Hobbies & Games Audiobooks | Non-Fiction

Richard A. Knaak (Author), Scott Brick (Narrator)

Audiobook

More than 174 million Americans are gamers, and the average young person in the U.S. will spend 10,000 hours gaming by the age of 21. According to world-renowned game designer Jane McGonigal, the reason for this mass exodus to virtual worlds is that videogames are increasingly fulfilling genuine human needs. In this groundbreaking exploration of the power and future of gaming, McGonigal reveals how we can use the lessons of game design to fix what is wrong with the real world. Drawing on positive psychology, cognitive science, and sociology, Reality Is Broken uncovers how game designers have hit on core truths about what makes us happy and utilized these discoveries to astonishing effect in virtual environments. Videogames consistently provide the exhilarating rewards, stimulating challenges, and epic victories that are so often lacking in the real world. But why, McGonigal asks, should we use the power of games for escapist entertainment alone? Her research suggests that gamers are expert problem-solvers and collaborators because they regularly cooperate with other players to overcome daunting virtual challenges, and she helped pioneer a fast-growing genre of games that aims to turn game-play to socially positive ends. In Reality Is Broken, she reveals how these new alternate reality games are already improving the quality of our daily lives, fighting social problems such as depression and obesity, and addressing vital 21st-century challenges - and she forecasts the thrilling possibilities that lie ahead. "As addictive as Tetris, McGonigal's penetrating, entertaining look into gaming culture is a vibrant mix of technology, psychology, and sociology, told with the vision of a futurist and the deft touch of a storyteller.--Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Jane McGonigal (Author), Julia Whelan (Narrator)

Audiobook

Simple Times: Crafts for Poor People

Read by the author! America's most delightfully unconventional hostess and the bestselling author of I Like You delivers a new book that will forever change the world of crafting. According to Amy Sedaris, it's often been said that ugly people craft and attractive people have sex. In her new book, SIMPLE TIMES, she sets the record straight. Demonstrating that crafting is one of life's more pleasurable and constructive leisure activities, Sedaris shows that anyone with a couple of hours to kill and access to pipe cleaners can join the elite society of crafters. You will discover how to make popular crafts, such as: crab-claw roach clips, tinfoil balls, and crepe-paper moccasins, and learn how to: get inspired (Spend time at a Renaissance Fair; Buy fruit, let it get old, and see what shapes it turns into); remember which kind of glue to use with which material (Tacky with Furry, Gummy with Gritty, Paste with Prickly, and always Gloppy with Sandy); create your own craft room and avoid the most common crafting accidents (sawdust fires, feather asphyxia, pine cone lodged in throat); and cook your own edible crafts, from a Crafty Candle Salad to Sugar Skulls, and many more recipes. PLUS whole chapters full of more crafting ideas (Pompom Ringworms! Seashell Toilet Seat Covers!) that will inspire you to create your own hastily constructed obscure d'arts; and much, much more!

Amy Sedaris (Author), Amy Sedaris (Narrator)

Audiobook

Confessions of a Conjuror

The inside of Derren Brown's head is a strange and mysterious place. Now you can climb inside and wander around. Find out just how Derren's mind works, see what motivates him and discover what made him the weird and wonderful person he is today. Obsessed with magic and illusions since childhood, Derren's life to date has been an extraordinary journey and here, in Confessions of a Conjuror, he allows us all to join him on a magical mystery tour - to the centre of his brain... Taking as his starting point the various stages of a conjuring trick he's performing in a crowded restaurant, Derren's endlessly engaging narrative wanders through subjects from all points of the compass, from the history of magic and the fundamentals of psychology to the joys of internet shopping and the proper use of Parmesan cheese. Brilliant, hilarious and entirely unlike anything else you have ever read before, Confessions of a Conjuror is a complete and utter joy.

Derren Brown (Author), Derren Brown (Narrator)

Audiobook

Lay the Favorite

An eye-popping and hilarious joyride through the underworld of sports betting Beth Raymer arrived in Las Vegas in 2001, hoping to land a job as a cocktail waitress at one of the big casinos. In the meantime, she lived in a $17-a-night motel with her dog, Otis, and waited tables at a low-rent Thai restaurant. One day, one of her regular customers told her about a job she thought Beth would be perfect for and sent her to see Dink, of Dink Inc. Dink was a professional sports gambler-one of the biggest in Vegas. He was looking for a right-hand man-someone who would show up on time, who had a head for numbers, and who didn't steal. She got the job. Lay the Favorite is the story of Beth Raymer's years in the high-stakes, high-anxiety world of sports betting-a period that saw the fall of the local bookie and the rise of the freewheeling, unregulated offshore sports book, and with it the elevation of sports betting in popular culture. As the business explodes, Beth rises-from assistant to expert, trusted and seasoned enough to open an offshore booking office in the Caribbean with a few associates, men who leave their families up north to make a quick killing, while donning new tropical personas fueled by abundant drugs and local girlfriends, and who one by one succumb to their vices. They lie, cheat, steal, and run, until Beth is the last man standing. Beth Raymer is a natural storyteller: funny, charming, and fully awake to the ironies around her. But she is also a keen and compassionate observer of the adrenaline-addicted, rougish types who become her mentors, her enemies, her family. Raymer brings to life a world that teems with pathos and ecstasy in this wild picaresque that also tells the story of a young woman's crazy, sexy, most unlikely coming-of-age. From the Hardcover edition.

Beth Raymer (Author), Phoebe Zimmerman, Phoebe Zimmermann (Narrator)

Audiobook

Starcraft II: Heaven's Devils

For the poor, hardworking citizens of the Confederacy's fringe worlds, the Guild Wars have exacted a huge toll. Swayed by the promise of financial rewards, a new batch of recruits joins the fight alongside a slew of mysteriously docile criminals -- and a few dubious military leaders. Eighteen-year-old Jim Raynor, full of testosterone and eager to make things right at home, ships off to boot camp and finds his footing on the battlefield, but he soon discovers that the official mission is not what he's really fighting for. For the first time ever, StarCraft enthusiasts will learn the origins of the enduring friendship between the young upstart Jim Raynor and the streetwise soldier Tychus Findlay. Watch as they battle on the front lines of a fierce interplanetary war and bear witness to the Confederacy's rank corruption -- corruption so reprehensible that it rains immeasurable death and destruction upon the government's own people.

William C. Dietz (Author), Neil Kaplan (Narrator)

Audiobook

World of Warcraft: Stormrage

When the world of Azeroth was young, the god-like titans brought order to it by reshaping its lands and seas. Throughout their great work, they followed a magnificent design for what they envisioned Azeroth would become. Although the titans departed Azeroth long ago, that design endures to this day. It is known as the Emerald Dream, a lush and savagely primal version of the... WORLD OF WARCRAFT Many are the mysteries surrounding the Emerald Dream and its reclusive guardians, the green dragonflight. In times past, druids have entered the Dream to monitor the ebb and flow of life on Azeroth in their never-ending quest to maintain the delicate balance of nature. However, not all dreams are pleasant ones. Recently the Emerald Nightmare, an area of corruption within the Emerald Dream, began growing in size, transforming the Dream into a realm of unimaginable horror. Green dragons have been unexpectedly caught up in the Nightmare, emerging from it with shattered minds and twisted bodies. Druids who have entered the darkening Dream lately have found it difficult -- sometimes even impossible -- to escape. Nor are these the Nightmare's only victims: more and more people are being affected. Even Malfurion Stormrage, first and foremost of the druids on Azeroth, may have fallen victim to this growing threat. As uncontrollable nightmares spread across the world, a desperate quest begins to find and free the archdruid. Soon nature's enemies will learn the true meaning of the name

Richard A. Knaak (Author), Richard Ferrone (Narrator)

Audiobook

Cowboys Full: The Story of Poker

From James McManus, author of the bestselling Positively Fifth Street, comes the definitive story of the game that, more than any other, reflects who we are and how we operate. Cowboys Full is the story of poker, from its roots in China, the Middle East, and Europe to its ascent as a global-but especially an American-phenomenon. It describes how early Americans took a French parlor game and, with a few extra cards and an entrepreneurial spirit, turned it into a national craze by the time of the Civil War. From the kitchen-table games of ordinary citizens to its influence on generals and diplomats, poker has gone hand in hand with our national experience. Presidents from Abraham Lincoln to Barack Obama have deployed poker and its strategies to explain policy, to relax with friends, to negotiate treaties and crises, and as a political networking tool. The ways we all do battle and business are echoed by poker tactics: cheating and thwarting cheaters, leveraging uncertainty, bluffing and sussing out bluffers, managing risk and reward. Cowboys Full shows how what was once accurately called the cheater's game has become amostly honest contest of cunning, mathematical precision, and luck. It explains how poker, formerly dominated by cardsharps, is now the most popular card game in Europe, East Asia, Australia, South America, and cyberspace, as well as on television. It combines colorful history with firsthand experience from today's professional tour. And it examines poker's remarkable hold on American culture, from paintings by Frederic Remington to countless poker novels, movies, and plays. Braiding the thrill of individual hands with new ways of seeing poker's relevance to our military, diplomatic, business, and personal affairs, Cowboys Full is sure to become the classic account of America's favorite pastime.

James McManus (Author), Oliver Wyman (Narrator)

Audiobook

NPR Sunday Puzzles

Portable, enjoyable hands-free puzzles from longtime NPR Puzzlemaster Will Shortz and special guests. Will Shortz believes that "we're living in the golden age of puzzles now . . . puzzles have never been better." He should know. Shortz has been crossword editor of The New York Times since 1993 and NPR puzzlemaster even longer, challenging Weekend Edition Sunday listeners with on-air puzzles since the program's start in 1987. This collection features Shortz and NPR host Liane Hansen in stimulating conversation, guiding listeners through puzzles filled with creative wordplay. Programs include the one before Shortz's appearance on The Simpsons (with prizes announced by Mr. Burns and Smithers, voiced by Harry Shearer), Hansen's birthday show (her children read the list of prizes), and two-time Oscar winner Tom Hanks as a mystery guest who sticks around to help the delighted contestant.

Will Shortz (Author), Liane Hansen, Will Shortz (Narrator)

Audiobook

One of a Kind: The Story of Stuey “The Kid” Ungar, the World’s Greatest Poker Player

He was a legend before he was of legal age. Stuey Ungar dropped out of high school to become an underground card-table sensation, eventually taking out every top gin-rummy player on the east coast. Bankrolled by the Genovese crime family, Ungar went on to win the World Series of Poker a record three times-then his luck began to run out. Nolan Dalla was commissioned by Ungar in 1998 to pen his story, resulting in hundreds of hours of taped interviews and conversations. Notorious for gambling every single dollar in his pocket, Ungar won an estimated $30 million in his lifetime, but when he was found dead in a Las Vegas motel at the age of forty-five, he had only $800 in cash on his person, with no bank account or home address. One of a Kind is the startling tale of a man who won at his game and lost control of his life.

Nolan Dalla (Author), Joe Barrett, Peter Alson (Narrator)

Audiobook

From Square One

From Square One is Dean Olsher's captivating and in-depth exploration of the cultural history, psychology, and even metaphysics of crosswords -- their promise of a world without chaos and uncertainty. It is often repeated that more than 50 million Americans do crossword puzzles on a regular basis. Skeptical of that claim, Dean Olsher does his own research and finds that the number is nearly dead-on. Filled with lively, original reporting, From Square One disputes the widely held belief that solving crosswords helps prevent Alzheimer's; in fact, the drive to fill in empty spaces is more likely a mental illness than a cure. While "puzzle addiction" is usually meant as a lighthearted metaphor, the term contains more than a nugget of truth. Olsher looks into the origins and traditions of this popular pastime, which made its debut in a New York newspaper in 1913. Or did it? Along the way, he takes readers inside the making of a crossword. He also revives the quest of musical-theater legend and puzzle constructor Stephen Sondheim to find an American audience for a British crossword style that demands a love of verbal playfulness over knowledge of arcane trivia. Informative, engaging, and often surprising, From Square One is a unique and enjoyable read for puzzlers and nonpuzzlers alike.

Dean Olsher (Author), Dean Olsher (Narrator)

Audiobook

Inmigracion y ciudadania en Estados Unidos

CD 1 Introduccio?n Escena 1: Una hispana se ha hecho ciudadana estadounidense y quiere traer a su hija casada y sus nietos Escena 2: Todo lo que usted necesita saber sobre la loteri?a de visa Escena 3: Co?mo traer al novio o la novia de His- panoame?rica Escena 4: Asilados y refugiados Escena 5: Usted vive fuera de Estados Unidos y quiere venir como trabajador(a) o inversionista Escena 6: Las ventajas de hacerse ciudadano de Estados Unidos y el examen de ciudadani?a CD 2 Escena 6: Conclusio?n Escena 7: Las visas para trabajadores profesionales temporales Escena 8: ¿Quiere estudiar en Estados Unidos? Escena 9: Las causas que impiden lograr la residencia permanente: co?mo evitarlas CD 3 Introduccio?n al examen de ciudadani?a Preguntas de civismo: Primera parte: Principios de la democracia americana Segunda parte: Sistema de gobierno Tercera parte: Derechos y responsabilidades Historia Americana: Primera parte: E?poca colonial e independencia Segunda parte: Los an?os 1800 Tercera parte: Historia americana reciente y otra informacio?n histo?rica importante Civismo Integrado: Primera parte: Geografi?a Segunda parte: Si?mbolos Tercera parte: Di?as feriados Preguntas para las personas mayores Ejemplos para los exa?menes de ingle?s Vocabulario

Allan Wernick (Author), George Bass, Miriam Cruz (Narrator)

Audiobook

Hobbies & Games Audiobooks in Non-Fiction