Audiobooks narrated by Ron Butler

Treating Violence: An Emergency Room Doctor Takes On A Deadly American Epidemic

The inspiring story of a Black doctor deeply affected by the violence in his childhood that plagued his Brooklyn community who was determined to be a force for change and dedicated himself to addressing trauma and violence as public health issues Rob Gore first encountered violence when he was beaten and robbed as a 10-year old; it was treated as an inevitable fact of life, but after another brush with violence as a teen, he began to reject that prevalent attitude. As he matured and became a doctor, he grew in his determination to find treatments for what he saw not as an unavoidable fact for most people living in vulnerable, underserved neighborhoods especially, but as a public health issue that could be addressed by early intervention and solid support, beginning in the medical community. He also became deeply involved in efforts to diversify the entire field of medicine, starting with the "front lines" in the Emergency Department. Seeing his brother Angel and close friend Willis fall prey to the epidemic of violence with profound-and in Willis's case-deadly consequences, Rob began seriously researching the issue and went on to found an organization which is one of the models for successful approaches to reducing violence and protecting victims, who are disproportionately BIPOC, living in impoverished neighborhoods, or members of the LGBTQ+ community. Here he provides not only statistics, but stories of what he witnessed in NYC neighborhoods, in Atlanta, Chicago, Buffalo and even in medical work in Haiti and Kenya. His work with the Kings Against Violence Initiate (KAVI) and allied organizations is a blueprint for treating violence not as a police matter, but as a public health crisis, which can and should be addressed and substantially reduced. The people he introduces us to in these pages are not merely victims, but often advocates, paving the way for eliminating the epidemic of violence in our country.

Rob Gore (Author), Ron Butler (Narrator)

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Creative Endurance: 56 Rules for Overcoming Obstacles and Achieving Your Goals

Mike Schnaidt (Author), Ron Butler (Narrator)

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The Black Yearbook [Portraits and Stories]

A gripping exploration of the joys, hardships, and truths of Black students through intimate, honest dialogues and stunning photography, author of Heavy "A radical, reverential, and restorative document of community."-Rebecca Bengal, author of Strange Hours: Photography, Memory, and the Lives of Artists When photographer Adraint Bereal graduated from the University of Texas, he self-published an impressive volume of portraits, personal statements, and interviews that explored UT's campus culture and offered an intimate look at the lives of Black students matriculating within a majority white space. Bereal's work was inspired by his first photo exhibition at the George Washington Carver Museum in Austin, entitled 1.7, that unearthed the experiences of the 925 Black men that made up just 1.7% of UT's total 52,000 student body. Now Bereal expands the scope of his original project and visits colleges nationwide, from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) to predominantly white institutions to trade schools and more. Rather than dwelling on the monolith of trauma often associated with Black narratives, Bereal is dedicated to using honest dialogue to share stories of true joy and triumph amidst the hardships, prejudices, and internal struggles. Using an exciting and eclectic design approach to accompany the portraits and stories, each individual profile effectively conveys the interviewee's unique voice, tone, and background. The Black Yearbook reframes society's stereotypical perception of higher education by representing and celebrating the wide range of Black experiences on campuses.

Adraint Khadafhi Bereal (Author), Adraint Khadafhi Bereal, André Santana, Angel Pean, Benjamin Charles, Henriette Zoutomou, Joniece Abbott-Pratt, Keylor Leigh, Kiese Laymon, Malik Rashad, Marcella Cox, Reynaldo Piniella, Ron Butler, TBD, Torian Brackett, Zoleka Vundla (Narrator)

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Cobalt: A Fantasy Novella

A keen young freshman. A siren at a crossroads. A chance meeting that changes everything. Gina is a mermaid—a siren—on her land cycle and she has found a human mate she loves. In fact, they're engaged, but to overcome a mysterious betrayal she isn't sure she should forgive, she needs some time at sea, ideally above it. So she stows away on a tall ship. Seth is a precocious fifteen-year-old working on a school project, researching Cobalt Girl, a modern sailing vessel. A chance meeting and a fog bank along the Carolina coast will change both of their lives forever… Return to the siren realm of A.L. Knorr with Cobalt, a novella-length prequel to a forthcoming series entitled Pretty Little Mermaids, which expands the lore and worlds established in Born of Water, Mermaid’s Return and The Siren’s Curse, but is set before the events of the latter.

A.L. Knorr (Author), Marnie Penning, Ron Butler (Narrator)

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Fragile Neighborhoods: Repairing American Society, One Zip Code at a Time

This urgent exploration of why American society is in trouble-and how to fix it, starting with the places we call home-is an "essential and engaging read for everyone who wants to better understand the challenges facing our cities, towns and our nation." (Richard Florida, author of The Rise of the Creative Class) The neighborhoods we live in impact our lives in so many ways: they determine who we know, what resources and opportunities we have access to, the quality of schools our kids go to, our sense of security and belonging, and even how long we live. Yet too many of us live in neighborhoods plagued by rising crime, school violence, family disintegration, addiction, alienation, and despair. Even the wealthiest neighborhoods are not immune; while poverty exacerbates these challenges, they exist in zip codes rich and poor, rural and urban, and everything in between. In Fragile Neighborhoods, fragile states expert Seth D. Kaplan offers a bold new vision for addressing social decline in America, one zip code at a time. By revitalizing our local institutions-and the social ties that knit them together-we can all turn our neighborhoods into places where people and families can thrive. Readers will meet the innovative individuals and organizations pioneering new approaches to everything from youth mentoring to urban planning to keeping families intact: people like Dreama, a former lawyer whose organization works with local leaders and educators in rural Appalachia to equip young people with the social support they need to succeed in school; and Chris, whose Detroit-based non-profit turns vacant school buildings into community resource hubs while also organizing local volunteers to repair homes and beautify streets in neighborhoods across the city. Along the way, Kaplan offers a set of practical lessons to inspire similar work, reminding us that when change is hyperlocal, everyone has the opportunity to contribute.

Seth D. Kaplan (Author), Ron Butler (Narrator)

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What It Takes to Save a Life: A Veterinarian’s Quest for Healing and Hope

Mountains Beyond Mountains meets Tattoos On the Heart in this unforgettable, powerful, and stunningly-told memoir of a struggling veterinarian saving animals and humans on the streets of California - and how he discovered what bonds all living creatures. Dr. Kwane Stewart was questioning his career as a veterinarian when he saw a homeless man with a flea-infested dog outside of a convenience store. In a moment of spontaneous generosity, he offered to examine the dog and treat him for free. It was the first step in a now nine-year journey that has taken Dr. Kwane from Skid Row to San Francisco and beyond to care for pets and their humans who are living on the streets. In What It Takes to Save a Life, Dr. Kwane shows how our four-legged, feathered, scaled, and swimming family members—these dogs, cats, birds, reptiles, and other animals that live side by side with us—provide more than companionship. They offer essential love, hope, and a sense of security. Written with striking honesty and rich detail, Dr. Kwane looks back on his childhood, how he discovered his appreciation for animals and his calling, and offers a frank assessment of the state of veterinary medicine today, where compassion fatigue, burnout, and suicide are facts of life. Full of warm and inspiring stories of human-animal relationships, this powerful and eye-opening book is a reminder that we are all members of a wider family. It is also a clarion call for each of us to help those in need—especially our most vulnerable brothers and sisters—and the animals who are their families. Wise and warm, Dr. Stewart's story is a reminder that one life can make an immeasurable difference.

Kwane Stewart (Author), Ron Butler (Narrator)

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Easily Slip into Another World: A Life in Music

An autobiography of one of the towering figures of contemporary American music and a powerful meditation on history, race, capitalism, and art. Henry Threadgill has had a singular life in music. At 79, the saxophonist, flautist, and celebrated composer is one of three jazz artists (along with Ornette Coleman and Wynton Marsalis) to have won a Pulitzer Prize. In Easily Slip into Another World, Threadgill recalls his childhood and upbringing in Chicago, his family life and education, and his brilliant career in music. Here are riveting recollections of the music scene in Chicago in the early 1960s, when Threadgill developed his craft among friends and schoolmates who would go on to form the core of the highly influential Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM); the year and a half he spent touring with an evangelical preacher in the mid-1960s; his military service in Vietnam-a riveting tale in itself, but also representative of an under-recognized aspect of jazz history, given the number of musicians in Threadgill's generation who served in the armed forces. We appreciate his genius as he travels to the Netherlands, Venezuela, Trinidad, Sicily, and Goa enriching his art; immerses himself in the volatile downtown scene in New York City in the 1970s and 1980s; collaborates with choreographers, writers, and theater directors as well as an astonishing range of musicians, from AACM stalwarts (Muhal Richard Abrams, Roscoe Mitchell, Wadada Leo Smith, and Leroy Jenkins), to Chicago bluesmen, downtown luminaries, and world music innovators; shares his impressions of the recording industry his perspectives on music education and the history of Black music in the United States; and, of course, accounts for his work with the various ensembles he has directed over the past five decades.

Brent Hayes Edwards, Henry Threadgill (Author), Ron Butler (Narrator)

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Spirit Service: Vodún and Vodou in the African Atlantic World

Known in the Dominican Republic and Togo as Vodu, in Benin as Vodún, and in Haiti as Vodou, West African religion has, for hundreds of years, served as a repository of sacred knowledge while simultaneously evolving in response to human experience and globalization. Spirit Service: Vodún and Vodou in the African Atlantic World explores this dynamic religion, its mobility, and its place in the modern world. By examining the systems-ritual practices, community-based spirit veneration, and spiritual means of securing opportunity and well-being-alongside the individuals who worship, this rich collection offers the first comprehensive ethnographic study of West African spirit service on a broad scale. Contributors consider social encounters between African/Haitian practitioners and European/North American spiritual seekers, economies, and histories, funerary rites and spirit possessions, and examinations of gender and materiality. Offering much-needed perspective on this historically disparaged religion, Spirit Service reminds us all that the gods are growing, assimilating, and demanding recognition and respect.

Eric James Montgomery (Author), Ron Butler (Narrator)

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It Came from the Closet: Queer Reflections on Horror

Through the lens of horror—from Halloween to Hereditary—queer and trans writers consider the films that deepened, amplified, and illuminated their own experiences. Horror movies hold a complicated space in the hearts of the queer community: historically misogynist, and often homo- and transphobic, the genre has also been inadvertently feminist and open to subversive readings. Common tropes—such as the circumspect and resilient “final girl,” body possession, costumed villains, secret identities, and things that lurk in the closet—spark moments of eerie familiarity and affective connection. Still, viewers often remain tasked with reading themselves into beloved films, seeking out characters and set pieces that speak to, mirror, and parallel the unique ways queerness encounters the world. It Came from the Closet features twenty-five original essays by writers speaking to this relationship, through connections both empowering and oppressive. From Carmen Maria Machado on Jennifer’s Body, Jude Ellison S. Doyle on In My Skin, Addie Tsai on Dead Ringers, and many more, these conversations convey the rich reciprocity between queerness and horror.

Joe Vallese (Author), Aida Reluzco, André Santana, Aven Shore, Daniel Henning, Graham Halstead, Hope Newhouse, Joel Froomkin, Krystal Hammond, Lindsey Dorcus, Mark Sanderlin, Mike Cooper, Ron Butler, Tori Barron, Vikas Adam (Narrator)

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Generation Wonder: The New Age of Heroes

A high-flying YA anthology featuring thirteen short stories that turn superhero tropes on their head and offer fresh perspectives on modern myths Triumph. Tragedy. The empyreal. The infernal. Even the mundane, filtered through the fantastical. Superheroes are, appropriately enough, a sort of super-genre, encompassing all other story types. This YA anthology features thirteen short stories that creatively turn superhero tropes on their head, while still paying homage to the genre that has found fans for more than eight decades. And there will be no mistake—superheroes don’t have to just be generic handsome white dudes. Everyone in the world, no matter their race, sexual preference, pronouns, or level of ability, has dreamed of flying. Contributors include six New York Times bestselling authors, seven multiple award winners, a founder of We Need Diverse Books, and at least one author with millions of books in print in the US alone. The collection is edited by New York Times bestselling author Barry Lyga. The full list of contributors includes: Barry Lyga, Paul Levitz, Sarah MacLean, Lamar Giles, Elizabeth Eulberg, Danielle Paige, Varian Johnson, Joseph Bruchac, Morgan Baden, Matthew Phillion, Anna-Marie McLemore, Sterling Gates, and Axie Oh.

Barry Lyga (Author), Ariana Delawari, Emily Lawrence, Eunice Wong, Frankie Corzo, Jaime Lincoln Smth, James Anderson Foster, Jeanette Illidge, Jennifer Aquino, Kenny Ramos, Mark Sanderlin, Ron Butler, Sarah Naughton, Tim Campbell (Narrator)

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Star of His Heart

Drop-dead-gorgeous Ethan Chambers loves his life as Hollywood's most eligible-and elusive-bachelor. Plus, the talented actor has just gotten an offer he can't refuse: a starring role on TV's hit medical drama. But it's the show's sultry makeup and wardrobe director who's got his pulse racing-and making him think twice about staying single. Getting the gig on Paging the Doctor has thrust Rachel Wellesley into the unwelcome glare of the spotlight. She wants to paint the story, not be the story. But when Rachel starts falling for the show's sinfully sexy star, she knows it's time to get her own heart checked. But how can she give up these passionate nights in Ethan's arms? Now, as the cameras roll and her creative vision comes to life, is Rachel finally ready for her close-up-with the man of her dreams?

Brenda Jackson (Author), Ron Butler (Narrator)

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Strictly Confidential Attraction

"I need you, Alli." Did Mark mean what Alison Lind hoped? Was her boss declaring his passion for her? Did he really feel the same way she secretly felt for him? Apparently not. Instead of asking her to be his lover, he was asking her to be temporary nanny to his baby niece. Not an ounce of desire in sight. Or was there? Living together, spending time in intimate surroundings, created a sensual tension too powerful to ignore. How long before this strictly business relationship turned into a strictly passionate predicament?

Brenda Jackson (Author), Ron Butler (Narrator)

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Audiobooks Narrated by Ron Butler