The Melody That Binds
A Novel
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The Melody That Binds
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Narrated by:
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Benjamin Powell
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By:
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C.M. Dinsmore
About this listen
A Spiritual Journey of Love and War. Amidst the harrowing tumult of World War II, a Japanese soldier finds himself ensnared by the unforgiving jungle of the Philippines. His desperate flight from the horrors of battle leads him to a hidden enclave, where he expects spending his remaining days in solitude. He grapples with the haunting memories of war, all while nursing a fragile hope of one day returning to Japan as he ages and the landscape changes around him.
©2023 C.M. Dinsmore (P)2024 C.M. DinsmoreListeners also enjoyed...
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-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 385
After six years in England, Rachel has returned to Kenya and the farm where she spent her childhood, but the beloved home she'd longed for is much changed. Her father's new companion - a strange, intolerant woman - has taken over the household. The political climate in the country grows more unsettled by the day and is approaching the boiling point. And looming over them all is the threat of the Mau Mau, a secret society intent on uniting the native Kenyans and overthrowing the whites.
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5 out of 5 stars
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IMPERIALISM
- By Haberwoman on 08-02-18
By: Jennifer McVeigh
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She Would Be King
- A Novel
- By: Wayétu Moore
- Narrated by: Wayétu Moore
- Length: 9 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 882
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 788
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 785
Wayétu Moore’s powerful debut novel, She Would Be King, reimagines the dramatic story of Liberia’s early years through three unforgettable characters who share an uncommon bond. Gbessa, exiled from the West African village of Lai, is starved, bitten by a viper, and left for dead, but still she survives. June Dey, raised on a plantation in Virginia, hides his unusual strength until a confrontation with the overseer forces him to flee. Norman Aragon, the child of a white British colonizer and a Maroon slave from Jamaica, can fade from sight when the earth calls him.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Beautiful example of magical realism.
- By Danielle on 10-07-18
By: Wayétu Moore
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The Art of Hearing Heartbeats
- A Novel
- By: Jan-Philipp Sendker
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 9 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 2,295
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,004
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Story4 out of 5 stars 2,018
When a successful New York lawyer suddenly disappears without a trace, neither his wife nor his daughter Julia has any idea where he might be - until they find a love letter he wrote many years ago to a Burmese woman they have never heard of. Intent on solving the mystery and coming to terms with her father’s past, Julia decides to travel to the village where the woman lived. There she uncovers a tale of unimaginable hardship, resilience, and passion that will reaffirm the listener’s belief in the power of love to move mountains.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Basic Story Interesting, But...
- By Monica on 06-04-13
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The Garden of Evening Mists
- By: Tan Twan Eng
- Narrated by: Anna Bentinck
- Length: 15 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 751
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 662
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 665
Malaya, 1951. Yun Ling Teoh, the scarred lone survivor of a brutal Japanese wartime camp, seeks solace among the jungle-fringed tea plantations of Cameron Highlands. There she discovers Yugiri, the only Japanese garden in Malaya, and its owner and creator, the enigmatic Aritomo, exiled former gardener of the emperor of Japan. Despite her hatred of the Japanese, Yun Ling seeks to engage Aritomo to create a garden in memory of her sister, who died in the camp.
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5 out of 5 stars
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The best
- By Susan Gardner Bowers on 03-11-13
By: Tan Twan Eng
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The Hundred Wells of Salaga
- A Novel
- By: Ayesha Harruna Attah
- Narrated by: Janina Edwards
- Length: 6 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 31
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 26
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 25
Aminah lives an idyllic life until she is brutally separated from her home and forced on a journey that turns her from a daydreamer into a resilient woman. Wurche, the willful daughter of a chief, is desperate to play an important role in her father's court. These two women's lives converge as infighting among Wurche's people threatens the region, during the height of the slave trade at the end of the nineteenth century. The Hundred Wells of Salaga offers a remarkable view of slavery and how the scramble for Africa affected the lives of everyday people.
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White Dog Fell from the Sky
- By: Eleanor Morse
- Narrated by: Carla Mercer-Meyer
- Length: 14 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 139
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 119
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Story4 out of 5 stars 118
Botswana, 1976: Isaac Muthethe thinks he is dead. Smuggled across the border from South Africa in a hearse, he awakens covered in dust, staring at blue sky and the face of White Dog. Far from dead, he is, for the first time, in a country without apartheid. A medical student in South Africa, he was forced to flee after witnessing a friend murdered by white members of the South African Defense Force.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Unexpectedly Stunning Work!
- By Kathi on 03-15-13
By: Eleanor Morse
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What Elephants Know
- By: Eric Dinerstein
- Narrated by: Kirby Heyborne
- Length: 6 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 33
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 30
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 31
Abandoned in the jungle of the Nepalese Borderlands, two-year-old Nandu is found living under the protective watch of a pack of wild dogs. From his mysterious beginnings, fate delivers him to the king's elephant stable, where he is raised by unlikely parents - the wise head of the stable, Subba-sahib, and Devi Kali, a fierce and affectionate female elephant. When the king's government threatens to close the stable, Nandu, now 12, searches for a way to save his family and community. A risky plan could be the answer.
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5 out of 5 stars
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loved it
- By Christina McGrath on 12-30-21
By: Eric Dinerstein
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Endangered
- By: Eliot Schrefer
- Narrated by: Adjoa Andoh
- Length: 8 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 94
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 80
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 78
When Sophie has to visit her mother at her sanctuary for bonobos, she's not thrilled to be there. Then Otto, an infant bonobo, comes into her life, and for the first time, she feels responsible for another creature. But peace does not last long for Sophie and Otto. When an armed revolution breaks out in the country, the sanctuary is attacked, and the two of them must escape unprepared into the jungle. Caught in the crosshairs of a lethal conflict, they must struggle to keep safe.
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5 out of 5 stars
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1000/10
- By Anonymous User on 08-14-17
By: Eliot Schrefer
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Scribbling the Cat
- Travels with an African Soldier
- By: Alexandra Fuller
- Narrated by: Lisette Lecat
- Length: 9 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 233
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 141
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Story4 out of 5 stars 142
When Alexandra ("Bo") Fuller was home in Zambia a few years ago, visiting her parents for Christmas, she asked her father about a nearby banana farmer who was known for being a "tough bugger". Her father's response was a warning to steer clear of him; he told Bo: "Curiosity scribbled the cat." Nonetheless, Fuller began her strange friendship with the man she calls K, a white African and veteran of the Rhodesian war.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Astonishing
- By G. Robinson on 06-27-04
By: Alexandra Fuller
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The Orenda
- A Novel
- By: Joseph Boyden
- Narrated by: Ali Ahn, Graham Rowat, Edoardo Ballerini
- Length: 17 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 407
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 370
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 370
Christophe has been in the New World only a year when his native guides abandon him to flee their Iroquois pursuers. A Huron warrior and elder named Bird soon takes him prisoner, along with a young Iroquois girl, Snow Falls, whose family he has just killed, and holds them captive in his massive village. Champlain's Iron People have only recently begun trading with the Huron, who mistrust them as well as this Crow who has now trespassed onto their land; and her people, of course, have become the Huron's greatest enemy.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Thoughtful and interesting, if not always gripping
- By David on 06-15-14
By: Joseph Boyden
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Kabu Kabu
- By: Nnedi Okorafor, Whoopi Goldberg - foreword
- Narrated by: Yetide Badaki
- Length: 10 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 88
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 85
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 82
Kabu kabu - unregistered, illegal Nigerian taxis - generally get you where you need to go. Nnedi Okorafor's Kabu Kabu, however, takes the listener to exciting, fantastic, magical, occasionally dangerous, and always imaginative locations you didn't know you needed. This debut short-story collection by an award-winning author includes notable previously published material, a new novella cowritten with New York Times best-selling author Alan Dean Foster, six additional original stories, and a brief foreword by Whoopi Goldberg.
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5 out of 5 stars
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FANTASTIC!
- By Rita on 11-14-19
By: Nnedi Okorafor, and others
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Edge of Eternity
- By: Randy Alcorn
- Narrated by: Roger Marsh, Phil Ross
- Length: 4 hrs and 25 mins
- Abridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 142
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 118
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 118
Nick Seagrave is a disillusioned business executive who has lost loved ones to tragedy and his family to neglect. Now, at a point of great crisis, he finds himself inexplicably transported to what appears to be another world. Suddenly he's confronted with profoundly clear views of his own past and personality. And he's enabled to see, hear, taste, and smell the realities of both heaven and hell - realities that force him to face dangers and trials far greater than any he's known before.
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5 out of 5 stars
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AMAZING
- By Julie R. VanderMate on 08-12-10
By: Randy Alcorn
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The Feed
- A Novel
- By: Nick Clark Windo
- Narrated by: Clare Corbett, Nick Clark Windo
- Length: 11 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 82
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 73
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Story4 out of 5 stars 73
The Feed is accessible everywhere, by everyone, at any time. It instantaneously links us to all information and global events. Tom and Kate use the Feed, but Tom has resisted its addiction. The Feed's collapse, taking modern society with it, leaves people scavenging to survive. Tom and Kate have managed to protect themselves and their family. But then their six-year-old daughter, Bea, goes missing. Who has taken her? How do you begin to look for someone in a world without technology?
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3 out of 5 stars
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uhhh
- By Michelle on 03-10-20
By: Nick Clark Windo
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The Boat Runner
- A Novel
- By: Devin Murphy
- Narrated by: Matthew Waterson
- Length: 11 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 177
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 166
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 166
Beginning in the summer of 1939, 14-year-old Jacob Koopman and his older brother, Edwin, enjoy lives of prosperity and quiet contentment. Many of the residents in their small Dutch town have some connection to the Koopman lightbulb factory, and the locals hold the family in high esteem. On days when they aren't playing with friends, Jacob and Edwin help their uncle Martin on his fishing boat in the North Sea, where German ships have become a common sight. When war breaks out, Jacob's world is thrown into chaos.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Not a typical World War II story
- By Marsha L. Woerner on 01-31-18
By: Devin Murphy
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The Trees
- By: Ali Shaw
- Narrated by: Ben Onwukwe
- Length: 18 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 73
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 70
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 70
There came an elastic aftershock of creaks and groans and then, softly softly, a chinking shower of rubbled cement. Leaves calmed and trunks stood serene. Where, not a minute before, there had been a suburb, there was now only woodland standing amid ruins. There is no warning. No chance to prepare. They arrive in the night: thundering up through the ground, transforming streets and towns into shadowy forest. Buildings are destroyed.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Post apocalypse with a little bit of magic
- By Tam on 09-20-16
By: Ali Shaw
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The Pearl
- By: John Steinbeck
- Narrated by: Hector Elizondo
- Length: 2 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,866
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,590
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,593
In this short book illuminated by a deep understanding and love of humanity, John Steinbeck retells an old Mexican folk tale: the story of the great pearl, how it was found, and how it was lost. For the diver Kino, finding a magnificent pearl means the promise of a better life for his impoverished family. His dream blinds him to the greed and suspicions the pearl arouses in him and his neighbors, and even his loving wife cannot temper his obsession or stem the events leading to the tragedy. For Steinbeck, Kino and his wife illustrate the fall from innocence of people who believe that wealth erases all problems.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Stay poor
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 10-31-11
By: John Steinbeck