Showing results by narrator "Joel Richards" in All Categories

Published in 1925, Ernest Hemingway's collection of short stories focuses on alienation, grief, separation, and loss. Nick, his semi-autobiographical character, appears in multiple stories throughout and is used to explore themes of male comradery, early love, and marriage problems. Known as Hemingway's most experimental book, In Our Time is considered one of Hemingway's early masterpieces.

In Two Rivers, Vermont, Harper Montgomery is living a life overshadowed by grief and guilt. Since the death of his wife twelve years earlier, Harper has narrowed his world to working at the local railroad and raising his daughter, Shelly. Still wracked with sorrow over his loss and plagued by his role in a brutal, long-ago crime, he wants only to make amends for his past mistakes. Then one day, a train derails in Two Rivers and Harper finds a chance at atonement.

Nova is a lonely planet. It has been on its way to the Andromeda galaxy for ages. And yet, it is inhabited by people who have never known anything other than the caves beneath the surface that protect them from the vacuum and cosmic radiation. A surprising encounter changes everything. The planet gets visitors who seem to have their own agenda, and are so alien that communication seems futile. But they, too, have unexpected existential problems.

The Uses of Delusion is about aspects of human nature that are not altogether rational but, nonetheless, help us achieve our social and personal goals. Psychologist Stuart Vyse presents a lively, accessible exploration of the psychological concepts behind "useful delusions," fleshing out how delusional thinking may play a role in love and relationships, illness and loss, and personality and behavior. Along the way Vyse draws on the work of William James, Daniel Kahneman, and Joan Didion—who wrote about her compelling belief that her deceased husband would soon return to her.

A planet in the endless emptiness of space, far from the warmth of any sun. And yet there are people who populate its vast caverns, living, working and loving. Since time immemorial, they have been on course for Andromeda, the neighboring galaxy of the Milky Way. This is the prophecy of the ancients, the one goal that unites them all, their cult. But then the unthinkable happens: the journey stops because the planet enters the orbit of a mysterious object that can't be seen in any telescope.

Science Be Dammed is an alarming reminder of the high stakes in the management - and perils in the mismanagement - of water in the Western United States. It seems deceptively simple: Even when clear evidence was available that the Colorado River could not sustain ambitious dreaming and planning by decision-makers throughout the 20th century, river planners and political operatives irresponsibly made the least sustainable and most dangerous long-term decisions.

They have been traveling towards the Andromeda galaxy for thousands and thousands of years. Suddenly, they receive an offer that sounds far too good to refuse. But are they even ready for the big step that actually promises them the fulfillment of all their wishes? Aren't those who want to make it possible perhaps also pursuing their own plans, which will plunge the entire planet into great danger? The Arrival is the conclusion of the Andromeda trilogy.

In Search of a Theory of Everything takes listeners on an adventurous journey through space and time on a quest for a unified "theory of everything" by means of a rare and agile interplay between the natural philosophies of influential ancient Greek thinkers and the laws of modern physics.

There are two ways to be a hero. One is more violent than the other. And the universe needs a hero, because a mysterious entity known as the Fathom is terrorizing the known universe and seizing control. But they’ve made one mistake: They woke Rico, the universe's greatest killer, from a coma. And he’s decided he might be the good guy this time. But being a hero isn’t easy. Rico has to work with others (not his favorite), and the impossible odds means it’s going to take an insane scheme or two (more to his liking).

There is not much left of the irascible Albert Evan Jasper, "dean of American forensic anthropologists," after his demise in a fiery car crash. But in accord with his wishes, his remains are installed in an Oregon museum to create a fascinating if macabre exhibit. All agree that it is a fitting end for a great forensic scientist - until what is left of him disappears in the midst of the biannual meeting of the august WAFA - the Western Association of Forensic Anthropologists - in nearby Bend, Oregon. Like his fellow attendees, Gideon Oliver - the Skeleton Detective - is baffled.

Hidden for centuries in the vast Peruvian jungle lies the ancient city of Machu Picchu. It is one of the finest examples of Incan architecture on the continent, preserved and unplundered by the Spanish when they invaded in the sixteenth century. It eluded the Spanish and although it has long been rediscovered, its essence is still shrouded in mystery.

Hounded by false accusations of murder, archaeologist Chuck Bender and his family risk their lives to track down an unknown killer on the loose in a rugged canyon on the remote western edge of Mesa Verde National Park, where ancient stone villages and secret burial sites, abandoned centuries ago by the Ancestral Puebloan people, harbor artifacts so rare and precious they're worth killing over.

Editors H. Kent Baker, Greg Filbeck, Halil Kiymaz, and their coauthors examine PE and provide important insights about topics such as major types of PE (venture capital, leveraged buyouts, mezzanine capital, and distressed debt investments), how PE works, performance and measurement, uses and structure, and trends in the market. Listeners can gain an in-depth understanding about PE from academics and practitioners from around the world.

A famed sandstone arch in Utah's Arches National Park collapses and takes a woman atop it to her death, ensnaring archaeologist Chuck Bender and his family in lethal questions of environmental monkey wrenching and political intrigue. As more deaths follow, Chuck and his wife Janelle race to uncover the killer even as they become murder targets themselves.

A Brief Guide to Maritime Strategy is a deliberately compact introductory work aimed at junior seafarers, those who make decisions affecting the sea services, and those who educate seafarers and decision-makers. It introduces listeners to the main theoretical ideas that shape how statesmen and commanders make and execute maritime strategy in times of peace and war.

In his fiftieth book, The Price of Principle: Why Integrity Is Worth the Consequences, Alan Dershowitz—#1 New York Times bestselling author and one of America’s most influential legal scholars—explores the implications of the increasing tendency in politics, academia, media, and even the courts of law to punish principle and reward partisan hypocrisy.

The trip quickly turns threatening when one climber never shows up, climbing equipment fails, and Chuck and his spouse, Janelle Ortega, are suspected in the shocking, present-day death of one of Chuck's former rock-climbing partners. Together, Chuck and Janelle race against time to solve the dual mysteries and prove their innocence—all while facing down a ruthless killer on the loose.

Franklin is a wanted man living under an alias, and, more curiously, he has three wives. No More Strangers and Foreigners is a true story of polygamy lived in the open - not the sordid brand of the 21st-century polygamy with its child brides and forced marriages, but the saga of ordinary love and extraordinary lives. In a chain of polygamist colonies south of the Texas border, founded by fellow Mormons (members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints), the Spencers immerse themselves in the culture of their adopted land.

The thought of missing Christmas has little Calvin quaking in his roots. The smallest tree on his famous farm, his branches get all ruffled when a grumpy old coot says he isn't strong enough for ornaments. But he's thrilled when he's finally pulled from the ground and put on sale just in time for Christmas Eve!

In "Pecos Crossing", two young cowboys, Johnny Fristo and Speck Quitman, have been cheated of six months’ hard-earned pay by their rancher boss, Larramore and intend to get what is due to them. In "Shotgun", Two Forks, Texas, rancher Blair Bishop must contend with a mean customer named Macy Modock, who Bishop sent to prison 10 years past. Modock is out of the hoosegow and has returned to Two Forks determined to get even with the man who sent him up the river.