General Audiobooks | Science & Technology

The inspirational real-life story of the man behind the beloved movie Rudy, his continued determination to make his dreams come true, and how you can dream big too. How does a lower middle class kid, who suffered through school with undiagnosed dyslexia, get into Notre Dame and become the inspiration for millions in a Hollywood film that has become one of the most inspiring sport movies ever made? He never gave up. For the first time, read Daniel "Rudy" Ruettiger's real life story and learn the behind-the-scenes details of the ten years it took to make the movie and how that tossed him into a new career of public speaking that continues on stages today alongside world-class leaders and speakers. Divided into four parts, each include details of the failures and hard lessons he's learned along the way and how hitting the reset button was often the best thing that ever happened to him: Growing up one of 14 kids in Joliet, a brief stint in the Navy opens a new world of opportunity and dreams Rudy finds a side door into Notre Dame where in a legendary moment he becomes one of only a few players in school history to be carried off the field The struggle to find a career after college leads him to his new impossible dream, to get a movie made about his life story Launched into a new world, Rudy finds his true calling as an inspirational speaker and reveals how losing site of his own dreams nearly derails him, but how once again, in learning another of life's most important lessons, he finds a reason to hope again—through the eyes of the next generation of Rudys Rudy doesn't represent some far-fetched Hollywood fantasy that most people can never attain—the power of his story comes from the fact that at heart he's just an “Average Joe.” The moral is that anyone with a dream can make that dream a reality—as long as they’re willing to put in the hard work, and heart, it takes to get there.

Daniel "Rudy" Ruettiger, Mark Dagostino, Rudy Ruettiger (Author), Daniel Butler (Narrator)

Audiobook

Row for Freedom: Crossing an Ocean in Search of Hope

“When you’re in the middle of the adventure, you just have to live it. When you’re on an expedition, you put your head down and battle through. Storytelling happens after the finish line. . . . now that time has come [and] Julia can tell her story. The full story.” —from the foreword by Bear Grylls *** An incredible account of one woman’s record-breaking row across the Atlantic Thirty-two-year-old Julia Immonen and four other women take on a challenge completed by fewer people than have climbed Mount Everest or gone into space: row three thousand miles, unaided, from the Canary Islands to Barbados. Row for Freedom chronicles that dramatic journey, detailing the grueling, peril-filled crossing, which broke two world records, as it weaves together Julia’s search for hope and purpose against a background of relationships scarred by violence. As Julia’s physical and emotional treks unfold, you also learn about the plight of the thirty million victims of the modern-day slave trade that serves as the motivation for her row. Be inspired by Julia’s self-discovery and her team’s triumph in one of the most formidable physical quests ever undertaken.

Julia Immonen (Author), Jay O'Shea (Narrator)

Audiobook

Roughing It

Mark Twain (Author), Peter Berkrot (Narrator)

Audiobook

Rough Justice: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer

Raised in a motorcycle gang, tough and beautiful Arianne Wilder has always dreamed of a normal life. But no sooner does she escape her father's domineering grasp than she wakes up to find herself in a rival gang's clubhouse—at the mercy of the dangerously sexy Jagger Knight. The alpha leader of the notorious Sinner's Tribe, Jagger Knight is all muscle, all biker, and all man. But somewhere inside this hard, tattooed outlaw, Arianne senses a kindred spirit—and she can't ignore their tempestuous attraction. Can she beat him at his own game in a revved-up blaze of glory? Or will their passion spark a war that's the end of the road for them both? Contains mature themes.

Peter Elkind (Author), Arthur Morey (Narrator)

Audiobook

Rough Beauty: Forty Seasons of Mountain Living

In the bestselling tradition of Cheryl Strayed's Wild and Helen MacDonald's H Is for Hawk, a stunning, inspirational memoir from an award-winning poet who ventures into the wilderness to seek answers to life's big questions and finds her way back after losing everything she thought she needed. During a difficult time, Karen Auvinen flees to a primitive cabin in the Rockies to live in solitude as a writer and to embrace all the beauty and brutality nature has to offer. When a fire incinerates every word she has ever written and all of her possessions-except for her beloved dog Elvis, her truck, and a few singed artifacts-Karen embarks on a heroic journey to reconcile her desire to be alone with her need for community. In the evocative spirit of works by Annie Dillard, Gretel Ehrlich, and Mary Oliver, Karen's rich and compulsively readable memoir is as much an inward as it is an outward pilgrimage. Her pursuit of solace and salvation by shedding trivial ties and living in close harmony with nature, along with her account of finding community and love, is sure to resonate with all of us who long for meaning and deeper connection. Rough Beauty is a luminous, lyric exploration of and homage to her forty seasons in the mountains, embracing the unpredictability and grace of living intimately with the forces of nature while making peace with her own wildness.

Karen Auvinen (Author), Jayme Mattler (Narrator)

Audiobook

Rosewater: Previously published as 'Then They Came For Me'

When Maziar Bahari left London in June 2009 to cover Iran's presidential election, he assured his pregnant fiancée, Paola, that he'd be back in just a few days, a week at most. Little did he know, as he kissed her good-bye, that he would spend the next three months in Iran's most notorious prison, enduring brutal interrogation sessions at the hands of a man he knew only by his smell: Rosewater. For the Bahari family, wars, coups, and revolutions are not distant concepts but intimate realities they have suffered for generations: Maziar's father was imprisoned by the shah in the 1950s, and his sister by Ayatollah Khomeini in the 1980s. Alone in his cell at Evin Prison, fearing the worst, Maziar draws strength from his memories of the courage of his father and sister in the face of torture, and hears their voices speaking to him across the years. He dreams of being with Paola in London, and imagines all that she and his rambunctious, resilient eighty-four-year-old mother must be doing to campaign for his release. During the worst of his encounters with Rosewater, he silently repeats the names of his loved ones, calling on their strength and love to protect him and praying he will be released in time for the birth of his first child. A riveting, heart-wrenching memoir, Then They Came for Me offers insight into the past fifty years of regime change in Iran, as well as the future of a country where the democratic impulses of the youth continually clash with a government that becomes more totalitarian with each passing day. An intimate and fascinating account of contemporary Iran, it is also the moving and wonderfully written story of one family's extraordinary courage in the face of repression.

Aimee Molloy, Maziar Bahari (Author), Stephen Hoye (Narrator)

Audiobook

Rosa Parks

In 1955, Rosa Parks, an African-American seamstress, had no idea she was changing history when, fed up and tired, she refused to surrender her seat to a white passenger on a bus in segregated Alabama. Today, she is immortalized for the defiance that sent her to jail and triggered a bus boycott that catapulted Martin Luther King, Jr. into the national spotlight. Who was she, before and after her historic act, and how did that act sound the death knell for Jim Crow? Historian Douglas Brinkley brings mid-20th century America alive in this brilliant examination of a celebrated heroine in the context of her life and tumultuous times. Here is the quiet dignity, hope, courage, and humor that have made this every-woman a living legend.

Douglas Brinkley (Author), Karen White (Narrator)

Audiobook

Ronald Reagan; An Audio Biography #2

Ronald Wilson Reagan was an American politician who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989 and became a highly influential voice of modern conservatism. Prior to his presidency, he was a Hollywood actor and union leader before serving as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 to 1975. Musical consultant Alex Franchi in Milan Production executive Avalon Giuliano in London ICON Intern Eden Giuliano in Delhi Music By AudioNautix With Their Kind Permission ©2020 Icon Audio Arts (P) 2020 Icon Audio Arts LLC

Geoffrey Giuliano (Author), Geoffrey Giuliano (Narrator)

Audiobook

Ronald Reagan; An Audio Biography #1

Geoffrey Giuliano (Author), Geoffrey Giuliano (Narrator)

Audiobook

Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher: A Political Marriage

It is well known that Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher were close allies and kindred political spirits. During their eight overlapping years in office, the U.S. president and the U.K. prime minister worked together to promote lower taxes, deregulation, free trade, and an aggressive stance against the Soviet Union. But according to Nicholas Wapshott, the Reagan/Thatcher relationship was much deeper than an alliance of mutual interests. Drawing on interviews with those closest to them, as well as on hundreds of recently declassified private letters and telephone calls, Wapshott depicts a more complex, personal, and sometimes argumentative relationship than has previously been revealed. On the surface they had little in common, in either background or personality. Reagan, the son of the town drunk, used his genial charm to win over his enemies and always focused on the big picture rather than details. Thatcher, the daughter of a strict, middle-class shopkeeper, was a hard worker and master of details who would rather be respected than liked. Yet from their very first meeting in 1975, they recognized each other as political soulmates, committed not just to conservative principles but to getting things done. Over the years, they discussed and debated strategies, took strength from each other, celebrated each other's triumphs, and commiserated with each other's failures. Wapshott shines new light on this unique friendship and how it changed the world.

Nicholas Wapshott (Author), Simon Vance, Simon Vance (Narrator)

Audiobook

Romance Is My Day Job

Harlequin editor Patience Bloom certainly did, many times over. As a teen she fell in love with Harlequin novels and imagined her life would turn out just like the heroines’ on the page: That shy guy she had a crush on wouldn’t just take her out — he’d sweep her off her feet with witty banter, quiet charm, and a secret life as a rock star. Not exactly her reality, but Patience kept reading books that fed her dreams. Years later she moved to New York City and found her dream job, editing romances for Harlequin. Every day, her romantic fantasies came true — on the page. Patience was an expert when it came to fictional love stories — editing amazing books, she learned everything she could about the romance business. But her dating life remained uninspired. She nearly gave up on love. Then one day a real-life chance at romance made her wonder if what she’d been writing and editing all those years might be true. A Facebook message from a high school friend, Sam, sparked a relationship with more promise than she’d had in years. But Sam lived thousands of miles away — they hadn’t seen each other in more than two decades. Was it worth the risk? Could love and romance conquer all? As with the novels Patience edited for years, listeners will have to wait until the very end to find out.

Patience Bloom (Author), Patience Bloom (Narrator)

Audiobook

Role Models

Here, from the incomparable John Waters, is a paean to the power of subversive inspiration that will delight, amuse, enrich-and happily horrify listeners everywhere. Role Models is filmmaker John Waters's self-portrait told through intimate profiles of favorite personalities—some famous, some unknown, some criminal, some surprisingly middle-of-the-road. From Esther Martin, owner of the scariest bar in Baltimore, to the American playwright Tennessee Williams; from the atheist leader Madalyn Murray O'Hair to the insane martyr Saint Catherine of Siena; from the English novelist Denton Welch to the timelessly appealing singer Johnny Mathis—these are the extreme figures who helped the author form his own brand of neurotic happiness. Role Models is a personal invitation into one of the most unique, perverse, and hilarious artistic minds of our time.

John Waters (Author), John Waters (Narrator)

Audiobook

General Audiobooks in Science & Technology