Memoir Audiobooks | Biography & Memoir

From the nine-time women's basketball icon and two-time Olympic gold medalist-a raw, revelatory account of her unfathomable detainment in Russia and her journey home. On February 17, 2022, Brittney Griner arrived in Moscow ready to spend the WNBA offseason playing for the Russian women's basketball team where she had been the centerpiece of previous championship seasons. Instead, a security checkpoint became her gateway to hell when she was arrested for mistakenly carrying under one gram of medically prescribed hash oil. Brittney's world was violently upended in a crisis she has never spoken in detail about publicly-until now. In Coming Home, Brittney finally shares the harrowing details of her sudden arrest days before Russia invaded Ukraine; her bewilderment and isolation while navigating a foreign legal system amid her trial and sentencing; her emotional and physical anguish as the first American woman ever to endure a Russian penal colony while the #WeAreBG movement rallied for her release; the chilling prisoner swap with Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout; and her remarkable rise from hostage to global spokesperson on behalf of America's forgotten. In haunting and vivid detail, Brittney takes readers inside the horrors of a geopolitical nightmare spanning ten months. And yet Coming Home is more than Brittney's journey from captivity to freedom. In an account as gripping as it is poignant, she shares how her deep love for Cherelle, her college sweetheart and wife of six years, anchored her during their greatest storm; how her family's support pulled her back from the brink; and how hundreds of letters from friends and neighbors lent her resolve to keep fighting. Coming Home is both a story of survival and a testament to love-the bonds that brought Brittney home to her family, and at last, to herself.

Brittney Griner, Michelle Burford (Author), TBD (Narrator)

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Access Your Drive and Enjoy the Ride: Your Guide on How to Achieve Your Dreams from a Disabled Perso

Lauren 'Lolo' Spencer provides a candid look into the life of being a person with a disability. This disability advocate embarks on the importance of visibility for the disabled community because representation matters! Words from someone doing the work. Lolo Spencer gained popularity as a YouTube personality. On her platform, Sitting Pretty, she encourages viewers to achieve their dreams through making strong choices. Lolo shares how she navigates daily life with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). You are more than your limits. Choosing to see herself as more than a person with a disability and wheelchair user, Lolo chooses to live a bold and courageous life now because representation matters. She created this intersectional guide to provide tools for people with disabilities to thrive in personal growth, independence, and community building. Add this guide to your list of inclusion books! Inside, you'll find: - An intersectional guide on how to grow personally and professionally - Tools for people with disabilities to live a full life despite limitations and expectations - Words from the inspiring Lauren 'Lolo' Spencer, your favorite disability advocate

Lauren Spencer (Author), Sanya Simmons (Narrator)

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Looking for Andy Griffith: A Father's Journey

Andy Griffith (1926-2012) is one of North Carolina's most beloved exports, capturing America's heart as Sheriff Andy Taylor. Evan Dalton Smith was born in the North Carolina Piedmont over four decades after Andy, just an hour south of Griffith's hometown of Mount Airy. Both were small-town boys who grew up in similar places, where the counties were dry and the churches plentiful. But for both, there was darkness, crushed hopes, and tragedy, hidden just below the surface. For Smith and many generations in North Carolina, Andy Griffith was like the air-everywhere, all the time, a part of daily life. Even after he left the state, Smith always felt the pull of home and the lingering ghost of Andy alongside it. This is an exploration on celebrity and the self, on home and what that means when you leave it, and why we love and admire the people we do-even if we've never met them-all told through the entwined lives of iconic actor Andy Griffith and writer Evan Dalton Smith. It is through Smith's telling of Griffith's life that he finds his own story, one that is both informed by and freed from the legacy of one of North Carolina's most famous sons.

Evan Dalton Smith (Author), Evan Dalton Smith (Narrator)

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Duty Calls: Lessons Learned from an Unexpected Life of Service

Dr. Antonia Novello is a vanguard in the United States and Puerto Rico, whose enduring commitment to service has left an indelible mark on the world of public health. With a distinguished career including serving as the US Surgeon General and the New York State Commissioner of Health during 9/11, her story highlights an unwavering dedication to improving the well-being of individuals and communities. Dr. Novello's story is one of challenges faced and overcome and of shattering glass ceilings and opening doors for future generations of leaders. She shares her early battles with childhood illness and her desire to overcome stereotypes, while also chronicling her meteoric rise through various roles in the field of health care, leading to her service as the nation's top medical officer. In Duty Calls, listeners will learn about: - Dr. Novello's early life and her struggles with congenital megacolon - How she became the first female/first Hispanic Surgeon General of the United States - Her efforts to vaccinate and provide health care resources to her home in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria - Wisdom and insights Dr. Novello gained through her life experiences

Dr. Antonia Novello Md, Dr. Antonia Novello, M.D. (Author), Cynthia Farrell (Narrator)

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Just Go: A Globe-Trotting Guide to Travel Like an Expert, Connect Like a Local, and Live the Adventu

Popular travel YouTuber and content creator Drew Binsky, who has visited every single country, walks readers through the most amazing places in the world and shares everything you need to know to go anywhere you want. In 2021, Drew Binsky completed his 10-year journey to travel to every country in the world—all 197 of them. Now, for the first time, Drew reveals his craziest stories and best moments, even from places the UN deems the most “dangerous” like Afghanistan, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen. As you’ll discover with Drew as your guide, the world is more accessible than you think—and no matter where we’re from, people around the globe have more in common with us than differences. Just Go offers readers the adventure of a lifetime, presenting not only the tricks Drew himself used in his trips, but also the best-kept secrets from every corner of the world. Just Go is equally a practical handbook for globetrotters and aspiring travelers as it is an intimate and heartwarming celebration of people and cultures all over. In this fun and friendly guide, Drew will show you how to: Obtain visas for obscure destinations Make fast friends with trustworthy locals Find and enjoy street food like a pro Navigate language barriers Have the greatest adventure of your life As one of the few people who traveled the globe in 2020, Drew witnessed and recorded the pandemic response in countries everywhere—and realized how crucial it is for the world to reconnect. In Just Go, filled with photos, stories, and tips Drew has never before shared, you’ll find the toolkit and the inspiration to do just that: get out there and go wherever you want!

Drew Binsky (Author), Jonathan Todd Ross (Narrator)

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Animals I Want To See: A Memoir of Growing Up in the Projects and Defying the Odds

A lyrical coming-of-age story set in the projects of Toledo, Ohio, Animals I Want To See explores themes of identity, ambition, religion, and friendship—often across racial and social lines—as it spotlights a family of fourteen and tracks a boy’s journey from a child janitor with big dreams to a teenage petty criminal to a student at Yale and Harvard. “A terrific and moving memoir about dreaming big and making great things happen.” —President Bill Clinton “Read it and be inspired.” —Deepak Chopra, New York Times bestselling author On Bronson Street, in the projects of Toledo, Ohio, in a crowded house occupied by a family of fourteen, Tom Seeman starts a very important list. Just as the trash-strewn field in his backyard is home to a treasure-trove of wild animals, Tom’s list, “Animals I Want To See One Day,” is home to dreams of adventure in places far away from the downtrodden neighborhood where he lives. But for all its hardship and crime, Bronson Street is also something of a mythical street, populated by unforgettable people who share food, protect each other, and give surprising gifts of beauty and merriment, proving that the bonds of community and friendship (often across racial and social lines) can bridge any divide and transcend what many of us are taught to believe about each other. A luminous coming-of-age memoir that shimmers with countless marvels, Animals I Want To See tracks Tom Seeman’s journey from a child janitor with big ambitions to a teenage petty criminal to a student at Yale and Harvard. At once a meditation on finding wonder in unlikely places, an ode to a heroic mother who makes the seemingly impossible possible, and an exploration of what it means to create our own identities, this is a heartwarming, thought-provoking, ultimately uplifting book for all readers.

Tom Seeman (Author), Brian Hutchison, TBD (Narrator)

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Guest Privileges: Queer Lives and Finding Home in the Middle East

Brought to you by Penguin. An intimate and illuminating account of queer lives and migration, homemaking and community in the Gulf, from a brilliant new voice in narrative non-fiction Upon moving to the Gulf States – where penalties for queer acts include deportation, imprisonment, torture and death – Gaar Adams wants to understand why LGBTQ+ migrants might choose to live amid such peril. From the UAE to Bahrain and Oman to Saudi Arabia – a region where four out of five residents are noncitizens – he begins riskily gathering interviews outside the tightly controlled state media, leading with what he thinks is a simple question: Isn't it harder for you to make a life here? But as unforgettable residents share a kaleidoscope of stories – from uproarious Filipino salon workers throwing secret drag parties to a courageous Pakistani farmhand helping his compatriots smuggle themselves across borders – cracks emerge in the framing of his enquiry, revealing disquieting assumptions about the motivations, places and identities of others. As Gaar begins his own clandestine queer relationship, fault lines and deeper questions begin to emerge: about what we perpetuate and refuse to examine, and how we balance opportunity, risk, subversion and assimilation. Weaving revealing memoir with unprecedented reportage, Guest Privileges is a decade-long journey of dislocation not just through the Gulf States – one of the most maligned and misunderstood regions in the world – but into the very nature of home, belonging and how we form a life and community. ©2024 Gaar Adams (P)2024 Penguin Audio

Gaar Adams (Author), Gaar Adams, TBD (Narrator)

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The Age of Magical Overthinking: Notes on Modern Irrationality

From the bestselling author of Cultish and host of the podcast Sounds Like a Cult, a delicious blend of cultural criticism and personal narrative that explores our cognitive biases and the power, disadvantages, and highlights of magical thinking. Utilizing the linguistic insights of her "witty and brilliant" (Blyth Roberson, author of America the Beautiful?) first book Wordslut and the sociological explorations of her breakout hit Cultish, Amanda Montell now turns her erudite eye to the inner workings of the human mind and its biases in her most personal and electrifying work yet. "Magical thinking" can be broadly defined as the belief that one's internal thoughts can affect unrelated events in the external world: Think of the conviction that one can manifest their way out of poverty, stave off cancer with positive vibes, thwart the apocalypse by learning to can their own peaches, or transform an unhealthy relationship to a glorious one with loyalty alone. In all its forms, magical thinking works in service of restoring agency amid chaos, but in The Age of Magical Overthinking, Montell argues that in the modern information age, our brain's coping mechanisms have been overloaded, and our irrationality turned up to an eleven. In a series of razor sharp, deeply funny chapters, Montell delves into a cornucopia of the cognitive biases that run rampant in our brains, from how the "Halo effect" cultivates worship (and hatred) of larger than life celebrities, to how the "Sunk Cost Fallacy" can keep us in detrimental relationships long after we've realized they're not serving us. As she illuminates these concepts with her signature brilliance and wit, Montell's prevailing message is one of hope, empathy, and ultimately forgiveness for our anxiety-addled human selves. If you have all but lost faith in our ability to reason, Montell aims to make some sense of the senseless. To crack open a window in our minds, and let a warm breeze in. To help quiet the cacophony for a while, or even hear a melody in it.

Amanda Montell (Author), Amanda Montell, TBD (Narrator)

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Nine Lives and Counting: A Bounty Hunter’s Journey to Faith, Hope, and Redemption

In his riveting follow-up to two?New York Times?bestsellers, bounty hunter and reality television star Duane 'Dog' Chapman reveals the story of how God redeemed his life and gave him renewed purpose--and along the way recounts the adventures and exploits that have made him a legend. After everything he had been through including escaping a Mexican prison, surviving the brutal world of bounty hunting with over 10,000 captures, and the ups and downs of being a TV star, Dog was unprepared for the despair he found himself in after his wife's death--and surprised by the miraculous events that would follow. 'Everybody experiences loss,' says Dog. 'But the loss I felt after Beth's passing was especially hard because I was believing for a miracle. When the miracle didn't happen as I expected, I wrestled with the Lord. Little did I know He wasn't done with me yet.' In one of his darkest moments, Dog found himself on a new journey of healing and redemption. Not only did he come to see God's hand in his life--from the prayers of a faithful mother when he was a child, to the way God guided his steps and protected him throughout his dangerous career--but he also found love and renewed purpose through a divine appointment. Now Dog has launched a ministry with his wife Francie, whom he married in 2021, and speaks and preaches all over the country with the purpose of introducing others to Jesus, using their miraculous story as proof that God is alive and working in the world.? Readers will - be encouraged and inspired by Dog's stories of hope and healing even in the face of grief, loss, and brokenness; - gain the behind-the-scenes insights into the real life of the world's most successful bounty hunter; and - see the power of faith and prayer to change lives and reveal each person's unique, God-given purpose. For lifelong fans and those meeting Dog for the first time,?Nine Lives and Counting?is a powerful memoir that reveals a whole new side of a bounty hunter who is living proof that God loves each of his children, has a good purpose and plan for them, and will never stop tracking them down until they come home.

Duane Chapman (Author), Duane Chapman, Francie Chapman, Mike Ortego (Narrator)

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Briefly Perfectly Human: Making an Authentic Life by Getting Real About the End

A deeply transformative memoir that reframes how we think about death and how it can help us lead better, more fulfilling and authentic lives, from America’s preeminent death doula. For her clients and everyone who has been inspired by her humanity, Alua Arthur is a friend at the end of the world. As our country’s leading death doula, she’s spreading a transformative message: thinking about your death—whether imminent or not—will breathe wild, new potential into your life. Warm, generous, and funny AF, Alua supports and helps manage end-of-life care on many levels. The business matters, medical directives, memorial planning; but also honoring the quiet moments, when monitors are beeping and loved ones have stepped out to get some air—or maybe not shown up at all—and her clients become deeply contemplative and want to talk. Aching, unfinished business often emerges. Alua has been present for thousands of these sacred moments—when regrets, fears, secret joys, hidden affairs, and dim realities are finally said aloud. When this happens, Alua focuses her attention at the pulsing center of her clients’ anguish and creates space for them, and sometimes their loved ones, to find peace. This has had a profound effect on Alua, who was already no stranger to death’s periphery. Her family fled a murderous coup d’état in Ghana in the 1980s. She has suffered major, debilitating depressions. And her dear friend and brother-in-law died of lymphoma. Advocating for him in his final months is what led Alua to her life’s calling. She knows firsthand the power of bearing witness and telling the truth about life’s painful complexities, because they do not disappear when you look the other way. They wait for you. Briefly Perfectly Human is a life-changing, soul-gathering debut, by a writer whose empathy, tenderness, and wisdom shimmers on the page. Alua Arthur combines intimate storytelling with a passionate appeal for loving, courageous end-of-life care—what she calls “death embrace.” Hers is a powerful testament to getting in touch with something deeper in our lives, by embracing the fact of our own mortality. “Hold that truth in your mind,” Alua says, “and wondrous things will begin to grow around it.”

Alua Arthur (Author), Alua Arthur, TBD (Narrator)

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Dancing on the Edge: A Journey of Living, Loving, and Tumbling through Hollywood

Actor. Artist. Cultural Icon. Dancing on the Edge A bold memoir of an extraordinary, singular life lived by one of the world’s most beloved and acclaimed figures: Russ Tamblyn. With more than eighty years as a celebrated artist and actor under his belt, Russ Tamblyn has earned a cherished name among cinephiles and pop culture fans alike, working with such legendary directors as Robert Wise, David Lynch, and Quentin Tarantino. He tumbled through his acclaimed starring role in the original West Side Story as an actor and acrobatic dancer, taught Elvis Presley some signature dance moves, and became an unlikely visionary in the counterculture movement of the ’60s alongside peers and friends Ed Ruscha and Dennis Hopper. Russ deftly guides readers through his star-studded life and his search for a deeper, more connected existence: attending school with Elizabeth Taylor, earning an Academy Award nomination for Peyton Place, dropping out of Hollywood at the height of his career to become a fine artist in Topanga Canyon, and forging a lifelong friendship with Neil Young. He shares the painful breakup of a twenty-year marriage and the joy of finding true love and inspiration as a husband, father, and mentor in his own right. Perfect for old and new fans alike, Dancing on the Edge is an intimate and powerful story about the singular life of one of our most gifted storytellers, artists, and stars of the silver screen.

Russ Tamblyn, Sarah Tomlinson (Author), Russ Tamblyn, TBD (Narrator)

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The Wives: A Memoir

A powerful, intimate memoir of marriage and friendship that traces one woman's experience joining a tightknit community of fellow army wives after leaving her New York City job to follow her enlisted husband. When her new husband joins an elite Army unit, Simone Gorrindo is uprooted from New York City and dropped into Columbus, Georgia—a town so foreign she might as well have landed on the moon. With her husband frequently deployed, Simone is left to find her place in this new world, alone—until she meets the wives. Gorrindo gives us an intimate look into the inner lives of a remarkable group of women and a tender, unflinching portrait of a marriage. A love story, an unforgettable coming-of-age tale, and a bracing tour of the intractable divisions that plague our country today, The Wives offers a rare and powerful gift: a hopeful stitch in the fabric of a torn America.

Simone Gorrindo (Author), Simone Gorrindo, TBD (Narrator)

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Memoir Audiobooks in Biography & Memoir