When novelist Geraldine Brooks's husband, Tony Horwitz, dies while on a book tour, she gets the call from a harried medical resident who can't get off the phone fast enough. Brooks alternates between memories of those first days and her life three years later on an isolated island in Australia, where she finally takes time to focus on grieving. Listening feels particularly intimate. Brooks's performance is heartfelt and beautiful, both precise and expansive. There is shock--Tony was only 60 and went to the gym avidly; indignation at the suggestion that a guardian ad litem is necessary for custody of Brooks's son; and gratitude at the unexpected gift of finding Tony's scrawl in the margins of books, like a conversation, even though Geraldine would never treat a book in such a cavalier manner.
Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2025
Duration: 5 hrs
DD ISBN: 9798217064236
Publisher: Penguin 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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