Audible: Audio Entertainment Reviews

by Drajonknives

I use Audible because I have to. It used to be great, but over the course of the past couple years, it’s become apparent that nobody at this app actually uses or cares about Audible. There are random crashes at least weekly, where the book will just stop playing and you have to restart Audible . It refuses to honor the “don’t sync playback position” settings, so listening to the same book someone else in my family is listening to is a headache, since I have to constantly go back to my spot. They changed the “swipe to delete” feature to include an option to “add to favorites.” Like, honestly, how often does a user really add a book to their favorites, vs how often does a user want to remove a book from their device? Here’s a hint: literally every book will at some point need to be removed from the device. Unless literally every book is also added to your Favorites, then this is a bad feature and should be removed. Also, when opening Audible fresh, why on earth is the first page ads for new books? 9/10 times I want to go to the book I’ve been listening to most recently, not shop for a new one. And while you’re at it, make the Extend Sleep Timer feature smart about the sleep timer you just set. A default of 30 minutes is useless to someone who sets 15 or 20 minute sleep timers.

by Small Hobbit

I don’t know why they decided to change Audible , but they did. Before, the library section (which is the content I have via Audible ) was pretty well organized and could be perfectly navigated between what was actually on my device and what wasn’t. Now it’s a mess of a screen with huge empty margins taking most of the space (a recent addition to mobile development that I don’t understand because I though the point was to USE the space as effectively as possible) and the scrolling is WAY to floaty (I only have to barely have to have my finger on the screen and it’ll move)
Now, honestly this app is a little to expensive of a subscription service for my taste. They only give you 1 credit at a time and STILL treat their service more like a rental than actual ownership (so I don’t know why they don’t move to a “unlimited” model subscription and stop acting like their credits actually mean anything) I already had bad experiences with the service in the past with the service, but decided to try to give it another shot. I don’t think I’ll give them anymore past this. The quality of Audible is quickly going downhill (besides what I already mentioned above I also keep getting warning messages about being on a slow connection when my internet is just fine) and there are now MUCH more better services around that handle audiobooks better than they do.

by HerGrace

🎉 It did improve when the sleep timer was restored to the main page. Thank you!

The purchasing feature is clumsy and annoying to use. It is difficult to find books from any for sale list. On my phone, the wish list and lists of books offered in different special categories are in a series of brief “pages” and to get to the end one of a long list must go through each page to the bottom in order to turn to the next segment. If you stop mid-list it is necessary to start over. GRRR! Also, no chance to go to a given page directly. As a result, I have no idea what is on the last 80% of my wish list or special offer lists or book category lists: takes too much time to peruse them all at one sitting or skip back page by page.

A minor change in the last update I find annoying: when a book is finished, a persistent popup page makes it not possible to go back or go to different book without rating the one just completed. Previously one could opt out of the popup rating page. I normally rate books but do not always wish to do so. I have found a way out of it but it’s also annoying to have to do this extra step. On my iPad I can close Audible completely and when I return to it rating demand is gone.

by Gale22

Love Audible so much. Had it for years and does not disappoint. Thank you for being here, existing and being in my life. Such a great idea and concept. Sorry it took me so long to rate this amazing app! Get it, you won’t regret it, so many wonderful title and books and not over priced!

Update: This is still a great app but it needs to be said that the home tab is waaay too much noise visually speaking. Way too many suggestions and advertised books for an app. It’s not a clean look and honestly it’s ugly. Audible needs a more sleek minimalist feel for ease of use. I literally get anxiety seeing the homepage with all the extra books recommendations, catalogues and so forth. When I use Audible I just want to get to the point not be defaulted to a crazy looking page foot of book images. Please higher someone to update your app comestically. With the IOS update people are discovering less is more with widgets and less apps. Try to use that same concept, I want to see recommendations make it the last tab not the first. Have the first tab be the library and instead of a line chart of books maybe give the option of line display or chart display, just something more sleek please.

Update 03 May 2021: Audible skips the audio for some reason and when the screen goes dark it stops playing. Please fix this. This is pretty frustrating and my settings don’t have anything that causes this to happen.

by RealizmHF

this app works great, I can find great titles, get samples of the voices, and I even get a free credit with the higher tier subscription with a few more “premium” titles. The issue for this app is turning the everyday subscriber into a customer; like myself. I pay $10 and watch hundreds of movies and tv shows that last a few hours to hundreds of hours depending on the title. The budgets are bigger, the price for the customer is lower. I pay $10 and listen to thousands of songs, many just a few minutes, some can be hours. I also enjoy podcasts... for no additional fee. Now we get to this app where I pay $12, more than the others, and get 1 pick and like at an old movie store I become limited and find it difficult to choose the only free title I’ll get because the rest you have to pay for. I loved the audio books, but I’ll never stay a subscriber when I have other content for cheaper and without a secondary pay wall. I listened to a single book in a week, so that’s 4 books a month on average. Since only 1 is free, I could be paying $30, $50, $100 more for the other titles. I signed up with a free trial, stayed for a month after, but will sadly cancel after as they haven’t nailed down a way to monetize in a way that I can have access to hundreds of premium free titles for a low monthly cost.

by Goodvibesgoodbooks

This was one of those books that you not only savor, but you swap between physical and audio because you can’t get enough. The setting was perfect, the characters were hilarious, and the depth was just right. You follow Marin as she takes on a role she never thought she would be in.. PR and media manager for a rock band. But she not only crushes the position, she gains a crush on a band member. You follow along with the band and crew as they make their way all over the country on tour. You see them banter, you see them prank and you see them fall in love.. or lust. I usually have something to knit pick about whether it’s lack of charter build or creating an atmosphere you feel a part of, but Lisa did nothing for me to knit pick. This world was so well thought out, I can’t wait to dive into every single book I have of hers and also... I really need a prequel to see how Craig and Phoebe started. The only reason I gave this book a 4 rather then a solid 5 was I had a bit of a rough time with the big problem and how quickly it seemed to be resolved, I wish it would have been a little longer and we got to see more effort and what happened to.. patch things up on all accounts. I’m a girl who doesn’t trust easily and loses trust quickly so I have a hard with any story that someone’s forgiven too quickly.

by Wulfeman

I’ve been an this app member for about 20 years ( whenever the service started). I have well over 1000 titles in my library (most purchase, prior to new system, with free titles). I occasionally listen to portions of one book, before switching over to another (especially, when a desired preorder becomes available). Previously, it was easy to locate books that I needed to return to, by hiding all finished titles. Since the new system was unveiled, this has been reversed.

I don’t quite understand the utility of being able to see all titles in your library that you have already completed. Showing titles that you haven’t started is if some use, but it fails to show anything that even has a few seconds played. So if I accidentally tap on the wrong title and get past “This is this app”, prior to going back and selecting the title I actually want, it will no longer show up as not started. EXTREMELY FRUSTRATING!!! Please fix this for your most loyal members!!!

A secondary improvement would be to extend the Apple Watch Complication, so that it will permit control / book selection of titles on your paired iPhone, rather than having to download the book to your watch.

by Eamonn Donovan

I’ve been an this app member for over 15 years (well before being merged w/Amazon). It’s my favorite App and I use it more than any other. I have ADHD and LOVE to read but get stuck trying to read traditional books and retain the story or information. With this app I’ve averaged almost 5 books per month with each book’s average length of about 11hrs.

Here’s the big “but”. I have this app Apps on my iPhones, iPads and MacBook but it won’t relay to either of my two watches. I get unnecessary Apps like JetBlue but no this app. If anyone knows what I can do to fix this I would be grateful. Being able to listen to Audiobooks without my iPhone nearby would be incredibly useful but I just cannot figure out why it won’t show up on my list of Apps on my Watches.

Despite my Watch problem I give Audible my highest recommendation. This goes especially for my brothers and sisters that suffer from ADHD, impaired vision or other maladies that makes tradition reading difficult or impossible. It’s an awesome subscription service and App especially if you’re more successful than me in getting it on your Apple Watch.

by HickStylez

Now, I do love this app and have always given them 5 stars and will continue to recommend it to my friends. I am, however, giving this latest update 1 star in hopes that they will consider changing or adding this feature back. We were always able to filter out books that we’ve finished so they aren’t included when trying to figure out what story to start next. I have hundreds of audiobooks of which I’ve finished a lot, but have just as many that I have not finished. I’ve also started some and decided I was looking for something different so I would bounce around. They removed the option to hide all the finished books so I have to go through them all. If I select “unfinished” it filters out both finished and anything I’ve started. It’s seems like a small complaint but to me it’s huge. Why would we want to filter out all books but the ones we’ve finished? Once they are finished I don’t normally look at them again unless it’s so good I listen again or recommend to a friend. Add an option to filter out the finished books.

by Mit11005

I absolutely love this app! Rarely do I listen to music any longer because I always have an audiobook on the go. In my case, almost everything I listen to is related to business or personal development and it is such a good way to stay engaged in my continual growth and education. Having said that, the vast majority of my listening time comes solely while I’m driving, time that I would have otherwise wasted. What an incredible way to work on yourself, your goals, and your aspirations without having to take additional time out of your busy day to sit down and read.

I have also started using this app as a means of filtering the books I am willing to read as I tend to be the write in the margins, take notes, and underline kind of guy while reading, and that’s just a time consuming effort. Now rather than going through that process with a book that I don’t find to be quite as beneficial, I am able to listen to more and filter out only those which are going to be the best so I can focus my reading/study material on only that which will be the most beneficial and applicable to me at the time.

by Jdempsey12345

Unfortunately recent updates of Audible changed what was an elegant solution to an important feature to one that doesn’t work at all.
In past versions this app app had a feature that quickly allowed you to change the rewind or advance buttons from ones that rewound to the beginning or ends of a chapter to one that changed the buttons to rewound or advance 30 seconds only. Even better you could tap these buttons multiple times and, for example, quickly replay a short passage you need to hear again.
The most recent updates killed this value-added feature and made it so you have to swipe backwards and forwards an indeterminate time.
This feature is value taken away! I am an avid listener and have purchased almost 600 books from this app. The content and some of the narration are excellent. I hope they pay attention to their frequent listeners and fix their clunky new software versions to the great tools they had until recent releases.
It is frustrating when an app you use regularly changes from excellent to mediocre.

by RosieNiz

I love listening to books and have been enjoying that there are so many available on audibles. I keep encountering problems though...I prefer to listen at 1.25 speed and it reverts back to 1.0 with every pause.
I’ve learned I must bookmark frequently because I will undoubtedly be at the beginning of a book no matter where it left off (it divides books into fours and each of the 4 has chapters 1-11 or so, so book 2 has chapters 1-11 too instead of 12-21 making it close to impossible to figure out where you are...at minimum very time consuming.) and have to listen to recognize whether or not I’ve been there yet. Also, I’ve learned to listen to what chapter the narrator names just so I will be able to find my soon to be lost place in the event that the bookmark too fails. The version of Audible that comes up on my iPhone quickly doesn’t have bookmarks, so I have to hit the home button, find the actual app and only there can I reset the speed and set the bookmark or retrieve a bookmark.
I find the most frustrating thing is that it keeps returning to the beginning of the “book” I was in instead of the place in the chapter.

by Javier Rover

I’ve been an avid member for I’m thinking at least a decade and I just discovered that you have removed all my reading statistics and levels of accomplishment in Audible . Naturally I won’t quit but I loved that aspect of Audible and it gave me a continued sense of achievement and accomplishment. Please return this feature it means so much to me or show or tell me where you moved it to. Thanks for listening.

I have now discovered that my review above is not exactly correct the statistics are still there. However, because I had two accounts, recently consolidated into one the one I have remaining shows me as having achieved scholar while in fact I have long since passed Master level. That bothers me greatly. May seem a small issue to but not I. Also, what’s the level above Master as when your records are updated I will surpass that easily. Even if you don’t make the update I will still obliterate Master level and there must be others. Anyway once I hear from you I will update to 5 stars.

Finally, I wish you would find a way where I can find and purchase books inside Audible if apple don’t like it so what, just buy them out and make a better policy.

by Lacies Opinions

I am so impressed with this ap! I had caved on one of the ads for this ap on fb and saw that they had a free trial with two free books so I decided to try it. I listened to part of one book and then haven’t had much time to listen since and actually kinda forgot about it. I received an e mail today from this app which reminded me I needed to cancel my trial before being charged bc I wasn’t ready to pay the monthly subscription just yet and unlike most apps I found the customer service for this company was incredible! Right under settings in the ap lists a phone number and easy access to ur subscription information. I called the number to find out where I was in my trial and was impressed with how quickly they answered and told me I still had a few weeks left and she could cancel it now or I could enjoy the rest of it and call back to cancel the day before. She also returned the book I originally ordered bc I wasn’t that into it and now I have my two free book credits left! I highly recommend this ap to anyone bc of its easy to use settings, outstanding customer support, and wide section of books available! Great Job this app!

by Rim A

I’ve had this app for nearly 5 years. I started as a way to help me get back to reading since physically reading was somewhat limited by reality. But now when I walk my dogs, run errands, go to the work related matters, drive for a long road trip, ride my bicycle, or even work in the kitchen, I always make sure to have books to listen to. My library has at least 300 by now, and I love seeing it grow. I also love the whisper sync for Kindle which lets me read or listen. I also love the integration with my Alexa devices. I can go from room to room without wasting my phone battery, and have her keep reading to me.
Here are my only two recommendations:1- this is the most important. Please for the love of all that is holy let us organize our books by subject matter/ category or whatever we call it like we can in Kindle! I need to do this on my PHONE as I cannot scroll through the ALL my books to find old books I’ve forgotten are even there. I need to put them by category. Please please please do this most basic thing for your subscribers. 2- please have more whisper sync and more affordable ways to purchase kindle after purchasing the this app.
Thank you.

by Ocdknitter

I’ve been a member on/off for many years. You pay a monthly/annual fee and get credits based on your subscription. The fee you pay is often less than the price of most audiobooks. You can pay for the book or use a credit. There are lots of reviews, some are fake but most seem to be genuine. I like that you can hear a 3-5 minute sample before purchasing. I have gotten credits refunded for books I was unhappy with, (books I didn't listen to completely). Customer service has been great. I had to discontinue membership for a while and lost nothing during the time I canceled my membership. I kept the credits I already had and all of the books I had in my library. Starting my membership again was easy.

I do wish that reviewers would add ore detail instead of simply saying ”I like the book”. That’s not a review. Why do you like/dislike the book? Was it clean, full of profanity, sex, violence? Was this book fit for the whole family? Did the story flow, was the narrator easy to listen to; did they have an annoying voice, were the characters voices distinguishable? That’s a review! A review is meant to help other customers decide if they want to purchase the book or not.

by MsGettingFit

I literally was crying the other day from frustration at the knowledge that I create my own reality but did not know HOW. So there I was on the floor of my kitchen bawling my eyes out and suddenly I had a sense of peace come over me. A couple of days later, I searched in this app the terms magic money manifesting and this book popped up. I honestly didn’t have much hope for it, because it seems like all of these books that claim to give a person techniques just re-hash the same old stuff. This author didn’t do that. He gives practical how to methods that explain different perspectives and details on how to REALLY harness your inner power and apply it to your life. I feel empowered. I took notes this book was so informational, I’m going to listen to it again! Don’t hesitate to get this book! It really will change your life. You can tell that the author spoke from the heart and put a lot of inspired work into this. Sitting on that floor I begged God to help show me how to use the power I know he gave us all to manifest a better life for me. And this book stood out to me. So that’s how I know it is special and must have been inspired. Prosperity and Goodness to you all!

by Trithseeker

An amazing account of personal transformation. I too grew up with a racist father, surrounded by all of the rhetoric in this community. Awful. I love the courage it took for Roland-Derek to challenge his indoctrination and to find the strength to cut ties with beloved community, even family. That is the hardest part. For real. He said there is guilt in the interviews I’ve seen of his regarding what he helped create. Well, that was happening anyway. The good he has created through his total honesty, vulnerability and accountability - and willingness to speak publicly about it - stands taller and provides more light than any darkness the white nationalist... movement could ever create. He is a light bearer, and it is especially powerful and illuminating BECAUSE of his history. Roland-Derek provides an example of someone to challenge and think for himself within a fear-based, constraining movement. My hat is forever off to this gentleman, a man of TRUE wisdom and bravery while surviving the very human heartbreak of leaving a beloved community that no longer serves. He and Alison are putting their lives on the line by speaking out. I am grateful to Eli for penning this book, and all the others willing to allow their names into this story. Your courage and truth DEEPLY inspires me.

by Lila Bleu

It took a little more than usual for me to get into the book; at first,It started off feeling too much like a cliché, but that changed after the first few chapters. After reading the book, it almost feels like that was the author’s intention to provide a stark contrast for the character development throughout the book or possibly the author became a better writer once she fully built her world. I really enjoyed the vivid setting descriptions of the “Pond” and the city(really all of the settings were wonderfully sketched through words in the reader’s mind), the characters felt so authentic that I was sad when the story ended, and the structure was also essential to the plot: going between the past and present at various stages, but also within one day at the beach house in the present. It could get a little confusing at times, but this made me pay attention more so I didn’t mind. There were times when I was so angry at the main character, and mother(s), that I literally yelled at her (them)through my phone. It was never the main character’s fault, but she made so many poor, weak choices at times. It reminded me of the human flaws and regrets we all have or carry.

by TropiqueInCA

Truthfully speaking, I have never been a fan of reading. This is a bit ironic being I hold a MSBA in business. But then after discovering this app, wow I’m amazed with all that I am listening to. In my profession, I’m on the computer several hours in any given day. So by days end the last thing I want to do is pick up a physical book and read. Seriously, I use to turn articles into PDFs , use the computer ‘listen to’ feature, bout music in the background and write notes for my class. An occasional glass of wine certainly helped. One podcast for a required class (book was online) the professor who narrated the book was so monotone you’d fall asleep. By the end of the class session in the podcast I would have a great nap. So instead I went to the gym, Wales on the treadmill and stayed awake. The pint is that wa 14 years ago and technology as well as people’s skill have evolved over time for the greater good. I would especially live to thank this app for creating this platform and the many authors and narrators who provide valuable content. I’m constantly inspired and appreciate being an this app ‘Superfans.’ Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

by Ajk7577

Audible used to be great. Recently though, whenever I try to use it, there are annoying lags in responsiveness. I press play and it won’t play for 10 seconds. Or I try to view my cloud library and have to wait a few seconds before Audible will switch from device view to cloud. The Bluetooth connection has also become glitchy, especially when connected to my car system - I press pause on my car’s screen and it takes a few seconds to pause, then starts again, then finally pauses, over the course of another 5 seconds. Audible also no longer responds if I try to control play with my phone while it’s connected to my cars bluetooth (at least, it didn’t today). Lastly, if I’m in the library tab and want to look up info on a downloaded book, I can’t just tap the three dots at the right hand side of the book without the book starting to play. This is annoying if I’m currently listening to something (or talking to someone on the phone - the book still starts playing!) and want to look up info on a book. I’ve been using Audible for a few years, and this is the first time I’ve really been frustrated with it. Until now, it’s mostly operated smoothly.

by Ytarya

Still great. Still no this app for Apple Watch! I really hope you will provide this great service on Apple Watch!Please make an this app app for Apple Watch there are some nice improvements, but I can't focus on them as long as my chief gripe isn't addressed. At the very least, please tell your loyal customers whether you are trying to do this--or if you are even considering it.

this app is one of the apps I use out often. I bought an Apple watch so I could listen to audiobooks while walking my dog and could leave my iPhone at home sometimes. I have seen some work-arounds, but so far have not been able to listen to audiobooks on my watch.

this app doesn't show any inclination to develop an Apple watch app. I have asked. I guess I will try purchasing an audio book from iTunes, and see if that works. If it does (which I am not optimistic about) I might have to make my walking purchases from iTunes instead of this app. I wouldn't like to ditch my this app account to completely, as I love it. The hundreds of dollars I have spent on this app books proves that. But I disappointed at this apparent indifference to the requests of this app's most loyal customers.

by WV-Local

I ABSOLUTELY LOVE my this app app!! I’m an avid listener & overall have not had any issues. Once I purchase a book it automatically (within seconds) appears in my library for download which is EXCELLENT transition time.
My only minor complaint is when I use the sleep timer and turn it off BEFORE the time has run out, it ALWAYS goes to sleep 2 minutes after I turn OFF the timer. I turn off the timer because I want to continue listening without sleep timer on. Yes I know TWO minute is minor issue but can be very annoying waiting for story to stop in 2mins so I can restart play! So would appreciate the fix in next update.
My thought on new update is a way to arrange our library. Right now they’re arranged by purchase date until you listen& then it’s most recent listen. I would love ability to separate by author, type, book series etx. Something like that would be great for finding old favorites.
EVEN BETTER IDEA...if you could develop an alert to let readers know when there is a NEW BOOK RELEASE IN SERIES we already own! When you have large library it’s hard to remember what books your waiting on the next in series! Would DEFINITELY increase my already long list of purchases.
Overall GREAT JOB! I RECOMMEND ALL THE TIME! Just fix the 2mins turn off glitch when I turn OFF timer (before it runs out) & please consider library organization ideas!

by Jsbow-long

Audible gets better and better but it isn't perfect. Audible has great features and a few clunky ones. More good ones than it used to have. They are being improved over time. All in all, I'm happy with my experience. I can return books I didn't like if they are returned within 6 months. I don't read (listen to) them that quickly. I buy faster than I listen to them. Some times I finish them and the "finished" indication doesn't stay associated with the book through app revisions. Not Cool!

The stories included in the titles are often well done but some presentations need serious rework - not many - but the choice for presenter could sometimes be improved. I've listened to a couple dozen different presenters by now ( a couple hundred books ). If those that were "flat" could be trained or replaced with more skilled people a lot of the stories would be better but, sometimes the story is the problem and that is a shame. It becomes easier to tell the difference between problems in story and presentation as you hear more of each. The short samples offered before you buy are most helpful ( at least to me ) only after my ear has become trained by listening to a goodly number of books by many presenters.

by Gtangjr

Audible isn't without its flaws. It crashes often (kind of a dealbreaker, I know, but mostly recent to iOS 13 and likely due to my edge case of having over 225 titles downloaded locally), and it lacks features that even much less popular apps like Libby and Libro have (for example, broader yet finer-grained options for listening speeds). But these issues are somewhat allayed by the fact that the developer hasn't resorted to using stupid cutesy notes when pushing updates. Instead, they're clear and concise. We know what's been fixed (well, to the extent they're telling us), what's new, etc. I do wish there was a section to know what they're working on (though they did, for example, mention Audible working with the system theme in future updates). So many of my mission critical apps use the update notes as a place for their comedy or to show how hip and clever the developers are. I don't mind a little of this, but never as a replacement for real info. And certainly not the completely asinine "performance improvements and bug fixes," which drives me nuts. Thank you for giving us real info.

by Kat G - NJ

I’m very grateful for audiobooks. As a child I struggled with reading. I always had difficulties and shame because I didn’t read as fast as other children and found it difficult to retain the information I read. I would have to re-read sentences, passages, pages, and chapters because I would read the words but not formulate a picture or the information being imparted. I disliked and refused to read book up into a young adult.
As an adult reading books has become significantly easier, but I still struggle with speed reading and retaining the information. Time has also become very limited in which to sit, or lay down and pick up a book and read. I find myself able to listen to audiobooks while getting ready in the morning for work, driving to and from locations, doing daily activities while at home or running errands, and getting ready for bed. Without audio books I could have never gone through the multitude of books which impart so much knowledge and stories to enchant the mind.
Thank you this app

by Sheldon Rampton

I started using this app a month or two ago when I realized that there are significant blocks of time in my life that I am not using as well as I would like. Specifically, the time I spend driving or exercising constitutes up to two hours per day that are necessary but not very intellectually stimulating. I had been listening to music when I exercised, and then it dawned on me that I could just as easily listen to audiobooks. There are any number of books I want to read but don’t because I have a hard time getting to them. this app has helped solve that problem for me.

Initially I thought listening rather than reading would be an inferior experience, but in fact after listening to a few books I’m finding that my attention and retention are comparable. Whenever possible I try to co-purchase the audio book with a Kindle version so I can switch between reading and listening. I think Kindle’s “whispersync” system for switching back and forth could be improved, but I can live with it. Overall I’ve been really pleased with the this app experience.

by Weeble57

I really like like the fact that I can download this app books using my iPhone. It used to be you had to download a book to your desktop or laptop, load it into iTunes and then sync my iPod with my MacBook. I was admitted to the hospital from my doctor's office through emergency. I couldn't go home and pick up my MacBook and iPod. I was so surprised and very happy to find the this app mobile app in the Apple App Store. I was able to download books to listen to. It took my mind off being stuck in the hospital and after years of living on the road for work I’ve come to find listening to an audiobook to block out annoying sounds. I want to add another great feature I’ve found. This mobile app not only knows which books I already have in my library it also knows which book is next in the series for books that are in a series. Update: At some point the Apple Watch app was dropped so I can no longer control the volume and skip forward and backward on my watch while the audio book is playing on my MacBook, iPad or iPhone. I’d really like to see thes feature added back.

by Renwa82

This book is full of complex and genuine humans. Tolstoy captures the inner conflicts of mankind so well. With that said, he wrote Anna so well that I genuinely loathed her. She is like people I have come across. Narcissistic, self-loathing, petulant, selfish, petty, careless, reckless, hateful and incapable of considering another’s interests over her own for more than one minute before she goes right back to wallowing in her own interests. I also could not empathize with Vronsky. He got what was coming to him. He knew her to be a married woman and yet even after repeated rejections from Anna, he continued to pursue her. I cannot fathom how anybody could like either of these characters. Both are incredibly reckless and selfish and I just could not get over it. There were other characters with whom I could lovingly follow and made the story worth enduring such as Levin. Ultimately this book is about how unfruitful Nihilism is and a warning that it should be avoided at all costs. Anna in particular is the embodiment of Nihilism. You want to know how to not live? Pay close attention to her life and the human wreckage that was left in her wake. This is a wonderfully written story and a powerful cautionary tale.

by Crisck22

This book was life changing for me and others with whom I studied and reviewed its concepts over the past few months. My department heads and I chose to read and discuss one chapter per week and out of that exercise developed our own Why...”Make a Difference”. In our personal lives, it has been an un-named Why for some of us for years...a way we were trying to live our lives everyday. In our jobs (managing a private country club) we were forgetting our purpose. Now, this defined mission statement is giving us purpose each and every day...especially when we have to navigate through difficult personnel challenges. We remind ourselves that our employees, our members and guests a real people with real lives and real challenges for whom we can make a difference. We’re reminding ourselves that the facilities, services and programs we manage can make a difference. We’re trying to live by our Why and to inspire our entire workforce (and hopefully membership) to follow. Thank you for the inspiration!