Audiobooks Facts Archives - Page 2 of 3

What Are Audiobooks?

Once commonly referred to as “talking books,” audiobooks have been around in one form or another since the 1930s. Even though technology has changed considerably since the early days of audiobooks, it’s still an appealing way to enjoy a sizzling best-seller or a timeless classic in a more convenient and engaging way. Here is an explanation for anyone who’s searching for “what is audiobooks?”

What Exactly Are Audiobooks?

Audiobooks are simply voice recordings of text from a published book. They can be verbatim (word-for-word) recordings of a book’s complete text or a short, abridged version of the book. Audiobooks can be listened to on a music device like an mp3 player when in digital form, on a smartphone or tablet, or on a home computer or laptop that’s capable of producing sound. Once primarily available on audio cassettes, today’s audiobooks are often downloaded or streamed by the user.

How Are They Different from E-Books?

The terms “e-book” and “audiobook” are sometimes confused. While both are electronic or digital forms of books, that’s where the similarities end. An e-book is a book that’s meant to be read on the screen of a computer, a mobile device, or a special electronic reader designed specifically for viewing the digital form of a book. Audiobooks are meant to be listened to. Therefore, there’s no visual presentation of text.

Why Purchase Audiobooks?

The most obvious reason to purchase audiobooks is because they are entertaining and informative. The dialog is often read in a way that draws the listener into the story or narrative. Audiobooks also give you the ability to multitask. You can listen to your preferred audiobook while you clean the house, get school work done, or even while sitting against a tree on a warm summer day and taking in the sights around you. Here are some other reasons to use audiobooks:

You’ll get a better feel for the emotions behind the words.
You can finish a book faster since words are generally spoken at a quicker pace.
Comprehension is often easier because of the vocal tone or inflection.
Audiobooks are soothing and a great way to mentally escape from a stressful day.

Now that you have your answer to “what is audiobooks,” explore the affordable club pricing plans available from places like AudiobooksNow for an enjoyable audiobook experience.

Anything, But a Fairlytale…”Wallis In Love”, by Andrew Morton

I remember hearing about a king abdicating his throne for the love of his life…….but I did not know the real story. Apparently, according to biographer, Andrew Morton, Wallis Simpson was not the person who was really worthy of such sacrificial love as exhibited by Edward VIII. I had imagined a graceful, beautiful lady whose charms just could not be resisted by Edward, Prince of Wales. Not a picture of the actual Wallis Simpson at all.

Bessie Wallis Warfield was always only out for herself. Even as a little girl, she was known to say, “me, me” instead of “ma, ma”. Through diary entries, letters, and other records, Morton takes the reader through Wallis’s romantic adventures in China, Washington, and her entrance into London society. Instead of the one supposed romantic story, she had one husband who was a Navy pilot……through him, she met a richer crowd. After that marriage, she met husband #2, a shipping broker who gave her the life she wanted, but also led her to meet Edward, the Prince of Wales. He immediately became infatuated with her and showered her with gifts and attention, as her husband watched from the background. She actually thought she might realize her dream of becoming a queen. But, she did not realize that twice divorced women would never become queen. She thought sure she could trick her way into receiving the title. When Edward’s father died, Edward was in line to become king, but he decided to abdicate the throne to be with Wallis Simpson. She was not happy about his decision, so she made his life miserable after that and treated him very badly.

Wallis was a taker all her life, never giving back to anything or anyone. She was a hollow person, famous for being famous. She was not a temptress or vixen, but an ordinary gold digger, who found out that in the end, what she thought would make her happy did not turn out anything as she had thought. What I always imagined to be a fairytale romance ended up being anything but………

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Walk Like a Queen…”Gold Dust Women, The Biography of Stevie Nicks”, by Stephen Davis

When we think of who is an awesome iconic woman in serious rock’n roll……one of the first names that comes to mind has to be Stevie Nicks. Her place in music history was secured by her years of performing with Fleetwood Mac. To this day, she performs to sold out venues at the age of 69. Her fans are die-hard and have gobbled up the information in author, Stephen Davis’ unauthorized biography entitled Gold Dust Woman. Even self-proclaimed Stevie Nicks-aholics admit that the prospect of another biography about the rocker icon left them less than interested, but they were pleasantly surprised at how much more they learned about Stevie and her illustrious career and colorful personal life.

Stevie became interested in music through her grandfather, when she was a child. Eventually, she met Lindsey Buckingham and her years as a rock goddess began. Her career with Fleetwood Mac has been described by the author in various stages of the good, the bad, and the ugly. It follows her journey through battling drug addiction and various exes, and on to a very successful solo career in present day.

Gold Dust Woman portrays the life of Stevie Nicks taking the reader through her relationship with controlling Lindsey Buckingham, her rally to assert her strength to stand up to him and the man’s music world of Fleetwood Mac, and her fight to the top as she proved her worth as an outstanding talent who deserves her celebrity status. She aspired to and gained the right to “walk like a queen”.

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Complex Genius…”Leonardo da Vinci”, by Walter Isaacson

Most literate, and perhaps some not so literate, people around the world know Leonardo daVinci for his two most famous paintings…….The Last Supper, and Mona Lisa, but there was so much more to be learned about this complex genius. As with most extremely creative people, DaVinci had an insatiable curiosity for just about everything. He used his curiosity about many subjects….. anatomy, engineering, the heart, flying, machines, botany, geology, weaponry……. just on and on……to give a dimension to his art work that very few other artists, if any, could accomplish. He was much ahead of his time displaying just as much interest in science and technology as he did in his art. Being able to stand at the crossroads of the humanities and the sciences, which was illustrated by his famous drawing of Vitruvian Man, led his critics to think of him as one of history’s most creative geniuses.

How many times do you hear children ask inquisitive questions such as where does rain come from? But, as children grow older, that inquisitiveness seems to lessen and lessen until it all but disappears. Isaacson found that the childlike trait in Leonardo daVinci never did disappear. DaVinci kept many notebooks about all of his thoughts on subjects, and all of his drawing collections, making a perfect source for Isaacson’s biography. He found him to be a very complex man, but very comfortable in his own skin. He was born illegitimate and was known to be homosexual, so it was used to his advantage. Nobody had set ideas that he was expected to live within or parameters that he was expected to honor. He was very at ease with himself, and gave himself the freedom to take his imagination in many directions. The biography of DaVinci is the newest for author Isaacson who is well-known for his acclaimed best sellers…….Steve Jobs, Einstein, and Benjamin Franklin. It is a lengthy, beautifully illustrated book that should be savored.

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The Miracle Of Dunkirk, “Dunkirk”, by Joshua Levine

We have all heard about the battle of Dunkirk with the Allied troops against Hitler’s Nazi army. It was truly a miracle that 400,000 Allied troops were trapped against the coast of Dunkirk, and sure to perish. However, 338,000 of those troops were rescued, and within eleven days were evacuated into England. Many wondered how that was possible against such a forceful army as Nazi Germany.

Author, Walter Lord took on the task of laying out the happenings of May 24, 1940 in the same methodical, deliberate method with which he wrote his most famous, acclaimed book, Titanic: A Night to Remember. It is said that he is so precise in his detail that he documented the sound in Titanic by counting the number of plates, cups, and pieces of glass that were breaking all at once. Some have said that had Lord only written that one book, he would still be the favorite author of many.

The Miracle of Dunkirk is a fast paced novel, with no explanations of how the Allied troops got themselves into that position in the first place, but jumps right into the rescue. Lord’s “in the weeds” perspective is focused on individuals, not a chain of events leading up to the battle, which some critics find to be problematic. But many wholeheartedly agree with the author’s method because he introduces interesting characters, from the soldier waiting to be rescued, to the captains dodging German torpedo boats, even including civilian day-sailors crossing the Channel to lend assistance. This rescue of so many by non-military transports surpasses any other similar attempt. Lord was totally immersed into the experiential aspect of the situation.

The Miracle of Dunkirk will be adapted to screen by Dark Knight director, Christopher Nolan. The film will be called Dunkirk and was shot in IMAX, and is a big budget film, retelling the BEF’s remarkable escape.

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Great Achievements As Well As Personal Failures…”Charlton Heston: Hollywood’s Last Icon”, by Marc Eliot

The New York Times bestselling author, Marc Eliot, has presented another iconic biography in his series. Charlton Heston, who lived a larger than life existence, had a major presence in the history of American film, television, stage, and theater. Heston’s career lasted more than beyond the second half of the 20th Century, with his films being popular worldwide. Other icons in author Eliot’s books include: Cary Grant, Walt Disney, Clint Eastwood, Steve McQueen, Jack Nicholson, and others. Eliot has stated that he received unprecented access to Heston’s family, friends, private papers, diaries, journals, and writings. The book describes a tale of someone who lived an extraordinary life.

Like all human beings, Heston had great achievements, but also had personal failures. Sometimes we only see what Hollywood wants us to see in such a cultural great as was Heston. Eliot tells a very complex story of how a small boy from Michigan grew up to become one of Hollywood’s most legendary stars. Heston was also one of the Greatest Generation true-life war heroes, having seen action in the Pacific Theater during World War II. After the war, he moved to New York City to try to find success in theater. It was his performance on live television where he was “discovered” by Hollywood. The book explains the unparalleled saga of Heston’s three movies for Cecil B. DeMille, and two films for William Wyle which included film greats, The Ten Commandments and Ben Hur. It was Ben Hur for which Heston won his Best-Actor Oscar.

In his later years, Heston became affiliated with political issues, the NRA, and being at one time asked to run for President by both Republican and Democrat parties. The novel covers Heston’s amazing life with great detail, that will please longtime fans, Hollywood movie lovers, and the new generation just discovering the work of Charlton Heston for the first time.

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From The Bravery on the Battlefield, to Their Journey to Recovery…”Portraits of Courage”, by George W. Bush

President George W. Bush has published a new book (Feb. 2017) that is a beautifully done tribute to some soldiers that he had to send in harm’s way after 9/11. It has been described as a vibrant collection of oil paintings depicting 66 of the soldiers, and a four-panel mural. President Bush painted the portraits, then gave the story of each soldier written in his own words.

It is a very daunting job, as President of the United States, to have to ask our military to travel into harm’s way for months, sometimes years at a time. President George W. Bush has made it his mission to create an initiative, The Military Service Initiative, to help post 9/11 veterans and their families in making a successful transition to civilian life. They also address issues such as veteran wellness, post-traumatic stress, and traumatic brain injury. Readers can see the faces of those who answered America’s call to service, and learn life lessons from their bravery on the battlefield, but also from their journey to recovery and the contributions they are making as civilians.

Net profits from all books will be donated to the Bush Institute Military Initiative, through the George Bush Presidential Center on the Dallas campus of SMU. The exhibit is open from March 2 to October 1, 2017.

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Acting as Computers….”Hidden Figures”, by Margot Lee Shetterly

Only when she was grown and married, did author Margot Lee Shetterly discover the amazing people with whom she shared a neighborhood as she was growing up. Margot grew up in the Hampton, Virginia area, with Langley Air Force Base just miles away. Langley was the headquarters of the Aeronautical Research and the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). NACA had the mission to transform flying gadgets into war machines. They were dissolved as an agency in 1958, and was replaced by the agency we all know today, the National Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA). At that point the race for space superiority gained speed. In this fertile environment is where author Shetterly found a most miraculous story.

On the cusp of the beginning of World War II, with no computers or technology to speak of, the government needed help with their aeronautical advancement and number crunching. The solution was to hire women to shoulder the burden ……… they acted as computers, freeing the engineers to focus on their trained profession. The women were extremely successful and sharp, carrying out the task with excellence.

The author described the chosen women as both ordinary and extraordinary, as she shines a light on the women’s lives and accomplishments. The African-American women were called the West Computers, after the area to which they were assigned. Author Shetterly decided that books have been written about the astronauts, the engineers, and now it was the women’s turn to have their story told. They were at the heart of all achievements accomplished by the Center. They crunched numbers for every function of a plane, contributing to the constantly changing designs, making the flying machines of war, faster, safer, and more aerodynamic. Katherine Johnson worked on computations for Mercury and Apollo missions, and Christine Darden’s work advanced supersonic flight. In the 1970’s new technology advances made the job of the Western Computers obsolete. It is not known exactly how many women participated in the Western Computers project, since social customs of the era dictated that women could only work until they were married and had children. After that occurred, their careers were over, and they became full time homemakers and mothers.

The book has been adapted for screen, starring Octavia Spencer and Taraji P. Henson, and is now in theaters. “Langley was not just a laboratory of science and engineering…….in many ways it was a racial relations laboratory, and a gender relations laboratory, says author Shetterly.

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“The Fly Over Country”….”Hillbilly Elegy”, by J.D. Vance

It is an interesting thought that a young man from a very poor background in the Kentucky area of Appalachia can join the Marines, attend The Ohio State University, then be accepted into the prestigious Yale Law School. How does this happen? Can you even imagine how intimidated such a young man would be as he enters the stately buildings in New Haven, and Yale. And the readers must keep in mind that Vance was only 31 when writing this book.

As the two coasts call the area where Vance grew up, the “fly over” part of the country, those who have never left their area on each coast can never really understand the personal struggle of someone like J D Vance because they have not had the benefit of living in a quietly poor community, where jobs may be scarce so that a Dad might have to travel to find a job, leaving his family to handle their many struggles. The inner city struggles are much different…….more violence, drug dependency, although the “fly over country” has certainly developed its share of the drug problem. The main struggle for areas like Appalachia in Ohio is their struggle to have their problems and concerns heard by those in government. Vance’s description of his childhood and the sting of being called “redneck”, and yet the desire to lash out at anyone who utters this as an insult, is a partial explanation of why someone like Donald Trump was elected. The Appalachian people are sick of hearing empty promises from their leaders, so when a non-politician gives these people hope that actual economic help may be actually given, they showed as in Vance’s book, how conservatism gives more opportunities for advancement, not just more liberal band-aids.

Vance focuses mostly on his own personal story to try to convey that ordinary “simple” social welfare solutions are not enough. It seems that those solutions are not only inadequate for the people of Vance’s Ohio Appalachia, but for all other economically repressed areas. Vance understands this, and accuses most political leaders of over simplifying the problems, therefore, they do not solve the complicated problems. Vance attempts to give a native Appalachians view of their life and culture. “Hillbilly Elegy” is a story that demonstrates the full measure of the brokenness that wracks Appalachia, but it is also a story that exemplifies the depths of familial love and opportunity.” Perhaps through someone like Vance, bridges can be built between the perceived different cultural barriers.

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Shaking Up the Establishment…”Great Again: How To Fix Our Crippled America”, By Donald J. Trump

If you have read a biography of author and businessman, Donald J. Trump, you already know that he is the definition of the American success story. He is constantly upgrading the standards of excellence, while at the same time, increasing his interests in real estate, sports, and entertainment. Mr. Trump has written more than fifteen books, with his first book, The Art of the Deal, being a classic and iconic book in the business field. Mr. Trump was himself, a graduate of the Wharton School of Finance.

Crippled America: How To Make America Great Again, is Mr. Trump’s latest book. He calls this book a blueprint of how to Make America Great Again. His idea is that the country just needs someone who can courageously say exactly what needs to be done, and it does not happen through career politicians.

To quote Mr. Trump: “I am shaking up the establishment on both sides of the political aisle”………. because he is a different kind of candidate who did not take money from special interest groups during the primary campaign. He spent his own funds to run his campaign until he received the Republican nomination. Through staying above the usual handouts for money, Mr. Trump has established his agenda for bringing America back to greatness and prosperity.
Excerpt……..”We need someone with a proven track record in business, who understands greatness, someone who can rally us to the standard of excellence we once epitomized and explain what needs to be done.”

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