Features

• Audiobook
• Unabridged

Reviews (200)

Biased
I read Flags of Our Fathers and enjoyed it more than Flyboys.Bradley has a writing style that is difficult at times as has personal biases come through very clearly.As one other reviewer has written, I found it very odd that he often referred to MG Curtis LeMay as "Curtis."As someone writing about military history, Bradley should have more respect for the uniform and should not call a two star general by his first name like he is talking about one of his golfing buddies.This was very distracting.I also found the first couple of chapters of his history lesson very tedious and unfocused - so much so that I nearly quit reading the book.The latter chapters pick up the pace and are insightful.Bradley also devotes too much time attempting to demonize the American firebombing tactics.Thankfully Bradley's bias and negativity toward the Navy and Army is not as pronounced in Flyboys as in FOOF.This bias is especially odd considering his father was a Navy Corpsman.

Desire to moralize reaches too far
I assume that the author is attempting to show that war creates an environment in which morally degenerate acts become much more likely, if not all but inevitable, on all sides of the conflict.In doing so, however, the author very frequently stretches the blanket of history too far, as when he suggests that the Japanese would have remained forever content to be isolated on their home islands if the American fleet had not paid an uninvited visit to Tokyo Bay in 1853-54 and taught the Japanese the foreign policy advantages of a strong navy.While most historians would agree that the U.S. Navy's visit served the royal court with a wake-up call regarding the existence of a world beyond Japan, that is not the same thing as assuming that without this visit no other internal or external events over the next 70 years would have spurred the Japanese to look beyond their shores and trade an isolationist philosophy for an imperial one.
Fascinating!
I found this to be a fascinating account of the war in the Pacific, and I was impressed with the fact that the author imparts a deep appreciation for America and the sacrifices our soldiers made but can still step back and look objectively at the mistakes on both sides.Does examining our own faults release the other side from responsibility for their crimes, as some other reviewers seem to feel?I don't believe so; I think it's healthy for us to examine our history so we don't make the same mistakes again.It's too bad that some people lump any critique of our own actions into the "pop-revisionist history" category.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Atrocities    2. Audio Adult: Books On Tape    3. Biography    4. Chichi Island    5. General    6. History    7. Japan    8. Military    9. Military - World War II    10. Military History - World War II    11. Prisoners Of War    12. Prisoners and prisons, Japanese    13. Unabridged Audio - History    14. World War, 1939-1945    15. Biography & Autobiography / Military   

Editorial Review

Snow White's stepmother looks like a pussycat compared to the monster under which Adeline Yen Mah suffered. The author's memoir of life in mainland China and--after the 1949 revolution--Hong Kong is a gruesome chronicle of nonstop emotional abuse from her wealthy father and his beautiful, cruel second wife. Chinese proverbs scattered throughout the text pithily covey the traditional world view that prompted Adeline's subservience. Had she not escaped to America, where she experienced a fulfilling medical career and a happy marriage, her story would be unbearable; instead, it's grimly fascinating: Read more

Features

• Audiobook

Reviews (320)

Falling leaves return to their roots.
Adeline Yen Mah was born in a well-placed, moneyed Chinese family prominent in the elite of Shanghai and later on in booming Hong Kong. Her mother died shortly after her birth, and she was always blamed for her death. Her father then married Niang, a beautiful Eurasian who is evil (particularly to Adeline), but nonetheless a formidable force in the Yen household.
Do some people just like abuse?
It is difficult to feel sorry for this woman.
Falling Leaves
This book was very interesting and a easy read. I love the fact that the author conveyed historic events. I would say that she could have went into to more details about her life with her second husband. How did the latter events affect her marriage and family? I would love to read about what has happened since the death of the stepmother. Good Book! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Abridged Audio - Autobiography/Biography    2. Audio Adult: Books On Tape    3. Audiobooks    4. Biography    5. California    6. Childhood Memoir    7. Chinese Americans    8. Ethnic Cultures    9. Women    10. Women physicians    11. China    12. True stories of endurance & survival   

Features

• Abridged
• Audiobook

Reviews (4)

Who is she kidding?
Please! As if we the TV audience could not see where real arrogance and hypocrisy lie and on whom! We can spot real compassion and humility from a mile apart, and these qualities are nonexistent in this Tv host! She isnothing but arrogant, inhuman and insensitive with her audience! Please!

Outstanding
I read this book and I profoundly recommend it. This book gives people that little push we sometimes need to get to where we want to be. I found it to be very inspiring to women in general because she struggled a lot andnever gave up. This is how she has reached the point she is at now, whichis mere success. I highly recommend it not only as a great book, but as aconfidence and self-esteem boost.

Entertaining and good example of/and for the latino women
As a journalist and a latina woman when I read this book I really feel identify with all the troubles that Cristina had to deal altrough her career and with all the cultural things that we bring with us as working latino women that succeed. To all the latino women that want to do something in a country like the US or those who want to be successful in the media, this book its a good reading and encourage, to have an idea of what we can deal with in the same journey. Writing in the same way that Cristina speaks the reading of the book it's quick and entertaining, you simply can't stop reading it. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Abridged Audio - Autobiography/Biography    2. Audio - Autobiography / Biography    3. Audio Adult: Books On Tape    4. Biography & Autobiography    5. Entertainment & Performing Arts - General    6. Entertainment & Performing Arts - Television Personalities    7. Ethnic Cultures - General    8. Saralegui, Cristina    9. Women    10. Biography & Autobiography / Entertainment & Performing Arts   

Features

• Abridged
• Audiobook
• Unabridged

Reviews (29)

An excellent read from the Daughter of Nat King Cole
What can I say. This book is one of those that you can't put down. Very frank and honest account from the daughter of one of the greatest singing legends. Natalie, (I call her by her Christian name because having read this book, I feel I know her well, which I find important when reading someones autobiography) has had some difficult times and gone from riches to rags, and back to riches, with some life altering experiences along the way. The 'Unforgettable with love' album is also amazing. I'm off to buy 'Ask a woman who knows' concert. READ THIS BOOK!

An Amazing Inspiration
Natalie shares with astounding truth, humbleness, and shows us all how much she has been through, and how she - with the Divine help in her life - has triumphed from the darkest days. This book is an astounding beacon of hope for anyone who has been through both the highs and lows of life, and wants to genuinely rise from within. This Book Is an Amazing Inspiration and So Is Natalie!
Natalie shares with astounding truth, humbleness, and shows us all how much she has been through, and how she - with the Divine help in her life - has triumphed from the darkest days. This book is an astounding beacon of hope for anyone who has been through both the highs and lows of life, and wants to genuinely rise from within. Read more

Subjects:  1. Abridged Audio - Autobiography/Biography    2. Audio - Autobiography / Biography    3. Audio Adult: Books On Tape    4. Audiobooks    5. Biography    6. Biography & Autobiography    7. Composers & Musicians - Pop    8. Entertainment & Performing Arts - General    9. People of Color    10. Singers    11. United States    12. Women    13. Biography & Autobiography / Entertainment & Performing Arts   

Features

• Abridged
• Audiobook

Reviews (11)

A Millions Little Pieces, Jr.
I am currently in Kabul, and have read almost every English-language book on Afghanistan that is popularly available. I have also lived in Kabul and traveled to Feyzbad, Kandahar,Mazar-e-Sharif, Jalalabad, Kunduz and along the Uzbek Border. I speak mediocre Dari. Among the books that I enjoyed were those by Saira Shah's grandmother (try "My Khyber Life") and her father, Idris Shah. The same cannot be said for Saira Shah's. Shah' work, however. Part of my complaint was that the book isn't about anything much - its just a list of what she claims were her experiences in and near Afghanistan.I would compare them to a series of interesting letters detailing what I did on my afghan vacation. What they don't provide is insight into what was happening in Afghanistan or Peshawar, why, or what is going on now, or much cultural or historical information.
Myth, identity, realities . . .
Part memoir, part reportage, this beautifully written book is also an inquiry into the nature of myth, identity, and the limits of human endurance. Born in England and raised on the memories of her Afghan father's homeland, the author journeys as a young journalist to Afghanistan during the Soviet Occupation in the 1980s, traveling with the mujahidin rebels, who with massive infusions of weapons from the CIA eventually drive out the Russians and then quickly succumb again to an equally destructive civil war and the inevitable tyranny of the Taliban. A witness to these struggles and the widespread human misery they caused, Shah is present again in 2002 as the Americans retaliate in response to the 9/11 attacks.
Absolutely amazing!
This book is one of the best books I have read.It was touching and made me realise what an amazing life Saira Shah has led.After I closed the book, I could not pick up annother book for a couple of days - I did not want to spoil the feeling it had left me with.This book will move you, make you think and touch you.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Audio Adult: Books On Tape    2. Audiobooks    3. Biography    4. Editors, Journalists, Publishers    5. Ethnic Cultures - General    6. Great Britain    7. Journalists    8. Political Science    9. Public Affairs & Administration    10. Unabridged Audio - Autobiography/Biography    11. Women   

Editorial Review

Order this book ... and please don't be put off by its pallid subtitle, Read more

Reviews (558)

One Man's Identity Crisis
"The Color of Water" is a very good piece of reading material written by Mr. James McBride, a noted journalist, composer, and musician. McBride is a very successful man and, in his mind, he has his mother to thank for it. He wrote this book as a tribute to the mother that raised him and his other eleven siblings, showing the positive impact that her life lessons had on him and the other members of the family.
A Stunning Read
The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to his White Mother by James McBride is a powerful, stunning book.It is both a biography and an autobiography, for it tells the life story of the author's mother intertwined skillfully in the author's own.
Never mind the woman and who she is, but hurray for Mommy, right?
Yeah, I know I'll get shot down for the low rating, but I don't really care. The book gets glowing reviews for the most part, because most people find it touching and beautiful, and people like reading something that makes them feel all warm inside. I appreciate the feeling as much as the next person, but, really, I need more to like a book!
Read more

Subjects:  1. Abridged Audio - Autobiography/Biography    2. Audio Adult: Books On Tape    3. Biography    4. Mothers    5. Mulattoes    6. New York (N.Y.)    7. People of Color    8. Unabridged Audio - Autobiography/Biography    9. Whites   

Editorial Review

General Powell may have undertaken this book as a form of paid political test marketing, but it turns out to be a success of an altogether different kind. We don't learn from this book if Powell is presidential material, but his recounting of the various steps of his career give us an unrivaled view of the ins and outs of military bureaucracy and shows how the modern American military, with its consistent emphasis on can-do attitudes and actual results, is a much more congenial place for realizing one's talents than our still-alarmingly pigeonholing general society. ... Read more

Features

• Abridged
• Audiobook

Reviews (76)

thought for the day
I read this sometime after Powell had already become Secretary of State, but before 9/11. At the time I read the book, I thought differently about politics than I do now, and this book had a subtle, but important effect on that change in perspective. It was among the factors that served a deepening in me. I have become less reactive and superficial when it comes to politics. That deepening was served not so much by virtue of what Powell says in this book -- although he does make a number of concrete points which were enlightening to me. It was more as a result of the fact that although he must have written it because he was toying with a bid for the presidency, I sense that he represents himself here pretty faithfully. I could therefore incorporate that feeling about him into my understanding of subsequent events.
There must be something about Colin Powell...
There must be something about Colin Powell. All through his career his superiors continually sought him out; and wherever he worked they always wanted him back.
Inspirational book
I enjoyed reading "My American Journey" and was thrilled that Colin Powell wrote an excellent, candid and honest autobiography and resisted the temptation to be self-serving. General Colin Powell achieved his remarkable success through merit and despite the various obstacles (which he saw as challenges) such as racism that could have thwarted lessor people.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Abridged Audio - Autobiography/Biography    2. Afro-American generals    3. Audio - Autobiography / Biography    4. Audio Adult: Books On Tape    5. Audiobooks    6. Biography    7. Biography & Autobiography    8. General    9. Generals    10. Military    11. Military - General    12. People of Color    13. United States    14. Biography & Autobiography / Military   

Editorial Review

Malcolm X's searing memoir belongs on the small shelf of great autobiographies. The reasons are many: the blistering honesty with which he recounts his transformation from a bitter, self-destructive petty criminal into an articulate political activist, the continued relevance of his militant analysis of white racism, and his emphasis on self-respect and self-help for African Americans. And there's the vividness with which he depicts black popular culture--try as he might to criticize those lindy hops at Boston's Roseland dance hall from the perspective of his Muslim faith, he can't help but make them sound pretty wonderful. These are but a few examples. Read more

Features

• Abridged
• Audiobook

Reviews (265)

eye opener
Mike Young obviously did not read the book.I read it 3 times and it changed my life forever.The book clearly states that it is the autobiography of Malcolm X AS TOLD to Alex Haley and if you had read the book yourself you would realize that Malcolm was simply telling the story to Alex Haley.He was too busy to sit down and write the book himself and predicted his own murder in the last pages.Maybe you, Mike Young, should take on the challenge of being a thinking human being and read it on your own with an objective mind and then come back and tell us your real thoughts.

People Can Change!
Simply, one of the most amazing stories of change ever told in the English language - and still one of the most mis-understood men in the 20th century.

A tribute to Black Manhood
Some books can change your perception, but only a few can wipe out age-old assumptions, and force you to rethink everything you thought you knew. The question of RACE is at the heart of the American society, and in this book, not only African-Americans, but Americans of all colors, black, white, red and yellow, will find themselves reassessing what racism entails, for Malcolm X life, is a poignant testimony of the black man's struggle against both individual and institutional racism.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Abridged Audio - Autobiography/Biography    2. Afro-Americans    3. Audio Adult: Books On Tape    4. Biography    5. Biography & Autobiography    6. Black Muslims    7. Ethnic Studies - African American Studies - General    8. Historical - U.S.    9. Islam - General    10. People of Color    11. Political    12. Specimens    13. Talking books    14. Unabridged Audio - Autobiography/Biography    15. Biography & Autobiography / Political    16. Biography: general    17. Black studies    18. Human rights    19. USA   

Editorial Review

Celebrated Stanford University historian Clayborne Carson is the director and editor of the Martin Luther King Papers Project; with thousands of King's essays, notes, letters, speeches, and sermons at his disposal, Carson has organized King's writings into a posthumous autobiography. In an early student essay, King prophetically penned: "We cannot have an enlightened democracy with one great group living in ignorance.... We cannot have a nation orderly and sound with one group so ground down and thwarted that it is almost forced into unsocial attitudes and crime." Such statements, made throughout King's career, are skillfully woven together into a coherent narrative of the quest for social justice. The autobiography delves, for example, into the philosophical training King received at Morehouse College, Crozer Theological Seminary, and Boston University, where he consolidated the teachings of Afro-American theologian Benjamin Mays with the philosophies of Locke, Rousseau, Gandhi, and Thoreau. Through King's voice, the reader intimately shares in his trials and triumphs, including the Montgomery Boycott, the 1963 "I Have a Dream Speech," the Selma March, and the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize. In one of his last speeches, King reminded his audience that "in the final analysis, God does not judge us by the separate incidents or the separate mistakes that we make, but by the total bent of our lives." Carson's skillful editing has created an original argument in King's favor that draws directly from the source, illuminating the circumstances of King's life without deifying his person. Read more

Features

• Abridged
• Audiobook
• Unabridged

Reviews (37)

like Malcolm X's autobiography
I read The Autobiography of Malcolm X earlier this year, and it gave one radical image of the civil rights movement.Then I read the Autobiography of Martin Luther King, which gave another radical view of the civil rights movement.In my history class, I argued that MLK was over glorified by history, and none of the students read this book.It shows how he was a simple man who was tired of segregation and wanted to fight it, through nonviolent means.
Excellent
I couldn't describe in words how amazing this book is. I read it and felt its beauty.The DVD, "USA THE MOVIE" also has excellent segments that are haunting in which Dr. King speaks over intense footage, DEFINITELY worth watching.I read this book twice and it left me thinking.

Martin Luther King Jr.
Bang! and just like that perhaps the greatest Civil rights leader was assonated, shot, and killed. Martin Luther King was born in Atlanta on January 15, 1929. He was raised in a Baptist church where his father was a pastor. Then after childhood King went to Morehouse University in 1944. After he received his masters degree Martin became a pastor like his father and married. Later Martin Luther King organized black leaders in the SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference). After writing a book and making a trip to India King returned to be a pastor with his father in 1960. Then in 1963 King's way of peaceful protest was becoming difficult because of police brutality beating and arresting blacks. King is arrested and writes "A Letter from Birmingham Prison" to keep up black spirit. Towards the end of 63 and the beginning of 64 King won Person of the Year and the Nobel Peace Prize. Also soon after that he joined the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People). It seemed things were leading to integration until April 4, 1968 when king was on the balcony of a black hotel with to other Black Leaders when he was hit in the neck with a rifle bullet. King died to soon to see integration but his dream would live on.I would recommend The biography of Martin Luther King Jr. because it is a good book about a man's dream to see blacks with whites.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Abridged Audio - Autobiography/Biography    2. Afro-Americans    3. Audio - Autobiography / Biography    4. Audio Adult: Books On Tape    5. Baptists    6. Biography    7. Biography & Autobiography    8. Civil rights workers    9. Clergy    10. Historical - U.S.    11. People of Color    12. Religious    13. United States    14. Biography & Autobiography / People of Color    15. Biography: general    16. Civil rights & citizenship    17. USA   

Features

• Abridged
• Audiobook

Reviews (13)

Treasure Trove of info. for everyday enlightenment
This guidebook by Dan Millman has useful and wise information for everyone. This book is not your typical trite self-help book that's been rehashed 1000 times.
Everyday Enlightenment
This book is awesome!It has a common sense appeal as you read each gateway. In each gateway, he helps you to look at yourself with a new self awareness, but in a non-judgemental way. It's a "keeper" and "re-reader"!

Application is the Key
Dan Millman, in this book, shows the reader the many gateways that we need to pass in order to realize our true selves and in order to take a greater control of our lives.Read more

Subjects:  1. Abridged Audio - Inspirational/Philosophy    2. Audio Adult: Books On Tape    3. Audiobooks    4. Biography & Autobiography    5. Conduct of life    6. Inspiration & Personal Growth    7. Inspirational - General    8. New Age (Self Help)    9. People of Color    10. Spiritual life    11. Biography & Autobiography / People of Color   

Editorial Review

Amy Tan begins Read more

Features

• Abridged
• Abridged

Reviews (39)

Easy-to-digest wisdom
Amy Tan's wisdom has always intrigued and enchanted me.I've absorbed it through her stories.Here it is undiluted, as she tells about her life, her parents, and her journeys, both outer and inner.

Uneven both in quality and in tone, although some essays are great reading
This book is basically a collection of essays, and to me anyway, it felt quite thrown together.The last essay might have explained this, as it revealed that Tan is suffering from Lyme Disease.I got the feeling that she wanted very much to put out a book, but just wasn't quite up to it, and so collected these essays, which did not quite add up.
As good as any fiction novel...
I absolutely adore Amy Tan's work, and have for over ten years now.However, it's taken me a long time to get to this book, simply because I couldn't help but think, "Amy's fiction novels are great, but how interesting can HER life really be?"Well, I'm only half-way through this book, and I'm wishing I hadn't waited so long to read it!Tan is hilarious, and this memoir is as good as any of her fiction novels.I love how she is not afraid to be herself.(She may not always want to be herself, but she doesn't let that stop her from doing anything that she wants to do.)She's not afraid to "live", with a "kiss-this-if-you-don't-like-it" attitude.She is brave to point out all of her imperfections for the whole world to see, and I commend her for that.There is so much to say about this book, and so much to learn about (and from) Amy Tan, but one thing's certain:Amy Tan's writing is enchanting. I very much recommend this book to everyone. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. Abridged Audio - Autobiography/Biography    3. Audio - Nonfiction    4. Audio Adult: Books On Tape    5. Biography    6. Biography & Autobiography    7. Chinese Americans    8. Editors, Journalists, Publishers    9. Essays    10. Family relationships    11. General    12. Literary    13. Novelists, American    14. Biography & Autobiography / General   

Features

• Unabridged

Reviews (166)

Ten kids, No work-ethic
A gritty memoir of life in the white ghetto where tribal loyalty struggles with justice. A portrait of the struggle for personal responsibility a primer and how to use and abuse the system.

Accurate. From someone who didn't live in "Southie" but in "Old Colony" at that time!
You'll see some people chime in here about this book, from "Southie". But Southie and Old Colony don't equal the same thing. You can be from the point and not be anything like someone growing up in Old Colony. Old Colony wasn't the same as D street or Old Harbor.Secondly, my aunt is mentioned in the book as skoochie(sp?). I'm not particularly fond of being from Old Colony or having my aunt in this book, but it's who i am. Lastly, i was good friends with Tommy Veins before he got out of cotrol and died. It's a sad story overall, if tommysdad is here, i'd like to say that my condolences, but this portrayal is not far from fact at all. I was there and grew up where these things happened. And let me tell you, the book is pretty accurate. Slight details here and there might be slightly off, but for the overall idea, Accurate. Everyone knew his mom... she was an outcast for sure and he mentions this several times. I personally couldn't put my own mom out there, but kudos for him for trying to be accurate.
Sad but true
Growing up in Southie and now living in Florida it was good to look back. The book broke my wifes heart who is not from Southie but it was everyday life fo us. Good read! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Audio Adult: Books On Tape    2. Biography & Autobiography    3. Entertainment & Performing Arts - General    4. Ethnic Cultures - General    5. Regional Subjects - New England    6. Unabridged Audio - Autobiography/Biography   

Editorial Review

"Worse than the ordinary miserable childhood is the miserable Irish childhood," writes Frank McCourt in Read more

Features

• Audiobook
• Unabridged

Reviews (1760)

a great account
After seeing howmany reviews "Angela's Ashes" have, I was hesitating if I should add my own. At the end, I decided to do so, without reading the other reviews. Maybe I will repeat things already said, but I wanted to express my opinion because this book deserves all the good words it gets.
IT'S A GOOD BOOK!
I have read many books, but I have never cried reading a book. This book is very sad and goes right to the heart. I could not put this book down. I wish that it never ended. I laughed at some moments and I cried. This has to be one of my favorite books. I dont have a top ten list yet but when I have one I know that this book will be in it. I recommand everyone reading this book.
Wow...
Angela's Ashes
Read more

Subjects:  1. Audio - Nonfiction (Unabridged)    2. Audio Adult: Books On Tape    3. Audiobooks    4. Biography    5. Biography & Autobiography    6. Ethnic Cultures - General    7. Genealogy    8. General    9. Historical - General    10. Ireland    11. Irish Americans    12. Limerick    13. Unabridged Audio - Autobiography/Biography    14. Biography & Autobiography / General