In this culinary biography, a newly established genre, food historian and journalist Laura Shapiro provides a different take on the lives of famous women, among them Eva Braun, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Helen Gurley Brown. Her focus is on the language of food. The author narrates the beginning and ending of the audiobook, and adds little. Principal narrator Kimberly Farr, however, impresses from the very beginning of her part. Entertaining and spirited, Farr is convincing and intentional as she demonstrates that special talent of being able to disappear behind the words and allow the biographical food narratives to do the communicating. This is a fun, different look at people you may feel you already know. See them and hear them now at the dining table.
Pub Date: July 25, 2017
Duration: 10 hrs
DD ISBN: 9781524778088
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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