Anne Flosnik generally does a lovely job with the latest H.G. Wells biography, this one by the award-winning Claire Tomalin. Although the word "young" in this audiobook stretches past the age of 40, Wells's behavior justifies the adjective. The period includes the bulk of his best and most influential work. Flosnik does not attempt to create voices for Wells's friends, including George Bernard Shaw, Winston Churchill, and Bertrand Russell, but she changes her tone enough to indicate where the quotations begin and end. An occasional distraction comes from Flosnik's r's and v's. Many authors' lives are not that interesting--they sit and write--but Wells lived fully and entertainingly, and is worth knowing.
Pub Date: Aug. 9, 2022
Duration: 8 hrs, 15 mins
DD ISBN: 9798765009628
Publisher: Tantor Media
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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