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Alternate Side
- A Novel
- Narrated by: Ellen Archer
- Length: 7 hrs and 40 mins
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Publisher's summary
The tensions in a tight-knit neighborhood - and a seemingly happy marriage - are exposed by an unexpected act of violence in this provocative new novel from the number-one New York Times best-selling author of Miller’s Valley and Still Life with Bread Crumbs.
Some days Nora Nolan thinks that she and her husband, Charlie, lead a charmed life - except when there’s a crisis at work, a leak in the roof at home, or a problem with their twins at college. And why not? New York City was once Nora’s dream destination, and her clannish dead-end block has become a safe harbor, a tranquil village amid the urban craziness. Then one morning she returns from her run to discover that a terrible incident has shaken the neighborhood, and the fault lines begin to open: on the block, at her job, especially in her marriage. With humor, understanding, an acute eye, and a warm heart, Anna Quindlen explores what it means to be a mother, a wife, and a woman at a moment of reckoning.
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Clinton Kelly is probably best known for teaching women how to make their butts look smaller. But in I Hate Everyone, Except You, he reveals some heretofore unknown secrets about himself, like that he's a finicky connoisseur of 1980s pornography, a disillusioned critic of New Jersey's premier water parks, and perhaps the world's least enthused high school commencement speaker.
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Filthy language overshadowed stories
- By Doris on 04-29-17
By: Clinton Kelly
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Get Lucky
- By: Katherine Center
- Narrated by: Morgan Hallett
- Length: 8 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Filled with wit and heart, Get Lucky by Katherine Center explores the deep bonds of sisterhood. Sarah Harper’s whole world revolved around her job at a New York advertising agency before an email snafu got her fired. Now she’s seeking refuge at her sister Mackie’s home in Houston. But Mackie, who’s unable to get pregnant, is also down-and-out these days. So Sarah decides to do something good and becomes a surrogate mother.
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Good story.
- By joan hammontree on 01-17-24
By: Katherine Center
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Disgruntled
- By: Asali Solomon
- Narrated by: Bahni Turpin
- Length: 9 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Kenya Curtis is only eight years old, but she knows that she's different, even if she can't put her finger on how or why. It's not because she's black - most of the other students in the fourth-grade class at her West Philadelphia elementary school are, too. Maybe it's because she calls her father - a housepainter-slash-philosopher - "Baba" or because her parents' friends gather to pour out libations "from the Creator, for the Martyrs" and discuss "the community".
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Loved It!!!
- By ayodele higgs on 05-20-15
By: Asali Solomon
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Saints for All Occasions
- A Novel
- By: J. Courtney Sullivan
- Narrated by: Susan Denaker
- Length: 15 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Nora and Theresa Flynn are 21 and 17 when they leave their small village in Ireland and journey to America. Nora is the responsible sister; she's shy and serious and engaged to a man she isn't sure that she loves. Theresa is gregarious; she is thrilled by their new life in Boston and besotted with the fashionable dresses and dance halls on Dudley Street. But when Theresa ends up pregnant, Nora is forced to come up with a plan - a decision with repercussions they are both far too young to understand.
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The narration ruined it
- By Janis Reynolds on 06-12-17
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My Lovely Wife
- By: Samantha Downing
- Narrated by: David Pittu
- Length: 10 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Our love story is simple. I met a gorgeous woman. We fell in love. We had kids. We moved to the suburbs. We told each other our biggest dreams and our darkest secrets. And then we got bored. We look like a normal couple. We're your neighbors, the parents of your kid's friend, the acquaintances with whom you keep meaning to get dinner. We all have our secrets to keeping a marriage alive. Ours just happens to be getting away with murder.
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Great narrator! Crazy story!
- By EasyBreezySunflower on 03-28-19
By: Samantha Downing
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The Admissions
- A Novel
- By: Meg Mitchell Moore
- Narrated by: Allyson Ryan
- Length: 14 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
The Hawthorne family has it all. Great jobs, a beautiful house in one of the most affluent areas of Northern California, and three charming kids whose sunny futures are all but assured. And then comes their eldest daughter's senior year of high school....
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Anything for success
- By JillHen on 09-13-15
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Chanel Bonfire
- By: Wendy Lawless
- Narrated by: Wendy Lawless
- Length: 6 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Story
By the time Wendy Lawless turned 17, she'd known for quite some time that she didn't have a normal mother. But that didn't stop her from wanting one.... Georgann Rea didn't bake cookies or go to PTA meetings; she wore a mink coat and always had a lit Dunhill plugged into her cigarette holder. She went through men like Kleenex, and didn't like dogs or children. Georgann had the ice queen beauty of a Hitchcock heroine and the cold heart to match.
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Not an Engaging Listen
- By Sobriquet on 03-13-13
By: Wendy Lawless
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Baltimore Blues
- Tess Monaghan, Book 1
- By: Laura Lippman
- Narrated by: Deborah Hazlett
- Length: 9 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Unemployed at 29, Tess Monaghan is willing to take any freelance job to pay the rent—including a bit of unorthodox snooping for her rowing buddy, Darryl "Rock" Paxton. In a city where someone is murdered almost every day, attorney Michael Abramowitz's death should be just another statistic. But the slain lawyer's notoriety—and his noontime trysts with Rock's fiancée—make the case front page news...and point to Rock as the likely murderer. But trying to prove her friend's innocence could prove costly to Tess.
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I'm on #8 - This series is almost unique
- By connie on 02-19-12
By: Laura Lippman
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If It's Not One Thing, It's Your Mother
- By: Julia Sweeney
- Narrated by: Julia Sweeney
- Length: 6 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Story
Since her time on Saturday Night Live, where she created the infamous androgynous character "Pat", Julia Sweeney has gone on to establish herself as a witty, captivating performer of one-woman shows, like God Said Ha!, In the Family Way, and Letting Go of God. She gave a TED talk sharing how she explained the birds and the bees to her eight-year-old daughter, Mulan, which ignited an incredible response. Now, when it comes to talking about motherhood, people want to hear what Julia has to say.
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I Love Julia Sweeney
- By Lisa on 04-05-13
By: Julia Sweeney
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Stories I'd Tell in Bars
- By: Jen Lancaster
- Narrated by: Jen Lancaster, John Fletcher
- Length: 8 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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Unfiltered. Unapologetic. Older, but not wiser, Lancaster goes back to basics in this hilarious essay collection about everything from taking community policing classes to accidentally getting high with her waiter after a fancy dinner. These are the tales she'd tell if she met you in a bar... if she weren't too lazy to put on pants and go to a bar. Offering advice ranging from how to remain happily married to a man who refuses to blow his damn nose already to not creating An Incident at the cheese counter during an attempt at Whole30, she's you, only louder.
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self absorbed
- By D D H on 06-15-19
By: Jen Lancaster
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Worth a listen!
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It is the 1960s, in suburban New York City. Maggie and her family, are in the thrall of her powerful grandfather Jack Scanlan. In the summer of her twelfth year, Maggie is desperately trying to master the object lessons her grandfather fills her head with. But there is too much going on to concentrate. Everything at home is in upheaval, her grandfather is changing, and Maggie is unsure if what she wants is worth having....
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When 19-year-old Fran married Bobby Benedetto, she never dreamed that she would find herself in an abusive relationship. Every time her New York City policeman husband hit her, she would think of convincing reasons to stay. Now, with her 10-year-old son in tow, she is running for her life.
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Another Quindlen Jewel
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Nanaville
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Mother, mother-in-law, grandmother - the Pulitzer-winning columnist and #1 bestselling author reflects on the roles we play throughout our lives, sharing personal stories and advice on the special joys and complexities of middle age. Before blogs even existed, Anna Quindlen became a go-to writer on the joys and challenges of family, motherhood, and modern life, in her nationally syndicated column. Now she’s taking the next step and going full Nana in this lively, beautiful, and moving book about being a grandmother, and much more.
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Brilliant moments with her grandson
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What really matters in life? What truly lasts in our hearts and minds? Where can we find community, history, humanity? In this lyrical new book, the answer is clear: through writing. This is a book for what Quindlen calls “civilians,” those who want to use the written word to become more human, more themselves.
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this is not a book!
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She has a full-time remote job and her rescue cat Fred. Her best friend Sadie visits with her two children. There's her online support group, her jigsaw puzzles and favorite recipes, her beloved Emily Dickinson poems. Also keeping her company are treacherous memories of an unstable childhood and a traumatic event that had sent her reeling. But something's about to change. First, two new friends burst into her life. Then her long-estranged sister gets in touch. Suddenly her carefully curated home is no longer a space to hide.
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Sad - sure. Bad overall a story of love and redemption
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Grace and Justin have been trying for a family for years. So when Grace finally announces that she’s pregnant, she isn’t prepared for Justin’s reaction. Why does he act so strangely? Why does he leave and never return? Two years later, while at the seaside with baby Daniel, Grace sees Justin - who is desperate to come home but can’t reveal the reason he left. However, Grace, too, is harboring a secret, one that won’t just hurt Justin - but will destroy him completely. One thing is certain: their secrets will be exposed.
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Best written book
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Her only daughter has just gone away to college, and Maggie O'Farrell knows she's turning into one of those helicopter parents she used to mock. But Maggie can't shake the feeling that something terrible is about to happen to Emma. And then, just as Maggie starts to relax, her daughter disappears. The clues are disturbing. An empty dorm room where Emma was supposedly living. A mysterious boy described as Future Husband in her phone. Dormmates who seem more sinister than friendly.
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Wow, What a Waste of Time!
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The Herbalist's Secret
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1889: Kitty Gray dreams of attending university and becoming a doctor, but when she is married off to Charles Maclean, one of Glasgow's richest and most eligible bachelors, her aspiration suddenly slips far from reach. Exiled to her new remote home in the Scottish Highlands, with its gargoyles, gothic arches and turrets, Kitty seeks solace in creating a restorative herb garden. Combining her medical knowledge and new-found fascination with herbalism, Kitty spends her days absorbed in a world of herbs and their healing properties until a devastating tragedy strikes...
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Loved it
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These Ghosts Are Family
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Stanford Solomon’s shocking, 30-year-old secret is about to change the lives of everyone around him. Stanford has done something no one could ever imagine. He is a man who faked his own death and stole the identity of his best friend. Stanford Solomon is actually Abel Paisley. And now, nearing the end of his life, Stanford is about to meet his firstborn daughter, Irene Paisley, a home health aide who has unwittingly shown up for her first day of work to tend to the father she thought was dead.
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Captivating
- By Jheryn on 04-18-20
By: Maisy Card
What listeners say about Alternate Side
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- Irene
- 03-27-18
An excellent listen
I really enjoyed this book and it helped me put my own divorce after 25 years into perspective. I recommend it!
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13 people found this helpful
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- Kris Rarig
- 04-06-18
Amazed this is Anna Quindlan
I love Anna Quindlan so I was stunned by this book. These characters are completely self-absorbed and unlikable. I made it to chapter 9 but just didn't care about any of them and their parking space, rude children, and snotty friends. I only liked the dog.
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12 people found this helpful
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- Victoria
- 04-06-18
Stereotypes Galore
Turned off by stereotypes of people of color throughout book. This was made worse by performance of them. Demeaning accents/tone/slang.
Best chapters at very end when reflecting on evolution of marriage and relationships.
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10 people found this helpful
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- Donna
- 03-24-18
Anna Quindlen Is Perfect...as always
I’ve read every book written by this lovely, talented writer. She never fails to amaze with with her perfect prose ~ which always speak to me. Thank you again, Ms. Quindlen.
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10 people found this helpful
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- Margaret
- 05-04-18
New Yorkers that inspired the Trump vote
Lordy, what can I say about this book? Anna Quindlen can write her socks off. And she does in this book, which, given its subject matter, is what saved my device from being tossed out my car window in disgust. This book is about the lives of a cul-de-sac of affluent residents of New York City's upper west side, and what causes them stress. If you want to know why so many blue-collar middle Americans turned on liberalism and voted for Trump, you can use this book's characters as your reference.
What's so hard on these people, you ask? Well, having to salt their own sidewalks in winter, for one, after the neighborhood handyman (a low-income brown person) runs into some outrageous misfortune. Who will fix the leaky faucet? Not the full-time housekeeper/nanny from the Caribbean in any of the homes, although it's good everyone has one of these employees, because someone has to make all the little white kids cookies after school. And OMG, say the residents, wringing their hands over the taxes on each house that has quintupled in value over the last 10 years as the poor people get shoved farther and farther out of the city. While the women of these houses are agonizing over daycares to which their kids hope to be admitted (don't worry, they've long-ago surrendered cooking to the housekeeper or the caterer, so they have time for this) the men spend a lot of time bristling their silver backs at each other over cooking or wine as a competitive sport. I mean, someone's risotto was CRUNCHY for Pete's sake! After one woman is devastated because of a henious crime her jackass of a husband commits, the protagonist says "do you want to go get a pedicure?" to help comfort her friend.
Still, I read it all. I fought it through the first third as it became glaringly obvious that, though perfectly "rendered" (to quote the NYT book review), all of the characters were entitled people who consumed resources and the labors of others while creating no actual earthly value. But in the end, Quindlen's "rendering," the boiling down of these entitled people and their brown minions, won me over to the writing, at least. The book is entertaining. It is deft. And it is fun to watch Quindlen show what she can do. There's even a SRO hotel nearby and a "homeless" dude on the way to the protagonist's office that provide a perfect Greek chorus effect throughout the novel. But when I compare this to One True Thing or Black and Blue, both of which destroyed me with the perfect matching of Quindlen's talents with subjects worthy of that talent, this book is just a hollow shell.
Anne Archer narrates, which should be a good thing, but it is not. Her overly precious delivery and high-pitched voice only add to the feeling that these characters should get a real job and some real problems, already.
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7 people found this helpful
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- BostonMommy
- 04-18-18
Skip This One
I am an avid audible listener and generally like stories by Anna Quindlen, but this book is TERRIBLE. It has no plot. I kept waiting for the plot to develop or for the story to take some twist or turn, but it never happened... I wish I could have those 7 hours and 40 minutes of my life back...
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6 people found this helpful
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- Silvia
- 04-14-18
New Yorkers 0nly
This self-absorbed tale of privileged white people may be enjoyed by that same demographic. The characters were unsympathetic, two-dimensional spoiled rich kids; the two non-white characters matched stereotypes that abound. Finally, the narrator's voice grated and she lacked the ability to give credible voice to anyone. I wished that I followed you instinct and returned it after listening to the first hour. I expected better from Quindlen!
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5 people found this helpful
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- Marla Kramer
- 03-30-18
Did not enjoy
This book rambled on for pages - like a society page for the middle class. Disappointed.
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4 people found this helpful
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- Carolyn White
- 05-05-18
So disappointing
Every NYC cliche is here: the homeless wiseman who isn’t really homeless, parking issues, ethnic food delivered at 2 A.M., spoiled Gen Z twins, with the girl of course a hysterical b**** and the boy a chill genius...More importantly, it takes five chapters for there to be a whisper of a plot. For the record, I like Anna Quindlen a lot.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Elena
- 03-31-18
Disappointed
I was very much looking forward to this new addition of Anna Quindlen's wonderful work. But, I felt that the story was so understated that it dragged and amounted to a lackluster read. I found the characters flat, and detached ranging from obnoxious to simply unlikable. Their superficiality was a given, but the reinforcement of their non-troubles became the fabric of the entire novel. In my opinion, not very interesting except for Ms. Quindlen's masterful wordplay.
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3 people found this helpful