Showing results by narrator "Andrea Giordani" in All Categories

Mark Antony’s personal life was almost as storied as his immensely successful political career. In Plutarch’s biography, the most striking sections revolve around Antony’s relationship with Cleopatra. Plutarch’s characterization inspired Shakespeare, whose play "Antony and Cleopatra" would not be the same without its influence. With such close ties to Shakespeare, it’s no wonder that the The Life of Antony holds great literary merit all its own.

This 1859 novella by George Eliot takes a rather dramatic departure from her usual realistic fiction. Now canonized along with other great works of Victorian horror literature, The Lifted Veil plays with the theme of extrasensory perception. It discusses the power of fate in our everyday lives and even flirts with the possibilities of life after death.

This bundle includes two titles that deal with vegan and plant-based diets: audiobook number one: Vegan: The Ultimate Beginner’s Vegan Diet Guide & Cookbook Recipes - How to Start a Vegan Diet, the Basics of Vegan Eating, Weight Loss, and Muscle Building + 30 Fresh, Fast & Healthy Recipes and audiobook number two: Plant Based Diet: The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to Plant Based Diet Recipes for Beginners - Improve Your Health, Get More Energized and Feel Your Best + 50 Fast & Healthy Recipes & 14 Day Action Plan.

After a year living in lavish boredom within Ivywood Castle, sarcastic and witty Moira Finglas is tired of her repetitive life. Summoned to court by her betrothed, Moira is trapped in an endless cycle of monotony. Moira survives on foul language and small adventures, primarily thanks to her brother, Amis, and her love of reading.

After Marathon, the Athenian government needed a new type of leader. That leader was politician and general Themistocles, whose life is well-attributed in Plutarch’s Parallel Lives series. From how he handled the Persian invasion to his time in Athens after the navy, Themistocles was known as the “Glory of the Law”. Though his later life was fraught with whisperings of treason, he went on to be remembered as one of the greatest navy leaders and politicians that Greece had.

First published in 1918, My Antonia is the final book of Willa Cather’s "prairie trilogy" of novels, preceded by O Pioneers! and The Song of the Lark. This is a coming-of-age story about the orphaned boy Jim Burden growing up on his grandparents' farm in Nebraska and his lifelong friendship with Ántonia Shimerda, the eldest daughter of an immigrant family from Bohemia.

The novel Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë was published under the pen name "Currer Bell" in 1847. Considered one of the most famous romance novels of all time, Jane Eyre is a Bildungsroman which chronicles the experiences of Jane, including her childhood as an orphan, her growth to adulthood and her love for Mr. Rochester, the master of Thornfield Hall. It was the first English novel that focused on its protagonist's moral and spiritual development by way of an intimate first-person narrative, in which events are marked by psychological intensity.

Meno is a Socratic dialogue written by Plato. In it, the two characters, Meno and Socrates, discuss "arete", or virtue. This dialogue is also famous for introducing "Meno's Paradox".

St. John Chrysostom’s treatise on humility, hope, and prayer. “Nothing is more powerful than prayer when fervent and genuine,” claims Chrysostom, asserting that it both disperses present dangers and rescues from penalties.

This rather incoherent work by Russian anarchist philosopher Michael Bakunin is described in a way that he described his own life: a fragment. Rife with criticisms on Christianity and the technocracy, Bakunin presses communist values without fear of bordering extremism. Listening to this work is like walking through Bakunin’s disjointed mind; often cutting off and starting mid-sentence, including footnotes several paragraphs long as if his thoughts suddenly start to wander, as well as ending rather abruptly mid-sentence.

In The Life of Cicero, Plutarch details the priceless contributions Cicero made to Roman society. He translated the works of Greek philosophers into Latin, gained acclaim as an orator and lawyer, and was elected to office. Politics ultimately got the better of him, however, and his life ended in assassination while in exile. Cicero’s ideas live on through his body of work, but to learn about the man himself, Plutarch’s biography is an excellent starting point.

Arthur Machen’s novella explores the disturbing consequences of toying with the line between the earthly world and the spiritual realm. The Great God Pan centers around an ominous woman named Helen, who lives in the woods and invites morbid happenings. The book faced harsh censure upon its publication in 1894 for its explicit content, but today it is considered a hallmark of horror fiction. Stephen King himself called it “one of the best horror stories ever written”, making it essential reading for any dedicated fans of the genre.

In this biography, Plutarch states that Tiberius Gracchus was known more for his virtue than for his achievements. Tiberius’ virtue, and thus his legacy, lies in his actions as a reformer. Himself a plebeian leader, he sought to aid the poor by giving them some of the land belonging to wealthy landowners. These reforms shook the Roman world and led to his assassination, making Tiberius a martyr for working-class people and the politicians who fight for their rights.

The Romans hated Pompey’s greedy father, Strabo, with a vengeance. Yet when Pompey rose in prominence, Plutarch notes that he developed the opposite character, and the Romans loved him for it. Pompey had many great accomplishments in his military and political life, but his legacy lies in forming the First Triumvirate with Crassus and Caesar. When the alliance eventually dissolved, and Pompey fled from Caesar to his death, the Roman world would never be the same.

This decidedly unusual book gives an excellent account of what its title purports. Rendering fresh views, not only of the poet and engraver William Blake and the radical democratic pamphleteer Thomas Paine, but of the entirety of that cavalcade of events encompassed under the rubric of revolution in the 18th century—in America, in France, and in the Caribbean island known today as Haiti, as well as of the reform and radical movements contemporaneous in Britain with the rise of empire and “industrialism”.

In this allegorical short story, Nathaniel Hawthorne parodies John Bunyan’s famous book, The Pilgrim’s Progress. Rather than take the long and arduous road to the Celestial City, Hawthorne’s narrator hops on the express train to paradise. As he gets closer to his destination, however, he realizes that the clever-talking Mr. Smooth-It-Away may not be who he claims. While a caricature of Bunyan’s original tale, “The Celestial Railroad” ultimately drives home a similar point: there is no easy road to Heaven, so tough it out on the straight and narrow.

The sad dark tale of a jinn who loved his brother so much that he stood with him against God. A jinn who has walked through the ages of man, Andrid has suffered and loved like no creation ever has. Throughout his eons upon Earth, he learned one simple truth. “To be loved by God is to suffer.”

Emily, her mama, and her papa all moved into a new house just down the street from Miss Knight. Emily did her very best in all her classes, but especially Math, Science, and English. She worked hard to learn everything that she could, because that was what the singing astronaut from Canada said that it took to be an astronaut.

Young Gina finds her life uprooted after a terrible storm sweeps through her small town. She moves to a city with her mother and sweet cat, Pebbles. They face challenges together, against themselves and the new world they're living in. The change is a struggle, but Gina is thrilled and delighted by the twists and turns that come her way. Even though she lost her old life, somewhere along the way, she finds a new one.

Grayson Grimes is an ordinary kid, despite his odd nickname, Grimy. When Grimy’s mom discovers that her favorite childhood vacation spot will be undergoing major renovations, she insists that the family go spend one last summer at Lake Lucy, the way she remembers it. Grimy is miserable that he won’t be able to attend camp with his best and only friend, Harry. He decides that, even if he must spend his summer at a boring lake with his boring parents, there’s no rule saying that he has to act happy about it.