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Ex Libris
- 100+ Books to Read and Reread
- Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert
- Length: 8 hrs and 1 min
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Ex Libris
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Ex Libris
- 100+ Books to Read and Reread
- By: Michiko Kakutani
- Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert
- Length: 8 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 13
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 11
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 11
“Books can connect people across time zones and zip codes, across cultures, national boundaries, and historical eras”, Kakutani writes in her introduction to Ex Libris. Here listeners will discover novels and memoirs by some of the most gifted writers working today; favorite classics worth listening or relistening; and nonfiction works, both old and new, that illuminate our social and political landscape and some of today’s most pressing issues, from climate change to medicine to the consequences of digital innovation.
By: Michiko Kakutani
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This Is Shakespeare
- By: Emma Smith
- Narrated by: Emma Smith
- Length: 9 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 24
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 20
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 19
A genius and prophet whose timeless works encapsulate the human condition like no other. A writer who surpassed his contemporaries in vision, originality, and literary mastery. A man who wrote like an angel, putting it all so much better than anyone else. Is this Shakespeare? Well, sort of. But it doesn't tell us the whole truth. So much of what we say about Shakespeare is either not true, or just not relevant.
-
5 out of 5 stars
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Excellent and accessible listen
- By Amanda L. Hughes on 01-05-21
By: Emma Smith
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Who Ate the First Oyster?
- The Extraordinary People Behind the Greatest Firsts in History
- By: Cody Cassidy
- Narrated by: Dennis Boutsikaris
- Length: 4 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 362
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 305
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 305
Who wore the first pants? Who painted the first masterpiece? Who first rode the horse? Who invented soap? This madcap adventure across ancient history uses everything from modern genetics to archaeology to uncover the geniuses behind these and other world-changing innovations. With a sharp sense of humor and boundless enthusiasm for the wonders of our ancient ancestors, Who Ate the First Oyster? profiles the perpetrators of the greatest firsts and catastrophes of prehistory.
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2 out of 5 stars
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It could be better...
- By Alex on 04-06-21
By: Cody Cassidy
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For the Love of Music
- A Conductor's Guide to the Art of Listening
- By: John Mauceri
- Narrated by: John Mauceri
- Length: 6 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 31
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 27
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Story5 out of 5 stars 28
With a lifetime of experience, profound knowledge and understanding, and heartwarming appreciation, an internationally celebrated conductor and teacher answers the questions: Why should I listen to classical music? How can I get the most from the listening experience? Unpretentious, graceful, instructive, this is a book for the aficionado, the novice, and anyone looking to have the love of music fired within them.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Divine Time with a Maestro
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Written in History
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- Narrated by: Simon Russell Beale, Tuppence Middleton, Rupert Penry-Jones, and others
- Length: 7 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 16
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 15
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 15
Written in History: Letters that Changed the World celebrates the great letters of world history, and cultural and personal life. Bestselling, prizewinning historian Simon Sebag Montefiore selects letters that have changed the course of global events or touched a timeless emotion—whether passion, rage, humor—from ancient times to the twenty-first century. Some are noble and inspiring, some despicable and unsettling, some are exquisite works of literature, others brutal, coarse, and frankly outrageous, many are erotic, others heartbreaking.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A great collection.
- By brian on 06-11-20
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Fantastic Numbers and Where to Find Them
- A Cosmic Quest from Zero to Infinity
- By: Antonio Padilla
- Narrated by: Antonio Padilla
- Length: 13 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 55
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 49
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Story4 out of 5 stars 49
For particularly brilliant theoretical physicists like James Clerk Maxwell, Paul Dirac, or Albert Einstein, the search for mathematical truths led to strange new understandings of the ultimate nature of reality. But what are these truths? What are the mysterious numbers that explain the universe? In Fantastic Numbers and Where to Find Them, the leading theoretical physicist and YouTube star Antonio Padilla takes us on an irreverent cosmic tour of nine of the most extraordinary numbers in physics, offering a startling picture of how the universe works.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Exciting, Strange, Difficult = Meh
- By Michael on 05-23-23
By: Antonio Padilla
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Ex Libris
- 100+ Books to Read and Reread
- By: Michiko Kakutani
- Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert
- Length: 8 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 13
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 11
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 11
“Books can connect people across time zones and zip codes, across cultures, national boundaries, and historical eras”, Kakutani writes in her introduction to Ex Libris. Here listeners will discover novels and memoirs by some of the most gifted writers working today; favorite classics worth listening or relistening; and nonfiction works, both old and new, that illuminate our social and political landscape and some of today’s most pressing issues, from climate change to medicine to the consequences of digital innovation.
By: Michiko Kakutani
-
This Is Shakespeare
- By: Emma Smith
- Narrated by: Emma Smith
- Length: 9 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 24
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 20
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 19
A genius and prophet whose timeless works encapsulate the human condition like no other. A writer who surpassed his contemporaries in vision, originality, and literary mastery. A man who wrote like an angel, putting it all so much better than anyone else. Is this Shakespeare? Well, sort of. But it doesn't tell us the whole truth. So much of what we say about Shakespeare is either not true, or just not relevant.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Excellent and accessible listen
- By Amanda L. Hughes on 01-05-21
By: Emma Smith
-
Who Ate the First Oyster?
- The Extraordinary People Behind the Greatest Firsts in History
- By: Cody Cassidy
- Narrated by: Dennis Boutsikaris
- Length: 4 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 362
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 305
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 305
Who wore the first pants? Who painted the first masterpiece? Who first rode the horse? Who invented soap? This madcap adventure across ancient history uses everything from modern genetics to archaeology to uncover the geniuses behind these and other world-changing innovations. With a sharp sense of humor and boundless enthusiasm for the wonders of our ancient ancestors, Who Ate the First Oyster? profiles the perpetrators of the greatest firsts and catastrophes of prehistory.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
It could be better...
- By Alex on 04-06-21
By: Cody Cassidy
-
For the Love of Music
- A Conductor's Guide to the Art of Listening
- By: John Mauceri
- Narrated by: John Mauceri
- Length: 6 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 31
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 27
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 28
With a lifetime of experience, profound knowledge and understanding, and heartwarming appreciation, an internationally celebrated conductor and teacher answers the questions: Why should I listen to classical music? How can I get the most from the listening experience? Unpretentious, graceful, instructive, this is a book for the aficionado, the novice, and anyone looking to have the love of music fired within them.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Divine Time with a Maestro
- By Meg on 12-18-19
By: John Mauceri
-
Written in History
- Letters That Changed the World
- By: Simon Sebag Montefiore
- Narrated by: Simon Russell Beale, Tuppence Middleton, Rupert Penry-Jones, and others
- Length: 7 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 16
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 15
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 15
Written in History: Letters that Changed the World celebrates the great letters of world history, and cultural and personal life. Bestselling, prizewinning historian Simon Sebag Montefiore selects letters that have changed the course of global events or touched a timeless emotion—whether passion, rage, humor—from ancient times to the twenty-first century. Some are noble and inspiring, some despicable and unsettling, some are exquisite works of literature, others brutal, coarse, and frankly outrageous, many are erotic, others heartbreaking.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A great collection.
- By brian on 06-11-20
-
Fantastic Numbers and Where to Find Them
- A Cosmic Quest from Zero to Infinity
- By: Antonio Padilla
- Narrated by: Antonio Padilla
- Length: 13 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 55
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 49
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 49
For particularly brilliant theoretical physicists like James Clerk Maxwell, Paul Dirac, or Albert Einstein, the search for mathematical truths led to strange new understandings of the ultimate nature of reality. But what are these truths? What are the mysterious numbers that explain the universe? In Fantastic Numbers and Where to Find Them, the leading theoretical physicist and YouTube star Antonio Padilla takes us on an irreverent cosmic tour of nine of the most extraordinary numbers in physics, offering a startling picture of how the universe works.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Exciting, Strange, Difficult = Meh
- By Michael on 05-23-23
By: Antonio Padilla
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A History of the Human Brain
- From the Sea Sponge to CRISPR, How Our Brain Evolved
- By: Bret Stetka
- Narrated by: Sean Pratt
- Length: 7 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 116
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 84
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 84
Just over 125,000 years ago, humanity was going extinct until a dramatic shift occurred—Homo sapiens started tracking the tides in order to eat the nearby oysters. Before long, they’d pulled themselves back from the brink of extinction. The human brain, and its evolutionary journey, is unlike anything else in history. In A History of the Human Brain, Bret Stetka takes listeners through that far-reaching journey. He also tackles the question of where the brain will take us next, exploring the burgeoning concepts of epigenetics and new technologies like CRISPR.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Fascinating survey of the evolution of the human brain
- By Cosmos on 03-30-21
By: Bret Stetka
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Oxygen
- The Molecule That Made the World
- By: Nick Lane
- Narrated by: Nigel Patterson
- Length: 16 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 210
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 166
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 164
Oxygen takes the listener on an enthralling journey, as gripping as a thriller, as it unravels the unexpected ways in which oxygen spurred the evolution of life and death.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A Story About Pretty Much Everything
- By ZebraBear on 09-09-20
By: Nick Lane
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Dreyer's English
- An Utterly Correct Guide to Clarity and Style
- By: Benjamin Dreyer
- Narrated by: Benjamin Dreyer, Alison Fraser
- Length: 9 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 340
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 296
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 283
As Random House’s copy chief, Dreyer has upheld the standards of the legendary publisher for more than two decades. He is beloved by authors and editors alike - not to mention his followers on social media - for deconstructing the English language with playful erudition. Now, he distills everything he has learned from the myriad books he has copyedited and overseen into a useful guide not just for writers but for everyone who wants to put their best prose foot forward.
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5 out of 5 stars
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You'll be horrified at a lifetime of usage errors.
- By RTaylor on 05-16-19
By: Benjamin Dreyer
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What's Gotten into You
- The Story of Your Body's Atoms, from the Big Bang Through Last Night's Dinner
- By: Dan Levitt
- Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain
- Length: 12 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 106
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 88
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Story5 out of 5 stars 88
Every one of us contains a billion times more atoms than all the grains of sand in the earth’s deserts. If you weigh 150 pounds, you’ve got enough carbon to make 25 pounds of charcoal, enough salt to fill a saltshaker, enough chlorine to disinfect several backyard swimming pools, and enough iron to forge a 3-inch nail. But how did these elements combine to make us human?
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5 out of 5 stars
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One of the Very Best Science Books I have Read
- By TStair on 03-20-23
By: Dan Levitt
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Praying with Jane Eyre
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- By: Vanessa Zoltan
- Narrated by: Vanessa Zoltan, Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 7 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 60
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 55
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Story5 out of 5 stars 55
Our favorite books keep us company, give us hope, and help us find meaning in a chaotic world. In this fresh and relatable work, atheist chaplain Vanessa Zoltan blends memoir and personal growth as she grapples with the notions of family legacy and identity through the lens of her favorite novel, Jane Eyre.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A new appreciation for secular texts
- By Cassandra on 04-07-24
By: Vanessa Zoltan
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Burning Questions
- Essays and Occasional Pieces, 2004 to 2021
- By: Margaret Atwood
- Narrated by: Margaret Atwood, full cast
- Length: 19 hrs
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 67
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 51
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 51
In more than fifty pieces, Atwood aims her prodigious intellect and impish humor at the world, and reports back to us on what she finds. This roller-coaster period brought the end of history, a financial crash, the rise of Trump, and a pandemic. From when to dispense advice to the young (answer: only when asked) to Atwood’s views on the climate crisis, we have no better guide to the many and varied mysteries of our universe.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A delicious box of chocolates
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By: Margaret Atwood
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Underqualified Advice
- (and Other Amusing Diversions)
- By: Drew Hayes
- Narrated by: Kirby Heyborne
- Length: 11 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 246
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 222
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 221
My name is Drew Hayes, and for the past six years I've made my living as a writer. In that time, I've published 20 books, written hundreds of thousands of words, and made countless mistakes - most of which I like to think I've learned from. Underqualified Advice (and Other Amusing Diversions) is my attempt to compile those lessons and share them with others, as well as have some fun along the way. Half of the book is dedicated to detailing specifics about writing, maneuvering the industry, and keeping fiscally afloat in largely unstable waters.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Enter the Mind of Drew Hayes. The Spiders Need You
- By Tony E. on 01-30-20
By: Drew Hayes
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The Dream Universe
- How Fundamental Physics Lost Its Way
- By: David Lindley
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 7 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 30
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 29
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 29
In the early 17th century, Galileo broke free from the hold of ancient Platonic and Aristotelian philosophy. He drastically changed the framework through which we view the natural world when he asserted that we should base our theory of reality on what we can observe rather than pure thought. In the process, he invented what we would come to call science. This set the stage for all the breakthroughs that followed - from Kepler to Newton to Einstein.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Provocative Argument
- By Craig Doner on 05-26-20
By: David Lindley
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Mud and Stars
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- By: Sara Wheeler
- Narrated by: Sara Wheeler
- Length: 8 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 20
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 17
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 17
With the writers of the Golden Age as her guides - Pushkin and Tolstoy, among others - Sara Wheeler searches for a Russia not in the news, traveling from rinsed northwestern beet fields and the Far Eastern Arctic tundra to the cauldron of nationalities, religions, and languages in the Caucasus. Wheeler follows local guides; boards with families in modest homestays; eats roe, pelmeni, and cabbage soup; invokes recipes from Mastering the Art of Soviet Cooking; learns the language; and observes the pattern of outcry and silence that characterizes life under Vladimir Putin.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Great idea for a book!
- By GogolGirl on 01-21-20
By: Sara Wheeler
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Con/Artist
- The Life and Crimes of the World's Greatest Art Forger
- By: Tony Tetro, Giampiero Ambrosi
- Narrated by: Richard Ferrone, Tony Tetro, Giampiero Ambrosi
- Length: 8 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 275
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 221
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 221
The art world is a much dirtier, nastier business than you might expect. Tony Tetro, one of the most renowned art forgers in history, will make you question every masterpiece you’ve ever seen in a museum, gallery, or private collection. Tetro’s “Rembrandts,” “Caravaggios,” “Miros,” and hundreds of other works now hang on walls around the globe.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Incredibly interesting!
- By Carole Wooten on 12-07-22
By: Tony Tetro, and others
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The Things We Make
- The Unknown History of Invention from Cathedrals to Soda Cans
- By: Bill Hammack
- Narrated by: Jonathan Todd Ross
- Length: 7 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 148
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 115
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 115
For millennia, humans have used one simple method to solve problems. Whether it's planting crops, building skyscrapers, developing photographs, or designing the first microchip, all creators follow the same steps to engineer progress. But this powerful method, the "engineering method", is an all but hidden process that few of us have heard of—let alone understand—but that influences every aspect of our lives.
-
5 out of 5 stars
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Blends history and technical method explanations
- By Aaron Trachtman on 05-26-23
By: Bill Hammack
-
Tabula Rasa: Volume 1
- By: John McPhee
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 6 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 32
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 26
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 26
Over seven decades, John McPhee has set a standard for literary nonfiction. Assaying mountain ranges, bark canoes, experimental aircraft, the Swiss Army, geophysical hot spots, ocean shipping, shad fishing, dissident art in the Soviet Union, and an even wider variety of other subjects, he has consistently written narrative pieces of immaculate design. In Tabula Rasa, Volume 1, McPhee looks back at his career from the vantage point of his desk drawer, reflecting wryly upon projects he once planned to do but never got around to—people to profile, regions he meant to portray.
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3 out of 5 stars
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A New Yorker writer surveys his office boxes...
- By Darwin8u on 09-04-23
By: John McPhee
Publisher's summary
From ‘the most powerful book critic in the English-speaking world’ (Vanity Fair) comes an inspiring selection of the life-changing books that none of us should miss.
‘Why do we love books so much?’
For legendary literary critic Michiko Kakutani, books have always been an escape and a sanctuary, the characters of some novels feeling so real to her childhood self that she worried they might leap out of the pages at night if she left the book cover open. In Ex Libris, she offers a personal selection of more than 100 works of fiction, nonfiction and poetry, with passionate essays on why each has had a profound effect on her life.
From Homer’s The Odyssey to The Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale to Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan Novels, Ex Libris covers a rich and vast range of classics, old and new, that will help build a well-rounded listener and citizen of the world. Ex Libris points us to our next great listen - and proves an unmissable reminder of why we fell in love with books in the first place.
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