Discover Top 100 Audiobooks in Travel & Adventure, Essays & Travelogues

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Title: In Tuscany

Author: Frances Mayes, Edward Mayes

Narrator: Frances Mayes, Edward Mayes

Format: Unabridged

Length: 4 hrs

Language: English

Release date: 03-12-01

Publisher: Bantam Doubleday Dell Audio

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 27 votes

Genres: Travel & Adventure, Essays & Travelogues

Publisher's Summary:

Combining all-new essays by Frances Mayes with contributions by her husband, poet Edward Mayes, In Tuscany is divided into four interrelated parts - La Piazza, La Festa, Il Campo, and La Bellezza - each highlighting a signature aspect of Tuscan life.

Members Reviews:

Disappointing but not a total waste

I listened to & loved Bella Tuscany & Under the Tuscan Sun. Looked forward to Frances' next book. This was not nearly as engaging & entertaining as the other two. Had it not been for Frances' voice & accent (I like) & the promise of hearing her husband Ed (I like)I would have bailed out. Fortunately I did not. I thoroughly enjoyed the last 1/3 of the book. Lots of interesting info. & insights into Tuscan food, culture, & hospitality.

So disappointed

Would you try another book from Frances Mayes and Edward Mayes and/or Frances Mayes and Edward Mayes ?

I usually LOVE Frances Mayes books but this one really fell flat.

Would you recommend In Tuscany to your friends? Why or why not?

no, could not recommend this book.

Could you see In Tuscany being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

nope

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Title: Bella Tuscany

Subtitle: The Sweet Life in Italy

Author: Frances Mayes

Narrator: Frances Mayes

Format: Abridged

Length: 6 hrs

Language: English

Release date: 12-16-99

Publisher: Bantam Doubleday Dell Audio

Ratings: 3 of 5 out of 4 votes

Genres: Travel & Adventure, Essays & Travelogues

Publisher's Summary:

Bella Tuscany, a companion volume to Under the Tuscan Sun, is her passionate and lyrical account of her continuing love affair with Italy. Now truly at home there, Mayes writes of her deepening connection to the land, her flourishing friendships with local people, the joys of art, food, and wine, and the rewards and occasional heartbreaks of her villa's ongoing restoration. It is also a memoir of a season of change, and of renewed possibility. As spring becomes summer she revives Bramasole's lush gardens, meets the challenges of learning a new language, tours regions from Sicily to the Veneto, and faces transitions in her family life. Filled with recipes from her Tuscan kitchen and written in the sensuous and evocative prose that has become her hallmark, Bella Tuscany is a celebration of the sweet life in Italy.

Members Reviews:

Really poor audio quality. Couldn't listen to it

When you download something from audible, you expect something to be reasonable quality. The recording of this, is not.

It sounds as though it was recorded 20 years ago, down the phone. It's really tinny and actually hurt my ears to listen to.

Added to that, the reader's voice is so bland. I guess it's nice to have the actual author reading the story. But if their voice is flat and annoying, they really should pick an actor.

Sorry to be so mean. But this is the first book I've bought from audible that I've been really disappointed by. If they are going to have recordings, they really should only have reasonably recent ones.

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Title: Dinner with Persephone

Author: Patricia Storace

Narrator: Jill Eikenberry

Format: Abridged

Length: 2 hrs and 10 mins

Language: English

Release date: 12-15-99

Publisher: Phoenix Books

Ratings: 2.5 of 5 out of 21 votes

Genres: Travel & Adventure, Essays & Travelogues

Publisher's Summary:

Author and poet Patricia Storace lived in Athens, Greece on the corner of Phyrne (named for a 4th-century B.C. courtesan) and Fanourios (named for a Christian saint). And it is on this street where her journey through Greece begins. With blithe humor and bright style, Storace conjures up anarchic cities and idyllic towns and harbors where the Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman empires continue to maintain a presence. This program includes an exclusive interview with the author who discusses her work and answers questions about her life in Greece.

Recording (P)1997 by Audio Literature; Copyright ©1996 by Patricia Storace

Critic Reviews:

"Seductive, many-layered, sweet and astringent, lucid and intoxicating. Patricia Storace unfolds Greece, a stranger and richer culture than we ever suspected." (Luc Sante, author of Low Life)

Members Reviews:

Pass on this one.

I did not find this one interesting at all. It was not what I had expected.

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Title: Spanish Word Booster

Subtitle: 500+ Most Needed Words & Phrases

Author: Vocabulearn

Narrator: uncredited

Format: Unabridged

Length: 1 hr and 4 mins

Language: English

Release date: 09-25-06

Publisher: Penton Overseas, Inc.

Ratings: 3 of 5 out of 67 votes

Genres: Travel & Adventure, Essays & Travelogues

Publisher's Summary:

Learn with rhythm, learn with tunes,

Spanish, English words you'll use!

© and (P)1993, 2003 Penton Overseas, Inc.

Members Reviews:

Spanish Word Booster

I rated this audio book a 5 because there were a lot of common phrases to help a beginning conversational speaker in everyday Spanish. It was also a very good review. My wife's family is up visiting from Panama, and I got to use a lot of the phrases on my eight-year-old niece. The teaching style in the audio book was very beneficial to me. I feel I have more confidence & ability in my conversational Spanish. It would be nice if Spanish Word Booster expanded to more advanced converstational useage in the future so as to give the growing conversational speaker something as a stronger foundation, being not everyone gets to live in a foreign country for extended periods.

Mediocre

The idea behind this book is really good, but....it would have been much much better if the speakers had higher quality recordings and the music had been drastically toned down.

Excellent - great beat

Definitely makes Spanish vocabulary more accessible as I quickly found myself chanting with the tape as I do chores. The beat makes it easier to stay with the whole process.

Good for review, not for learning anything new.

Is there anything you would change about this book?

I wish there was more dialogue instead of it mainly just being vocabulary lists read aloud.

What was most disappointing about Vocabulearns story?

I was hoping that the music would be used to teach phrases to a catchy or familiar tune. Instead, lists of vocabulary words were read (followed by their translation) in time to cheesy synthesizer beats.

What three words best describe the narrators voice?

Both narrators were quite good and easy to understand. The brief dialogues between them that mixed Spanish and English to introduce the vocabulary lists were the most useful part.

Was Spanish Word Booster worth the listening time?

Since it was just a little over an hour, I didn't feel like it was too much of a waste of time, and it really was probably a good way to brush up on vocabulary words that I already know.

Any additional comments?

I recommend this as a way to brush up on Spanish vocabulary that you already know, but it is not a good way to learn new vocabulary.

Booster On IPOD

This is definetly worth buying. I am a beginner and this was perfect for learning instant words.

The man and women explain what section of words are next and how they should be used. The music in the background really helps move things along quickly and they repeat the words only 3 times. I put this on my ipod to push pause and write down the word and the section so that I could follow it and learn it quicker. Its worth the money and effort that you put into it. Many words! Even words I didn't know further into the list. Great investment if you really have the time.

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Title: Any Road USA

Subtitle: Living a Life of Freedom on the Road

Author: Bob Davidson

Narrator: Richard Henzel

Format: Unabridged

Length: 1 hr and 22 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-14-14

Publisher: Desert Varnish Press

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 27 votes

Genres: Travel & Adventure, Essays & Travelogues

Publisher's Summary:

Do you belong on the road? Would you be happier living a life of freedom, going wherever you want - north in the summer and south in the winter? But how do you get free of all the encumbrances lifes managed to trap you with?

Bob Davidson lives the life he loves, on the road, and he assures you that you can get free and live your life exactly as you want. Here, he tells you exactly how he did it, and it wasnt necessarily with a grand master plan, as some say you must have to do it right. Bobs journey will make you realize that anyone can do this - all you need is the will and drive.

So, join Bob as he breaks the chains (mostly mental) that prevent him from living the life he wants and gets on the road again, just like in the Willy Nelson song, but with plans for staying there.

Members Reviews:

A personal narrative broadly applicable...

Describes a wide array of feelings and insights that many of us might have under the same circumstances. Instructive and entertaining.

cut-loose

short but interesting read about reasons to cut loose and travel. a jumping off point for other reads of this type.

Too short

I like these 'living on the road in an rv' narratives, but this one was a little short for the money. I enjoyed it though. It's always nice learning from someone's experience.

Experiential take on choosing to live on the road

A generally interesting tale of the journey towards taking to the road as a permanent way of living - and a look at the detail of a number of well chosen stories that emerged for the author out of that lifestyle. Well narrated, though occasionally it feels a tad judgemental of those choosing a more conventional lifestyle.

I am planning to live on the road in the UK from next year, and found this book to be one of the most enjoyable and interesting that I have come across so far.

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Title: The Great Psychedelic Armadillo Picnic

Subtitle: A Walk in Austin

Author: Kinky Friedman

Narrator: Stephen Hoye

Format: Unabridged

Length: 3 hrs and 5 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-06-04

Publisher: Books on Tape

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 34 votes

Genres: Travel & Adventure, Essays & Travelogues

Publisher's Summary:

In this slightly insane and surprisingly practical guide to the coolest city in Texas, you'll find out which restaurant President Bush thinks is the best burger joint; you'll get a glimpse of Willie Nelson's home; and the best view of the Mexican free-tailed bats as they make their nightly flights to and from the Congress Avenue Bridge.

Critic Reviews:

"A good travelogue conveys a sense of place while pointing the reader towards interesting activities, destinations, places to eat and the like. A great travelogue does all this, but it also stands alone as an enjoyable read, regardless of the reader's travel plans. This quirky tour of Austin, Texas, delivers the whole enchilada." (Publishers Weekly)

Members Reviews:

Wish Kinky Woulda Read It

I enjoyed this book because I live in Austin and I have a great love for this city. Kinky is just hilarious and he has so many good stories. He knows everyone.

I would have liked this audiobook MUCH better if Kinky had read it. I was disappointed about that. The narrator mispronounced some Austin streets and that is just annoying. People here know that Manchaca is pronounced "Man-shack" and Guadalupe is "Guadaloop" and Burnet is "BURN-it," not "Bur-NETT."

Why isn't Kinky reading!?!?!?!

I had already heard the abridged audiobook on CD a few months ago as a gift. I managed to listen to it, and it was great to have Kinky tell his own jokes.

HOWEVER, the only version on Audible is read by some DRY narrator. It is TERRIBLE! It comes off as way to much of a guide book vs. comedy.

The kinkster

Being a austin ire I found this book tell a lot. Of Texas history along with Austin. So much history of the town, music& restrants & bars .. Very informative.

GREAT BOOK

I moved to Austin in 1970 and this book is wonderful. GReat to revisit places I haven't been to in a while and now have gone to see again and to remember the ones that have past.

Half Kinkster, Half not

A curious book from the Kinkster. In places it is pure genius, vintage Kinster rambling and in others it seems to have been written by some factlet freak in The Austin Tourist Bureau. Nevertheless, it almost makes me want to go back to Austin to investigate all the weird and interesting aspects of this city that I obviously totally missed in my earlier visit. My only memory of that visit was of being falsely and agressively acused of being a NYC boy by a totally drunk UT frat student because I was wearing an Austrian Loaden coat in the middle of the winter. So it goes...

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Title: Feet on the Street

Subtitle: Rambles Around New Orleans

Author: Roy Blount

Narrator: Paul Boehmer

Format: Unabridged

Length: 3 hrs and 44 mins

Language: English

Release date: 02-16-05

Publisher: Books on Tape

Ratings: 3 of 5 out of 20 votes

Genres: Travel & Adventure, Essays & Travelogues

Publisher's Summary:

Divided into eight Rambles through different parts of the city, this audiobook covers it all: the architecture, music, romance, historical characters (including Walt Whitman and Chuck Berry), and the food. Each Ramble closes with a lagniappe, an extra treat for the reader such as a riff on Gennifer Flowers or a meditation on naked dancing, that shows us why New Orleans, as Roy sees it, is a city "like no other place in America, and yet (or therefore) the cradle of American culture".

Members Reviews:

Feet on the Street

Lovely book; terrible narrator. This text deserves a reader who understands how people sound and talk in New Orleans.

bad narration

I love Roy Blount, Jr and I think this would have been better if he had narrated his own work. His accent and delivery style add much to the story.

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Title: The Rubbish-Picker's Wife

Subtitle: An Unlikely Friendship in Kosovo

Author: Elizabeth Gowing

Narrator: Elizabeth Gowing

Format: Unabridged

Length: 8 hrs and 20 mins

Language: English

Release date: 01-23-17

Publisher: Elbow Publishing

Ratings: 5 of 5 out of 3 votes

Genres: Travel & Adventure, Essays & Travelogues

Publisher's Summary:

This is a true story of living and learning - being confused and comforted - with the excluded Ashkali people of Kosovo; an account of the challenges and delights of what happens when you find your community but it's a long way from home.

Hatemja, a rubbish-picker's wife, lives in the poorest community in the poorest country in Europe. When Elizabeth Gowing is befriended by her, the women learn with, from and about one another. How can you find the best rubbish pastures for scavenging? How can you free children to go to school rather than to go out begging? How do you then convince the local school to accept them? Can mayonnaise deal with head lice? How best to teach the 36 letters of the Albanian alphabet? How would Facebook help evacuate a family from a rat-infested hovel? How do you make baklava? And through it all, how do you maintain a precious friendship that's helped you find out the best you can be?

Members Reviews:

Personal, warm, insightful

A wonderfully crafted story of how one person, with a big heart and a can-do attitude, can change the world...one child, one family, one mahalla, at a time...and then change many many more people, in Fushe Kosova and around the world. Elizabeth's story is one you read about with amazement- and you'll feel it in your heart. Read this and you will feel like you live there, with every muddy step, and your life will be changed after this journey to Kosova.

The Rubbish pickers wife

Wonderful and touching story

This is a really beautifully crafted book, with lots of interesting and touching stories, great and amusing details but also relaying the difficulties and struggles of a community of marginalised minority of Ashkalis living in Kosovo. It is inspiring, really nicely written, the author has a fantastic style that touched many cords with me. Most amazingly the book throws some light into the way of living of this community that feeds itself and survives, out of rubbish heaps. That starts to change within the book's timeline with the women producing and selling soap, children going into school etc. And the potential is there for even more change as the seeds have been sown, through education, looking after and guiding the community to make the right choices and think and position themselves differently. Great work and great book by the book's author and all the partners in their charity. Also I agree the model of volunteering has amazing virtues and brings amazing results!

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Title: South to Alaska

Subtitle: A True Story of Courage and Survival from America's Heartland to the Heart of a Dream

Author: Nancy Owens Barnes

Narrator: Nancy Owens Barnes

Format: Unabridged

Length: 7 hrs and 13 mins

Language: English

Release date: 01-02-17

Publisher: Rushing River Press

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 6 votes

Genres: Travel & Adventure, Essays & Travelogues

Publisher's Summary:

A true story of courage and survival, South to Alaska carries listeners from the heartland of America to the last frontier... the hard way.

Born in the dusty heart of Oklahoma in 1916, 10-year-old Melvin sees a photograph of a cabin in the Alaska wilderness in his fourth-grade geography book and dreams of living there. Nearly 50 years later he builds a 47-foot boat in his Arkansas backyard, launches it on the Arkansas River, and cruises 10,000 miles to Alaska by way of the Panama Canal. Melvin has never been south of the United States/Mexico border and has never been on a boat in the open ocean.

Learn by doing, he says.

In South to Alaska, author Nancy Owens Barnes takes listeners on two journeys. On one, listeners follow a young boy's dream that begins in a one-room, Oklahoma schoolhouse in 1926, and ends decades later on an island in southeast Alaska. On the other, listeners become a passenger aboard the Red Dog as it cruises along the Arkansas and Mississippi Rivers to the Gulf of Mexico where, in 1973, Melvin begins a solo journey along the Caribbean coasts of Mexico and Central America, through the Panama Canal, then into the Pacific Ocean to Alaska. Plagued by mechanical problems, international fraud, violent ocean storms, threats of foreign jail, illness and loneliness, Melvin fears a deadly end before reaching the place of his dreams and returning to the woman he loves. South to Alaska chronicles Melvin's 10,000-mile journey through a dangerous world he knows little about, to a world he cannot forget.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

Members Reviews:

Living his dream with nightmares, too

memoir, biography, travelog, adventure, nonfiction

Highly detailed tribute by daughter to her father who beat nearly insurmountable odds to realize his dream. Manually skilled and highly creative, he made a steel boat from scratch and determined to sail it from Arkansas to Alaska. With no Spanish and a meager understanding of captaining a boat in unfamiliar waters, he encountered crooks and unfamiliar business practices as well as unseen water hazards. Costs accumulated beyond expectations, and the separation and dwindling finances made for friction between husband and wife which were resolved when he achieved his goal. He started work in Ketchikan and did well. After retiring, he built a house on a nearby island. There they lived well and with new interests for another sixteen years until the book ends with more vivid word pictures. The ebook and audio both have pdf with photos, maps, and more.

I have the audio, and I always feel that the author makes the best narrator.

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Title: Desert Rats

Subtitle: Adventures in the American Outback

Author: Chinle Miller

Narrator: Richard Henzel

Format: Unabridged

Length: 5 hrs

Language: English

Release date: 03-10-15

Publisher: Yellow Cat Publishing

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 9 votes

Genres: Travel & Adventure, Essays & Travelogues

Publisher's Summary:

For the first time in recorded history, the complete short stories of the infamous Chinle Miller have been compiled in a book that the publisher hopes won't get anyone arrested (especially the publisher). Come sit around the campfire with an archaeologist after he unwittingly brings a unique curse upon himself; watch Ernie, the county road supervisor, accidentally bomb his own highway shed; discover a cryptic form of rock art just in time for it to save your life; and discover how a Navajo uses a Hopi rain dance to start a fire in a gated development, shutting it down before it can even be built. This book has it all: epic plane crashes, albino grizzly bears, accidental movie stars, runaway rednecks, wild Aussies, and even uranium miners with vanity plates on their old Dodge Power Wagons. And you'll meet Annie, the sweet little old lady who unknowingly foils an attempt to open a cyanide pit gold mine. As a bonus, you'll discover the possible fate of Everett Ruess, the young artist who went missing in the canyons many years ago. But best of all, included are the only known writings of Cactus Rat and Yeller Cat, two of the world's finest and, shall we say, most unique, desert rats. Generously described as eco-humor, anything is fair game for Chinle's understated tongue-in-cheek writing. You'll love seeing the underdogs win for once, and if nothing else, you'll be left with a book you can innocently pass on to your favorite corrupt nature-hating developer or politician.

Members Reviews:

Desert Rats

Any additional comments?

This was a fun read!It's hard to describe.It is a bunch of short stories combined to make a book.It flows nicely and is full of funny and incredible moments.

Richard Henzel does a great job with narration.

"I was provided this audiobook at no charge by the author in exchange for an unbiased review via AudiobookBlast dot com."