Nonfiction
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Caffeine
- How Caffeine Created the Modern World
- By: Michael Pollan
- Narrated by: Michael Pollan
- Length: 2 hrs and 2 mins
- Original Recording
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Michael Pollan, known for his best-selling nonfiction audio, including The Omnivores Dilemma and How to Change Your Mind, conceived and wrote Caffeine: How Caffeine Created the Modern World as an Audible Original. In this controversial and exciting listen, Pollan explores caffeine’s power as the most-used drug in the world - and the only one we give to children (in soda pop) as a treat.
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Leaves much to be desired
- By Melody H on 02-02-20
Drink coffee, not too much, mostly decaf?
If you love coffee as much as I do, you’re probably drawn to this title like a fly to honey—or perhaps I should say a caffeine addict to a Starbucks—but you’re also probably a little frightened of what you might learn. No spoilers here: the news isn’t simply good or bad. It’s highly engaging, relatable, and informative—about what caffeine does to our minds and bodies, but also what it’s done to our culture, society, and international relations. Continuing the experiential journalism on display in his last (excellent) work, How to Change Your Mind, Pollan’s deep dive into the origins of the world’s most popular legal drug isn’t just an interpretation of mountains of research, or merely interviewing the experts (though there is just enough of that here), but also an engaging observation of an author fully living the phenomenon he’s writing about. And because his own caffeine addiction is a primary "character" in the work, it’s fitting that Pollan is the one narrating. You can almost feel him craving that java fix right through your headphones.
YA
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The Gravity of Us
- By: Phil Stamper
- Narrated by: Michael Crouch, Jonathan Davis, Gabra Zackman, and others
- Length: 8 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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As a successful social media journalist with half a million followers, 17-year-old Cal is used to sharing his life online. But when his pilot father is selected for a highly publicized NASA mission to Mars, Cal and his family relocate from Brooklyn to Houston and are thrust into a media circus. Amidst the chaos, Cal meets sensitive and mysterious Leon, another "Astrokid", and finds himself falling head over heels - fast. As the frenzy around the mission grows, so does their connection.
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Heavy eye rolling 🙄
- By denny mccarthy on 08-21-20
An LGBTQIA+ space story, set on Earth
Phil Stamper’s debut combines all of my favorite things: NASA, reality TV, and an LGBTQIA+ love story. Performed by Michael Crouch and a full cast, The Gravity of Us follows the fictional near-future of Orpheus V—NASA’s mission to get humankind on Mars. Though the mission and the astronauts involved play a huge part in this story, it’s two of the astronauts’ kids—Cal and Leon—who are at the heart of it. Being thrust onto the national stage and a reality TV show about the landmark mission, these Astrokids are forced to figure out the rest of their lives and their feelings for one another in front of the entire world. From the insider knowledge and space facts to the frank discussions about family, sexuality, and mental health, Stamper’s debut was truly out of this world (I’m sorry, I had to).
Memoir
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Break Shot: My First 21 Years
- Words + Music, Vol. 2
- By: James Taylor
- Narrated by: James Taylor
- Length: 1 hr and 33 mins
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"I’m James Taylor and I’m a professional autobiographer", says the celebrated folk singer at the start of this tender audio memoir. Through decades of music by one of the best-selling musicians of all time, who created classics like "Fire and Rain" and "Carolina in My Mind", James Taylor has doled out his history in the poetry of his work. Taylor says his early life is, "the source of many of my songs", and Break Shot is a tour of his first 21 years in rich, new detail.
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Love His Music, Love His Story
- By M. Batt on 01-31-20
He sings out a song which is soft but it's clear...
Like so many of us, James Taylor got me through some stuff. Growing up, the singer-songwriter had always been a fixture in my family's home, but it wasn't until I was in high school that Taylor became something of a mythic figure to me. As a shy, sensitive teenager on the precipice of adulthood, his stripped down and plainspoken lyrics—filled with country roads and highways calling—became a road map to navigate my own growing pains, and his unwavering voice and seemingly homespun guitar never failed to make me feel less alone. Of course, what I'm describing is true for generations of fans, but it also hints at what makes Taylor's story—especially that of his own formative years—so remarkable. Taylor was only 21 years old when his breakout album Sweet Baby James was released in 1970. And with Break Shot, he tells of the circumstances—personal, familial, cultural—that delivered him to that point with the same thoughtfulness and poignancy that he's brought to a lifetime of crafting songs. The result is a portrait of a once-in-a-lifetime artist as a young man, told in his timeless and singular voice; an elder statesmen of pop music looking back at how he found his way. I was thankful to have his music in my younger days, but even more so now, after listening to the story behind his own.
Fiction
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Oona Out of Order
- A Novel
- By: Margarita Montimore
- Narrated by: Brittany Pressley
- Length: 11 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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It’s New Year’s Eve 1982, and Oona Lockhart has her whole life before her. At the stroke of midnight she will turn 19, and the year ahead promises to be one of consequence. Should she go to London to study economics, or remain at home in Brooklyn to pursue her passion for music and be with her boyfriend? As the countdown to the New Year begins, Oona faints and awakens 32 years in the future in her 51-year-old body.
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Awful
- By M. Esposito on 03-02-20
An uplifting joyride
Imagine living your life out of order… What would it be like to be 19 years old on the inside forever? What would you do it you woke up tomorrow 30 years older than you are today? These are just a few of the questions you can’t help but ask yourself while listening to Oona—a delightful time travel novel that made me take my own trip down memory lane all while imaging various "what-if" scenarios for myself. How much fun would it be to have invested wisely (based on having already lived the future) and now have all of the money you could ever want or need? I’d have a Brownstone too, for sure. I also found myself immediately sympathizing with Oona—cringing at her many missteps and bad choices and reveling alongside her as she parties like a 27-year-old woman who’s already been a 51-year-old woman and is really only 19 years old on the inside. Narrator Brittany Pressley sounds exactly how I’d imagine Oona to sound—capturing the enthusiasm and hopefulness of a 19 year old who also holds a more tempered wisdom—something earned by having already lived so much of her later life.
Suspense
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The Estate
- By: Liza Costello
- Narrated by: Denise Gough
- Length: 6 hrs and 57 mins
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Beth never had a settled home as a child, but that’s all behind her now. She’s fine. Great. Settled in her single life. Until friends start peeling away, moving on to careers and family, leaving her feeling impatient and angry. When she bumps into Jason at a party, she spots the opportunity for her own fresh start - to turn her back on a reckless life of drinking and missed deadlines. She can build a new life, too...can’t she? When she discovers that Jason has the opportunity to house-sit a new build out of town, she glimpses her chance.
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Disjointed
- By Katherine Girgenti on 02-11-20
A gothic mystery for our modern times
Creepy house? Check. Unreliable narrators? Check. Liza Costello’s debut ticks all the boxes of a gripping, tense psychological thriller, with a 21st-century twist. The house in question is one of many in a large rural Irish estate, left mostly abandoned after the recession and housing crash in Ireland. The result is a multi-layered, addictive thriller where modern-day anxieties and age-old fears—of the dark, of silence, of the unknown—collide. The mystery alone makes this a difficult listen to pause—but narrator Denise Gough is the driving force behind that "just one more chapter" feeling here. Her Irish brogue places you firmly in the setting, and her delivery is dynamic and emotive, adding to the building suspense.
Fiction
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The Bear
- By: Andrew Krivak
- Narrated by: Eric Jason Martin
- Length: 4 hrs
- Unabridged
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A girl and her father live close to the land in the shadow of a lone mountain. They possess a few remnants of civilization: some books, a pane of glass, a set of flint and steel, a comb. The father teaches the girl how to fish and hunt, the secrets of the seasons and the stars. He is preparing her for an adulthood in harmony with nature, for they are the last of humankind. But when the girl finds herself alone in an unknown landscape, it is a bear that will lead her back home through a vast wilderness that offers the greatest lessons of all, if she can only learn to listen.
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Interconnectedness of all life
- By Sherrie Brownell on 07-18-20
Coming of age at the end of the world
Andrew Krivak’s The Bear is a methodical, evocative, and magical story. Drifting in and out of parables, myths, and the fluid language of the natural world—it somehow never feels lost. It’s in fact very simple, but incredibly layered. In narrator Eric Jason Martin’s steady, almost melodious narration, at first you feel like you have entered a fantastical field manual where profound questions of human nature are unearthed in old-world survival skills like making a bow and arrow, fishing, or navigation. But what you find yourself fiercely following is a young girl coming to terms with harsh realities and a heritage of grief that is widely relatable, and deeply moving.
Mystery
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Above the Bay of Angels
- A Novel
- By: Rhys Bowen
- Narrated by: Gemma Dawson
- Length: 10 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Isabella Waverly only means to comfort the woman felled on a London street. In her final dying moments, she thrusts a letter into Bella’s hand. It’s an offer of employment in the kitchens of Buckingham Palace, and everything the budding young chef desperately wants: an escape from the constrictions of her life as a lowly servant. In the stranger’s stead, Bella can spread her wings. Arriving as Helen Barton from Yorkshire, she pursues her passion for creating culinary delights, served to the delighted Queen Victoria herself.
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5 Star Book!
- By SueS on 02-28-20
Seizing the day
Known for her wildly popular Royal Spyness series—a favorite of those of us Audible Editors who love a good cozy mystery—Rhys Bowen delivers a standalone novel that has everything you’d expect and more. Above the Bay of Angels is a turn-of-the-century story about palace intrigue, starring a bright young woman who, despite losing her noble status, maintains a fighting spirit in pursuit of her passion in life. For Bella Waverly, that hunger is for cooking. On her path to independence, lies unravel, blackmail is committed, and assassination attempts are made in her midst. Interspersed are hints of a sweet culinary romance. The narration by Gemma Dawson is the icing atop this delightful listen.
Fiction
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Weather
- A Novel
- By: Jenny Offill
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 3 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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Lizzie Benson slid into her job as a librarian without a traditional degree. But this gives her a vantage point from which to practice her other calling: she is a fake shrink. For years, she has tended to her God-haunted mother and her recovering addict brother. They have both stabilized for the moment, but Lizzie has little chance to spend her new free time with husband and son before her old mentor, Sylvia Liller, makes a proposal. She's become famous for her prescient podcast, Hell and High Water, and wants to hire Lizzie to answer the mail she receives.
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Read This Article Before Listening to Weather
- By MOR Denver on 04-28-20
A high unforgettable-sentence-to-listening-time ratio
Despite consuming a vast amount of novels, I’m terrible at remembering them, so I consider Jenny Offill’s 2014 book Dept. of Speculation a minor miracle. Years later, I still think of it (and its startling observations on everything from adultery to art monsters to sad, worn-out underwear) on a near-daily basis. While it’s too fresh in my mind to say for sure, Offill’s much-anticipated follow-up is working the same bracing magic on my beleaguered brain. Told by a Brooklyn librarian who picks up a side job with a futurist podcast called "Hell and High Water," Weather is "about" many things: climate change, contemporary dread, the surprising savagery of domestic life, the fascinating characters you meet in libraries. What it isn’t is a traditional narrative with a neat, propulsive plot. Written in fragmented, impressionist vignettes and impeccably voiced by Cassandra Campbell, this is one you’ll want to dedicated some focused listening time to—all the better to have its sentences pleasingly burned into your brain for years to come.
Comedy
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Cut and Run
- A Light-Hearted Dark Comedy
- By: Ben Acker, Ben Blacker
- Narrated by: Meg Ryan, D’Arcy Carden, Sam Richardson, and others
- Length: 2 hrs and 44 mins
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Samantha is a professional seductress and con artist with a heart of gold. If she talked about her work, she’d tell you she only pilfers organs for medical research and that she only takes one kidney, and she only steals those kidneys from dishonest people. It’s hell on her social life. Abe is the doctor and Sam's partner in crime. He isn’t much of a criminal. Except for the kidney stealing. But he’s using that money to fund his research that he anticipates will be able to cure diabetes. So, all for a good cause...? You decide. Of course, it's hell on his social life.
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Dumb and funny
- By R. MCRACKAN on 02-01-20
Just some light-hearted kidney theft
I know, I know––you’re having such a hard time choosing between all of the full-celebrity-cast, dark-comedy audio projects about kidney thieves out there in the market and, hey, I hear ya. But this one stands out. Why? Well, we’ve got some of the funniest actors in the game here. I’m talking heavy hitters like Meg Ryan, D’Arcy Carden, Sam Richardson, Ed Begley, Jr., Rachel Bloom, and the list goes on. Not to mention how well written and smart it is. And did I mention funny? Listen, just give it a whirl. Have I ever steered you wrong? (Don’t answer that).
Fiction
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Saint X
- A Novel
- By: Alexis Schaitkin
- Narrated by: Alex Hyde-White, Bailey Carr, Dana Dae, and others
- Length: 12 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Claire is only seven years old when her college-age sister, Alison, disappears on the last night of their family vacation at a resort on the Caribbean island of Saint X. Several days later, Alison’s body is found in a remote spot on a nearby cay, and two local men - employees at the resort - are arrested. But the evidence is slim, the timeline against it, and the men are soon released. The story turns into national tabloid news, a lurid mystery that will go unsolved. For Claire and her parents, there is only the return home to broken lives.
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I’d rather be alone with my thoughts...
- By Lewca on 02-25-20
What happened to Alison?
As the child of Caribbean immigrants, I’ve always been intrigued by the notion that my family lives in places that many people only think of as vacation destinations. The often uneasy relationship between the working-class residents and the wealthy tourists who visit the islands is at the heart of Alexis Schaitkin’s haunting debut. Eighteen years after her sister turned up dead during a family vacation on fictional Saint X, Claire Thomas runs into one of the local men accused of Alison’s murder. The multi-cast narration features not only the three central characters, but also guests at the hotel, the girl who found the body, students and teachers and ex-boyfriends who knew Alison, and even the actress who played Alison in a TV movie. Every voice rings true to unspool this mystery, with an ending no one will see coming.
Dramatization
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Assassin's Creed: Gold
- An Audible Original Drama
- By: Anthony Del Col
- Narrated by: Riz Ahmed, John Chancer, Ray Fearon, and others
- Length: 4 hrs and 40 mins
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Assassin’s Creed: Gold follows Aliyah Khan, a card shark and hustler who’s been dealt a rough hand in life. Surviving through her smarts and street scams, Aliyah struggles to get by until she loses big time to a mysterious older man, Gavin Banks. Her only option to repay Banks is to become an Assassin. During her training, Banks tells Aliyah of the centuries-old battle between the Assassins and Templars, imploring her to help him decode a secret message inscribed on an illegal form of currency during the Great Recoinage of 1696.
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Fits in perfectly to the overall AC lore
- By Captain Redbeard on 03-03-20
Ok—I want more!
The Assassin's Creed video game franchise follows an intriguing premise: a centuries-old secret war between the Assassin Brotherhood and the Templar Order, fought through various historical time periods and told from a modern-day perspective. The games are vast, immersive, and challenging with intricate puzzles, and, of course, deadly stealth assassinations. Assassin’s Creed: Gold is an all-new Audible Original multi-cast drama and stand-alone story that takes place during the Great Recoinage of 1696. Riz Ahmed, Danny Wallace, Tamara Lawrance, and Anthony Head as Isaac Newton (!!) give stellar performances in this breathtaking listen that captures the adrenaline-fueled action sequences from the video games. I must say that it does help if you’re just a tad familiar with the Assassin’s Creed world as there are some surprises from past games, but not so much where you’d be lost in the story. Bring on more video game-inspired listens!
Memoir
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Something That May Shock and Discredit You
- By: Daniel M. Lavery
- Narrated by: Daniel M. Lavery
- Length: 6 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Daniel M. Lavery is known for blending genres, forms, and sources to develop fascinating new hybrids—from lyric rants to horror recipes to pornographic scripture. In his most personal work to date, he turns his attention to the essay, offering vigorous and laugh-out-loud funny accounts of both popular and highbrow culture while mixing in meditations on gender transition, family dynamics, and the many meanings of faith.
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I tried, I really did! 0.5 of a star
- By Anonymous User on 03-22-20
Faith, Gender, and Feathered Miscreants
My favorite piece of non-audio fiction from 2019 is easily Daniel Mallory Ortberg’s piece here (writing as Daniel Lavery), which I can only describe as Untitled Goose Game fanfiction. While his newest listen, Something That May Shock and Discredit You, is not quite as absurd, specific, or ridiculous as the above mentioned flight of fancy, it is, however, the perfect collection of essays for lovers of quirky & keen observational humor. From ruminating on the sincere joy he gets from yelling encouraging things at groups of strangers, to the candid, soul-searching self-examination of his transition by way of hilarious and touching Biblical conceits, Something That May Shock and Discredit You stands apart from other essay collections as unique and relatable all at once.
Memoir
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The Phantom Prince
- My Life with Ted Bundy
- By: Elizabeth Kendall, Molly Kendall - contributor
- Narrated by: Elizabeth Kendall, Barrie Kreinik, Molly Kendall
- Length: 6 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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The Phantom Prince chronicles Elizabeth Kendall’s intimate relationship with Ted Bundy and its eventual unraveling. As much as has been written about Bundy, it’s remarkable to hear the perspective of people who shared their daily lives with him for years. This gripping account presents a remarkable examination of a charismatic personality that masked unimaginable darkness.
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Same Planet, Different Worlds
- By Christine E. Lee on 01-29-20
It’s Complicated
My relationship with true crime can be summed up as #itscomplicated, but I can't deny my recent obsession with true crime memoirs like Blood and A Serial Killer's Daughter. I'm fascinated by these firsthand accounts of what it's like to find out someone close to you is capable of unthinkable darkness, in all its messy strangeness. What's the roadmap after you find out someone you've shared a roof with is a murderer?! While Elizabeth Kendall's memoir The Phantom Prince isn't new, it's new to me—and an updated edition of the once-impossible-to-find memoir is brand new to audio, just in time for the new documentary series Falling for a Killer. Kendall talks about her relationship with Ted Bundy with mesmerizing vulnerability and openness, describing what it was like to be a young, single mother in the 1960s and '70s and why it left her so unguarded to Bundy's manipulations. By taking back her power and sharing experiences that she once kept secret for fear of being judged, she's contributed a fascinating and moving entry in the growing #metoo canon. I couldn't stop listening.
YA
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Yes No Maybe So
- By: Becky Albertalli, Aisha Saeed
- Narrated by: Tiya Sircar, Michael Crouch
- Length: 10 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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Jamie Goldberg is cool with volunteering for his local state senate candidate - as long as he’s behind the scenes. When it comes to speaking to strangers (or, let’s face it, speaking at all to almost anyone) Jamie’s a choke artist. There’s no way he’d ever knock on doors to ask people for their votes...until he meets Maya. Maya Rehman’s having the worst Ramadan ever. Why her mother thinks the solution to her problems is political canvassing - with some awkward dude she hardly knows - is beyond her.
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Great read!
- By Aly P on 06-04-20
I vote yes
It’s hard to be under 18 in the current political climate. You want to affect change, but you’re not of legal age to vote. In this moving, quirky, wonderful audiobook, Becky Albertalli and Aisha Saeed show that if you have the passion, you can make a difference no matter how old you are. Jamie Goldberg and Maya Rehman spend an unexpected summer together going door to door for their local state senate candidate who’s running in a special election. Jamie considers himself an awkward introvert not cut out for public speaking, and Maya is volunteering against her will, but slowly they start to see the value in what they’re doing. And as Jamie and Maya discover the issues they care about, they realize that they care about each other, too. I could not get enough of this charming listen, which is performed by Tiya Sircar and Michael Crouch—it was the sweet and hopeful note I needed to kick off this election year.
Romance
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Catch Me When I Fall
- Falling Stars, Book 2
- By: A.L. Jackson
- Narrated by: Virginia Rose, Jason Clarke
- Length: 11 hrs and 57 mins
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Emily’s entire existence is wrapped up in touring with her up-and-coming country rock band Carolina George and trying to build them into a music legend. Her passionate night with a gorgeous, tattooed bad boy was the result of too much time on the road, too much tequila and combustible physical chemistry. It was never supposed to follow her into the light of day, much less threaten everything she and the band have worked so hard to create.
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Disappointed.
- By Kristy on 02-26-20
We’re going on a road trip!
As a Floridian living in the North, I find comfort in listening to the dulcet tones of the Southern accent. Virginia Rose and Jason Clarke tag-team the narration in this love story by A.L. Jackson, delving into the lives of a country rock band from the South and a talent scout who wants to sign them to his record label. There is no shortage of drama right off the bat, and for those looking for a good helping of romantic Tension-with-a-capital-“T,” Catch Me When I Fall delivers. But there’s also sweetness here, and a great group of bandmates that I found totally loveable. A.L. Jackson has built an alluring world that’s easy to fall for.
Memoir
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Open Book
- A Memoir
- By: Jessica Simpson
- Narrated by: Jessica Simpson
- Length: 11 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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First celebrated for her voice, she became one of the most talked-about women in the world, whether for music and fashion, her relationship struggles, or as a walking blonde joke. But now, instead of being talked about, Jessica is doing the talking. Her audiobook shares the wisdom and inspirations she’s learned and shows the real woman behind all the pop-culture clichés. Open Book is an opportunity to laugh and cry with a close friend, one that will inspire you to live your best, most authentic life, now that she is finally living hers.
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Narration alert!
- By Johnene on 02-05-20
You gotta have heart
I admit it, I was as rapt as any of the many millions of viewers that tuned in to Newlyweds: Nick & Jessica, which aired from 2003-2005 on MTV. I was fascinated by the fellow Texas girl who, of all things, was embarking on marriage on a reality TV show. It seemed like a terrible idea, but also an amazing one: What could go wrong? So. Many. Things. But I was rooting for her. Here, Jessica Simpson invites you into her world, describing the hardest and best moments of her life. Laughter and tears weave through her voice as she recounts her journey through love, loss, and addiction. The six original songs made exclusively for the audiobook bring you back to her roots as a singer and performer, rounding out the experience. You hear the rawness of living life under a microscope in the notes and in her words. The result is a listen that unearths an authentic struggle to find peace that feels revelatory. There is beauty and pain laid bare, and ultimately, grace.