ActiveReader
- 9
- reviews
- 2
- helpful votes
- 90
- ratings
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Summer, 1976
- By: David Auburn
- Narrated by: Laura Linney, Jessica Hecht
- Length: 1 hr and 25 mins
- Original Recording
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 757
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 694
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Story4 out of 5 stars 695
Written by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright David Auburn, this critically acclaimed Broadway hit chronicles the lives of two young mothers as they forge an unlikely bond during the summer of America’s Bicentennial. As the days heat up, they navigate a tumultuous relationship and discover how friendships define us, divide us, and permanently alter our sense of ourselves.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Refreshing short story of the power of female freindships
- By Melissa Shepherd on 12-30-23
- Summer, 1976
- By: David Auburn
- Narrated by: Laura Linney, Jessica Hecht
Relatable Female Friendship Experience
Reviewed: 04-28-24
So many relatable perspectives in this brief story of two female friends across decades and distance.
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Bonhoeffer
- Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy: A Righteous Gentile vs. the Third Reich
- By: Eric Metaxas
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 22 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 6,464
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 5,437
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 5,463
A definitive, deeply moving narrative, Bonhoeffer is a story of moral courage in the face of the monstrous evil that was Nazism. After discovering the fire of true faith in a Harlem church, Bonhoeffer returned to Germany and became one of the first to speak out against Hitler. As a double agent, he joined the plot to assassinate the Führer and was hanged in Flossenbürg concentration camp at age thirty-nine. Since his death, Bonhoeffer has grown to be one of the most fascinating, complex figures of the twentieth century.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Very Moving
- By alan on 11-22-10
- Bonhoeffer
- Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy: A Righteous Gentile vs. the Third Reich
- By: Eric Metaxas
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
Not What I Expected
Reviewed: 04-15-21
I struggled to finish this. I thought the book would share a lot more about his specific activities against Hitler and the Nazis, but it was almost exclusively focused on his beliefs and actions as a man of theology.
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The Collected Schizophrenias
- Essays
- By: Esmé Weijun Wang
- Narrated by: Esmé Weijun Wang
- Length: 7 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 917
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 815
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 805
An intimate, moving book written with the immediacy and directness of one who still struggles with the effects of mental and chronic illness, The Collected Schizophrenias cuts right to the core. Schizophrenia is not a single unifying diagnosis, and Esmé Weijun Wang writes not just to her fellow members of the “collected schizophrenias” but to those who wish to understand it as well.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Narration way too slow
- By Diane on 04-27-19
- The Collected Schizophrenias
- Essays
- By: Esmé Weijun Wang
- Narrated by: Esmé Weijun Wang
Eye Opening
Reviewed: 03-15-21
Eye opening to the complexities of schizophrenia in a digestible way. May bring forth more questions than answers, which is a good thing.
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Educated
- A Memoir
- By: Tara Westover
- Narrated by: Julia Whelan
- Length: 12 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 126,457
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 111,453
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Story5 out of 5 stars 111,065
Born to survivalists in the mountains of Idaho, Tara Westover was seventeen the first time she set foot in a classroom. Her family was so isolated from mainstream society that there was no one to ensure the children received an education, and no one to intervene when one of Tara’s older brothers became violent. When another brother got himself into college, Tara decided to try a new kind of life. Her quest for knowledge transformed her, taking her over oceans and across continents, to Harvard and to Cambridge University.
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5 out of 5 stars
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The Other Side of Idaho's Mountains
- By Darwin8u on 03-28-18
- Educated
- A Memoir
- By: Tara Westover
- Narrated by: Julia Whelan
Gripping and Appalling Simultaneously
Reviewed: 09-09-18
I cannot stop thinking about this book and talking to others about it. Aside from the fact that it is well-written and the story gripping while also appalling, it is incredibly thought-provoking.
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1 person found this helpful
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Lincoln in the Bardo
- A Novel
- By: George Saunders
- Narrated by: Nick Offerman, David Sedaris, George Saunders, and others
- Length: 7 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 10,399
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 9,475
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Story4 out of 5 stars 9,431
February 1862. The Civil War is less than one year old. The fighting has begun in earnest, and the nation has begun to realize it is in for a long, bloody struggle. Meanwhile, President Lincoln’s beloved eleven-year-old son, Willie, lies upstairs in the White House, gravely ill. In a matter of days, despite predictions of a recovery, Willie dies and is laid to rest in a Georgetown cemetery. “My poor boy, he was too good for this earth,” the president says at the time. “God has called him home.”
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5 out of 5 stars
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"Where might God stand?"
- By Mel on 02-17-17
Unique
Reviewed: 06-23-18
Unique structure and powerful voice. Narration was engaging and really brought the book to life.
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Theft by Finding
- Diaries (1977-2002)
- By: David Sedaris
- Narrated by: David Sedaris
- Length: 13 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 6,819
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 6,110
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 6,060
For nearly four decades, David Sedaris has faithfully kept a diary in which he records his thoughts and observations on the odd and funny events he witnesses. Anyone who has attended a live Sedaris event knows that his diary readings are often among the most joyful parts of the evening. But never before have they been available in print. Now, in Theft by Finding, Sedaris brings us his favorite entries. From deeply poignant to laugh-out-loud funny, these selections reveal with new intimacy a man longtime fans only think they know.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Don't hate me but...
- By Misty on 06-13-17
- Theft by Finding
- Diaries (1977-2002)
- By: David Sedaris
- Narrated by: David Sedaris
Sedaris Should Be Heard
Reviewed: 08-07-17
All of Sedaris' books should be heard, not read in my opinion. It's the best way to fully understand the wit, sarcasm, and (yes) insight with which they're written. I'm grateful for another good laugh!
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An Unnecessary Woman
- By: Rabih Alameddine
- Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
- Length: 10 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 519
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 463
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Story4 out of 5 stars 461
Aaliya Saleh lives alone in her Beirut apartment, surrounded by stockpiles of books. Godless, fatherless, childless, and divorced, Aaliya is her family's "unnecessary appendage." Every year, she translates a new favorite book into Arabic, then stows it away. The 37 books that Aaliya has translated over her lifetime have never been read by anyone. In this breathtaking portrait of a reclusive woman's late-life crisis, listeners follow Aaliya's digressive mind as it ricochets across visions of past and present Beirut.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Tales of a Literary Snob
- By Ilana on 02-14-14
- An Unnecessary Woman
- By: Rabih Alameddine
- Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
Made me wish I'd read more in my past
Reviewed: 01-15-17
Very soulful book, showing one woman's inner thoughts in depth. Nothing much actually happens in the book, but the delth of reflection on her life and how this connects to literature is interesting.
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Bossypants
- By: Tina Fey
- Narrated by: Tina Fey
- Length: 5 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 60,642
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 50,753
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 50,522
Before Liz Lemon, before Weekend Update, before Sarah Palin, Tina Fey was just a young girl with a dream: A recurring stress dream that she was being chased through a local airport by her middle-school gym teacher. She also had a dream that one day she would be a comedian on TV. She has seen both these dreams come true. At last, Tina Fey's story can be told. From her youthful days as a vicious nerd to her tour of duty on Saturday Night Live. Tina Fey reveals all, and proves what we've always suspected: You're no one until someone calls you bossy.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Tina Fey broke my new SUV
- By Warren on 04-07-11
- Bossypants
- By: Tina Fey
- Narrated by: Tina Fey
Laughed out loud
Reviewed: 01-16-12
If you could sum up Bossypants in three words, what would they be?
Entertaining, fun, light
What other book might you compare Bossypants to and why?
Bossypants reminds me of some of David Sedaris honest appraisal of life and his amusing perspective on it.
What does Tina Fey bring to the story that you wouldn???t experience if you just read the book?
Tina Fey brings her comedic tone and timing to the reading of her own work, which helps to communicate some of the humor which might be lost if I just read it myself.
Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
My husband and I laughed out loud with this book.
Any additional comments?
Even though I don't watch television and some of the references were difficult to get (such as references to her show 30 Rock) there were still plenty of parts that were highly entertaining, particularly Tina's take on being a working mother.
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The Marriage Plot
- By: Jeffrey Eugenides
- Narrated by: David Pittu
- Length: 15 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall3.5 out of 5 stars 2,414
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 2,017
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Story3.5 out of 5 stars 2,012
It's the early 1980s—the country is in a deep recession, and life after college is harder than ever. In the cafés on College Hill, the wised-up kids are inhaling Derrida and listening to Talking Heads. But Madeleine Hanna, dutiful English major, is writing her senior thesis on Jane Austen and George Eliot, purveyors of the marriage plot that lies at the heart of the greatest English novels.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Esoteric, Vapid, Trite
- By FanB14 on 03-13-13
- The Marriage Plot
- By: Jeffrey Eugenides
- Narrated by: David Pittu
Downer
Reviewed: 12-22-11
What did you like best about The Marriage Plot? What did you like least?
I liked the narration and the writing style, as well as the various concurrent plots. Unfortunately, the main plot is really a downer. At times I dreaded getting in my car and listening to another segment.
Would you recommend The Marriage Plot to your friends? Why or why not?
I wouldn't recommend this to friends, only because it's too depressing.
Did The Marriage Plot inspire you to do anything?
This book inspired me to be grateful for my mental health!
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