English Linguistics

Sinclair Lewis (1885-1951) was an American novelist and playwright who, in 1930, became the first American to win the Nobel Prize for literature. His last distinctive pulp novel, The Innocents, follows a longtime married couple as they vacation away from their home in New York City and contemplate starting a business.

Mankind has a distinct advantage over other terrestrial species: we talk to one another. But how did we acquire the most advanced form of communication on Earth? Daniel L. Everett, a "bombshell" linguist and "instant folk hero" (Tom Wolfe, Harper's), provides in this sweeping history a comprehensive examination of the evolutionary story of language, from the earliest speaking attempts by hominids to the more than 7,000 languages that exist today.

Speed-read people, decipher body language, detect deception, and get to the truth. We live in a world where dishonesty and lies are seemingly everywhere. From fake news and problematic media outlets to corrupt management in our workplaces and selfish friends, there’s no doubt that as you grow older, you become more cynical and more distrusting of the world and the people in it. What if there was a way to spot the lies and take yourself closer to the truth? Well, there is, and it’s all detailed in this very audiobook.

Through a radical new approach to manifesting the life of your dreams, subconscious breakthrough coach Haley Hoffman Smith empowers you to embrace the potential within your own mind to unlock magical change in your world.

This illuminating book weaves personal stories of a multilingual upbringing with the latest scientific breakthroughs in interspecies communication to show how the skill of deep listening enhances our curiosity and empathy toward the world around us.

Gorgias of Leontini, a famous teacher of rhetoric, has come to Athens to recruit students, promising to teach them how to become leaders in politics and business. A group has gathered at Callicles' house to hear Gorgias demonstrate the power of his art. This dialogue blends comic and serious discussion of the best life, providing a penetrating examination of ethics.

Written during his time in Reading Gaol, De Profundis is Oscar Wilde's moving letter to Lord Alfred Douglas, whose relationship with Wilde led to the poet's imprisonment. Here Wilde repudiates Lord Alfred and reflects on his ordeal, acknowledging how the depths of his sorrow have helped liberate him toward a fuller, freer wisdom. Brimming with beautiful passages, De Profundis is a profound and inspiring treatise on the meaning of suffering.

The renowned author of Brave New World, Aldous Huxley, made his literary debut with the 1921 classic Crome Yellow. Set in post-WWI England, this perennial favorite satirizes the fads and fashions of the time with the tale of a hapless couple who join a colorful mix of British aristocrats attending a party at a rural country estate.

This short, opinionated audiobook addresses the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, which argues that the language we speak shapes the way we perceive the world. Linguist John McWhorter argues that while this idea is mesmerizing, it is plainly wrong. It is language that reflects culture and worldview, not the other way around.

This novel, set in 1920s California, tells the tale of Linda Strong who shares her father’s love for the beauty of nature in California. When her parents suddenly pass away, she is left with her sister Eileen, a huge house, and much wealth. Eileen goes on a spending spree, dissipating the inheritance at an alarming pace. When Linda eventually finds out, she meets with their banker and finds a way to earn money in a manner that she enjoys. The narrative includes romance, murder, and delightful descriptions of the state’s fauna and flora.

In the tradition of Simon Winchester and Dava Sobel, The Riddle of the Labyrinth: The Quest to Crack an Ancient Code tells one of the most intriguing stories in the history of language, masterfully blending history, linguistics, and cryptology with an elegantly wrought narrative. When famed archaeologist Arthur Evans unearthed the ruins of a sophisticated Bronze Age civilization that flowered on Crete 1,000 years before Greece's Classical Age, he discovered a cache of ancient tablets, Europe's earliest written records.

Thomas De Quincey's highly charged and hauntingly accurate account of laudanum addiction is considered the root of all drug novels. From Baudelaire to Burroughs, Confessions of an English Opium Eater paved the way for later generations of writers. Initially prescribed as pain relief for a chronic condition, De Quincey soon found himself compelled by the opium experience.

In a fascinating tour of creativity and the brain, Nancy Andreasen, professor of psychiatry at the University of Iowa and the winner of the National Medal of Science, explores how the human brain achieves creative breakthroughs--in art, literature, music, and science--the role of genes and environment, extraordinary creativity vs. ordinary creativity, and the question of genius and insanity.

From master language creator David J. Peterson comes a creative guide to language construction for sci-fi and fantasy fans, writers, game creators, and language lovers. Peterson offers a captivating overview of language creation, covering its history from Tolkien's creations and Klingon to today's thriving global community of conlangers.

A dialogue between Socrates and Meno probes the subject of ethics. Can goodness be taught? If it can, then we should be able to find teachers capable of instructing others about what is good and bad, right and wrong, or just and unjust.

Both affirmation and hypnosis can be very effective in treating phobias. Both techniques have shown various degrees of effectiveness in managing object phobias, social phobias, and situational phobias. Making things even better is the fact that you can use these two techniques together and even with other therapeutic techniques to achieve maximum results. For these reasons, people are asking where they can get affirmation and hypnosis treatments for phobias.

Socrates is in prison, sentenced to die when the sun sets. In this final conversation, he asks what will become of him once he drinks the poison prescribed for his execution. Socrates and his friends examine several arguments designed to prove that the soul is immortal. This quest leads him to the broader topic of the nature of mind and its connection not only to human existence but also to the cosmos itself. What could be a better way to pass the time between now and the sunset?

In A Hero of Our Time, Grigory Pechorin is a bored, self-centered, and cynical young army officer who believes in nothing. With impunity he toys with the love of women and the goodwill of men. He is brave, determined, and willful, but his wasted energy and potential ultimately result in tragedy.

Until now, we have been like sailors at sea without a compass to keep us on track in our journey toward truth and enlightenment. So we sometimes make mistakes when deciding which spiritual texts to live by, which political leaders have the most integrity, and which job, house, or even vitamins are for our highest good.

Containing a fascinating exploration of the depths of the human mind, this insightful book takes listeners on a deep dive to discover the hidden parts of the psyche. Covering the subtle world of body language and non-verbal communication, along with the lesser-known secrets of human behavior, you’ll discover how you can draw on a rich collection of insights to protect yourself from manipulators and abusers.