In 1815, just as Napoleon was returning from Elba to renewed warfare, John Quincy Adams’s wife, Louisa, traveled by coach from Russia to Paris to join her husband—an arduous, perilous trip. O’Brien uses her story as a framework for excursions in history, geography, and biography. Cassandra Campbell’s reading is clear and well paced, though something in her tone always sounds slightly querulous. Her German accent is overdone, but her French accent is mostly good. She sometimes mispronounces English; most annoyingly, she delivers every variant of “twenty” as “twenny.” Literate listeners will bark their shins on her mispronunciations too often to fully enjoy this interesting, if sometimes wandering, history.
Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2010
Duration: 12 hrs, 30 mins
Publisher: Tantor Media
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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