Audiobooks by Bob Collins

LoveReading Top 10

1. freckles

   The brand new, instant Sunday Times top ten novel from million-copy bestselling author Cecelia Ahern. Five people. Five chances. One woman’s search for happiness. Allegra Bird’s arms are scattered with freckles, a gift from her beloved father. But despite her nickname, Freckles has never been able to join all the dots. So when a stranger tells her that everyone is the average of the five people they spend the most time with, it opens up something deep inside. The trouble is, Freckles doesn’t know if she has five people. And if not, what does that say about her? She’s left her unconventional father and her friends behind for a bold new life in Dublin, but she’s still an outsider. Now, in a quest to understand, she must find not one but five people who shape her – and who will determine her future. Told in Allegra’s vivid, original voice, moving from modern Dublin to the fierce Atlantic coast, this is an unforgettable story of human connection, of friendship, and of growing into your own skin. Acclaim for Cecelia Ahern: ‘Cleverly constructed, full of flavour and moving’ Daily Mail ‘Touching, full of humour … life-affirming. Ahern writes with honesty and empathy’ Irish Times ‘As this gorgeous novel illuminates, life goes on, even in the wake of loss’ Nicholas Sparks, bestselling author of The Notebook ‘Beautiful and unexpected … both thought-provoking and life-affirming’ Sunday Express ‘Witty, provocative … it’s time to recognise Cecelia Ahern as one of our finest writers’ John Boyne, bestselling author of The Heart’s Invisible Furies Cecelia Ahern’s previous novel Postscript was a Sunday Times bestseller w/c 16th September 2019.

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2. A Slow Fire Burning: The addictive new Sunday Times No.1 bestseller from the author of The Girl on t

   Brought to you by Penguin. THE SCORCHING SUNDAY TIMES no.1 BESTSELLER FROM THE AUTHOR OF THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN Penguin presents the audio edition of A Slow Fire Burning, read by Rosamund Pike. 'What is wrong with you?' Laura has spent most of her life being judged. She's seen as hot-tempered, troubled, a loner. Some even call her dangerous. Miriam knows that just because Laura is witnessed leaving the scene of a horrific murder with blood on her clothes, that doesn't mean she's a killer. Bitter experience has taught her how easy it is to get caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. Carla is reeling from the brutal murder of her nephew. She trusts no one: good people are capable of terrible deeds. But how far will she go to find peace? Innocent or guilty, everyone is damaged. Some are damaged enough to kill. Look what you started. 'Shocking, moving, full of heart . . . A Slow Fire Burning shows a writer at the height of her powers.' Observer (Thriller of the Month) 'Superbly told, its twists and turns reveal the slow fire burning inside each which might just destroy them. Utterly compelling.' Daily Mail 'Fast-paced, highly charged and carried off with so much confidence that it is impossible to resist.' Sunday Times © Paula Hawkins 2021 (P) Penguin Audio 2021

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3. Snow Country: SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER

   Brought to you by Penguin. 'A fine and profoundly intelligent novel, written by an author who balances big ideas with human emotion. Wistful, yearning and wise' ELIZABETH DAY 'Faulks's most poignant love story yet' ANTONY BEEVOR, author of Stalingrad 1914: Young Anton Heideck has arrived in Vienna, eager to make his name as a journalist. While working part-time as a private tutor, he encounters Delphine, a woman who mixes startling candour with deep reserve. Entranced by the light of first love, Anton feels himself blessed. Until his country declares war on hers. 1927: For Lena, life with a drunken mother in a small town has been impoverished and cold. She is convinced she can amount to nothing until a young lawyer, Rudolf Plischke, spirits her away to Vienna. But the capital proves unforgiving. Lena leaves her metropolitan dream behind to take a menial job at the snow-bound sanatorium, the Schloss Seeblick. 1933: Still struggling to come terms with the loss of so many friends on the Eastern Front, Anton, now an established writer, is commissioned by a magazine to visit the mysterious Schloss Seeblick. In this place of healing, on the banks of a silvery lake, where the depths of human suffering and the chances of redemption are explored, two people will see each other as if for the first time. Sweeping across Europe as it recovers from one war and hides its face from the coming of another, SNOW COUNTRY is a landmark novel of exquisite yearnings, dreams of youth and the sanctity of hope. In elegant, shimmering prose, Sebastian Faulks has produced a work of timeless resonance. 'Overpowering and beautiful ... Ambitious, outrageous, poignant, sleep-disturbing' SIMON SCHAMA on Birdsong © Sebastian Faulks 2021 (P) Penguin Audio 2021

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4. Piranesi

   Vuelve la autora de Jonathan Strange y el señor Norrell con una novela hipnótica ambientada en una realidad onírica. La casa de Piranesi no es un edificio cualquiera: sus habitaciones son monumentales, con paredes llenas de miles de estatuas, y sus pasillos, interminables. Dentro del dédalo de corredores hay un océano aprisionado en el que las olas retumban y las mareas inundan los aposentos. Pero Piranesi no tiene miedo: comprende las embestidas del mar igual que el patrón del laberinto, mientras explora los límites de su mundo y avanza, con la ayuda de un hombre llamado El Otro, en una investigación científica para alcanzar El Gran Conocimiento Secreto. La crítica ha dicho... «Nos recuerda el poder de la ficción para llevarnos a otro mundo y ampliar así la comprensión del nuestro. [...] Supera las expectativas en todo.» The Guardian «Como un sueño febril: desorientador, fascinante, persistentemente extraño. [...] Se introduce en el subconsciente con acertijos que van mucho más allá de la última página. Brillante y singular.» The Sunday Times «Una lectura sutilmente cómica y completamente seductora.» Daily Mail «Espectacular. [...] Una segunda novela que roza la perfección.» The Times «Una fábula deslumbrante sobre la soledad, la imaginación y la memoria.» The Spectator «Bella, extraña, fascinante.» Mail on Sunday «¿Por qué no atreverse con el nuevo libro de Susanna Clarke para viajar al subconsciente sin necesidad de tomar nada?» New York Magazine «Una lectura adictiva de máxima calidad. [...] Una hazaña sobresaliente.» The Wall Street Journal «El ingenio y la imaginación singulares de Clarke siguen intactos. Una historia mucho más comprimida pero no menos cautivadora.» The Boston Globe «De una agudeza inmensa.» The Washington Post

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5. 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think

   There are 168 hours in a week. This book is about where the time really goes, and how we can all use it better. It's an unquestioned truth of modern life: we are starved for time. With the rise of two-income families, extreme jobs, and 24/7 connectivity, life is so frenzied we can barely find time to breathe. We tell ourselves we'd like to read more, get to the gym regularly, try new hobbies, and accomplish all kinds of goals. But then we give up because there just aren't enough hours to do it all. Or else, if we don't make excuses, we make sacrifices. To get ahead at work we spend less time with our spouses. To carve out more family time, we put off getting in shape. To train for a marathon, we cut back on sleep. There has to be a better way-and Laura Vanderkam has found one. After interviewing dozens of successful, happy people, she realized that they allocate their time differently than most of us. Instead of letting the daily grind crowd out the important stuff, they start by making sure there's time for the important stuff. They focus on what they do best and what only they can do. When plans go wrong and they run out of time, only their lesser priorities suffer. It's not always easy, but the payoff is enormous. Vanderkam shows that it really is possible to sleep eight hours a night, exercise five days a week, take piano lessons, and write a novel without giving up quality time for work, family, and other things that really matter. The key is to start with a blank slate and to fill up your 168 hours only with things that deserve your time. Of course, you probably won't read to your children at 2:00 am, or skip a Wednesday morning meeting to go hiking, but you can cut back on how much you watch TV, do laundry, or spend time on other less fulfilling activities. Vanderkam shares creative ways to rearrange your schedule to make room for the things that matter most. 168 Hours is a fun, inspiring, practical guide that will help men and women of any age, lifestyle, or career get the most out of their time and their lives.

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6. Impostor: An Alexander Gregory Thriller (The Alexander Gregory Thrillers Book 1): The Alexander Greg

   From the International Number 1 Bestselling Author of the DCI Ryan Mysteries. Impostor is the first instalment in Ross' brand new Dr Alex Gregory series, narrated by actor Hugh Dancy. After an elite criminal profiling unit is shut down amid a storm of scandal and mismanagement, only one person emerges unscathed. Forensic psychiatrist Doctor Alexander Gregory has a reputation for being able to step inside the darkest minds to uncover whatever secrets lie hidden there and, soon enough, he finds himself drawn into the murky world of murder investigation. In the beautiful hills of County Mayo, Ireland, a killer is on the loose. Panic has a stranglehold on its rural community and the Garda are running out of time. Gregory has sworn to follow a quiet life but, when the call comes, can he refuse to help their desperate search for justice? Murder and mystery are peppered with dark humour in this fast-paced thriller set amidst the spectacular Irish landscape. LJ Ross is a self-published literary sensation whose books have sold over 4 million copies in paperback, ebook and audio. We are proud to bring her work to libraries for the first time. "LJ Ross keeps company with the best mystery writers" THE TIMES "A literary phenomenon.' EVENING CHRONICLE "LJ Ross is the Queen of Kindle.' SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

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7. State of Terror

   From the #1 bestselling authors Hillary Clinton and Louise Penny comes a novel of unsurpassed thrills and incomparable insider expertise - STATE OF TERROR. STATE OF TERROR follows a novice Secretary of State who has joined the administration of her rival, a president inaugurated after four years of American leadership that shrank from the world stage. A series of terrorist attacks throws the global order into disarray, and the secretary is tasked with assembling a team to unravel the deadly conspiracy, a scheme carefully designed to take advantage of an American government dangerously out of touch and out of power in the places where it counts the most. This high-stakes thriller of international intrigue features behind-the-scenes global drama informed by details only an insider could know.

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8. The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music

   So, I've written a book.   Having entertained the idea for years, and even offered a few questionable opportunities ('It's a piece of cake! Just do four hours of interviews, find someone else to write it, put your face on the cover, and voila!'), I have decided to tell these stories just as I have always done, in my own voice. The joy that I have felt from chronicling these tales is not unlike listening back to a song that I've recorded and can't wait to share with the world, or reading a primitive journal entry from a stained notebook, or even hearing my voice bounce between the Kiss posters on my wall as a child.    This certainly doesn't mean that I'm quitting my day job, but it does give me a place to shed a little light on what it's like to be a kid from Springfield, Virginia, walking through life while living out the crazy dreams I had as young musician. From hitting the road with Scream at 18 years old, to my time in Nirvana and the Foo Fighters, jamming with Iggy Pop or playing at the Academy Awards or dancing with AC/DC and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, drumming for Tom Petty or meeting Sir Paul McCartney at Royal Albert Hall, bedtime stories with Joan Jett or a chance meeting with Little Richard, to flying halfway around the world for one epic night with my daughters…the list goes on. I look forward to focusing the lens through which I see these memories a little sharper for you with much excitement.   

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9. Humanocracy: Creating Organizations as Amazing as the People Inside Them

   In a world of unrelenting change and unprecedented challenges, we need organizations that are resilient and daring. Unfortunately, most organizations, overburdened by bureaucracy, are sluggish and timid. In the age of upheaval, top-down power structures and rule-choked management systems are a liability. They crush creativity and stifle initiative. As leaders, employees, investors, and citizens, we deserve better. We need organizations that are bold, entrepreneurial, and as nimble as change itself. Hence this book. In Humanocracy, Gary Hamel and Michele Zanini make a passionate, data-driven argument for excising bureaucracy and replacing it with something better. Drawing on more than a decade of research and packed with practical examples, Humanocracy lays out a detailed blueprint for creating organizations that are as inspired and ingenious as the human beings inside them. Critical building blocks include: Motivation: Rallying colleagues to the challenge of busting bureaucracy Models: Leveraging the experience of organizations that have profitably challenged the bureaucratic status quo Mindsets: Escaping the industrial age thinking that frustrates progress Mobilization: Activating a pro-change coalition to hack outmoded management systems and processes Migration: Embedding the principles of humanocracy-ownership, markets, meritocracy, community, openness, experimentation, and paradox-in your organization's DNA If you've finally run out of patience with bureaucratic bullshit . . . If you want to build an organization that can outrun change . . . If you're committed to giving every team member the chance to learn, grow, and contribute . . . . . . then this book's for you. Whatever your role or title, Humanocracy will show you how to launch an unstoppable movement to equip and empower everyone in your organization to be their best and to do their best. The ultimate prize: an organization that's fit for the future and fit for human beings.

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10. Bad Boss

    He was supposed to be my first and only one-night stand. He was definitely never supposed to become my boss. I had always been the good girl-the workaholic with every second of her life mapped out to a tee. Then I got trapped in an elevator with Julian Hoult. He was . . . irresistible. Sophisticated sex in a crisp white shirt. His voice alone dropped me straight to my knees. What was I supposed to do? Well . . . I can tell you what I was definitely not supposed to do. I was not supposed to run into him ever again. I was not supposed to be desperately unemployed, and I was definitely not supposed to accept his dirty little job offer. But I couldn't resist. As CEO of the Hoult Media empire, Julian will stop at nothing to get what he wants. So for his next venture with Manhattan's most lecherous billionaires, he's hired me to play the role of bait. And while my official title is that of Executive Assistant, my actual job requires low tops, tight skirts, and flaunting everything I've got till his clients are easy to bend-till they can barely think for themselves anymore. It's sleazy and wrong. Against everything I've worked for. But with Julian as my audience, I can't help but enjoy every second. Thanks to him, I'm embracing the bad, and I swear . . . I've never in my life felt this damned good. Contains mature themes.

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