James J.
- 6
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- helpful votes
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The Body's Keepers
- A Social History of Kidney Failure and Its Treatments
- By: Paul Kimmel
- Narrated by: Lane Hakel
- Length: 17 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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The kidney is an extraordinary organ—in many ways the regulator, the metronome, the keeper of the human body’s delicate equilibrium. On a given day, minute by minute, it purifies the body of toxins it encounters from diet, climate, activity, and injury. It allows us to be and to move in the world. And yet most of us know so very little about these extraordinary vessels nestled in our bodies—and indeed millions of us only really learn about them when they stop working. Nearly a million Americans every year have end stage kidney disease, about 37 million have some form of chronic kidney disease.
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Informative and delightful read!
- By CSP3 on 08-13-24
- The Body's Keepers
- A Social History of Kidney Failure and Its Treatments
- By: Paul Kimmel
- Narrated by: Lane Hakel
Terrible narration
Reviewed: 07-19-24
Interesting history of kidney disease treatment in US, including background of current dominant dialysis companies
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The Dutch House
- A Novel
- By: Ann Patchett
- Narrated by: Tom Hanks
- Length: 9 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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At the end of the Second World War, Cyril Conroy combines luck and a single canny investment to begin an enormous real estate empire, propelling his family from poverty to enormous wealth. His first order of business is to buy the Dutch House, a lavish estate in the suburbs outside of Philadelphia. Meant as a surprise for his wife, the house sets in motion the undoing of everyone he loves. The story is told by Cyril’s son Danny, as he and his older sister, the brilliantly acerbic and self-assured Maeve, are exiled from the house where they grew up by their stepmother.
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Not my favorite Patchett
- By Regina on 12-07-19
- The Dutch House
- A Novel
- By: Ann Patchett
- Narrated by: Tom Hanks
Wow. Exceeded expectations.
Reviewed: 01-24-23
Second Ann Patchett book for me. Quite an odyssey, with breath-stopping twists and turns. A dark fairy tale with biblical allusions— Hansel and Gretel meet the Prodigal son (mother.)
A lot to contemplate.
The narration/performance was superb.
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The Warmth of Other Suns
- The Epic Story of America's Great Migration
- By: Isabel Wilkerson
- Narrated by: Robin Miles
- Length: 22 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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From 1915 to 1970, this exodus of almost six million people changed the face of America. Wilkerson compares this epic migration to the migrations of other peoples in history. She interviewed more than a thousand people, and gained access to new data and official records, to write this definitive and vividly dramatic account of how these American journeys unfolded, altering our cities, our country, and ourselves.
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Superior non-fiction
- By Lila on 05-20-11
- The Warmth of Other Suns
- The Epic Story of America's Great Migration
- By: Isabel Wilkerson
- Narrated by: Robin Miles
Overall very informative and well done audio
Reviewed: 12-13-21
The author could have used a better editor. Moving back and forth worked well but there were awkward repetitions.
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Modern Romance
- An Investigation
- By: Aziz Ansari, Eric Klinenberg
- Narrated by: Aziz Ansari, Eric Klinenberg
- Length: 6 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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At some point, every one of us embarks on a journey to find love. We meet people, date, get into and out of relationships, all with the hope of finding someone with whom we share a deep connection. This seems standard now, but it’s wildly different from what people did even just decades ago. Single people today have more romantic options than at any point in human history. With technology, our abilities to connect with and sort through these options are staggering. So why are so many people frustrated?
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Entertaining and informative
- By ty on 08-23-15
- Modern Romance
- An Investigation
- By: Aziz Ansari, Eric Klinenberg
- Narrated by: Aziz Ansari, Eric Klinenberg
Maybe better in print?
Reviewed: 04-22-20
For readers of The Atlantic and NYT, there is not a whole lot of new material covered here. Brevity is a strength of this book. There enough entertaining anecdotes, and I laughed at a few parts.
I had never seen any of his shows nor heard the author speak before, and I personally found his voice unusually grating :(
(And I have listened to many, many books over the years.)
I was looking for some escape from pandemic news, and this was a decent several hours spent social distance walking/biking. Jimmy O Yang’s audiobook How to American was way funnier, IMO.
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The Sound of Things Falling
- By: Juan Gabriel Vasquez
- Narrated by: Mike Vendetti
- Length: 7 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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In the city of Bogot, Antonio Yammara reads an article about a hippo that had escaped from a derelict zoo once owned by legendary Colombian drug kingpin Pablo Escobar. The article transports Antonio back to when the war between Escobar’s Medelln cartel and government forces played out violently in Colombia’s streets and in the skies above. Back then, Antonio witnessed a friend’s murder, an event that haunts him still. As he investigates, he discovers the many ways in which his own life and his friend’s family have been shaped by his country’s recent violent past.
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'The Damaging Exercise of Remembering'
- By Mel on 08-16-13
- The Sound of Things Falling
- By: Juan Gabriel Vasquez
- Narrated by: Mike Vendetti
The Great Columbian Novel for Gen X?
Reviewed: 09-11-16
Wow.
Great story, weaving through time--personal and political histories in Columbia since the 1960s. Wonderfully written, left me wanting to read more about Columbian history. Issues relate to to our world today.
Performance was good, too.
I did not want the story to end.
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Iron Men and Saints
- By: Harold Lamb
- Narrated by: Charlton Griffin
- Length: 11 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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The first crusade of 1096 unleashed a wave of impassioned, personally felt, deeply pious Christian fury that was expressed in a mass movement centered in France and spreading to other European kingdoms, including Flanders, German speaking principalities, and Italy. Master historian Harold Lamb tells the incredible story of how Pope Urban II fanned the sparks of Christian anger into a mighty conflagration of righteous indignation with his speech of 1095 in Clermont. The resulting armed clashes produced some of the most amazing stories you will ever hear.
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An accurate and true retelling of the reasons for the crusades and the early christian knights who fought them.
- By Dorsai on 12-25-17
- Iron Men and Saints
- By: Harold Lamb
- Narrated by: Charlton Griffin
Quite a story!
Reviewed: 07-31-15
This book begins with the background leading up to the First Crusade. The bulk of the story is the incredible journey of the First Crusade, with a few chapters detailing the aftermath, including the later Crusades about a century later.
I enjoyed listening to it.
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