Nicholas Bell has narrated 10 audiobooks on Listento.it by 5 authors, with an average listener rating of 4.8★ across 25 ratings. The most-rated is How Proust Can Change Your Life.
How Proust Can Change Your Life
Summary
For anyone who ever wondered what Marcel Proust had in mind when he wrote the one-and-a-quarter-million words of In Search of Lost Time (while bedridden no less), Alain de Botton has the answer. For, in this stylish, erudite and frequently hilarious book, de Botton dips deeply into Proust’s life and work - his fiction, letters, and conversations – and distils from them that rare self-help manual: one that is actually helpful. Here, tendered in prose almost as luminous as its subject’s, is advice on cultivating friendships, suffering successfully, recognising love, and understanding why you should never sleep with someone on the first date. And here, too, is a generously perceptive literary biography that suggests that the master is as relevant today as he was in fin de siècle Paris.
©1997 Alain de Botton (P)2010 Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd
Hurry Up and Meditate
Summary
For anyone who wants to start meditating but has been struggling to get to the cushion, here are all the motivation and tools you need to achieve greater balance, better health and a more panoramic perspective of life. Hurry Up and Meditate has been written for people in a hurry and its message is simple: meditation will help you combat stress, cultivate happiness, enhance your performance, realise your goals and attain mastery of your mental, emotional and material destiny. If meditation was available in capsule form, it would be the biggest-selling drug of all time. It has been scientifically proven to deliver highly effective stress relief, boost our immune systems and dramatically slow the aging process. It has also been shown to make us much happier and more effective thinkers. Given all the physical and psychological benefits, why aren't more of us doing it? In his thought-provoking and entertaining book, David Michie explains the nuts and bolts of meditation. As a busy professional, as well as long-term meditator, he also gives a first-hand account of how to integrate this transformational practice into everyday life. Combining leading edge science with timeless wisdom, Hurry Up and Meditate provides all the motivation and tools you need to achieve greater balance, better health and a more panoramic perspective on life.
©2008 David Michie (P)2008 Bolinda Publishing
Buddhism for Busy People
Summary
The best-selling introduction to Buddhism. Every once in a while you come across an extraordinary book with the power to change your life. Buddhism For Busy People is one such book. What does it take to be happy? We've all asked ourselves this question at some point, but few of us have found the path to lasting fulfillment. David Michie thought he had achieved his life's goals - the high level job, the expensive city apartment, the luxury car, great holidays...but a small voice was telling him he wasn't really happy. A chance remark from a naturopath sent him to his local Buddhist centre. There, he began the most important journey of his life. In this simple, beautifully written book, David Michie opens the door to the core teachings of Tibetan Buddhism. With wry, self-deprecating humour, he shows us how he began to incorporate Buddhist practices into his daily life. He explains how he came to understand the difference between the temporary pleasures of ordinary life, and the profound sense of well-being and heart-felt serenity that comes from connecting with our inner nature. Please note: new audio was uploaded for this product on June 4th 2019 - additional meditations are now included at the end of the audiobook.
©2008 David Michie (P)2008 Bolinda Publishing
On Seeing and Noticing
Summary
Alain de Botton believes that philosophy can help people enjoy happier lives. And in his numerous best sellers, from Status Anxiety to The Art of Travel, his unique blend of erudition and self-help has reached an audience eager to listen. In On Seeing and Noticing, Alain de Botton takes everyday concerns such as expressing sadness or being romantic and dispenses advice and observations based on the works of some of history's greatest writers, artists and thinkers.
©2005 Alain de Botton (P)2013 Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd
The Art of Travel
Summary
Aside from love, few actvities seem to promise us as much happiness as going traveling: taking off for somewhere else, somewhere far from home, a place with more interesting weather, customs, and landscapes. But although we are inundated with advice on where to travel, few people seem to talk about why we should go and how we can become more fulfilled by doing so.
©2002 Alain de Botton (P)2013 Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd
The Architecture of Happiness
Summary
One of the great, but often unmentioned, causes of both happiness and misery is the quality of our environment: the kind of walls, chairs, buildings, and streets we’re surrounded by. And yet a concern for architecture and design is too often described as frivolous, even self-indulgent. The Architecture of Happiness starts from the idea that where we are heavily influences who we can be - and argues that it is architecture’s task to stand as an eloquent reminder of our full potential.
Whereas many architects are wary of openly discussing the word beauty, this audiobook has at its centre the large and naïve question: "What is a beautiful building?" It amounts to a tour through the philosophy and psychology of architecture, which aims to change the way we think about our homes, streets, and ourselves.
©2006 Alain de Botton (P)2013 Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd
The Lieutenant
Summary
Simultaneous release of the new novel by the author of the universally acclaimed prize-winner
The Secret River,
The Lieutenant is a major new novel that will captivate readers and continues the author's enthralling exploration of historical themes.
Set a quarter of a century before The Secret River, at the moment when the British arrive in Australia, The Lieutenant tells an unforgettable story about friendship, language and power.
In 1787 Lieutenant Thomas Rooke sets sail from Portsmouth with the First Fleet and its cargo of convicts, destined for New South Wales. As a young officer and a man of science, the shy and quiet Rooke is full of anticipation about the natural wonders he might discover in this strange land on the other side of the world.
After the fleet arrives in Port Jackson, Rooke sets up camp on a rocky and isolated point, and starts his work of astronomy and navigation. It's not too long before some of the Aboriginal people who live around the harbour pay him a visit. One of them, a girl named Tarunga, starts to teach him her own language. But her lessons and their friendship are interrupted when Rooke is given an order that will change his life forever.
Inspired by the 1790 notebooks of William Dawes in which he recorded his conversations with a young Gadigal woman, The Lieutenant is a story about a man discovering his true self in extraordinary circumstances.
©2008 Kate Grenville (P)2008 Bolinda Publishing
Think! Before It's Too Late
Summary
The world is full of problems and conflicts. So why can we not solve them? According to Edward de Bono, world thinking cannot solve world problems because world thinking is itself the problem. And this is getting worse: we are so accustomed to readily available information online that we search immediately for the answers rather than thinking about them.
Our minds function like trying to drive a car using only one wheel. There's nothing wrong with that one wheel - conventional thinking - but we could all get a lot further if we used all four.
De Bono examines why we think the way we do from a historical perspective and uses some of his famous thinking techniques combined with new ideas to show us how to change the way we think.
If we strengthen our ability and raise our thinking level, other areas of our life - both personal and business success - will improve.
De Bono is the master of the original big 'concept' book and his enticement to us to use our minds as constructively as possible should appeal to a whole new generation of fans.
©2009 Edward De Bono (P)2010 Bolinda Audio
John
Summary
In the tradition of Jim Crace's Quarantine and Anita Diamant's The Red Tent, John is a stunning, lyrical reimagining of John the Apostle in the final years of his life, by the critically acclaimed and bestselling author of Four Letters of Love. In the years following the death of Jesus Christ, John the Apostle, now a frail, blind old man, lives in forced exile on the desolate island of Patmos with a small group of his disciples. Together, the group has endured their banishment, but after years awaiting Christ's return, fissures form within their faith, and, inevitably, one of John's followers disavows Christ's divinity and breaks away from the community, threatening to change the course of Christianity. When the Roman emperor lifts the banishment of Christians, John and his followers are permitted to return to Ephesus, a chaotic world of competing religious sects where Christianity is in danger of vanishing. It is against this turbulent background-and inspired by Jesus's radical message of love and forgiveness-that John comes to dictate his Gospel. Immensely impressive and based on actual historical events, John is at once an ambitious and provocative reimagining of the last surviving apostle and a powerful look at faith and how it lives and dies in the hearts of men. At a time when many remain skeptical about religion but still thirst for spiritual fulfillment, Niall Williams's extraordinary and masterful new novel reveals a universally appealing message of hope and love.
©2008 Niall Williams (P)2008 Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd
Enlightenment to Go
Summary
For the past thirty years the Dalai Lama has consistently recommended Shantideva’s A Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life as essential reading for those interested in applying Buddhist philosophy to daily life. In Enlightenment to Go, David Michie provides a lively and accessible guide to ‘the best of’ Shantideva. Sharing his enthusiasm for Shantideva’s radical insights, life-changing psychological tools and transcendent wisdom, he draws on a wide variety of scientific sources – from mindfulness training to cognitive behaviour therapy, from neuropsychology to quantum physics – to show how Shantideva’s Guide is as relevant as ever. Whether you are a newcomer to Buddhism or a seasoned practitioner, Enlightenment to Go offers a glimpse of a radiantly different reality – and a beautiful illumination of why the Dalai Lama recommends Shantideva’s Guide above all others.
©2010 Mosaic Reputation Management (P)2010 Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd