 

You no longer follow dm

You will no longer see updates from this user when they write new reviews, or suggestions based on their library or recommendations.

You can re-follow a user if you change your mind.

OK

You now follow dm

You will receive updates from this user when they write new reviews, or suggestions based on their library or recommendations.

You can unfollow a user if you change your mind.

OK

dm

massachusetts | Member Since 2012

24
HELPFUL VOTES
  • 4 reviews
  • 6 ratings
  • 318 titles in library
  • 9 purchased in 2015
FOLLOWING
0
FOLLOWERS
0

  • $20 Per Gallon: How the Rise in the Price of Gas Will Change Our Lives for the Better

    • UNABRIDGED (9 hrs and 38 mins)
    • By Christopher Steiner
    • Narrated By John Wolfe
    • Whispersync for Voice-ready
    Overall
    (62)
    Performance
    (17)
    Story
    (19)

    Imagine an everyday world in which the price of gasoline (and oil) continues to go up, and up, and up. Think about the immediate impact that would have on our lives. Of course, everybody already knows how about gasoline has affected our driving habits. People can't wait to junk their gas-guzzling SUVs for a new Prius. But there are more, not-so-obvious changes on the horizon that Chris Steiner tracks brilliantly in this provocative work.

    dm says: "Disappointing"
    "Disappointing"
    Overall

    I have been following this topic and am very glad to have an audio book on the subject. And there is some good stuff here. The concept for organizing the book is clever. And some of the overall thoughts on our future are interesting as well.

    BUT the book is not a great read. The writing is very inefficient. The author takes a long time to make his points, going into many exhaustive and unnecessary stories, perhaps under the mistaken notion that non-fiction must be colored up to be interesting. The whole book could have been 1/3 as long or less.

    I also think that Steiner paints a somewhat preposterously smiley face on a ominous future. I wholly agree that, ultimately, a low energy future will be better than what we have now. But getting there from here is another matter. It may well be that mankind will lose billions of people in the change. That won't be happy.

    Steiner also fails to discuss the gravity of the link between fossil fuel and the economy. It seems evident to me, or at least obvious enough to discuss, that the boom of modern society since the industrial revolution (and the resultant boom in population) has been the result of our ability to find and use fossil fuel. Once this one time "gift" starts to wane, won't the economy and population and the very complexity of society wane as well? We might be on the verge of an very long contraction of industry. The economy may never "recover." Many of us may have no job prospects except to grow food. Not all of this is bad, but certainly warrants examination and discussion, I would think. And none of it will likely be easy.

    I'm not sure why Steiner wrote this book in this way. Is he trying to reassure us so we are not afraid to take action? Is it all a masked attempt to promote nuclear power? Is he just a very optimistic guy? Beats me.

    Still, there's little else on audio and this is worth the read.

    5 of 5 people found this review helpful
  • Housekeeping

    • UNABRIDGED (5 hrs and 31 mins)
    • By Marilynne Robinson
    • Narrated By Becket Royce
    • Whispersync for Voice-ready
    Overall
    (265)
    Performance
    (101)
    Story
    (102)

    A modern classic, Housekeeping is the story of Ruth and her younger sister, Lucille, who grow up haphazardly, first under the care of their competent grandmother, then of two comically bumbling great-aunts, and finally of Sylvie, their eccentric and remote aunt. The family house is in the small Far West town of Fingerbone, set on a glacial lake, the same lake where their grandfather died in a spectacular train wreck and their mother drove off a cliff to her death.

    dm says: "Beautiful"
    "Beautiful"
    Overall

    I've seen this movie, read the print novel, and now heard this. I haven't yet found a way into Gilead, but this book is sweet genius. I would comment on the theme, but this is so rich, I'm not sure if one can speak of a theme for this story anymore than one can of a poem or song. This is pure art, but easy to follow. It has something to do with how we manage ourselves and our lives, or how we may not.

    I'd love to know the origin of this story. It's hard to imagine how it was imagined. I have read nothing more beautiful and powerful. The imagery of her language is reason enough to listen, and that's just the beginning of this masterwork.

    Thanks, Marilynne!

    13 of 13 people found this review helpful
  • The Ape in the Corner Office: Understanding the Workplace Beast in All of Us

    • UNABRIDGED (13 hrs and 13 mins)
    • By Richard Conniff
    • Narrated By Don Leslie
    • Whispersync for Voice-ready
    Overall
    (57)
    Performance
    (9)
    Story
    (10)

    The Ape in the Corner Office connects with the day-to-day of the workplace because it helps explain what people are really concerned about: How come he got the wing chair with the gold trim? How can I survive as that big ape's subordinate without becoming a spineless yes-man? Why does being a lone wolf mean being a loser? And, yes, why is it that jerks seem to prosper, at least in the short run?

    dm says: "overall solid"
    "overall solid"
    Overall

    I've been on a run of great sociological reads from Audible. Blink, Wisdom of the Crowds, Freakanomics, and Tipping Point. I recommend all of these titles highly, and this one after those.

    There is a slightly smug, and slightly overreaching play at humor throughout this book which I find unnecessary and diminishing. The narrator unfortunately echos this tone with a slight smug smile in his voice. But otherwise it is solid. There are some good takes on our animal nature, and the topic is great.

    There is also an unnecessary reach to make this a "useful" text, with business applications. This feels hollow and possibly due to editorial influence. With Malcolm Gladwell, it feels natural, and probably part of his background, but doesn't work here as well. Still, it is a worthwhile read. and the "conclusions" included favor humanity, and so tolerable.

    6 of 6 people found this review helpful
  • The Secret Life of Bees

    • UNABRIDGED (9 hrs and 49 mins)
    • By Sue Monk Kidd
    • Narrated By Jenna Lamia
    Overall
    (2632)
    Performance
    (369)
    Story
    (377)

    Lily Owens has shaped her entire life around one devastating memory - the day her mother was killed. When she and her "stand-in-mother," a fierce-hearted black woman named Rosaleen, are taken in by an eccentric trio of black beekeeping sisters, Lily enters a secret world of bees and honey, and of the Black Madonna who presides over this household of strong, wise women.

    France says: "Secret Life of Bees"
    "Never got fully absorbed"
    Overall

    I don't get why so many love this book. My wife read it and loved it too. But my listen left me waiting for it to take off. Perhaps it is a book that is better suited for women? I just did not get absorbed. I never was anxious to get back to it. I'm sort of surprised I finished it. I just kept waiting for something captivating to happen. I'm still waiting.

    0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Report Inappropriate Content

If you find this review inappropriate and think it should be removed from our site, let us know. This report will be reviewed by Audible and we will take appropriate action.

Cancel

Thank You

Your report has been received. It will be reviewed by Audible and we will take appropriate action.
http://www.audible.com/listener/A1ENGMT2IUCFAH?asin=B002V168XY
www.audible.com
crawl=CC-MAIN-2015-18
60547
application/http; msgtype=response
sha1:UMUU4OSTXZWWUUPLBAHHQHU4MHVQUUGC
<urn:uuid:1ecba885-dd3e-46cc-9ba0-db9cba4652c3>
2015-04-26T12:06:44Z
205.251.243.21
sha1:OZ6DKBT6PFTXHFZARPQABMMDYVXOCLS2
<urn:uuid:c0045f27-9b8e-47d4-9983-c97be5c558d0>
http://www.audible.com/listener/A1ENGMT2IUCFAH?asin=B002V168XY
length
response
<urn:uuid:97b193df-0176-4205-abdd-257956cb33dd>
robots: classic
hostname: ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal
software: Nutch 1.6 (CC)/CC WarcExport 1.0
isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2015-18
operator: CommonCrawl Admin
description: Wide crawl of the web for April 2015
publisher: CommonCrawl
format: WARC File Format 1.0
conformsTo: http://bibnum.bnf.fr/WARC/WARC_ISO_28500_version1_latestdraft.pdf