Grab the Top Full Audiobooks in Biography & Memoir, Memoirs

The Smallest Lights in the Universe: A Memoir by Sara Seager

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/368489 [https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/368489] to listen full audiobooks. Title: The Smallest Lights in the Universe: A Memoir Author: Sara Seager Narrator: Xe Sands Format: Unabridged Audiobook Length: 9 hours 37 minutes Release date: August 18, 2020 Ratings: Ratings of Book: 4.4 of Total 15 Ratings of Narrator: 5 of Total 5 Genres: Memoirs Publisher's Summary: LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK PRIZE WINNER • An MIT astrophysicist reinvents herself in the wake of tragedy and discovers the power of connection on this planet, even as she searches our galaxy for another Earth, in this “bewitching” (Anthony Doerr, The New York Times Book Review) memoir. “Sara Seager’s exploration of outer and inner space makes for a stunningly original memoir.”—Abraham Verghese, author of Cutting for Stone Sara Seager has always been in love with the stars: so many lights in the sky, so much possibility. Now a pioneering planetary scientist, she searches for exoplanets—especially that distant, elusive world that sustains life. But with the unexpected death of Seager’s husband, the purpose of her own life becomes hard for her to see. Suddenly, at forty, she is a widow and the single mother of two young boys. For the first time, she feels alone in the universe. As she struggles to navigate her life after loss, Seager takes solace in the alien beauty of exoplanets and the technical challenges of exploration. At the same time, she discovers earthbound connections that feel every bit as wondrous, when strangers and loved ones alike reach out to her across the space of her grief. Among them are the Widows of Concord, a group of women offering advice on everything from home maintenance to dating, and her beloved sons, Max and Alex. Most unexpected of all, there is another kind of one-in-a-billion match, not in the stars but here at home. Probing and invigoratingly honest, The Smallest Lights in the Universe is its own kind of light in the dark.

Gideon's Promise: A Public Defender Movement to Transform Criminal Justice by Jonathan Rapping

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/380249 [https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/380249] to listen full audiobooks. Title: Gideon's Promise: A Public Defender Movement to Transform Criminal Justice Author: Jonathan Rapping Narrator: Frank Gerard Format: Unabridged Audiobook Length: 8 hours 50 minutes Release date: August 18, 2020 Genres: Memoirs Publisher's Summary: A blueprint for criminal justice reform that lays the foundation for how model public defense programs should work to end mass incarceration. Combining wisdom drawn from over a dozen years as a public defender and cutting-edge research in the fields of organizational and cultural psychology, Jonathan Rapping proposes a radical cultural shift to a “fiercely client-based ethos” driven by values-based recruitment training, awakening defenders to their role in upholding an unjust status quo, and a renewed pride in the essential role of moral lawyering in a democratic society. Public defenders represent over 80% of those who interact with the court system, a disproportionate number of whom are poor, non-white citizens who rely on them to navigate the law on their behalf. More often than not, even the most well-meaning of those defenders are over-worked, under-funded, and incentivized to put the interests of judges and politicians above those of their clients in a culture that beats the passion out of talented, driven advocates, and has led to an embarrassingly low standard of justice for those who depend on the promises of Gideon v. Wainwright. However, rather than arguing for a change in rules that govern the actions of lawyers, judges, and other advocates, Rapping proposes a radical cultural shift to a “fiercely client-based ethos” driven by values-based recruitment and training, awakening defenders to their role in upholding an unjust status quo, and a renewed pride in the essential role of moral lawyering in a democratic society. Through the story of founding Gideon’s Promise and anecdotes of his time as a defender and teacher, Rapping reanimates the possibility of public defenders serving as a radical bulwark against government oppression and a megaphone to amplify the voices of those they serve.

My Wife Said You May Want to Marry Me: A Memoir by Jason B. Rosenthal

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/381708 [https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/381708] to listen full audiobooks. Title: My Wife Said You May Want to Marry Me: A Memoir Author: Jason B. Rosenthal Narrator: Baize Buzan, Miles Rosenthal, Jason B. Rosenthal Format: Unabridged Audiobook Length: 6 hours 45 minutes Release date: April 21, 2020 Ratings: Ratings of Book: 5 of Total 1 Genres: Memoirs Publisher's Summary: An inspiring memoir of life, love, loss, and new beginnings by the widower of bestselling author and filmmaker Amy Krouse Rosenthal, whose last act of love before her death was setting the stage for her husband’s life without her in a Modern Love column in the New York Times. On March 3, 2017, Amy Krouse Rosenthal penned a Modern Love column for the New York Times —''You May Want to Marry My Husband.'' It appeared ten days before her death from ovarian cancer. A heartbreaking, wry, brutally honest, and creative play on a personal ad—in which a dying wife encouraged her husband to go on and find happiness after her demise—the column quickly went viral, reaching more than five million people worldwide. In My Wife Said You May Want to Marry Me, Jason describes what came next, even as he struggled with her loss. Surveying his life before, with, and after Amy, Jason ruminates on love, the pain of watching a loved one suffer, and what it means to heal—how he and their three children, despite their profound sorrow, went on. Jason’s emotional journey offers insights on dying and death and the excruciating pain of losing a soulmate, and illuminates the lessons he learned. As he reflects on Amy’s gift to him—a fresh start to fill his empty space with a new story—Jason describes how he continues to honor Amy’s life and her last wish, and how he seeks to appreciate every day and live in the moment while trying to help others coping with loss. My Wife Said You May Want to Marry Me is the poignant, unreserved, and inspiring story of a great love, the aftermath of a marriage ended too soon, and how a surviving partner eventually found a new perspective on life’s joys in the wake of tremendous loss.

Running Toward Mystery: The Adventure of an Unconventional Life by Zara Houshmand, Tenzin Priyadarshi

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/373930 [https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/373930] to listen full audiobooks. Title: Running Toward Mystery: The Adventure of an Unconventional Life Author: Zara Houshmand, Tenzin Priyadarshi Narrator: Tenzin Priyadarshi Format: Unabridged Audiobook Length: 8 hours 32 minutes Release date: April 7, 2020 Ratings: Ratings of Book: 5 of Total 2 Ratings of Narrator: 5 of Total 1 Genres: Memoirs Publisher's Summary: A revered Buddhist monk tells the bracing and beautiful story of a singular life compelled to contemplation, sharing lessons about the power of mentorship and an open mind    “A necessary and captivating narrative of spiritual courage and truth seeking far beyond the veil of our contemporary delusions.”—Sting   Born in India to a prominent Hindu Brahmin family, the Venerable Tenzin Priyadarshi was only six years old when he began having visions of a mysterious mountain peak, and of men with shaved heads wearing robes the color of sunset. “It was as vivid as if I were watching a scene from life,” he writes. And so at the age of ten, he ran away from boarding school to find this place—taking a train to the end of the line and then riding a bus to wherever it went.   Strangely enough, he ended up at a Buddhist monastery that was the place in his dreams. His frantic parents and relatives set out to find him and, after two weeks, located him and brought him home. But he continued to have visions and feel a strong pull to a spiritual life in a tradition that he had never heard of as a child. Today, he is a revered monk and teacher as well as President and CEO of The Dalai Lama Center for Ethics and Transformative Values at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he works to build bridges among communities and religions.   Running Toward Mystery is the Venerable Tenzin Priyadarshi’s profound account of his lifelong journey as a seeker. At its heart is a story of striving for enlightenment, the vital importance of mentors in that search, and of the many remarkable teachers he met along the way, among them the Dalai Lama, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and Mother Teresa. “Teachers come and go on their own schedule,” Priyadarshi writes. “I clearly wasn’t in charge of the timetable and it wasn’t my place to specify how a teacher should teach.” And arrive they did, at the right time, in the right way, to impart the lessons that shaped a life of seeking, devotion, and deep human connection across all barriers.   Running Toward Mystery is the bracing and beautiful story of a singular life compelled to contemplation, and a riveting narrative of just how exciting that journey can be.

On the Road: Adventures from Nixon to Trump by James Naughtie

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/369656 [https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/369656] to listen full audiobooks. Title: On the Road: Adventures from Nixon to Trump Author: James Naughtie Narrator: James Naughtie Format: Unabridged Audiobook Length: 11 hours 16 minutes Release date: April 2, 2020 Ratings: Ratings of Book: 4 of Total 1 Genres: Memoirs Publisher's Summary: 'Everything you would expect of a James Naughtie book - droll, absorbing and wonderfully perceptive.' Bill Bryson 'A revealing and at times spellbinding tapestry of a nation...It is thought-provoking, constantly surprising and hugely entertaining. Sublime stuff.’ Michael Simkins, Mail on Sunday 'An insightful account of living through momentous times...much to enjoy in Naughtie's astute memoir.' Martin Chilton, Independent James Naughtie, the acclaimed author and BBC broadcaster, now brings his unique and inquisitive eye to the country that has fascinated him and drawn him across the Atlantic for half a century. In looking at America, from Presidents Nixon through to Trump, he tells the story of a country that is grappling with a dream. What has it come to mean in the new century, and who do Americans now think they are?   Drawing on his travels and encounters over forty years in the ‘Land of the Free’, On The Road is filled with anecdotes, memories, tears and laughter reflecting Naughtie’s characteristic warmth and enthusiasm in encountering the America of Washington, of Broadway, of the small town and the plains. As a student, Naughtie watched the fall of President Richard Nixon in 1974, and subsequently as a journalist followed the story of the country – its politicians, artists, wheeler-dealers and the people who make it what it is, in the New York melting pot or the western deserts. This is a story filled with encounters, for example with the people he has watched on every presidential campaign from the late 1970s to the victory of Donald Trump in 2016. As the 2020 presidential elections are well underway, Jim sees for himself how the main contenders are campaigning. He sees, also, how POTUS himself is dealing with impeachment proceedings, and what the ordinary citizen thinks of it all.