Read Online Heavier Than Heaven The Biography of Kurt Cobain Audible Audio Edition Charles R Cross Greg Lockett Sceptre Books

By Madge Garrett on Monday, June 10, 2019

Read Online Heavier Than Heaven The Biography of Kurt Cobain Audible Audio Edition Charles R Cross Greg Lockett Sceptre Books



Download As PDF : Heavier Than Heaven The Biography of Kurt Cobain Audible Audio Edition Charles R Cross Greg Lockett Sceptre Books

Download PDF Heavier Than Heaven The Biography of Kurt Cobain Audible Audio Edition Charles R Cross Greg Lockett Sceptre Books

A commemorative edition, featuring new material of the definitive, best-selling biography to mark 25 years since Kurt Cobain's death.  

Kurt Cobain's life and death fast became rock 'n' roll legend. The worldwide success of his band, Nirvana, defined the music scene in the early 1990s, and their songs spoke to and for a generation. Music journalist Charles R. Cross, a veteran of the Seattle music scene, relates this extraordinary story of artistic brilliance and the pain that extinguished it. 

Heavier Than Heaven is the definitive life of one of the 20th century's most creative and troubled music geniuses and includes a new introduction commemorating 25 years since Cobain's death.


Read Online Heavier Than Heaven The Biography of Kurt Cobain Audible Audio Edition Charles R Cross Greg Lockett Sceptre Books


"One of the best written biographies I have read in my lifetime ( am a senior citizen with long history of reading books) With honesty and sensitivity, the book flows together forming a lifetime. With references to interviews and personal journals, there is a sense of authenticity. Author refers to mental illness, trauma exacerbated by addiction to provide insight to Cobain's character. For myself, I would have loved more development of the theme of loss of family, family divorce and loss of self. Overall, this book gave me a sense of who Kurt Cobain was as a person. I am buying and listening to his music, doing other research and ordering more resources. He is both saint, sinner, genius and lost soul."

Product details

  • Audible Audiobook
  • Listening Length 15 hours and 10 minutes
  • Program Type Audiobook
  • Version Unabridged
  • Publisher Sceptre
  • Audible.com Release Date March 7, 2019
  • Whispersync for Voice Ready
  • Language English, English
  • ASIN B07NLG1FTD

Read Heavier Than Heaven The Biography of Kurt Cobain Audible Audio Edition Charles R Cross Greg Lockett Sceptre Books

Tags : Heavier Than Heaven The Biography of Kurt Cobain (Audible Audio Edition) Charles R. Cross, Greg Lockett, Sceptre Books, ,Charles R. Cross, Greg Lockett, Sceptre,Heavier Than Heaven The Biography of Kurt Cobain,Sceptre,B07NLG1FTD

Heavier Than Heaven The Biography of Kurt Cobain Audible Audio Edition Charles R Cross Greg Lockett Sceptre Books Reviews :


Heavier Than Heaven The Biography of Kurt Cobain Audible Audio Edition Charles R Cross Greg Lockett Sceptre Books Reviews


  • Charles Cross published this book in 2001 and has never amended or updated it. Much of what is in here has been publicly questioned or straight-up disproved. This book needs to either be updated or removed from publication. Leaving it in circulation is disrespectful at the very least--and borderline slanderous at the worst. It saddens me to think that this is what young people believe Kurt Cobain was like.

    The most egregious lies come from Courtney Love. Her account of Kurt's lost days after his final "escape" is contradicted, on tape, by recordings Tom Grant keeps posted on his site. Courtney knew Kurt's whereabouts when he was in Los Angeles, even though she claims in the book that she did not. She also admitted to Tom Grant that she staged a fake overdose during her "hotel detox" on the day before Kurt's body was found. Her account of how and when she met Kurt has been debunked on the record by friends and journalists who were there at their first meeting. (It would belabor the point to provide more examples.). Regardless of why you think she might have done it, it's clear that Courtney has deliberately misled journalists, the public, and law enforcement on the subject of her late husband. If Charles Cross had any integrity, he would question her reliability as a source now--if he didn't when he wrote this.

    Moreover, this entire book reads like a loaded thesis on the subject of why Kurt Cobain committed suicide. Cross loads the deck almost from the first sentence, framing the entire narrative with a sense of the inevitable that would have made a diehard fatalist like Thomas Hardy feel the need for a little levity. No doubt Kurt was a sensitive boy whose broken home left terrible scars that he explored in his music. But Kurt was more than the sum of his miseries his sense of humor--juvenile and sarcastic but also surreal and uplifting--was part of what made Nirvana unique. You can hear the goofball humor that comes from small-town boredom in Kurt's interviews if you listen to him talk or watch him and Krist misbehave on camera. Charles Cross never once asks what may be the most important question a rock biographer should ask what was it about this person that all these people loved so much? One answer I can give, from experience, was that we felt like he was one of us. I can't speak for everyone, but my friends and I loved him for the weird little in-jokes built into Nirvana's gnomic public appearances. Kurt was winking at us--sometimes very, VERY broadly. Cross ignores this aspect of Kurt's personality entirely, and the result is a sadly one-dimensional portrait of a person who was much more complex than this book indicates. (This narrative also absolutely serves the theory that Kurt could not have died any other was besides suicide, but I leave it up to the reader to decide whether she or he wants to explore other theories on that subject.)

    Finally, there's the writing itself. So much of what is in this book is blatantly unsupported. It's terrible, lazy writing. There's the infamous last chapter, but there are plenty of other examples. Who says Buzz Osbourne was a tyrant? Who outlined the "rules" or "laws" of punk rock that Cross refers to several times in the book? (I'm a cranky old punk, and I don't buy all of them). Where did stuff like this come from? All this subjective stuff is so weird. But the worst, really, is the way that Cross jumps into Kurt's head at the beginning of the book, and doesn't get out. It's presumptious at the least, and dishonest at the worst.

    If you read this book, please read some other books about Kurt and Seattle in the 90s, too. Please read Tom Grant's most recent book. Please read a good oral history of Sub Pop records. Please spend some time learning about more than just Kurt, because there's more to this story than this.
  • Reads like a mediocre rock magazine. Lots of purple prose and cliches. If you're looking for a work of scholarship on Cobain this is not the place to go.
  • One of the best written biographies I have read in my lifetime ( am a senior citizen with long history of reading books) With honesty and sensitivity, the book flows together forming a lifetime. With references to interviews and personal journals, there is a sense of authenticity. Author refers to mental illness, trauma exacerbated by addiction to provide insight to Cobain's character. For myself, I would have loved more development of the theme of loss of family, family divorce and loss of self. Overall, this book gave me a sense of who Kurt Cobain was as a person. I am buying and listening to his music, doing other research and ordering more resources. He is both saint, sinner, genius and lost soul.
  • I've tried to finish reading this book several times (thru the library). but I moved to a tiny town that doesn't have this book! what?! so, I decided it was time to add it to my book collection. why I haven't just done this, I have no idea. I purchased it used. it is in good condition, well read. it came in the mail quickly, faster than I expected. and I have finally finished it and placed it in my bookcase.
  • Wow!!! What a read... In so many ways. I noticed a few negative reviews in regard to fact versus fiction. I am not well versed in Kurt Cobain's life and some of the finer details. This being my first introduction into his life. So taking it at face value, I thought this was a fantastic biography... Difficult reading at times, tragic, heart-breaking, hard to understand. Which is why I love Biography/Autobiography & Memoir - causing you to probe much deeper than the surface. Kurt Cobain is a tragic hero/villain story, intertwined with enough conflict and turmoil that can feel like our own. I was saddened by this story, his story... But this is life... those that live it hard and swift, as Kurt Cobain did, usually exit far to early. A complex and harrowing study of the human condition, and the dilapidated effect of self-hatred...
  • Heavier Than Heaven by Charles R.Cross, is a biography of Kurt Cobain's life. Kurt Cobain was the lead singer of the well known band, “Nirvana.” Kurt Cobain had it all, a well known band, money, and a famous wife, but sadly, Cobain took his own life on April 5th, 1994. Throughout his rise to fame, Cobain struggled with many mental problems, along with drug abuse, and other issues. Despite, his personal issues, Cobain was a worldwide phenomenon who influenced millions of people throughout the world with his music. Many people describe Cobain as the epitome of a rockstar. Normally, Cobain would often wear the same clothes, color his hair using fruit juice, and would do many things that lead people to question his judgment. He had a carefree attitude that friends, fans and the like admired. But also, he had a darker side to him, he often abused drugs like cocaine, heroin, and prescription pills. His fans didn’t realize that most of his music was a cry for help and that Cobain struggled with mental illnesses like anxiety, depression and bipolar disorder, which often lead to drug use and abuse in an effort to find the answers to his mental issues. Furthermore, Cobain often found himself broke and destitute because of his drug and gambling addictions. In turn, leading him into an even deeper and darker depression. The combination of his dependencies and his illnesses contributed greatly to Kurt Cobain's demise, however, his legacy may have grown stronger and the effect he has had on so many people still exists years later.
More aboutRead Online Heavier Than Heaven The Biography of Kurt Cobain Audible Audio Edition Charles R Cross Greg Lockett Sceptre Books

Read Online Heroine Audible Audio Edition Mindy McGinnis Brittany Pressley HarperAudio Books

By Madge Garrett on Sunday, June 9, 2019

Read Online Heroine Audible Audio Edition Mindy McGinnis Brittany Pressley HarperAudio Books



Download As PDF : Heroine Audible Audio Edition Mindy McGinnis Brittany Pressley HarperAudio Books

Download PDF Heroine Audible Audio Edition Mindy McGinnis Brittany Pressley HarperAudio Books

A captivating and powerful exploration of the opioid crisis - the deadliest drug epidemic in American history - through the eyes of a college-bound softball star. Edgar Award-winning author Mindy McGinnis delivers a visceral and necessary novel about addiction, family, friendship, and hope.

When a car crash sidelines Mickey just before softball season, she has to find a way to hold on to her spot as the catcher for a team expected to make a historic tournament run. Behind the plate is the only place she's ever felt comfortable, and the painkillers she's been prescribed can help her get there.

The pills do more than take away pain; they make her feel good. 

With a new circle of friends - fellow injured athletes, others with just time to kill - Mickey finds peaceful acceptance and people with whom words come easily, even if it is just the pills loosening her tongue.

But as the pressure to be Mickey Catalan heightens, her need increases, and it becomes less about pain and more about want, something that could send her spiraling out of control.


Read Online Heroine Audible Audio Edition Mindy McGinnis Brittany Pressley HarperAudio Books


"The first sentence of this book spoils it's own ending. It tells you exactly where Mickey's story is going. But really it doesn't spoil anything. I couldn't stop turning pages, unable to look away as Mickey spiraled further and further down into addiction."

Product details

  • Audible Audiobook
  • Listening Length 8 hours and 33 minutes
  • Program Type Audiobook
  • Version Unabridged
  • Publisher HarperAudio
  • Audible.com Release Date March 12, 2019
  • Whispersync for Voice Ready
  • Language English, English
  • ASIN B07JNNXTD2

Read Heroine Audible Audio Edition Mindy McGinnis Brittany Pressley HarperAudio Books

Tags : Heroine (Audible Audio Edition) Mindy McGinnis, Brittany Pressley, HarperAudio Books, ,Mindy McGinnis, Brittany Pressley, HarperAudio,Heroine,HarperAudio,B07JNNXTD2

Heroine Audible Audio Edition Mindy McGinnis Brittany Pressley HarperAudio Books Reviews :


Heroine Audible Audio Edition Mindy McGinnis Brittany Pressley HarperAudio Books Reviews


  • Mickey fractures her hip just a few months before senior year softball season. After one prescription of OxyContin, she’s hooked. Good thing she has it under control. She’s not an addict like Josie, the girl who gives her pills. She can stop any time she wants. Mickey just needs to be ready for spring training. She’d never crush and snort the pills. Until she does. She’d never mix them with water and shoot them into her veins. Until she does. She’d never switch to heroin. She can stop any time she wants.

    HEROINE sent chills through my body from start to finish. I wanted to climb into my and stop Mickey from taking that first extra pill. I was the kid who listened to the Don’t Do Drugs lectures and took them seriously. I tell doctors I don’t want pain meds after surgery. I make the nurses remove the morphine drip the minute I’m lucid. I don’t fill pain med prescriptions. I’ve never had a substance abuse problem because Mickey is my nightmare. I’m lucky those lectures scared me so much, because I can see myself, in Mickey’s shoes, becoming her.

    Mindy McGinnis has her pulse on the heart and mind of a teen who falls into addiction. She’s seventeen. Goal oriented. Softball. College scholarship. She knows her body better than the doctors the way most teenagers know more than adults. Nothing bad will happen because bad things happen to other people. Addiction happens to other people.

    HEROINE should be required reading for teenagers, their teachers, coaches and parents. Anyone could become Mickey. Those of us who don’t have more fortunate DNA and get scared by cautionary tales. We are the lucky ones.
  • "There is no hurt, there is no fear, there is no stupidity of awkwardness. I am beautiful to these people and I want to share this warmth with them, press their hands to my skin and let them feel what I feel, absolute acceptance and love."

    TW Addiction, Death, Overdosing, Needles, Addictive behavior and thoughts,

    Our heroine, Mickey didn't ever expect to fall into drugs. She was a girl who was clean and played for her Varsity Softball team. She already had college scouts looking at her. She was an all star and she was so passionate about her sport and would let nothing come between her and her love of that sport. Not even the pain of a car accident, that left screws in her hip. She needed baseball like she needed air; so she decided that she needed to take Oxycontin to get through the pain so that she could continue to belong to her team.

    This highlighted so many aspects of addiction and was not an easy book to get through emotionally. Mindy McGinnis made this feel so real. The fact that we had an all star Varsity Softball highschooler as our Heroine only contributed to the fact addiction can happen to anyone. This was the perfect main character to highlight how easy it can be to fall into such a destructive habit.

    This allowed you to feel and see both sides of the argument clearly. You saw a girl who was fighting for her friends that she had before something happened that changed her life and you saw how alienated she was and how desperate she was to keep up with a social group that was physically more able than she. You saw a destructive habit that allowed her to continue with her old life, and how easily she could justify it. You understood her completely and you loved her, but you also saw her falling into something that became completely out of her control. You saw a desperate girl who loved a sport, and loved the life she still tried to exist in even after her accident. You saw what desperation do can to someone's life when it becomes more than what you originally loved. You saw a girl who believed everything was just fine........ until suddenly it wasn't.

    This was heartfelt and so honest. I loved it, and while it was emotionally challenging to read, I flew through it's pages feeling as though I was on this spiral downward with Mickey. I needed to finish it to see where our Heroine ended her journey.
  • As I started this book i was expecting very little. I was so wrong. The story is written from the POV of the addict and the attention to detail was right on. I too am a recovering addict for 16 years. I related so well to this character and the despair. Definitely worth reading
    .
  • Mindy knows how to pack a punch, and this book is no exception. Truthful, chilling, engaging, important.
  • The first sentence of this book spoils it's own ending. It tells you exactly where Mickey's story is going. But really it doesn't spoil anything. I couldn't stop turning pages, unable to look away as Mickey spiraled further and further down into addiction.
  • If you enjoy young adult books with serious topics this is a must read! Absolutely amazing story with a focus on substance abuse! Such a well written book that it makes for a very fast read! I Highly recommend!
  • Every parent out there needs to read this book, ESPECIALLY any parent who is reading this review and thinking, “Nah, this wouldn’t happen to my kid.” The opioid crisis is real, it is everywhere, and affects everyone who knows or loves an addict. This book tells a story about a young girl who started off with hopes and dreams, and until she found opioids, she was well on her way to realizing those dreams. It’s so realistic that I wanted to jump into her world and try to save her from making bad decisions. I also think that after parents have read this book, they may want to consider sharing it with their teens. It’s a heavy and dark subject (and yes, there’s some profanity) but heroin is a dark place, the epidemic is real, and it’s in our back yards. I bought this book today and read the whole thing...I had to know what was going to happen. Kudos to the author for writing a book that not only keeps you turning the pages, but is also an eye-opener on a topic that can’t, and shouldn’t be ignored.
More aboutRead Online Heroine Audible Audio Edition Mindy McGinnis Brittany Pressley HarperAudio Books

Read My First Bilingual BookEmpathy EnglishFrench French and English Edition Milet Publishing 9781785088438 Books

By Madge Garrett

Read My First Bilingual BookEmpathy EnglishFrench French and English Edition Milet Publishing 9781785088438 Books



Download As PDF : My First Bilingual BookEmpathy EnglishFrench French and English Edition Milet Publishing 9781785088438 Books

Download PDF My First Bilingual BookEmpathy EnglishFrench French and English Edition Milet Publishing 9781785088438 Books

Guaranteed to enrich a toddler's vocabulary, this simple and fun series of bilingual board books is ideal for helping children discover a foreign language. Highlighting more complex concepts that go beyond colors and numbers, titles in the series feature animals, fruit, home, and vegetables. This collection combines photographs, bright illustrations, and dual-language words in clear, bold text. Suitable for both individuals and groups, these books are a child's perfect introduction to exploring other cultures.

Read My First Bilingual BookEmpathy EnglishFrench French and English Edition Milet Publishing 9781785088438 Books


""

Product details

  • Grade Level 1 - Preschool
  • Series My First Bilingual Book
  • Board book 24 pages
  • Publisher Milet Publishing; Fully revised and updated edition edition (October 31, 2019)
  • Language French, English
  • ISBN-10 1785088432

Read My First Bilingual BookEmpathy EnglishFrench French and English Edition Milet Publishing 9781785088438 Books

Tags : My First Bilingual Book-Empathy (English-French) (French and English Edition) [Milet Publishing] on . Guaranteed to enrich a toddler's vocabulary, this simple and fun series of bilingual board books is ideal for helping children discover a foreign language. Highlighting more complex concepts that go beyond colors and numbers,Milet Publishing,My First Bilingual Book–Empathy (English–French) (French and English Edition),Milet Publishing,1785088432,Easy Non-Fiction,JUVENILE NONFICTION / Concepts / General,JUVENILE NONFICTION / Foreign Language Study / French,JUVENILE NOVELTY,Juvenile Grades 1-2 Ages 6-7,Juvenile Nonfiction/Foreign Language Study - French

My First Bilingual BookEmpathy EnglishFrench French and English Edition Milet Publishing 9781785088438 Books Reviews :


~
More aboutRead My First Bilingual BookEmpathy EnglishFrench French and English Edition Milet Publishing 9781785088438 Books

Read Online Brave Face A Memoir eBook Shaun David Hutchinson

By Madge Garrett

Read Online Brave Face A Memoir eBook Shaun David Hutchinson





Product details

  • File Size 3438 KB
  • Print Length 368 pages
  • Publisher Simon Pulse (May 21, 2019)
  • Publication Date May 21, 2019
  • Sold by  Digital Services LLC
  • Language English
  • ASIN B07MD6K4MH




~
More aboutRead Online Brave Face A Memoir eBook Shaun David Hutchinson

PDF Concentration Focus like a Hawk on Its Prey by Using Secret Concentration Techniques Audible Audio Edition Tyler Bordan Angie Negus Books

By Madge Garrett on Saturday, June 8, 2019

PDF Concentration Focus like a Hawk on Its Prey by Using Secret Concentration Techniques Audible Audio Edition Tyler Bordan Angie Negus Books





Product details

  • Audible Audiobook
  • Listening Length 1 hour and 22 minutes
  • Program Type Audiobook
  • Version Unabridged
  • Publisher Tyler Bordan
  • Audible.com Release Date January 18, 2019
  • Language English, English
  • ASIN B07D6XDHT1




Concentration Focus like a Hawk on Its Prey by Using Secret Concentration Techniques Audible Audio Edition Tyler Bordan Angie Negus Books Reviews


  • I enjoyed the various strategies that were provided.
  • This book’s interesting subtitle immediately captured my attention and after i finished it i realized that its quite a complete guide on the art of concentration. yes i am sure to properly concentrate is a form of art. Enhance your power to concentrate with this helpful book
More aboutPDF Concentration Focus like a Hawk on Its Prey by Using Secret Concentration Techniques Audible Audio Edition Tyler Bordan Angie Negus Books

Read Accidental Saints Finding God in All the Wrong People Nadia BolzWeber 9781601427564 Books

By Madge Garrett

Read Accidental Saints Finding God in All the Wrong People Nadia BolzWeber 9781601427564 Books



Download As PDF : Accidental Saints Finding God in All the Wrong People Nadia BolzWeber 9781601427564 Books

Download PDF Accidental Saints Finding God in All the Wrong People Nadia BolzWeber 9781601427564 Books

What if that person you've been trying to avoid is your best shot at grace today?

...And what if that's the point?

In Accidental Saints, New York Times best-selling au­thor Nadia Bolz-Weber invites readers into a surprising encounter with what she calls “a religious but not-so-spiritual life.” Tattooed, angry and profane, this former standup comic turned pastor stubbornly, sometimes hilariously, resists the God she feels called to serve. But God keeps showing up in the least likely of people—a church-loving agnostic, a drag queen, a felonious Bishop and a gun-toting member of the NRA.

As she lives and worships alongside these “ac­cidental saints,” Nadia is swept into first-hand en­counters with grace—a gift that feels to her less like being wrapped in a warm blanket and more like being hit with a blunt instrument. But by this grace, people are trans­formed in ways they couldn’t have been on their own.

In a time when many have rightly become dis­illusioned with Christianity, Accidental Saints dem­onstrates what happens when ordinary people share bread and wine, struggle with scripture together, and tell each other the truth about their real lives. This unforgettable account of their faltering steps toward wholeness will ring true for believer and skeptic alike.

Told in Nadia’s trademark confessional style, Accidental Saints is the stunning next work from one of today’s most important religious voices.

Read Accidental Saints Finding God in All the Wrong People Nadia BolzWeber 9781601427564 Books


"I am someone who had lost faith in American Christianity. Pastor Bolz-Weber has renewed that faith. Its funny, she's waaaaaay more conservative liturgically than I am, but her application of Jesus' teachings are what I aspire to. She talks candidly about her own short comings which makes her very credible as a pastor and easy to apply to my own life. She admits to the same petty things I feel or do and talks about how she dealt with it. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants a fresh look at 21st (aka 1st) century Christianity. If you want to be challenged to really live your life as Christ did, accept we are all imperfect in our attempts to do so and that God's grace allows you space to get there, this is the book for you."

Product details

  • Paperback 224 pages
  • Publisher Convergent Books; Reprint edition (September 27, 2016)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10 1601427565

Read Accidental Saints Finding God in All the Wrong People Nadia BolzWeber 9781601427564 Books

Tags : Accidental Saints Finding God in All the Wrong People [Nadia Bolz-Weber] on . <b>What if that person you've been trying to avoid is your best shot at grace today? ...And what if that's the point? </b> In Accidental Saints,Nadia Bolz-Weber,Accidental Saints Finding God in All the Wrong People,Convergent Books,1601427565,Christian Church - General,Christian Life - Spiritual Growth,Biographies,Bolz-Weber, Nadia,Christian biography,Christian biography.,House for All Sinners and Saints (Denver, Colo.),BIOGRAPHY AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Religious,Biography / Autobiography,CHRISTIAN LIFE,CHURCH AND SOCIAL PROBLEMS,General Adult,Inspirational/Devotional - Christian,Lutheran;Sinners and Saints;Christian spirituality;Christianity;religion;liberal Christianity;spirituality;worship;grace;grace of god;humor;theology;transcendent;honest;short stories;inspiration;unconventional;LGBT;LGBTQ;Denver;memoir;saints;gifts for liberals;nadia bolz weber;christian;christian books;inspirational books;christian books for women;inspirational gifts;christian gifts for women;christian gifts;religious books;christian gifts for men;christianity;faith;prayer;catholicism;biography,Non-Fiction,RELIGION / Christian Church / General,RELIGION / Christian Life / Spiritual Growth,RELIGION / Christian Living / Social Issues,RELIGION / Christian Living / Spiritual Growth,Lutheran; Sinners and Saints; Christian spirituality; Christianity; religion; liberal Christianity; spirituality; worship; grace; grace of god; humor; theology; transcendent; honest; short stories; inspiration; unconventional; LGBT; LGBTQ; Denver; memoir; christian; christian books; inspirational books; christian books for women; inspirational gifts; christian gifts; christian gifts for women; religious books; christian gifts for men; faith; biography; catholicism; prayer; saints; gifts for liberals; nadia bolz weber,RELIGION / Christianity / Saints Sainthood,RELIGIOUS,Religion,Religion/Christian Church - General,Religion/Christian Living - Spiritual Growth,Religion/Ethics,BIOGRAPHY AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Religious,RELIGION / Christian Church / General,RELIGION / Christian Life / Spiritual Growth,RELIGION / Christian Living / Social Issues,RELIGION / Christian Living / Spiritual Growth,RELIGION / Christianity / Saints Sainthood,Religion/Christian Church - General,Religion/Christian Living - Spiritual Growth,Religious,Biography / Autobiography,Christian Life,Church And Social Problems,Religion

Accidental Saints Finding God in All the Wrong People Nadia BolzWeber 9781601427564 Books Reviews :


Accidental Saints Finding God in All the Wrong People Nadia BolzWeber 9781601427564 Books Reviews


  • So here's the thing I grew up in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, was baptized, confirmed, and then went to high school and found nothing in the liturgy or the service to make me stay in the church.

    And then I went to live in Japan and had to wrestle with a WHOLE COUNTRY of folks with a 1000 year old history that has absolutely nothing to do with Jesus.

    So I stopped believing the church or Christianity had anything to do with me. I'm a flaming liberal, and a religion that makes outsiders of people is not for me. I wanted religion that was inclusive, and active...and so I left.

    But somewhere along the lines, I wanted to sing in a choir again. So I started coming back to church. And somewhere along the lines I realized I could say the words of the Apostles Creed, sing the hymns, and say the Lord's Prayer and it didn't matter one bit whether I believed it or not. It was about doing things that helped me be a better person.

    And then I got breast cancer and had to go through chemo and yadda yadda yadda, I couldn't be a strong, independent person anymore, and had to accept help. And somewhere along the lines of accepting help, of being weak, and needing others-- I found friendship. I found a church community.

    But my terrible secret remained I'm not sure the God in the ELCA liturgy is the god I believe. I mean, I certainly don't think 1000s of years of Japanese people are condemned to a fiery pits of hell because Jesus happened to live in the Middle East. A God of love would not work that way.

    And that's the long way of saying Nadia Bolz-Weber's book speaks strongly to me. She writes about her failures as a person, and as a PASTOR to love the people around her, the very people who show here the most grace when she commits to speaking in Australia instead of officiating at good friends' weddings, or avoids a parishioner with halitosis and boring stories.

    And she verbalizes the twin sides of the "blessing" and "neediness" issue that have been a thorn in my mental side since the first time I did volunteer work in high school. If you go out to do mission and give service, it's so very easy to fall into a mental trap. Here, she explains it better than me

    "While we as people of God are called to feed the hungry and clothe the naked, the whole "we're blessed to be a blessing" thing can still be kind of dangerous. It can be dangerous when we self-importantly place ourselves above the world, waiting to descend on those below so we can be a "blessing" they've been waiting for, like it or not. Plus, seeing myself as the blessing can pretty easily obscure the way in which I am actually part of the problem and can hide the ways in which I, too, am poor and needing care."

    How do we go about doing service without making a distinction between those who are receiving and those giving? I think part of the answer lies in stop giving into the sin of pride about being strong, or independent or being a go-getter or organizational maven or the one who knows where all the spoons go in the church kitchen. It's about being open to the help we all need. We are all broken in our own ways. And about this other side of the service coin, Nadia writes

    "And receiving grace is basically the best shitty feeling in the world. I don't want to need it. Preferably I could just do it all and be it all and never mess up. That may be what I would prefer, but it is never what I need. I need to be broken apart and put back into a different shape by the merging of things human and divine, which is really screwing up and receiving grace and love and forgiveness rather than receiving what I really deserve. I need the very thing that I will do everything I can to avoid needing."

    So this is a super-easy book of anecdotes and stories and vignettes about her parishioners and people she's encountered who forced her to confront grace. And I much appreciated the down-to-earth tone.
  • It is nice to read works of faith by those who views would be deemed unconventional by some. How can you get any more unconventional then a pastor who is described on the back of her own book as a former stand-up comic who is tattooed, angry and profane. Interestingly, I found most of what she had to say to be in line with mainstream Christian thought and found her humility to be saint like.

    One of reasons I picked up this book was because of the quote by Fr. Richard Rohr, on this page, in which he says Pastor Nadia thinks like he does only she says what she is thinking so much better and with more humor, living examples, “and a conviction that will convict you!” I have read a few books by Fr. Rohr and I do see a similarity in that he and Pastor Nadia book seek and find holiness in people and incidents that are often overlooked and ignored by many clergy and many people.

    This book is broken into 19 chapters most of which are focused on incidents and people who are part of her congregation the “House For All Saints And Sinners.” She discusses the Blessed Virgin Mary, Good Friday, the Easter Vigil and the Church Year. All these are almost Orthodox and while she puts her own unique spin on each story I found her views to be very much in line with main stream Christian thinking.

    She takes on serious subjects like the killings at Sandy Hook Elementary School and how “church was never meant to be a place for escapism.” Church needs to be a place where the evil in this world is discussed. I can’t agree more.

    Pastor Nadia admits how early in her tenure at her church she was taken aback by how many “socially awkward people”showed up at her church and how the church would never have a chance if these were the people who showed up. She eventually realized how important these people are and how we are all socially awkward and imperfect.

    I have been so frustrated at times at my parish (I am Catholic) while listening yet again to one more homily at Church about how we are all brothers and sisters in Christ while there are people sitting alone and hurting in the pews all around me. I want a priest to acknowledge that life is hard and people struggle and loneliness and pain are part of this world and there is a good chance there is someone in the pew near me who can use my help and maybe I should tell one of these people we are brothers and sisters in Christ and I want to help. I have a funny feeling people at pastor Nadia’s church are more comfortable doing this than at my church.

    Pastor Nadia reminds us that we are all flawed, including her, yet we all can become accidental saints. I am glad I read this book.
  • This book is a masterwork. Several other people besides me, I've found, know this book and like it. My favorite Catholic priest recommends this book. He's right. Without ever challenging the reader, Nadia challenges me/us. Without ever preaching, Nadia delivers a message, very effectively. This is the simple true story of one good woman, her quest, how it worked out.

    I love this book and recommend it. If you're a person of faith, you'll probably find value here. If you're an anti-Christian skeptic, I doubt this book will change your mind - it isn't intended to. But you might learn something (for example that not all people of faith are idiots).
  • I am someone who had lost faith in American Christianity. Pastor Bolz-Weber has renewed that faith. Its funny, she's waaaaaay more conservative liturgically than I am, but her application of Jesus' teachings are what I aspire to. She talks candidly about her own short comings which makes her very credible as a pastor and easy to apply to my own life. She admits to the same petty things I feel or do and talks about how she dealt with it. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants a fresh look at 21st (aka 1st) century Christianity. If you want to be challenged to really live your life as Christ did, accept we are all imperfect in our attempts to do so and that God's grace allows you space to get there, this is the book for you.
More aboutRead Accidental Saints Finding God in All the Wrong People Nadia BolzWeber 9781601427564 Books

Ebook The Spy and the Traitor The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War Audible Audio Edition Ben Macintyre John Lee Random House Audio Books

By Madge Garrett

Ebook The Spy and the Traitor The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War Audible Audio Edition Ben Macintyre John Lee Random House Audio Books



Download As PDF : The Spy and the Traitor The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War Audible Audio Edition Ben Macintyre John Lee Random House Audio Books

Download PDF The Spy and the Traitor The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War Audible Audio Edition Ben Macintyre John Lee Random House Audio Books

New York Times Best Seller

"The best true spy story I have ever read." (John Le Carre)

The celebrated author of Double Cross and Rogue Heroes returns with his greatest spy story yet, a thrilling Americans-era tale of Oleg Gordievsky, the Russian whose secret work helped hasten the end of the Cold War. 

If anyone could be considered a Russian counterpart to the infamous British double-agent Kim Philby, it was Oleg Gordievsky. The son of two KGB agents and the product of the best Soviet institutions, the savvy, sophisticated Gordievsky grew to see his nation's communism as both criminal and philistine. He took his first posting for Russian intelligence in 1968 and eventually became the Soviet Union's top man in London, but from 1973 on he was secretly working for MI6. For nearly a decade, as the Cold War reached its twilight, Gordievsky helped the West turn the tables on the KGB, exposing Russian spies and helping to foil countless intelligence plots, as the Soviet leadership grew increasingly paranoid at the United States's nuclear first-strike capabilities and brought the world closer to the brink of war. Desperate to keep the circle of trust close, MI6 never revealed Gordievsky's name to its counterparts in the CIA, which in turn grew obsessed with figuring out the identity of Britain's obviously top-level source. Their obsession ultimately doomed Gordievsky the CIA officer assigned to identify him was none other than Aldrich Ames, the man who would become infamous for secretly spying for the Soviets.   

Unfolding the delicious three-way gamesmanship between America, Britain, and the Soviet Union, and culminating in the gripping cinematic beat-by-beat of Gordievsky's nail-biting escape from Moscow in 1985, Ben Macintyre's latest may be his best yet. Like the greatest novels of John le Carré, it brings listeners deep into a world of treachery and betrayal, where the lines bleed between the personal and the professional, and one man's hatred of communism had the power to change the future of nations.


Ebook The Spy and the Traitor The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War Audible Audio Edition Ben Macintyre John Lee Random House Audio Books


"A truly superb work of true life spy craft. Other reviewers have more than adequately outlined the content of this work. I will just comment on my continued amazement at how during the Cold War so many liberals in the West were Soviet apologists blaming the West for all the world's problems. In the UK particularly, so many in the Labour Party took money from Moscow while undermining democratic institutions. The Soviet Union was a hell hole from beginning to end. How anyone could support it in any way is inexplicable."

Product details

  • Audible Audiobook
  • Listening Length 13 hours and 20 minutes
  • Program Type Audiobook
  • Version Unabridged
  • Publisher Random House Audio
  • Audible.com Release Date September 18, 2018
  • Language English, English
  • ASIN B07DHR7427

Read The Spy and the Traitor The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War Audible Audio Edition Ben Macintyre John Lee Random House Audio Books

Tags : The Spy and the Traitor The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War (Audible Audio Edition) Ben Macintyre, John Lee, Random House Audio Books, ,Ben Macintyre, John Lee, Random House Audio,The Spy and the Traitor The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War,Random House Audio,B07DHR7427

The Spy and the Traitor The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War Audible Audio Edition Ben Macintyre John Lee Random House Audio Books Reviews :


The Spy and the Traitor The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War Audible Audio Edition Ben Macintyre John Lee Random House Audio Books Reviews


  • A truly superb work of true life spy craft. Other reviewers have more than adequately outlined the content of this work. I will just comment on my continued amazement at how during the Cold War so many liberals in the West were Soviet apologists blaming the West for all the world's problems. In the UK particularly, so many in the Labour Party took money from Moscow while undermining democratic institutions. The Soviet Union was a hell hole from beginning to end. How anyone could support it in any way is inexplicable.
  • I thought I had read all the important main books on the Cold War, but Ben Macintyre comes through and gives us a true life narrative of one of the West's greatest heroes - Oleg Gordievsky. A man who helped, particularly the UK, inform the goings on of the KGB and all the Boris and Natasha's and helped hasten the end of that nasty politik.

    This would be best read in the autumn on a train in the UK. Knowing that something good came out of all this, after all. Ben Macintyre probably will be sitting behind you. He has your back covered.
  • The Spy and The Traitor is touted in its subhead as "the greatest espionage story ever told." That isn't just publisher hype. The real events and the story of Oleg Gordievsky, KGB officer and diplomat reads like something from a John LeCarre or Robert Ludlum story...except it's true and marvelously documented. Raised by a father and older brother who both served devotedly and unquestioningly in the KGB (dad worked through Stalin's purges and survived in the KGB's precursor agency). Loyalty to the service then would seem to be a given--betraying the agency and its million members (you read that right) would be like sabotaging the family's business. Yet events and history continue to flummox human expectations.

    First the invasion of Hungary, then the erection of the Berlin Wall (which Gordievsky was present to see) and finally the brutal crushing of the Prague Spring in Czechoslovakia all drove this KGB officer further and further away from the party. Exposure to the West in Copenhagen and later in London provided a first hand taste of liberty and freedom. It served as the final push into the eager and eternally grateful arms of his M16 handlers. The double agent provided them with not merely a trove of concrete information but invaluable insight into the workings of the KGB and planning of the Soviet Leadership. It is no exaggeration to say Gordievsky was our Kim Philby. The details of these meetings, contacts, "drops", etc. and how spies operated from the end WWII until the dissolution of the Soviet empire is fascinating and novelistic in the telling. Gordievsky's escape or "exfiltration" from the USSR by M16 is nothing short of breathtaking--a Bourne Identity moment.

    Best of all though is the historical and moral context that gives readers a perspective of events' meanings. Ben McIntyre is a masterful storyteller and detailed chronicler. He thoroughly but concisely points out the import and value of Grodievsky's insights--particularly warning the Brits and thereby the Americans that the Soviet leader Yuri Andropov genuinely believed the West was intent upon a first nuclear strike. Appreciating that paranoia can be as perilous as animus, first Thatcher and then Reagan worked to assuage Soviet fears. It was Gordievsky who prepped both sides for successful summits in the 80s and it was he who counseled wisely to neither disband nor include the USSR in the SDI or Star Wars initiative. Rather, ratchet up the pressure and they would go bankrupt trying to keep up, which is precisely what happened.

    Gordievsky certainly didn't single handedly end the cold war--there were dozens of events and officials who played a significant role. But Oleg Gordievsky was surely in the first rank of those who made a valuable contribution earning the appreciation of Reagan, Thatcher, the CIA, M16 and yes, QEII (the monarch, not the ocean liner). Best of all, McIntryre doesn't put a patriotic gloss on his subject's behavior. What Gordievsky did was of enormous benefit to democracy and the West but it destroyed his marriage, implicated his wife and children as well as family and friends who all paid some price for his defection. In short, his actions both saved and ruined lives and the choices he made can be rightfully regarded as both morally defensible and appalling or enraging to those who knew him. Unsurprisingly, his marriage failed and most Russian friends regard him with disdain and disgust. In the western intelligence community he is a hero.

    This is terrific, important history and a wonderfully well-told tale. Enjoy!
  • It is not for nothing that John Le Carre noted in a front cover blurb “the best true spy story I have ever read.” Ben Macintyre’s biography of KGB Colonel and MI6 spy Oleg Gordievsky reads like a novel. His description of Gordievsky’s exfiltration from Moscow by MI6 under the watchful eyes of the KGB has all the hallmarks of a tension-packed Hollywood spy drama and that alone is worth the price of the book.

    The story begins with Gordievsky growing up as the son of a KGB general who becomes disillusioned with life under Soviet communism. He follows in his father’s footsteps and is recruited by the KGB. He is initially stationed in Denmark and there he is willingly recruited by MI6. As he rises in the KGB bureaucracy he become ever more important to the British. Along the way he marries, divorces remarries and has two daughters.

    Where Gordievsky enters history is when he becomes a senior political officer in the KGB’s London rezindentura in the early 1980s. While there he reports to his MI6 handlers that the Soviets actually believed that the United States was going to launch a first strike on the Soviet Union. So paranoid is KGB head and future general secretary Yuri Andropov that he sets up Operation RYaN to find evidence of plans for a first strike. As in most bureaucracies the KGB spies produce such evidence thereby exacerbating his paranoia. The same thing happened with the CIA when it was ordered to look for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq twenty years later.

    Compounding the problem was that at about the same time in 1983 NATO ordered up its massive Able Archer exercise which was a practice drill to deter a Soviet invasion of Western Europe. To the Russians it looked like a precursor to war. It was Gordievsky who tells the British of the Russian fears who then relay that information to the CIA. Several authors have noted that had not both sides deescalated, nuclear war was on the table. Gordievsky’s information to both
    Thatcher and Reagan was influential in bringing about from the de-escalation.

    As the Soviet heir apparent, Gorbachev met with Margaret Thatcher in London in 1984. Here Gordievsky’s role is crucial because be briefed both Thatcher and Gorbachev as MI6 spy and KGB political officer on negotiating strategy. The meeting was a big success and Thatcher noted that Gorbachev was a man she could do business with. The end of the Cold War was now more than a pipe dream. Later, after his exfiltration, Gordievsky meets with Reagan to advise him on negotiating strategy for an upcoming meeting with Gorbachev.

    But wait, what caused Gordievsky to be exfiltrated from Moscow, especially after he was made the Rezident of the KGB’s London office? In very short form the CIA is jealous of MI6 and wants to know who their source is. They soon find out and his name ends up on the desk of Aldrich Ames who was selling secrets to KGB officers in Washington. His betrayal leads to the death of scores of CIA operatives and sources in Russia and ultimately to the KGB investigation of Gordievsky. In Macintyre’s view Ames is a traitor who sold out his country for big bucks and Gordievsky is an honorable spy seeking to better his country.

    This is a great book that I couldn’t put down and I highly recommend it. As an added plus you learn quite a bit of tradecraft.
  • It is rare that any book keeps my interest through the entire story, but this is one of them. Because the story is true, it is better than even the best spy novel with made up characters and plot contrivances. Here everything was real and in many instances Oleg's life depended on decisions made by his handlers. The real-life spy dramas are one of my favorite genres. By the end of the book, I really felt sorry for Oleg's wife and daughters, who through no fault of their own, ended up in a nightmare when Oleg left them behind in Russia only to be retrieved 6 years later with disastrous results.

    I'll be reading A Spy Among Friends next, which I hear is even better.
More aboutEbook The Spy and the Traitor The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War Audible Audio Edition Ben Macintyre John Lee Random House Audio Books