Why you like what you like is more complicated than you think, according to this chatty collection of scientific insights on taste. Narrator Jeffrey Kafer's natural articulation and documentary speaking style work well for a pop science title. He's engaged without sounding overly passionate or promotional. There are periodic segments in this production where his pacing sounds hurried or pressured, but his overall performance is so right for this material that most listeners will consider his rushing inconsequential. Drawing on marketing and preference studies, the material will captivate anyone with products to sell, customers to influence. But it's also a stimulating general guide to the neuroscience and personal contexts of taste--how time, social pressure, experience, and internet sharing impact the way we take in the world around us.
Pub Date: May 10, 2016
Duration: 9 hrs, 15 mins
DD ISBN: 9780399567674
Publisher: Random House Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Buckley offers a reasonable proposal for a national service program without jail or criminal penalties. Narrator Lawrence reads with a slow and careful announcer's voice; one wishes Buckley were reading this one himself. Books on Tape does its usual quality job with formatting, packaging and tape-turning instructions. The reader repeats the last sentence at such times, so you're sure you haven't missed anything. Popular nonfiction collections will appreciate Gratitude, and the topic is likely to prove timely in the years ahead.
Pub Date: N/A
Duration: 5 hrs
Publisher: Books on Tape
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Kozol’s shocking exposé of inequities in the funding of our public schools contrasts white suburban schools with those serving black and Hispanic populations. Interviews with students, teachers, and school administrators add eloquent testimony to Kozol’s disturbing presentation of facts. Narration by Jack Winston is clear and brisk, but the pace is unrelenting, with little pause for transition between scenes or chapters. Winston’s cool, detached voice contrasts with Kozol’s impasssioned and outraged message. The sheer repetition and magnitude of Kozol’s damning evidence is numbing; the narration gives no relief. Powerful medicine, most easily taken in small doses. Music signalling tape changes is jarringly inappropriate.
Pub Date: N/A
Duration: 8 hrs
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
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