BEST OF THE DECADE
listens of the past 10 years.
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Lincoln in the Bardo
- A Novel
- By: George Saunders
- Narrated by: Nick Offerman, David Sedaris, George Saunders, and others
- Length: 7 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
February 1862. The Civil War is less than one year old. The fighting has begun in earnest, and the nation has begun to realize it is in for a long, bloody struggle. Meanwhile, President Lincoln’s beloved eleven-year-old son, Willie, lies upstairs in the White House, gravely ill. In a matter of days, despite predictions of a recovery, Willie dies and is laid to rest in a Georgetown cemetery. “My poor boy, he was too good for this earth,” the president says at the time. “God has called him home.”
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"Where might God stand?"
- By Mel on 02-17-17
Already a classic
Lincoln in the Bardo was my favorite listen of 2017 and it remains so to this day. This is certainly going to go down as a classic listen and make no mistake, this one is meant to be heard. One hundred and sixty-six individual narrators (led by Nick Offerman, David Sedaris, and the author George Saunders) came together to voice this wildly surreal audiobook. And while that might sound like a production stunt, the breadth of voices was necessary to create the immersive cacophony effect (almost a Greek chorus of Americana) that Saunders imagined as the after-dark setting of the Georgetown Cemetery where young Willie Lincoln has been laid to rest by his stricken and shocked father. And that's the crux of this tale: this hugely ambitious novel (Saunders's first), so intricately produced and set against a devastating historical backdrop, ultimately delivers the most humbling and accurate portrait of grief I've ever encountered.
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Gone Girl
- A Novel
- By: Gillian Flynn
- Narrated by: Julia Whelan, Kirby Heyborne
- Length: 19 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy Dunne’s fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick’s clever and beautiful wife disappears. Husband-of-the-Year Nick isn’t doing himself any favors with cringe-worthy daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife’s head, but passages from Amy's diary reveal the alpha-girl perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on edge.
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Demented, twisted, sick and I loved it!
- By Theodore on 01-20-13
Get to the gone
I’m a sucker for great story structure, and Gone Girl uses every inch of its narrative to subvert expectations in ways that shock and amuse. The perfectly utilized diary entries fold into a legendary mid-book reveal. The face-turn-heel of a seemingly perfect victim who revels in the way they’ve expertly managed your expectations. The unreliable narrators who reveal so much about themselves by what they don’t say—or how they shape emotional states into origami. And it all feels fair; while most twist-filled stories tend to seem rather flimsy under a microscope, the closer you look at Gillian Flynn’s masterpiece, the more you notice the sheer togetherness of it all, each part working in concert with another, coalescing to form a story that has one finger firmly on the pulse of popular culture, and one on the carotid of a serial killer.
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The Hate U Give
- By: Angie Thomas
- Narrated by: Bahni Turpin
- Length: 11 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed. Soon afterward, his death is a national headline. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Protesters are taking to the streets in Khalil’s name.
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This Book Changed My Entire Perspective
- By Wendi on 01-14-18
Thomas and Turpin are my OTP
No listen has had a greater impact on me in the last decade than The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas. In a word, it’s transformative. Inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement, this searing debut will floor you with its elegant and deliberate prose. Our heroine Starr Carter is driving home from a party with her best friend Khalil when they are pulled over by a cop, who ends up fatally shooting Khalil. Khalil was unarmed. Thomas fearlessly handles the narrative that follows with a grace and poignancy that will have you marveling at her talent. Narrator Bahni Turpin manages to give voice to such a broad and rich cast of characters, each with their own authentic perspective, demonstrating the power of performance to bring new depth to a complex social issue. This is the very definition of required listening—and my favorite from the decade.
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Bossypants
- By: Tina Fey
- Narrated by: Tina Fey
- Length: 5 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Before Liz Lemon, before Weekend Update, before Sarah Palin, Tina Fey was just a young girl with a dream: A recurring stress dream that she was being chased through a local airport by her middle-school gym teacher. She also had a dream that one day she would be a comedian on TV. She has seen both these dreams come true. At last, Tina Fey's story can be told. From her youthful days as a vicious nerd to her tour of duty on Saturday Night Live. Tina Fey reveals all, and proves what we've always suspected: You're no one until someone calls you bossy.
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Tina Fey broke my new SUV
- By Warren on 04-07-11
Tina Fey wears the pants
I still remember the first time I listened to Bossypants in 2011. I was a recent college grad and my tastes were embarrassingly snobby, but I liked Tina Fey and thought it would just be soooo subversive to listen to a best seller. Imagine my shock when Bossypants showed me how much pure, uncomplicated joy I could get from a book. I never looked back. Before Tina Fey we had Carol Burnett, Lucille Ball, and Joan Rivers, but Bossypants came at just the right moment when the floodgates were opening for women in comedy. Its best seller status made Tina Fey a household name and paved the way for excellent (hilarious) memoirs that would follow by Mindy Kaling, Amy Poehler, Tiffany Haddish, Ali Wong, and so many more. Bossypants launched a cultural phenomenon. What I love best about Tina Fey’s book is her voice, both figuratively and literally. It's a joy to spend five and a half straight hours in her brain, hearing her perspective on comedy, career, and crushes gone awry. The audiobook's use of clips from Saturday Night Live was also revolutionary and elevated this memoir to a whole new level. No matter which comedy memoir I end up falling in love with next, Bossypants will always hold a special place in my heart as the first—and the decade’s best.
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Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe
- By: Benjamin Alire Saenz
- Narrated by: Lin-Manuel Miranda
- Length: 7 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Aristotle is an angry teen with a brother in prison. Dante is a know-it-all who has an unusual way of looking at the world. When the two meet at the swimming pool, they seem to have nothing in common. But as the loners start spending time together, they discover that they share a special friendship - the kind that changes lives and lasts a lifetime. And it is through this friendship that Ari and Dante will learn the most important truths about themselves and the kind of people they want to be.
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One of the best novels I've listened to in years.
- By Nyx on 10-27-13
Lin-Manuel Miranda. Need I say more?
Following the lives of two best friends during the 1980s, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets to the Universe is so much more than a coming of age story. While it tackles growing up with harmful ideas about masculinity, sexuality, and identity, it’s also a heartwarming tale of finding your person. Ari and Dante are faced with some of life’s most difficult problems while they’re adjusting to the already confusing landscape of being teenage boys. Theirs is a story about the complexities of love, friendship, and family—in addition to a story about learning to love yourself and grow past the cruelties and injustices that the world sometimes throws your way. And to top it all off, when paired with Benjamin Alire Sáenz’s poetic prose, Lin-Manuel Miranda’s performance makes this one impossible to stop.
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11-22-63
- A Novel
- By: Stephen King
- Narrated by: Craig Wasson
- Length: 30 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
On November 22, 1963, three shots rang out in Dallas, President Kennedy died, and the world changed. What if you could change it back? In this brilliantly conceived tour de force, Stephen King - who has absorbed the social, political, and popular culture of his generation more imaginatively and thoroughly than any other writer - takes listeners on an incredible journey into the past and the possibility of altering it.
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I Owe Stephen King An Apology
- By Kelly - Write Well Academy on 04-16-12
A nostalgic trip
Stephen King’s 11.22.63 is a technicolor romp to the past where the root beer tastes better, cars have more class, and listeners are warned to beware the yellow card man. I was not alive in 1963, but after spending 30+ hours listening to narrator Craig Wasson bring these fictional (and real) characters brilliantly to life, I feel like while I didn’t live there, I’ve at least visited for a long weekend. Blending time travel, history, a little romance, and political intrigue, this is an oddly feel-good tale—odd because it's about assassination and comes from the king of horror. The thing is that King also just happens to be a masterful storyteller whose best work of the decade will warm your heart more than scare the hell out of you.
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I'll Be Gone in the Dark
- One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer
- By: Michelle McNamara
- Narrated by: Gabra Zackman, Gillian Flynn - introduction, Patton Oswalt - afterword
- Length: 10 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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A masterful true crime account of the Golden State Killer - the elusive serial rapist turned murderer who terrorized California for over a decade - from Michelle McNamara, the gifted journalist who died tragically while investigating the case.
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A haunting masterpiece
- By Kat - Audible on 03-02-18
A decade drawn to darkness
The 2010s were kind of a…murdery decade, weren’t they? True crime slaked our seemingly insatiable bloodlust in every format but audio was where it soared, becoming much more than a guilty pleasure. These 10 years brought us Say Nothing, The New Jim Crow, West Cork, American Kingpin, and several others I might call “best.” But my favorite was the one that got under my skin even as it transcended the genre, and its author’s own life, to become part of something bigger. Unfinished but utterly haunting, I’ll Be Gone in the Dark preceded the capture of its subject, the Golden State Killer, by mere months, and became a touchstone of the conversation around the case and the DNA technique that cracked it. In the end, it is Michelle McNamara’s exquisite voice (with Gabra Zackman as a thoughtful conduit) that endures—along with one of the most heartbreaking afterwords, by her husband Patton Oswalt, of all time.
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The Power of Vulnerability
- Teachings of Authenticity, Connection, and Courage
- By: Brené Brown
- Narrated by: Brené Brown
- Length: 6 hrs and 30 mins
- Original Recording
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Performance
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Story
On The Power of Vulnerability, Dr. Brown offers an invitation and a promise - that when we dare to drop the armor that protects us from feeling vulnerable, we open ourselves to the experiences that bring purpose and meaning to our lives. Here she dispels the cultural myth that vulnerability is weakness and reveals that it is, in truth, our most accurate measure of courage.
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The audio makes all the difference.
- By Sadie on 09-14-13
A perfect work on the benefits of being imperfect
Self-development trends seem to come and go every year, but one that has so far stood the test of time (the decade, at least) is the power of vulnerability—thanks in large part to Brené Brown’s magnum opus of the same name. In this eye-opening, witty, and relatable listen (recorded in front of a live audience, which only enhances its accessibility), Brown cogently lays out the case for how and why our issues of confidence, growth, and connection can be traced to a lack of vulnerability and an overabundance of shame. The lessons contained herein sharply illuminate the virtues of letting our guards down: at home, at work, and in love.
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The Sellout
- A Novel
- By: Paul Beatty
- Narrated by: Prentice Onayemi
- Length: 9 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
A biting satire about a young man's isolated upbringing and the race trial that sends him to the Supreme Court, Paul Beatty's The Sellout showcases a comic genius at the top of his game. It challenges the sacred tenets of the United States Constitution, urban life, the civil rights movement, the father-son relationship, and the holy grail of racial equality: the black Chinese restaurant.
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Appreciated it, but didn't like it
- By Eugenia on 04-14-16
The new Great American Novel
I can't think of another novel from this decade that affected me as much as The Sellout did. For me, the The Sellout revolutionized what the contemporary American novel could be—satirical, lyrical, truly laugh-out-loud funny—all while attacking the ugliness that lives within our world without ever flinching. The unrelenting rhythm of Beatty's writing, which is brought to life by Prentice Onayemi's narration, will have you hooked within minutes of the prologue. If there's one novel of this decade that you should not sleep on, this is it.
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The Way of Kings
- The Stormlight Archive, Book 1
- By: Brandon Sanderson
- Narrated by: Kate Reading, Michael Kramer
- Length: 45 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Performance
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Story
Roshar is a world of stone and storms. Uncanny tempests of incredible power sweep across the rocky terrain so frequently that they have shaped ecology and civilization alike. Animals hide in shells, trees pull in branches, and grass retracts into the soilless ground. Cities are built only where the topography offers shelter. It has been centuries since the fall of the 10 consecrated orders known as the Knights Radiant, but their Shardblades and Shardplate remain: mystical swords and suits of armor.
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It doesn't get any better than this!
- By Robert on 10-26-12
Here’s to another 10 years at the top
My journey as a Brandon Sanderson fan began more than a decade ago. My brother and I discovered one of his very first published books, Mistborn, at a gas station rest stop in high school and both of us have been hooked ever since. But Brandon Sanderson, who started out as our little secret, has grown to be one of the biggest and most respected names in fantasy today. It’s been such a joy and delight to be his fan as he’s only gotten better and better at creating compelling, creative, and human stories over the years. Is it weird to say that I feel proud? There is no doubt in my mind that his epic series, the Stormlight Archive, deserves a spot as the best of the decade.
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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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Overall
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Performance
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Story
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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Great book and perfect narration
- By MarilynArms on 12-15-16
Through the lens of laughter and love
Everyone knew Trevor Noah was insightful and funny by the time his 2016 memoir came out, but no one was prepared for the funny man’s brilliant performance of his unique and nuanced look at the intersection of his life as a coloured
child in South Africa and the horrors of the system of apartheid. The polyglot makes the Xhosa and Zulu languages of his homeland sing in a way that just wouldn’t have happened on the page. And his comedic and loving take on his formidable mother has made her a character who lives in our minds long after Audible thanks us for listening.
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Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World
- By: Jack Weatherford
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis, Jack Weatherford
- Length: 14 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
The Mongol army led by Genghis Khan subjugated more lands and people in 25 years than the Romans did in 400. In nearly every country the Mongols conquered, they brought an unprecedented rise in cultural communication, expanded trade, and a blossoming of civilization.
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Golden Horde/Platinum Listen
- By Cynthia on 12-11-13
Travel to the steppes through audio
As an anthropologist studying and teaching in Mongolia for decades, Jack Weatherford collected stories: the facts of Genghis Khan’s life (few, but significant), his legacy (huge), and the intimacy and specialness of Mongolian culture that changed and spread across the world under his aegis. Jonathan Davis’s stellar narration of every novelistic detail holds up year after year.
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Circe
- By: Madeline Miller
- Narrated by: Perdita Weeks
- Length: 12 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
In the house of Helios, god of the sun and mightiest of the Titans, a daughter is born. But Circe is a strange child—not powerful, like her father, nor viciously alluring like her mother. Turning to the world of mortals for companionship, she discovers that she does possess power—the power of witchcraft, which can transform rivals into monsters and menace the gods themselves.
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Refined writing with an intimate performance
- By Michael - Audible Editor on 04-11-18
Lyrical bliss and raw emotional power make for a perfect experience
I have been proselytizing Circe since the day it came out, and I am sure my colleagues are sick of hearing me talk about it at this point. I have listened to tons of other great stuff, but I keep coming back to Circe as my perfect audio experience. Everything lines up—the characters, the plot, the symbolism, the beautiful writing, the immaculate imagery, and Perdita Weeks’ on point performance—to create a soundscape that makes you totally forget you are listening to an audiobook, much less commuting to work. For 12 hours Circe feels as real as someone standing next to you, and her godly voice is as honest and pure as one that comes from your own mind.
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You
- By: Caroline Kepnes
- Narrated by: Santino Fontana
- Length: 11 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Beck is everything Joe has ever wanted: she's gorgeous, tough, razor-smart, and sexy beyond his wildest dreams. Joe needs to have her, and he'll stop at nothing to do so. As he begins to insinuate himself into her life - her friendships, her email, her phone - she can’t resist her feelings for a guy who seems custom-made for her. So when her boyfriend, Benji, mysteriously disappears, Beck and Joe fall into a tumultuous affair. But there's more to Beck than her oh-so-perfect façade.
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Wow. This. Book.
- By Em on 07-17-15
Talk about a come-up in the age of cybersecurity!
When I define best of the decade, I like to think it is for those that had one of the largest popularity surges I have ever seen. Brilliant author Caroline Kepnes came out swinging with her first ever novel, You. When I first discovered You, it was not because I was looking for it. Actually it was an accidental click, however it must've been fate because after reading the summary, I was intrigued instantly. Now a hit television show on Netflix, You was made for greatness plot-wise and narration-wise. Performed by the talented and dulcet tones of Santino Fontana, You couldn’t have set a higher bar for itself! If you’re not hip to the thriller greatness sprinkled onto this decade by Kepnes with her seemingly innocuous Joe Goldberg, I highly recommend You to anyone. As we come to the end of a decade of such technological advancements and surges in the topics of privacy and internet vulnerability, You is the eye-opener, Twitter-conversation-starter of the decade.
Honorable Mentions
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A Gentleman in Moscow
- A Novel
- By: Amor Towles
- Narrated by: Nicholas Guy Smith
- Length: 17 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
In 1922, Count Alexander Rostov is deemed an unrepentant aristocrat by a Bolshevik tribunal, and is sentenced to house arrest in the Metropol, a grand hotel across the street from the Kremlin. Rostov, an indomitable man of erudition and wit, has never worked a day in his life, and must now live in an attic room while some of the most tumultuous decades in Russian history are unfolding outside the hotel’s doors. Unexpectedly, his reduced circumstances provide him entry into a much larger world of emotional discovery.
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A Reprieve Amidst Ugly News, Relentless Negativity
- By Cathy Lindhorst on 08-27-17
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The Nightingale
- By: Kristin Hannah
- Narrated by: Polly Stone
- Length: 17 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
The Nightingale tells the stories of two sisters, separated by years and experience, by ideals, passion and circumstance, each embarking on her own dangerous path toward survival, love, and freedom in German-occupied, war-torn France—a heartbreakingly beautiful novel that celebrates the resilience of the human spirit and the durability of women. It is a novel for everyone, a novel for a lifetime.
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Heroic & Harrowing Work Of Fiction
- By Sara on 08-21-15
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Fall of Giants
- Book One of the Century Trilogy
- By: Ken Follett
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 30 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Ken Follett's World Without End was a global phenomenon, a work of grand historical sweep beloved by millions of readers and acclaimed by critics. Fall of Giants is his magnificent new historical epic. The first novel in The Century Trilogy, it follows the fates of five interrelated families - American, German, Russian, English, and Welsh - as they move through the world-shaking dramas of the First World War, the Russian Revolution, and the struggle for women's suffrage.
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Loved it and learned alot.
- By Louis on 10-19-10
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Illuminae
- The Illuminae Files, Book 1
- By: Amie Kaufman, Jay Kristoff
- Narrated by: Olivia Taylor Dudley, Lincoln Hoppe, Johnathan McClain, and others
- Length: 11 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Audie Award, Multi-Voiced Performance, 2016. The year is 2575, and two rival mega-corporations are at war over a planet that's little more than an ice-covered speck at the edge of the universe. Too bad nobody thought to warn the people living on it. With enemy fire raining down on them, Kady and Ezra - who are barely even talking to each other - are forced to fight their way onto one of the evacuating fleet, with an enemy warship in hot pursuit.
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AWESOME!
- By ddavis.97 on 11-25-15
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A Gentleman in Moscow
- A Novel
- By: Amor Towles
- Narrated by: Nicholas Guy Smith
- Length: 17 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
In 1922, Count Alexander Rostov is deemed an unrepentant aristocrat by a Bolshevik tribunal, and is sentenced to house arrest in the Metropol, a grand hotel across the street from the Kremlin. Rostov, an indomitable man of erudition and wit, has never worked a day in his life, and must now live in an attic room while some of the most tumultuous decades in Russian history are unfolding outside the hotel’s doors. Unexpectedly, his reduced circumstances provide him entry into a much larger world of emotional discovery.
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A Reprieve Amidst Ugly News, Relentless Negativity
- By Cathy Lindhorst on 08-27-17
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The Nightingale
- By: Kristin Hannah
- Narrated by: Polly Stone
- Length: 17 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
The Nightingale tells the stories of two sisters, separated by years and experience, by ideals, passion and circumstance, each embarking on her own dangerous path toward survival, love, and freedom in German-occupied, war-torn France—a heartbreakingly beautiful novel that celebrates the resilience of the human spirit and the durability of women. It is a novel for everyone, a novel for a lifetime.
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Heroic & Harrowing Work Of Fiction
- By Sara on 08-21-15
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Fall of Giants
- Book One of the Century Trilogy
- By: Ken Follett
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 30 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Ken Follett's World Without End was a global phenomenon, a work of grand historical sweep beloved by millions of readers and acclaimed by critics. Fall of Giants is his magnificent new historical epic. The first novel in The Century Trilogy, it follows the fates of five interrelated families - American, German, Russian, English, and Welsh - as they move through the world-shaking dramas of the First World War, the Russian Revolution, and the struggle for women's suffrage.
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Loved it and learned alot.
- By Louis on 10-19-10
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Illuminae
- The Illuminae Files, Book 1
- By: Amie Kaufman, Jay Kristoff
- Narrated by: Olivia Taylor Dudley, Lincoln Hoppe, Johnathan McClain, and others
- Length: 11 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Audie Award, Multi-Voiced Performance, 2016. The year is 2575, and two rival mega-corporations are at war over a planet that's little more than an ice-covered speck at the edge of the universe. Too bad nobody thought to warn the people living on it. With enemy fire raining down on them, Kady and Ezra - who are barely even talking to each other - are forced to fight their way onto one of the evacuating fleet, with an enemy warship in hot pursuit.
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AWESOME!
- By ddavis.97 on 11-25-15
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Unbreakable
- A Navy SEAL's Way of Life
- By: Thom Shea
- Narrated by: Brian Troxell
- Length: 9 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
A highly decorated Navy SEAL shares stories of his years of combat experience in Afghanistan, providing leadership insights that will shift your view of yourself and provoke life-altering change. Before leaving for combat in Afghanistan, Navy SEAL Thom Shea promised his wife that he would write to his children in case he didn't make it back. What was initially intended to be a private memoir for his family turned into a powerful set of lessons for anyone striving to perform beyond what they believe possible.
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Don't let detractors deter you from getting it!
- By Oliver Nielsen on 12-25-15
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The Boys in the Boat
- Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics
- By: Daniel James Brown
- Narrated by: Edward Herrmann
- Length: 14 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
The number one New York Times best-selling story about American Olympic triumph in Nazi Germany, the inspiration for the PBS documentary The Boys of '36, broadcast to coincide with the 2016 Summer Olympics and the 80th anniversary of the boys' gold medal race. Out of the depths of the Depression comes an irresistible story about beating the odds and finding hope in the most desperate of times - the improbable, intimate account of how nine working-class boys from the American West showed the world at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin what true grit really meant.
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Dear Publishers of Audio Books
- By Lynn on 08-04-14
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Educated
- A Memoir
- By: Tara Westover
- Narrated by: Julia Whelan
- Length: 12 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Performance
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Story
Born to survivalists in the mountains of Idaho, Tara Westover was seventeen the first time she set foot in a classroom. Her family was so isolated from mainstream society that there was no one to ensure the children received an education, and no one to intervene when one of Tara’s older brothers became violent. When another brother got himself into college, Tara decided to try a new kind of life. Her quest for knowledge transformed her, taking her over oceans and across continents, to Harvard and to Cambridge University.
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The Other Side of Idaho's Mountains
- By Darwin8u on 03-28-18
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Between the World and Me
- By: Ta-Nehisi Coates
- Narrated by: Ta-Nehisi Coates
- Length: 3 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Americans have built an empire on the idea of “race”, a falsehood that damages us all but falls most heavily on the bodies of Black women and men - bodies exploited through slavery and segregation and, today, threatened, locked up, and murdered out of all proportion. What is it like to inhabit a Black body and find a way to live within it? And how can we all honestly reckon with this fraught history and free ourselves from its burden? Between the World and Me is Ta-Nehisi Coates’ attempt to answer these questions in a letter to his adolescent son.
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A Heartfelt Self-aware Literary Masterpiece
- By T Spencer on 07-30-15
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Sapiens
- A Brief History of Humankind
- By: Yuval Noah Harari
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 15 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Most books about the history of humanity pursue either a historical or a biological approach, but Dr. Yuval Noah Harari breaks the mold with this highly original book. From examining the role evolving humans have played in the global ecosystem to charting the rise of empires, Sapiens integrates history and science to reconsider accepted narratives, connect past developments with contemporary concerns, and examine specific events within the context of larger ideas.
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Should be required reading
- By Blue Zion on 12-22-18
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The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
- By: Rebecca Skloot
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell, Bahni Turpin
- Length: 12 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. She was a poor Southern tobacco farmer who worked the same land as her slave ancestors, yet her cells - taken without her knowledge - became one of the most important tools in medicine: The first “immortal” human cells grown in culture, which are still alive today, though she has been dead for more than 60 years. HeLa cells were vital for developing the polio vaccine; uncovered secrets of cancer, viruses, and the atom bomb’s effects.
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The Secret Life of an American Cancer Cell
- By Cynthia on 08-10-13
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The Fifth Season
- The Broken Earth, Book 1
- By: N. K. Jemisin
- Narrated by: Robin Miles
- Length: 15 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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This is the way the world ends...for the last time. It starts with the great red rift across the heart of the world's sole continent, spewing ash that blots out the sun. It starts with death, with a murdered son and a missing daughter. It starts with betrayal, and long dormant wounds rising up to fester. This is the Stillness, a land long familiar with catastrophe, where the power of the Earth is wielded as a weapon. And where there is no mercy.
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The Nay-Sayers are Wrong.
- By Steve Groves on 02-10-20
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Tiny Beautiful Things (10th Anniversary Edition)
- Advice from Dear Sugar
- By: Cheryl Strayed
- Narrated by: Cheryl Strayed, Steve Almond - introduction
- Length: 10 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Tiny Beautiful Things collects the best of Dear Sugar in one volume, bringing her wisdom to many more readers. This tenth-anniversary edition features six new columns and a new preface by Strayed. Rich with humor, insight, compassion—and absolute honesty—this book is a balm for everything life throws our way.
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A Spoonful of Sugar
- By Mel on 08-15-12