Catherine S. Read

The Voices of the Impacted

Revisado: 10-26-23

Unlike a book in print, this brings us the voices, experiences, and emotions of those whose lives were impacted by Tess Henry.

Her story needs to be understood holistically and not reduced to a diagnosis and a sensational headline.

Beth Macy continues to take us to the places where we can meet people where they are. We need to have more community conversations about substance use disorder and how to address its impacts on individuals, families, and on towns and cities. Those conversations have to be grounded in evidence based information - in the science of addiction.

This book will help people who are willing to be educated lead meaningful conversations in their homes, in their faith communities and in the public square. We all need to be part of the solution to this national scourge decimating our communities.

Once you hear these voices you won’t be able to unhear them.

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A Remarkable Book

Revisado: 06-27-23

I enjoyed every minute I spent with this book. In addition to the other skills Brandon Fleming has honed, good storytelling and narrative construction are among them.

His personal journey is remarkable for his persistence and transformational growth at such a young age. His clarion call to the education of Black students and the hurdles he overcame to prove what works in teaching students of color is frustrating to listen to in many ways. The proof of his convictions is seen in cohort after cohort of high-achieving students.

This is a book I wish I could get everyone to read. It challenges so many widely held beliefs about education. Millennials are the NOW generation. Brandon Fleming is changing the world because he believes he can.

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Outstanding Storytelling

Revisado: 12-17-22

Wonderful biography of a family. Well produced and a joy to listen to. Ron and Clint Howard have lived amazing lives.

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A Compelling Story Well Told

Revisado: 03-17-22

In preparation to interview the author, Silvia Foti, I purchased her book and then realized how difficult it was to figure out place names and people's names given my unfamiliarity with the Lithuanian alphabet and language. Being able to listen to this wonderful narrator glide through the text added enormously to my understanding of the written text. Silvia Foti's journey of discovery took two decades of research and upended what she believed she knew about her grandfather and what happened in Lithuania during WWII and the Holocaust.

I highly recommend this audio version of a gripping story well told.

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What an amazing story!

Revisado: 03-03-19

A beautifully told story of something that is iconic in the experience of Americans. The Wizard of Oz is one of the most viewed movies of all time. Elizabeth Letts has crafted a thoroughly engaging novel based on exhaustive research. Even the author’s afterward is captivating in illuminating the backstory of this movie and of the man who wrote the original book, L. Frank Baum.

I loved every minute of this audiobook.

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The Recipe for Finding a Way Forward

Revisado: 10-25-17

I know the author Emily Nunn. We were both born in the same small town of Galax, VA. Our families were friends, along with her Aunt Mariah and Uncle John who lived next door to us with their three daughters. This memoir was especially poignant for me. To hear the narrator talk about our neighbors and friends from so very long ago, and to understand some of what happened in Emily's life after we moved away in 1968, was very personal for me.

I listened to this audiobook with my husband on our very long drive from Virginia to Georgia and back again. He knew none of the people in this book and found it as utterly captivating as I did.

As Leo Tolstoy famously wrote in Anna Karenina, “All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.”

This is a story about "rethinking our idea of family" as Toni Nunn suggests to her cousin Emily more than once. And so the author sets out to reconnect with people she was once close to in her life - many of whom reached out to her through Facebook, after she hit rock bottom and the bottom of a gin bottle, offering a safe haven and a welcoming home.

The idea of the Comfort Food Diaries emerged out of Emily's life long connection to the food experiences of her childhood and from her professional career as a food writer in both New York and Chicago. It made sense to her to ask people around her about the food that brought them comfort. And she does. And those answers, from pickles and pimento cheese in Tidewater, to her epiphany about pasta with chicken liver sauce in Charleston, add a dimension to her journey of recovery that is unlike any other.

Her descriptions of meals, food preparation, and the recipes contained in this book are a feast for the ears. I also have the hardcopy of this book and it is expressly to have the recipes it contains. But regardless of whether you consider yourself a "foodie" or not, you will relate to the importance comfort food has in our lives - from our earliest childhood memories to what we choose to have for our birthday dinner, or to ring in the New Year, or to help us get through a case of the blues.

Candace Thaxton is a wonderful narrator. I could listen to her read to me every day, and I was truly sorry when the book was over. I highly recommend this book for general consumption.

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Another Amazing Book from Brené Brown

Revisado: 10-03-17

This premise of the book is so very timely. And I never tire of hearing Brené Brown read her own books. It's such an intimate experience to have her share these ideas in such a personal way - speaking to me, directly to me. She's put herself out there in taking a stand on divisive social and political issues. But the whole point of this book is understanding that belonging begins within each of us. We have to embrace who we are before we can share who we are with other people. I loved this book!

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Powerful Storytelling

Revisado: 10-03-17

I loved hearing Ms. Pat read her own autobiography. I'm sure the printed book is excellent, but nothing compares to the experience of hearing this woman tell her own story in her own words. The printed word can't hold a candle to the spoken word where this book is concerned. I can see now why it has been so highly rated by other listeners. It's a book I wish I could share with everyone I know.

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A Captivating Book about Identity

Revisado: 02-26-17

I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this book. I thought the narrator did a wonderful job of bringing both the author and her father to life through her nuanced narration.

As an LGBT activist, I have more than a superficial understanding of the multifaceted aspects of gender identity. And yet . . . Susan Faludi takes the question of identity to a whole new level and shows the many layers and overlapping aspects of how we see ourselves. Gender is only one of those pieces to our sense of self. And she explores how gender can also be conflated with other aspects of identity like Jewishness.

It was also a fascinating history of Hungary. While that was most unexpected, I enjoyed learning the history of this country through the story of her father's life and his family's history there. It is the most personal of journeys through a country's long and fraught existence and it comes to life through the impact it had on individuals. People with names, faces and histories themselves.

I was also grateful for the deeper understanding of the Jewish experience in Hungary and the very specific details of how the Holocaust impacted Hungarian Jews. Susan Faludi does a masterful job not only in her deep research, but in her storytelling.

I can't get this book off my mind. I wish more people would read it so we could talk about it! That is the hallmark of a really great book - one you want to talk about with other people.

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Invite this man in and listen closely

Revisado: 02-03-17

I loved spending time with Michael Eric Dyson - in my car and in my kitchen. Hearing him read his own words felt very intimate to me.

He subtitles this book a sermon but I felt it was a conversation. I was not being lectured or preached at. He refers to the listener often as "beloved" and that moniker felt genuine to me. His purpose in reaching out to us is to draw us into to see a world we may not understand.

My first thought after finishing this book is that ignorance is a choice. People walk among us harboring prejudice and biases because they have chosen not to know the world - not because anyone is preventing them from knowing the world.

I would highly recommend this audiobook. The fact that "sermon" is in the title might put a lot of people off, but don't be put off.

The thought of spending what precious years I have on this earth living an unexamined life is anathema to me. It also perpetuates beyond my lifetime the institutional racism and sexism that plagues our country. That is not the legacy I want to leave behind for my children and grandchildren.

Wouldn't it be a wonderful thing to see this book chosen by bookclubs across America as a work they want to read and discuss? It's necessary to change people's hearts before you change their minds. Michael Eric Dyson approaches his subject that way and his words are very compelling.

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esto le resultó útil a 55 personas