Listen to Latest Full Audiobooks in Biography & Memoir, Women

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/666373 to listen full audiobooks.

Title: Breaking Through: My Life in Science

Author: Katalin Karikó

Narrator: Eva Magyar

Format: Unabridged Audiobook

Length: 11 hours 3 minutes

Release date: October 10, 2023

Ratings: Ratings of Book: 5 of Total 1

Ratings of Narrator: 5 of Total 1

Genres: Women

Publisher's Summary:

A powerful memoir from Katalin Karikó, winner of the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, whose decades-long research led to the COVID-19 vaccines “Katalin Karikó’s story is an inspiration.”—Bill Gates “Riveting . . . a true story of a brilliant biochemist who never gave up or gave in.”—Bonnie Garmus, author of Lessons in Chemistry A KIRKUS REVIEWS BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR Katalin Karikó has had an unlikely journey. The daughter of a butcher in postwar communist Hungary, Karikó grew up in an adobe home that lacked running water, and her family grew their own vegetables. She saw the wonders of nature all around her and was determined to become a scientist. That determination eventually brought her to the United States, where she arrived as a postdoctoral fellow in 1985 with $1,200 sewn into her toddler’s teddy bear and a dream to remake medicine.  Karikó worked in obscurity, battled cockroaches in a windowless lab, and faced outright derision and even deportation threats from her bosses and colleagues. She balked as prestigious research institutions increasingly conflated science and money. Despite setbacks, she never wavered in her belief that an ephemeral and underappreciated molecule called messenger RNA could change the world. Karikó believed that someday mRNA would transform ordinary cells into tiny factories capable of producing their own medicines on demand. She sacrificed nearly everything for this dream, but the obstacles she faced only motivated her, and eventually she succeeded. Karikó’s three-decade-long investigation into mRNA would lead to a staggering achievement: vaccines that protected millions of people from the most dire consequences of COVID-19. These vaccines are just the beginning of mRNA’s potential. Today, the medical community eagerly awaits more mRNA vaccines—for the flu, HIV, and other emerging infectious diseases. Breaking Through isn’t just the story of an extraordinary woman. It’s an indictment of closed-minded thinking and a testament to one woman’s commitment to laboring intensely in obscurity—knowing she might never be recognized in a culture that is driven by prestige, power, and privilege—because she believed her work would save lives.

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/696281 to listen full audiobooks.

Title: Brutalities: A Love Story

Author: Margo Steines

Narrator: Margo Steines

Format: Unabridged Audiobook

Length: 7 hours 11 minutes

Release date: October 3, 2023

Genres: Women

Publisher's Summary:

Quarantined in a southwestern desert city in the midst of her high-risk pregnancy, Margo Steines felt her life narrow around her growing body, compelling her to reckon with the violence entangled in its history. She was a professional dominatrix in New York City, a homestead farmer in a brutal relationship, a welder on a high-rise building crew, and a Mixed Martial Arts enthusiast; each of her many lives brought a new vantage point from which to see how power and masculinity coalesce?and how her body paid the price. With unflinching candor, Steines searches for the roots of her erstwhile attraction to pain while charting the complicated triumph of tenderness and care.

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/676377 to listen full audiobooks.

Title: Beautiful and Terrible Things: Faith, Doubt, and Discovering a Way Back to Each Other

Author: Amy Butler

Narrator: Amy Butler

Format: Unabridged Audiobook

Length: 7 hours 2 minutes

Release date: October 3, 2023

Genres: Women

Publisher's Summary:

From one of America’s most prominent ministers comes an inspiring, provocative reflection on the necessity of community, the inevitability of conflict, and the transformative power of radical love. “I so love and admire the work and witness of Pastor Amy Butler.”—Anne Lamott “Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don’t be afraid,” said theologian Frederick Buechner. Pastor Amy Butler, the first woman at the helm of New York’s historic Riverside Church, knows firsthand that to navigate such a world, one must be courageous, honest, and compassionate. In Beautiful and Terrible Things, Pastor Amy draws on the most meaningful, challenging, and soul-shaking moments of her own life to offer larger lessons on theology and relationships. Pastor Amy grew up in a conservative Evangelical family in the diverse culture of the Hawaiian Islands. As she realized she was more inclined to be a pastor than to marry one, she began an unlikely journey, breaking one stained-glass ceiling after another. Holding increasingly high-profile ministry positions in New Orleans, Washington, D.C., and New York City, Amy weathered rigidly unwelcoming congregations and enormous trials, ultimately learning that only the radical love of community could generate healing. As she describes her experiences leading a church to publicly affirm its LGBTQ community members, losing a child, and undergoing an unexpected divorce, Amy offers a thoughtful lens on all the ways life can push us to see the world from another’s perspective. In her signature compassionate, witty voice, she offers fresh, nonjudgmental perspectives on faith—which, at its most beautiful expression, allows for the possibility that there is more than one way to experience God.

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/702822 to listen full audiobooks.

Title: Betty Friedan: Magnificent Disruptor

Series: Part of Jewish Lives

Author: Rachel Shteir

Narrator: Kim Niemi

Format: Unabridged Audiobook

Length: 10 hours 59 minutes

Release date: September 26, 2023

Genres: Women

Publisher's Summary:

The feminist writer and activist Betty Friedan (1921–2006), pathbreaking author of The Feminine Mystique, was powerful and polarizing. In this biography, the first in more than twenty years, Rachel Shteir draws on Friedan's papers and on interviews with family, colleagues, and friends to create a nuanced portrait. Friedan, born Bettye Naomi Goldstein, chafed at society's restrictions from a young age. As a journalist she covered racism, sexism, labor, class inequality, and anti-Semitism. As a wife and mother, she struggled to balance her work and homemaking. Her malaise as a housewife and her research into the feelings of other women resulted in The Feminine Mystique (1963), which made her a celebrity. Using her influence, Friedan cofounded the National Organization for Women, the National Women's Political Caucus, and the National Association to Repeal Abortion Laws. She fought for the Equal Rights Amendment, universal childcare, and workplace protections for mothers, but she disagreed with the women's liberation movement over 'sexual politics.' Shteir considers how Friedan's Judaism was essential to her feminism, presenting a new Friedan for a new era.

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/671568 to listen full audiobooks.

Title: Fear Is Just a Word: A Missing Daughter, a Violent Cartel, and a Mother's Quest for Vengeance

Author: Azam Ahmed

Narrator: Sheldon Romero

Format: Unabridged Audiobook

Length: 11 hours 4 minutes

Release date: September 26, 2023

Genres: Women

Publisher's Summary:

A riveting true story of a mother who fought back against the drug cartels in Mexico, pursuing her own brand of justice to avenge the kidnapping and murder of her daughter—from a global investigative correspondent for The New York Times “Azam Ahmed has written a page-turning mystery but also a stunning, color-saturated portrait of the collapse of formal justice in one Mexican town.”—Steve Coll, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Directorate S LONGLISTED FOR THE MOORE PRIZE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS WRITING • A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: New Yorker, The Economist, Chicago Public Library Fear Is Just a Word begins on an international bridge between Mexico and the United States, as fifty-six-year-old Miriam Rodríguez stalks one of the men she believes was involved in the murder of her daughter Karen. He is her target number eleven, a member of the drug cartel that has terrorized and controlled what was once Miriam’s quiet hometown of San Fernando, Mexico, almost one hundred miles from the U.S. border. Having dyed her hair red as a disguise, Miriam watches, waits, and then orchestrates the arrest of this man, exacting her own version of justice. Woven into this deeply researched, moving account is the story of how cartels built their power in Mexico, escalated the use of violence, and kidnapped and murdered tens of thousands. Karen was just one of the many people who disappeared, and Miriam, a brilliant, strategic, and fearless woman, begged for help from the authorities and paid ransom money she could not afford in hopes of saving her daughter. When that failed, she decided that “fear is just a word,” and began a crusade to track down Karen’s killers and to help other victimized families in their search for justice. What do people do when their country and the peaceful town where they have grown up become unrecognizable, suddenly places of violence and fear? Azam Ahmed takes us into the grieving of a country and a family to tell the mesmerizing story of a brave and brilliant woman determined to find out what happened to her daughter, and to see that the criminals who murdered her were punished. Fear Is Just a Word is an unforgettable and moving portrait of a woman, a town, and a country, and of what can happen when violent forces leave people to seek justice on their own.

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/660106 to listen full audiobooks.

Title: Thicker than Water: A Memoir

Author: Kerry Washington

Narrator: Kerry Washington

Format: Unabridged Audiobook

Length: 8 hours 59 minutes

Release date: September 26, 2023

Ratings: Ratings of Book: 4.37 of Total 52

Ratings of Narrator: 4.71 of Total 14

Genres: Women

Publisher's Summary:

Award-winning actor, director, producer, and activist Kerry Washington shares the deeply moving journey of her life so far, and the bravely intimate story of discovering her truth. While on a drive in Los Angeles, on a seemingly average afternoon, Kerry Washington received a text message that would send her on a life-changing journey of self-discovery. In an instant, her very identity was torn apart, with everything she thought she knew about herself thrown into question.   In Thicker than Water, Washington gives readers an intimate view into both her public and private worlds—as an artist, an advocate, an entrepreneur, a mother, a daughter, a wife, a Black woman. Chronicling her upbringing and life’s journey thus far, she reveals how she faced a series of challenges and setbacks, effectively hid childhood traumas, met extraordinary mentors, managed to grow her career, and crossed the threshold into stardom and political advocacy, ultimately discovering her truest self and, with it, a deeper sense of belonging.    Throughout this profoundly moving and beautifully written memoir, Washington attempts to answer the questions so many have struggled with: Who am I? What is my truest and most authentic self? How do I find a deeper sense of connection and belonging? With grace and honesty, Washington inspires readers to search for—and find—themselves. Please note: Based on listener feedback, we have updated the audio of this edition. If you experience any issues, please re-download.

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/702399 to listen full audiobooks.

Title: Coco Chanel: The Legend and the Life

Author: Justine Picardie

Narrator: Karen Cass

Format: Unabridged Audiobook

Length: 10 hours 59 minutes

Release date: September 19, 2023

Ratings: Ratings of Book: 5 of Total 1

Ratings of Narrator: 4 of Total 1

Genres: Women

Publisher's Summary:

Filled with fresh new research, this updated edition of the definitive biography of Coco Chanel deepens our understanding of the history and legacy of the incredible woman who shaped modern fashion and created an empire of haute couture. Coco Chanel was an extraordinary inventor, conjuring up the little black dress, bobbed hair, trousers for women, contemporary chic, bestselling perfumes, and the most successful fashion brand of all time. But she also invented herself, fashioning the myth of her own life with the same dexterity as her couture; and what lies beneath her own glossy surface is darker, more mysterious, and far more intriguing. Uncovering remarkable new details about Gabrielle Chanel’s humble early years, Justine Picardie picks up the legend Chanel where it began—in orphanhood and poverty. Throwing new light on her passionate and, at times, dark relationships and providing profound insights into her connections with Cocteau, Diaghilev, Picasso, and Dali, this beautifully constructed portrait gives a fresh and penetrating look at what made Coco Chanel the strong-spirited and powerful presence she became. An authoritative account, based on personal observations and interviews with Chanel’s last surviving friends, employees, and relatives, the book also unravels her coded language and symbols and tracks the influence of her formative years on her legendary style. Feared and revered by the rest of the fashion industry, Coco Chanel died in 1971 at the age of 87, but her legacy lives on. This special new edition has been extensively revised and updated and offers a uniquely authoritative account of the world’s greatest designer.

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/699176 to listen full audiobooks.

Title: Crusade to Heal America: The Remarkable Life of Mary Lasker

Author: Judith L. Pearson

Narrator: Maria Mccann

Format: Unabridged Audiobook

Length: 12 hours 37 minutes

Release date: September 19, 2023

Genres: Women

Publisher's Summary:

“I am opposed to heart disease and cancer the way one is opposed to sin.” With that as her battle cry, health activist and philanthropist Mary Woodard Lasker had a singular goal: saving lives by increasing medical research. Together with her husband, advertising genius Albert, they created the Lasker Foundation, bestowing the Lasker Awards. Known as the “American Nobels,” these became the most prestigious research awards in America. The Laskers’ next step was transforming the sleepy and ineffectual American Society for the Control of Cancer, reinventing it as the American Cancer Society in 1944. But the real increase in medical research funding occurred when Mary discovered a revolutionary source: the federal government. “I’m just a catalytic agent,” she would insist, while she tirelessly lobbied Congress and presidents alike. She played a major role in expanding the National Institutes of Health from a single entity to the largest research facility in the world. A feminist who used her femininity wisely, Mary’s ultimate victory was bringing together two political adversaries to help launch the original cancer moonshot: the 1971 National Cancer Act. This deeply researched biography paints the portrait of a woman who was savvy, steely, and deliberate. Mary Lasker courageously positioned herself at the crossroads of politics, science, and medicine. At a time when women in research laboratories and the halls of Congress were anomalies, she smashed stereotypes.

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/679341 to listen full audiobooks.

Title: Wandering through Life: A Memoir

Author: Donna Leon

Narrator: Suzanne Toren

Format: Unabridged Audiobook

Length: 5 hours 7 minutes

Release date: September 19, 2023

Genres: Women

Publisher's Summary:

The internationally bestselling author of the Guido Brunetti mysteries tells her own adventurous life story as she enters her eightiesIn a series of vignettes full of affection, irony, and good humor, Donna Leon narrates a remarkable life she feels has rather more happened to her than been planned. Following a childhood in the company of her New Jersey family, with frequent visits to her grandfather’s farm and its beloved animals, and summers spent selling homegrown tomatoes by the roadside, Leon got her first taste of the classical music and opera that would enrich her life. She also developed a yen for adventure. In 1976, she made the spontaneous decision to teach English in Iran, before finding herself swept up in the early days of the 1979 Revolution. After teaching stints in China and Saudi Arabia, she finally landed in Venice. Leon vividly animates her decades-long love affair with Italy, from her first magical dinner when serving as a chaperone to a friend, to the hunt for the perfect cappuccino, to the warfare tactics of grandmothers doing their grocery shopping at the Rialto Market.Some things remain constant throughout the decades: her adoration of opera, especially Handel’s vocal music, and her advocacy for the environment, embodied in her passion for bees—which informs the surprising crux of the Brunetti mystery Earthly Remains. Even as mass tourism takes its toll on the patience of residents,Leon’s passion for Venice also remains unchanged: its outrageous beauty and magic still captivate her.Having recently celebrated her eightieth birthday, Leon poignantly confronts the dual challenges and pleasures of aging. Complete with a brief letter dissuading those hoping to meet Guido Brunetti at the Questura, and always suffused with music, food, and her sharp sense of humor, Wandering through Life offers Donna Leon at her most personal.

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/675983 to listen full audiobooks.

Title: The Farmer's Wife: My Life in Days

Author: Helen Rebanks

Narrator: Helen Rebanks, Esmée Cook

Format: Unabridged Audiobook

Length: 8 hours 50 minutes

Release date: September 19, 2023

Genres: Women

Publisher's Summary:

'An exquisite love-letter to the goodness of the natural world, and to shepherding family, marriage, and a farm to health and prosperity.' —Nick Offerman, award-winning actor, comedian, and writer A heartfelt, unvarnished reflection on the power of domestic life. Helen Rebanks' beautifully written memoir takes place across a single day on her working farm in the Lake District of England. Weaving past and present, through a journey of self-discovery, the book takes us from the farmhouse table of her grandmother and into the home she now shares with her husband, James, their four kids, and an abundance of animals. With honesty and grace, Helen shares her life in days—sometimes a wonder and a joy, others a grind to be survived—weaving in stories that read like a well-written pastoral novel. The Farmer's Wife is a book about the love of life, the nourishing simplicity of everyday work, and sharing stories around a family table full of good food. Full of gentle wisdom, this book is an honest portrait of rural life and an authentic exploration of both the hard work and reward of keeping a home and raising a family—even though the job is often thankless and invisible. Also included are simple recipes and dozens of guilt-free 'Survival Mode' meal ideas. About Helen and Her Farm: Along with her husband, James Rebanks (author of The Shepherd’s Life), Helen and her family work as a tight-knit team. Their farm has become globally important through their nature-friendly farming practices and has been a retreat for many, including actor and comedian Nick Offerman. The Rebanks host events regularly at the farm to share their expertise and encourage others to farm sustainably.