Nicole Rose

Cleverly positive

Reviewed: 03-27-25

I loved the sweet positive story narrated by Jon himself. His writing in this book is clever. It's a simple story, but adults and older children will most fully understand and appreciate the phrasing and metaphors.
The positive principles were a great reminder for me today.

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Constant flow of info

Reviewed: 06-15-19

This book was a good review of physiology and anatomy. If those subjects have not been previously studied, at least to some extent, I think a person might be lost and not get enough out of it.
The chapters are simply a presentation of information, with no story or prose. Each chapter ends with a quiz, which further reinforces info retention. The book ends with a long quiz of all info presented.
The text includes some anatomy, the systems of the body, potential illnesses and diseases, with (their old school ideas of) causes and solutions. Often it is stated that "the cause is unknown" or there is "no cure". The information seems to be based on traditional Western medicine, from several years ago. It does not include info from the tens of thousands of studies completed in the last few years. Science had made huge advances, or confirmed what was postulated many decades ago. That info is not yet taught in U.S. medical schools, and is not included here. For the most part, this text does not include the huge impact of nutrition and lifestyle upon health, although it does in some cases. This text does not discuss or acknowledge the impact of gut health and the importance of the microbiome upon all body systems and their components.
I will listen to this again at a later date, for it is a good, very straightforward review of physiology. I do recommend it, for that purpose. I do not recommend it as a stand alone physiology course.
I listened at 1.15x speed, which worked well for me.

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6 people found this helpful

Informative

Reviewed: 05-28-19

Lots of stories and stats, fairly inspiring. Duckworth not a coach, so this is not a motivational book per se. For me, the best part of the book was quotes from coaches and CEOs. Other readers might greatly enjoy the many parenting insights.
The author is absolutely passionate about grit, and evidently thinks about it constantly. She has researched, observed, and discussed grit far beyond possibly anyone else in history. Here, she sums up that work, and looks at perseverance and excellence from every possible angle. As with any book, I did not agree 100% with everything. However this book was informative, interesting, and was worth my time and dime.

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Enjoyable

Reviewed: 05-27-19

I always enjoy The Cat Who stories. This was my first in audio. I would listen to another one.

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Very good!

Reviewed: 08-12-18

A very good story. An epic story. I highly recommend it.

Note: I listened at 1.20x speed. It was just right, for this story, for me.

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Not Tolkien's best

Reviewed: 08-06-18

The narrator, Derek Jacobi, is an excellent narrator. He seems especially well-suited to JRR Tolkien stories.
The short stories by Tolkien leave much to be desired, in my opinion. This is no exception. It's not bad, it's just not very good.

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Nothing we didn't already know, but good reminders

Reviewed: 07-28-18

Author claims his info is cutting-edge. He evidently never read Norman Vincent Peale, Dale Carnegie, Dr Wayne Dyer, Zig Ziglar, John Maxwell, Brian Tracy, and so many more.
However, the book kept my interest. It's filled with good reminders and inspiration.

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Excellent narration but story lacking

Reviewed: 07-17-18

Sir Derek Jacobi gives another phenomenal performance.
These short stories from Tolkien always seem to be lacking any meaningful themes, character development, or interesting settings. They tend to lack points where we can emotionally connect with the characters. I rarely pick up on any moral to the story. He instead just describes this thing that happened, then that thing that happened, then another. The stories seem like they were possibly bedtime stories he verbally told his children, making them up as he went along, then afterward went and wrote them down.

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3 people found this helpful

Hard to follow & stay interested

Reviewed: 07-14-18

I loved E Nesbit's Railway Children, read by the same narrator. It was a sweet, old-fashioned story, great for relaxing at bedtime. However, this story I found very hard to follow. Much of it didn't make sense, and in my opinion was poorly written. This fantasy just doesn't compare to fantasy stories of today.
I literally could not pay attention for more than a couple minutes at a time. I kept rewinding to re-listen to sections I already heard. More than halfway thru the book I could not even remember the names of all the children. I couldn't tell you what the story is really about or give much of a summary. I couldn't understand some of the words, because it is read with a strong British accent, thete is British wording we don't use in the U.S., and there were made-up words. Although I did not have any difficulty with the other book by this author and narrator. The narrator actually did a great job here, especially with the dialog and using a variety of voices. I would say that is the only good thing about this book. At chapter 8, I am finally giving up and marking it as finished. I will not buy another E Nesbit story.

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Fascinating and informative

Reviewed: 05-30-18

At times the author goes too far in anthropomorphising trees, but the majority of the book is fascinating, science-based, and filled with the latest research on trees. There's much more going on in a forest than we realize! I shared much of what I read with others, as I went along. The book is packed with so much info it is hard to absorb it all, so I will be reading it again in the future.
Narration was perfect for the content.

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