Birds are really smart. Jennifer Ackerman cites recent research and lots of fascinating anecdotes to illustrate avian intelligence. Narrator Margaret Strom's voice is clear and engaging. Her energy and pacing easily hold the listener's attention. It's an around-the-world tour of Australian bowerbirds stealing blue plastic items for their bowers and dancing to attract a mate, New Caledonian crows making tools to access food, and New Zealand sparrows triggering automatic doors to a cafeteria. Ackerman delves into how mockingbirds learn to mimic the songs of other birds and how migrating birds navigate and find their way again after being knocked off course by a hurricane. Strom sounds suitably amazed by it all, too--a fine match of material and voice. In the future, you will only call somebody a "birdbrain" as praise.
Pub Date: April 12, 2016
Duration: 12 hrs
DD ISBN: 9781681681290
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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