Thomas Pineros Shields
- 11
- reviews
- 18
- helpful votes
- 41
- ratings
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Wind and Truth
- Book Five of the Stormlight Archive
- By: Brandon Sanderson
- Narrated by: Kate Reading, Michael Kramer
- Length: 62 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 15,820
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 15,076
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 15,076
Dalinar Kholin challenged the evil god Odium to a contest of champions with the future of Roshar on the line. The Knights Radiant have only ten days to prepare—and the sudden ascension of the crafty and ruthless Taravangian to take Odium’s place has thrown everything into disarray. Desperate fighting continues simultaneously worldwide—Adolin in Azir, Sigzil and Venli at the Shattered Plains, and Jasnah in Thaylenah. The former assassin, Szeth, must cleanse his homeland of Shinovar from the dark influence of the Unmade.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Brandon Sanderson saldy sold out.
- By Brian on 12-18-24
- Wind and Truth
- Book Five of the Stormlight Archive
- By: Brandon Sanderson
- Narrated by: Kate Reading, Michael Kramer
Amazing World building
Reviewed: 01-27-25
I am awed by Sanderson’s ability to push limits of the fantasy genre. The creation of a pantheon of theological, religious, sociological and philosophical themes woven into multiple realms of reality over time is brilliant. While I appreciate it all, I could have spent less time in the spiritual realm in book five. Parts of the spiritual realm became a narrative trope that provided nostalgia/exposition at the expense of plot development at times, Kind like a finale episode of a tv show that is based entirely on memories of greatest hits. I get it.. we all have to come to terms with our past sins. And yet…the universe awaits. Finally the narrators are just perfect.
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The Great Upheaval
- Higher Education's Past, Present, and Uncertain Future
- By: Arthur Levine, Scott J. Van Pelt
- Narrated by: Perry Daniels
- Length: 9 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 21
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 20
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 20
In The Great Upheaval, Arthur Levine and Scott Van Pelt examine higher and postsecondary education to see how it has changed to become what it is today—and how it might be refitted for an uncertain future. Taking a unique historical, cross-industry perspective, Levine and Van Pelt perform a 360-degree survey of American higher education. The book looks objectively at the contexts in which higher education has operated—and will continue to operate. It also seeks to identify likely developments that will aid those involved in steering higher education forward.
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5 out of 5 stars
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The Way Forward
- By Anonymous User on 04-02-25
- The Great Upheaval
- Higher Education's Past, Present, and Uncertain Future
- By: Arthur Levine, Scott J. Van Pelt
- Narrated by: Perry Daniels
smart framework
Reviewed: 10-30-24
The authors frame if looking back, looking ahead and to the sides provides a compelling and convincing framework for addressing the societal level challenges in higher education today.
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Kindred
- By: Octavia E. Butler
- Narrated by: Kim Staunton
- Length: 10 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 14,884
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 13,102
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 13,059
Having just celebrated her 26th birthday in 1976 California, Dana, an African-American woman, is suddenly and inexplicably wrenched through time into antebellum Maryland. After saving a drowning White boy there, she finds herself staring into the barrel of a shotgun and is transported back to the present just in time to save her life. During numerous such time-defying episodes with the same young man, she realizes she's been given a challenge.
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5 out of 5 stars
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The Past of Slavery Still Moves and Wounds Us
- By Jefferson on 12-05-10
- Kindred
- By: Octavia E. Butler
- Narrated by: Kim Staunton
Very powerful story
Reviewed: 08-20-24
The performance contributed to a fantastic and challenging narrative. Even after almost 40 years, this tale challenges us to confront the nuanced ways that racism extends through time.
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Morning Star
- Book III of the Red Rising Trilogy
- By: Pierce Brown
- Narrated by: Tim Gerard Reynolds
- Length: 21 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 50,598
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 46,314
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Story5 out of 5 stars 46,216
Darrow would have lived in peace, but his enemies brought him war. The Gold overlords demanded his obedience, hanged his wife, and enslaved his people. But Darrow is determined to fight back. Risking everything to transform himself and breach Gold society, Darrow has battled to survive the cutthroat rivalries that breed Society's mightiest warriors, climbed the ranks, and waited patiently to unleash the revolution that will tear the hierarchy apart from within.
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5 out of 5 stars
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It doesn't get much better than this!
- By Audre on 03-24-16
- Morning Star
- Book III of the Red Rising Trilogy
- By: Pierce Brown
- Narrated by: Tim Gerard Reynolds
Sci-Fi with subtle social class commentary
Reviewed: 07-04-24
I enjoyed the level of detailed world building in the original Red Rising series. The plot manages to take surprising twists. The narrator is excellent. While the enhanced performance was good it was not better enough to be worth 2 credits. Stick with the 1 credit read.
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The Hunter
- A Novel
- By: Tana French
- Narrated by: Roger Clark
- Length: 16 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,745
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,547
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,547
It’s a blazing summer when two men arrive in a small village in the West of Ireland. One of them is coming home. Both of them are coming to get rich. One of them is coming to die.
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4 out of 5 stars
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The timing and sequences. Slow pace but excellent conclusion.
- By Phyllis Silber on 03-23-24
- The Hunter
- A Novel
- By: Tana French
- Narrated by: Roger Clark
Love the character arcs
Reviewed: 05-08-24
French continues the story of Cal and Tre and the sublime pathos in a bucolic Irish community. The reading performance is top notch, And the plot twists and turns so you are never sure how it might end. Just as you think you know, something else take you by surprise. But the real movement is with the characters and their relationships.
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The Final Empire
- Mistborn Book 1
- By: Brandon Sanderson
- Narrated by: Michael Kramer
- Length: 24 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 94,093
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 83,077
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Story5 out of 5 stars 82,995
For a thousand years the ash fell and no flowers bloomed. For a thousand years the Skaa slaved in misery and lived in fear. For a thousand years the Lord Ruler, the "Sliver of Infinity," reigned with absolute power and ultimate terror, divinely invincible. Then, when hope was so long lost that not even its memory remained, a terribly scarred, heart-broken half-Skaa rediscovered it in the depths of the Lord Ruler's most hellish prison.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Prepare for sleepless nights
- By tercia on 10-21-18
- The Final Empire
- Mistborn Book 1
- By: Brandon Sanderson
- Narrated by: Michael Kramer
Starting my second Brandon Sanderson series
Reviewed: 03-16-24
Michael Kramer gives a wonderful reading to this story. He maintains multiple voices and emotional timber that enhances the book. While this opening book of the Mistborn series has some plot tropes and characters with too much in common with Sanderson’s richer Way of Kings, it is engaging and exciting.
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The Winter of Our Discontent
- By: John Steinbeck
- Narrated by: David Aaron Baker
- Length: 10 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,433
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,127
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,128
The final novel of one of America’s most beloved writers - a tale of degeneration, corruption, and spiritual crisis. A Penguin Classic In awarding John Steinbeck the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature, the Nobel committee stated that with The Winter of Our Discontent, he had “resumed his position as an independent expounder of the truth, with an unbiased instinct for what is genuinely American". Ethan Allen Hawley, the protagonist of Steinbeck’s last novel, works as a clerk in a grocery store that his family once owned.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Memorable characters, great narration, POOR AUDIO
- By Sam D. on 05-18-16
- The Winter of Our Discontent
- By: John Steinbeck
- Narrated by: David Aaron Baker
Excellent rendition of a classic
Reviewed: 07-15-23
I had not read this before and could not stop listening until the very end. Steinbeck’s subtle critique of capitalism and the American dream remain relevant, Ethan Hawley provides a complex anti-hero (much like the title’s nod to Richard III) who holds up ambition and masculinity for interrogation. Admittedly the female characters feel 2 dimensional, but they presage Betty Friedan’s Feminine Mystique. At the end I am left wanting to know Mary and Ellen better…not only via Ethan’s perspective.
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Fire and Fury
- Inside the Trump White House
- By: Michael Wolff
- Narrated by: Michael Wolff, Holter Graham
- Length: 11 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 22,785
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 20,177
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 20,084
With extraordinary access to the West Wing, Michael Wolff reveals what happened behind-the-scenes in the first nine months of the most controversial presidency of our time in Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House. Since Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th President of the United States, the country—and the world—has witnessed a stormy, outrageous, and absolutely mesmerizing presidential term that reflects the volatility and fierceness of the man elected Commander-in-Chief.
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5 out of 5 stars
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I can't believe I voted for this man !!!
- By Lucy on 01-06-18
- Fire and Fury
- Inside the Trump White House
- By: Michael Wolff
- Narrated by: Michael Wolff, Holter Graham
Fun political storytelling
Reviewed: 01-11-18
“Fire and Fury” and the buzz about it reminds me of “Primary Colors” about the early Clinton White House, although Wolff did not pretend to be “anonymous” and nor did he thinly veil his characters to protect the guilty. It is mostly based on stories that we already heard in the news but with a narrative flair that seems impossible to take on face value. Still the overall narrative of factions within the Trump Whitehouse, irrational and mercurial mood swings of the Donald and a political state of chaos is well worth a read. The book also made me think that there is no substitute for experience. While electing an “outsider” may be cathartic to many, we need to recognize that unless a person has experience as a public servant and leader, they will be challenged to lead government. Celebrities like Trump do not make good leaders because they fundamentally want attention for themselves.
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Born a Crime
- Stories from a South African Childhood
- By: Trevor Noah
- Narrated by: Trevor Noah
- Length: 8 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 216,072
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 195,476
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Story5 out of 5 stars 194,508
In this award-winning Audible Studios production, Trevor Noah tells his wild coming-of-age tale during the twilight of apartheid in South Africa. It’s a story that begins with his mother throwing him from a moving van to save him from a potentially fatal dispute with gangsters, then follows the budding comedian’s path to self-discovery through episodes both poignant and comical.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Great book and perfect narration
- By MarilynArms on 12-15-16
- Born a Crime
- Stories from a South African Childhood
- By: Trevor Noah
- Narrated by: Trevor Noah
Wow! Much more than a celebrity memoir
Reviewed: 01-31-17
This book and the performance blew me away. It is a love letter to Trevor Noah's mother and her strength. While following the story it engages with issues of race, politics and faith through a young South African man in the post Apartheid era. There is no mention of the Daily Show or today's celebrity, which is all the more remarkable. So powerfully written and narrated.
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The Elephant in the Room
- A Journey into the Trump Campaign and the "Alt-Right"
- By: Jon Ronson
- Narrated by: Jon Ronson
- Length: 1 hr and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,084
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 973
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 966
'But Hillary is a known Luciferian,' he tried. 'She's not a known Luciferian,' I said. 'Well, yes and no,' he said. In The Elephant in the Room, Jon Ronson, the New York Times best-selling author of The Psychopath Test, Them, and So You've Been Publicly Shamed, travels to Cleveland at the height of summer to witness the Republican National Convention.
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5 out of 5 stars
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As Others See Us--
- By Gillian on 10-26-16
- The Elephant in the Room
- A Journey into the Trump Campaign and the "Alt-Right"
- By: Jon Ronson
- Narrated by: Jon Ronson
Terrifying Must-Read for Trump's New Order
Reviewed: 12-14-16
This short trek behind the scenes of the 2016 RNC reveals how organized hate has become institutionalized power. Trump's love affair with "deplorables" was not an accident but an intentional effort to draw the media attention to him and to win the presidency. The response of the left and its online hate also receives its deserved critique. I found myself learning to appreciate Glenn Beck of all people.
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8 people found this helpful