Essays bestsellers

The Message

By: Ta-Nehisi Coates
Narrated by: Ta-Nehisi Coates
Length: 5 hours 20 minutes

“An unflinching and deeply personal musing on what nonfiction writing (particularly long-form journalism) can accomplish. What frames do we take with us as we travel in search of truth? How is the past reframed in the service of myth-making? How can it be understood in a fuller way? This book is worth reading for the Israel/Palestine chapter... Read more

The Anthropocene Reviewed

Essays on a Human-Centered Planet

By: John Green
Narrated by: John Green
Length: 10 hours 42 minutes

“This warm, funny, and moving collection of essays by The Fault in Our Stars author John Green covers a lot of ground—from Canadian Geese to Dr. Pepper to the opening sequence of Penguins of Madagascar—in 1-to-5 star ratings of the Anthropocene, the current geologic age defined by human impact on the environment. While Green never shies away from... Read more

Crying in H Mart

A Memoir

By: Michelle Zauner
Narrated by: Michelle Zauner
Length: 7 hours 22 minutes

“This is a beautiful memoir and it totally lives up to the hype! Zauner offers an honest account of her struggle with her Korean American upbringing and her relationship with her dying mother, and what the loss of her meant in the end. The shared experience of cooking and enjoying Korean food was central to their relationship, and her vivid... Read more

On Tyranny

Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century

By: Timothy Snyder
Narrated by: Timothy Snyder
Length: 1 hour 47 minutes

“This pocket guide to preserving our freedoms and resisting authoritarianism, penned by Yale historian of fascism Timothy Snyder, takes lessons from the fall of democracies across Europe in the 20th Century, each posing a warning to us now in the 21st Century. A brief but mind blowing, eye-opening read that left me feeling sobered and empowered... Read more

How To Tell When We Will Die

On Pain, Disability, and Doom

By: Johanna Hedva
Narrated by: Johanna Hedva
Length: 15 hours 2 minutes

The long-awaited essay collection from one of the most influential voices in disability activism that detonates a bomb in our collective understanding of care and illness, showing us that sickness is a fact of life.   In the wake of the 2014 Ferguson riots, and sick with a chronic condition that rendered them housebound, Johanna Hedva turned to... Read more

Happy-Go-Lucky

By: David Sedaris
Narrated by: David Sedaris
Length: 7 hours 30 minutes

“As snarky, cynical, and upliftingly-hilarious as ever, David Sedaris has once again charmed me with his newest memoir, Happy-Go-Lucky. With his typical wit and keen eye, Sedaris had me laughing out loud as he described life during the pandemic, shooting guns with his sister, and even his strained relationship with his ailing father. If you're a... Read more

World Travel

An Irreverent Guide

By: Anthony Bourdain & Laurie Woolever
Narrated by: Laurie Woolever, Shep Gordon, Christopher Bourdain, Jen Agg, Matt Walsh, Bill Buford, Claude Tayag, Nari Kye, Vidya Balachander & Steve Albini
Length: 12 hours 11 minutes

“There are not words for how much I miss the voice of Anthony Bourdain. A new collection of his writings put together with Laurie Woolever (his assistant for 10 years) details his favorite places on earth and with notes on how to visit them. As we prepare to travel as safely as possible again, it's comforting to have Bourdain as my companion if... Read more

Kitchen Confidential

Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly

By: Anthony Bourdain
Narrated by: Anthony Bourdain
Length: 8 hours 18 minutes

When Chef Anthony Bourdain wrote "Don't Eat Before You Read This" in The New Yorker, he spared no one's appetite, revealing what goes on behind the kitchen door. In Kitchen Confidential, he expanded the appetizer into a deliciously funny, delectably shocking banquet that lays out his twenty-five years of sex, drugs, and haute cuisine.

From his... Read more

Want

Sexual Fantasies by Anonymous

By: Gillian Anderson
Narrated by: Anonymous & Gillian Anderson
Length: 11 hours 59 minutes

“A really thoughtful and moving exploration of sexuality, fantasy, and desire. This book is a collection of anonymous essays featuring true stories about women and nonbinary people. What do people have to say about sex when no one can hear? In what ways are feminine presenting people expected to perform in the bedroom? And what do they really... Read more

Holidays on Ice

By: David Sedaris
Narrated by: David Sedaris, Ann Magnuson & Amy Sedaris
Length: 4 hours 19 minutes

David Sedaris's beloved holiday collection is new again with six more pieces, including a never before published story. Along with such favoritesas the diaries of a Macy's elf and the annals of two very competitive families, are Sedaris's tales of tardy trick-or-treaters ("Us and Them"); the difficulties of explaining the Easter Bunny to the... Read more

I Shouldn't Be Telling You This

(But I'm Going to Anyway)

By: Chelsea Devantez
Narrated by: Chelsea Devantez
Length: 8 hours 54 minutes

“I laughed, I cried, I googled things she told me not to. Chelsea Devantez is a hilarious gift to us all. Read more

How Far the Light Reaches

A Life in Ten Sea Creatures

By: Sabrina Imbler
Narrated by: Sabrina Imbler
Length: 5 hours 40 minutes

“This utterly absorbing collection of essays merges marine biology and memoir, diving into such subjects as disordered eating via a starving mother octopus, the power of queer spaces through the science and survival of deep sea wildlife, gendered violence and the Sandstriker (formerly named after Lorena Bobbit), being mixed-race and rainbow fish... Read more

A Brief History of Intelligence

Evolution, AI, and the Five Breakthroughs That Made Our Brains

By: Max Bennett
Narrated by: George Newbern
Length: 12 hours 17 minutes

Equal parts Sapiens, Behave, and Superintelligence, but wholly original in scope, A Brief History of Intelligence offers a paradigm shift for how we understand neuroscience and AI. Artificial intelligence entrepreneur Max Bennett chronicles the five “breakthroughs” in the evolution of human intelligence and reveals what brains of the past can... Read more

Mere Christianity

By: C. S. Lewis
Narrated by: Julian Rhind-Tutt
Length: 7 hours 6 minutes

""C.S. Lewis is the ideal persuader for the half-convinced, for the good man who would like to be a Christian but finds his intellect getting in the way."" — Anthony Burgess, New York Times Book ReviewOur moral consciousness and moral judgements are proof to the human race that a moral being exists—God.Mere Christianity explores the core beliefs... Read more

Raw Dog

The Naked Truth About Hot Dogs

By: Jamie Loftus
Narrated by: Jamie Loftus
Length: 9 hours 38 minutes

“Okay, listen...whether or not you *like* hot dogs, you have to read this book. Jamie Loftus is crass, hysterical, and doesn't shy away from her sharp-witted, leftist point of view. The hot dog is simply a gateway to talk about the world at large--everything from food culture, to the meat packing industry, to socioeconomic history, to Loftus's... Read more

The Memory Palace

True Short Stories of the Past

By: Nate DiMeo
Narrated by: Nate DiMeo, Jad Abumrad, Daniel Alarcón, Betsy Brandt, Carrie Coon, Hrishikesh Hirway, Dominic Hoffman, Rebecca Lowman, Roman Mars, Robin Miles, Ryan Reynolds, Kai Ryssdal, Lili Taylor & Full Cast
Length: 8 hours 41 minutes

Incredible true stories reveal strange new magic in American history in this wondrous first book from the creator of the award-winning podcast The Memory Palace.

“One doesn’t often find the words imagination and history in the same sentence. Nate DiMeo has forever woven them together. The Memory Palace wants you to linger, to stay awhile, and... Read more

Joyful Recollections of Trauma

By: Paul Scheer
Narrated by: Paul Scheer
Length: 6 hours 37 minutes

From award-winning actor and comedian Paul Scheer, a candid and hilarious memoir-in-essays on coming to terms with childhood trauma and finding the joy in embracing your authentic self, featuring content exclusive to the audio edition, including excerpts from live shows and audio clips from home movies.Paul Scheer has entertained countless fans... Read more

You'll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey

Crazy Stories about Racism

By: Amber Ruffin & Lacey Lamar
Narrated by: Amber Ruffin & Lacey Lamar
Length: 5 hours 21 minutes

“Behold! One of my favorite books AND one of the funniest books I’ve ever read! Ruffin and Lamar have such a phenomenal knack for storytelling! Are these tales hilarious? Yes! Are they also exasperating and ridiculous (and in a few instances downright horrifying)? Also yes! (Truly, the sheer AUDACITY of the people who feature in these stories is... Read more

Loving Corrections

Emergent Strategy Series: Book #12

By: adrienne maree brown
Narrated by: adrienne maree brown
Length: 6 hours 41 minutes

New York Times–bestselling author adrienne maree brown knows we need each other more than ever and offers a practice for holding collective power, righting wrongs, and generating true belonging. Ethical, pondering, and wondrous, adrienne maree brown’s Loving Corrections is a collection of love-based adjustments and reframes to grow our movements... Read more

The Best of Me

By: David Sedaris
Narrated by: David Sedaris
Length: 13 hours 8 minutes

“As if there is anything greater than a new David Sedaris, it's listening to David Sedaris read the new David Sedaris. This self-edited collection of essays from his prolific 25-year career is exactly what we need to boost the morale of 2020 and remind ourselves what a crazy world we've always lived in when viewed through Sedaris's keen... Read more

Little Weirds

By: Jenny Slate
Narrated by: Jenny Slate
Length: 4 hours 19 minutes

“Little Weirds, a collection of essays by actress and comedian Jenny Slate, is pure magic—a joyous, thoughtful, and deeply gorgeous peek into the soul of an extremely bright and unique individual. Jenny’s mastery of the English language, the way she arranges words to tell a story, the vulnerability with which she does it, and the purity of her... Read more

Inciting Joy

Essays

By: Ross Gay
Narrated by: Ross Gay
Length: 8 hours 20 minutes

“I consider Ross Gay’s Inciting Joy to be a true masterpiece. Gay repeatedly took my breath away with his quiet emotional power, which dazzles in these essays in a wild, satisfying dance between the personal and political. There were at least a dozen occasions where I wanted to stand up and applaud, or weep, or cheer out loud, or reach out and... Read more

Hijab Butch Blues

A Memoir

By: Lamya H
Narrated by: Ashraf Shirazi
Length: 7 hours 32 minutes

“This memoir absolutely blew me away. Structured around stories from the Qur'an, Lamya H beautifully explores the intersections between faith, identity, culture, and belonging. I learned so much while reading this book, and really valued Lamya's unique perspective on queerness and religion. Incredibly raw and honest, this is a memoir I will be... Read more

The Book of Delights

By: Ross Gay
Narrated by: Ross Gay
Length: 5 hours

“This is one of my favorite books to recommend, especially for someone looking for a gift. Poet and avid gardener Ross Gay, who also is the fantastic narrator, reflects on what delights him over the course of a year. Lyrical, humorous, philosophical and sometimes heartbreaking, these essays may be bite-sized but they will fill you up. A great way... Read more

Calypso

By: David Sedaris
Narrated by: David Sedaris
Length: 6 hours 38 minutes

“We, your concerned booksellers, want to make sure you are in tip-top reading shape before David Sedaris visits Main Street Books. Much like a runner must train for a marathon, you must exercise your sense of humor, so as not to pull something in David's presence. Tune up your funny bone with Me Talk Pretty One Day, Naked, When You Are Engulfed... Read more

They Can't Kill Us Until They Kill Us

By: Hanif Abdurraqib
Narrated by: Hanif Abdurraqib
Length: 8 hours 37 minutes

*2018 "12 best books to give this holiday season" TODAY Show*Best Books of 2018* Rolling Stone"A Best Book of 2017" NPR, Buzzfeed, Paste Magazine, Esquire, Chicago Tribune, Vol. 1 Brooklyn, CBC, Stereogum, National Post, Entropy, Heavy, Book Riot, Chicago Review of Books, The Los Angeles Review, Michigan Daily*American Booksellers Association... Read more

Strong Female Character

By: Fern Brady
Narrated by: Fern Brady
Length: 6 hours 43 minutes

INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER • “Witty, dry, and gimlet-eyed, this is a necessary corrective in a world where Autistic women are all either written off as quiet and docile, or erased entirely.” —Devon Price, Ph.D., author of Unmasking Autism

Scottish comedian Fern Brady was told she couldn't be autistic because she'd had loads of boyfriends and is... Read more

Trick Mirror

Reflections on Self-Delusion

By: Jia Tolentino
Narrated by: Jia Tolentino
Length: 9 hours 45 minutes

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “From The New Yorker’s beloved cultural critic comes a bold, unflinching collection of essays about self-deception, examining everything from scammer culture to reality television.”—Esquire
 
Book Club Pick for Now Read This, from PBS NewsHour and The New York Times • “A whip-smart, challenging book.”—Zadie Smith • “Jia... Read more

Truth & Beauty

By: Ann Patchett
Narrated by: Ann Patchett
Length: 8 hours 6 minutes

""A loving testament to the work and reward of the best friendships, the kind where your arms can’t distinguish burden from embrace.” — PeopleNew York Times Bestselling author Ann Patchett’s first work of nonfiction chronicling her decades-long friendship with the critically acclaimed and recently deceased author, Lucy Grealy.Ann Patchett and... Read more

Wow, No Thank You.

Essays (Lambda Literary Award)

By: Samantha Irby
Narrated by: Samantha Irby
Length: 10 hours 3 minutes

A new rip-roaring essay collection from the smart, edgy, hilarious, unabashedly raunchy, and bestselling Samantha Irby.

Irby is forty, and increasingly uncomfortable in her own skin despite what Inspirational Instagram Infographics have promised her. She has left her job as a receptionist at a veterinary clinic, has published successful books and... Read more

Broken (in the best possible way)

By: Jenny Lawson
Narrated by: Jenny Lawson
Length: 8 hours 18 minutes

“I've said it before and I'll say it again: Jenny Lawson is a genius. She can make me sob uncontrollably from both laughter and the heartbreakingly honest way she talks about mental illness. She takes the worst things in life and finds a way to laugh through them. Her ability to bring people together in a celebration of human awkwardness is just... Read more

These Precious Days

Essays

By: Ann Patchett
Narrated by: Ann Patchett
Length: 11 hours 13 minutes

“I loved absolutely everything about this book and did not want it to end. Ann Patchett's narration is magical and I believe is best way to experience her writing. Though these are essays, they are expertly arranged and together feel like a memoir. Patchett talks about everything from life and death to bookstores and book covers and you... Read more

Tacky

Love Letters to the Worst Culture We Have to Offer

By: Rax King
Narrated by: Rax King
Length: 7 hours 12 minutes

An irreverent and charming collection of deeply personal essays about the joys of low pop culture and bad taste, exploring coming of age in the 2000s in the age of Hot Topic, Creed, and frosted lip gloss—from the James Beard Award-nominated writer of the Catapult column "Store-Bought Is Fine”

Tacky is about the power of pop... Read more

Paddle Your Own Canoe

One Man's Fundamentals for Delicious Living

By: Nick Offerman
Narrated by: Nick Offerman
Length: 10 hours 50 minutes

Parks and Recreation actor Nick Offerman shares his humorous fulminations on life, manliness, meat, and much more in his first book.

Growing a perfect moustache, grilling red meat, wooing a woman—who better to deliver this tutelage than the always charming, always manly Nick Offerman, best known as Parks and Recreation’s Ron Swanson?  Combining... Read more

Bite by Bite

Nourishments and Jamborees

By: Aimee Nezhukumatathil
Narrated by: Aimee Nezhukumatathil
Length: 5 hours 32 minutes

From the New York Times bestselling author of World of Wonders, a lyrical book of short essays about food, offering a banquet of tastes, smells, memories, associations, and marvelous curiosities from natureIn Bite by Bite, poet and essayist Aimee Nezhukumatathil explores the way food and drink evoke our associations and remembrances—a subtext or... Read more

Small Victories

Spotting Improbable Moments of Grace

By: Anne Lamott
Narrated by: Anne Lamott
Length: 5 hours 35 minutes

From the bestselling author of Stitches, and Help, Thanks, Wow comes her long-awaited collection of new and selected essays on hope, joy, and grace.

Anne Lamott writes about faith, family, and community in essays that are both wise and irreverent. It’s an approach that has become her trademark. Now in Small Victories, Lamott offers a new message... Read more

Scam Goddess

Lessons from a Life of Cons, Grifts, and Schemes

By: Laci Mosley
Narrated by: Laci Mosley
Length: 5 hours 56 minutes

A delightfully subversive essay collection from Laci Mosley, host of the award-winning “Scam Goddess” podcast, about the frauds, cons, and schemes that make up our world—and how the scammer mindset has affected her own upbringing, career, friendships, love life, and more. ​

From an early age, comedian and actress Laci Mosley knew her path would... Read more

All Things Are Too Small

Essays in Praise of Excess

By: Becca Rothfeld
Narrated by: Ruth Crawford
Length: 10 hours 29 minutes

A glorious call to throw off restraint and balance in favor of excess, abandon, and disproportion, in essays ranging from such topics as decluttering, mindfulness, David Cronenberg, sadomasochism, and women who wait. All Things Are Too Small is brilliant cultural and literary critic Becca Rothfeld’s plea for derangement: imbalance, obsession,... Read more

Ten Steps to Nanette

A Memoir Situation

By: Hannah Gadsby
Narrated by: Hannah Gadsby
Length: 13 hours 47 minutes

“My first exposure to Hannah Gadsby was watching Nanette on Netflix. Nanette is funny, witty, heartbreaking, and excruciatingly well crafted. Gadsby’s memoir about the experiences that led her there is no different. Ten Steps to Nanette is many things. Gadsby elegantly synthesizes the narrative threads of her childhood, family, queerness, and... Read more

Shit, Actually

The Definitive, 100% Objective Guide to Modern Cinema

By: Lindy West
Narrated by: Lindy West
Length: 7 hours 16 minutes

“I would give this book a rating of 10/10 DVD copies of The Fugitive. Absolutely hilarious—I laughed out loud several times. I have watched most of the movies she talked about and am going to watch the one's I haven't immediately!! This is the perfect book for anyone who loves trash talking bad movies, pointing out plot holes, and discussing... Read more

The Witches Are Coming

By: Lindy West
Narrated by: Lindy West
Length: 6 hours 27 minutes

“This was recommended to me as a funny political/social commentary read, particularly the audiobook. Lindy West is funny, on the point, and full of rational sense! So many things became clear, like why I no longer watch "funny" movies made by "funny" men. I highly recommend this to anybody who like humor and non-fiction/memoir/stuff. Particularly... Read more

The Baseball 100

By: Joe Posnanski
Narrated by: Cary Hite
Length: 30 hours 47 minutes

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * Winner of the CASEY Award for Best Baseball Book of the Year

“An instant sports classic.” —New York Post * “Stellar.” —The Wall Street Journal * “A true masterwork…880 pages of sheer baseball bliss.” —BookPage (starred review) * “This is a remarkable achievement.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

A magnum opus from... Read more

The View from Flyover Country

Dispatches from the Forgotten America

By: Sarah Kendzior
Narrated by: Sarah Kendzior
Length: 6 hours

NEW YORK TIMES and MIBA BESTSELLER

From the St. Louis–based journalist often credited with first predicting Donald Trump’s presidential victory.

"A collection of sharp-edged, humanistic pieces about the American heartland...Passionate pieces that repeatedly assail the inability of many to empathize and to humanize." — Kirkus

In 2015, Sarah Kendzior... Read more

The Best American Essays 2024

By: Wesley Morris & Kim Dana Kupperman
Narrated by: Emily Rankin, Cary Hite, Jeanette Illidge, Robert Fass & Nancy Wu
Length: 16 hours 39 minutes

A collection of the year’s best essays, selected by Pulitzer Prize–winning critic Wesley Morris and series editor Kim Dana Kupperman.“Imparting some piece of yourself—any part—is arduous and warrants some kind of commendation,” writes guest editor Wesley Morris in his introduction. Both personal and personable, the essayists in this volume use... Read more

Quietly Hostile

Essays

By: Samantha Irby
Narrated by: Samantha Irby
Length: 9 hours 31 minutes

“I'm obsessed with Samantha Irby (in a cute way, not a dangerous way). Her books are hilarious, endearing, and a little gross. Walking around the neighborhood listening to this audiobook got me a lot of weird looks as I gasped, gagged, talked back to her (she narrates all of her audiobooks!), and laughed with wild abandon. Read more

Vanishing Treasures

A Bestiary of Extraordinary Endangered Creatures

By: Katherine Rundell
Narrated by: Lenny Henry & Katherine Rundell
Length: 3 hours 18 minutes

“Funny, delightful, and incredibly engaging, this slim volume is also a crucial call to arms by an author I can’t wait for more people to discover. Read more

Lifeform

By: Jenny Slate
Narrated by: Jenny Slate, George Saunders, Vanessa Bayer & Will Forte
Length: 4 hours 57 minutes

Comedian and New York Times bestseller Jenny Slate’s wild, hilarious, genre-bending essays read in her singular voice depict life and motherhood as you’ve never seen it before. Featuring narration from friends Vanessa Bayer and Will Forte (“Schumacher 2”), and George Saunders (“The Therapist”).
 
What happened was this: Jenny Slate was a human... Read more

A Very Punchable Face

A Memoir

By: Colin Jost
Narrated by: Colin Jost
Length: 7 hours 40 minutes

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • In these hilarious essays, the Saturday Night Live head writer and Weekend Update co-anchor learns how to take a beating.

“I always wanted to punch his face before I read this book. Now I just want to kick him in the balls.”—Larry David

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY Cosmopolitan • Vulture • Parade

If there’s... Read more

Me Talk Pretty One Day

By: David Sedaris
Narrated by: David Sedaris
Length: 5 hours 50 minutes

A new collection from David Sedaris is cause for jubilation. His recent move to Paris has inspired hilarious pieces, including Me Talk Pretty One Day, about his attempts to learn French. His family is another inspiration. You Cant Kill the Rooster is a portrait of his brother who talks incessant hip-hop slang to his bewildered father. And no one... Read more

Yearbook

By: Seth Rogen
Narrated by: Seth Rogen & Full Cast
Length: 6 hours 13 minutes

“So funny. I couldn’t stop listening until I had heard all of his anecdotes. Loved it. Read more