Audiobooks narrated by Kurt Kanazawa

Wonder Boy: Tony Hsieh, Zappos and the Myth of Happiness in Silicon Valley

Brought to you by Penguin. Wonder Boy is a riveting investigation into the turbulent life of Zappos visionary Tony Hsieh, whose radical business strategies revolutionized both the tech world and corporate culture, based on rigorous research and reporting by two seasoned journalists. Tony Hsieh's first successful venture was in middle school, selling personalized buttons. At Harvard, he made a profit compiling and selling study guides. In 1998, Hsieh sold his first company to Microsoft for $265 million. About a decade later, he sold online shoe empire Zappos to Amazon for $1.2 billion. The secret to his success? Making his employees happy. At its peak, Zappos's employee-friendly culture was so famous across the tech industry that it became one of the hardest companies to get hired at, and CEOs from other companies regularly toured the headquarters. But Hsieh's vision for change didn't stop with corporate culture: Hsieh went on to move Zappos headquarters to Las Vegas and personally funded a nine-figure campaign to revitalize the city's historic downtown area. There, he could be found living in an Airstream and chatting up the locals. But Hsieh's forays into community-revival projects spun out of control as his issues with mental health and addiction ramped up, creating the opportunity for more enablers than friends to stand in his mercurial good graces. Drawing on hundreds of interviews with a wide range of people whose lives Hsieh touched, journalists Angel Au-Yeung and David Jeans craft a rich portrait of a man who was plagued by the pressure to succeed but who never lost his generous spirit. ©2023 Angel Au-Yeung & David Jeans (P)2023 Penguin Audio

Angel Au-Yeung, David Jeans (Author), Kurt Kanazawa (Narrator)

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When Can We Go Back to America?: Voices of Japanese American Incarceration during WWII

In this dramatic and page-turning narrative history of Japanese Americans before, during, and after their World War II incarceration, Susan H. Kamei weaves the voices of over 130 individuals who lived through this tragic episode, most of them as young adults. It's difficult to believe it happened here, in the Land of the Free: After the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941, the United States government forcibly removed more than 120,000 persons of Japanese ancestry from the Pacific Coast and imprisoned them in desolate detention camps until the end of World War II just because of their race. In what Secretary Norman Y. Mineta describes as a "landmark book," he and others who lived through this harrowing experience tell the story of their incarceration and the long-term impact of this dark period in American history. For the first time, why and how these tragic events took place are interwoven with more than 130 individual voices of those who were unconstitutionally incarcerated, many of them children and young adults. Now more than ever, their words will resonate with readers who are confronting questions about racial identity, immigration, and citizenship, and what it means to be an American.

Susan H. Kamei (Author), Allison Hiroto, Andrew Kishino, Jennifer Ikeda, Kurt Kanazawa, Mizuo Peck (Narrator)

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We Are Not Free

* NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST * PRINTZ HONOR BOOK * WALTER HONOR BOOK * ASIAN/PACIFIC AMERICAN AWARD FOR LITERATURE HONOR BOOK * From New York Times best-selling and acclaimed author Traci Chee comes We Are Not Free, the collective account of a tight-knit group of young Nisei, second-generation Japanese American citizens, whose lives are irrevocably changed by the mass U.S. incarcerations of World War II. Fourteen teens who have grown up together in Japantown, San Francisco. Fourteen teens who form a community and a family, as interconnected as they are conflicted. Fourteen teens whose lives are turned upside down when over 100,000 people of Japanese ancestry are removed from their homes and forced into desolate incarceration camps. In a world that seems determined to hate them, these young Nisei must rally together as racism and injustice threaten to pull them apart.

Traci Chee (Author), Ali Fumiko, Andrew Kishino, Brittany Ishibashi, Chris Naoki Lee, Christopher Naoki Lee, Dan Woren, Erika Ishii, Grace Rolek, Kurt Kanazawa, Kurt Sanchez Kanazawa, Roda Ahmed, Ryan Potter, Scott Keiji Takeda, Sophie Oda, Terry Kitagawa (Narrator)

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To Paradise

'After the painfully affecting [A Little Life] To Paradise gives us three stories far apart in space and time but each unique in their power to summon the joy and complexity of love, the pain of loss. I’m not sure I’ve ever missed the world of a book as much as I miss To Paradise now I’ve left it.' – Observer 'Awe-inspiring . . . the characters are so well drawn and the plot so well paced, I couldn’t put it down.' – Daily Telegraph 'A bravura achievement . . . Behind this impressive, significant novel stands the question: what is a life, if it is not lived in freedom?' – Guardian 'A very unusual sensibility and a burning subject matter have come together here . . . Highly affecting. Read it and hope not to revisit it in your dreams.' – Sunday Times From the author of the modern classic A Little Life, a bold, brilliant novel spanning three centuries and three different versions of the American experiment, about lovers, family, loss and the elusive promise of utopia. In an alternate version of 1893 America, New York is part of the Free States, where people may live and love whomever they please (or so it seems). The fragile young scion of a distinguished family resists betrothal to a worthy suitor, drawn to a charming music teacher of no means. In a 1993 Manhattan besieged by the AIDS epidemic, a young Hawaiian man lives with his much older, wealthier partner, hiding his troubled childhood and the fate of his father. And in 2093, in a world riven by plagues and governed by totalitarian rule, a powerful scientist’s damaged granddaughter tries to navigate life without him – and solve the mystery of her husband’s disappearances. These three sections are joined in an enthralling and ingenious symphony, as recurring notes and themes deepen and enrich one another: A townhouse in Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village; illness, and treatments that come at a terrible cost; wealth and squalor; the weak and the strong; race; the definition of family, and of nationhood; the dangerous righteousness of the powerful, and of revolutionaries; the longing to find a place in an earthly paradise, and the gradual realization that it can’t exist. What unites not just the characters, but these Americas, are their reckonings with the qualities that make us human: Fear. Love. Shame. Need. Loneliness. To Paradise is a fin-de-siecle novel of marvellous literary effect, but above all it is a work of emotional genius. The great power of this remarkable novel is driven by Yanagihara’s understanding of the aching desire to protect those we love – partners, lovers, children, friends, family and even our fellow citizens – and the pain that ensues when we cannot.

Hanya Yanagihara (Author), Bd Wong, Catherine Ho, Edoardo Ballerini, Feodor Chin, Kurt Kanazawa (Narrator)

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The Siren, the Song, and the Spy

In this second vibrant fantasy from Maggie Tokuda-Hall, companion to her best-selling debut, The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea, a diverse resistance force fights to topple an empire in a story about freedom, identity, and decolonization. By sinking a fleet of Imperial Warships, the Pirate Supreme and their resistance fighters have struck a massive blow against the Emperor. Now allies from across the empire are readying themselves, hoping against hope to bring about the end of the conquerors’ rule and the rebirth of the Sea. But trust and truth are hard to come by in this complex world of mermaids, spies, warriors, and aristocrats. Who will Genevieve—lavishly dressed but washed up, half-dead, on the Wariuta island shore—turn out to be? Is warrior Koa’s kindness toward her admirable, or is his sister Kaia’s sharp suspicion wiser? And back in the capital, will pirate-spy Alfie really betray the Imperials who have shown him affection, especially when a duplicitous senator reveals xe would like nothing better? Meanwhile, the Sea is losing more and more of herself as her daughters continue to be brutally hunted, and the Empire continues to expand through profits made from their blood. The threads of time, a web of schemes, shifting loyalties, and blossoming identities converge in Maggie Tokuda-Hall’s remarkable companion to The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea, as unlikely young allies work to forge a new and better world.

Maggie Tokuda-Hall (Author), André Santana, Angela Tran, Krysta Gonzales, Kurt Kanazawa, Rachanee Lumayno (Narrator)

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The Rising of the Shield Hero Volume 04

Naofumi Iwatani, an uncharismatic otaku who spends his days on games and manga, suddenly finds himself summoned to a parallel universe! He discovers he is one of four heroes equipped with legendary weapons and tasked with saving the world from its prophesied destruction. As the Shield Hero, the weakest of the heroes, all is not as it seems. Naofumi is soon alone, penniless, and betrayed. With no one to turn to, and nowhere to run, he is left with only his shield. Now, Naofumi must rise to become the legendary Shield Hero and save the world!

Aneko Yusagi (Author), Kurt Kanazawa (Narrator)

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The Rising of the Shield Hero Volume 03

Naofumi Iwatani, an uncharismatic Otaku who spends his days on games and manga, suddenly finds himself summoned to a parallel universe! He discovers he is one of four heroes equipped with legendary weapons and tasked with saving the world from its prophesied destruction. As the Shield Hero, the weakest of the heroes, all is not as it seems. Naofumi is soon alone, penniless, and betrayed. With no one to turn to, and nowhere to run, he is left with only his shield. Now, Naofumi must rise to become the legendary Shield Hero and save the world!

Aneko Yusagi (Author), Kurt Kanazawa (Narrator)

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The Rising of the Shield Hero Volume 02

Naofumi Iwatani continues his adventure in this second volume. But his task is not yet complete and obstacles mount as the increasingly ominous waves of destruction approach. He finds a new friend and new powerful abilities that may prove to be too dangerous for the companionship. Will Naofumi live up to his role as the Shield Hero and save the world from its prophesized destruction? Or will his dark side consume him?

Aneko Yusagi (Author), Kurt Kanazawa (Narrator)

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The Rising of the Shield Hero Volume 01

Aneko Yusagi (Author), Kurt Kanazawa (Narrator)

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The Reunion

From the author of I Killed Zoe Spanos comes a YA thriller in the vein of The White Lotus and Karen M. McManus's The Cousins following a doomed family reunion at a posh Caribbean resort, where old grudges and dangerous secrets culminate in murder. Eleven Mayweathers went on vacation. Ten came home. It's been years since the fragmented Mayweather clan was all in one place, but the engagement of Addison and Mason's mom to the dad of their future stepbrother, Theo, brings the whole family to sunny Cancún, Mexico, for winter break. Add cousin Natalia to the mix, and it doesn't take long for tempers to fray and tensions to rise. A week of forced family "fun" reveals that everyone has something to hide, and as secrets bubble to the surface, no one is safe from the fallout. By the end of the week, one member of the reunion party will be dead—and everyone's a suspect: The peacekeeper: Addison needs a better hiding place. The outsider: Theo just wants to mend fences. The romantic: Natalia doesn't want to talk about the past. The hothead: Mason needs to keep his temper under control. It started as a week in paradise meant to bring them together. But the Mayweathers are about to learn the hard way that family bonding can be deadly.

Kit Frick (Author), Andre Bellido, Angel Pean, Kurt Kanazawa, Marisa Blake, Zac Aleman (Narrator)

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The Lost Ryu

Kohei Fujiwara has never seen a big ryu in real life. Those dragons all disappeared from Japan after World War II, and twenty years later, they’ve become the stuff of legend. Their smaller cousins, who can fit in your palm, are all that remain. And Kohei loves his ryu, Yuharu, but … … Kohei has a memory of the big ryu. He knows that’s impossible, but still, it’s there, in his mind. In it, he can see his grandpa—Ojiisan—gazing up at the big ryu with what looks to Kohei like total and absolute wonder. When Kohei was little, he dreamed he’d go on a grand quest to bring the big ryu back, to get Ojiisan to smile again. But now, Ojiisan is really, really sick. And Kohei is running out of time. Kohei needs to find the big ryu now, before it’s too late. With the help of Isolde, his new half-Jewish, half-Japanese neighbor; and Isolde’s Yiddish-speaking dragon, Cheshire; he thinks he can do it. Maybe. He doesn’t have a choice. In The Lost Ryu, debut author Emi Watanabe Cohen gives us a story of multigenerational pain, magic, and the lengths to which we’ll go to protect the people we love.

Emi Watanabe Cohen (Author), Kurt Kanazawa (Narrator)

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Temporary Wife Temptation

"You want me to find you a wife?""No. I want you to be my wife." Garrett Song is this close to taking the reins of his family's LA fashion empire...until the Song matriarch insists he marries her handpicked bride first. To block her matchmaking, he recruits Natalie Sobol to pose as his wife. She needs a fake spouse as badly as he does. But when passion burns down their chaste agreement, the flames could destroy them all...

Jayci Lee (Author), Juliet Ann Maura, Kurt Kanazawa (Narrator)

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Audiobooks Narrated by Kurt Kanazawa