Alan Alda’s relaxed performance makes it easy to pay attention to and digest this discussion on the importance of delayed gratification. The author conducted the now famous “marshmallow experiments” with preschoolers more than 20 years ago: Eat one marshmallow now or wait a bit and get two later? It’s pure listening pleasure to hear Alda’s familiar voice and authentic engagement with this important book. The author shows how children who contained their impulses in the study demonstrated, later in life, substantially higher SAT scores, more effective goal attainment, better stress management, and more resistance to addictions. Offering promising evidence that life-draining impulsivity can be replaced by more thoughtful decision making, this is an accessible collection of brain science and behavioral strategies that can help us improve this critical life skill. T.W. 2015 Audies Finalist © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine
Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2014
Duration: 8 hrs
DD ISBN: 9781469249070
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Dr. Plotkin is an ethnobotanist who recounts his experiences searching for new medications in the Amazon rain forest. He makes an impassioned plea for the world to stop destroying this irreplaceable resource. Since the author reads his own work, we can rely on the pronunciation of some unusual botanical terms; however, his voice (presumably not trained for performance) lacks the enthusiasm and fascination the words suggest. Furthermore, with no chapter references and few pauses between sections, transitions, such as the change of location from Ecuador to Massachusetts, are awkward.
Pub Date: N/A
Duration: 3 hrs
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
The prose and Athavale’s expertly restrained performance meld gracefully in this flawless audiobook.
Narrator Vidish Athavale's voice is softly indelible, like the snow that blankets the Himalayan landscape the author so beautifully describes. An Indian wildlife biologist, Suryawanshi has spent decades studying snow leopards and their ecosystem among the planet's highest mountain peaks. What differentiates the author's scientific work, and his enthralling narrative, is his goal to understand and protect rather than conquer. The author also achieves a near-perfect balance between insightful and entertaining personal observations of remote communities (both animal and human); his own growth as a scientist, husband, and father; and the difficult and dangerous scientific work he and his colleagues have undertaken.
The prose and Athavale’s expertly restrained performance meld gracefully in this flawless audiobook.Pub Date: Aug. 25, 2026
Duration: 10 hrs, 9 mins
DD ISBN: 9798217336845
Publisher: Penguin Audio
Review Posted Online: Oct. 5, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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