Listen to Top 100 Audiobooks in Bios & Memoirs, Personal Memoirs

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Title: Bread & Wine

Subtitle: A Love Letter to Life Around the Table with Recipes

Author: Shauna Niequist

Narrator: Shauna Niequist

Format: Unabridged

Length: 5 hrs and 39 mins

Language: English

Release date: 04-09-13

Publisher: Zondervan

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 183 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Personal Memoirs

Publisher's Summary:

As a follow up to her two best-selling books, Bittersweet and Cold Tangerines, author and blogger Shauna Niequist returns with the perfect listen for those who love food and value the community and connection of family and friends around the table.

Bread & Wine is a collection of essays about family relationships, friendships, and the meals that bring us together. This mix of Anne Lamott and Barefoot Contessa is a funny, honest, and vulnerable spiritual memoir. Bread & Wine is a celebration of food shared, reminding listeners of the joy found in a life around the table. Its about the ways God teaches and nourishes people as they nourish the people around them. Its about hunger, both physical and otherwise, and the connections between the two.

With wonderful recipes included, from Bacon-Wrapped Dates to Mango Chicken Curry to Blueberry Crisp, listeners will be able to recreate the comforting and satisfying meals that come to life in Bread & Wine.

Members Reviews:

Fantastic!

Hospitality and The table have never sounded so good. I love this book. It's a food and life adventure peppered with wisdom and important truths. We can love each other and savor life around the table.

Touching stories

I have enjoyed listening to Shauna's new podcast, and decided to "hear" her book. I caught myself smiling, laughing, and even shedding a tear at times. Her book is a wonderful compilation of short stories about normal, messy life...and food!

So. Very. Good.

Sometimes I had to stop between chapters to let the beautiful story sink in. I felt as if I was listening to a friend tell her life story.

Food, family and God

Thanks for a pleasant read, her voice is nice to listen to and the book had some good points and life lessons.

Met Shauna at Life Today

This book is every bit as delightful and refreshing as my brief encounter was with Shauna. Thank you and keep up the good work.

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Title: Banished

Subtitle: Surviving My Years in the Westboro Baptist Church

Author: Lauren Drain

Narrator: Lauren Drain

Format: Unabridged

Length: 8 hrs and 5 mins

Language: English

Release date: 03-05-13

Publisher: Hachette Audio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 313 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Personal Memoirs

Publisher's Summary:

You've likely heard of the Westboro Baptist Church. Perhaps you've seen their pickets on the news, the members holding signs with messages that are too offensive to copy here, protesting at events such as the funerals of soldiers, the 9-year-old victim of the recent Tucson shooting, and Elizabeth Edwards, all in front of their grieving families. The WBC is fervently anti-gay, anti-Semitic, and anti- practically everything and everyone. And they aren't going anywhere: In March, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of the WBC's right to picket funerals.

Since no organized religion will claim affiliation with the WBC, it's perhaps more accurate to think of them as a cult. Lauren Drain was thrust into that cult at the age of 15, and then spat back out again seven years later. Banished is the first look inside the organization, as well as a fascinating story of adaptation and perseverance.

Lauren spent her early years enjoying a normal life with her family in Florida. But when her formerly liberal and secular father set out to produce a documentary about the WBC, his detached interest gradually evolved into fascination, and he moved the entire family to Kansas to join the church and live on their compound. Over the next seven years, Lauren fully assimilated their extreme beliefs, and became a member of the church and an active and vocal picketer. But as she matured and began to challenge some of the church's tenets, she was unceremoniously cast out from the church and permanently cut off from her family and from everyone else she knew and loved.

Banished is the story of Lauren's fight to find herself amidst dramatic changes in a world of extremists and a life in exile.

Members Reviews:

Get Thee Behind Me Phelps

Firstly, ignore the review by "Jack"; he is a Topeka resident and shill for the Westboro Baptist church. All his review really shows is that, even after all these years, Jesus can still sometimes be seen carried on the back of an ass.

This book is a sobering testament. It is one thing- tragic but comprehensible- for children or even a teenager to be indoctrinated into a ravingly inhumane religious ideology. But for an educated articulate adult, and an atheist no less? The sad fact shown in this book is that the members of this ridiculous church are for the most part highly intelligent people. They have gained the world of pure righteousness, but at the cost of any possibility of self understanding. This was a bargain that Lauren Drain seemed unsuited by nature to keep, so her conflict with the church was painful but inevitable. Go girl! Well read by the author.

The good news is that while this book was in press, two more young women defected from Westboro Baptist. Hopefully with publication, more will follow.

Hopefully the first of many more to come!

What made the experience of listening to Banished the most enjoyable?

The fact that Lauren Drain herself reads the material gives it a poignancy that 3rd party narrators can't provide. Less expressive, perhaps, but more authentic.

Who was your favorite character and why?

The Phelps girls (particularly Jael and Megan) are always interesting, because they've never known a life outside of the cult-like family environment. Their sense of superiority is consistently undercut by having to keep themselves in check.

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Title: Call of the American Wild

Subtitle: A Tenderfoot's Escape to Alaska

Author: Guy Grieve

Narrator: Steve West

Format: Unabridged

Length: 13 hrs and 38 mins

Language: English

Release date: 02-03-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 543 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Personal Memoirs

Publisher's Summary:

A man, an axe, and a dog named Fuzzy.... Let the adventure begin!

Trapped in a job he hated and up to his neck in debt, Guy Grieves life was going nowhere. But with a stroke of luck, his dream of escaping it all to live in remote Alaska suddenly came true. Miles from the nearest human being and armed with only the most basic equipment, Guy built a log cabin from scratch and began carving a life for himself through fishing, hunting, and diligently avoiding bears.

Packed with adventure, humor, and insight, this is the gripping story of an ordinary man learning the ways of the wild.

Editorial Reviews:

If you've ever felt frustrated with modern life, if you've longed, in some strange primal way, to reconnect with nature in its cruelest and deadliest incarnation, then Guy Grieve's Call of the American Wild will resonate and fascinate.

Performed with aplomb by actor Steve West, whose frank and almost conversational style suits this intimate work well, Call of the American Wild tells the story of Guy Grieve's one year retreat into the Alaskan wilderness, where he builds a cabin, learns to live off the land, and contemplates questions of self-reliance, humility, family, and modernity. This audiobook contains a wonderful mix of practical information and existential consideration, perfect for adventure seekers and memoir addicts alike.

Members Reviews:

Maybe not really kinda true?

I was excited to listen to this book but the problems started almost immediately. I was born and raised in Alaska and when Grieve writes that he had to get back to camp by early evening because he didn't want to be caught out in the dark I started to realize things were fishy. In late spring, when he claims to be here, the sun doesn't set until almost midnight and doesn't set at all for a few months the farther north you go. He's vague on a lot of facts in this book, facts that could be verified. It feels like he's glossing over details. I'm not saying the story isn't true. I'm saying I have A LOT of doubts about its authenticity. I'd skip this one.

You will root for the bears and Mother Nature

Would you try another book from Guy Grieve and/or Steve West?

NO, NO a thousand times no!!

Has Call of the American Wild turned you off from other books in this genre?

No

How could the performance have been better?

If it had not happened

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Anger, disappoointment and utter frustration at both the author and reader

Any additional comments?

Even fiction must be plausible to be believable, so when a work of non-fiction isn't plausible, that work is pretty much worthless! I was so annoyed by the character of guy, that I found myself rooting for the bears, wolves, beaver, anything, to win out over this nitwit. He makes claims that even a person with a passing knowledge of bear behaviour knows is BS, and that is when he claims as fact, that black bears are far more dangerous than brown bears. A black bear will go completely out of its way to avoid a human encounter and will only become agressive when cornered. Unlike a grizzly, a bllack bear will not defend its cubs, nor is there any record of a black bear, as stated by Greive, tracking and eating a human. Total BS.

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Title: Coming of Age in Mississippi

Author: Anne Moody

Narrator: Lisa Reneé Pitts

Format: Unabridged

Length: 15 hrs and 30 mins

Language: English

Release date: 12-31-12

Publisher: Tantor Audio

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 254 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Personal Memoirs

Publisher's Summary:

Audie Award Finalist, Classic, 2014

Born to a poor couple who were tenant farmers on a plantation in Mississippi, Anne Moody lived through some of the most dangerous days of the pre-civil rights era in the South. The week before she began high school came the news of Emmet Till's lynching. Before then, she had "known the fear of hunger, hell, and the Devil. But now there wasthe fear of being killed just because I was black." In that moment was born the passion for freedom and justice that would change her life.

An all-A student whose dream of going to college is realized when she wins a basketball scholarship, she finally dares to join the NAACP in her junior year. Through the NAACP and later through CORE and SNCC she has first-hand experience of the demonstrations and sit-ins that were the mainstay of the civil rights movement, and the arrests and jailings, the shotguns, fire hoses, police dogs, billy clubs, and deadly force that were used to destroy it.

A deeply personal story but also a portrait of a turning point in our nation's destiny, this autobiography lets us see history in the making, through the eyes of one of the footsoldiers in the civil rights movement.

Critic Reviews:

"Simply one of the best, Anne Moody's autobiography is an eloquent, moving testimonial to... Courage." (

Chicago Tribune)

Members Reviews:

A Gripping, Visceral Account of 1960's Reality

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

There were many times during this story when I froze in place, put my hand over my mouth, and felt my eyes well with tears...but don't mistake it for some sort of a 'sappy sob story.'

Any additional comments?

This is one of the best credits I've ever spent. I couldn't take my headphones off! I even turned off my phone, so I wouldn't be disturbed. There is not one single boring word. The entire story is alive - pulling you in, triggering emotions you didn't even know you had, forcing you to experience an ugly part of American history, and opening your eyes to the true, dirty reality of racism.

The narrator is fantastic - I cannot praise her enough. She reads it like it's her own personal story. Her voice is smooth and pleasant and displays a brilliant full spectrum of emotions. I could listen to her all day and never get tired.

You will NOT regret this selection.

Meh. Interesting and unique persective, BUT....

Would you try another book from Anne Moody and/or Lisa Reneé Pitts?

While the historical perspective is excellent and insightful, I struggled a lot with disliking the protagonist. Anne Moody spends an inordinate amount of time telling us how she was the prettiest, the smartest, the best basketball player on the team, was wanted by all the boys, and so on ad nauseam. She is temperamental, irritable, and critical with almost everyone and everything in her life. Her mother, her father, her stepmother, teachers, coaches, principals, deans, fellow Civil Rights workers, etc.

What was most disappointing about Anne Moodys story?

Her very obvious vanity and how she speaks very disparagingly about almost everyone.

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Title: Serpent of Light: Beyond 2012

Author: Drunvalo Melchizedek

Narrator: Mark Ashby

Format: Unabridged

Length: 8 hrs and 36 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-07-12

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 223 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Personal Memoirs

Publisher's Summary:

Every 13,000 years on Earth a sacred and secret event takes place that changes everything. Mother Earth's Kundalini energy emerges from its resting place in the planet's core and moves like a snake across the surface of our world. Once at home in ancient Lemuria, it moved to Atlantis, then to the Himalayan mountains of India and Tibet, and with every relocation changed our idea of what spiritual means. And gender. And heart. This time, with much difficulty, the Serpent of Light has moved to the Andes Mountains of Chile and Peru.

Multi-dimensional, multi-disciplined, and multi-lived, for the first time in this book, Drunvalo begins to tell his stories of 35 years spent in service to Mother Earth. Follow him around the world as he follows the guidance of Ascended Masters, his two spheres of light, and his own inner growing knowledge. His story is a living string of ceremonies to help heal hearts, align energies, right ancient imbalances, and balance the living Earth's Unity Consciousness Grid - in short, to increase our awareness of the indivisibility of life in the universe. We are all - rocks and people and interdimensional beings - one!

Members Reviews:

No more doom and gloom about Dec 21, 2012

I liked hearing the story of the Serpent of Light. It's truly fascinating, but more importantly, Drunvalo is the first person that didn't talk about the doom and gloom or end of the world scenarios since the Mayan calendar comes to an end on December 21, 2013. Finally, an explanation that is uplifting and inspiring.

There is more to this Drunvalo than many of us really understand. I'm thankful for him and his book. I enjoyed the whole book which only took me a few days to get through as I was very eager to hear everything he had to say. Not narrated by him, but the Narrator was very good.

I definitely recommend this book.

Pretty Good

Good but weird. I like the story but I'm not sure how much of it is true. If it's all true that would be sweet.

Great source of information and inspiration

Great source of information and inspiration

complements to the author and the reader.

it reminded me the Celestine profecy, but

better and gave me a more sense of hope.

BE LOVE.

Opened my eyes

Excellent narration and story. Open your heart and spread love unconditionally to all things is a great message for humankind.

Beautiful teachings

Very good information it wish I had when it first came out I would had been further ahead, in to my learning.

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Title: Undaunted

Subtitle: Daring to Do What God Calls You to Do

Author: Christine Caine

Narrator: Tess Masters

Format: Unabridged

Length: 6 hrs and 22 mins

Language: English

Release date: 08-24-12

Publisher: Zondervan

Ratings: 5 of 5 out of 292 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Personal Memoirs

Publisher's Summary:

Christine Caine offers life-transforming insights about how not only to overcome the challenges, wrong turns, and often painful circumstances we all experience, but also to actually grow from those experiences and be equipped and empowered to help others. Using her own dramatic life story, Caine shows how God rescued her from a life in which she was unnamed, unwanted, and unqualified. She tells how she overcame abuse, abandonment, fears, and other challenges to go on a mission of adventure, fueled by faith, and filled with love and courage.

Her personal stories inspire listeners to hear their name called, just as Christine heard her own - You are beloved. You are the hope. You are chosen - to go into a dark and troubled world, knowing each of us possess all it takes to bring hope, create change, and live completely for Christ.

Part inspirational tale, part manifesto to stir listeners to lives of adventure, this book shows the way with spiritual wisdom and insight. Her mission to fight injustice by focusing on one person at a time will inspire and awe listeners with how we are joined in a unique mission, products of eternity, positioned in time, pressed to make the most of our lives on a quest filled with adventure and drawn by faith.

Members Reviews:

Sincere, Honesty, and REAL!

Would you listen to Undaunted again? Why?

Yes, I would definitely listen to it again. It was really close to my heart.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The moment when Nick/GOD was loving her through her past situations.

Thought provoking

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

Yes, but not sure this is one that I wish I had bought in paperback and audio and still may. Christine has some very thought provoking things in this book that if you had it in print you could pause for a few minutes after you read it and let it soak in. I like listening to it too though because I have more time to listen than I do to sit and read, but this one demands you not to multitask quite as much as some other books allow.

What did you like best about this story?

This is a compelling book... not a story.

What about Tess Masterss performance did you like?

She actually reads the way Christine would. I am glad that I saw Christine at Women of Faith and the Joyce Meyer women's conference this year before reading (listening to) her book. It did help me appreciate the writing more and Tess did a great job injection Christine's emotion for the subject matter into her reading.

Encouraging and uplifting

Would you listen to Undaunted again? Why?

I would listen to Undaunted again, because not only does the stories from the author's life keep you interested, but the principles drawn out from them are life changing.

What did you like best about this story?

It reminds us of the amazing love God has for us, and for others, and how he wants to use us to touch other people's lives for His purpose.

What about Tess Masterss performance did you like?

She read with powerful conviction

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

I cried many times during the book because of the incredible sad world we live in, and how people just like me can be in such horrible situations, and how men and women could be so cruel.

Any additional comments?

This book is a must read for everyone person, no matter your age.

Must Read!

amazing book.

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Title: A Year by the Sea

Subtitle: Thoughts of an Unfinished Woman

Author: Joan Anderson

Narrator: Laural Merlington

Format: Unabridged

Length: 4 hrs and 34 mins

Language: English

Release date: 07-24-12

Publisher: Brilliance Audio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 104 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Personal Memoirs

Publisher's Summary:

Life is a work in progress, as ever-changing as a sandy shoreline along the beach. During the years Joan Anderson was a loving wife and supportive mother, she had slowly and unconsciously replaced her own dreams with the needs of her family. With her sons grown, however, she realized that the family no longer centered on the home she provided, and her relationship with her husband had become stagnant. Like many women in her situation, Joan realized that she had neglected to nurture herself and, worse, to envision fulfilling goals for her future.

As her husband received a wonderful job opportunity out-of-state, it seemed that the best part of her own life was finished. Shocking both of them, she refused to follow him to his new job and decided to retreat to a family cottage on Cape Cod. At first casting about for direction, Joan soon began to take pleasure in her surroundings and call on resources she didnt realize she had. Over the course of a year, she gradually discovered that her life as an unfinished woman was full of possibilities.

Out of that magical, difficult, transformative year came A Year by the Sea, a record of her experiences and a treasury of wisdom for readers. This year of self-discovery brought about extraordinary changes in the authors life. The steps that Joan took to revitalize herself and rediscover her potential have helped thousands of woman reveal and release untapped resources within themselves.

Members Reviews:

Free too be a woman of my own making.

I long to be brave enough to take chances. This book gives me the courage to return to my days of youthful adventure and overcome the fear that has come about from life's mistakes. I feel free to be a woman of my own making and help my wonderful husband of 40 years find retirement an adventure, too.

Lovely story of strength and independence!

Honestly this book took me over a year to open after rave reviews from a dear friend. I wrote my own story in my head of a woman escaping for a year at the expense of her husband, to find herself. That was so far from the truth and I was pleasantly surprised!

A beautifully written journey of self expression and discovery partnered with a determination to be independent. I love how she releases her pride to experience a greater depth.

My favorite part was the end when you find she is not the only one on a journey to self discovery. I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone. Hopefully, a few young couples will read this and save themselves years of anguish before feeling at home alone and together.

Love it

I love this story and the narrator was perfect! I didn't want it to end.

Great read but not enjoyable listen

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

I gave up trying to listen to this book because the read read too fast for such complex sentences and depth. I tried slowing the speed but that didn't work for me. I read the entire book on Kindle but felt my Audible purchase was a waste of money.

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Title: A Life Without Limits

Subtitle: A World Champion's Journey

Author: Chrissie Wellington, Lance Armstrong (foreward)

Narrator: Polly Lee, Chrissie Wellington

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 54 mins

Language: English

Release date: 05-15-12

Publisher: Hachette Audio

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 610 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Personal Memoirs

Publisher's Summary:

In 2007, Chrissie Wellington shocked the triathlon world by winning the Ironman World Championships in Hawaii. As a newcomer and a complete unknown to the press, Chrissie's win shook up the sport. A Life without Limits is the story of her rise to the top, a journey that has taken her around the world, from a childhood in England, to the mountains of Nepal, to the oceans of New Zealand, to the trails of Argentina, and finally, across the finish line.

Wellington's first-hand, inspiring story includes all the incredible challenges she has faced - from anorexia, to near-drowning, to training with a controversial coach. But to Wellington, the drama of the sport also presents an opportunity to improve people's lives.

A Life without Limits reveals the heart behind Wellington's success, along with the diet, training, and motivational techniques that keep her going through one of the world's most grueling events.

Members Reviews:

Chrissie winning, on repeat

There's an interesting start to this book. Lance Armstrong narrates the foreword and I can't help but think of the doping scandal that overshadows his achievements now. His foreword kind of primed me to look out for machismo, for ego. This set the scene for me to feel sceptically about elite athletic pursuits and I wasn't much helped out of it by not warming to Chrissie as much as I'd have hoped.

I picked this up because I've read and loved books like "Into Thin Air" by Krakauer and "Born to Run" by McDougall. I was looking for an inspiring read, an insight into the mind of a person who pushes her body to the limit. While I found Chrissie to be very self-aware insightful and honest. I also couldn't help feeling like it was all a little too glossy. Challenges and set-backs are described, but over all it was success story after success story and I felt a little hit over the head with it.

I did learn a lot about the world of triathlon and ironman, as I'd hoped, but it didn't have the inspiring effect on me that Born to Run did. I didn't ultimately find Chrissie that accessible and did't feel a sense of inclusiveness around the description of her experience.

I think readers with an interest in adventure/sport stories or in biographies will get the most out of this. Chrissie is an exceptional woman and has used her success to raise the profile of charities.

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Title: Love, Life, and Elephants

Subtitle: An African Love Story

Author: Daphne Sheldrick

Narrator: Virginia McKenna

Format: Unabridged

Length: 14 hrs and 34 mins

Language: English

Release date: 05-08-12

Publisher: Macmillan Audio

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 154 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Personal Memoirs

Publisher's Summary:

Daphne Sheldrick, whose family arrived in Africa from Scotland in the 1820s, is the first person ever to have successfully hand-reared newborn elephants. Her deep empathy and understanding, her years of observing Kenyas rich variety of wildlife, and her pioneering work in perfecting the right husbandry and milk formula have saved countless elephants, rhinos, and other baby animals from certain death.

In this heartwarming and poignant memoir, Daphne shares her amazing relationships with a host of orphans, including her first love, Bushy, a liquid-eyed antelope; Rickey-Tickey-Tavey, the little dwarf mongoose; Gregory Peck, the busy buffalo weaver bird; Huppety, the mischievous zebra; and the majestic elephant Eleanor, with whom Daphne has shared more than forty years of great friendship.

But this is also a magical and heartbreaking human love story between Daphne and David Sheldrick, the famous Tsavo Park warden. It was their deep and passionate love, Davids extraordinary insight into all aspects of nature, and the tragedy of his early death that inspired Daphnes vast array of achievements, most notably the founding of the world-renowned David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust and the Orphans Nursery in Nairobi National Park, where Daphne continues to live and work to this day.

Encompassing not only David and Daphnes tireless campaign for an end to poaching and for conserving Kenyas wildlife, but also their ability to engage with the human side of animals and their rearing of the orphans expressly so they can return to the wild, Love, Life, and Elephants is alive with compassion and humor, providing a rare insight into the life of one of the worlds most remarkable women.

Members Reviews:

A LOVE STORY IN EVERY SENSE

[THE PRINT AND KINDLE VERSIONS OF THIS BOOK HAVE MANY PAGES OF MAPS AND PHOTOGRAPHS. THE AUDIO VERSION DESERVES A PDF FILE OF THE SAME!]

This is the people and animal book I was looking for when I gave a disappointed review to Love at First Bark. This book is first a love story about the life of a very loving woman, two husbands -- both great loves, a daughter from each, and years of fascinating work with animals in Kenya. Daphne Sheldrick tells her own life story, weaving family events with animal friends, scientific discoveries, and world and Kenyan politics. She waxes quite poetic in spots, describing the romance and beauty of the scenery, the scent of ylang-ylang and animal sounds in the night. The story is balanced and consistent, although one chapter may be about high-level politics and the next may focus on an orphaned rhino or elephant they are raising. I found the joyful descriptions of the garden and the small creatures living nearby helps to compensate for the heart-breaking saga of poaching and general corruption.

Virginia McKenna, the narrator, is outstanding. She is a great actress, turning the words into a musical composition expressing fun, excitement and joy, slowing to a whisper for serious parts. She sounds like an old English lady wearing a ruffly blouse, face powder and a flowery scent, which may be just how the author herself would sound. Mrs. Sheldrick is only 78 now, living and working near Nairobi.

Predictably some people will be "turned off" by mention of culling and poaching -- all the wildlife systematically killed through greed, ignorance and bad politics.

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Title: Seven Years in Tibet

Author: Heinrich Harrer, Richard Graves

Narrator: Mark Meadows

Format: Unabridged

Length: 11 hrs and 38 mins

Language: English

Release date: 04-02-12

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 1192 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Personal Memoirs

Publisher's Summary:

A landmark in travel writing, this is the incredible true story of Heinrich Harrers escape across the Himalayas to Tibet, set against the backdrop of the Second World War. Heinrich Harrer, already one of the greatest mountaineers of his time, was climbing in the Himalayas when war broke out in Europe. He was imprisoned by the British in India but succeeded in escaping and fled to Tibet. Settling in Lhasa, the Forbidden City, where he became a friend and tutor to the Dalai Lama, Heinrich Harrer spent seven years gaining a more profound understanding of Tibet and the Tibetans than any Westerner before him.

Seven Years in Tibet was translated into 53 languages, became a best seller in the United States in 1954, and sold three million copies.

Critic Reviews:

"It deserves its place among the few great travel stories of our times." (The Times)

"Few adventurers in this century have had the combined luck and hardihood to return with such news as this. Fewer still have rendered it so powerfully unadorned." (Times Literary Supplement)

"Some books, like some mountains, are lonely and unrivalled peaks. This is one of them." (Economist)

Members Reviews:

Excellent

Where does Seven Years in Tibet rank among all the audiobooks youve listened to so far?

It is in my top ten of true stories.

Any additional comments?

This is better than the movie counterpart. It really goes deeper, and the story is one that leaves you feeling. There is adventure, human development, cultural understanding, and beauty in this story.

Great book

Loved the narrator, I had never seen the movie so now am anxious to see it. Such an incredible experience to go through and it gives you an appreciation for the Tibetan people.

What a story!

This book had a really good narrator and kept your attention all the way through definitely recommend. A really good read.

An Adventure Classic

Heinrich Harrer was an Austrian mountain climber. In 1939 he is in India when World War II breaks out. He is taken to a detention camp in Bombay. He escapes and heads toward Tibet. At that time Tibet did not allow outsiders into their country. He walks, hides and runs until he crosses the Tibet boarder. Then he has to use all his skills to trick and deceive his way past daunting Tibetan officials. He walks seventy days over rugged mountainous terrain before he reaches Lhasa, the capital of Tibet.

He makes friends and lives with a family; he becomes fluent in Tibetan. He comes to the attention of the government who consults him on various matters where he contributes tremendously, because of his western school training. He becomes a tutor to the Dalai Lama.

I enjoyed his marvelous descriptions of his first sights of Tibet. He describes Tibetan life including their colorful ceremonies. Toward the end he also tells of the 1950 military takeover of Tibet by China and the Dali Lama and his government fleeing to India. In the afterword, the author tells of the Dalai Lama coming to his 90th birthday party in Germany. I enjoyed the afterword as it brought events up to the current date. I had no idea how badly Tibet has suffered under Chinese rule.

This book was first published in 1952 and apparently has sold millions worldwide. I seem to be late on the scene having just discovered this interesting book. Mark Meadows does a good job narrating the book.