Along with his beautiful sonority, Grover Gardner’s artistry with pitch and tone variations makes this excellent book a melodic kaleidoscope of big ideas, fascinating biographical tidbits, and startling insights. And though this narrator’s talent with creative phrasing and subtle mood shifts is occasionally hard to ignore, it's a talent that always serves the author’s illuminating thought process. Da Vinci’s brain, with an unusually strong integration of the right brain’s visual and musical creativity and the left brain’s logical processing capabilities, may have given him remote viewing capacities that would explain the accuracy of his large-scale maps. Shlain’s forays into anthropology, the arts, and even quantum physics (Da Vinci may have been a time traveler!) make this a most engaging neuroscience book and a touching portrait of one of history’s creative giants.
Pub Date: Oct. 7, 2014
Duration: 8 hrs
DD ISBN: 9781491529812
Publisher: Brilliance 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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