Get Most Popular Full Audiobooks in Bios & Memoirs, Personal Memoirs

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Title: Waking up White, and Finding Myself in the Story of Race

Author: Debby Irving

Narrator: Debby Irving

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 23 mins

Language: English

Release date: 04-20-16

Publisher: Audiobooks.com Publishing

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 225 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Personal Memoirs

Publisher's Summary:

For 25 years, Debby Irving sensed inexplicable racial tensions in her personal and professional relationships. As a colleague and neighbor, she worried about offending people she dearly wanted to befriend. As an arts administrator, she didn't understand why her diversity efforts lacked traction. As a teacher, she found her best efforts to reach out to students and families of color left her wondering what she was missing. Then, in 2009, one "aha!" moment launched an adventure of discovery and insight that drastically shifted her worldview and upended her life plan.

In Waking up White, Irving tells her often cringe-worthy story with such openness that listeners will be rooting for her - and ultimately for all of us.

Members Reviews:

A serious read for those who strive to improve

What made the experience of listening to Waking up White, and Finding Myself in the Story of Race the most enjoyable?

It's a vivid walk through of what it means to be a part of the white race and how that privilege not only influences us as individuals, but the entire social construct of which we are a part.

What other book might you compare Waking up White, and Finding Myself in the Story of Race to and why?

Just Mercy, by Bryan Stevenson -- another personal story of how the white social construct impacts people of lower incomes and color.

Have you listened to any of Debby Irvings other performances before? How does this one compare?

Not yet.

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

Yes. Extreme in that I view it as a required reading for all white people who are serious about changing the current race issues of our nation.

A must read for white people

I listened to this book as part of our defeating white supremacy class in my mostly white, suburban UU church. As someone who has just recently woken up to my privilege in the last few years this book was a tremendous tool to push myself not only in this area but in all my relationships. I foresee myself adding this to my list of books I revisit and will share with my daughter ans family.

Amazing book

This book was amazing. It has changed me. I used to think that I was not a racist; now I realize that we all are to some extent. I also know that I want to do more to make a change in my neighborhood and in my country. I think the author for writing this book and for challenging me and pushing me to continue learning and pushing for social justice.

Not for the timid-minded; read if you dare to be challenged.

Honest and gut-wrenching, this book is for any person who thinks he/she is making a difference, or even better, who desires to really make a difference in the areas of peace, justice, and equality in America. Guaranteed to change the way you think for the betterment of all! Should be required reading in schools and colleges!

Schools and Business Please Reaf

Loved it, a must-read. It would be good to do this book as a book study for a school.

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Title: The Rainbow Comes and Goes

Subtitle: A Mother and Son on Life, Love, and Loss

Author: Anderson Cooper

Narrator: Anderson Cooper, Gloria Vanderbilt

Format: Unabridged

Length: 6 hrs and 16 mins

Language: English

Release date: 04-05-16

Publisher: HarperAudio

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 2776 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Personal Memoirs

Publisher's Summary:

A touching and intimate correspondence between Anderson Cooper and his mother, Gloria Vanderbilt, offering timeless wisdom and a revealing glimpse into their lives.

Though Anderson Cooper has always considered himself close to his mother, his intensely busy career as a journalist for CNN and CBS affords him little time to spend with her. After she suffers a brief but serious illness at the age of ninety-one, they resolve to change their relationship by beginning a yearlong conversation unlike any they have ever had before. The result is a correspondence of surprising honesty and depth in which they discuss their lives, the things that matter to them, and what they still want to learn about each other.

Both a son's love letter to his mother and an unconventional mom's life lessons for her grown son, The Rainbow Comes and Goes offers a rare window into their close relationship and fascinating life stories, including their tragedies and triumphs. In these often humorous and moving exchanges, they share their most private thoughts and the hard-earned truths they've learned along the way. In their words their distinctive personalities shine through - Anderson's journalistic outlook on the world is a sharp contrast to his mother's idealism and unwavering optimism.

An appealing memoir with inspirational advice, The Rainbow Comes and Goes is a beautiful and affectionate celebration of the universal bond between a parent and a child and a thoughtful reflection on life, reminding us of the precious insight that remains to be shared, no matter our age.

Critic Reviews:

"A CNN and CBS journalist, Cooper has a highly recognizable vocal quality, and his narrative tone is thoughtful, distinctive, and pleasant. His delivery is especially adept in the difficult passages addressing the early death of his father and, later, the suicide of his older brother, Carter. Vanderbilt's skillful, forceful, and distinct narration is remarkable for her 91 years.... This is a moving listening experience." (

AudioFile)

Members Reviews:

Wow .... Inspiring

Really enjoyed this audiobook and listening to the raw emotion of Gloria ! I'm inspired to do something similar with my mother ! Thank you both for this gift !

Wonderfully written and hope for more from both!

loved it, finished it in two days I couldn't put it down and wanted more.

So shallow and pretentious

Would you try another book from Anderson Cooper and/or Anderson Cooper and Gloria Vanderbilt ?

Possibly. Not Gloria, but Anderson.

Did Anderson Cooper and Gloria Vanderbilt do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

I had a negative reaction almost immediately to the sound of Gloria's voice. The ridiculous inflection she would insert into these manufactured dramatic scenes was eye-rolling. I actually preferred the filling in of the story narrative provided by Anderson. After she dies he could use all the research he gathered for this book to actually write something meaningful.

Could you see The Rainbow Comes and Goes being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

Unfortunately I could. I think I remember a TV movie from long ago with Farrah Fawcett but that might have been another poor little rich girl. Woolworth maybe?

Any additional comments?

I wanted to read the reviews to see if anyone had the same reaction as I did.

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Title: Lab Girl

Author: Hope Jahren

Narrator: Hope Jahren

Format: Unabridged

Length: 11 hrs and 45 mins

Language: English

Release date: 04-05-16

Publisher: Random House Audio

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 1886 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Personal Memoirs

Publisher's Summary:

An illuminating debut memoir of a woman in science; a moving portrait of a longtime collaboration, in work and in life; and a stunningly fresh look at plants that will forever change how you see and think about the natural world.

Acclaimed scientist Hope Jahren has built three laboratories in which she's studied trees, flowers, seeds, and soil. Her first book might have been a revelatory treatise on plant life. Lab Girl is that, but it is also so much more. Because in it, Jahren also shares with us her inspiring life story, in prose that takes your breath away.

Lab Girl is a book about work, about love, and about the mountains that can be moved when those two things come together. It is told through Jahren's remarkable stories: about the things she's discovered in her lab as well as how she got there; about her childhood - hours of unfettered play in her father's laboratory; about how she found a sanctuary in science and learned to perform lab work "with both the heart and the hands"; about a brilliant and wounded man named Bill, who became her loyal colleague and best friend; about their adventurous, sometimes rogue research trips, which take them from the Midwest all across the United States and over the Atlantic, from the ever-light skies of the North Pole to tropical Hawaii; and about her constant striving to do and be the best she could, never allowing personal or professional obstacles to cloud her dedication to her work.

Jahren's probing look at plants, her astonishing tenacity of spirit, and her insights on nature enliven every minute of this book. Lab Girl allows us to see with clear eyes the beautiful, sophisticated mechanisms within every leaf, blade of grass, and flower petal and the power within ourselves to face - with bravery and conviction - life's ultimate challenge: discovering who we are.

Critic Reviews:

"Some people are great writers, while other people live lives of adventure and importance. Almost no one does both. Hope Jahren does both. She makes me wish I'd been a scientist." (Ann Patchett)

Members Reviews:

A paradigm-shifting perspective on plant life

Although initially annoyed by the author's somewhat languid reading style, I gradually came to appreciate her authenticity and honesty and--most of all--the way she utterly transformed my view of the natural world (and especially trees). Her memoir is at once a coming of age story about a driven young female scientist battling for relevance in a patriarchal profession, a love story between the protagonist and her best friend and colleague, and a passionate and scientifically precise guide to the "secret lives" of trees and other plant life, which are far more fascinating than I'd been led to believe. Now when I look out my window (as the author invites readers to do early on in the book), what I see is not just trees, but the outward manifestation of hundreds of millions of years of evolution, a struggle for survival on a monumental scale, and unimaginably complex processes, communications, and interactions about which most humans have no clue. I ended up listening to the entire book twice and parts of it multiple times (just so I could remember the astonishing data the author provides on trees).

Well Researched, Wonderfully Endearing

Hope Jahren narrated her own book, which I didn't like at first, since she read in a sort of melancholy tone.

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Title: Into the Magic Shop

Subtitle: A Neurosurgeons Quest to Discover the Mysteries of the Brain and the Secrets of the Heart

Author: James R. Doty MD

Narrator: Dan Woren

Format: Unabridged

Length: 7 hrs and 2 mins

Language: English

Release date: 02-02-16

Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 2222 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Personal Memoirs

Publisher's Summary:

Extraordinary things happen when we harness the power of both the brain and the heart.

Growing up in the high desert of California, Jim Doty was poor, living with an alcoholic father and a mother chronically depressed and paralyzed by a stroke. Today he is the director of the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education at Stanford University, of which the Dalai Lama is a founding benefactor. But back then his life was at a dead end - until at the age of 12, when he wandered into a magic shop looking for a plastic thumb. There he met Ruth, a woman who taught him a series of exercises to ease his own suffering and manifest his greatest desires. Her final mandate was that he keep his heart open and teach these techniques to others.

Ruth gave Doty his first glimpse of the unique relationship between the brain and the heart. Doty would go on to put Ruth's techniques to work, bringing power and wealth that he could only imagine as a 12-year-old. But he neglected Ruth's most important lesson, to keep his heart open, with disastrous results - until he had the opportunity to make a spectacular charitable contribution that would virtually ruin him.

Part memoir, part science, part inspiration, and part practical instruction, Into the Magic Shop shows us how we can fundamentally change our lives by first changing our brains and our hearts.

Members Reviews:

Delightful story, profound impact!

This book is truly an enjoyable narrative but also chock-full of applications that bring compassion and mindfulness into our lives in very concrete ways. The blend of neuroscience, esoteric training, and every day real life challenges with commonsense application make this an interesting weave that not only entertains but challenges us to come into our hearts and grow together. Magic is possible and it lives within us.

Reads like fiction

I listened to this in less than 24 hours. It was very captivating and gave me a lot to think about. I know I'm going to immediately practice the meditation and make my list. I will also listen to it again.

Connecting the dots.

I have been on my own personal journey of self discovery for the past 15 years. I'm a truck driver and have used this amazing gift of time while I drive, to listen to things that have challenged me to be better. I have already learned in my own way many of the principles mentioned in this work. What I received from this book was a number of significant dots I was missing, that I've now been able to connect with what I've had. This created a much bigger picture with deeper clarity than I imagined possible when I started listening. When the student is ready the teacher appears. Thank You Jim for this gift. I to hope to help others now by living more connected to my heart, brain and spirit.

Inspirational

I love the book I love the topic and the willingness of the offer to share some high-end low part of his life. This book is genuinely a must read. I helps us understand the reality of love and compassion which are necessary for greater humanity.

Listen, learn and love

This is the first review I've felt worth writing. This book is incredibly inspirational (and not in the cheesy, neo-spiritual sense).

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Title: When Breath Becomes Air

Author: Abraham Verghese - foreword, Paul Kalanithi

Narrator: Cassandra Campbell, Sunil Malhotra

Format: Unabridged

Length: 5 hrs and 35 mins

Language: English

Release date: 01-12-16

Publisher: Random House Audio

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 15873 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Personal Memoirs

Publisher's Summary:

For readers of Atul Gawande, Andrew Solomon, and Anne Lamott, a profoundly moving, exquisitely observed memoir by a young neurosurgeon faced with a terminal cancer diagnosis who attempts to answer the question: What makes a life worth living?

At the age of 36, on the verge of completing a decade's worth of training as a neurosurgeon, Paul Kalanithi was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer. One day he was a doctor treating the dying, and the next he was a patient struggling to live. And just like that, the future he and his wife had imagined evaporated. When Breath Becomes Air chronicles Kalanithi's transformation from a naïve medical student "possessed", as he wrote, "by the question of what, given that all organisms die, makes a virtuous and meaningful life" into a neurosurgeon at Stanford working in the brain, the most critical place for human identity, and finally into a patient and new father confronting his own mortality.

What makes life worth living in the face of death? What do you do when the future, no longer a ladder toward your goals in life, flattens out into a perpetual present? What does it mean to have a child, to nurture a new life as another fades away? These are some of the questions Kalanithi wrestles with in this profoundly moving, exquisitely observed memoir.

Paul Kalanithi died in March 2015, while working on this book, yet his words live on as a guide and a gift to us all. "I began to realize that coming face to face with my own mortality, in a sense, had changed nothing and everything," he wrote. "Seven words from Samuel Beckett began to repeat in my head: 'I can't go on. I'll go on.'" When Breath Becomes Air is an unforgettable, life-affirming reflection on the challenge of facing death and on the relationship between doctor and patient, from a brilliant writer who became both.

Critic Reviews:

"Rattling, heartbreaking, and ultimately beautiful, the too-young Dr. Kalanithi's memoir is proof that the dying are the ones who have the most to teach us about life." (Atul Gawande)

"Thanks to

When Breath Becomes Air, those of us who never met Paul Kalanithi will both mourn his death and benefit from his life. This is one of a handful of books I consider to be a universal donor - I would recommend it to anyone, everyone." (Ann Patchett)

"Narrator Sunil Malhotra is faithful to the straightforward tone of Paul Kalanithi's memoir.... Cassandra Campbell narrates the epilogue by Kalanithi's wife, recounting his final moments in a smooth, empathetic voice that is certain to bring tears.

When Breath Becomes Air may be unsentimental, but it is profoundly affecting." (

AudioFile)

Members Reviews:

Phenomenal book!

Any additional comments?

I deeply connected with neurosurgeon Paul Kalanithis search for meaning in his young life, as a boy torn between literature and science; during medical school as he carefully opens up cadavers and ponders their former human selves; and after his diagnosis of stage IV lung cancer, as he confronts his decline at the peak of his career and the birth of his daughter, a precious girl who brings so much joy to his final days. Im thankful Paul found a way to share his love of writing and prodigious talents with the world, especially under such harrowing circumstances.

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Title: The Sound of Gravel

Subtitle: A Memoir

Author: Ruth Wariner

Narrator: Ruth Wariner

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 4 mins

Language: English

Release date: 01-05-16

Publisher: Macmillan Audio

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 1375 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Personal Memoirs

Publisher's Summary:

"The narration by Wariner compliments the candid nature of her story...A captivating and emotional story delivered in a straightforward way without an ounce of self-pity." (Library Journal)

A riveting, deeply-affecting audiobook memoir of one girl's coming-of-age experiences in a polygamist cult.

Ruth Wariner was the 39th of her father's 42 children. Growing up on a farm in rural Mexico, where authorities turned a blind eye to the practices of her community, Ruth lives in a ramshackle house without indoor plumbing or electricity. At church, preachers teach that God will punish the wicked by destroying the world and that women can only ascend to Heaven by entering into polygamous marriages and giving birth to as many children as possible. After Ruth's father - the man who had been the founding prophet of the colony - is brutally murdered by his brother in a bid for church power, her mother remarries, becoming the second wife of another faithful congregant.

In need of government assistance and supplemental income, Ruth and her siblings are carted back and forth between Mexico and the United States, where her mother collects welfare and her step-father works a variety of odd jobs. Ruth comes to love the time she spends in the States, realizing that perhaps the community into which she was born is not the right one for her. As Ruth begins to doubt her family's beliefs and question her mother's choices, she struggles to balance her fierce love for her siblings with her determination to forge a better life for herself.

Recounted from the innocent and hopeful perspective of a child, The Sound of Gravel is the remarkable true story of a girl fighting for peace and love. This is an intimate, gripping audiobook resonant with triumph, courage, and resilience.

Members Reviews:

Unputdownable

The Sound of Gravel is truly a gripping story that has you invested in the storyline and the characters; angry, sad and joyous on their behalves. I LOVED hearing it in Ruth's own voice!

Excellent read

The author read the book which made this story even better. What Ms Wariner went through was heart breaking but how she survived is inspirational. I listen to books while I walk. I found myself eager to get out for my walk so that I could listen to the story.

Chilling

So chilling to hear the story from the mouth of the woman who lived and survived this horrible story.... Well written dialogue and attention to detail; it is loving, hopeful and maddeningly tragic..... Can't stop listening, be prepared to binge on it because you have to know what happens next.

the sad truth of polygamy

Love it . I have been reading a ton of these polygamy book can't understand why these women stay. well I guess I can. fear and brain wash. I wish our government would do more to help these young girls

Excellent--such a common story among polygamist

Would you listen to The Sound of Gravel again? Why?

No, I would recommend it however

Who was your favorite character and why?

The main character Ruth--her perseverance and her voice

What about Ruth Wariners performance did you like?

Its her own account

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

Yes

Any additional comments?

Very insightful and sad at the same time. I'm glad that she escaped with some sense of normalcy

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Title: The Last Season

Author: Eric Blehm

Narrator: Jonathan Davis

Format: Unabridged

Length: 12 hrs and 35 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-17-15

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 1614 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Personal Memoirs

Publisher's Summary:

Destined to become a classic of adventure literature, The Last Season examines the extraordinary life of legendary backcountry ranger Randy Morgenson and his mysterious disappearance in California's unforgiving Sierra Nevada - mountains as perilous as they are beautiful. Eric Blehm's masterful work is a gripping detective story interwoven with the riveting biography of a complicated, original, and wholly fascinating man.

Members Reviews:

Well Written Character Study of an NPS Ranger

The book is an in-depth character study of a national park service ranger, Randy Morgenson, who went missing while on duty in the California back country of Kings Canyon/Sequoia National Parks in 1996.

Morgenson was a complicated character, what you might call an extreme environmentalist. It appeared he was at his happiest during his summers working as a park ranger and stationed in the wilderness areas. From all accounts and according to Blehm's research, Randy was well-liked by many. His disappearance affected many people, and this book details the search for him.

I found the book interesting and an easy listen overall. However, I felt it was too long and covered too much minutiae. Very little of the twelve plus hours of listening covered the search and rescue action which to me was the most interesting part. Yet, I had to keep listening as I needed to know the outcome of the search. I had to know if Randy was the victim of an untimely accident, if he just decided to disappear and start a new life, or if he committed suicide. These three options were all viable possibilities, and I spent alot of time pondering the outcome during times I was not listening.

In addition, I spent a good deal of time pondering why Blehm chose to invest so much time and research on this particular man. I also wondered whether Randy was as self-absorbed as I imagined he was, and if so, why was he so beloved by so many co-workers. No easy answers on these questions, and I came away with no firm resolution. Considering how much I thought about the book when I was not listening, I am feeling it was a worthwhile read. In addition, the ending took me by surprise and was not what I was expecting.

Add to this an excellent narration by Jonathan Davis and I would recommend this audio book, particularly to nature lovers.

Great story but not tight.

The author did his research and it shows! It was my favorite thing and my least favorite thing at the same time. Including what everyone thought at every point in the time line was woven together beautifully but made for an extremely repetitive narrative. Lots and lots of variations on the same themes repeated from many angles. I don't think the author missed a single angle but I was wishing he had by the end!

Don't Take This Book For Granite!

Such a compelling story drew me in from the start. I am NOT a backpacker, or avid hiker and I have never visited the High Sierras. I was drawn to this book because I love a good mystery and his disappearance and the circumstances surrounding it drew me in.

But the picturesque, stunningly beautiful world of granite mountains and flowery meadows --and Randy Morgenson's love, reverence and dedication to protecting it made for a most worthy and fascinating read. I envied his idyllic upbringing in the Yosemite valley. Such a unique individual, loved and respected by many, yet, like many of us, flawed and complex and at times hard to understand.

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Title: Living with a SEAL

Subtitle: 31 Days Training with the Toughest Man on the Planet

Author: Jesse Itzler

Narrator: Jesse Itzler

Format: Unabridged

Length: 5 hrs and 18 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-03-15

Publisher: Hachette Audio

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 3358 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Personal Memoirs

Publisher's Summary:

Entrepreneur Jesse Itzler will try almost anything. He brazenly pretended to be an established hip-hop artist to secure a meeting with a studio head - and it led to a record deal. He convinced a bunch successful business executives to invest in an unprecedented business plan - and it turned into Marquis Jet. He sincerely offered to run a 100-mile race in Spanx to get the attention of the beautiful founder of the company - and ended up marrying her.

His life is about being bold and risky. And it's brought him plenty of rewards.

So when Jesse felt himself drifting on autopilot, he hired a rather unconventional trainer to live with him for a month - an accomplished Navy SEAL widely considered to be "the toughest man on the planet"!

Living with a SEAL is like a buddy movie if it starred the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air...and Rambo. Jesse is about as easy-oing as you can get. SEAL is...not. He even shows up at Jesse's apartment with an inflatable raft just in case the Itzler family ever has to escape Manhattan by crossing the Hudson River.

Jesse and SEAL's escapades soon produce a great friendship, and by the time SEAL leaves, Jesse is in the best shape of his life, but he gains much more than muscle. At turns hilarious and inspiring, Living with a SEAL ultimately shows you the benefits of stepping out of your comfort zone.

Members Reviews:

Inspirational book that doesn't make you think, it makes you get off your ass and DO!

Just finished this book on my another 21 k hike.

Tonight I thought I was too tired to do anything, I was thinking, maybe I just watch something and fall asleep, it was a busy day. I'll do more tomorrow.

And then I started listening to "living with a SEAL" again. I got up, put on my workout gear and went out.

"Only Today and Getting Better", I remembered seal's words.

I'm a self-improvement book/courses junkie. I consumed so many books that were supposed to make my life better. They made me think different. But they didn't make me do things different.

This book did.

I guess the most important lesson for me, that I got out of the book - when my mind tells me I can't, it just talks about what I haven't done before, the mind has no idea what I truly am capable of. "I can't" is just a memory. I can do anything I can see myself doing. "I can't" has nothing to do with the present or the future, it's the past.

"Only Today and Getting Better"

Amazing book. I'll listen to it not one time more during my workouts and tough times to push me beyond "I can't". I might not have the seal training me to defy my limits but thanks to Jesse Itzler I have the next best thing!

Fantastic

I listened to this audiobook in one day during a road trip. Unlike other audiobooks, I never found myself needing to take a break from the story. It was entertaining, inspiring, and all around more than I expected from a "memoir." Highly recommend.

Great concept...

...now I want to hear David Goggins' story from his own perspective.

So, inspiring....but at times it was a little cartoonish.

status quo interruption

the mundane life all jacked with by a seal. he got what he wanted. entertaining and eye opening for myself. first goal... 100 push ups in a day.

Living with a Seal

Absolutely life changing.

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Title: Furiously Happy

Subtitle: A Funny Book About Horrible Things

Author: Jenny Lawson

Narrator: Jenny Lawson

Format: Unabridged

Length: 8 hrs and 20 mins

Language: English

Release date: 09-22-15

Publisher: Macmillan Audio

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 8382 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Personal Memoirs

Publisher's Summary:

Audie Award, Humor, 2016

In Furiously Happy, number-one New York Times best-selling author Jenny Lawson explores her lifelong battle with mental illness. A hysterical, ridiculous book about crippling depression and anxiety? That sounds like a terrible idea.

But terrible ideas are what Jenny does best.

As Jenny says:

"Some people might think that being 'furiously happy' is just an excuse to be stupid and irresponsible and invite a herd of kangaroos over to your house without telling your husband first because you suspect he would say no since he's never particularly liked kangaroos. And that would be ridiculous because no one would invite a herd of kangaroos into their house. Two is the limit. I speak from personal experience. My husband says that none is the new limit. I say he should have been clearer about that before I rented all those kangaroos.

"Most of my favorite people are dangerously fucked-up but you'd never guess because we've learned to bare it so honestly that it becomes the new normal. Like John Hughes wrote in The Breakfast Club, 'We're all pretty bizarre. Some of us are just better at hiding it.' Except go back and cross out the word 'hiding.'"

Furiously Happy is about "taking those moments when things are fine and making them amazing, because those moments are what make us who we are, and they're the same moments we take into battle with us when our brains declare war on our very existence. It's the difference between "surviving life" and "living life". It's the difference between "taking a shower" and "teaching your monkey butler how to shampoo your hair." It's the difference between being "sane" and being "furiously happy."

Lawson is beloved around the world for her inimitable humor and honesty, and in Furiously Happy, she is at her snort-inducing funniest. This is a book about embracing everything that makes us who we are - the beautiful and the flawed - and then using it to find joy in fantastic and outrageous ways. Because as Jenny's mom says, "Maybe 'crazy' isn't so bad after all." Sometimes crazy is just right.

The audiobook contains a bonus chapter only available to listeners.

Members Reviews:

Small doses.

I love Jenny Lawson. Sometimes her ramblings take me too far off topic; perhaps that's the goal? In any case, I could listen to her talk all day. For my own mental health I had to take this one in small doses though.

Review by a Social Worker

As a person who practices psychotherapy and has experience in medical social work, I have to say that I found this book interesting, funny, and heart breaking. There were moments when I paused it and wrote down a quote to share with a client in a later session because her description on some things with mental health were so on key. My favorite chapter was the one on anti-psychotics. I believe some individuals with mental health illnesses will find this book very comforting. I believe there are moments when most of us who have a diagnosis or work with those who do can say "Oh my gosh! Yes! That's exactly it!"

However, as a professional who does this for 40+ hours a week, I found myself having difficulty reading the 2nd half of the book.

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Title: Why Not Me?

Author: Mindy Kaling

Narrator: Greg Daniels, Mindy Kaling, B. J. Novak

Format: Unabridged

Length: 4 hrs and 57 mins

Language: English

Release date: 09-15-15

Publisher: Random House Audio

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 11917 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Personal Memoirs

Publisher's Summary:

From the author of the beloved New York Times best-selling book Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? and the creator and star of The Mindy Project comes a collection of essays that are as hilarious and insightful as they are deeply personal.

In Why Not Me? Kaling shares her ongoing journey to find contentment and excitement in her adult life, whether it's falling in love at work, seeking new friendships in lonely places, attempting to be the first person in history to lose weight without any behavior modification whatsoever, or, most important, believing that you have a place in Hollywood when you're constantly reminded that no one looks like you.

In "How to Look Spectacular: A Starlet's Confessions", Kaling gives her tongue-in-cheek secrets for surefire on-camera beauty ("Your natural hair color may be appropriate for your skin tone, but this isn't the land of appropriate - this is Hollywood, baby. Out here, a dark-skinned woman's traditional hair color is honey blonde"). "Player" tells the story of Kaling being seduced and dumped by a female friend in LA ("I had been replaced by a younger model. And now they had matching bangs"). In "Unlikely Leading Lady", she muses on America's fixation with the weight of actresses ("Most women we see onscreen are either so thin that they're walking clavicles or so huge that their only scenes involve them breaking furniture"). And in "Soup Snakes", Kaling spills some secrets on her relationship with her ex-boyfriend and close friend B. J. Novak ("I will freely admit: my relationship with B. J. Novak is weird as hell").

Mindy turns the anxieties, the glamour, and the celebrations of her second coming of age into a laugh-out-loud funny collection of essays that anyone who's ever been at a turning point in their life or career can relate to. And those who've never been at a turning point can skip to the parts where she talks about meeting Bradley Cooper.

Critic Reviews:

"Pithy, sarcastic, and full of irony, Mindy Kaling is the only logical choice to narrate her second volume of essays.... Reading in a jaunty, conversational tone, the star of the popular television show 'The Mindy Project' will have listeners chuckling at her commentary...." (

AudioFile)

Members Reviews:

sad to even be writing this review :(

I love Mindy Kaling, but not so unconditionally that I won't call a stinker by its name. Her first book SLAYED. This book I'm not even sure you can call a "book". It's rambly even for Mindy. And let me just say that I LOVE ramblings. These just felt...idk...like a first draft (?) I'm only writing this review b/c I was soooo looking forward to this book. Similar to sitting down to an amazing looking dessert. Your mouth is watering, you are ready to dig in, and midway through inhaling this gorgeous dish, you realize the cake is super dry and the frosting has no nuance. honestly, though, I will probably buy her next book b/c I love her :)

Redundant

What did you like best about Why Not Me?? What did you like least?

Hmmm what I liked best was Mindy Kalings narration.