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Title: Struggle Central

Subtitle: Quarter-Life Confessions of a Messed Up Christian

Author: Thomas Mark Zuniga

Narrator: Thomas Mark Zuniga

Format: Unabridged

Length: 3 hrs and 48 mins

Language: English

Release date: 03-06-15

Publisher: Thomas Mark Zuniga

Ratings: 5 of 5 out of 3 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Personal Memoirs

Publisher's Summary:

After an Eden's upbringing in Eastern Pennsylvania, 12-year-old Tom Zuniga's world suddenly gave root to an alien existence of struggle. Initiated by an 800-mile move from the only home he'd ever known, he started warring in unforeseen ways: isolation at a Southern Baptist church and bullying at a Christian high school, all the while fiercely determined to conceal sexual secrets spanning his entire childhood. It wasn't until after college, with a fresh start in a new state and two pivotal summer excursions, that a foreign thread of redemption started spinning among the struggle.

Struggle Central tells the quarter-life quest of an introverted Christian's desperate cross-country search for purpose and belonging both inside the Church and out. Brimming with tears of heartache and euphoria alike, Zuniga's candid collection of messy memoirs follows life's arduous journey through endless valleys and perilous climbs, reveling in the breathtaking peaks to be discovered along the way.

Members Reviews:

A Must Read/Listen!

This book is packed to the brim of raw passion and struggle of Tom. I could say so much but go ahead and give it a try, you won't regret it.

Wonderful first book.

Thomas has captured well the heart of being a boy through adulthood of one who struggles with identity both as a person and a man with same-sex attraction. His story identities how God can take a person to places they never imagined through a course of healing when trust in Him is central. I encourage you to read what Thomas has experienced in his lifetime because it will inspire compassion for other strugglers and educate you about how to struggle well.

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Title: The Blue Monk

Author: David Emery Bricker

Narrator: Russell Stamets

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 38 mins

Language: English

Release date: 02-03-15

Publisher: Essential Absurdities Press

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Personal Memoirs

Publisher's Summary:

In 1989 Dave Bricker set off across the Gulf Stream, in a small sailboat, with $30 in his pocket. His voyages aboard The Blue Monk, through the Bahamas and across the Atlantic to Gibraltar, are recounted in vivid prose. The Blue Monk is a journey of self-discovery set in a world of saturated colors, remarkable people, hazardous reefs, and transcendent beauty. Bricker chronicles a little-known fragment of Miami's history and encourages us all to embrace a world of power and magic that lies only a few steps off the sidewalk.

The audiobook version of The Blue Monk was narrated and produced by Russell Stamets at anchor aboard his own cruising sailboat.

The Blue Monk received a 2014 IPPY Award for Excellence in Independent Publishing.

Members Reviews:

To follow a nature

To step from the normal walk of life and stretch out to see where the unknown leads is admirable. It's not for everyone to do, but Dave's tales are an inspiration for anyone who long's for adventure; whether they desire the tangible act, or an intangible sense of it.

The characteristics of life under sail are almost indescribable unless you've lived it. Dave's tales brought me back to anchorages and passages with a breeze, and gale, in my face, and a taste of salt in the air - desire for the blue water returned. Aside from the comforts and amenities provided with a large bankroll, the only limit to life on a boat is land. Dave details the qualities, challenges, and character of that life with blunt, humorous, and vivid descriptions of adventure and encounters for all to enjoy.

We all have a tale to share, and I was captivated by The Blue Monk's.

A real page turner

For anyone who enjoys true life adventure stories, you'll enjoy this. Very well written. Couldn't put it down.

A great sailor's odyssey

Full disclosure hereâ Iâm Dave Brickerâs Dad, and Iâm recommending that you read âThe Blue Monk.â I, of course, got to watch Dave grow up, proceeding early towards goals his mom and I couldnât understand. Never a top student, he majored in Jazz in college, and became a first-rate guitarist. While his mom and I despaired of his career choices, such as they were, he gravitated to a community of what we saw as a motley collection of misfits in Miamiâs Coconut Grove anchorage, where, inexplicably, he found himself at home. I derisively called him a âstreet person of the sea,â as, to my eye, despite his expertise with computers, he floundered uselessly around, having somehow learned to survive on 30 cents a month out there on the water. I know better now.

The Blue Monk tells the story, which I read with page-turning fascination. It turns out that this kid of mine, now nearly 50, has meticulously and gorgeously recorded a marvelous odyssey of the sea. As you read, youâll alternately be drenched by spray, swept into realms of great joy and calm, occasionally run aground in strange places, sometimes made queasy by motions of the craft on choppy and uncertain seas, and will experience, through his powerful descriptive talent, the vastness of the dark, starry night skies, remote beaches, and the total range of things that can happen to an expertly piloted small sailboat alone out on an unforgiving ocean. The reader gets to meet many of the âcharactersâ in the Anchorage, who mostly turn out to be honorable and fascinating, if often non-conforming, folks.

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Title: Slowspoke

Subtitle: A Unicyclists Guide to America

Author: Mark Schimmoeller

Narrator: Mark Schimmoeller

Format: Unabridged

Length: 10 hrs and 24 mins

Language: English

Release date: 01-28-15

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 3 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Personal Memoirs

Publisher's Summary:

Why a unicycle? Why a cross-country trip? Why leave a prominent New York magazine and return to the simple life in Kentucky? Reminiscent of classic literary travelogues, Mark Schimmoeller's Slowspoke: A Unicyclist's Guide to America takes listeners on an inward, emotional journey as he inches across landscapes and communities from North Carolina to Arizona. Schimmoeller became inspired by his unicycle as an adolescent. It taught him that rushing--whether down the driveway or toward adulthood--would cause a fall, and so, instead of accepting the speeding, straight line that defines modern American life, he adopted his single wheels wayward rhythms.

Written with poise and humor, Slowspoke is more than a cross-country trip on a unicycle; it's a meditation on a playful, recalcitrant slowness that is increasingly rare in a culture obsessed with acceleration. At times aching and other times joyful, Schimmoeller intersperses recollections of his journey with vignettes of his present-day, off-the-grid homesteading with his wife in Kentucky and their efforts to save an old-growth forest.

Schimmoeller's personal journey will resonate with anyone who has slowed down to experience life at a unicycle's speed or who longs to do so, who has fallen in love or searched for it, or who has treasured tall trees or mourned their loss.

Members Reviews:

Five Stars

Great read for anyone, not just the unicycle enthusiast.

Three Stars

Decent story. A little pokey at points...pun intended.

Three Stars

slow moving

Five Stars

great read

finding love, living in and with the land

It is rare to find a book in which the writerâs modesty and limitation become its wisdom.

Schimmoeller tells us early in his book that to ride a unicycle one must wobble to go forward.

Donât we all? And yet seldom do we discuss that moment. Schimmoeller doesnât either; rather he mounts his ride and travels forth with arms outstretched for balance with an ever-present backpack - blessing and burden both.

My friend Johanna who gave me this book as a gift first introduced me to the Schimmoellers in the 1980âs when the author was young. She taught my children in elementary school and each year took her students to their off-the-grid homestead. I joined more than once and always remembered the familyâs sense of order and openness. In no aspect of their home had they taken too much from nature.

Johanna noted this book is really three stories: travel via an impossible vehicle, finding love, living in and with the land. It is a quiet, lean read and the author braids the themes at a pace that both studies and reflects our own attempts to understand the world and our places in it - wobbling, sailing, stumbling, beholden to both the kindness and the roughness of strangers. This book gives more than it takes and instructs simply by example. Suitable for all ages.

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Title: How to Survive When the Government Takes Your Kids: Written By a Woman Who Lost Her Kids and Survived, Barely

Author: Elizabeth Meadows

Narrator: Trevor Clinger

Format: Unabridged

Length: 44 mins

Language: English

Release date: 01-09-15

Publisher: Vincent Stead

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 13 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Personal Memoirs

Publisher's Summary:

Everything was going fine, until February 13th 2008. I woke up at 7am, before everyone. I checked on the kids, they were still sleeping, and then I made the mistake that I will regret for the rest of my life. I laid back on the couch and fell asleep just for a minute. My cousin always came over at 8am, because her son was the same age as Zachariah, and her daughter was the same age as Sarah, but that morning, her son fell down the stairs at her house, and broke his arm, so she didnt come and wake me up. What woke me up was police pounding on my door. I opened it, and they said: Wheres your daughter. I said: Shes upstairs sleeping, why? They said, can we see? So we ran upstairs. The first thing I saw was Zachariah, on his bed crying, saying: Yi Ya threw sissy out the window mommy!! Elijah was hiding behind his brother. I went into my daughters room, and found the entire window was gone, there was only a hole in the wall. What I didn't know, and they didn't know when they did the home visit, was the walls were dry rotted.

Elijah had gone into his sisters room, and hung on her window, and it had fallen in the snow (why I didn't hear it fall) he then (Thank God) threw all of her blankets out the window, and then threw her out. He didn't realize he would hurt her. She was okay she walked away from it. Because of the fall, the neighbors saw it, and called 911. They rushed me to the helicopter. All I could hear was: Major head injury. I was crying the entire way, and I didn't have my glasses, so I couldn't see anything. I walked into the hospital, threw all of the news crew, and finally got to my daughter, who sat up and put her hand on her hip, bobbed her head, and said with all attitude....

Members Reviews:

Such a touching book!

Would you consider the audio edition of How to Survive When the Government Takes Your Kids: Written By a Woman Who Lost Her Kids and Survived, Barely to be better than the print version?

Yes I would consider the audiobook over the print version. I enjoyed the narrator's voice and how passionate he was about the subject at hand. I feel sorry for the author and how she was treated, and the audiobook made it so surreal!

Great Story

Would you listen to How to Survive When the Government Takes Your Kids: Written By a Woman Who Lost Her Kids and Survived, Barely again? Why?

This is a great story but I can't get past the narrator. I don't understand why Elizabeth Meadows did not get to narrate her own book. I would give 5 stars all around if this was narrated by Elizabeth Meadows.

Would you be willing to try another one of Trevor Clingers performances?

NO

Any additional comments?

This is a great story but I can't get past the narrator. I don't understand why Elizabeth Meadows did not get to narrate her own book. I would give 5 stars all around if this was narrated by Elizabeth Meadows.

The first audiobook that made me cry!

This book is very inspirational for those women who get stripped of their children. Most of my friends have had their kids ripped away from the because the government says so. It's so sad. This book can be very easily relatable to!

So emotional

What did you love best about How to Survive When the Government Takes Your Kids: Written By a Woman Who Lost Her Kids and Survived, Barely?

Wow, this is a very emotional book. One problem.

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Title: The Truckie Who Loved Trains

Subtitle: The Biography of Ken Thomas

Author: David Wilcox

Narrator: Tony Saunders

Format: Unabridged

Length: 8 hrs and 30 mins

Language: English

Release date: 12-31-14

Publisher: Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Personal Memoirs

Publisher's Summary:

This is the story of an evolution. It covers the dramatic change in Australian transport over the twenty five years after World War Two. In that time so many important changes occurred.

They include the sorting out of the railway gauge problems; the dieselisation of the railways; the Hughes and Vale road tax decision; the arrival of containers and roll-on roll-off shipping. Best of all, the marriage of road and rail freight operations.These things did not happen by nature taking its course; they happened because driven men could see a better way. One of the leaders of these men was Ken Thomas.

Members Reviews:

Good story

Interesting story. Well worth a listen.

The narrator isn't the greatest with a habit of overstating the same details repeatedly, which can get annoying.

Great story, but...

This is a great story about the foundation of one of the world's biggest transport companies, from the humble one-truck beginnings in suburban Sydney to the global empire that is TNT. Wonderfully written and full of facts and snippets of post-war Australia, the book is an enjoyable read. However, the narration, or more so, the editing of the narration, leave a lot to be desired.

I have no doubts that Tony Saunders is a fine orator, but I can't see that this would be his finest work. The performance seems stilted and slooooow (I found playing it at 1.25 speed made it better), with many pauses where there shouldn't be and a lack of flow. I found myself questioning my purchase on more than a few times, but only for the editing reason. There are many technical terms unique to transport that may have thrown the rhythm askew, however, the producer should've done a better job with the editing and direction of the performance.

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Title: Lightning Struck Twice

Author: Shawntae Sawyer

Narrator: Tina Marie Shuster

Format: Unabridged

Length: 48 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-26-14

Publisher: Revival Waves of Glory Books & Publishing

Ratings: 5 of 5 out of 2 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Personal Memoirs

Publisher's Summary:

Shawny was born to very young parents. When they decided to go their separate ways. Her mom finds a man who she thought was the man of her dreams. What he was keeping on the inside was later revealed when her prince charming exposed himself with his true identity. What she didn't know is he had a sickness that medication couldn't get rid of, surgery couldn't remove, or a fortune teller couldn't predict. She was faced with one of the hardest decisions a mother could be faced with, not knowing Shawny would find herself in the same situation years later. To hear important information from a child that brings you to your knees is a story that needs to be told. Who would have thought Lightning would have struck twice?

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Title: On Witnessing a Murder in South Africa

Author: Gregory Dybec

Narrator: Kevin T. Collins

Format: Unabridged

Length: 58 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-18-14

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 3 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Personal Memoirs

Publisher's Summary:

In this powerful personal narrative, Gregory Dybec recounts his short yet eventful trip to South Africa during the 2010 FIFA World Cup, where he encountered a series of unforgettable situations, from a memorable collection of new friends, to life-threatening car rides, to an image of violence impossible to shake. This gripping nonfiction narrative examines a country, its people, and the complexities of life under the festive backdrop of one of the world's largest sporting events.

Members Reviews:

Nice!

Fluent narrative, powerful short storytelling and thorough description takes the reader into South Africa during the world cup.

Witnessing firsthand the contrast between the joy of the game and harsh social reality of the country.

Sergio Montes de Oca

Excellent read

Superbly written. The writer draws you into his experiences in a way that is extremely visual and thought provoking. I would reccomend this to everyone.

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Title: Please, Mister Postman

Author: Alan Johnson

Narrator: Alan Johnson

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 22 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-09-14

Publisher: Random House Audiobooks

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Personal Memoirs

Publisher's Summary:

In July 1969, while the Rolling Stones played a free concert in Hyde Park, Alan Johnson and his young family left West London to start a new life. The Britwell Estate in Slough, apparently notorious among the locals, in fact came as a blessed relief after the tensions of Notting Hill, and the local community welcomed them with open arms.

Alan had become a postman the previous year, and in order to support his growing family took on every bit of overtime he could, often working 12-hour shifts six days a week. It was hard work, but not without its compensations - the crafty fag snatched in a country lane, the farmers wife offering a hearty breakfast and even the mysterious lady on Glebe Road who appeared daily, topless, at her window as the postman passed by.Please, Mister Postman paints a vivid picture of England in the 1970s, where no celebration was complete without a Party Seven of Watneys Red Barrel, smoking was the norm rather than the exception, and Sunday lunchtime was about beer, bingo, and cribbage. But as Alans life appears to be settling down and his career in the Union of Postal Workers begins to take off, his close-knit family is struck once again by tragedy. Moving, hilarious and unforgettable, Please, Mister Postman is another astonishing book from the award-winning author of This Boy.

Members Reviews:

Can't wait for the next volume!

Brilliant evocation of the 1970s in the post office and family life on a council estate.

Although Alan Johnson is not a top rate reader of his own moving story he is totally authentic so you warm to him. The story of industrial practices, union politics and the heart breaks of domestic life are wonderful told.

Slightly disappointed

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Just about. I was disappointed because of the glowing reviews and the favourable impression I had formed of AJ.

What did you like best about this story?

The life story is compelling; having said that it is being produced in relatively small episodes.

What didnt you like about Alan Johnsons performance?

To be honest, it was awful and it emphasised an unpolished writing style - just my opinion.

Do you think Please, Mister Postman needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

I am sure that there will be at least one more, but I doubt whether I would listen to it.

Another interesting insight

Part 2 of, not only Alan Johnson's life, but of the social history of the era. Highly recommended.

Fascinating

I enjoyed this book because it is a personal account of a politicians life in the making. Whereas so many politicians have a privileged start in life, Alan Johnson didn't. He shows us that the power of strong family bonds and love can help someone to care about ordinary people. This is a good sequel to 'This Boy'.

A good read

The last sentence makes me want to read more about this amiable man and his future quest for inner contentment.

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Title: Be Strong, Be Tough, Be Smart

Author: Donato Alfredano, Giada Star

Narrator: Roger Buehler, Natalya Bykov

Format: Unabridged

Length: 3 hrs and 36 mins

Language: English

Release date: 09-22-14

Publisher: Don Alfredano

Ratings: 5 of 5 out of 24 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Personal Memoirs

Publisher's Summary:

Be Strong, Be Tough, Be Smart tells one family's unique tale of championing a child with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) from infancy to adulthood. Alfredano and Star offer empathetic emotional support, as well as practical tips for connecting with your child with autism.

When Donato Alfredano's son Denny was diagnosed with autism 30 years ago, Alfredano and his wife faced previously unimaginable trials: lack of information about Denny's condition, social isolation, and the daily fight to balance caring for their brilliant but difficult son with life's myriad of other challenges. The Alfredano family, including Denny's younger sister, Giada Star, weathered years of trial and error with unwavering dedication to, and faith in, each other. They saw Denny go from an uncommunicative toddler to a respected PhD.

As he navigated medical and educational systems, Alfredano realized that considerable progress could be made at home through individually tailored interactions with his ASD child.

Told in personal anecdotes and easy-to-follow snippets of practical advice, Be Strong, Be Tough, Be Smart lets parents know they are not alone. Alfredano doesn't promise easy answers, but his family's story shows that with fortitude and persistence, there is hope for every child with autism.

Members Reviews:

Game Changer In The Autism Game

For starters I think the message that speaks the loudest in this book is that parental love has no boundaries in education, research, commitment or results. This is an uplifting and realistic perspective from folks who have lived on the front lines of autism.

They did it during a time much of the debate and confusion of what it was and how it affected individual kids who grew to be adults with autism. Adults who go on to live productive lives that are engaged, with the world around them interactively and not hidden away as flawed.

In my mind, the interesting part of this journey was that they really had no advantages when they were in the middle of the struggle. Looking for answers in the age before the internet where the most you could hope for was a Research Library close enough to utilize.

This book is set up to help parents currently dealing with the challenge to plan and implement a home program if you will. That makes quick work of advice, been there anecdotes which I would think are the most helpful.

But more important than all that a voice to listen to who has faced the Autism negative diagnosis and as a family turned it into not just a positive because this book is so much more than any my glass is half full platitudes book.

I'm giving this book five stars because it doesn't sugar coat the reality it just serves hope on the side as dip.

Intriguing journey

What made the experience of listening to Be Strong, Be Tough, Be Smart the most enjoyable?

As someone who works with many children with autism, this book was particularly interesting. The author does a great job of conveying hope and giving his account on how persistence and constant dedication has led to better results in dealing with his autistic child. Very inspirational on many levels and I am glad I found this book. Highly recommended.

A must read for anyone who has a (ASD) child

Would you listen to Be Strong, Be Tough, Be Smart again? Why?

A friend recommend this audio book to me.

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Title: Frederick

Subtitle: A Story of Boundless Hope

Author: Frederick Ndabaramiye, Amy Parker

Narrator: Barry Scott

Format: Unabridged

Length: 4 hrs and 1 min

Language: English

Release date: 09-16-14

Publisher: Thomas Nelson Publishers

Ratings: 5 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Personal Memoirs

Publisher's Summary:

"My God won't let me do that."

These seven words of boundless hope would irreversibly change the life of the teenage boy who spoke them.

On April 7, 1994 the life of Frederick Ndabaramiye and his family changed forever as the Rwandan genocide erupted in their homeland. When Frederick faced those same genocidaires a few years later, he noted the machete that hung from the right hand closest to him and wondered if his would soon be added to the layers of dried blood that clung to the blade. Either way, young Frederick knew that he wouldn't be able to carry out the orders just given to him, to raise that blade against the other passengers of the bus, regardless of the race marked on their identity cards.

That bold decision would cause Frederick to lose his hands. But what the killers meant for harm, God intended for good. The cords that bound him served as a tourniquet, saving his life when his hands were hacked away. This new disability eventually fueled Frederick's passion to show the world that disabilities do not have to stop you from living a life of undeniable purpose. From that passion, the Ubumwe Community Center was born, where "people like me" come to discover their own purposes and abilities despite their circumstances.

Through miraculous mercy and divine appointment, Frederick forgives those who harmed him and goes on to fully grasp his God-given mission. In this extraordinary true story of forgiveness, faith, and hope, you will be challenged, convicted, and forever converted to a believer of the impossible.

Members Reviews:

we can become better, more caring and understanding versions of ourselves

After being witness to and a victim of the atrocities in Rwanda, Frederick has grown from a young boy of unwavering faith into a remarkable man with an exceptional ability to forgive. Amy and Frederick have documented this journey giving us a glimpse of pain and suffering of this small nation in the 1990s and Frederickâs visions and actions for brighter tomorrows for all Rwandans.

I encourage everyone to read the account of Frederickâs lifeâso far. While we all cannot be Frederick, following his example, we can become better, more caring and understanding versions of ourselves.

I eagerly await to see what Frederick does next, because I know that he isnât finished yet!

and a little good luck can work miracles

This is the story of survival and triumph by a young Rwandan caught in the aftermath of the genocide. I met Mr. Ndabaramiye at the Community Center he and his colleague developed near the Congo border to provide education, training, and social acceptance for disabled children and young adults that otherwise would be outcasts from society. It may not be a literary masterpiece but it is the truth of his life and accomplishments, and a moving and uplifting book. His story will give you a glimpse into how faith, determination, and a little good luck can work miracles.

A wonderful, inspiring true story.

This is a wonderful true story about unbelievable tragedy during the genocide in Rwanda, and about survival and the ability to forgive and to bloom, with God's guidance. Frederick has not only accomplished these things, but is helping others to do this, also.

Truly amazing

Frederick...The bravest of souls. Such a Remarkable story that everyone should hear. One I will never forget.