Biography & Memoir audiobooks

A Field Full of Butterflies

By: Rosemary Penfold

Narrated by: Anna Bentinck

Length: 8 hours 50 minutes

Abridged: No

Rosemary Penfold was born in 1938 in a traditional Gypsy wagon, and grew up in the fields of the English countryside. In this beautiful and evocative memoir, she recounts her life within a loving extended family and small but close-knit community.

From early memories of her father bringing home oranges during the war, to the simple beauty of a... Read more

The Long Goodbye

By: Meghan O'Rourke

Narrated by: Meghan O'Rourke

Length: 6 hours 53 minutes

Abridged: No

From one of America's foremost young literary voices, a transcendent portrait of the unbearable anguish of grief and the enduring power of familial love.

What does it mean to mourn today, in a culture that has largely set aside rituals that acknowledge grief? After her mother died of cancer at the age of fifty-five, Meghan O'Rourke found that... Read more

Plutarch’s Lives, Vol. 2

By: Plutarch

Narrated by: Bernard Mayes

Length: 41 hours 7 minutes

Abridged: No

One of the world’s most profoundly influential literary works and the basis for Shakespeare’s Roman plays (Julius Caesar, Coriolanus, and Antony and Cleopatra), Plutarch’s Lives have been entertaining and arousing the spirit of emulation in countless readers since their creation at the beginning of the second century.Originally named Parallel... Read more

C. H. Spurgeon’s Autobiography, Vol. 1

By: C.H. Spurgeon

Narrated by: Simon Vance

Length: 21 hours 53 minutes

Abridged: No

At the age of seventeen, Spurgeon became pastor to a handful of believers at Waterbeach in Cambridgeshire, meeting in what had been a dovecote. Within five years, he had become the best-known minister in London. Two years later, following the Sepoy Mutiny, he conducted a service of national humiliation in the Crystal Palace that was attended by... Read more

The Life of Stonewall Jackson

By: Mary L. Williamson

Narrated by: Lloyd James

Length: 3 hours 14 minutes

Abridged: No

Known for his military prowess and Christian character, Thomas Jackson was one of the Confederacy’s greatest commanders—and one of God’s most devoted warriors. Williamson’s biography traces the general’s life from orphaned child, West Point cadet, and Sunday school teacher to military institute professor, Mexican War officer, and Civil War... Read more

Plutarch’s Lives, Vol. 1

By: Plutarch

Narrated by: Bernard Mayes

Length: 42 hours 27 minutes

Abridged: No

One of the world’s most profoundly influential literary works and the basis for Shakespeare’s Roman plays (Julius Caesar, Coriolanus, and Antony and Cleopatra), Plutarch’s Lives have been entertaining and arousing the spirit of emulation in countless readers since their creation at the beginning of the second century.Originally named Parallel... Read more

A Reason to Believe

By: Governor Deval Patrick

Narrated by: Governor Deval Patrick

Length: 6 hours 9 minutes

Abridged: No

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Deval Patrick, “an inspirational figure guided by optimism and hope who presaged the rise of President Obama” (The Boston Globe), recounts his extraordinary journey from the South Side of Chicago to the governorship of Massachusetts.
 
“I’ve simply seen too much goodness in this... Read more

The Best Advice I Ever Got

By: Katie Couric

Narrated by: Various

Length: 7 hours 37 minutes

Abridged: No

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • For anyone who wants to see how today’s best and brightest got it right, got it wrong, and came out on top.

What was the tipping point for Malcolm Gladwell? What unscripted event made Meryl Streep who she is? In this inspiration-packed book, Katie Couric reports from the front lines of the worlds of politics,... Read more

This Life Is in Your Hands

By: Melissa Coleman

Narrated by: Melissa Coleman

Length: 9 hours 38 minutes

Abridged: No

“Lyrical and down-to-earth, wry and heartbreaking, This Life Is in Your Hands is a fascinating and powerful memoir. Melissa Coleman doesn’t just tell the story of her family’s brave experiment and private tragedy; she brings to life an important and underappreciated chapter of our recent history.” —Tom Perrotta In a work of power and beauty... Read more

The Heart and the Fist

By: Eric Greitens

Narrated by: Eric Greitens

Length: 10 hours 49 minutes

Abridged: No

Like many young idealists, Eric Greitens wanted to make a difference. During college and afterward, he traveled to the world's trouble spots, working in refugee camps, serving the sick and the poor on four continents, from Gaza to Croatia to Mother Teresa's home in Calcutta, among others. Yet he could not prevent violence or save anyone from... Read more

Morgan

By: Jean Strouse

Narrated by: Nelson Runger

Length: 43 hours 14 minutes

Abridged: No

Noted biographer Jean Strouse has won the Bancroft Prize and received fellowships from the Guggenheim Memorial Foundation and the National Endowments for the Humanities and Arts. Her work has appeared in major magazines including The New Yorker and Newsweek. In Morgan, she creates the first complete portrait of a man who defined American... Read more

A Golfer's Education

By: Darren Kilfara

Narrated by: Scott Shina

Length: 10 hours 53 minutes

Abridged: No

In this funny, perceptive memoir, Golf Digest writer and ESPN commentator Darren Kilfara lives the dream of many American golf enthusiasts. While a student at Harvard, Kilfara convinces the school that he needs a year of study in Scotland. Once there, he purchases a student pass to the courses of St. Andrews for a mere $150. Taking full... Read more

Berlin Diaries

By: Marie Vassiltchikov

Narrated by: Alexandra O'Karma

Length: 13 hours 50 minutes

Abridged: No

A princess of White Russian descent, Marie Vassiltchikov was 23 years old when she was trapped in Berlin by the outbreak of World War II. In these secret diaries, she chronicles the glamorous rise and shattering fall of the Nazi Party, as seen from the vantage point of her desk at the Foreign Ministry. She also describes how she and her friends... Read more

The Education of Henry Adams

By: Henry Adams

Narrated by: John McDonough

Length: 21 hours 16 minutes

Abridged: No

This autobiography was immediately hailed as a masterpiece upon publication and has even been called the greatest nonfiction book ever written. Henry Adams, whose great-grandfather and grandfather were both U.S. presidents, fills his story with one unforgettably brilliant observation after another. Filled with uncommon wisdom, this book also... Read more

Outlaw Journalist

By: William McKeen

Narrated by: William McKeen

Length: 15 hours 47 minutes

Abridged: No

Esteemed author and journalism professor William McKeen chronicles the mesmerizing life of legendary Gonzo journalist and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas author Hunter S. Thompson. Thompson's childhood is detailed, along with his explosive relationship with his editors at Playboy and Rolling Stone, his drug use, his controversial persona, and... Read more

Freedom in the Family

By: Tananarive Due & Patricia Stephens Due

Narrated by: Lizan Mitchell & Patricia R. Floyd

Length: 17 hours 21 minutes

Abridged: No

Tananarive Due, best-selling author and American Book Award winner, and her mother, Patricia Stephens Due, guide listeners through the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s. Told in alternating chapters, their story is a triumphant memoir of their experiences with everyday people fighting for equality as members of grassroots organizations in the... Read more

Brothers, Rivals, Victors

By: Jonathan W. Jordan

Narrated by: William Hughes

Length: 23 hours 35 minutes

Abridged: No

The true story of the friendship—and rivalry—among the greatest American generals of World War IISupreme Allied Commander Dwight D. Eisenhower, General George S. Patton, and General Omar N. Bradley engineered the Allied conquest that shattered Hitler’s hold over Europe. But they also shared an intricate web of relationships going back decades.... Read more

Jeannie Out of the Bottle

By: Barbara Eden & Wendy Leigh

Narrated by: Barbara Eden

Length: 7 hours 16 minutes

Abridged: No

A magical, heartwarming memoir from one of Hollywood’s most beloved actresses, best known for her iconic role on I Dream of Jeannie
 
The landmark NBC hit television series I Dream of Jeannie has delighted generations of audiences and inspired untold numbers of teenage crushes on its beautiful blond star, Barbara Eden, for decades. Part pristine... Read more

A Covert Affair

By: Jennet Conant

Narrated by: Jan Maxwell

Length: 13 hours 54 minutes

Abridged: No

By bestselling author Jennet Conant, a stunning account of Julia Child’s early life as a member of the OSS in the Far East during World War II, and the tumultuous years when she and Paul Child were caught up in the McCarthy witch hunt and behaved with bravery and honor.

Bestselling author Jennet Conant brings us a stunning account of Julia and... Read more

I'm Over All That

By: Shirley MacLaine

Narrated by: Shirley MacLaine

Length: 5 hours 25 minutes

Abridged: No

The New York Times bestseller—now in paperback. Award-winning actress Shirley MacLaine pens the most funny, accessible, and timely book of her career, detailing all the things she’s over…and a few she’s not.

At a certain time in life, we all come to realize what is truly important to us and what just doesn’t matter. For Shirley MacLaine, that... Read more

Bossypants

By: Tina Fey

Narrated by: Tina Fey

Length: 5 hours 31 minutes

Abridged: No

Spirited and whip-smart, these laugh-out-loud autobiographical essays are "a masterpiece" from the Emmy Award-winning actress and comedy writer known for 30 Rock, Mean Girls, and SNL" (Sunday Telegraph).

Before Liz Lemon, before "Weekend Update," before "Sarah Palin," Tina Fey was just a young girl with a dream: a recurring stress dream that she... Read more

One Hundred Names for Love

By: Diane Ackerman

Narrated by: Barbara McCulloh

Length: 13 hours 8 minutes

Abridged: No

Diane Ackerman is an Orion Book Award-winning author and naturalist. In One Hundred Names for Love, Ackerman reflects on the time she spent caring for her husband, Pushcart Prize-winning novelist Paul West, after a stroke took his ability to speak. With conventional therapy not working, Ackerman decided to step in and do everything she could to... Read more

Tales of Two Cities

By: Abbas Milani

Narrated by: Simon Vance

Length: 5 hours 8 minutes

Abridged: No

Born in 1949 to a prosperous family in Tehran, Abbas Milani grew up in an Iran of culture and tradition. He was sent to the United States for his studies, and it was there that he made his transition to adulthood, becoming active intellectually, sexually, and politically. Flush with 1960s idealism, he returned home in 1975, only to find his... Read more

Soul Surfer

By: Bethany Hamilton

Narrated by: Eleni Pappageorge

Length: 3 hours 47 minutes

Abridged: No

She lost her arm in a shark attack and nearly died, but she never lost her faith. Now a major motion picture, Soul Surfer is the moving story of Bethany Hamilton’s triumphant return to competitive surfing and has continued to be a beacon of inspiration to all who hear it. They say Bethany Hamilton has saltwater in her veins. How else could one... Read more