Coleen Marlo is an experienced and empathetic narrator. This audiobook history of one beautifully preserved copy of the Gutenberg Bible, the world's first and most valuable printed book, is a capsule study of the peculiar passion that motivates book collectors--what one critic has called "a gentle madness." While the listener discovers that this particular Gutenberg was never really "lost" and that its passage from owner to owner over the centuries wasn't all that astonishing, the author finds her narrative center in the trade in and preservation of rare books. That, more than the biographies of the owners themselves, is the chief interest here, and the real drama of this story is in the auction houses and the acclimatized vaults and cases where some of our greatest treasures live on. Marlo delivers it all beautifully.
Pub Date: March 19, 2019
Duration: 6 hrs, 30 mins
DD ISBN: 9781984842800
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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