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Short Story Press Presents: Accidental Expectations
- Narrated by: Olivia Lauer
- Length: 34 mins
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Short Story Press Presents: Accidental Expectations
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Publisher's summary
Short Story Press Presents: Accidental Expectations by Jessie Qu
Love can happen, at any place, any time, with any given person. Many people dream of having a rendezvous with a foreigner in a foreign country and have the romance of a lifetime. And that’s exactly what Sophie got when she traveled to Firenze for a short vacation while work-studying abroad.
In the outskirts of Tuscany, a fuse sparked, leaving behind the entrails of an undesirable fire, slowly burning away the remains of those left behind. The love between Sophie and Alessandro seemed shallow and childish at best. From their initial confrontations to their constant arguments and differences, the gap between their relationships continued to push them further apart.
Left with nothing more than a surreal dream with lingering desires, what will Sophie and Alessandro do when the reality of life finally takes over the world of fancy and dreams? Are the trips to Trieste, Paris, and Slovenia merely a desire for sexual deviance or a sign of true love? With an engagement ring and a lifetime promise, can Sophie really risk having something more than just a measly fling with Alessandro? As each encounter became more complicated, the initial accident turned into constant expectations with no ends.
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-
Story4 out of 5 stars 122
What if the drink you just spilled, the train you just missed, or the lottery ticket you just found was not just a random occurrence? What if it's all part of a bigger plan? What if there's no such thing as a chance encounter? What if there are people we don't know determining our destiny? And what if they are even planning the fate of the world? Enter the Coincidence Makers - Guy, Emily, and Eric - three seemingly ordinary people who work for a secret organization devoted to creating and carrying out coincidences. What the rest of the world sees as random occurrences, are, in fact, carefully orchestrated events.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Amazing!
- By Gal Wolff on 07-31-18
By: Yoav Blum
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10:04
- By: Ben Lerner
- Narrated by: Eric Michael Summerer
- Length: 7 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 214
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 183
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Story4 out of 5 stars 182
In the last year, the narrator of 10:04 has enjoyed unexpected literary success, has been diagnosed with a potentially fatal heart condition, and has been asked by his best friend to help her conceive a child, despite his dating a rising star in the visual arts. In a New York of increasingly frequent super storms and political unrest, he must reckon with his biological mortality, the possibility of a literary afterlife, and the prospect of (unconventional) fatherhood in a city that might soon be under water.
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3 out of 5 stars
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A novel worth reading
- By Bradley Paul Valentine on 01-29-15
By: Ben Lerner
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Scale
- A Novel
- By: Keith Buckley
- Narrated by: Keith Buckley
- Length: 5 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 45
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 38
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 39
As a hopeless and struggling indie rock musician, Ray Goldman's best chance of discovering any beauty and purpose in his dysfunctional life will come only when he ceases to struggle against life itself. Scale chronicles Ray Goldman’s journey downward through the adversarial trials that sometimes prove necessary in facilitating an eventual ascent into truth and happiness. The odd chapters of the novel find Ray, now a 31-year-old guitar player, seeking fulfillment in the wake of a life-altering tragedy.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Poor Presentation
- By mmacedonia on 04-16-19
By: Keith Buckley
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Leaving the Atocha Station
- By: Ben Lerner
- Narrated by: Ben Lerner
- Length: 5 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 265
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 230
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Story4 out of 5 stars 228
Adam Gordon is a brilliant, if highly unreliable, young American poet on a prestigious fellowship in Madrid, struggling to establish his sense of self and his relationship to art. Instead of following the dictates of his fellowship, Adam's 'research' becomes a meditation on the possibility of the genuine in the arts and beyond: are his relationships with the people he meets in Spain as fraudulent as he fears his poems are? Is poetry an essential art form, or merely a screen for the reader's projections?
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5 out of 5 stars
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Insightful, beautiful
- By Rochelle on 12-09-14
By: Ben Lerner
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Insomniac City
- New York, Oliver, and Me
- By: Bill Hayes
- Narrated by: Stephen Bel Davies
- Length: 6 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 177
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 164
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 162
Bill Hayes came to New York City in 2009 with a one-way ticket and only the vaguest idea of how he would get by. But, at 48 years old, having spent decades in San Francisco, he craved change. Grieving over the death of his partner, he quickly discovered the profound consolations of the city's incessant rhythms, the sight of the Empire State Building against the night sky, and New Yorkers themselves, kindred souls that Hayes, a lifelong insomniac, encountered on late-night strolls with his camera.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Touching and Intimate Portrait
- By Amazon Customer on 01-18-19
By: Bill Hayes
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Speak
- A Novel
- By: Louisa Hall
- Narrated by: Suzan Crowley, Christopher Ashman, Adrienne Rusk, and others
- Length: 8 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 90
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 83
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Story4 out of 5 stars 84
In a narrative that spans geography and time, from the Atlantic Ocean in the 17th century to a correctional institute in Texas in the near future, and told from the perspectives of five very different characters, Speak considers what it means to be human and what it means to be less than fully alive.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Like nothing else
- By Anonymous User on 06-22-17
By: Louisa Hall
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Vatican Waltz
- A Novel
- By: Roland Merullo
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 8 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 138
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 128
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Story4 out of 5 stars 127
Cynthia Piantedosi lives a quiet, unassuming life with her elderly father just outside of Boston. When she loses her beloved grandmother as a child, her faith takes a turn for the devout, and she begins experiencing what she describes as "spells" - moments of such intense prayer that she loses herself. Uninterested in boys and a social life, she develops a deep friendship with the parish priest, whose ideas are often seen as too provocative by his congregation but who encourages her to explore her spells.
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2 out of 5 stars
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I enjoyed it until the last page.
- By Pam on 08-15-16
By: Roland Merullo
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The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears
- By: Dinaw Mengestu
- Narrated by: Dion Graham
- Length: 6 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 170
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 140
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Story4 out of 5 stars 140
Ethiopian émigré Dinaw Mengestu is a skilled observer of people who offers a colorful debut work of fiction. Insightful and swiftly paced, this novel evokes past and present in the course of its compelling narrative. It's the `70s, and one D.C. neighborhood is undergoing big changes. In the mix is Ethiopian grocery owner Sepha Stephanos - a man with a complex past who fled his homeland after seeing his father brutalized by themilitary. He hopes for new prospects in D.C.'s gentrification process.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Great book, wonderful reader
- By Lisbeth on 11-22-11
By: Dinaw Mengestu
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The Time Collector
- By: Gwendolyn Womack
- Narrated by: Lauren Ezzo, Will Damron
- Length: 9 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 361
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 320
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 320
Roan West was born with an extraordinary gift: he can relive memories across centuries and glean history first-hand. A highly skilled psychometrist, Roan is able to perceive the past of any object he touches. He has spent his life as a voyeur, using his talents to find and sell valuable antiques, but his quiet life in New Orleans is about to change. Stuart, a fellow pyschometrist and Roan's close friend, has just unearthed several "ooparts": out-of-place artifacts that challenge recorded history....
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2 out of 5 stars
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Wish I had known this was a “romance” story
- By Paisley on 04-26-20
By: Gwendolyn Womack
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Losing the Light
- A Novel
- By: Andrea Dunlop
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 10 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 92
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 84
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Story3.5 out of 5 stars 83
When 30-year-old Brooke Thompson unexpectedly runs into a man from her past, she's plunged headlong into memories she's long tried to forget about the year she spent in France following a disastrous affair with a professor.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Right book for right time
- By Pamela G. on 08-06-18
By: Andrea Dunlop
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Three Daughters of Eve
- By: Elif Shafak
- Narrated by: Alix Dunmore
- Length: 10 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 221
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 202
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Story4 out of 5 stars 203
Set across Istanbul and Oxford, from the 1980s to the present day, Three Daughters of Eve is a sweeping tale of faith and friendship, tradition and modernity, love and an unexpected betrayal. Peri, a wealthy Turkish housewife and mother, is on her way to a dinner party at a seaside mansion in Istanbul when a beggar snatches her handbag. As she wrestles to get it back, a photograph falls to the ground - an old polaroid of three young women and their university professor.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Review 3 daughters of Eve
- By CA on 04-28-18
By: Elif Shafak
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The Other Side of the Bridge
- By: Cameron Wright
- Narrated by: Nancy Peterson
- Length: 9 hrs
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 133
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 118
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Story4 out of 5 stars 118
Katie Connelly has lived in San Francisco all her life. Her late father made his career as an ironworker on the Golden Gate Bridge, and the many stories of him trying to save jumpers still haunt her. When she's asked to write a history about the bridge, her research uncovers a secret journal hidden in her father's desk, pages of familiar advice penned by the hand of a stranger. The scribbled words tell of a promise ring and a distant love, clues that Katie hopes may answer her own unresolved sorrow.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Enjoyable enough story, terrible female narrator
- By Rebecca on 04-02-20
By: Cameron Wright
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The Secret Letters of the Monk Who Sold His Ferrari
- By: Robin Sharma
- Narrated by: Adam Verner
- Length: 6 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 74
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 57
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 57
After a bizarre encounter with his lost cousin, Jonathan Landry is compelled to travel across the planet to retrieve letters and mementos that carry the extraordinary secrets that Julian discovered throughout his life. On a remarkable journey that includes visits to the sensual tango halls of Buenos Aires, the haunting catacombs of Paris, the gleaming towers of Shanghai and the mystical deserts of Sedona, The Secret Letters of The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari reveals astounding insights on reclaiming your personal power, being true to yourself, and fearlessly living your dreams.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Very Enlightening
- By Jocelyne Ramos on 04-23-19
By: Robin Sharma
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If I Forget You
- A Novel
- By: Thomas Christopher Greene
- Narrated by: Kevin Pariseau
- Length: 6 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 68
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 54
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Story4 out of 5 stars 54
Twenty-one years after they were driven apart by circumstances beyond their control, two former lovers have a chance encounter on a Manhattan street. What follows is a tense, suspenseful exploration of the many facets of enduring love. Told from alternating points of view through time, If I Forget You tells the story of Henry Gold, a poet whose rise from poverty embodies the American dream, and Margot Fuller, the daughter of a prominent, wealthy family, and their unlikely, star-crossed love affair.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Good, but not great.
- By Amazon Customer on 07-01-16
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Aleph
- By: Paulo Coelho
- Narrated by: Mark Bramhall
- Length: 8 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 574
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 490
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Story4 out of 5 stars 490
Transform your life. Rewrite your destiny. his most personal novel to date, internationally best-selling author Paulo Coelho returns with a remarkable journey of self-discovery. Like the main character in his much-beloved The Alchemist, Paulo is facing a grave crisis of faith. As he seeks a path of spiritual renewal and growth, he decides to begin again: to travel, to experiment, to reconnect with people and the landscapes around him. Setting off to Africa, and then to Europe and Asia via the Trans-Siberian Railway, he initiates a journey to revitalize his energy and passion.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Strangely compelling read
- By Kathy in CA on 11-22-11
By: Paulo Coelho
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Nightwatcher
- By: Wendy Corsi Staub
- Narrated by: Jay Snyder
- Length: 9 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 58
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 53
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Story4 out of 5 stars 55
Nightwatcher, the first in a riveting new series, takes place in the days immediately following the 9/11 terrorist attacks. A serial killer is loose in New York City, and Allison Taylor may be the only one who can identify him. She doesn’t know the killer has now set his sights on her—and unless she acts fast, she’ll be his next victim.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Nightwatcher!!!
- By barbara on 06-07-13
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Hunters in the Dark
- By: Lawrence Osborne
- Narrated by: Stephen Hogan
- Length: 9 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 84
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 77
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 76
From the novelist the New York Times compares to Paul Bowles, Evelyn Waugh, and Ian McEwan, an evocative new work of literary suspense. Adrift in Cambodia, Robert Grieve - pushing 30 and eager to sidestep a life of quiet desperation as a small-town teacher - decides to go AWOL. As he crosses the border from Thailand, he tests the threshold of a new future.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Graham Greene
- By Foxhuntingman on 02-26-16
By: Lawrence Osborne