Large Library of Full Audiobooks in Bios & Memoirs, Personal Memoirs

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Title: Finding Samuel Lowe

Subtitle: China, Jamaica, Harlem

Author: Paula Williams Madison

Narrator: Paula Williams Madison

Format: Unabridged

Length: 7 hrs and 11 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-30-15

Publisher: Tantor Audio

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 13 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Personal Memoirs

Publisher's Summary:

Thanks to her spiteful, jealous Jamaican mother, Nell Vera Lowe was cut off from her Chinese father, Samuel, when she was just a baby, after he announced that he was taking a Chinese bride. By the time Nell was old enough to travel to her father's shop in St. Anne's Bay, he'd taken his family back to China, never learning what became of his eldest daughter. Bereft, Nell left Jamaica for New York to start a new life. But her Asian features set her apart from her Harlem neighbors and even her own children - a difference that contributed to her feeling of loneliness and loss, which she instilled in her only daughter, Paula.

Years later, with a successful corporate career behind her and the arrival of her only grandchild raising questions about family and legacy, Paula decided to search for Samuel Lowe's descendants in China. With the support of her brothers and the help of encouraging strangers, Paula eventually pieced together the full story of her grandfather's life, following his story from China to Jamaica and back and connecting with 300 surprised relatives who were overjoyed to meet her.

Critic Reviews:

"A well-structured memoir told in brief, punchy vignettes alternating between past and present." (Kirkus)

Members Reviews:

Fascinating

A beautiful story that makes me wonder how many more Black Asian families there are. Ms Madison definitely made her mother proud.

excellent

excellent family research. everyone should lnow where they come from. I wish Mrs Madison woold a follow up

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Title: The Theft of Memory

Subtitle: Losing My Father, One Day at a Time

Author: Jonathan Kozol

Narrator: Sean Runnette

Format: Unabridged

Length: 6 hrs and 33 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-02-15

Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 16 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Personal Memoirs

Publisher's Summary:

National Book Award winner Jonathan Kozol is best known for his 50 years of work among our nation's poorest and most vulnerable children. Now, in the most personal book of his career, he tells the story of his father's life and work as a nationally noted specialist in disorders of the brain and his astonishing ability, at the onset of Alzheimer's disease, to explain the causes of his sickness and then to narrate, step by step, his slow descent into dementia.

Dr. Harry Kozol was born in Boston in 1906. Classically trained at Harvard and Johns Hopkins, he was an unusually intuitive clinician with a special gift for diagnosing interwoven elements of neurological and psychiatric illnesses in highly complicated and creative people. "One of the most intense relationships of his career," his son recalls, "was with Eugene O'Neill, who moved to Boston in the last years of his life so my father could examine him and talk with him almost every day."

At a later stage in his career, he evaluated criminal defendants, including Patricia Hearst and the Boston Strangler, Albert H. DeSalvo, who described to him in detail what was going through his mind while he was killing 13 women.

But The Theft of Memory is not primarily about a doctor's public life. The heart of the audiobook lies in the bond between a father and his son and the ways that bond intensified even as Harry's verbal skills and cogency progressively abandoned him. "Somehow," the author says, "all those hours that we spent trying to fathom something that he wanted to express, or summon up a vivid piece of seemingly lost memory that still brought a smile to his eyes, left me with a deeper sense of intimate connection with my father than I'd ever felt before."

Lyrical and stirring, The Theft of Memory is at once a tender tribute to a father from his son and a richly colored portrait of a devoted doctor who lived more than a century.

Members Reviews:

Vivid Recount Of a Devoted Loving Witness

I loved the way this author wove the complex and fascinating life of his father and his decent into the black hole of loss into a compelling and inspiring story that read like great historic fiction.

I would like to have known more about the authors personal life before the book concluded and so my curiosity caused me to leave one star off. It seemed the author committed his entire adult life to his parents who both lived to be over 100. I felt sad that , other than his venturing out to participate in the duties of a published and successful author, Jonathan had no life of his own or was reluctant to speak of it.

I think everyone should read this book because we will all, at some point, be faced, through our own family or others, such a descent. Excellent and captivating read and very informative.

Additionally, the narration perfectly matched the story. Couldn't have been a more thoughtful pairing and delightful performance.

Complex and interesting lives

A very modern love story. So many are faced with a similar challenge. This makes us all stronger. Thank you

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Title: Finding Peter

Subtitle: A True Story of the Hand of Providence and Evidence of Life After Death

Author: William Peter Blatty

Narrator: Mel Foster

Format: Unabridged

Length: 7 hrs and 38 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-02-15

Publisher: Tantor Audio

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 13 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Personal Memoirs

Publisher's Summary:

William Peter Blatty, the best-selling author and Oscar Award-winning screenwriter of The Exorcist, lived a charmed life among the elite stars of Hollywood. His son, Peter, born over a decade after The Exorcist, grew from an apple-cheeked boy into an "imposing young man with a quick, warm smile". But when Peter died very suddenly from a rare disorder, Blatty's world turned upside down.

As he and his wife struggled through their unrelenting grief, a series of strange and supernatural events began occurring, and Blatty became convinced that Peter was sending messages from the afterlife. A true and unabashedly personal story, Finding Peter will remind those in grief that our loved ones truly do live on.

Critic Reviews:

"The author of the scariest movie ever made is also an endearing writer and laugh-out-loud hilarious. This book is as entertaining as it is profound." (Dinesh D'Souza, author of Life After Death: The Evidence)

Members Reviews:

Great book. Very funny yet cuts to the heart.

Excellent. Easy listen.The author shares his story in an open and human manner. A great many laughs.This brightened my days.

Confused

I listened for hours thinking the story would get to his son and it went on about the author with no mention of anyone except him. I thought I had the wrong review so I backtracked to make sure. No idea why I listened so long. Confused still and deleting.

Chapter 13

If it were more of Chapter 13, perfect; but, OMGoodness for me it just dragged on and really missed the mark of the title. I wanted to love it. I am really sorry that I didn't.

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Title: The Story

Subtitle: A Reporter's Journey

Author: Judith Miller

Narrator: Judith Miller

Format: Unabridged

Length: 13 hrs and 45 mins

Language: English

Release date: 04-07-15

Publisher: Random House Audio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 22 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Personal Memoirs

Publisher's Summary:

Star reporter for the New York Times, the world's most powerful newspaper; foreign correspondent in some of the most dangerous fields; Pulitzer winner; and longest-jailed correspondent for protecting her sources, Judith Miller is highly respected and controversial. In this memoir she turns her reporting skills on herself with the intensity of her professional vocation.

Judy Miller grew up near the Nevada atomic proving ground. She got a job at the New York Times after a suit by women employees about discrimination at the paper and went on to cover national politics, head the paper's bureau in Cairo, and serve as deputy editor in Paris and then deputy at the powerful Washington bureau. She reported on terrorism and the rise of fanatical Islam in the Middle East and on secret biological weapons plants and programs in Iraq, Iran, and Russia. She covered an administration traumatized by 9/11 and an anthrax attack three weeks later. Miller shared a Pulitzer for her reporting.

She turns her journalistic skills on herself and her controversial reporting, which marshaled evidence that led America to invade Iraq. She writes about the mistakes she and others made on the existence in Iraq of weapons of mass destruction. She addresses the motives of some of her sources, including the notorious Iraqi Chalabi and the CIA. She describes going to jail to protect her sources in the Scooter Libby investigation of the outing of CIA agent Valerie Plame and how the Times subsequently abandoned her after 28 years.

The Story describes the real life of a foreign and investigative reporter. It is an adventure story told with bluntness and wryness.

Members Reviews:

interesting but not great

the book seem to be a self justification, not that that's bad just not what I expected

Excellent book

This book is very interesting and explains details of recent history that are very important to anyone interested in current events

Americas downfall in print!

Telling of our downward trend. Explains the importance of the failures in Washington with all aspects of world affairs and Obamas involvement in our destruction!

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Title: 13,760 Feet

Subtitle: My Personal Hole in the Sky

Author: Mark L. Berry

Narrator: Mark L. Berry

Format: Unabridged

Length: 15 hrs and 2 mins

Language: English

Release date: 04-03-15

Publisher: Trans World Author, Inc.

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 23 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Personal Memoirs

Publisher's Summary:

The 747 that went up whole and came down in 876 pieces invaded every part of my life. My only consolation is that, without being able to turn around, she never saw the giant hole where the rest of the aircraft should have been. It was an oblong oval opening to the tumbling sky, bordered by torn cables, shredded aluminum aircraft skin, sheared beams, and spars, and accented with sparking severed wires. And I hope she couldn't comprehend what was actually happening if she lived long enough to ride this nearly three-mile-high, free-falling hell-ivator all the way down to the ocean's surface, and then sink to 140 feet below, where her body would wait to be recovered.

This is a TWA Flight 800 memoir told by author Mark L. Berry, a former TWA pilot whose fiancé Susanne was one of the 230 passengers and crew who died when that flight exploded at 13,760 feet off Long Island's southern shore. While primarily read by the author, 94 voice actors help bring the numerous people to life through a full-cast production (including small guest appearances by podcasters Scott Sigler, Seth Harwood, and Mike Bennett). The print and e-book versions contain lyric snippets from 34 original songs infused into their respective chapters, which grew to 41 in the two years this 348-page book was recorded and mixedgiving this audiobook its own soundtrack. The full songs can be heard on the authors website.

Members Reviews:

Unusual format

I will be returning this book. Although the story seems well written, the presentation is so foreign and jarring to me that I could not enjoy the well-crafted words. I will be looking for this book in print or Kindle version instead. Wonderful story so far though and although this audio version is not right for me, it may well be right for you!

Engaging Autobiography with Global Consequences

What made the experience of listening to 13,760 Feet the most enjoyable?

Mark L. Berry does an interesting job presenting his autobiography. He weaves his personal experience with technical details of piloting, relating all of this to the controversial conclusions of the downing of TWA Flight 800. While I am not one who embraces conspiracy theories, his questioning of the official explanations of the Flight 800 crash are rational and reasonable, despite his clear emotional connection to the crash.

The alternating of his personal experiences, from childhood and courtship to his post-crash experiences, created a compelling narrative. While some of the narrative may not appeal to all audiences, his sketches provide great insight into the lifestyle of airline personnel and the challenges and realities they face. Berry presents these in a manner that is easy to follow, being transparent about motivations and obstacles. Berry also does a good job putting a human face on a headline disaster. Too often, it is easy to dismiss notorious events and focusing on a body count without considering that all of the people lost had a web of relationships and the disaster has real world ripples affecting many lives.

Which scene was your favorite?

The proposal scene is very poignant, because it reflects the "mostly planned" theme of the entire narrative.

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Title: Porn Again: A Memoir

Author: Josh Sabarra

Narrator: Josh Sabarra

Format: Unabridged

Length: 8 hrs and 58 mins

Language: English

Release date: 03-16-15

Publisher: JBS Books

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 15 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Personal Memoirs

Publisher's Summary:

In Porn Memoir: A Memoir, Josh Sabarra throws open the proverbial closet - and bedroom - doors, taking listeners on a Hollywood thrill-ride through growing up, coming out, coming of age and finally finding himself at 40. Despite being a high-level entertainment executive, Josh was still a virgin at 31. Uncomfortable in his own skin, haunted by painful childhood memories, he kept laser-focused on building an unparalleled career trajectory at the expense of his personal life.

Tormented by schoolmates for being "different," Josh clung to his aberrantly close relationships with a small circle of adult females. But, even with that support, the shame and contempt that grew from his sexuality locked him in a prison of self-hate that robbed him of an emotional and sexual identity for more than three decades. Movie studio jobs, through which he met celebrity idols, led to friendships and relationships with some of the industry's most notable characters. Those intimacies created a false sense of acceptance and approval, requiring that he continue to up the stakes - celebrity lovers, the crazy world of online dating, sexual fetishists and porn stars-for-hire.

The gay best friend you always wanted, Josh Sabarra delivers a whip-smart, poignant memoir set against a glittering backdrop that is at once heartbreaking, glamorous, sexy and hilariously honest.

Members Reviews:

Clever, Charming and Witty!

I hadn't imagine that I would find myself laughing one moment and with a tear in my eye the next. Porn Again had me fully entrained and I found myself finishing the book within the same day.

The words that come to my mind are sweet, innocent and juxtaposed with sensual sexual and steamy.

Josh's memoirs found me exploring my own journey, relating at almost every turn and wondering if there are yet more choices to be made and explored-- not to mention old thinking that needs tossing out..

For the family member or friend trying to understand someone coming out and the heart ache and fears endured in the process, Porn Again is a brave memoir of a mans journey learning to become his authentic self.

For a person coming out, the message has to be, you aren't alone, there are people waiting to love you, you are normal, and simply just need to be your genuine self. Such a wonderful new book! I recommend it!

Surprisingly heartfelt

I'm not sure what I was expecting, but this was my second audio book. Going in, I expected an egocentric narrative that was filled with name dropping and descriptions of the lives of the rich and famous. Although Josh does share glimpses into such, the more profound message is one of personal discovery and ultimately self-acceptance, that echoed my own life story to date (at least in its themes, not its details). The detail and candor as well as his sense of perspective and values left me at the end of the book thinking that Josh is the kind of person I would really like to have as a friend.

Going back to the word "egocentric". I expect that most people write memoirs because they believe that their lives are interesting and hope that others will find the same. Josh's book comes across instead as a life that is more of a quest to find meaning that is peppered with some interesting stories along the way.

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Title: This Is My Body

Subtitle: From Obesity to Ironman, My Journey into the True Meaning of Flesh, Spirit, and Deeper Faith

Author: Ragan Sutterfield

Narrator: Dean Gallagher

Format: Unabridged

Length: 7 hrs and 11 mins

Language: English

Release date: 02-17-15

Publisher: Oasis Audio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 11 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Personal Memoirs

Publisher's Summary:

"The cacophony of voices about our bodies is so loud, it's hard to hear the voices that matter. Some of us decide to forget it all and give in to one addiction or another. I've done that. Some of us decide to perfect our bodies and obsess over every muscle or wrinkle. I've done that too. Then I discovered the truth about my body: It is a gift. A sign of God's love. And so is yours."

Many of us think our physical natures are burdens that drag us toward failure and guilt. But what if God actually glories in the flesh? What if we had the same joy about our bodies he does?

Ragan Sutterfield brings us back to a biblical perspective - a freeing, corrective viewpoint that reminds us of the connection between spirit, mind, and body. Along the way he shares his journey from overweight addict to Ironman competitor. He counts his success, though, not in his decreased clothing size but in his increased understanding of how much God truly loves us and of what it means to be stewards - not just of our souls but of our skin and bones too.

Members Reviews:

Too much preaching and too little Ironman.

Disappointed. Grew tired very quickly of listening to long, in-depth descriptions of the author's childhood exposure to sexuality from his church and wondering when something useful or interesting was going to be addressed or discussed. Was easily 2 hours in before I found anything along the lines of what I expected to hear based on the title of the book. A better title might have been: Sex, drugs, and Ironman: Memoirs from an Evangelical fat kid.

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Title: The Late Liz

Author: Elizabeth Burns

Narrator: Joan Mullaney

Format: Unabridged

Length: 13 hrs and 51 mins

Language: English

Release date: 01-28-15

Publisher: Elizabeth Burns

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 2 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Personal Memoirs

Publisher's Summary:

A woman who tries to commit suicide finds God after three divorces and a life as an atheist. A beautifully written and narrated autobiography using a novel format to protect the innocent and the guilty. So uplifting you will be renewed in your belief that we are all forgiven and can be one with God.

Members Reviews:

rich socialite discovers true wealth after a failed suiicde attempt

A story of riches to .. alcoholism and attempted suicide, then.. into the light of hope and joy. Told with great self-deprecation and humour. The âlate Lizâ refers to the authorâs pre-suicidal self, a self so different from the new self she discovered that she feels like a different person. Iâm neither a Christian nor a recovering alcoholic, but I greatly enjoyed this autobiography.

An Encouragement for Newness

I heard this story from the author's testimony in person a long time ago. It meant so much to a youngish wife and mother finding new life in loving God and her family. His love is original with each one of us.

Five Stars

It was great - enjoyed it so very much

Five Stars

Thanks

One Star

The title was unavailable therefore I am not able to review it.

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Title: Casualties of War

Author: Daniel Lang

Narrator: Craig Jessen

Format: Unabridged

Length: 2 hrs and 40 mins

Language: English

Release date: 01-07-15

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 5 of 5 out of 2 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Personal Memoirs

Publisher's Summary:

The searing account of a war crime and one soldier's heroic efforts to bring the perpetrators to justice.

First published in The New Yorker in 1969 and later adapted into an acclaimed film starring Michael J. Fox and Sean Penn, Casualties of War is the shocking true story of the abduction, rape, and murder of a young Vietnamese woman by US soldiers.

Before setting out on a five-day reconnaissance mission in the Central Highlands of South Vietnam, Sergeant Tony Meserve told the four men under his command that their first objective would be to kidnap a girl and bring her along "for the morale of the squad". At the end of the mission, Meserve said, they would kill their victim and dispose of the body to avoid prosecution for abduction and rape - capital crimes in the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

Private First Class Sven Eriksson was the only member of the patrol who refused to participate in the atrocity. Haunted by his inability to save the young woman's life, he vowed to see Meserve and the others convicted of their crimes. Faced with the cynical indifference of his commanding officers and outright hostility from his fellow infantrymen, Eriksson had the tenacity to persevere. He went on to serve as the government's chief witness in four courts-martial related to the infamous Incident on Hill 192.

A masterpiece of contemporary journalism, Casualties of War is a clear-eyed, powerfully affecting portrait of the horrors of warfare and the true meaning of courage.

Members Reviews:

You should be made aware of what came after this book...i.e. "the rest of the story". See below...

I will fill in one blank, so to speak, that others did not. That is, the real life hero whistle-blower in this true story, was warned in advance, by a high level officer (during an attempt to deter him from his pursuit of justice), to the effect th at military courts are known for extreme leniency and minimal sentences, so why bother, nobody really cares anyway, and also the accused and obviously dangerous "rapo girl killers" might likely want to exact revenge, and will very soon be on the streets to do just that, while anger is still running high. Well, at the end of the movie you will witness the sentences that are handed down. Lenient yes, but at least they served perhaps a medium of time in prison, maybe. You readers will be led to believe that the CO was wrong, because at least a medium of a sentence was handed down by the court. The sentences would have made the newspaper reading public as well as the victims family feel that at least a little bit of punishment was meted out. And our hero Erikkson might have though his efforts worth it, at least a little bit of justice was done. But the story actually doesn't end where this book does. If you search "Casualties Of War" at wikipedia, you will learn that shortly after the news fanfare died down, and the public forgot about it and went on with their lives, all those sentences were modified. You will be shocked to learn the leniency of the modified sentences.

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Title: Freak: The True Story of an Insecurity Addict

Author: Rebecca O'Donnell

Narrator: Rebecca O'Donnell

Format: Unabridged

Length: 11 hrs and 6 mins

Language: English

Release date: 12-09-14

Publisher: Rebecca O'Donnell

Ratings: 5 of 5 out of 9 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Personal Memoirs

Publisher's Summary:

From its first caustic, blackly hilarious quote to its unbelievable ending, Freak examines a roller coaster ride of a life and never lets up. It tells the true story of Rebecca O'Donnell, an atypical hero who found joy and laughter in the darkest of circumstances. Unlike so many spunky survivors of damaged pasts, Rebecca belonged to those far more common gray areas of depression and insecurity, hidden behind a mask she showed the world.

For decades, all her decisions were colored by that grayness, that insecurity; she had put herself into a pit and had to discover a way to crawl out of it. With laughter, self-recognition, and a drop of shaky courage, Rebecca shares exactly how she did that, discovering in the process a gift that she never expected - the ability to help others build their own ladder out of hell. Freak offers hope to anyone who has ever heard that voice of self-hatred - the gremlin of insecurity whispering that we can't, we shouldn't, and we don't deserve.

It is the denial of that gremlin and the shattering of its lie that make this memoir resonate with other victims of incest, substance abuse, and depression.

Members Reviews:

thank goodness

It's amazing you came through all of that with some sanity ! Live in the present, as much as you can, or you'll miss out on a lot. that why its called a "Present"!

Life changing

The fact that such an amazing human being could be the result of such unbelievably hard circumstances, will give hope to anyone about their own potential. I am 48 and this is one of the best books I have come across.