Top-Rated Free Audiobooks in Biography & Memoir, Women

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/718447 to listen full audiobooks. Title: Say More: Lessons from Work, the White House, and the World Author: Jen Psaki Narrator: Jen Psaki Format: Unabridged Audiobook Length: 5 hours 55 minutes Release date: May 7, 2024 Ratings: Ratings of Book: 3.75 of Total 12 Ratings of Narrator: 4.33 of Total 3 Genres: Women Publisher's Summary: INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Former White House Press Secretary and current MSNBC host Jen Psaki shares the surprising lessons she’s learned on her path to success and offers unique yet universal advice about how to be a more effective communicator in any situation. Not many White House Press Secretaries capture the nation’s interest the way Jen Psaki did. Refreshingly candid and clear, Psaki quickly became known for her ability to break through the noise and successfully deliver her message. In her highly anticipated book, Psaki shares her journey to the Briefing Room and beyond, taking you along the campaign trail, to the State Department, and inside the White House under two Presidents. With her signature wit, Psaki writes about reporting to bosses from the hot-tempered Rahm Emanuel to the coolly intellectual Barack Obama to the surprisingly tenderhearted John Kerry. She also talks about her time working closely with President Joe Biden from the start of his administration to set a new tone for the country, restoring a sense of calm and respect for the role of the media in our Democracy. Since leaving the White House, Psaki’s star has continued to rise. She launched a highly rated show on MSNBC and was so successful that in just six months she was given an additional primetime Monday slot, ahead of Rachel Maddow. And Psaki’s work doesn’t end at the office. She is the mother of two young children and shares her stories about the journey of communicating as a parent: During one bedtime briefing, her young daughter asked the question, “Why do wars start?”, which Jen carefully explained and then got a follow up: “Have you ever seen a unicorn?” In Say More, Psaki explains her straightforward approach to communication, walking you through difficult conversations as well as moments where humor saves the day—whether it is with preschoolers, partners, or presidents. She addresses the best ways to give and receive feedback, how to connect with your audience, how to listen actively, and much more. Say More is the book Psaki wishes she had when she started her career, and is a trove of entertaining, essential lessons from one of the most prominent voices in American politics today.

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/707071 to listen full audiobooks. Title: It Wasn't Roaring, It Was Weeping: Interpreting the Language of Our Fathers Without Repeating Their Stories Author: Lisa-Jo Baker Narrator: Lisa-Jo Baker Format: Unabridged Audiobook Length: 8 hours 4 minutes Release date: May 7, 2024 Ratings: Ratings of Book: 5 of Total 1 Genres: Women Publisher's Summary: An honest and lyrical coming-of-age memoir of growing up in South Africa at the height of apartheid, and an invitation to recognize and refuse to repeat the sins of our fathers—from the bestselling author of Never Unfriended “Heartfelt, emotionally charged reflections . . . [a] bracing memoir.”—Kirkus Review “Important. Riveting. Unforgettable . . . a profoundly captivating story that can profoundly change your own story.”—Ann Voskamp, New York Times bestselling author of WayMaker Born White in the heart of Zululand during the racial apartheid, Lisa-Jo Baker longed to write a new future for her children—a longing that set her on a journey to understand where she fit into a story of violence and faith, history and race. Before marriage and motherhood, she came to the United States to study to become a human rights advocate. When she naïvely walked right into America’s own turbulent racial landscape, Baker experienced the kind of painful awakening that is both individual and universal, personal and social. Yet years would go by before she traced this American trauma back to her own South African past. Baker was a teenager when her mother died of cancer, leaving her with her father. Though they shared a language of faith and justice, she often feared him, unaware that his fierce temper had deep roots in a family’s and a nation’s pain. Decades later, old wounds reopened when she found herself spiraling into a terrifying version of her father, screaming herself hoarse at her son. Only then did Baker realize that to go forward—to refuse to repeat the sins of our fathers—we must first go back. With a story that stretches from South Africa’s outback to Washington, D.C., It Wasn’t Roaring, It Was Weeping is a courageous look at inherited hurts and prejudices, and a hope-filled example for all who feel lost in life or worried that they’re too off course to make the necessary corrections. Baker’s story shows that it’s never too late to be free.

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/707065 to listen full audiobooks. Title: Love Is a Burning Thing: A Memoir Author: Nina St. Pierre Narrator: Nina St. Pierre Format: Unabridged Audiobook Length: 8 hours 55 minutes Release date: May 7, 2024 Genres: Women Publisher's Summary: A riveting memoir about a daughter’s investigation into the wirings of her loving, unpredictable mother: a woman who lived her life in pursuit of the divine, and who started two big fires, decades apart.   Ten years before Nina was born, her mother lit herself on fire in a dual suicide attempt. During her recovery in the burn-unit, a nurse initiated her into Transcendental Meditation. From that day on, her mother's pain became intertwined with the pursuit of enlightenment.    Growing up, Nina longed for a normal life; instead, she and her brother were at the whims of their mother, who chased ascension up and down the state of California, swapping out spiritual practices as often as apartments. When they finally settled at the foot of a mountain—reputed to be cosmic—in Northern California, Nina hoped life would stabilize. But after another fire, and a tragic fallout, she was forced to confront the shadow side of her mother's mystical narratives. With obsessive dedication, Nina began to knit together the truth that would eventually release her.   In Love Is a Burning Thing, Nina interrogates what happens to those undiagnosed and unseen. This is a transfixing, moving portrait of a mother-daughter relationship that also examines mental health, stigma, poverty, and gender—and the role that spirituality plays within each. Nina’s writing skirts the mystical, untangles it, and ultimately illuminates it with brilliance.

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/719101 to listen full audiobooks. Title: The Loves of Theodore Roosevelt: The Women Who Created a President Author: Edward F. O'keefe Narrator: Edward F. O'keefe Format: Unabridged Audiobook Length: 14 hours 36 minutes Release date: May 7, 2024 Genres: Women Publisher's Summary: Includes an exclusive audio postscript featuring archival recordings of the voices of the Roosevelts, including Theodore (one of the first US presidents to have his voice captured on audio), Eleanor, Edith, Corinne, and Alice. An “elegant and illuminating” (Jon Meacham) family love story, revealing how an icon of rugged American masculinity was profoundly shaped by the women in his life, especially his mother, sisters, and wives. Theodore Roosevelt wrote in his senior thesis for Harvard in 1880 that women ought to be paid equal to men and have the option of keeping their maiden names upon marriage. It’s little surprise he’d be a feminist, given the women he grew up with. His mother, Mittie, was witty and decisive, a Southern belle raising four young children in New York while her husband spent long stretches away with the Union Army. Theodore’s college sweetheart and first wife, Alice—so vivacious she was known as Sunshine—steered her beau away from science (he’d roam campus with taxidermy specimens in his pockets) and towards politics. Older sister Bamie would soon become her brother’s key political strategist and advisor; journalists called her Washington, DC, home “the Little White House.” Younger sister Conie served as her brother’s press secretary before the role existed, slipping stories of his heroics in Cuba and his rambunctious home life to reporters to create the legend of the Rough Rider we remember today. And Edith—Theodore’s childhood playmate and second wife—would elevate the role of presidential spouse to an American institution, curating both the White House and her husband’s legacy. A “graceful and powerful book” (Candice Millard) filled with “meticulous research [and] perceptive insights” (The New York Times), The Loves of Theodore Roosevelt celebrates these five extraordinary yet unsung women who opened the door to the American Century and pushed Theodore Roosevelt through it.

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/763273 to listen full audiobooks. Title: By the Time You Read This: The Space between Cheslie's Smile and Mental Illness—Her Story in Her Own Words Author: Cheslie Kryst, April Simpkins Narrator: Emana Rachelle Format: Unabridged Audiobook Length: 6 hours 7 minutes Release date: May 7, 2024 Ratings: Ratings of Book: 5 of Total 1 Genres: Women Publisher's Summary: By the Time You Read This is the story former Miss USA Cheslie Kryst was about to publish before her tragic suicide. Her mother, April, wraps up the narrative by exploring the mental illness and depression that took her daughter’s life. The text read, “By the time you get this …” This is the story of Cheslie Kryst, a former Miss USA, in her own words. When the world awoke on the morning of January 30, 2022, many were shocked to learn of the tragic death of former Miss USA Cheslie Kryst. For most people, the news was unfathomable. How could a young woman in the prime of her life—a pageant queen, accomplished attorney, Extra correspondent, and tireless advocate for charity organizations—have been lost to the world so suddenly? By the Time You Read This shares the manuscript Cheslie wrote before her passing, her story in her own words—from the highest highs of passing two bar exams, winning Miss USA, and beginning an exciting career as an entertainment journalist to the lowest lows of heartbreak, betrayal, and persistent depression. When Cheslie’s mother, April Simpkins, picks up the narrative, she shares for the first time what she experienced in the aftermath of Cheslie’s suicide. When faced with such a devastating loss, how does a mother find a way to carry on? Whether you are someone who struggles to maintain your mental health, or you love someone who does, this book will share insight into a reality that impacts thousands of families every year—as well as provide hope for those who are left behind. Net proceeds from the book will be used to support the Cheslie C. Kryst Foundation, which is being founded in Cheslie’s honor.

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/753503 to listen full audiobooks. Title: Coming Home Author: Brittney Griner, Michelle Burford Narrator: Andia Winslow, Brittney Griner Format: Unabridged Audiobook Length: 10 hours 36 minutes Release date: May 7, 2024 Ratings: Ratings of Book: 4.29 of Total 14 Ratings of Narrator: 4.5 of Total 6 Genres: Women Publisher's Summary: NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the nine-time women’s basketball icon and two-time Olympic gold medalist—a raw, revelatory account of her unfathomable detainment in Russia and her journey home. “Compelling . . . An intimate, honest recollection of Griner’s time held captive in Russia. Coming Home reads as a deeply personal, publicly powerful documentation of what happened—what is still happening—to her body and mind.” —Slate On February 17, 2022, Brittney Griner arrived in Moscow ready to spend the WNBA offseason playing for the Russian women’s basketball team where she had been the centerpiece of previous championship seasons. Instead, a security checkpoint became her gateway to hell when she was arrested for mistakenly carrying under one gram of medically prescribed hash oil. Brittney’s world was violently upended in a crisis she has never spoken in detail about publicly—until now. In Coming Home, Brittney finally shares the harrowing details of her sudden arrest days before Russia invaded Ukraine; her bewilderment and isolation while navigating a foreign legal system amid her trial and sentencing; her emotional and physical anguish as the first American woman ever to endure a Russian penal colony while the #WeAreBG movement rallied for her release; the chilling prisoner swap with Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout; and her remarkable rise from hostage to global spokesperson on behalf of America’s forgotten. In haunting and vivid detail, Brittney takes readers inside the horrors of a geopolitical nightmare spanning ten months.   And yet Coming Home is more than Brittney’s journey from captivity to freedom. In an account as gripping as it is poignant, she shares how her deep love for Cherelle, her college sweetheart and wife of six years, anchored her during their greatest storm; how her family’s support pulled her back from the brink; and how hundreds of letters from friends and neighbors lent her resolve to keep fighting. Coming Home is both a story of survival and a testament to love—the bonds that brought Brittney home to her family, and at last, to herself.

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/756262 to listen full audiobooks. Title: Duty Calls: Lessons Learned from an Unexpected Life of Service Author: Dr. Antonia Novello Md Narrator: Cynthia Farrell Format: Unabridged Audiobook Length: 8 hours 41 minutes Release date: May 7, 2024 Genres: Women Publisher's Summary: Dr. Antonia Novello is a vanguard in the United States and Puerto Rico, whose enduring commitment to service has left an indelible mark on the world of public health. With a distinguished career including serving as the US Surgeon General and the New York State Commissioner of Health during 9/11, her story highlights an unwavering dedication to improving the well-being of individuals and communities. Dr. Novello's story is one of challenges faced and overcome and of shattering glass ceilings and opening doors for future generations of leaders. She shares her early battles with childhood illness and her desire to overcome stereotypes, while also chronicling her meteoric rise through various roles in the field of health care, leading to her service as the nation's top medical officer. In Duty Calls, listeners will learn about: ● Dr. Novello's early life and her struggles with congenital megacolon ● How she became the first female/first Hispanic Surgeon General of the United States ● Her efforts to vaccinate and provide health care resources to her home in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria ● Wisdom and insights Dr. Novello gained through her life experiences

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/776263 to listen full audiobooks. Title: Abandoned at Birth: Searching for the Arms that Once Held Me Author: Janet Sherlund Narrator: Janet Sherlund Format: Unabridged Audiobook Length: 7 hours 12 minutes Release date: May 7, 2024 Genres: Women Publisher's Summary: In Abandoned at Birth, Janet Sherlund explores the inherent need adopted children have for a sense of belonging and the pain and courage that is required to discover their true identity. Adoption is often painted as a happy, inspirational act—a baby finds a family and lives happily ever after. But the truth is that adopted children experience displacement and rupture from their mother and that trauma can impact an individual for a lifetime. Adoption can lead to feelings of loss and grief not just for the adoptee, but for the biological and adoptive parents as well. This startling fact comes vividly to life in Janet Sherlund’s heartbreaking memoir, Abandoned at Birth. In her literary debut, Janet Sherlund explores the complex issues so many adoptees and their parents grapple with, including the complicated emotions of rejection, loss, grief, denial, and shame. Sherlund, who was given up for adoption within days of her birth, shares her journey to fulfill her lifetime longing for connection with her family of origin, her instinctive ache for connection with her birth mother, and what it was like to have a “borrowed identity.” In poignant detail, Sherlund describes her quest to find out who she is, where she came from, and why she was given away. And she reveals the pain and courage required to discover one’s true identity. With five million adoptees in the U.S., many of whom are discovering their biological roots on DNA websites, Abandoned at Birth is the book for our time. The insight Sherlund derived from her journey will encourage and console others on the same path, while examining the inherent need of all of us to belong, and understand our origins, our culture, and our genetic roots.

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/778900 to listen full audiobooks. Title: [German] - Die zwei Wölfe: Jenseits des Fegefeuers Author: Brenda Leb Narrator: Brigitte Kaindl Format: Unabridged Audiobook Length: 11 hours 42 minutes Release date: May 6, 2024 Genres: Women Publisher's Summary: Brenda Leb wurde in ihrer Kindheit jahrelang von ihrem Vater sexuell missbraucht. 'Mein Weg aus dem Fegefeuer' war für die Autorin sehr steinig. Doch sie wurde stark, tolerant und glücklich. In diesem Buch erzählt sie von der Alzheimer Erkrankung ihres Vaters, der zwiespältigen Beziehung zu ihrer Mutter und wie sie am Arbeitsplatz in ein Burnout schlittert. Doch sie findet wieder Halt, erkennt ihr Potential, entdeckt ihre Kreativität. Bis sie der Verlust einer Liebe, die sie für unsterblich gehalten hat, und eine herbe Enttäuschung in eine tiefe Krise stürzen. Doch sie verbittert nicht, vertraut auf ihre Stärken, bleibt ihrem versöhnlichen Weg treu. Da hält das Leben für sie ein Geschenk bereit und während sich ein Kindheitstraum erfüllt, findet sie neues Glück, unbändige Lebensfreude und tiefe Erfüllung. 'Die zwei Wölfe' weist in eindrucksvoller Weise auf die dramatischen Folgen des Verdrängens hin. Nachdem Brenda als Einzige in ihrer Familie ihre traumatischen Erlebnisse in einer Psychotherapie aufgearbeitet hat, schenkt sie durch dieses Buch nicht nur wertvolle Einblicke in die eigene Seele.

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/730502 to listen full audiobooks. Title: The Last Mrs. Astor: A New York Story Author: Frances Kiernan Narrator: Susan Ericksen Format: Unabridged Audiobook Length: 13 hours 21 minutes Release date: April 30, 2024 Genres: Women Publisher's Summary: 'Kiernan's sharp-eyed biography brings back a woman who, far into her 90s, relished the dance of life.' —O, The Oprah Magazine This biography, based on firsthand knowledge and interviews with Mrs. Astor's friends and the heads of New York's great cultural institutions, gives us back the woman so loved and admired. At the age of fifty-one, Brooke Astor wedded the notoriously ill-tempered Vincent Astor, who died in 1959. In a highly publicized courtroom battle, she fought off an attempt to break Vincent's will, which left $67 million to the Vincent Astor Foundation. As the foundation's president, Mrs. Astor would use this legacy to benefit New York City. She would personally visit every grant applicant and charm anyone she met. At her hundredth birthday, princes and presidents honored her, but in 2006 a grandson petitioned the courts to have his father removed as Brooke's guardian. Once again, an Astor court battle became the stuff of headlines.