Discover the New Releases Audiobooks in Bios & Memoirs, Personal Memoirs Top 100

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Title: The Hanging Judge of California

Author: Don Lasseter

Narrator: Dan Orders

Format: Unabridged

Length: 10 hrs and 23 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-10-15

Publisher: Crime Rant Classics and Notorious USA

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 28 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Personal Memoirs

Publisher's Summary:

The Hanging Judge of California (formerly titled Perfect Justice) probes outrageous decisions by the Federal 9th Circuit Court in overturning death penalty verdicts. California Judge Donald A. McCartin, who sent nine men to death row, speaks out in fury when convicted child killer Rodney Alcala's verdict was overturned after 23 years.

The audiobook chronicles Alcala's crimes and trials, as well as the horrific murders committed by eight other killers who were sentenced by McCartin. The judge, called "Solomon with the sense of humor of Roy Bean, reincarnated," provides a glimpse into his personal memoirs, with a caustic insight into the appeals process, and his encounters with rich and famous personalities. A must-listen for true crime fans and those interested in the convoluted system of the appeals courts.

Members Reviews:

I loved this book!

Would you consider the audio edition of The Hanging Judge of California to be better than the print version?

I really enjoyed this audio book. It was an accurate account of a real judicial system. It captured me from the start to finish. As for the narrator, I think Dan Orders did an exceptional job. I hate listening to a book when the reader is so dramatic that it takes away from the story. His voice was solid which is what I expect from a courtroom drama story.I highly recommend.

Not well written and narrated poorly

The performance of Dan Orders and whomever produced it was horrible. No one seemed to go back and edit mistakes. There were more than a couple of times that the narrator had some false starts and no one caught them to cut them out. Plus his read was nothing short of amateurish. His read really got on my nerves.

Gripping true stories

The book was originally published under the title Perfect Justice in October of 2004. The book was re-published under The Hanging Judge of California in February 2015. The book looks at the Federal Ninth Circuit Courts overturning the death penalty. California Judge Donald A. McCartin, who sent nine men to death row, speaks out in fury when convicted child killer Rodney Alcalas (known as The Dating Game Killer) verdict was overturned after twenty-three years. Alcala was retried and again found guilty and sentenced to death for a third time.

The book chronicles Alcalas crime and trials as well as the murders committed by eight other killers sentenced by McCartin. The book is well written and informative. Lasseter obviously thoroughly researched the subject matter.

The Orange County Judge presided over the most watched criminal cases from 1978 to 1993 including the eleven month trial in 1987 of serial killer Randy Kraft, who was one of the men McCartin sentence to death. I particularly enjoyed the part of the book that tells about the life of McCartin. Judge Donald McCartin died in September of 2012 at the age of 87. Don Lasseter is a well known true crime writer. Don Orders narrated the book.

Judge Justifies an Unforgiveable Judgement Fail

This book is a total story of this judge's life from his early years, previous careers and how he formed his world view. It is also an overview of the case of a famous serial killer who this judge tried. The serial killer's death penalty was overruled by a later higher court because of a decision this judge made.

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Title: The Tent, The Bucket and Me

Author: Emma Kennedy

Narrator: Emma Kennedy

Format: Unabridged

Length: 12 hrs and 3 mins

Language: English

Release date: 05-07-15

Publisher: Random House Audiobooks

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 20 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Personal Memoirs

Publisher's Summary:

For the '70s child, summer holidays didn't mean the joy of CentreParcs or the sophistication of a Tuscan villa. They meant being crammed into a car with Grandma and heading to the coast. With just a tent for a home and a bucket for the necessities, we would set off on new adventures each year stoically resolving to enjoy ourselves.

For Emma Kennedy, and her mum and dad, disaster always came along for the ride no matter where they went. Whether it was being swept away by a force 10 gale on the Welsh coast or suffering copious amounts of food poisoning on a brave trip to the south of France, family holidays always left them battered and bruised. But they never gave up.

Emma's memoir, The Tent, The Bucket and Me, is a painfully funny reminder of just what it was like to spend your summer holidays cold, damp but with sand between your toes.

Members Reviews:

An exciting and hilarious listen!

I loved it. What can I say? it did not disappoint. This poor family and their disastrous vacations kept me entertained for days. My wife loved it too. Highly recommended!

Good and entertaining

I did not expect some of the language in the book, it was a humorous story, overall a great story!

Hilariously Real People

What did you love best about The Tent, The Bucket and Me?

That this family made an adventure out of every situation.

What did you like best about this story?

What does Emma Kennedy bring to the story that you wouldnt experience if you just read the book?

The tone of her voice while explaining the high points of her forced adventures.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The finality of putting camping gear away-even the awful bucket. It moved me.

great fun.

this book will have you laughing out loud. Holding your breath as you anticipate whats happening next. brilliant and true life as we have all been embarrassed children. I listened when i needed to escape and this truly lifted my mood i couldnt switch it off. i thoroughly enjoyed it and it will be one i listen to again.

Warning! you will end up laughing out loud!

Oh I loved this book, the narrator is hilarious...a fab listen!

can we have another?

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Title: They Are All My Family

Subtitle: A Daring Rescue in the Chaos of Saigon's Fall

Author: John P. Riordan, Monique Brinson Demery

Narrator: Corey M. Snow

Format: Unabridged

Length: 6 hrs and 19 mins

Language: English

Release date: 04-29-15

Publisher: Tantor Audio

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 8 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Personal Memoirs

Publisher's Summary:

Published for the 40th anniversary of the final days of the Vietnam War, this is the suspenseful and moving tale of how John P. Riordan, an assistant manager of Citibank's Saigon branch, devised a daring plan to save 106 Vietnamese from the dangers of the Communist takeover.

Riordan - who had left the military behind for a career in international banking - was not the type to take dramatic action, but once the North Vietnamese Army closed in on Saigon in April 1975 and it was clear that Riordan's Vietnamese colleagues and their families would be stranded in a city teetering on total collapse, he knew he could not leave them behind. Defying the objections of his superiors and going against the official policy of the United States, Riordan went back into Saigon to save them.

In 15 harrowing trips to Saigon's airport, he maneuvered through the bureaucratic shambles, claiming that the Vietnamese were his wife and scores of children. It was a ruse that at times veered close to failure, yet against all odds the improbable plan succeeded.

They Are All My Family is a vivid narrative of one man's ingenious strategy that transformed a time of enormous peril into a display of extraordinary courage.

Critic Reviews:

"A nail-biting account of one man's quiet heroism in the face of impossible odds." (Kirkus)

Members Reviews:

April 30, 1975 - A Day of Infamy

Beautifully written, researched and experienced. Riordan was a hero and has put together an important piece of history - The Fall of Saigon. It could be called 'Against All Odds'. Saigon was in undescribable chaos. I'll admit to having only scanned the book. I didn't have to read it - I lived it. I was on Guam with a number of IBM World Trade managers who collectively failed to accomplish what one bank manager did accomplish.

Riordan's IBM counterpart, the American Saigon manager for IBM Vietnam, went on vacation when he was needed to make decisions for his employees. A few IBM domestic employees who had worked in Vietnam a few years earlier were able, on their own, to fly into TSN Air Base, face the crowds, take buses and taxies, find their extended families and get them to safety, much like Riordan describes. However, IBM management from Japan and Hong Kong failed to do the same.

The situation for IBM was further complicated by politics and business. The U.S. State Department promised to get 70 Vietnamese IBM families on a Saigon River barge, down the river and eventually to Guam refugee camps. However, Ambassador Graham Martin and is staff broke their promises

and left IBM employees to suffer long work hours plus re-orientation camps. This tragedy is told in my non-fiction book's last chapter, 'The Last Phone Call'. I knew Saigon then, as I was a manager for 3 years of the separate American IBM Company assigned to working with the U.S. Military throughout Southeast Asia. I understand Riordan's book title - 'They Are All My Family'. So True!

My story is told in "When Big Blue Went To War - The History of the IBM Corporation's Mission in Southeast Asia During the Vietnam War (1965 - 1975). It tells the history of computers and civilian contractors excelling in the war zone.

Dan Feltham, Author

Informative and Inspiring

John P.

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Title: Dangerous When Wet

Subtitle: A Memoir

Author: Jamie Brickhouse

Narrator: Jamie Brickhouse

Format: Unabridged

Length: 8 hrs and 4 mins

Language: English

Release date: 04-28-15

Publisher: Macmillan Audio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 44 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Personal Memoirs

Publisher's Summary:

"Whoever said you can't get sober for someone else never met my mother, Mama Jean. When I came to in a Manhattan emergency room after an overdose to the news that she was on her way from Texas, I panicked. She was the last person I wanted to see on that dark September morning, but the person I needed the most."

So begins this astonishing memoir - by turns both darkly comic and deeply poignant - about this native Texan's long struggle with alcohol, his complicated relationship with Mama Jean, and his sexuality.

From the age of five, all Brickhouse wanted was to be at a party with a drink in one hand and a cigarette in the other, and all Mama Jean wanted was to keep him at that age - her Jamie doll forever. A Texan Elizabeth Taylor with the split personality of Auntie Mame and Mama Rose, always camera-ready and flamboyantly outspoken, Mama Jean haunted him his whole life, no matter how far away he went or how deep in booze he swam. Brickhouse's journey takes him from Texas to a high-profile career in book publishing amid New York's glamorous drinking life to his near-fatal descent into alcoholism. After Mama Jean ushers him into rehab and he ultimately begins to dig out of the hole he found himself in, he almost misses his chance to prove that he loves her as much as she loves him.

Bitingly funny, raw, and insightful, Dangerous When Wet is the unforgettable story of a unique relationship between a son and his mother.

Members Reviews:

wonderfully refreshingly humbly honest!

I was outside watering flowers at work and I began to listen...at some of the childhood adventures and imitations of Mama Jean....I laughed so hard I fell down.

Funny sad poignant story

This book made me laugh and tear up. But mostly laugh and concur. This story of a son and his "belle of the ball "momma is just what it should be. Jamie's mother lives in his heart and in his ear throughout his youth and adult life. This over the top loving woman tells her son how the world works and he'd best listen. Instead Jamie puts his fingers and mouth in and around everything solid and liquid. He finds his peace somehow just in time to make good with his OHHHHH DAHLING Ma. This is a good one. Enjoy.

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Title: A Coach's Life

Subtitle: My Forty Years in College Basketball

Author: Dean Smith, John Kilgo, Sally Jenkins

Narrator: Eric Conger

Format: Unabridged

Length: 4 hrs and 48 mins

Language: English

Release date: 03-24-15

Publisher: Random House Audio

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 21 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Personal Memoirs

Publisher's Summary:

Legendary University of North Carolina basketball coach Dean Smith tells the full story of his fabled career and shares the life lessons taught and learned over 40 years of unparalleled success as a coach and mentor.

For almost 40 years, Dean Smith coached the University of North Carolina men's basketball program with unsurpassed success - on the court and in shaping young men's lives. In his long-awaited memoir, he reflects on the great games, teams, players, strategies, and rivalries that defined his career and explains the philosophy that guided him. There's a lot more to life than basketball - though some may beg to differ - but there's a lot more to basketball than basketball, and this is an audiobook about basketball filled with wisdom about life. Dean Smith insisted that the fundamentals of good basketball were the fundamentals of character - passion, discipline, focus, selflessness, and responsibility - and he strove to unite his teams in pursuit of those values.

To listen to this book is to understand why Dean Smith changed the lives of the players he coached, from Michael Jordan, who calls him his second father and who never played a single NBA game without wearing a pair of UNC basketball shorts under his uniform, to the last man on the bench of his least talented team. We all wish we had a coach like Dean Smith in our lives, and now we will have that chance.

Critic Reviews:

"Dean Smith epitomizes what a coach can be - teacher, counselor, mentor, example, friend." (Bill Bradley)

"Coach taught me the game.... He's like a second father to me." (Michael Jordan)

"Dean Smith is not merely a basketball coach of historic accomplishments. He is also a man of uncommon integrity and decency. His life story will be heartening to the many Americans who have watched him shape two generations of young athletes to reach their full potential as men." (Senator John McCain)

Members Reviews:

Excellent if You're a College Basketball Fan

Would you listen to A Coach's Life again? Why?

No, I think once was enough.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

I would have expanded on stories about Mr. Smith's personal life.

Which character as performed by Eric Conger was your favorite?

Dean Smith

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No.

Any additional comments?

I read this because I am a Tarheel. I knew about Dean Smith's legacy at UNC, and wanted to learn more about his character and personal story. I admit I'm not a die-hard basketball fan. There was a lot of technical talk about basketball players, which I didn't fully understand-- but it was interesting to learn about Michael Jordan and other's player's personal stories with UNC. I enjoyed it well enough to finish-- but for me, there was not enough about his personal life including the practically complete omission of his divorce. Practically no mention of female characters. As a woman, this bothered me a bit.

Good story, a bit too vague though

Would have liked more detail, this was more if a general philosophy of coaching college basketball, not so much a deep dive into who he was and what specific things he did. It is a worthwhile read either way.

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Title: The Drop Box

Subtitle: How 500 Abandoned Babies, an Act of Compassion, and a Movie Changed My Life Forever

Author: Brian Ivie, Ted Kluck

Narrator: Brandon Batchelar

Format: Unabridged

Length: 4 hrs and 22 mins

Language: English

Release date: 03-01-15

Publisher: Oasis Audio

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 12 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Personal Memoirs

Publisher's Summary:

He traveled to South Korea to film an amazing rescue...his own.

Brian Ivie was filled with compassion as he read an LA Times article about Pastor Lees solution to unwanted newborns in South Korea - a baby drop box. Brian traveled halfway around the world to film the documentary The Drop Box. But God had even bigger plans. For in the midst of filming the plight of these abandoned and forgotten children, Brian realized his own spiritual brokenness.

At its heart this is a story of spiritual orphans - young and old - discovering their true identities as children of God.

Members Reviews:

Inspiring

It was just a really good book and I really enjoyed it and it was very inspiring.

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Title: At the Mind's Limits

Subtitle: Contemplations by a Survivor on Auschwitz and Its Realities

Author: Jean Amery

Narrator: James Killavey

Format: Unabridged

Length: 5 hrs and 54 mins

Language: English

Release date: 01-29-15

Publisher: University Press Audiobooks

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 14 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Personal Memoirs

Publisher's Summary:

Whoever has succumbed to torture can no longer feel at home in the world. The shame of destruction cannot be erased. Trust in the world, which already collapsed in part at the first blow, but in the end, under torture, fully, will not be regained. That one's fellow man was experienced as the anti-man remains in the tortured person as accumulated horror. It blocks the view into a world in which the principle of hope rules. One who was martyred is a defenseless prisoner of fear. It is fear that henceforth reigns over him." - Jean Amery

At the Mind's Limits is the story of one man's incredible struggle to understand the reality of horror. In five autobiographical essays, Amery describes his survival - mental, moral, and physical - through the enormity of the Holocaust. Above all, this masterful record of introspection tells of a young Viennese intellectual's fervent vision of human nature and the betrayal of that vision.

Critic Reviews:

"These are pages that one reads with almost physical pain...all the way to its stoic conclusion." (Primo Levi)

"The testimony of a profoundly serious man.... In its every turn and crease, it bears the marks of the true." (Irving Howe,

New Republic)

"This remarkable memoir...is the autobiography of an extraordinarily acute conscience. With the ear of a poet and the eye of a novelist, Amery vividly communicates the wonder of a philosopher." (

Newsweek)

Members Reviews:

"Deep Thoughts" in Incredible Book

What did you love best about At the Mind's Limits?

This is a profound book and an important one, It deals with how people of intellect dealt with the horror of being controlled, tortured and often killed by the savages who ran the death camps in World War 2. It also deals with the psychological implications of being a victim and contains an astonishing degree of depth of thought and introspection.

Who was your favorite character and why?

The Author, of course

What does James Killavey bring to the story that you wouldnt experience if you just read the book?

This was not an easy book to read. Not just because of the "deep thoughts" involved but because is was originally written in German and the construction of the English sentences still have that "flavor." I started to read the printed version and gave up. I was very happy to see it in audio. The reader does an excellent job of "parsing' those convoluted sentences so that they make sense to an English ear. Kudos to him. Must have been a very time consuming job.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Cry, yes a few times. Also got very angry a few times at the incredible stupidity and savagery that people resorted to at that time.

Any additional comments?

Introspective applications make this a book ones needs to read over and over again.

Powerful and Inciteful

Would you consider the audio edition of At the Mind's Limits to be better than the print version?

Audio version was good. Don't have the print version so can't compare.

What was one of the most memorable moments of At the Mind's Limits?

Torture episode in the camp.

What does James Killavey bring to the story that you wouldnt experience if you just read the book?

Very intelligent reading.

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Title: My Personal Peripheral Neuropathy Story

Subtitle: Nerve Damage Symptoms and Challenges

Author: James M. Lowrance

Narrator: Mark La Roi

Format: Unabridged

Length: 29 mins

Language: English

Release date: 12-15-14

Publisher: James M. Lowrance Publishing

Ratings: 2.5 of 5 out of 3 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Personal Memoirs

Publisher's Summary:

According to reputable medical sources, there are more than 100 identified types of Peripheral Neuropathies (PN) that are experienced by between 15 and 30 million people in the U.S. and at least 130 million people, globally (statistics vary somewhat among sources).

While there is such a large number of PN types, all of these conditions boil down to one thing - nerve damage resulting in pain or failure of them to function properly. Nerves become changed with PN, in their reactions to pain and other physical sensations, which can also cause muscle weakness and potential dysfunction in major organs and systems of the body, once being damaged by disease processes.

In this audiobook, I share my own story regarding my personal experiences with PN, as a thyroid disease and diabetic patient; my also having experienced other negative metabolic manifestations. These include fatty liver disease and vitamin deficiencies, that were contributing factors in my case of nerve disease.

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Title: Trans-Siberian

Author: Bart Schaneman

Narrator: Kevin T. Collins

Format: Unabridged

Length: 1 hr and 40 mins

Language: English

Release date: 12-04-14

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Personal Memoirs

Publisher's Summary:

After a stint living and working in Korea, Nebraska native Bart Schaneman sets out on a quest to live deliberately and with strength and purpose before returning to the States and figuring out what to do with his life and his writing. The only constant, his copy of The Idiot, Bart meets many eclectic characters along the way, themselves young travelers like him, and together they share adventures and experiences against the breathtaking backdrops of China, Mongolia and Russia. Trans-Siberian is a sparkling travel memoir, full of flavor and spirit.

Members Reviews:

good read

I enjoyed the book, it was brief and kept things moving along. It didn't go into descriptions of the places too much, but the people and food were very well drawn. My only disappointment is I don't know who Chinhae is and what happened to him. I thought he would be like a mystery solved at the end.

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Title: Prince Harry

Subtitle: Brother, Soldier, Son

Author: Penny Junor

Narrator: Penny Junor

Format: Unabridged

Length: 13 hrs and 5 mins

Language: English

Release date: 09-09-14

Publisher: Hachette Audio

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 11 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Personal Memoirs

Publisher's Summary:

The authoritative biography of Prince Harry by noted royal family biographer Penny Junor, author of Prince William: The Man Who Will Be King and The Firm: The Troubled Life of the House of Windsor.

Prince Harry, one of the most popular members of the British royal family, has had a colorful life. After losing his mother at 12 years old, he spent his teenage years making questionable choices under intense international media scrutiny, becoming known for his mischevious grin, shock of red hair, and the occassional not-so-royal indiscretion. As he's grown, he has distinguished himself through military service, flying helicopters for the RAF. He served in Afghanistan and continues to devote himself to his military career. He also follows in his mother's footsteps with charity work - he is the founder of Sentebale, a charity to help orphans in Lesotho, and works with many other charitable organziations to help young people in society and to conserve natural resources. As he reaches his 30th birthday, Prince Harry is proving himself a prince of the people.

With unprecedented access to the most important figures in his life, Penny Junor is able get the truth about who this mercurial and fascinating royal son really is. A modern biography of a modern prince, this book offers an insider's look at the life of the man who is fourth in line to Britain's throne.

Members Reviews:

Wonderfully Informative

A very inspiring book about a man who on the surface seems to be misunderstood. But in reality can easily be understood and relatable to people from all walks of life if only the media would stop manipulating his true story to sell their false ones.

Good Listen

First half was more about Diana and Charles than Harry. There was little that hadn't been reported in the press. Narration was good but I don't think I'll read Penny Junor again.