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Title: Sammy, I Love You

Author: Sally Nielsen

Narrator: Dana Kronental

Format: Unabridged

Length: 4 hrs and 20 mins

Language: English

Release date: 02-27-13

Publisher: Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd

Ratings: 3 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Personal Memoirs

Publisher's Summary:

A true story of love and hope.

As seen on ABC TV's Australian Story, Sally Nielsen is a wedding planner, whose own wedding plans were turned upside down when her fiancée suffered a catastrophic stroke, leaving him completely dependent on her and his family for all his needs. When others said she should put him in a home and get on with her life, Sally refused.

As Sally fought to bring back the man who was her world, she wrote in a series of diaries about her hopes, her anger and her frustration, as well as her love for Sam. With searing honesty, Sally recorded the highs of each small step in Sam's recovery and the plummeting lows of her own depression and loneliness. These are those diaries.

Sammy, I Love You is an incredible story of devotion, courage, and determination. But more importantly it is an inspiring love story that will make you value every precious moment with the ones you love.

Members Reviews:

Heartwarming Story, But By No Means A Pulitzer

I had already heard the story of Sammy and Sally before reading this book - articles in newspapers, the documentary on Australian Story. They don't know it but they are very close to my heart. I had to read the book to get an inside - somewhat unedited - view from Sally's mouth about the tragic experience they went / are still going through. The story itself is amazing, but Sally really needed more help with this book. This is essentially just a diary of her feelings during the months after Sam's strokes - letters written to the comatose Sam about her feelings for him, about the situation, about their future, etc. It certainly is insightful but because it was never meant to be published, it's not the most riveting or best written read. I think the publisher should have given more input about making the book slightly more interesting for the reader - they didn't go into the Stilnox discoveries at all, for example. The book kind of just stopped. It's a shame because Sally and Sam have an amazing story and are very real, likeable characters. I think the failure has been by the editor/publishers. Nevertheless worth a read, just don't expect a page-turner.

Sammy I Love You

I was interested in reading the book after seeing an interview by the young coupleTheir courage and love for each other is inspiring I enjoyed reading the book but would recommend it to younger readers

Don't bother

This is a terribly written and edited book.

There is almost no story line and it goes nowhere. Too many names to keep track of who is who.

A brave story of true love and sacrifice

I totally agree with the previous review. This is a sad but uplifting story that I felt compelled to read after seeing Sally on a TV show. I read it within a day because, as has been pointed out previously, it is basically a diary and gets pretty repetitive. Towards the end I glossed over some of the passages because they said the same thing. I too would have liked more detail about his treatment and future but the book seemed to end abruptly. My husband suffered a ruptured cerebral aneurysm and while he is fully recovered , I know the ups and downs that Sally went through to a certain extent. I feel that the publishers should have edited the story a little or conversely added more detail written by a specialist to flesh out the narrative. I would recommend the book but would warn that it can be repetitive and a little schmaltzy in spots.

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Title: Meet Me in the Mountains

Subtitle: A Memoir by Candy Marie Bridges

Author: Candy Marie Bridges

Narrator: Candy Marie Bridges

Format: Unabridged

Length: 8 hrs and 18 mins

Language: English

Release date: 02-25-13

Publisher: Candy Marie Bridges

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Personal Memoirs

Publisher's Summary:

Meet Me in the Mountains is an edgy, uplifting, and truthful memoir that is sure to bring hope and inspiration to those who listen to it.

A stubborn and determined eight year old girl named Candy Cotten finds her own way of dealing with her parents divorce - along with a father who drinks too much. She moves through life facing fears and unexpected challenges with determination. Her faith in Jesus Christ was apparent in grade school, and continues to this day. She strives to find hope in all situations even when life is not fair.

An attitude of "press on" through unforeseen circumstances, proves to be healing and sometimes controversial. Emotional and physical pain are not wanted, but when they unexpectedly arrive, Candy Marie Bridges takes them head on in order to find answers and peace.

She fights to help two of her three children, both diagnosed in their teenage years with an autoimmune illness called Crohns disease.

In addition, she exposes her own personal and private heartaches involving the decision to forgive the at-fault-party who was the cause of the senseless wrongful death of her husband.

Meet Me in the Mountains was written by an ordinary woman with the desire to share her story with others who feel like life is too much to bear. She is stubborn, yet has a compassionate heart.

Her biography reflects humor, anger, rejection, faith filled persistence and patience.

Candy Marie Bridge's captivates the listener with her honesty. The book reveals the benefits of never ending faith, hope, and love.

Members Reviews:

Meet me in the mountains

I loved this book because it helped me to understand better where my faith should be . It also helped me understand how to get there. I had been praying for just this. I have this book all the stars I can give it plus more.

I've Met Candy Bridges in the Mountains. You Should Too!

When you meet Candy Bridges at Breath of Life Retreat Center, her home in Pine, Arizona the first thing you notice is how "at ease" she makes you feel - how "Welcome" you are to be in this beautifully appointed respite nestled in the mountains away from the speed and pace of the city of Phoenix. The memoir is much like her home rich in scripture and reminders of the blessings of God in our lives. Candy has faced adversity. There were difficult challenges in her childhood; parental behavior she did not understand; a journey of faith with twists and turns. Yet, God was always present; leading her, guiding her choices. I invite you to read a story about a woman who has already walked an incredible faith journey. As for me, I'm curious to see where God leads Candy next!

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Title: Sparky and the Dipshit

Author: Rod Russell-Ides

Narrator: Rod Russell-Ides

Format: Unabridged

Length: 8 hrs and 16 mins

Language: English

Release date: 02-22-13

Publisher: Fireside Publishing, Inc.

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 4 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Personal Memoirs

Publisher's Summary:

That Great Bend summer of 1961, when I was sixteen, the world was a Kansas prairie that went on forever. It was a time and a place when a boy of imagination seeking glory [and I was such a boy] could spin a summer of stolen freedoms into such high jinks, such high adventure that such a boy might be in danger of losing some vital part of himself when he cut the strings and moved on.

Over the years, I have revisited that magic summer in stops and starts, shared it with friends, then again with my children, then again with my grandchildren. Shook out a sleeve. Emptied some pocket of its boyhood treasures. Anecdotes. Patches. Now something in me wants to see that ragged coat whole against the sky, like some renegade kite caught in a whip of a Kansas wind.

Members Reviews:

8 Hours of Fun!

This audiobook is hours of pure enjoyment. First of all, it's beautifully written. Really. The use of personification is so striking that I kept wanting my teenage son to hear it, and toward the end of the book the transition from the past to the present and back is the most elegant I have ever encountered. Ever. Second, the story is priceless. It made me laugh out loud and shake my head in wonderment and wish that I'd ever have stories like this to tell (which I won't). Hearing it straight from the author was also a treat. I got lost in the story and it seemed like he was telling it directly to me! I'm going to play the book again in the car for my children and I'm looking forward to every moment.

Good book and I love that it is read by the author

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Its the story of two brothers coming together so it is powerful, but there are also some very funny moments.

Have you listened to any of Rod Russell-Idess other performances before? How does this one compare?

Because the author read the read the book, his passion come through.

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Title: The West Coasters

Author: Tim Bowden

Narrator: Tim Bowden

Format: Unabridged

Length: 2 hrs and 19 mins

Language: English

Release date: 02-17-13

Publisher: Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Personal Memoirs

Publisher's Summary:

The west coast of Tasmania has always held true to a distinct identity which endures to this day. It is based on geography and a history of isolation from the rest of the island. The mountain ranges running down the west of Tasmania are a natural barrier to the more populated eastern regions of the island, and flourished through exporting lumber and valuable minerals. Despite this, no roads existed to the east coast until 1932. In 1974 broadcaster Tim Bowden interviewed various Huon piners and miners, who remembered West Coast life back almost to the turn of the 20th century. Since then all the interviewees have passed on, but have left their stories immortalised in these recollections.

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Title: Underneath the Lemon Tree

Author: Mark Rice-Oxley

Narrator: Ben Elliot

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 9 mins

Language: English

Release date: 02-07-13

Publisher: Whole Story Audiobooks

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Personal Memoirs

Publisher's Summary:

On paper, things looked good for Mark Rice-Oxley: wife, children, fulfilling job. But at his 40th birthday party his world crumbled as he succumbed to depression. Many men suffer from depression yet it remains a taboo subject. By telling his story, Mark Rice-Oxley hopes to enable others to tell theirs. This is a memoir that is brim-full of experience, understanding, and hope for all who read it.

Members Reviews:

Lemons into the best lemonade

What a riveting read. "Underneath the Lemon Tree" combines a deeply personal narrative -- and brilliant descriptions of the physical and psychological pain of depression (the parts on insomnia are especially memorable) -- with cogent reporting on the science of an awful illness. With a sure hand and vivid pen, Rice-Oxley takes readers on a memorable journey, leavening the rawness of the story with some terrifically funny lines: "The rain persists, as if someone left it on and went to the pub." For people suffering from depression or who know people who do, "Lemon Tree" is sustaining and enlightening, but it stands alone as a contemporary social history as well. You have to applaud a book that perceptively weaves in Dante's "Divine Comedy" and the Bay City Rollers without seeming to stretch. Rice-Oxley has taken lemons and turned them into the most refreshing lemonade!

Helpful and heartfelt

Just read the book a second time, during the beginning of a severe relapse. It's been two years, and the book is still very relevant, an important reminder that relapses will happen. But it is also brilliant in explaining why it will happen and give anyone experiencing a severe depression hope to continue struggling, there is light in the tunnel...

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Title: Bastards

Author: Sheila Steafal

Narrator: Sheila Steafal

Format: Unabridged

Length: 2 hrs and 47 mins

Language: English

Release date: 02-07-13

Publisher: Fantom Films

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Personal Memoirs

Publisher's Summary:

When I read through the final draft of my autobiography, I decided to take out several anecdotes about my personal life, simply because they seemed a sort of indulgence, and didnt add to what I wanted to say about my life and my career. They were hiccups along the way with some attacks worse than others, but all were finally "got rid" (as my cousin Lillian used to say). I put them in a file which I called BASTARDS for my own amusement, and thought no more about them until my book came out and I was being asked what my next writing project would be.

For want of anything else to say I would reply Bastards, and the response was so positive that what had started as a whim began to take on substance. So here it is. Since you ask (and you will) the bastards were all my own. Some were short, as are some of the tales, and some tall, which, in spite of your incredulity, none of the tales are. Well, I've said it before and Ill say it again, I couldnt make them up! Could I?

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Title: How to Create the Perfect Wife

Author: Wendy Moore

Narrator: Daniel Pirrie

Format: Unabridged

Length: 10 hrs and 52 mins

Language: English

Release date: 02-07-13

Publisher: Orion Publishing Group Limited

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Personal Memoirs

Publisher's Summary:

This is the story of how Thomas Day, a young man of means, decided he could never marry a woman with brains, spirit or fortune. Instead, he adopted two orphan girls from a Foundling Hospital, and set about educating them to become the meek, docile women he considered marriage material. Unsurprisingly, Day's marriage plans did not run smoothly. Having returned one orphan early on, his girl of choice, Sabrina Sidney, would also fall foul of the experiment. From then on, she led a difficult life, inhabiting a curious half-world - an ex-orphan, and not quite a ward; a governess, and not quite a fiancée. But Sabrina also ended up figuring in the life of scientists and luminaries as disparate as Erasmus Darwin and Joseph Priestley, as well as that pioneering generation of women writers who included Fanny Burney, Maria Edgeworth and Anna Seward.

In HOW TO CREATE THE PERFECT WIFE, Wendy has found a story that echoes her concerns about women's historic powerlessness, and captures a moment when ideas of human development and child raising underwent radical change. Read by Dan Pirrie. Daniel Pirrie trained as an actor at LAMDA and to date has worked in theatre, TV, film, radio and audiobooks. TV roles include playing Major Bryant in the second series of Downton Abbey, Dr. Who: The God Complex, Case Histories and Holby for the BBC. Theatre roles include The Vortex with Felicity Kendal, Dan Stevens and directed by Sir Peter Hall. He also has a role in the 2013 film Diana starring Naomi Watts.

Dan has read many audiobooks including The Shadow of the Rock by Thomas Mogford and Torchwood: The Exodus Code by John and Carole Barrowman.

Members Reviews:

Great biography!

Wendy Moore has taken a very influential 18th century character, Thomas Day, and told the story of his remarkable, and remarkably strange, life. Day wrote The Dying Negro, one of the works that set off the abolitionist movement in England as well as Sandford and Merton, which was a best-selling children's book until well into the 19th century. However, Wendy Moore shows us the development of Day's philosophy and how it manifested itself in much darker ways.

Day was a follower of Rousseau's educational ideas as they appeared in Emile, the story of a boy whose education is "natural" and unhindered by schools or books. (Rousseau himself was appalled by how literally so many people took his ideas and repudiated them.) Education of girls according to Rousseau was about being subservient yet intelligent, well-read yet compliant - and this was the model that Day tried to create for his own wife-to-be.

Moore has the skill to do far more than tell the story of this one man; we also learn about the young women he attempted to mould and not least she offers a portrait of a place and time whose influences reverberate to this day.

Although the book is meticulously researched, the references never overwhelm the narrative which is flowing, intelligent and warm.

Even if you have little interest in history or education, the story of this odd man and those young women is a fascinating one.

Highly recommended.

Truth is stranger than fiction

An almost unbelievable twist on the plot of finding a suitable mate so familiar in novels of Jane Austen and Anthony Trollope. The crazy part is that this is no novel.

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Title: Designated Hebrew

Subtitle: The Ron Blomberg Story

Author: Rob Blomberg, Dan Schlossberg

Narrator: Alpha Trivette

Format: Unabridged

Length: 4 hrs and 28 mins

Language: English

Release date: 02-06-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Personal Memoirs

Publisher's Summary:

When young Ron Blomberg told his friends he wanted to be a Major League Baseball player, they practically laughed him out of town. Jewish kids just did not do that in the late 1950s, with the exception of a rare superstar like Sandy Koufax. Fortunately for Blomberg, his parents were a different story. As long as he was happy, they had no problem with their son growing up to be a doctor or a lawyer or a ballplayer. So, with his parents blessing, he prepared to ride his athletic skills as far as possible.

Some 45 years later Ron Blomberg is viewed as a trailblazer. In addition to being the first designated hitter in the history of Major League Baseball - an accident of fate - he was also the first significant Jewish player for the New York Yankees. The only lantzman who preceded him to the Bronx hid behind the pseudonym of Jimmie Reese. Blomberg did not believe in hiding, either from pitchers with overpowering fastballs or from the baseball fans of New York. A witness to cross-burnings and synagogue bombings in his youth, Blomberg felt relieved when New York's large Jewish population embraced him. He loved people almost as much as he loved to eat.

Blomberg wore his religion on his sleeve and jumped at any offer of a free lunch from the beat writers assigned to cover the Yankees. As long as there was a corned-beef sandwich in it for him, he was there. Unfortunately, corned beef could not do for him what spinach did for Popeye. He had great hand-eye coordination, a powerful left-handed stroke, and a willingness to work hard - but he failed to avoid the injury bug. Once billed as "the next Mickey Mantle," he managed only 52 home runs in his career. During his time in the Bronx from 1969-77, however, Blomberg witnessed the arrival of both George Steinbrenner and Billy Martin, and watched the Yankees battle themselves as well as their opponents in 1976 as they won their first pennant in 12 years and their first World Series in 15 seasons. Ron Blomberg's story is more than a baseball tale, but also more than a religious tale. It is the story of a Designated Hebrew - and there is no other tale quite like it.

Editorial Reviews:

In 1967, "Jewish" and "Major League Baseball" were nearly mutually exclusive terms, but a young player named Ron Blomberg helped change the face of the league for good when he was drafted to the New York Yankees. In this performance of Blomberg's autobiography, Designated Hebrew: The Ron Blomberg Story, listeners experience the rise of baseball's first designated hitter. Performed by television and voice actor Alpha Trivette and co-written with Blomberg by respected sports writer Dan Schlossberg, this memoir inspires with its tale of an unlikely sports legend.

Members Reviews:

Great book for your youngster baseball fans, the Ron Blomberg story because we need his story.

Astute baseball and sports fans know what any autobiog/memoir of an athlete is like. A series of accounts, anecdotes and stories of growing up. Some of the tales almost choked me up and brought me to tears and some made me laugh audibly. To non Jews it would be difficult to comprehend his importance to Jewish fans in New York then.

Interesting read about a great athlete who never reached his potential for greatness with ...

Interesting read about a great athlete who never reached his potential for greatness with the Yankees largely due to several injuries.

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Title: The Road Back Home

Author: Sid Waddell

Narrator: Gordon Griffin

Format: Unabridged

Length: 11 hrs and 59 mins

Language: English

Release date: 02-05-13

Publisher: Random House AudioBooks

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Personal Memoirs

Publisher's Summary:

"I had not lived in the former pit village of Lynemouth since 1961 but the winding road north from Newcastle will always be the same nostalgic highway, each twist charged with vivid memories and powerful emotions...."

So begins a story full of wonderful humour, emotional candour, and hardy tales of tough times - a quietly epic family saga set amid the pit villages of the Northeast. It stretches from the 1920s, before Sid's parents had even met, to the final closing of the mine and his mother's death, in 1999.

Sid paints a picture of a colourful, tight knit community full of good times and hard work, god-fearing women and hard-drinking men.

Always dominating the skyline is Auld Betty, the pit head that took the men away each day and, with a prayer, brought them back each evening. Amongst the unforgettable cast of his extended family and friends, we follow the Waddells' attempts to stay afloat and provide a better future and possible escape for youngsters like Sid.

Members Reviews:

As an ex miner this had me in tears

Which character as performed by Gordon Griffin was your favourite?

Was very good with them all, to hard to seperate

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

As I said above I am an ex miner, so I found this very near the mark, and brought back many memories tears and laughte, high recomend to any one.

Any additional comments?

My profile pic is my granfather who also was a miner.

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Title: Gospel Confusion

Subtitle: Confessions of a Pastor

Author: Dan Sardinas

Narrator: Dan Sardinas

Format: Unabridged

Length: 3 hrs and 38 mins

Language: English

Release date: 02-01-13

Publisher: Dan Sardinas

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Personal Memoirs

Publisher's Summary:

A journey of rediscovering the power of the gospel and our identity in Christ. Gospel Confusion: Confessions of a Pastor is my personal story of how I missed and confused the gospel. It is a story of my journey through legalism, moralism and some of the things I learned about myself along the way. One of the greatest struggles facing believers today is one of identity. Who are we? Welcome to the story of my Gospel Confusion.

Members Reviews:

A gospel journey of an honest man

I really enjoyed this book and I believe many people in ministry would be able to identify with Dan.

Dan tells us about his different conversions within Christianity. From being a fundamental, to questioning the church and its practices, listening in to the emergent conversation, and engaging in organic movements. I was able to relate in the sense that I came from a Pentecostal background, and then at a point in my life began questioning and going through a new sort of discovery about my faith. From knowing what I believe, to question what I believe, to now being a little more certain, yet cautious, of what I believe.

What I really love about this book is Dan's honesty. He talks about how he wanted to be a success in ministry. I know many ministers are in that same boat. Success in ministry became the idol he was worshiping. There is a saying I repeat quite often to my friends: "let's not do ministry at the expense of being a person who worships God". He reminded me of when I was a teenager reading books by Rick Warren and Bill Hybels. The word that I got from reading these and the likes could be summed up in one word: relevant. That was the magic formula for church success! So, he tells about his attempts to make the church relevant. He failed.

After reading a few chapters, I was engaged. I wanted to know what happened next. Disaster after disaster. I began to take pity. I began thinking about my step-father who failed in ministry. I began thinking about other pastors who have and were going through the same situation. I'm sure it ain't easy trying to honor God yet wanting to succeed in ministry. You feel like a child who just wants to make poppa happy. But something's wrong. It's just not working out. So you feel like a failure. But, towards the end, this book became an encouragement and offered a glimpse of hope. When in ministry, if your eyes falls from the grace of God and begins to look at people, your sense of being, worth, and mission gets distorted. Everything is called into question. This is gospel confusion. Here, Dan shares with you how he got re-focused, turning the center of everything from himself and church back to God.

A journey of discovery and transparency

At first I wasn't sure about the book. It had been recommended but even after my purchase it took me a few weeks to start reading it. My reservations could not have been more wrong! This is a personal but VERY relatable story of a man searching for abundant life in the kingdom of God. I instantly related to the stories and the struggles of Dan. Not only is He an engaging storyteller but he expresses a genuine transparency that leaves the reader searching his or her own heart and their personal pursuit of God.