Mike N

Should be called "Building Great Sennences"

Reviewed: 05-07-18

I couldn't listen to this. I tried, really I did. The subject matter is fine, but Prof. Landon simply cannot pronounce the word "sentence", or rather, 99% of the time he says "sennence", and it drives me nuts!

He _can_ pronounce the "t", as there are occasional incidences where he does so, so I'm not sure if it's lazy pronunciation the rest of the time or what, but this just grated too much and I had to give up after a couple of hours.

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5 people found this helpful

Only part of the story

Reviewed: 09-16-14

Would you try another book from Jenna Miscavige Hill and/or Sandy Rustin?

Yes

Would you recommend Beyond Belief to your friends? Why or why not?

Possibly, if this was a subject they were interested in and wanted to read widely. If it was for a one-off read of a "tell-all" Scientology book then there are others I would pick (My Billion Year contract for example)

Which character – as performed by Sandy Rustin – was your favorite?

There were no characters as such, but Sandy did a good job with the narration.

Did Beyond Belief inspire you to do anything?

Not to become a scientologist :) (Not that I needed inspiration for that)

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A good overview

Reviewed: 09-15-14

What three words best describe Professor Mark Leary’s voice?

Professional. Slight lisp.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No, it was far too long for that, and covering too many topics. It was ideal for listening on the commute to work though.

Any additional comments?

A good series of lectures on why we are the way we are. My one criticism would be that the presenter relies heavily on the field of evolutionary psychology, and there is a reasonable amount of doubt here to present anything as any kind of final answer. (And no, I am not an evolution denier ... quite the opposite, but this particular science is still not on a firm foundation. Yet.)

He is pretty open about all the proposed explanations though, so I didn't see a major problem with this, and the lectures were interesting.

I have heard most of what he was talking about before, but this was a good summary, and certainly a good starting point for anybody interested in the subject.

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4 people found this helpful

Not an MBA, but a decent resource

Reviewed: 06-18-14

Where does The Personal MBA: Master the Art of Business rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Above average

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No. For those concepts that were new, I needed time to digest them, and since there are no notes supplied with the audio version, listening too quickly can mean you lose focus.

Any additional comments?

I think I remember others commenting about this, but skip the first chapter (about an hour). It's basically just the author telling you how MBAs suck, and you should follow his method. Not really sure what the purpose of this is since if you're already listening to/reading that chapter, then you've already paid for his book.

In general, it's a reasonable summary of a lot of concepts related to business and psychology. I'm sure MBAs are flawed - especially in the States where you need to go into so much debt to get one! - but this isn't comprehensive enough to replace one.

What it does do is give you a good idea of whether you'd actually like to take an MBA or not, whether it's an area that interests you or would just waste your time, and if all you need is an overview, then this is probably the book for you. There's plenty of extra reading material recommended throughout the book as well, so you can supplement your reading in those areas that interest you.

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I wanted a novel, not vaccination/autism rubbish

Reviewed: 05-26-14

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

If the author had kept out of whole "vaccination causes autism" thing. I didn't buy this to listen to a load of scaremongering justifications for why vaccinations are bad. Once I got to this part I just stopped listening and returned it.

If you’ve listened to books by Jodi Picoult before, how does this one compare?

I listened to Change of Heart, which was decent enough, though too much of a rehash of King's "The Green Mile" for my taste.

I think I'm done with Picoult now.

What does the narrators bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

It's multiple narrators, which works well with the multiple viewpoints, rather than getting the same person to do different voices for each character.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from House Rules?

I think that's obvious by now ... the preachy anti-vax scene.

Any additional comments?

Picoult has just struck out for me ... I'll move on to other authors.

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A classic

Reviewed: 01-07-14

Where does Ringworld rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

In the top quartile

What was one of the most memorable moments of Ringworld?

When the scale of the Ringworld was conveyed.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

No.

Any additional comments?

I listened to this one purely because I'd never read it, and it seemed like a gap in my sci-fi background ... It's well worth a listen, though elements of the plot may perhaps be considered a little cheesy today.

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Worth a listen for everybody

Reviewed: 12-02-13

Where does Lying rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Pretty high.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Lying?

It's a short book based on one premise, so it's hard to pick out a single moment.

What about Sam Harris’s performance did you like?

He has a nice easy style, possibly because he's reading his own material.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

No

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2 people found this helpful

Not the best Dexter

Reviewed: 09-30-13

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

If I knew they enjoyed the previous Dexter books, yes. Otherwise, no, it's not the place to start.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

It felt forced, and a little too random. It's hard to be specific without giving spoilers.

Have you listened to any of Jeff Lindsay’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No, I've read the previous books, but this is the first one I have listened to.

Do you think Dexter Is Delicious needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

I already know it has more than one!

Any additional comments?

As Dexter books go, this one was a little weak. It's always nice to hear the author read his own work though, as it gives you an insight as to how they see the characters and events.

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