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The Big Swim
- Coming Ashore in a World Adrift
- Narrated by: Carrie Saxifrage
- Length: 5 hrs and 3 mins
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The Big Swim
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Publisher's summary
Climate change is alarming and complicated. Governments are acting too slowly or not at all, and not enough people feel informed or empowered enough to demand action. But ignoring a catastrophe of such magnitude is a certain path to disaster.
The Big Swim puts forward the idea that personal growth arises from facing both inner tensions and threats to the biosphere. In a collection of stories that is frequently touching, surprisingly funny, and always thought-provoking, author Carrie Saxifrage seeks out the places where science meets self-discovery, inviting us to join her as she:
- Learns the art of appreciation from an ancient jawbone
- Hikes solo through the wilderness to find balance in a field of blueberries
- Swims for four hours through cold, open water, seeking a fleeting state of grace
Each of the stories in The Big Swim encourages possibilities for greater personal satisfaction with lower environmental impacts. While exploring significant topics, such as sustainable forestry, nature-centered philosophy, or First Nations' culture, the author discovers that the greatest adventure is learning to align how she lives with what she loves. By turning her own despair into action, she paves the way for us all to discover the many tools we have at hand to meet the biggest challenge humanity has ever faced.
Carrie Saxifrage is a journalist and author whose work on First Nations' responses to the proposed Northern Gateway Pipeline has garnered significant critical acclaim. In 2006, she committed herself to the most life-affirming adventure yet: a low-carbon lifestyle.
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- By John C Schuyler on 04-24-19
By: Timothy Egan
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Lassoing the Sun
- A Year in America's National Parks
- By: Mark Woods
- Narrated by: Corey M. Snow
- Length: 9 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 69
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 56
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 56
Many childhood summers, Mark Woods piled into a station wagon with his parents and two sisters and headed to America's national parks. Mark's most vivid childhood memories are set against a backdrop of mountains, woods, and fireflies in places like Redwood, Yosemite, and Grand Canyon national parks. On the eve of turning 50, and a little burned out, Mark decided to reconnect with the great outdoors. He'd spend a year visiting the national parks.
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3 out of 5 stars
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great narrator, lackluster story, wonderful themes
- By MT on 08-21-18
By: Mark Woods
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The Source of All Things
- A Memoir
- By: Tracy Ross
- Narrated by: Tracy Ross
- Length: 7 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 29
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 24
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 24
A loving and devoted step-father, Donnie introduced Tracy Ross's family to the joys of fishing, deer hunting, camping, and hiking among the pristine mountains of rural Idaho. Donnie was everything Tracy dreamed a dad would be: protective, brave, and kind. But when his dependence on his eight-year-old daughter's companionship went too far, everything changed.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Testimonial
- By Anonymous User on 02-10-20
By: Tracy Ross
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To Shake the Sleeping Self
- A Journey from Oregon to Patagonia, and a Quest for a Life with No Regret
- By: Jedidiah Jenkins
- Narrated by: Jedidiah Jenkins
- Length: 12 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,108
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,860
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,850
On the eve of turning 30, terrified of being funneled into a life he didn’t choose, Jedidiah Jenkins quit his dream job and spent 16 months cycling from Oregon to Patagonia. He chronicled the trip on Instagram, where his photos and reflections drew hundreds of thousands of followers, all gathered around the question: What makes a life worth living? In this unflinchingly honest memoir, Jed narrates his adventure - the people and places he encountered on his way to the bottom of the world - as well as the internal journey that started it all.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Different that I expected
- By Sabrina on 02-21-20
By: Jedidiah Jenkins
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Wide-Open World
- How Volunteering Around the Globe Changed One Family's Lives Forever
- By: John Marshall
- Narrated by: John Marshall
- Length: 12 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 31
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 26
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 26
John Marshall had read about the growth of voluntourism, and frankly, it was the only kind of extended trip he could afford. He'd heard that some peoples' lives were changed by a week of overseas service - what might half a year accomplish for his family? His wife, Traca, was all in favor of it; his kids, especially his 14-year-old daughter, were strongly opposed. Wide-Open World is the totally engaging, bluntly honest story of the Marshall family's life-changing adventure.
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5 out of 5 stars
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I enjoyed every minute
- By Chris on 05-15-15
By: John Marshall
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All the Winters After
- A Novel
- By: Seré Prince Halverson
- Narrated by: George Newbern
- Length: 10 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 1,469
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,359
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Story4 out of 5 stars 1,359
Kachemak Winkel never intended to come back to his hometown of Caboose, Alaska, where his family died in a plane crash 20 years earlier. When he finally musters the courage to return and face his painful memories, he's surprised to find a mysterious young woman living in his abandoned house.
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4 out of 5 stars
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The Old Old Story
- By Bruce on 06-16-16
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A Year by the Sea
- Thoughts of an Unfinished Woman
- By: Joan Anderson
- Narrated by: Laural Merlington
- Length: 4 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 247
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 208
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 209
Life is a work in progress, as ever-changing as a sandy shoreline along the beach. During the years Joan Anderson was a loving wife and supportive mother, she had slowly and unconsciously replaced her own dreams with the needs of her family. With her sons grown, however, she realized that the family no longer centered on the home she provided, and her relationship with her husband had become stagnant. Like many women in her situation, Joan realized that she had neglected to nurture herself and, worse, to envision fulfilling goals for her future.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Free too be a woman of my own making.
- By Kathy C. on 03-10-15
By: Joan Anderson
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Until I Say Good-Bye
- My Year of Living with Joy
- By: Susan Spencer-Wendel, Bret Witter
- Narrated by: Karen White
- Length: 9 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 126
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 112
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 108
Susan Spencer-Wendel's Until I Say Good-Bye: My Year of Living with Joy is a moving and inspirational memoir by a woman who makes the most of her final days after discovering she has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). After Spencer-Wendel, a celebrated journalist at the Palm Beach Post, learns of her diagnosis of ALS, more commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease, she embarks on several adventures, traveling to several countries and sharing special experiences with loved ones.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Until I Say Good-Bye is a paradox for me.
- By Bonny on 03-19-13
By: Susan Spencer-Wendel, and others
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We Stood upon Stars
- Finding God in Lost Places
- By: Roger W. Thompson
- Narrated by: John McLain
- Length: 5 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 71
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 62
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 62
You are made for freedom and adventure, friendship and romance. Yet too much of your life is spent unfulfilled at work, restless at home, and bored at church. All the while, you know there is something more. You'll find some of life's best moments waiting for you over a campfire, on a river - even in that coffee shop or brewery you didn't know you'd discover along the way. It's time to begin the search.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Such a good book
- By The Great Bambino on 06-16-21
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Walking to Listen
- 4,000 Miles Across America, One Story at a Time
- By: Andrew Forsthoefel
- Narrated by: Andrew Forsthoefel
- Length: 13 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 387
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 336
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 338
At 23, Andrew Forsthoefel headed out the back door of his home in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, with a backpack, an audio recorder, his copies of Whitman and Rilke, and a sign that read "Walking to Listen". He had just graduated from Middlebury College and was ready to begin his adult life, but he didn't know how. So he decided to take a cross-country quest for guidance, one where everyone he met would be his guide. In the year that followed, he faced an Appalachian winter and a Mojave summer. He met beasts inside: fear, loneliness, doubt.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Transcends the typical trekking story
- By barefoot rabbit on 08-07-18
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Will's Red Coat
- The Story of One Old Dog Who Chose to Live Again
- By: Tom Ryan
- Narrated by: Tom Ryan
- Length: 8 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 227
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 205
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Story5 out of 5 stars 205
Drawn by an online post, Tom Ryan adopted Will, a frightened, deaf, and mostly blind elderly dog, and brought him home to live with him and Atticus. The only owners Will ever knew had grown too fragile to take care of themselves or of him. Ultimately Will was left at a kill shelter in New Jersey. Tom hoped to give Will a place to die with dignity amid the rustic beauty of the White Mountains of his New Hampshire home. But when Will bites him numerous times and acts out in violent displays, Tom realizes he is in for a challenge.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Wildflowers And Drunken Butterfly Dances
- By Gillian on 05-06-17
By: Tom Ryan
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Driving Miss Norma
- One Family's Journey Saying ""Yes"" to Living
- By: Tim Bauerschmidt, Ramie Liddle
- Narrated by: Christopher Grove, Nan McNamara
- Length: 7 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 215
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 186
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 188
When Miss Norma was diagnosed with uterine cancer, she was advised to undergo surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. But instead of confining herself to a hospital bed for what could be her last stay, Norma - newly widowed after nearly seven decades of marriage - rose to her full height of five feet and told her doctor, "I'm 90 years old. I'm hitting the road." Packing what she needed, Norma took off on an unforgettable cross-country journey with three professional nomads - her retired son, Tim; his wife, Ramie; and their standard poodle, Ringo.
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5 out of 5 stars
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so moving and inspiring
- By Travis Stone on 07-10-19
By: Tim Bauerschmidt, and others
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Deep Creek
- Finding Hope in the High Country
- By: Pam Houston
- Narrated by: Pam Houston
- Length: 10 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 630
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 544
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 542
On her 120-acre homestead high in the Colorado Rockies, beloved writer Pam Houston learns what it means to care for a piece of land and the creatures on it. Elk calves and bluebirds mark the changing seasons, winter temperatures drop to 35 below, and lightning sparks a 110,000-acre wildfire, threatening her century-old barn and all its inhabitants. Through her travels from the Gulf of Mexico to Alaska, she explores what ties her to the Earth, the ranch most of all.
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5 out of 5 stars
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The most beautiful book I’ve ever read
- By KFratt on 04-26-19
By: Pam Houston
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The Man Who Quit Money
- By: Mark Sundeen
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 7 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 106
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 95
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Story4 out of 5 stars 95
The Man Who Quit Money is an account of how one man learned to live, sanely and happily, without earning, receiving, or spending a single cent. Suelo doesn't pay taxes, or accept food stamps or welfare. He lives in caves in the Utah canyonlands, forages wild foods and gourmet discards. He no longer even carries an I.D. Yet he manages to amply fulfill not only the basic human needs - for shelter, food, and warmth - but, to an enviable degree, the universal desires for companionship, purpose, and spiritual engagement.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Roots are weak and faith was thin
- By MISSCHRISTY on 08-26-17
By: Mark Sundeen
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The Great Spring
- Writing, Zen, and This ZigZag Life
- By: Natalie Goldberg
- Narrated by: Natalie Goldberg
- Length: 7 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 32
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 30
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 30
What does it take to have a long writing life? Drawing on her years of writing, teaching, and practicing Zen, Natalie Goldberg shares the experiences that have opened her to new ways of being alive - experiences that point the way forward in our lives and our writing. The "great spring" of this book title refers to the great rush of energy that arrives when you think no life will ever come again - the early yellow flowering forsythia, for example.
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5 out of 5 stars
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An enjoyable insight
- By Leigh A on 05-22-23
By: Natalie Goldberg
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We Are Unprepared
- By: Meg Little Reilly
- Narrated by: Zach Villa
- Length: 8 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 59
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 58
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Story4 out of 5 stars 58
We Are Unprepared is a novel about the next big storm, the one that changes our relationship to nature and each other...the superstorm that threatens to destroy a marriage, a rural Vermont town, and the Eastern Seaboard when it hits. But the destruction begins months earlier, when fear infects people's lives and spreads like a plague.
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4 out of 5 stars
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A Sociological Almost Post-Apocalyptic Thriller
- By Brian on 12-25-16
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The Lemon Orchard
- A Novel
- By: Luanne Rice
- Narrated by: Blair Brown
- Length: 8 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 87
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 78
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 77
In the five years since Julia last visited her aunt and uncle’s home in Malibu, her life has been turned upside down by her daughter’s death. She expects to find nothing more than peace and solitude as she house-sits with only her dog, Bonnie, for company. But she finds herself drawn to the handsome man who oversees the lemon orchard. Roberto expertly tends the trees, using the money to support his extended Mexican family. What connection could these two people share? The answer comes as Roberto reveals the heartbreaking story of his own loss – a pain Julia knows all too well, but for one striking difference: Roberto’s daughter was lost but never found. And despite the odds he cannot bear to give up hope.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A story to tug at your heart
- By Donna A on 01-31-15
By: Luanne Rice