The problem with the audio version of Elspeth Barker's indelible essays and stories is that you can't underline your favorite parts. That's probably just as well; your pen would go dry. Married to a poet, the author of one iconic novel, O CALEDONIA, hers was a fascinating, messy, wildly unconventional life. Barker writes about her household full of animals wild and domestic, about husbands, death, grief, love, childhood and children, friends, drink, and kitchen stoves. It's wise, wildly entertaining, and deadpan funny, a hard note to strike even for professional narrators. The author's daughter, Raffaella Barker, reads rather than performing the text, so the wit is somewhat flattened, but you can reanimate it yourself just behind the beat, and it's entirely worth it.
Pub Date: March 19, 2024
Duration: 6 hrs
DD ISBN: 9781797169170
Publisher: Simon & Schuster 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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