Henry David Thoreau has long been an intellectual icon and folk hero. In this strikingly original profile, Michael Sims reveals how the bookish, quirky young man, who kept quitting jobs, evolved into the patron saint of environmentalism and nonviolent activism. Working from 19th-century letters and diaries by Thoreau’s family, friends, and students, Sims charts Henry’s course from his time at Harvard through the years he spent living in a cabin beside Walden Pond. Sims uncovers a previously hidden Thoreau - the rowdy boy reminiscent of Tom Sawyer, the sarcastic college iconoclast, the devoted son who kept imitating his beloved older brother’s choices in life. Thoreau was deeply influenced by his parents - his father owned a pencil factory in Concord, his mother was an abolitionist and social activist - and by Ralph Waldo Emerson, his frequent mentor. Sims relates intimate, telling moments in Thoreau’s daily life: in Emerson’s library; teaching his neighbor and friend, Nathaniel Hawthorne, to row a boat; exploring the natural world and Native American culture; tutoring Emerson’s nephew on Staten Island and walking the streets of New York in the hope of launching a writing career. Returned from New York, Thoreau approached Emerson to ask if he could build a cabin on his mentor's land on the shores of Walden Pond, anticipating the isolation would galvanize his thoughts and actions. That it did. While at the cabin, he wrote his first book, A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers, and refined the journal entries that formed the core of Walden. Resisting what he felt were unfair taxes, he spent the night in jail that led to his celebrated essay "Civil Disobedience", which would inspire the likes of Gandhi and Martin Luther King. Chronicling Thoreau’s youthful transformation, Sims reveals how this decade would resonate over the rest of his life, and thereafter throughout American literature and history. 1. Language: English. Narrator: David Rapkin. Audio sample: http://samples.audible.de/bk/adbl/015911/bk_adbl_015911_sample.mp3. Digital audiobook in aax.

In Seduction, renowned author Rachel Allen, in her quest for independence and relief from her PTSD symptoms, moves to New York City. There she reunites with Theodore X. Donovan, the man who saved her life from a brutal rapist years before. Ted, wealthy philanthropist with international connections and founder of The PRAISE Foundation, harbors a dangerous personal agenda.Because of Rachel's and Ted's high profile work for human rights, both are invited to serve on an eight member presidential think tank that convenes at an isolated Lake George cabin in the Adirondack Mountains of NY. It is here that Rachel recognizes the depth of Ted's skewed sense of love and patriotism, forcing her to face her worst fears.Meanwhile, the FBI, in pursuit of a serial killer with ties to PRAISE, needs to interview Ted who has accepted a covert deadly presidential mission with international repercussions. With many lives are at stake, a terrified Rachel must fight for her own life, love, and country. 1. Language: English. Narrator: Christa Lewis. Audio sample: http://samples.audible.de/bk/acx0/099877/bk_acx0_099877_sample.mp3. Digital audiobook in aax.

When Dr. Caryn Dryden is found floating dead in her hot tub, homicide inspector Devin Juhle targets a suspect close to home: her husband, Stuart Gorman. After all, Stuart recently asked for a divorce...and he stands to gain millions in insurance. His alibi - that he was at his cabin on Echo Lake that weekend - doesn't keep him out of hot water. But maybe a shrewd attorney will. Gina Roake, a partner in Dismas Hardy's firm, is eager to take on such a high-profile case, especially when the client's innocence seems so easy to prove. Yet the more time she spends with Stuart, the more complicated her feelings become; she feels strangely drawn to him at first, then has to confront the possibility of a dark history lurking in his past. Desperate to know the truth, Gina calls in Wyatt Hunt to investigate. Before the facts are in, her client is on the lam; he's already been tried in the press, and so he's certain the courtroom won't bring him any mercy either. Racing to a stunning conclusion as Gina uncovers disturbing answers, John Lescroart spins a chilling story of secrets, love, and lies. 1. Language: English. Narrator: David Colacci. Audio sample: http://samples.audible.de/bk/brll/000100/bk_brll_000100_sample.mp3. Digital audiobook in aax.