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THE WORLD ACCORDING to STAR WARS (audiobook) by Cass R. Sunstein

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Published in May of 2016 by HarperAudio. Read by Kaleo Griffith Duration: 5 hours, 44 minutes Unabridged Besides being a Law Professor at Harvard and a former member of the Obama Administration, Cass R. Sunstein is a massive fan of all things Star Wars.  In a wide-ranging and mostly interesting discussion, Sunstein uses Star Wars as a way to explain aspects of the American and world political scene, economics and family dynamics.  He starts with a little history of how Star Wars came to be, including George Lucas's struggles in writing the screenplay, the way the actors all thought they were acting in an interesting movie that was certain to be a big flop and the reluctance by the studios to really push the movie. But, despite the odds, Star Wars became a massive phenomenon - the series is the all-time leader in multiple categories and the hits just keep on coming. Sunstein explores why it became a big hit, looking at the timing of its release, what was going on in Am

THOSE GRAND OCCASIONS at the END of the ROAD (audiobook) by Tom Bodett

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Published by Random House Audio in 2009 Read by the author, Tom Bodett Duration: 2 hours, 15 minutes. Abridged This book focuses on town celebrations, thus the references to "Grand Occasions" in the title. The quirky town of End of the Road, Alaska puts its own twist on everything. If you follow this series, that is no surprise. If you have not followed this series, do not start with this one. It is excellent but it depends on the listener actually knowing who the characters are beforehand. Adolescent Norman Tuttle struggles with being treated like a kid when at Thanksgiving and in other family activities. Meanwhile, the town gets a town Christmas tree thanks to finally getting a public park and, of course, this somehow becomes controversial. New Year's celebrations become more than a bit weird due to the weather.  Perhaps the funniest story is about how the town tries to open a safe that was used as a time capsule. Why? In their excitement to put important doc

THE END of the ROAD (audiobook) by Tom Bodett

Originally published in 1989. Audio edition published in 1999 by Bantam Doubleday Dell Audio Read by the author, Tom Bodett Duration: 2 hours, 30 minutes Abridged This is the first of Tom Bodett's excellent "End of the Road" series and it is a joy to meet the quirky people who live in this small town in Alaska. It starts with the annual town parade and festival in the local quarry (it's easier to clean up a quarry, at least that's the theory), complete with fish tossing and a pistol shooting contest and ends up with a great story of two friends who travel from Alaska to Florida to pick up a brand new fire truck and then drive it back to Seattle to ship to Alaska by ship. It is the road trip of a lifetime. Great quotes from the book: "Men share some of their most intimate moments leaning against vehicles with their arms crossed, looking at anything but each other."  "I don't think there's a man in America who didn't spend at lea

DIES IRAE: DAY of WRATH: A Novella by William Forstchen

Published in 2014 by Spectrum Literary Agency William R. Fortschen notes in his introduction that he felt compelled to write the story after a long discussion with a couple of friends about ISIS and the porous nature of America's southern border. What he came up with is this novella that is jam-packed full of action and very short on things like character development and a real resolution. But, it was written as a warning more than anything else. The main characters are Bob Peterson and his wife Kathy who live in Maine. Bob is a middle school teacher. ISIS-backed terrorists have invaded America to launch a series of attacks on schools in smaller towns across the country, including Bob's. Bob breaks school rules and state laws by carrying a pistol on his person in the school, and on this day that is a good thing... Fortschen's descriptions of the ensuing death and mayhem are over the top but effective. To be honest, this book reminded me of Stephen King's orgies of b

ENDANGERED (Joe Pickett # 15) by C.J. Box

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Published in 2015 by G.P. Putnam's Sons Technically, this is a Joe Pickett and Nate Romanowski novel but they have no interaction throughout the book. Nate has been released from prison because of a complex deal between the feds and Joe Pickett's boss, the Governor of Wyoming. But, one of the conditions of his release is that he cannot have any contact with Joe Pickett - a part of the deal that was tossed in out of spite by the FBI agent that negotiated the deal. Romanowski agrees and heads off to a new life with his new love interest.  They have opened a business in which he will use his hunting falcons to clear out smaller birds from barns and the like. But, Romanowski soon discovers that he was mostly let out of prison to become bait for the people that he testified against in prison so that the FBI can have a chance to nab them - maybe before they kill Nate, maybe not. Meanwhile, Wyoming Game Warden Joe Pickett is dealing with troubles of his own. His adopted daughter

61 HOURS (Jack Reacher #14) (audiobook) by Lee Child

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Published by Random House Audio in April of 2011. Read by Dick Hill Duration: 13 Hours, 43 Minutes Unabridged Jack Reacher is on a tour bus with a lot of retired folks who took advantage of a discounted tour price to tour South Dakota in the winter time. Reacher paid the driver to hop on and skip the tour. They are on their way to Mount Rushmore when the bus skids on an icy patch on the interstate and gets hung up. Normally, that is not such a big deal, but a massive series of snowstorms is coming in and the temperature is dropping in a hurry. Photo by DWD The tourists, the driver and Reacher are evacuated to a small town with a big problem. A little old lady witnessed a local biker gang member selling meth to a big-time dealer and the trial is quickly approaching. But, the old lady has been threatened and the local police are expecting an outside hit-man to come to town and kill her so she can't testify and they suspect Reacher just may be that man. Meanwhile, the s