Biography & Memoir Audiobooks

Luigi: The Making and The Meaning Audiobook

"The first book to explain why the world was primed for the Luigi Mangione moment, showing the history that led him to be embraced as an avenger with an affection not seen since Jesse James or Robin Hood. The explosion of glee and sympathy for Luigi surprised everyone, but it was everywhere. Hours after the shooting of the United Healthcare executive, his company put out a message out on Facebook saying their "hearts go out to Brian's family and all who were close to him." People replied with laughing emojis and comments like this one: "No one here is the judge of who deserves to live or die. That's the job of the AI algorithm the insurance company designed to maximize profits on your health." On TikTok, another commentator said, "Oh my god, y'all really raised the school shooter generation and now you're asking us for sympathy?" she asks. "Welcome to a regular Tuesday at school in America." When he was arrested, TikTok exploded with more love for Luigi: "They could've been more gentle with him, he has back problems," said one commentator. Others attempted to come to his rescue. "He is innocent, he was with me the whole time." EBay said that while it had a policy prohibiting items that glorify violence, they were allowing the sale of items with the words "deny defend depose." In Seattle, someone reprogrammed a couple of electric highway signs so they flashed: "One CEO down…many more to go." So where is all this coming from? Richardson has tracked the building blocks of this widespread alienation for three decades, finding it across not only the environmental movement but among those who reject capitalism itself, including the rules that govern everything from insurance to healthcare. He has followed the men and women who have gone to extremes to express that alienation, and studied the inspirations they found in other outlaws, most especially Ted Kaczynski (Luigi had posted a review of Kaczynski's manifesto on Goodreads). The result is a book that will put Luigi in context and even illuminate how his appeal is likely to play out in the future."

John H. Richardson (Author), Fred Sanders (Narrator)

Audiobook

We Did Ok, Kid: A Memoir

"Academy Award-winning actor Sir Anthony Hopkins delves into his illustrious film and theatre career, difficult childhood and path to sobriety in his honest, moving and long-awaited memoir. Born and raised in Port Talbot - a small Welsh steelworks town - amid war and depression, Sir Anthony Hopkins grew up around men who were tough, to say the least, and eschewed all forms of emotional vulnerability in favor of alcoholism and brutality. A struggling student in school, he was deemed by his peers, his parents and other adults as a failure with no future ahead of him. But, on a fateful Saturday night, the disregarded Welsh boy watched the 1948 adaptation of Hamlet, sparking a passion for acting that would lead him on a path that no one could have predicted. With candour and a voice that is both arresting and vulnerable, Sir Anthony recounts his various career milestones and provides a once-in-a-lifetime look into the brilliance behind some of his most iconic roles. His performance as Iago gets him admitted into the prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and places him under the wing of Laurence Olivier. He meets Richard Burton by chance as a young boy in his art teacher's apartment, and later, backstage before a performance of Equus as an established actor meeting his hero. His iconic portrayal of Hannibal Lecter was informed by the creepy performance of Bela Lugosi in Dracula and the razor-sharp precision of his acting teacher. He pulls raw emotion from the stoicism of his father and grandfather for an unforgettable performance in King Lear. Sir Anthony also takes a deeply honest look at the low points in his personal life. His addiction cost him his first marriage, his relationship with his only child, and nearly his life - the latter ultimately propelling him toward sobriety, a commitment he has maintained for nearly half a century. He constantly battles against the desire to move through life alone and avoid connection for fear of getting hurt - much like the men in his family - and as the years go by, he deals with questions of mortality, getting ready to discover what his father called The Big Secret. We Did OK, Kid is a raw and passionate memoir from a complex, iconic man who has inspired audiences with remarkable performances for over sixty years."

Anthony Hopkins (Author), Anthony Hopkins (Narrator)

Audiobook

Book of Lives: A Memoir of Sorts

"Brought to you by Penguin. The greatest writer of our time tells her own story. Immerse yourself in the creative universe of Margaret Atwood for a riot of life, art and everything in between Raised by scientifically minded parents, Atwood spent most of each year in the wild forest of northern Quebec: a vast playground for her entomologist father and independent, resourceful mother. It was an unfettered and nomadic childhood, sometimes isolated but also thrilling and beautiful. From this unconventional start, Atwood unfolds the story of her life, linking key moments to the books that have shaped our literary landscape, from the cruel school year that would become Cat’s Eye to the unease of 1980s Berlin, where she began The Handmaid’s Tale. In pages alive with the natural world, reading and books, major political turning points and her lifelong love for the charismatic writer Graeme Gibson, we meet poets, bears, Hollywood stars and larger-than-life characters straight from the pages of an Atwood novel. As she explores her past, Atwood reveals more and more about her writing, the connections between real life and art – and the workings of one of our boldest imaginations. 'She's taken our times and made them wise to them' ALI SMITH 'She's Margaret Atwood and she can do anything' ANN PATCHETT 'She saw it all coming' TIME 'The outstanding novelist of our age' SUNDAY TIMES © Margaret Atwood 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025"

Margaret Atwood (Author), TBD (Narrator)

Audiobook

Midnight Flyboys: The American Bomber Crews and Allied Secret Agents Who Aided the French Resistance

"The untold history of a top-secret operation in the run-up to D-Day in which American flyers and Allied spies carried out some of the most daring cloak-and-dagger operations of World War II. In 1943, the OSS—precursor to the CIA—came up with a plan to increase its support to the French resistance forces that were fighting the Nazis. To start, the OSS recruited some of the best American bomber pilots and crews to a secret airfield twenty miles west of London and briefed them on the intended mission. Given a choice to stay or leave, every airman volunteered for what became known as Operation Carpetbagger. Their dangerous plan called for a new kind of flying: taking their B-24 Liberator bombers in the middle of the night across the English Channel and down to extremely low altitudes in Nazi-occupied France to find drop zones in dark fields. On the ground, resistance members waited to receive steel containers filled with everything from rifles and hand grenades to medicine and bicycle tires. Some nights, the flyers also dropped Allied secret agents by parachute to assist the French partisans. Though their story remained classified for more than fifty years, the Carpetbaggers ultimately received a Presidential Unit Citation from the US military, which declared: "it is safe to say that no group of this size has made a greater contribution to the war effort." Along with other members of the wartime OSS, they were also awarded the Congressional Gold Medal. Based on exclusive research and interviews, the definitive story of these heroic flyers—and of the brave secret agents and resistance leaders they aided—can now be told. Written in Bruce Henderson's "spellbinding" (USA TODAY) prose, Midnight Flyboys is an astonishing tale of patriotism, courage, and sacrifice."

Bruce Henderson (Author), Gary Tiedemann (Narrator)

Audiobook

Real Girl

"Brought to you by Penguin. Mutya Buena was only thirteen when she became one third of the original line up of the iconic girlband, Sugababes. Launching into fame, her life became unrecognisable overnight. Suddenly she was going straight from the studio to school in the early hours, rubbing shoulders with music royalty, and hearing fans scream her name. This is the story of the girl the tabloids never saw. In Real Girl Mutya takes us through the highs of her spectacular career and the lows that came with a life in the limelight and shares for the first time the struggles she’d kept hidden from the public eye. Now the Sugababes are back and shining brighter than ever, Mutya is ready to share her story on her own terms. © Mutya Buena 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025"

Mutya Buena (Author), TBD (Narrator)

Audiobook

Wings: The Story of a Band on the Run

"Brought to you by Penguin. A landmark account of Paul McCartney’s triumphant musical reinvention in the 1970s and the rise of one of the decade’s most iconic bands As the Sixties came to a close, Paul McCartney was faced with the daunting prospect of being a solo artist for the first time. Wings’ ascension to the top of the charts with classic albums including Band on the Run, Venus and Mars and At the Speed of Sound, along with the band’s stadium-filling live shows, would prove to critics and fans that not all great acts are impossible to follow. Wings: The Story of a Band on the Run is a rousing, stereophonic celebration of the songs, collaborations and performances that would shape the soundtrack of the late 20th century. Drawn from over 500,000 words, based on dozens of hours of interviews with McCartney and numerous key players in the band’s orbit, Wings: The Story of a Band on the Run weaves together the improbable trajectory of Paul McCartney and his newly formed band (featuring co-founding members Linda McCartney and Denny Laine) across the technicolor 1970s until their dissolution in 1981. © Paul McCartney 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025"

Paul McCartney (Author), TBD (Narrator)

Audiobook

Thirsty: 100 Great Wines and Stories by the Wine Guy

"Brought to you by Penguin. This book features 100 Wine Wanker approved bottles for you to buy at your local supermarket or posh wine shop. These are wines for friendships and long lunches, for spring afternoons and autumn evenings. Whether yours is a Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Kylie’s Rosé or – God forbid – orange wine, I’ll help you find the good shit, always. Thirsty, is the story of my life in wine, a celebration of the bleeding beautiful people who make it and a history of the Gilbey family’s love affair with winemaking and – let’s be honest – drinking since the 1800s. Learn all about: - how to read a label (even if you can’t speak the language) - how to chat wine without sounding naff - how to choose wine in a restaurant - why your wine might smell like your granny’s cardigan You’ll travel with me to Chateaux in France’s Beaujolais, vineyards in England’s Thames Valley, wineries in Australia’s Hunter Valley and the unsung aisles of Sainsbury’s, Waitrose, Majestic and – rest in peace – Oddbins. Let me tell you how this gloriously gluggable elixir, is at its heart, made to bring pleasure. © Tom Gilbey 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025"

Tom Gilbey (Author), TBD (Narrator)

Audiobook

Brothers of the Gun: Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, and a Reckoning in Tombstone

"A colorful and groundbreaking account of the most storied friendship of the American West: the bond between Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday: Legendary gunfighters and friends who gained immortality because of a thirty-second shootout near a livery stable called the O.K. Corral. Their friendship actually began three years before that iconic 1881 gunfight, in the rollicking cattle town of Dodge City. Wyatt, an assistant city marshal, was surrounded by armed, belligerent cowboys. Doc saw Wyatt's predicament from a monte table in the Long Branch saloon and burst out the door with two leveled revolvers shouting, "Throw up your hands!" The startled cowboys did, and Wyatt and Doc led them off to jail. Wyatt credited Doc with saving his life, and thus began their lasting-and curious-friendship. In this illuminating dual biography, the first about Earp and Holliday, the lives of these two men, one a sometime lawman and the other a sometime dentist, are chronicled in a swirling tableau of saloons, brothels, gambling dens, stage holdups, arrests, manhunts, and revenge killings. And while there's plenty of gunsmoke in this saga, hero-worshipping won't be found. Wyatt and Doc, just like anyone else then and now, had their flaws and failings, and the unsavory parts of their lives are here, too. In Brothers of the Gun, Old West authority Mark Lee Gardner reveals fresh information about Wyatt's and Doc's early lives, their famous friendship, the O.K. Corral gunfight, and Wyatt's controversial "vendetta ride" following the assassination of his brother Morgan. Drawing upon new research into diaries, letters, court records, and contemporary newspaper reports, as well as firsthand observation at several historic sites, this is the definitive book on Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, and their enduring bond. Brothers of the Gun is edge-of-your-saddle nonfiction storytelling at its best."

Mark Lee Gardner (Author), TBD (Narrator)

Audiobook

Mr Wilman’s Motoring Adventure: Top Gear, Grand Tour, Clarkson and Me

Andy Wilman (Author), TBD (Narrator)

Audiobook

Grit, Spit, and Never Quit: A Marine's Guide to Comedy and Life

"Comedian Rob Riggle's frank, funny, and inspirational memoir about how the lessons he learned while serving in the US Marines prepared him for life, especially when it came to pursuing his comedy dreams. Before he graced movie screens in films like The Hangover and television in shows like The Daily Show, Rob Riggle served his country as a Marine for twenty-three years. He helped liberate an embassy in Liberia, served at a refugee camp in Albania before going into Kosovo, did search and rescue at Ground Zero, and was deployed to Afghanistan twice. He learned the hard way that you need to embrace the suck and never give up if you want to get anywhere in life. And those lessons came in handy, especially when he faced tough crowds as he tried to establish his comedy career. He's been heckled (by idiots), shot at (by bigger idiots), rejected for roles, and flopped more often than a European soccer player in the World Cup. But no matter what he was doing, every time Riggle wanted to throw in the towel, he channeled his inner Marine and kicked his ass in gear. Grit, Spit, and Never Quit has action, tear‑jerker scenes, side‑splitting laughs, and plenty of bumper sticker moments. He's jumped out of planes, he's become one of the most recognizable comedians in the country-but at his core, Rob is a regular guy from Kansas with grit, spit, and the will to never quit."

Rob Riggle (Author), Rob Riggle (Narrator)

Audiobook

Welcome to the Family: The Explosive Story Behind Fast & Furious, the Blockbusters that Supercharged

"An exclusive look inside the surprising history and contentious future of Hollywood's most unlikely blockbuster-the Fast & Furious franchise-a series that uncannily anticipated the shifting currents of pop culture while changing the business of global entertainment at the same time. What do Miami drug traffickers, bloodthirsty Yakuza warriors, Corona-soaked backyard BBQs, Dame Helen Mirren, and a duct-taped 1984 Pontiac Fiero-turned-rocket-fueled spaceship have in common? They are all essential elements of the ever-expanding, logic- and laws-of-physics-defying Fast & Furious universe: the most entertaining, outlandish, and secretly genius Hollywood creation that everyone has taken for granted - until now. Through an escalating series of high-risk maneuvers - from synapse-stretching stunts to timeline-bending narratives to explosive PR wars between the biggest, baddest, baldest egos in showbiz - the Fast family (and it is a family above all else) has redefined the art and commerce of popcorn moviemaking. And the gang did it all while staring down the kind of monumental, soul-rattling challenges - the death of a star, the upheaval of an industry - that would have crushed the speed and spirit of any other filmmaking team. An unauthorized journey into the makings of a cinematic saga unlike any other, Welcome to the Family exposes the stranger-than-fan-fiction journey of the franchise from the ground up. Through rigorous behind-the-scenes reporting and incisive cultural commentary, writer Barry Hertz's ride-or-die epic details every single twist and turn of Fast & Furious drama, a quarter mile at a time. By the end, you will believe a car can fly."

Barry Hertz (Author), Barry Hertz (Narrator)

Audiobook

Poppy State: A Labyrinth of Plants and a Story of Beginnings

"From the award-winning author of Creep comes a powerful book by a writer at the peak of her powers-at once a love letter to California and a literary tour de force that tells the story of resilience and reclamation through a relationship with plants, memory, myth, and indigenous knowledge. Myriam Gurba has lived in California her entire life, with its plants and soils, forests and ecology, immersing herself in the language of the landscape as refracted through the languages and memories of her ancestors. In Poppy State, California plants serve as structural anchors in a wildly inventive work of narrative nonfiction that is part botanical criticism, part personal storytelling, and part study of place. The reader is invited to commune with California with Gurba as their guide, ushered through a compendium of anecdotes, reminiscences, utterances, lists, incantations, newspaper articles, and other ephemera. Through the stories of these plants she comes to a new understanding of what occurs in the cultivation of a soul. Gurba learns if she can care for her body as she does her plants, her soul can thrive-like the California poppy on her kitchen windowsill. And through walks in the Angeles National Forest, she visits oaks, crows, elderberries, and sycamores, while foraging for acorns, flowers, and berries to adorn her altar at home. Poppy State is a riveting tour de force. "The mother of intersectional Latinx identity." -Cosmopolitan "Scorchingly good."-Cheryl Strayed "The most fearless writer in America." -Luis Alberto Urrea, Pulitzer Prize finalist "A truly distinctive, authentic, and dynamic literary voice. . . Myriam Gurba is one of our great American intellectuals." -Los Angeles Times "

Myriam Gurba (Author), Myriam Gurba (Narrator)

Audiobook