Byron
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The Demon of Unrest
- A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War
- By: Erik Larson
- Narrated by: Will Patton, Erik Larson
- Length: 17 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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On November 6, 1860, Abraham Lincoln became the fluky victor in a tight race for president. The country was bitterly at odds; Southern extremists were moving ever closer to destroying the Union, with one state after another seceding and Lincoln powerless to stop them. Slavery fueled the conflict, but somehow the passions of North and South came to focus on a lonely federal fortress in Charleston Harbor: Fort Sumter.
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Vividly Told History of the Start of the Civil War
- By WLC on 05-01-24
- The Demon of Unrest
- A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War
- By: Erik Larson
- Narrated by: Will Patton, Erik Larson
Larson’s Failure: a COVID Creation
Reviewed: 06-20-24
I’ve read all of Larson’s books, so I preordered this one. Unfortunately, a strange combination of COVID-fueled tedium and January 6 mania drives this narrative. The tone whenever Larson describes The South and Southerners is oddly personal in its scorn, as though the author is virtue-signaling across time to the dead. The Audible performer follows these cues, reading with forced mockery that quickly becomes tiresome. Unfortunately, this book is a total failure as a story. It bores the reader and sold only because Larson’s previous work is strong. Hoping he recovers enough equanimity to avoid self-indulgent enmity next time.
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2 people found this helpful
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Follow Me Darkly
- Follow Me, Book 1
- By: Helen Hardt
- Narrated by: Lucy Rivers
- Length: 8 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Working for a hotel heiress and social media influencer may not be my dream job, but at least it allows me time to do what I really love — take photographs. Pretty good for a wholesome farm girl from Kansas trying to make it in Boston. Life may not be easy working for a diva, but at least I know what to expect. Until blue-collar billionaire Braden Black strides into the office.
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Good & Excellent
- By Dee on 12-20-20
- Follow Me Darkly
- Follow Me, Book 1
- By: Helen Hardt
- Narrated by: Lucy Rivers
Boring, plagiarized, silly reading with fake deep voices for men, brainless for women.
Reviewed: 05-27-24
Waste of time and money. Sloppy writing, repetitious vocabulary, tedious sex scenes, ripped off everything from 50 Shades. Just awful. I’m annoyed with Fleur du Mal lingerie for recommending it.
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Elon Musk
- By: Walter Isaacson
- Narrated by: Jeremy Bobb, Walter Isaacson
- Length: 20 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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When Elon Musk was a kid in South Africa, he was regularly beaten by bullies. One day a group pushed him down some concrete steps and kicked him until his face was a swollen ball of flesh. He was in the hospital for a week. But the physical scars were minor compared to the emotional ones inflicted by his father, an engineer, rogue, and charismatic fantasist.
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megalomania on display
- By JP on 09-12-23
- Elon Musk
- By: Walter Isaacson
- Narrated by: Jeremy Bobb, Walter Isaacson
Tedious, repetitive book about a fascinating man by an unimpressive author
Reviewed: 04-04-24
Walter Isaacson should not be allowed to profile people with minds far more complex and developed than his. He uses no more than a dozen adjectives; he’s never clever, and he editorializes in the most banal ways. The book feels rushed and unedited with its unnecessary repetition of mini-themes and anecdotes. Isaacson has the dumbest, most reductive question throughout the book: “Is Musk’s ‘bad’ behavior justified by his accomplishments?’” “No, of course not,” the tiresomely supercilious Isaacson pronounced in the last few minutes of the book. What a waste of time. Musk deserves better. Isaacson is not smart enough, imaginative enough, empathetic or psychologically astute enough to write about intelligent, driven people.
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1 person found this helpful
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Last Best Hope
- America in Crisis and Renewal
- By: George Packer
- Narrated by: George Packer
- Length: 6 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Acclaimed National Book Award-winning author George Packer diagnoses America’s descent into a failed state and envisions a path toward overcoming our injustices, paralyses, and divides.
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Terribly disappointing
- By Bill Lauderback on 07-13-21
- Last Best Hope
- America in Crisis and Renewal
- By: George Packer
- Narrated by: George Packer
Prejudiced, ignorant, unhelpful
Reviewed: 09-01-22
Packer is an angry hack who spends half this poorly-written book on Trump. Bad writing usually comes from bad thinking, and Packer admits his mind suffered during Covid. His categories of Americans are cheap stereotypes. The only thing he gets right is the obvious: education matters, but he does not hold the Ivy League accountable for its dangerous Woke politics or refusal to admit more Southern students. Nor does he address the lack of trade schools needed to supplant the pervasive fallacy that a 4-year+ college education is necessary for economic success. Painfully myopic, Packer knows neither America nor other countries, so please don’t give this benighted, parochial, Covid-and Trump-deranged bigot your time. I’m sorry I wasted mine on his words.
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Dear Martin
- By: Nic Stone
- Narrated by: Dion Graham
- Length: 4 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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After a traffic stop turns violent at the hands of the police, a young Black teen grapples with racism—and what it means for his future. Critically acclaimed author Nic Stone boldly tackles America’s troubled history with race relations in her gripping debut novel. Justyce is a good kid, an honor student, and always there to help a friend—but none of that matters to the police officer who just put him in handcuffs without cause. When faced with injustice, Justyce looks to the teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. for answers. But do they hold up anymore?
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Emotional, Moving, and Necessary!
- By tarafarah7: Tara Brown on 09-29-18
- Dear Martin
- By: Nic Stone
- Narrated by: Dion Graham
Stereotypical pablum
Reviewed: 09-01-22
This is one of the worst books I have encountered about "race" in America. Why are people reading this drivel instead of anything by James Baldwin or Zora Neale Hurston? Every character in "Dear Martin" is a paper doll; the dialogue is embarrassing, full of "Yo dog" vocabulary in the mouths of black personages or obtuse white kids. There are many lines about black males liking big buttocks on females, and S.J. is pretty "for a white girl." Despite being written by a woman, this book is notably derogatory towards females almost throughout. The main character, Justice, has some depth and legitimate struggles, but no other character does. There is Martin (Martin Luther King, Jr.) and Martel, leader of the violent black gang the Jihad, the only group that delivers "justice" in the plot-by burning down a stereotypical evil white policeman's house and later killing him while he is in jail. Does this halfwitted author even know the meaning of jihad? Oh, and according to the book, Jews (the only decent white characters in the book are Jewish) aren't white because they too were enslaved. This is the kind of demagogic, highly divisive pseudo-literature that American high school students are being forced to read these days. Martin Luther King, Jr. would find this book appalling and counter to his views, so shame on you Nic Stone for using the great man to justify your screed. The narration is uninspired; every female voice sounds fake, silly, and falsetto. Read Baldwin and Hurston, not this trash. High school teachers, please don't impose this book on your students.
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Older, but Better, but Older
- From the Authors of How to Be Parisian Wherever You Are
- By: Caroline De Maigret, Sophie Mas
- Narrated by: Carrington MacDuffie
- Length: 2 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Older, but Better, but Older has the playful wit, self deprecation and worldly advice we have come to expect from these bestselling authors, but now that advice is focused on the French woman's mindset as she hurtles towards forty. Caroline de Maigret and Sophie Mas are back to amuse you with how they find they are modifying their favorite bad-girl behavior as they address beauty, love, seduction as well as lifestyle, family, work, and living alone.
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Tedious and cliché
- By Byron on 06-28-21
- Older, but Better, but Older
- From the Authors of How to Be Parisian Wherever You Are
- By: Caroline De Maigret, Sophie Mas
- Narrated by: Carrington MacDuffie
Tedious and cliché
Reviewed: 06-28-21
This book has no new good advice and is not funny. It feels like it was written/dictated in two days. Moreover, the author irritatingly refers to herself as “She” or “You,” and there is no discernible logic to the sequence of topics. A total waste of time and money.
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Over the Top
- A Raw Journey to Self-Love
- By: Jonathan Van Ness
- Narrated by: Jonathan Van Ness
- Length: 5 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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A laugh-and-cry-out-loud memoir from the beloved star of Netflix’s Queer Eye, Jonathan Van Ness, sharing never-before-told, deeply personal stories of growing up gay, transforming pain into positivity, and embracing what makes you gorgeously different.
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Everything I knew it would be and more.
- By Cookie2703 on 09-24-19
- Over the Top
- A Raw Journey to Self-Love
- By: Jonathan Van Ness
- Narrated by: Jonathan Van Ness
Needed an editor
Reviewed: 06-28-21
The parts about self-care and self-love are helpful and well-described, but the book lacks appropriate emphasis. Installing an air conditioner takes about the same time as the moving description of Jonathan's step-father's death. It reads like an extended therapy session rather than a thoughtful, well-organized work.
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