[*Read by the author - David Epstein] ''In high school, I wondered whether the Jamaican Americans who made our track team so successful might carry some special speed gene from their tiny island. In college, I ran against Kenyans, and wondered whether endurance genes might have traveled with them from East Africa. At the same time, I began to notice that a training group on my team could consist of five men who run next to one another, stride for stride, day after day, and nonetheless turn out five entirely different runners. How could this be?'' We all knew a star athlete in high school. The one who made it look so easy. He was the starting quarterback and shortstop; she was the all-state point guard and high-jumper. They were naturals -- or were they?  The debate is as old as physical competition. Are stars like Usain Bolt, Michael Phelps, and Serena Williams genetic freaks put on Earth to dominate their respective sports, or are they simply normal people who overcame their biological limits through sheer force of will and obsessive training? The truth is far messier than a simple dichotomy between nature and nurture. In the decade since the sequencing of the human genome, researchers have slowly begun to uncover how the relationship between biological endowments and a competitor's training environment affects athleticism. Sports scientists have gradually entered the era of modern genetic research. In this controversial and engaging exploration of athletic success, Sports Illustrated senior writer David Epstein tackles the great nature versus nurture debate and traces how far science has come in solving this great riddle. He investigates the so-called ten-thousand-hour rule to uncover whether rigorous and consistent practice from a young age is the only route to athletic excellence. Along the way Epstein dispels many of our perceptions about why top athletes excel. He shows why some skills that we assume are innate, like the bullet-fast reactions of a baseball or cricket batter, are not and why other characteristics that we assume are entirely voluntary, like an athlete's will to train, might in fact have important genetic components. This subject necessarily involves digging deep into sensitive topics like race and gender. Epstein explores controversial questions such as: --Are black athletes genetically predetermined to dominate both sprinting and distance running, and are their abilities influenced by Africa's geography? --Are there genetic reasons to separate male and female athletes in competition? --Should we test the genes of young children to determine if they are destined for stardom? --Can genetic testing determine who is at risk of injury, brain damage, or even death on the field? Through on-the-ground reporting from below the equator and above the Arctic Circle, revealing conversations with leading scientists and Olympic champions, and interviews with athletes who have rare genetic mutations or physical traits, Epstein forces us to rethink the very nature of athleticism.

The Sports Gene: Inside the Science of Extraordinary Athletic Performance

David Epstein

Sports & Outdoors

Gildan Media, LLC and AudioGO

[*Read by the author - Matthew Berry] An inside look at the world of fantasy sports from the most recognizable and trusted name in the industry. -- Fantasy football, fantasy baseball, fantasy basketball, even fantasy sumo wrestling -- the world of fantasy sports is huge and still growing. Today more than thirty-five million people in the United States and Canada spend hours upon hours each week on their fantasy sports teams. And as the senior fantasy sports analyst for ESPN, Matthew Berry is on the front lines of what has grown from a niche subculture into a national pastime. -- In Fantasy Life, Berry celebrates every aspect of the fantasy sports world: brilliant trash talk, unbelievable trophies, insane draft day locations, shake-your-head-in-disbelief punishments, ingenious attempts at cheating, and surprisingly uplifting stories that remind us why we play these games in the first place. -- Written with the same award-winning style that has made Berry one of the most popular columnists on ESPN.com, Fantasy Life is a book for both hard-core fantasy players and people who have never played before. Between tales of love and hate, birth and death, tattoos and furry animal costumes, the White House Situation Room and a 126-pound golden pelican, Matthew chronicles his journey from a fourteen-year-old fantasy player to the face of fantasy sports for the largest sports media company in the world.

Fantasy Life: The Outrageous, Uplifting, and Heartbreaking World of Fantasy Sports from the Guy Who's Lived It

Humor & Entertainment

Matthew Berry

Puzzles & Games

[LIBRARY EDITION Audiobook CD format in sturdy Vinyl Case with cloth sleeves that keep compact discs protected.][Read by Timothy Andres Pabon] Go from surviving to thriving! -- Anyone who has ever lost weight only to ultimately gain it back will benefit from this life-changing, breakthrough program that shows you not only how to reach and maintain your healthy weight but how to create a life of renewed vibrancy and become as healthy as you can. Thousands of people worldwide have gone from discouragement to confidence by following this easy-to-use guide by ''Dr. A,'' one of America's most esteemed and compassionate practitioners of weight loss and optimal health. Discover Your Optimal Health teaches you how to live better, happier, and healthier into your eighties, nineties, and beyond.

Discover Your Optimal Health: The Guide to Taking Control of Your Weight, Your Vitality, Your Life (LIBRARY EDITION)

Medical Books

Wayne Scott Andersen

Basic Sciences

<p>[Read by Timothy Andres Pabon]<br><br> Go from surviving to thriving! -- Anyone who has ever lost weight only to ultimately gain it back will benefit from this life-changing, breakthrough program that shows you not only how to reach and maintain your healthy weight but how to create a life of renewed vibrancy and become as healthy as you can. Thousands of people worldwide have gone from discouragement to confidence by following this easy-to-use guide by ''Dr. A,'' one of America's most esteemed and compassionate practitioners of weight loss and optimal health. Discover Your Optimal Health teaches you how to live better, happier, and healthier into your eighties, nineties, and beyond.</p>

Discover Your Optimal Health: The Guide to Taking Control of Your Weight, Your Vitality, Your Life

[Read by Jessica Geffen]A Fortune journalist examines why the suburbs are transforming and losing their appeal -- and why that's not a bad thing. -- For nearly seventy years, the suburbs were as American as apple pie. As the middle class ballooned and single-family homes and cars became more affordable, we flocked to pre-fabricated communities in the suburbs, a place where open air and solitude offered a retreat from our dense, polluted cities. Before long, success became synonymous with a private home in a bedroom community complete with a yard, a two-car garage, and a commute to the office, and subdivisions quickly blanketed our landscape. -- But in recent years things have started to change. An epic housing crisis revealed existing problems with this unique pattern of development, while the steady pull of long-simmering economic, societal, and demographic forces has culminated in a perfect storm that has led to a profound shift in the way we desire to live. -- Journalist Leigh Gallagher traces the rise and fall of American suburbia from the stately railroad suburbs that sprung up outside American cities in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries to current-day sprawling exurbs where residents spend as much as four hours each day commuting. Along the way she shows why suburbia was unsustainable from the start and explores the hundreds of new, alternative communities that are springing up around the country and promise to reshape our way of life for the better. -- Blending powerful data with vivid on-the-ground reporting, Gallagher introduces us to a fascinating cast of characters and explains why understanding the shifts taking place is imperative to any discussion about the future of our housing landscape and of our society itself -- and why that future will bring us stronger, healthier, happier, and more diverse communities for everyone.

The End of the Suburbs: Where the American Dream Is Moving

Business & Money

Leigh Gallagher

Economics