Perkbrooke
- 9
- reviews
- 60
- helpful votes
- 22
- ratings
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Let Us Descend
- A Novel
- By: Jesmyn Ward
- Narrated by: Jesmyn Ward
- Length: 8 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 368
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 333
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 332
Let Us Descend describes a journey from the rice fields of the Carolinas to the slave markets of New Orleans and into the fearsome heart of a Louisiana sugar plantation. A journey that is as beautifully rendered as it is heart wrenching, the novel is “[t]he literary equivalent of an open wound from which poetry pours” (NPR). Annis, sold south by the white enslaver who fathered her, is the listener’s guide. As she struggles through the miles-long march, Annis turns inward, seeking comfort from memories of her mother and stories of her African warrior grandmother.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Usually I enjoy an author reading…
- By Patio on 11-04-23
- Let Us Descend
- A Novel
- By: Jesmyn Ward
- Narrated by: Jesmyn Ward
The writing was excellent.
Reviewed: 01-15-24
What a journey. This was difficult to read, but well worth it. It may be on the banned books list in Florida with all the other great books.
Many thanks
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3 people found this helpful
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Interior Chinatown
- A Novel
- By: Charles Yu
- Narrated by: Joel de la Fuente
- Length: 4 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,615
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,365
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,357
Willis Wu doesn’t perceive himself as a protagonist even in his own life: He’s merely Generic Asian man. Sometimes he gets to be Background Oriental Making a Weird Face or even Disgraced Son, but he is always relegated to a prop. Yet every day he leaves his tiny room in a Chinatown SRO and enters the Golden Palace restaurant, where Black and White, a procedural cop show, is in perpetual production. He’s a bit player here, too, but he dreams of being Kung Fu Guy - the most respected role that anyone who looks like him can attain. At least that’s what he has been told.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Kong Fu Guy
- By JCY on 01-30-20
- Interior Chinatown
- A Novel
- By: Charles Yu
- Narrated by: Joel de la Fuente
PBS Bookclub Choice
Reviewed: 11-15-22
I saw the interview of Charles Yu on PBS and referred it to my International Book Club group. Stunning book in so many ways. Appropriate for what has been happening before our eyes in the last few years. Though it has been there all along. Perfectly described. I really appreciate the historical references. What an incredible writing form for presenting this. Thank you, Charles Yu.
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Just Mercy
- A Story of Justice and Redemption
- By: Bryan Stevenson
- Narrated by: Bryan Stevenson
- Length: 11 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 18,314
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 16,218
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Story5 out of 5 stars 16,170
Bryan Stevenson was a young lawyer when he founded the Equal Justice Initiative, a legal practice dedicated to defending those most desperate and in need: the poor, the wrongly condemned, and women and children trapped in the farthest reaches of our criminal justice system. One of his first cases was that of Walter McMillian, a young man who was sentenced to die for a notorious murder he insisted he didn’t commit. The case drew Bryan into a tangle of conspiracy, political machination, and legal brinksmanship—and transformed his understanding of mercy and justice forever.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Made me question justice, peers and myself.
- By Kristy VL on 04-17-15
- Just Mercy
- A Story of Justice and Redemption
- By: Bryan Stevenson
- Narrated by: Bryan Stevenson
Incredible Story of Persistence and hope
Reviewed: 06-16-20
Wish all those protesting in 2020 would read this and understand they must persist peacefully as Bryan did. I marched with Martin Luther King....a beautiful day. I am inspired once again.
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The Monk of Mokha
- By: Dave Eggers
- Narrated by: Dion Graham
- Length: 8 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 947
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 854
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 855
Mokhtar Alkhanshali grew up in San Francisco, one of seven siblings raised by Yemeni immigrants in a tiny apartment. At age 24, unable to pay for college, he works as a doorman. Until: a statue of an Arab raising a cup of coffee awakens something in him. He sets out to learn the rich history of coffee in Yemen and the complex art of tasting and identifying varietals. He travels to Yemen, collects samples of beans, eager to bring improved cultivation methods to the farmers. And he is on the verge of success when civil war engulfs Yemen in 2015 and he is trapped in Sana'a.
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5 out of 5 stars
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MOVING THE NEEDLE
- By Dog Fish on 02-20-18
- The Monk of Mokha
- By: Dave Eggers
- Narrated by: Dion Graham
Complexities of Survival in the Underdeveloped World
Reviewed: 04-16-19
The author has done well explaining the difficulties of just getting by let alone building a business and contributing to the well being of others.
Thank you for writing this story.
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1 person found this helpful
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The Threat
- How the FBI Protects America in the Age of Terror and Trump
- By: Andrew G. McCabe
- Narrated by: Andrew G. McCabe
- Length: 9 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 5,364
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 4,842
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Story5 out of 5 stars 4,825
On March 16, 2018, just 26 hours before his scheduled retirement from the organization he had served with distinction for more than two decades, Andrew G. McCabe was fired from his position as deputy director of the FBI. President Donald Trump celebrated on Twitter: "Andrew McCabe FIRED, a great day for the hard working men and women of the FBI - A great day for Democracy." In The Threat: How the FBI Protects America in the Age of Terror and Trump, Andrew G. McCabe offers a dramatic and candid account of his career and an impassioned defense of the FBI.
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5 out of 5 stars
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The FBI & DOJ
- By Thom Pierson on 02-19-19
- The Threat
- How the FBI Protects America in the Age of Terror and Trump
- By: Andrew G. McCabe
- Narrated by: Andrew G. McCabe
Perkbrooke
Reviewed: 03-09-19
Every American should read this book to help us all remember what our democracy used to be and needs to be in the future.
It is incredible to hear it read by Andrew McCabe himself.
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1 person found this helpful
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Killers of the Flower Moon
- The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI
- By: David Grann
- Narrated by: Will Patton, Ann Marie Lee, Danny Campbell
- Length: 9 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 22,871
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 20,022
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 19,978
In the 1920s, the richest people per capita in the world were members of the Osage Nation in Oklahoma. After oil was discovered beneath their land, the Osage rode in chauffeured automobiles, built mansions, and sent their children to study in Europe.
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5 out of 5 stars
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An outstanding story, highly recommended
- By S. Blakely on 06-22-17
- Killers of the Flower Moon
- The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI
- By: David Grann
- Narrated by: Will Patton, Ann Marie Lee, Danny Campbell
Thank Heavens for American journalists
Reviewed: 07-07-18
Journalists who are willing to dig deeper and deeper to find the truths we need will save our democracy.
This was riveting with little surprise references like Marie Tallchief and Ernie Pyle. (I saw her dance)
J. Edgar Hoover’s ego was as described. Great book.
When will we get it right and treat everyone ethically.
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Half of a Yellow Sun
- By: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
- Narrated by: Zainab Jah
- Length: 18 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,599
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 1,408
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,392
Adichie illuminates a seminal moment in modern African history: Biafra’s impassioned struggle to establish an independent republic in southeastern Nigeria during the late 1960s. We experience this tumultuous decade alongside five unforgettable characters: Ugwu, a 13-year-old houseboy working for Odenigbo, a university professor full of revolutionary zeal; Olanna, the professor’s beautiful young mistress who's abandoned her life in Lagos for a dusty town and her lover’s charm; and Richard, a shy young Englishman infatuated with Olanna’s willful twin sister Kainene.
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4 out of 5 stars
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A Little Background Adjustment
- By Perkbrooke on 03-13-18
- Half of a Yellow Sun
- By: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
- Narrated by: Zainab Jah
A Little Background Adjustment
Reviewed: 03-13-18
This was read beautifully. How does one say it was enjoyed considering the story of a terrible war.
It was unfortunate that the author threw in the ugly American journalists bit when there were actually several journalists of the most noted newspapers...NYTimes, Los Angeles Times, Time/Life,Newsweek who made their homes in Nairobi Kenya and went to Biafra risking their lives to tell the story of this horrible war. They traveled together to Biafra and when Priya Ramrakha, the Time/Life photographer,was shot in a Biafran ambush, these journalists carried him as best they could to safety. He bled to death. I know this to be true as my former husband was one of them. These journalists cared about what was happening in Africa. They tried to communicate the real story.
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54 people found this helpful
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A Man Called Ove
- By: Fredrik Backman
- Narrated by: George Newbern
- Length: 9 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 69,432
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 63,130
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 63,049
Meet Ove. He's a curmudgeon - the kind of man who points at people he dislikes as if they were burglars caught outside his bedroom window. He has staunch principles, strict routines, and a short fuse. People call him "the bitter neighbor from hell". But behind the cranky exterior there is a story and a sadness.
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5 out of 5 stars
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I Laughed and I Cried
- By Bill on 08-22-15
- A Man Called Ove
- By: Fredrik Backman
- Narrated by: George Newbern
Saddest and Happiest Ever
Reviewed: 12-11-16
This is happy and sad at the same time about a man who did not know how to live and was hopeless at trying to die. The prose is so original and comical I laughed out loud so many times as well as gasped at what had happened. Such character development... Ova, as well as the wife, the neighbors all of this circle astounded me. I will read it again and suggest it to my friends.
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The Fortunes
- By: Peter Ho Davies
- Narrated by: James Chen
- Length: 10 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 52
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 46
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Story4 out of 5 stars 46
Inhabiting four lives - a railroad baron's valet who unwittingly ignites an explosion in Chinese labor, Hollywood's first Chinese movie star, a hate-crime victim whose death mobilizes Asian Americans, and a biracial writer visiting China for an adoption - this novel captures and capsizes over a century of our history, showing that even as family bonds are denied and broken, a community can survive - as much through love as blood.
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5 out of 5 stars
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The threads throughout the stories.
- By Perkbrooke on 11-14-16
- The Fortunes
- By: Peter Ho Davies
- Narrated by: James Chen
The threads throughout the stories.
Reviewed: 11-14-16
I enjoyed this novel very much. Particularly the threads to follow.... the building and contribution good and bad of the railroad, Leland Stanford, the ongoing discrimination, the guilt, and striving for the elephant. So many subtleties. And there is hope.
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