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The Ardent Swarm
- A Novel
- Narrated by: Youssif Kamal
- Length: 4 hrs and 55 mins
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Publisher's summary
From an award-winning Tunisian author comes a stirring allegory about a country in the aftermath of revolution and the power of a single quest.
Sidi lives a hermetic life as a bee whisperer, tending to his beloved “girls” on the outskirts of the desolate North African village of Nawa. He wakes one morning to find that something has attacked one of his beehives, brutally killing every inhabitant. Heartbroken, he soon learns that a mysterious swarm of vicious hornets committed the mass murder - but where did they come from, and how can he stop them? If he is going to unravel this mystery and save his bees from annihilation, Sidi must venture out into the village and then brave the big city and beyond in search of answers.
Along the way, he discovers a country and a people turned upside down by their new post-Arab Spring reality as Islamic fundamentalists seek to influence votes any way they can on the eve of the country’s first democratic elections. To succeed in his quest, and find a glimmer of hope to protect all that he holds dear, Sidi will have to look further than he ever imagined.
In this brilliantly accessible modern-day parable, Yamen Manai uses a masterful blend of humor and drama to reveal what happens in a country shaken by revolutionary change after the world stops watching.
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Story
In this indelible memoir of the life of her remarkable 95-year-old grandmother, Guardian journalist Aida Edemariam tells the story of modern Ethiopia - a nation that underwent a tumultuous transformation from feudalism to monarchy to Marxist revolution to democracy, over the course of one century. Filled with a vivid cast of characters - emperors and empresses, priests and scholars, monks and nuns, archbishops and slaves, Marxist revolutionaries and wartime double agents - The Wife's Tale introduces a woman both imperious and vulnerable.
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A Look At Ethiopia
- By Jean on 07-15-18
By: Aida Edemariam
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1919
- By: Eve L. Ewing
- Narrated by: Eve L. Ewing
- Length: 1 hr and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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The Chicago Race Riot of 1919, the most intense of the riots comprising the nation's Red Summer, has shaped the last century but is not widely discussed. In 1919, award-winning poet Eve L. Ewing explores the story of this event - which lasted eight days and resulted in 38 deaths and almost 500 injuries - through poems recounting the stories of everyday people trying to survive and thrive in the city. Ewing uses speculative and Afrofuturist lenses to recast history and illuminates the thin line between the past and the present.
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visceral felt and poetically read
- By BF J.V. on 01-30-24
By: Eve L. Ewing
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A Tale of Love and Darkness
- By: Amos Oz
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 23 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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It is the story of a boy growing up in the war-torn Jerusalem of the 40s and 50s in a small apartment crowded with books in 12 languages and relatives speaking nearly as many. His mother and father, both wonderful people, were ill-suited to each other. When Oz was 12 and a half years old, his mother committed suicide - a tragedy that was to change his life. He leaves the constraints of the family and the community of dreamers, scholars, and failed businessmen to join a kibbutz.
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His life was interesting, but not his memoir
- By DR Harle on 01-27-19
By: Amos Oz
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Travels with Charley in Search of America
- By: John Steinbeck
- Narrated by: Gary Sinise
- Length: 7 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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In September 1960, John Steinbeck and his poodle, Charley, embarked on a journey across America, from small towns to growing cities to glorious wilderness oases. Travels with Charley is animated by Steinbeck’s attention to the specific details of the natural world and his sense of how the lives of people are intimately connected to the rhythms of nature—to weather, geography, the cycles of the seasons. His keen ear for the transactions among people is evident, too, as he records the interests and obsessions that preoccupy the Americans he encounters along the way.
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Gary Sinise is fantastic!
- By C. Wilson on 01-11-17
By: John Steinbeck
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The Last Jews of Kerala
- The Two Thousand Year History of India’s Forgotten Jewish Community
- By: Edna Fernandes
- Narrated by: Leslie Bellair
- Length: 6 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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When a people die out, can their story survive?Two thousand years ago, trade routes and the fall of Jerusalem took Jewish settlers seeking sanctuary across Europe and Asia. One little-known group settled in Kerala, in tropical southwestern India. Eventually numbering in the thousands, with eight synagogues, they prospered. Some came to possess vast estates and plantations, and many enjoyed economic privilege and political influence.
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Interesting topic, unethical author, uninformed reader
- By Cameron Crane on 03-08-18
By: Edna Fernandes
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Doctor Zhivago
- By: Boris Pasternak, Larissa Volokhonsky - translator, Richard Pevear - translator
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 23 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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In celebration of the 40th anniversary of its original publication, here is a new translation of the classic story of the life and loves of a poet/physician during the turmoil of the Russian Revolution. Taking his family from Moscow to what he hopes will be shelter in the Ural Mountains, Zhivago finds himself instead embroiled in the battle between the Whites and the Reds. Set against this backdrop of cruelty and strife is Zhivago’s love for the tender and beautiful Lara.
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Russian Philosophical Feast
- By Syd Young on 02-16-13
By: Boris Pasternak, and others
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Maybe You Will Survive
- A Holocaust Memoir
- By: Aron Goldfarb, Graham Diamond
- Narrated by: Laurence Dobiesz
- Length: 7 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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In Graham Diamond's collaboration with Aron Goldfarb, the reader feels the struggles of people trying to survive during the Holocaust. The author recounts his experiences in Poland during the Holocaust, when he escaped from a forced labour camp and, with his brother, hid in underground holes on the grounds of an estate controlled by the Gestapo.
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Not accurate in all ways
- By Dinner on 05-11-20
By: Aron Goldfarb, and others
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All the Lives We Never Lived
- By: Anuradha Roy
- Narrated by: Vikas Adam
- Length: 11 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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From the Man Booker Prize-nominated author of Sleeping on Jupiter, The Folded Earth, and An Atlas of Impossible Longing, a poignant and sweeping novel set in India during World War II and the present day about a son’s quest to uncover the truth about his mother....
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Beautiful book
- By Sonia S. on 12-13-19
By: Anuradha Roy
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Shalimar the Clown
- By: Salman Rushdie
- Narrated by: Aasif Mandvi
- Length: 18 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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When Maximilian Ophuls is murdered outside his daughter's home by his Kashmiri Muslim driver, it appears to be a political killing. Ophuls is the former U.S. ambassador to India and America's leading figure in counter-terrorism. But there is much more to Ophuls and his assassin, a mysterious man calling himself "Shalimar the Clown", than meets the eye. One woman is at the center of their shared history, a history of betrayal and deception.
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Incredible
- By Barry on 12-07-05
By: Salman Rushdie
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One Hundred Years of Solitude
- By: Gabriel García Márquez, Gregory Rabassa - translator
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 14 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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One of the 20th century's enduring works, One Hundred Years of Solitude is a widely beloved and acclaimed novel known throughout the world and the ultimate achievement in a Nobel Prize-winning career. The novel tells the story of the rise and fall of the mythical town of Macondo through the history of the Buendía family. Rich and brilliant, it is a chronicle of life, death, and the tragicomedy of humankind. In the beautiful, ridiculous, and tawdry story of the Buendía family, one sees all of humanity, just as in the history, myths, growth, and decay of Macondo, one sees all of Latin America.
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What in the heck happened?????
- By Melinda on 02-05-14
By: Gabriel García Márquez, and others
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Anticipation
- A Novel
- By: Melodie Winawer
- Narrated by: Jacques Roy, Samantha Desz, Jonathan Davis, and others
- Length: 14 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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From the author of the “engrossing historical epic” (Booklist) The Scribe of Siena comes a thrilling tale set in the crumbling city of Mystras, Greece, in which a scientist’s vacation with her young son quickly turns into a fight for their lives after they cross paths with a man out of time.
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Historical novel with a twist
- By Jbbee on 07-05-22
By: Melodie Winawer
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Mother Tongue
- By: Demetria Martinez
- Narrated by: Alyssa Bresnahan
- Length: 3 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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A nameless El Salvadoran man, fleeing torture and imprisonment, arrives in the United States - his only hope for asylum. The American woman who has volunteered to help him is searching for something to add meaning to her life. When these two lonely people meet, their haunting relationship fulfills their hearts' desires, but it also gives life to their darkest dreams.
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Amazing Story
- By Alexa :3 on 09-26-24
What listeners say about The Ardent Swarm
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- E. Whelan
- 09-06-22
Drew me into the story
I really enjoyed this story. I also love stories from different cultural and geographic perspectives and learned more about bees and humans. Worth listening to!
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- ankonagirl
- 02-14-23
Buzzy good listening
I enjoyed this telling. The bees made for a great basis for a story about a changing world in which we feel like we have little control. Sometimes strength and power come from the most unusual places.
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- GaGaNanna
- 05-12-23
Good, but could've been more
After the opening, I thought this was going to have much more political intreque and espionage. It was a good story about the culture and political atmosphere in the rural, disconnected villages, but it read more like a short story.
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- Anonymous User
- 03-30-23
Exceptional
It is an exceptional book that captures the beauty and power of nature while exposing the harm that humans can inflict upon it. Through its compelling story, the book also reflects on the aftermath of the Arab Spring, portraying the threats that outsiders can pose to local communities and their way of life. The prose is beautifully written, and the translation and narration of the audiobook are excellent. Every sentence of this book is a joy to listen to.
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- MzFreeze
- 03-09-21
Beautiful
This book was a joy to read and listen to. The writing is phenomenal the performance is as well and the story is sublime.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Chris
- 03-12-24
so beautiful
How can one book be this beautiful? Beautifully written, beautifully translated and beautifully narrated.
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- D.
- 08-09-22
Fun but a little muddled
This is my first completed book of my August Picks and it was a fun one! Yamen Manai takes us on a journey to the North African village of Nawa, where Sidi lives a withdrawn but settled life with his wife (who saves the day, if you ask me, but I won't spoil that for you!) raising bees. (We won't talk about how annoying I find it that he refers to these insects throughout the entire book as his "girls." Not "sweethearts," or "babies," or even "lovers," but "girls.")
The plot was a little muddled, I thought, as Manai's metaphor might have actually been a matter of conflation. The invasion of a deadly wasp on his bees' hives, which threatened Sidi's own livelihood and apparently the future of the whole region poses a serious problem-- maybe just as serious as the simultaneous storyline in which the region's neighborhoods and educational institutions become infiltrated by religious extremists? Until the very last minute, when Manai lines everything up, I wasn't sure how everything was supposed to connect. I didn't even think it related except by convenience of location.
Maybe the extended metaphor at work here needs another leg...or two...but the last couple scenes are fantastic and tie the book together beautifully. I did enjoy this book both for a great ending, and for the great research.
Do you remember how everyone squealed about how much they learned about beekeeping from THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES? Well. This book kind of shows that one way up!
📙52 Book Challenge (set on at least 2 continents)📔
Rating 3.5 stars
Finished August 2022
Recommended for fans of contemporary fiction; readers seeking diverse voices and stories
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- Mary Jo Eyler
- 08-01-22
Captivating
I felt this story was a little slow to start, but I’m glad I continued on. Once I got into the story I really enjoyed it.
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- Morris-Ken
- 07-05-21
Such a wonderful story
I loved this book because I learned so much about bees, culture and extremist views. How a group of people and a group of Hornets can terrorize what was a beautiful life before they came.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Paromita Nag
- 01-01-23
Just not for me.
This wasn't a novel I enjoyed. I don't think it was my cup of tea. Overall, the novel was fine.
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