HearingBooks

Buckle up for a joy ride through physics, chemistry, biology, geology, and astronomy. Drawing on conversations with hundreds of the world’s top scientists and her own work as an award-winning science writer, Natalie Angier does the impossible: she makes science fascinating and seriously fun, even for those of us who, in Angier’s words, “still can’t tell the difference between a proton, a photon, and a moron”.

Most of the profound questions we will explore in our lives (such as those involving evolution, global warming, or stem cells) have to do with science. So do a lot of everyday things, like our ice-cream melting, our coffee getting cold, and our vacuum cleaner running (or not). What does our liver do when we eat a caramel? How does the horse demonstrate evolution at work? Are we really made of stardust? (Yes we are.)

In The Canon, Lewis Thomas meets Lewis Carroll in a book destined to become a modern classic, because it quenches our curiosity, sparks our interest in the world around us, reignites our childhood delight in discovering how things work, and instantly makes us smarter.

This is a playful, passionate, ebullient guide to the science all around us by a Pulitzer Prize winner and best-selling author.

Tags: the canon: a whirligig tour of the beautiful basics of science, natalie angier, science & technology, physics, chemistry, biology, geology, astronomy

BUY DIGITAL BUY PHYSICAL

"A Million Little Pieces" by James Frey Length: 10 hours and 9 min. ISBN: 1-56511-778-6 New York Times Best Seller Publisher's Weekly Best Seller Oprah Book Club Listen to an excerpt with:     Windows Media Player     Real Player

By the time James Frey enters a drug and alcohol treatment facility, he has so thoroughly ravaged his body that the doctors are shocked he is still alive. Inside the clinic, he is surrounded by patients as troubled as he: a judge, a mobster, a former world-champion boxer, and a fragile former prostitute. To James, their friendship and advice seem stronger and truer than the clinic’s droning dogma of How to Recover.

James refuses to consider himself a victim of anything but his own bad decisions. He insists on accepting sole accountability for the person he has been and the person he may become, which he feels runs counter to his counselor’s recipes for recovery. He must fight to survive on his own terms, for reasons close to his own heart. And he must battle the ever-tempting chemical trip to oblivion.

An uncommonly genuine account of a life destroyed and reconstructed, and a provocative alternative understanding of the nature of addiction and the meaning of recovery, A Million Little Pieces marks the debut of a bold and talented literary voice.

Tags: a million little pieces, james frey, bios & memoirs, addiction, drugs, recovery, oprah

• My Friend Leonard

BUY DIGITAL BUY PHYSICAL

"The Hostage: A Presidential Agent Novel" by W.E.B. Griffin Length: 9 hours and 10 min. ISBN: 0-14-305798-7 New York Times Best Seller Listen to an excerpt with:     Windows Media Player     Real Player

Charley Castillo works with the Department of Homeland Security, but more and more he is the man to whom the president turns when he needs an investigation done discreetly. And no situation demands discretion more than the one before them now.

An American diplomat’s wife is kidnapped in Argentina, and her husband murdered before her eyes. Her children will be next, she is warned, if she doesn’t tell them where her brother is, a brother, as it turns out, who may know quite a bit about the burgeoning UN/Iraq oil-for-food scandal. There is an awful lot of money flying around, and an awful lot of hands reaching out to grab it, and some of those hands don’t mind shedding as much blood as it takes.

Tags: the hostage: a presidential agent novel, w.e.b. griffin, mysteries & thrillers, homeland security, terrorism, oil-for-food scandal, united nations, investigation, presidential agent, charley castillo

This is a novel of the bubonic plague that ravaged parts of England in the 17th century. It’s an amazing title considering that the book is really about a year of horror! The story is inspired by an actual town commemorated as Plague Village because of the events that took place there in 1665-1666.

I liked the book and found it fascinating to get close to a small, rural community suddenly threatened by painful destruction. You have to admire the villagers’ courage and decision to try and stand up to the terribly contagious disease by voluntarily isolating themselves.

The story is told from the point of view of Anna, a young widow with two young sons. Anna works as a maid for the vicar and his wife. The latter takes Anna under her wings and teaches her to read and write when she understands that Anna is bright and has a craving for knowledge. The story revolves around these three characters, Anna, the vicar and his wife. As the story unfolds – and the village slowly gets depopulated – they all surprise us with unsuspected secrets or hidden character traits. I always enjoy a book that has the power of surprising me, and this one certainly did not develop and end the way I would have thought!

Tags: year of wonders, geraldine brooks, middle ages, black death, historical novel, england, 1666

BUY DIGITAL BUY PHYSICAL

"The Last Kingdom" by Bernard Cornwell Length: 5 hours and 30 min. ISBN: Listen to an excerpt with:     Windows Media Player     Real Player

Bernard Cornwell’s The Last Kingdom is a historical novel set in England around the 9th century AD. The story revolves around the life of Uhtred. A proud Saxon noble’s son, Uhtred is captured in a battle against vikings and then taken into slavery. He experiences viking culture first hand and eventually assimilates, while secretly dreaming of freeing his home and country from their rule.

Though Cornwell apparently “bends” historical events here and there to suit the needs of his tale, the novel is enjoyable and, as someone with little knowledge of this period, I found it very interesting to learn more. The clash between new (Christian) and old (Norse/Saxon) religions, the expections placed on youth in those times, the differing laws and customs between peoples, etc. all add depth and color.

This book is first and foremost an adventure novel, with battles, love, treachery, and honor. If this genre appeals to you, with a sprinkling of history thrown in for good measure, then I certainly think you’ll enjoy this book.

Tags: the last kingdom, bernard cornwell, fiction, historical novel, england, vikings, saxons, audiobook

• Lords of the North