Best-Selling Full Audiobooks in Biography & Memoir, Memoirs

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/551605 to listen full audiobooks. Title: Illuminated By Water: Nature, Memory and the Delights of a Fishing Life Author: Malachy Tallack Narrator: Malachy Tallack Format: Unabridged Audiobook Length: 8 hours 5 minutes Release date: July 7, 2022 Genres: Memoirs Publisher's Summary: Brought to you by Penguin. Travel-writer, novelist and singer-songwriter Malachy Tallack has been passionate about fishing since he was young. Growing up in Shetland, with its myriad lochs, he and his brother would roam the island in search of trout, and in so doing discovered a sense of freedom, of wonder, and an abiding passion. But why is it that catching a fish - or simply contemplating catching a fish - can be so thrilling, so captivating? Why is it that time spent beside water can be imprinted so sharply in the memory? Why is it that what seems such a simple act - that of casting a line and hoping - can feel so rich in mystery? Illuminated by Water is Malachy's personal attempt to understand that freedom, and to trace the origins and sources of that sense of wonder. He shares the appeal of fishing, its intense joys and frustrations, the steadying effect it has both at water's edge and in the memory, and the contemplation of nature and landscape that comes with being an angler. He writes about fishing expeditions, from English canals and Scottish lochs to lakes in Canada and New Zealand, and he reflects on other aspects of angling, from its cultural significance and the emerging moral complexities to the intricacies of tying a fly. Beautifully written and hugely engaging, this book both articulates the inexplicable lure of the river and the endless desire to return to it, and illuminates a passion that has shaped the way so many see and think about the natural world. © Malachy Tallack 2022 (P) Penguin Audio 2022

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/553733 to listen full audiobooks. Title: Original Sins: A Memoir Author: Matt Rowland Hill Narrator: Daniel Hawksford Format: Unabridged Audiobook Length: 9 hours 38 minutes Release date: July 5, 2022 Genres: Memoirs Publisher's Summary: “A shattering portrait of addiction—generously open, desperately honest and confronting.” —Catherine Cho, author of Inferno: A Memoir of Motherhood and Madness An electrifying debut memoir of a pastor’s son chronicling his loss of faith, his addiction to heroin and our universal quest to find something to believe in Matt Rowland Hill had two great loves in his life: Jesus and heroin. The son of an evangelical minister, Hill grew up with an unwavering devotion to the tenets of his parents’ Baptist church. But by high school, he began to experience a crisis of faith. To fill the void, he turned to literature, and then to heroin and cocaine. By his twenties, Hill’s substance abuse escalated into a full-on addiction. As he grew increasingly suicidal, he knew he had to come to terms with both religion and drugs to survive. Hill’s debut is an extraordinary, gorgeously crafted memoir of faith, family, loss, shame and addiction. But ultimately, Original Sins is a raw portrait of survival—of growing up and learning how to live.

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/552836 to listen full audiobooks. Title: A Good Country: My Life in Twelve Towns and the Devastating Battle for a White America Author: Sofia Ali-Khan Narrator: Kelsey Jaffer Format: Unabridged Audiobook Length: 16 hours 5 minutes Release date: July 5, 2022 Genres: Memoirs Publisher's Summary: A leading advocate for social justice excavates the history of forced migration in the twelve American towns she’s called home, revealing how White supremacy has fundamentally shaped the nation. “At a time when many would rather ban or bury the truth, Ali-Khan bravely faces it in this bracing and necessary book.”—Ayad Akhtar, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Homeland Elegies Sofia Ali-Khan’s parents emigrated from Pakistan to America, believing it would be a good country. With a nerdy interest in American folk history and a devotion to the rule of law, Ali-Khan would pursue a career in social justice, serving some of America’s most vulnerable communities. By the time she had children of her own—having lived, worked, and worshipped in twelve different towns across the nation—Ali-Khan felt deeply American, maybe even a little extra American for having seen so much of the country.  But in the wake of 9/11, and on the cusp of the 2016 election, Ali-Khan’s dream of a good life felt under constant threat. As the vitriolic attacks on Islam and Muslims intensified, she wondered if the American dream had ever applied to families like her own, and if she had gravely misunderstood her home.  In A Good Country, Ali-Khan revisits the color lines in each of her twelve towns, unearthing the half-buried histories of forced migration that still shape every state, town, and reservation in America today. From the surprising origins of America’s Chinatowns, the expulsion of Maroon and Seminole people during the conquest of Florida, to Virginia’s stake in breeding humans for sale, Ali-Khan reveals how America’s settler colonial origins have defined the law and landscape to maintain a White America. She braids this historical exploration with her own story, providing an intimate perspective on the modern racialization of American Muslims and why she chose to leave the United States.  Equal parts memoir, history, and current events, A Good Country presents a vital portrait of our nation, its people, and the pathway to a better future.

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/556423 to listen full audiobooks. Title: Birdgirl: ‘Lyrical, poignant and insightful.’ Margaret Atwood Author: Mya-Rose Craig Narrator: Mya-Rose Craig Format: Unabridged Audiobook Length: 9 hours 30 minutes Release date: June 30, 2022 Genres: Memoirs Publisher's Summary: Brought to you by Penguin. 'Birdwatching has never felt like a hobby, or a pastime I can pick up and put down, but a thread running through the pattern of my life, so tightly woven in that there's no way of pulling it free and leaving the rest of my life intact.' Meet Mya-Rose - otherwise known as 'Birdgirl'. Birder, environmentalist, diversity activist. To date she has seen over five thousand different types of bird: half the world's species. Every single bird a treasure. Each sighting a small step in her family journey - a collective moment of joy and stillness amidst her mother's deepening mental health crisis. And each helping her to find her voice. Since she was young, she has visited every continent to pursue her passion, seeing first-hand the inequality and reckless destruction we are inflicting on our fragile planet. And the simple, mindful act of looking for birds has made her ever-more determined to campaign for all our survival. This is her story; a journey defined by her love for these extraordinary creatures. Because large or small, brown, patterned or jewelled, there is something about birds that makes us, even for just moments at a time, lift our eyes away from our lives and up to the skies. © Mya-Rose Craig 2022 (P) Penguin Audio 2022

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/550463 to listen full audiobooks. Title: Inheritance: An Autobiography of Whiteness Author: Baynard Woods Narrator: Will Collyer Format: Unabridged Audiobook Length: 11 hours 19 minutes Release date: June 28, 2022 Genres: Memoirs Publisher's Summary: In this unflinching, honest narrative, an award-winning journalist discovers his family’s heritage as slave owners in the South and grapples openly with his whiteness to inspire others to do the same. "Bracing, candid, and rueful." —Kirkus  Baynard Woods thought he had escaped the backwards ways of the South Carolina he grew up in, a world defined by country music, NASCAR, and the confederacy. He’d fled the South long ago, transforming himself into a politically left-leaning writer and educator. Then he was accused of discriminating against a Black student at a local university. How could I be racist? he wondered. Whiteness was a problem, but it wasn’t really his problem. He taught at a majority Black school and wrote essays about education and Civil Rights. But it was his problem. Working as a reporter, it became clear that white supremacy was tearing the country apart. When a white kid from his hometown massacred nine Black people in Charleston, Woods began to delve into his family’s history—and the ways that history has affected his own life. When he discovered that his family—both the Baynards and the Woodses—collectively claimed ownership of more than 700 people in 1860, Woods realized his own name was a confederate monument. Along with his name, he had inherited privilege, wealth, and all the lies that his ancestors passed down through the generations.  In this gripping and perceptive memoir, Woods takes us along on his journey to understand how race has impacted his life.  Unflinching and uninhibited, Inheritance explores what it means to reckon with whiteness in America today and what it might mean to begin to repair the past.

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/549494 to listen full audiobooks. Title: Would It Surprise You To Know…? Author: Janet Gleeson, Ronnie Archer-Morgan Narrator: Ronnie Archer-Morgan Format: Unabridged Audiobook Length: 9 hours 19 minutes Release date: June 23, 2022 Genres: Memoirs Publisher's Summary: Brought to you by Penguin. For decades, Ronnie Archer-Morgan has brought to life the fascinating, often surprising backstories behind our most cherished heirlooms, antiques and household objects. Now, he tells his own unlikely story. Born in the fifties to a Sierra Leoneon mother battling mental health problems, Ronnie spent his childhood in and out of care. After difficult beginnings, marked by abuse, racism and brushes with both criminals and the police, he got into music, managing to get DJ gigs and, later, as a celebrity hairdresser for Vidal Sassoon and Smile in the height of seventies London. A flair for spotting antiques led him to start his own Knightsbridge gallery, ultimately becoming one of the most respected figures in the industry, culminating in a regular spot as an expert on Antiques Roadshow. Told with rich warmth, this is an extraordinary journey from deprivation and abuse to adventure and success against the odds - with stories of the incredible objects which shaped the way. © Janet Gleeson 2022 (P) Penguin Audio 2022

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/550262 to listen full audiobooks. Title: BFF?: The truth about female friendship Author: Claire Cohen Narrator: Claire Cohen Format: Unabridged Audiobook Length: 7 hours 55 minutes Release date: June 23, 2022 Genres: Memoirs Publisher's Summary: Brought to you by Penguin. Why do some friendships last a lifetime, while others are only temporary? How do you break up with a toxic friend? How many best friends should we be aiming for? BFF? will take a close look at society's most underappreciated relationship to interrogate what modern friendship means, how it can survive, why we need it and what we can do to get the most from it. Featuring interviews with brilliant women on what friendship means to them, Claire Cohen argues that, unlike romantic relationships, friendship is much harder to pin down and quantify - and shows how often our friendships are taken for granted. An antidote to the idea that every woman must belong to a perfect girl gang, this book is a reassuring guide to help women answer for themselves, 'Have we lost it? Are we still friends? Is there too much to catch up on?' 'This is a moment to take stock. To think about who our friends really are, what that means to us, what they give us (and we give them) and what we have learnt about friendship. Because, when we get it right, there is nothing so important as having true friends. What a shame that it took a rampaging virus to make us appreciate the value of that.' © Claire Cohen 2022 (P) Penguin Audio 2022

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/553380 to listen full audiobooks. Title: Dinner for One: How Cooking in Paris Saved Me Author: Sutanya Dacres Narrator: Imani Jade Powers Format: Unabridged Audiobook Length: 8 hours 32 minutes Release date: June 21, 2022 Genres: Memoirs Publisher's Summary: From podcast host Sutanya Dacres comes Dinner for One, an unforgettable memoir of how she rebuilt her life after her American-in-Paris fairy tale shattered, starting with cooking dinner for herself in her Montmartre kitchen When Sutanya Dacres married her French boyfriend and moved to Paris at twenty-seven, she felt like she was living out her very own Nora Ephron romantic comedy. Jamaican-born and Bronx-raised, she had never dreamed she herself could be one of those American women in Paris she admired from afar via their blogs, until she met the man of her dreams one night in Manhattan. A couple of years later, she married her Frenchman and moved to Paris, embarking on her own “happily-ever-after.” But when her marriage abruptly ended, the fairy tale came crashing down around her. Reeling from her sudden divorce and the cracked facade of that picture-perfect expat life, Sutanya grew determined to mend her broken heart and learn to love herself again. She began by cooking dinner for one in her Montmartre kitchen. Along the way, she builds Parisienne friendships, learns how to date in French, and examines what it means to be a Black American woman in Paris—all while adopting the French principle of pleasure, especially when it comes to good food, and exploring what the concept of self-care really means. Brimming with charm, humor, and hard-won wisdom, Sutanya's story takes you on an adventure through love, loss, and finding where you truly belong, even when it doesn’t look quite how you expected. Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/555816 to listen full audiobooks. Title: Becoming the One: Heal Your Past, Transform Your Relationship Patterns and Come Home to Yourself Author: Sheleana Aiyana Narrator: Sheleana Aiyana Format: Unabridged Audiobook Length: 7 hours 12 minutes Release date: June 16, 2022 Ratings: Ratings of Book: 5 of Total 1 Ratings of Narrator: 5 of Total 1 Genres: Memoirs Publisher's Summary: Brought to you by Penguin. YOU ARE THE ONE Relationships have the ability to infuse our lives with the magic of intimacy and connection. But often we can find ourselves chasing unavailable love, putting other's needs before our own all the while abandoning the one who needs us most - ourselves. From Sheleana Aiyana, spiritual writer and founder of Rising Woman, comes a transformational inner-work journey to heal lifelong relationship patterns and reclaim power over your life. Becoming the One is your invitation to make peace with your past, stand in your worth and find your way home to yourself. © Shaleana Aiyana 2022 (P) Penguin Audio 2022

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/555943 to listen full audiobooks. Title: Quilt on Fire: The Messy Magic of Friends, Sex & Love Author: Christie Watson Narrator: Christie Watson Format: Unabridged Audiobook Length: 6 hours 48 minutes Release date: June 16, 2022 Genres: Memoirs Publisher's Summary: Brought to you by Penguin. There is something raw in the fault lines, something wilder and more mysterious. There is beauty in the falling apart, a less polished, more honest version of expression. In her early twenties, Christie Watson was convinced she'd found her soulmate, in a glowing flash of light that turned out to be her tealights setting her quilt on fire. Twenty years later, her bed is burning once again... as she wakes in a perimenopausal sweat, night after night. This is the story of her journey through mid-life: of the joy of letting go and the pain of the morning after, of the unstoppable power of female friendship and the struggle to raise teenagers as a single parent. It lays bare the exhilaration, agony, wonder and fears of being a middle-aged woman with a wild heart, a changing body and a new set of challenges. And as her world takes on a different shape, there's something else she starts to feel: the hot flush of possibility. 'I adore Christie Watson. Quilt on Fire is full of her trademark candour, compassion and humour. A wildly entertaining - and necessary book' ELIZABETH DAY © Christie Watson 2022 (P) Penguin Audio 2022