Allyson Johnson narrates the poet Dungy's lyrical examinations of motherhood, race, history, language, and the natural world with gravity. However, the author's stories of the delightful antics of her young daughter, Callie, are read with a welcome lightness. As Dungy weaves historical and personal insights into her essays on raising and traveling with Callie, Johnson guides listeners as they meander from remote towns in Maine and Alaska to slave castles in Ghana. Johnson reads with the requisite seriousness as Dungy depicts how traveling as a black woman with a young child seems to invite unending scrutiny, advice, praise, and personal stories from those she meets along the way. Listeners will appreciate Johnson's use of tone and accents to differentiate these relative strangers.
Pub Date: June 23, 2017
Duration: 6 hrs, 30 mins
DD ISBN: 9781681686646
Publisher: HighBridge Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
James Michener tells the real stories behind the man and his books. The recording is read with skill and consistency although the reader does little to enhance the robust, larger-than-life incidents related in the book. Due to the first-person narrative format, there is no opportunity for the narrator to change his voice. This makes some chapters monotonous as they go on and on in the typical Michener style. The listener may also become confused because the stories are not told chronologically. This is not a great choice for the audio format, but Michener fans may stick with it to the end.
Pub Date: N/A
Duration: 22 hrs
Publisher: Books on Tape
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
In a quest for a sense of inner contentment and self-worth, Gloria Steinem brings the reader on a journey of investigation and discovery. Steinem reads the text herself in a straightforward and friendly, but not intimate, presentation which is so easy to listen to it invites repetition--thus ensuring the painless relearning of the lessons of the book. It's difficult to tell from the reading that this audiobook is abridged; each section can stand alone. Nonetheless, the listener wished the book were unabridged. Steinem left me wanting to learn more.
Pub Date: N/A
Duration: 3 hrs
Publisher: Dove Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
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