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LIVES OF THE SCIENTISTS

EXPERIMENTS, EXPLOSIONS (AND WHAT THE NEIGHBORS THOUGHT)

Narrator Charlie Thurston's slight sibilance and heavy consonants are a pleasure to listen to. Thurston's relaxed pacing allows time to digest the information given in this nonfiction work and imagine the people and places described. However, the transitions from one topic to the next aren't always clear. Thurston does move smoothly from a straightforward delivery to a more intimate inflection when recounting aspects of the scientists' lives, some of which include such details as what these famous people ate, drank, and wore. Extramarital affairs and children out of wedlock are also noted.

(Collective biography. 9-12)

Pub Date: July 9, 2013

Duration: 2 hrs

Publisher: AudioGo

Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026

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    THE CURSE OF THE BAMBINO

    Ken Coleman's expertise as a baseball announcer enriches this history of the Boston Red Sox since the sale of Babe Ruth to the N.Y. Yankees. He leads off with a grim account of this transaction, which started the curse that has plagued the Red Sox ever since. The sermon-like tone will amuse non-believers and comfort listeners who are certain the team is cursed. Like the ups and downs of Boston's play through the years, the narrator's voice fluctuates--exuberant and then despondent--in tone and tempo accurately reflecting the mood of any given baseball season. The narrator is very successful at conveying the emotional roller coaster ride Red Sox fans have endured as a result of the curse of the Bambino.

    Pub Date: N/A

    Duration: 3 hrs

    Publisher: HighBridge Audio

    Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026

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      THE TRUE UGLY DUCKLING

      HOW HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN BECAME A SWAN

      A perfect portrayal.

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      Nickel reads her imaginative picture-book biography of Hans Christian Andersen in a fairy-tale tone. She weaves the facts of the famous storyteller’s life together with a sense of whimsy, stressing rhythms and repetitions that captivate. It’s as if she embodies the storytelling spirit of the poor shoemaker’s son who possessed a nose “two times as long” and a heart “two times as tender” as everyone else around him. Nickel’s narration and writing are as inventive as Andersen, who, when rejected by theaters, dance studios, and choirs, created cut-paper characters while he told children his tales. The man who saw himself as an ugly duckling is finally admired as “the most beautiful swan of all.”

      A perfect portrayal. (Picture-book biography. 5-7)

      Pub Date: March 3, 2026

      Duration: 6 mins

      DD ISBN: 9798898851132

      Publisher: Recorded Books Inc.

      Review Posted Online: April 21, 2026

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