NetLibrary Audiobooks: Apr/May 2008, Non-Fiction

Here are the latest audiobooks that have been added to our NetLibrary collection.  These books can be downloaded, for free, to your home computer, as well as to many portable audio devices.  All books are unabridged, unless otherwise noted.  The majority of synopses listed below have been provided by the respective publishers of each book or by book review publications and websites.  Running times listed for each audiobook are approximate.  For information on downloading, visit our Instructions page.  For further information, e-mail: libraryc@cravencc.edu

America, 1908: The Dawn of Flight, the Race to the Pole, the Invention of the Model T, and the Making of a Modern Nation by Jim Rasenberger
LENGTH: 13.75 hrs.
NARRATOR: James Jenner

Beginning with New York City's first ever New Year's ball drop, 1908 got off to a spectacular start. As the year went on, America witnessed President Teddy Roosevelt's Great White Fleet sailing around the globe, Henry Ford's unveiling of the Model T, and the Wright Brothers' year-end, history making longest recorded flight. Sandwiched between these events, great social changes were also occurring, as race relations deteriorated in the South and the Great War loomed over in Europe.

Aristotle and an Aardvark Go to Washington: Understanding Political Doublespeak Through Philosophy and Jokes by Thomas Cathcart & Daniel Klein
LENGTH: 3.5 hrs.
NARRATOR: Johnny Heller

What did Donald Rumsfeld mean when he said, "The absence of evidence is not the evidence of absence"? And what's the essence behind Bill Clinton's gem, "It depends on what the meaning of the word is is"? Whether they are misleading with doublespeak, having fun with ambiguity, drawing weak analogies, or getting inappropriately personal, politicians, frequently make our heads spin. Cathcart and Klein sift through the claptrap and make sense of it all.

At War at Sea: Sailors and Naval Combat in the Twentieth Century by Ronald H. Spector
LENGTH: 20.25 hrs.
NARRATOR: Robert O'Keefe

The author begins with the 1905 battle of Tsushima, where the Japanese annihilated the Russians in what is arguably the most decisive naval battle ever fought. There are also thorough descriptions of the infamous World War I clash at Jutland, the World War II engagement at Midway, the high-tech combat of the Persian Gulf War, and much more. Between tales of battle, Spector describes the changing lives and duties of sailors, giving a sense for why certain navies were able to accomplish their objectives, while others failed.

The Cherokee Nation and the Trail of Tears by Theda Perdue and Michael D. Green
LENGTH: 5.5 hrs.
NARRATOR: George K. Wilson

Historians Theda Perdue and Michael D. Green paint a portrait of the infamous Trail of Tears. Despite protests from statesmen like Davy Crockett, Daniel Webster, and Henry Clay, a dubious 1838 treaty drives 17,000 mostly Christian Cherokee from their lush Appalachian homeland to barren plains beyond the Mississippi. For 4,000, this brutal forced march leads only to their death.

Plato and a Platypus Walk Into a Bar: Understanding Philosophy Through Jokes by Thomas Cathcart & Daniel Klein

LENGTH: 4.25 hrs.
NARRATOR: Johnny Heller

The great philosopher Aristotle once said "Humor is the only test of gravity, for a subject which will not bear raillery is suspicious." Taking this tenet to task, Cathart and Klein tackle all the major philosophical perspectives--ancient and postmodern alike--and make them universally accessible through hilarious jokes that cut straight to the core of the principle. Hobbes, for instance, believed that life is "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short." Why then, the authors ask, did he complain about it being short?

The Summer of 1787: The Men Who Invented the Constitution by David O. Stewart
LENGTH: 10.75 hrs.
NARRATOR: George K. Wilson

Over the span of four hot summer months, delegates at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia hammered out what would be regarded as one of the most important documents in world history. But the drafting of the Constitution was fraught with contention and divisive issues that threatened the very future of the Union. Issues such as slavery and states' rights could have formed insurmountable barriers, but America's founders somehow reached enough of a consensus--and compromised when necessary--to produce this remarkable work.

PERSONAL GROWTH

The Attractor Factor: 5 Easy Steps for Creating Wealth (or Anything Else) from the Inside Out by Joe Vitale
LENGTH: 6 hrs.
Narrated by the author

Vitale argues that those who try hard and fail need to remake their inner beings in order to easily attract success, wealth, and happiness. Many people do the right things but get the wrong results; it's not so much what they do, as what they are inside. The problem for most people is self-sabotage. In five easy steps, Vitale shows anyone how to become happier and more successful by doing a few simple things differently every day. Part wealth-creation guide, part spiritual road map, part autobiography, The Attractor Factor offers inspiring, effective answers for anyone who wants to feel better, be happier, get wealthier, and get ahead in life. 

The Culture Code: An Ingenious Way to Understand Why People Around the World Live and Buy as They Do by Clotaire Rapaille
LENGTH: 6.5 hrs.
NARRATOR: Barrett Whitener

Rapaille's breakthrough notion is that we acquire a silent system of Codes as we grow up within our culture. These Culture Codes invisibly shape how we behave in our personal lives. We can learn to crack these Codes and achieve new understanding of why we do the things we do.

50 Psychology Classics: Who We Are, How We Think, What We Do by Tom Butler-Bowdon
LENGTH: 12.5 hrs.
NARATOR: Sean Pratt

Butler-Bowdon explores important contemporary writings as well as wisdom from key figures in psychology's development to discover why we think and act the way we do.

Jim Cramer's Real Money: Sane Investing in an Insane World by James J. Cramer
LENGTH: 6.25 hrs.
Narrated by the author

How do we find hot stocks without getting burned? How do we fatten our portfolios and stay financially healthy? Former hedge-fund manager and longtime Wall Street commentator Jim Cramer explains how to invest wisely in chaotic times, and he does so in plain English in a style that is as much fun as investing is--or should be, when it's done right. 

Me to We: Finding Meaning in a Material World by Craig Kielburger and Marc Kielburger
LENGTH: 11.25 hrs.
NARRATORS: Various

This book shows that the positive actions we take in our everday lives can significantly improve the world around us. The brothers provide their own wisdom and draw from the insights of such noted people as Dr. Jane Goodall, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and Oprah Winfrey to illustrate that a more fulfilling path is available to anyone willing to work for it.

The Now Habit: A Strategic Program for Overcoming Procrastination and Enjoying Guilt-Free Play by Neil Fiore
LENGTH: 7.5 hrs.
Narrated by the author

"The now habit" offers the first comprehensive strategic system for overcoming the causes and eliminating the effects of procrastination. Its techniques will help any busy person get more things done more quickly, without the anxiety and stress brought on by delay and pressing deadlines. This book is for every professional, manager, student, entrepreneur, writer or homemaker. It will help them achieve their goals more rapidly--whether they are large, complex challenges or the small, essential tasks of everyday life and work.

The Power of an Hour: Business and Life Mastery in One Hour a Week by Dave Lakhani
LENGTH: 4.5 hrs.
Read by the author

Lakhani gives the blueprint for making changes one at a time that add up to a big difference. It's a holistic guide to the practical, everyday actions to use to supercharge personal and business development.

Zero Limits: The Secret Hawaiian System for Wealth, Health, Peace, and More by Joe Vitale and Ihaleakala Hew Len
LENGTH: 6.5 hrs.
Read by the authors

Teaming up with Dr. Ikaleakala Hew Len, master teacher of modern Ho'oponopono, Vitale shows you how to attain wealth, health, peace, and happiness. Vitale and Len walk you through the system, helping you clear your mind of subconscious blocks so that destiny and desire can take over and help you get what you truly want from life. It clears out unconsciously accepted beliefs, thoughts, and memories that you don't even know are holding you back. This book is a key that opens your life to a new universe of possibility and accomplishment--a universe with zero limits.

THE MODERN SCHOLAR

The Modern Scholar is a series of talks by noted professors on a variety of subjects such as History, Science, the Humanities, etc.  Each Modern Scholar title contains fourteen half-hour lectures on the subject at hand.  They can be used as a study aid or to increase general knowledge.

The Building Blocks of Human Life: Understanding Mature Cells and Stem Cells
LECTURER: Prof. John K. Young, anatomy, Howard University

A series of lectures on cells presented by John K. Young, professor of anatomy at Howard University, covering: basic categories of cells and tissues, their specialized functions, and their aging and death.

Lecture 1: Origin of Cell Types
Lecture 2: Epithelial Cells
Lecture 3: Muscle Cells
Lecture 4: Cells of Nervous Tissue
Lecture 5: Connective Tissue Cells
Lecture 6: Blood Cells and Their Progenitors
Lecture 7: Cells of Cartilage and Bone
Lecture 8: Cells of the Skin
Lecture 9: Exocrine Cells
Lecture 10: Endocrine Cells
Lecture 11: Sensory Cells
Lecture 12: Cells of Reproductive Organs
Lecture 13: Extreme Cells
Lecture 14: Death and Aging of Cells

The Catholic Church in the Modern Age
LECTURER: Prof. Thomas F. Madden

Professor Madden focuses on a Church both adapting to a world in flux and striving to secure its influence and power. Throughout modernity, the Church responded to and weathered a host of major events: the Enlightenment, the French Revolution, colonization of the New World, and of course the World Wars that in large part defined the twentieth century.

Lecture 1: At the Dawn of a New World
Lecture 2: To the Corners of the Earth : Overseas Missions
Lecture 3: The Catholic Church in the Age of Absolutism
Lecture 4: The Catholic Church and the Enlightenment
Lecture 5: The French Revolution
Lecture 6: Napoleon and the Church
Lecture 7: The Challenge of Liberalism
Lecture 8: Struggles with Nationalism
Lecture 9: Vatican I and the Fall of Papel Rome
Lecture 10: The Catholic Church in North America Lecture 11: Labor and war
Lecture 12: In an Age of Dictators
Lecture 13: Vatican II
Lecture 14: Pope Jean Paul II and Beyond

Heavens Above: Stars, Constellations, and the Sky by James B. Kaler

LECTURER: Prof. Emeritus James B. Kaler, Astronomy, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

A series of lectures on astronomy, focusing on the night sky as seen from earth.

Lecture 1: Sky and Stars
Lecture 2: Constellations
Lecture 3: Circles of Earth
Lecture 4: Celestial Circles
Lecture 5: Rising and Setting
Lecture 6: That Old Sun
Lecture 7: Star Names
Lecture 8: The Sacred Zodiac
Lecture 9: Wobbles
Lecture 10: Astronomy, Astrology, and UFOs
Lecture 11: Mythical Magic
Lecture 12: Singular Sights
Lecture 13: Modern Design
Lecture 14: The Milky Way

High Seas, High Stakes: Naval Battles That Changed History
LECTURER: Timothy B. Shutt

A series of lectures on naval battles presented by Timothy B. Shutt, who has taught at Kenyon College, focusing on the importance of naval warfare in world history.