learns Matsu's secret and gains not only physical strength, but also profound spiritual insight. Matsu is a samurai of the soul, a man devoted to doing good and finding beauty in a cruel and arbitrary world, and Stephen is a noble student, learning to appreciate Matsu's generous and nurturing way of life and to love Matsu's soulmate, gentle Sachi, a woman afflicted with leprosy.
Critic Reviews
More from the same
What members say
Average Customer Ratings
Overall
-
4.5 out of 5 stars
-
5 Stars65
-
4 Stars26
-
3 Stars8
-
2 Stars4
-
1 Stars3
Performance
-
4.5 out of 5 stars
-
5 Stars65
-
4 Stars19
-
3 Stars7
-
2 Stars4
-
1 Stars1
Story
-
4.5 out of 5 stars
-
5 Stars59
-
4 Stars23
-
3 Stars8
-
2 Stars4
-
1 Stars0
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Kim J Hood
- 08-24-17
Extremely Pleasant
I purchased this book solely on the basis of the reviews for it. And they were right! This is a lovely, melodic, touching enjoyable book. One of my favorites.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- whistler
- Black Mountain NC
- 07-09-17
Historical and spiritual fiction, pulls you in...
Leaves the reader with much to think about. Well developed characters, engaging storyline, human character studies in a very readable work of fiction.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Tina
- 06-12-17
Love this book!
I first read this book years ago and was excited to see it was available as an audiobook because the story is so beautiful. I think it is one of only a handful of books I have reread again and again. I will definitely be listening to it again!
5 of 6 people found this review helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Ray
- 02-19-18
A story of friendship and nature
Meaningful connection. It is available and accessible if we open ourselves to it. A beautiful garden grows when It is properly tended. Thank you for this wonderful story
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Paul Vincent
- 10-15-17
Outstanding Story
First of all I love her writing this book was no exception to others I have read great story and great performance from the reader !
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
-
Overall3 out of 5 stars
-
Performance3 out of 5 stars
-
Story3 out of 5 stars
- karinzart
- hawaii
- 07-11-17
Unusual story line
I enjoyed this book because of the unusual 'zen-like' story line. Well researched historical data about Japan's invasion of China in the '30's. Good, not great.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Jenny Kautz
- Keene, NH, USA
- 08-03-18
A Soothing meditation
Loved this book. The format of the book written as a journal was great. It gave a rexpite from my busy day. Loved tbe characters, and will miss them!
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars
-
Story4 out of 5 stars
- Adriana A. Diaz
- Oakland, CA, US
- 06-25-18
A Novel Painted with a Master's Brush
This novel was like a beautiful painting. It carried me through foreign landscapes and across a thousand skies.
I loved the way the characters were removed from the mechanics of their time. Removed from cars and planes. Removed from the influence and noise of avarice. Each time I listened, the narrator took me to that place. I felt my pulse relax and my mind focus on what was important, the words and the people. I thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience.
-
Overall1 out of 5 stars
-
Performance2 out of 5 stars
-
Story2 out of 5 stars
- lisamarie77
- 08-18-17
hated it - waste of time.
hated it - waste of time. not sure why i completed the book at all.... never got good
1 of 5 people found this review helpful