Parenting Audiobooks | Health & Wellness

‘The best kind of book: the one you didn’t know you were craving until it appeared . . . self-interrogative, intricately perceptive. I absolutely inhaled it’ JIA TOLENTINO ‘A very richly interesting exploration of a complex subject. Begoña Gómez Urzaiz tells the stories with such intelligence and wit and generosity’ TESSA HADLEY Ingrid Bergman, Muriel Spark, Maria Montessori . . . what do these women have in common? During the pandemic, trapped at home with young children and struggling to find creative space to write, journalist Begoña Gómez Urzaiz became fixated on artistic women who were able to overcome both society’s judgement and their own maternal instincts in order to leave their children. More than anything, she was fascinated by her own prejudice towards these women, so clearly tied up in a much wider cultural bias. Using famous examples including Doris Lessing, fictional ones such as Anna Karenina, and interrogating modern trends like Momfluencers, Begoña reveals what our judgement of these women tells us about our judgement of all women. ‘The best book I've read on the implications of motherhood and its opposites after Sheila Heti's Motherhood’ CLAUDIA DURASTANTI

Begoña Gómez Urzaiz (Author), Emma Pennant-Rea, To Be Announced (Narrator)

Audiobook

Exam Nation: Why Our Obsession with Grades Fails Everyone – and a Better Way to Think About School

Sammy Wright (Author), Sammy Wright, TBD (Narrator)

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Meet Me in the Middle: 8 Mother-Daughter Conversations about Life and Faith

You can have an open and trusting relationship with your teenager. Mother-and-daughter team Sandra Stanley and Allie Stanley Cooney write in alternating chapters to you and your middle school/early high school daughter in this unique, interaction-prompting book that will help you grow in connection, communication, and faith. Some conversations between parent and child don't happen until a crisis forces them to occur. At that point, defenses go up, lines are drawn, feelings are hurt, and solutions seem out of reach. But what if those conversations happened before a crisis? This book helps make that happen. As leaders at one of the country's largest churches, Sandra Stanley and Allie Stanley Cooney not only have professional backgrounds working with young people, they have walked this path together. In Meet Me in the Middle, they draw on their experience to help you: - Use eight planned opportunities to have comfortable discussions with your daughter about the topics you care about most - Learn natural ways to communicate your faith - Hear firsthand what your daughter is most stressed about - Help your daughter navigate fear and anxiety - Approach the tricky subjects of friends, boys, and dating Discussion questions, Scripture, activity ideas, and outing suggestions in Meet Me in the Middle help pave the way to a strong, trusting relationship. As you and your daughter step toward one another, you'll explore how you both can: - Grow in faith as you find your identity and self-worth in Christ - Avoid the comparison trap - Nurture healthy relationships - Keep communication open Meet Me in the Middle guides you to a loving, trusting relationship with your tween or teen daughter as you grow closer, seek out God together, and enjoy each other along the way.

Allie Stanley Cooney, Sandra Stanley (Author), Allie Stanley Cooney, Sandra Stanley, TBD (Narrator)

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You'll Make It (and They Will Too): Everything No One Talks About When You're Parenting Teens

A lifeline of hope for parents of teens who feel adrift on the real and raw parenting journey, presented with wisdom and faith-and a touch of candid humor-from seasoned educator, mother, and Today Parenting contributor Amy Betters-Midtvedt. As a mom with five kids ages twelve to twenty-two living at home, Amy Betters-Midtvedt found that parenting teens challenged everything she thought it meant to be a "good" mom. But in the unraveling came the building of something new and more beautiful than she could have imagined: an incredible sense of love, hope, joy, and relationship-even in the mess. You'll Make It (And They Will Too) is as much about navigating the minefields of anxiety and mental health as it is setting curfews, convincing kids to bring their dishes back to the kitchen, and deciding whose turn it is to have the car keys. It's about dancing in the kitchen with soon-to-be adult kids who are taller than you. It's making appointments with a therapist and a college admissions counselor in the same week. It's helping your kids cling to faith even as they reject the pew on Sunday mornings. Through stories steeped in hope and prayer of both her professional and personal parenting journey, Amy shares: - words of comfort for when you feel alone, together with wisdom and strategies that will help you to not just survive the sleepless nights, but also to thrive as a stronger family unit - prayers to draw on God's strength when everything feels overwhelming - a path forward with your teenagers that brings you into a lifelong loving relationship - ways to celebrate the beauty in your teens in all that they are, just as God made them Each chapter will leave you equipped, encouraged, and less alone by guiding you through how to listen to your own heart when parenting your precious teen.

Amy Betters-Midtvedt (Author), Amy Betters-Midtvedt, TBD (Narrator)

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Fi: A Memoir of My Son

Brought to you by Penguin. From the award-winning New York Times-bestselling author of Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight, Alexandra Fuller, comes a career-defining memoir about grieving the sudden loss of her twenty-one-year-old child It’s midsummer in Wyoming and Alexandra Fuller is barely hanging on. Grieving her father and pining for her home country of Zimbabwe, reeling from a midlife breakup, freshly sober and piecing her way uncertainly through a volatile new relationship with a younger woman, Alexandra vows to get herself back on even keel. And then – suddenly and incomprehensibly – her son Fi, at twenty-one years old, dies in his sleep. No stranger to loss – young siblings, a parent, a home country – Alexandra is nonetheless levelled. At the same time, she is painfully aware that she cannot succumb and abandon her two surviving daughters as her mother before her had done. From a sheep wagon deep in the mountains of Wyoming to a grief sanctuary in New Mexico to a silent meditation retreat in Alberta, Canada, Alexandra journeys up and down the spine of the Rocky Mountains in an attempt to find how to grieve herself whole. There is no answer, and there are countless answers – in poetry, in rituals and routines, in nature and in the indigenous wisdom she absorbed as a child in Zimbabwe. By turns disarming, devastating and unexpectedly, blessedly funny, Alexandra recounts the wild medicine of painstakingly grieving a child in a culture that has no instructions for it. 'Truly extraordinary' HELEN MACDONALD, author of H is for Hawk ©2024 Alexandra Fuller (P)2024 Penguin Audio

Alexandra Fuller (Author), Alexandra Fuller, TBD (Narrator)

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Walking in Wonder: A Devotional Journal for Moms of Toddlers

Embrace the independent and energetic toddler year with this weekly devotional journal-a keepsake memory book created with your spiritual growth in mind as you watch your child grow day by day. In this beautiful companion to Waiting in Wonder and Watching in Wonder, popular blogger Catherine Claire Larson encourages moms to receive God's peace and grace during the intense and joy-filled toddler year. Designed to help you discover God's love in a new way as your little one discovers their world, Walking in Wonder includes: - Three Scripture-based devotions each week centered on spiritual and parenting themes such as resting, feeding, and speaking - Monthly 'Memories and Milestones' sections to document your toddler's growth - Thoughtful journaling prompts with space to record stories and prayers during this busy and delightful year With its invitation to draw near to God as you navigate your child's second year of life, this is a unique and thoughtful gift for adoption parties, birthday celebrations, or simply for yourself and future generations. Savor the transformation happening in your faith life as you enjoy the remarkable changes in your toddler.

Catherine Claire Larson (Author), Laura Jennings (Narrator)

Audiobook

Never Had a Dad

Georgie Codd (Author), Georgie Codd, TBD (Narrator)

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Your Postpartum Body: The Complete Guide to Healing After Pregnancy

A comprehensive, one-of-a-kind, evidence-based handbook to support postpartum healing and recovery What should you expect when you're done expecting? Too many of us think that there's no way to fix everyday concerns after a pregnancy, such as pelvic floor issues, exhaustion and burnout, and getting back into a fitness routine. But it's simply not true. With this revolutionary resource in hand, you'll learn what happens to the body during pregnancy and childbirth, common changes in function and feeling, and solutions for healing. Your Postpartum Body was written with expertise by a pelvic floor physical therapist who wants you to know that you can feel like yourself again-physically and mentally. You've probably heard plenty of anecdotes about what might help or hurt (to Kegel or not to Kegel?), but they're not necessarily backed up with medical expertise and practical advice. Your Postpartum Body fills that gap as a complete reference guide for every eventuality, from making sure you're getting enough fluids to troubleshooting breastfeeding to pelvic floor recovery, with helpful illustrations and photos throughout. While your body is undoubtedly different (after all, you just grew a human!), you do not have to live with pain, incontinence, weakness, or nursing/feeding stress. You now hold the tools and techniques you need to heal and nourish your body and mind.

Courtney Naliboff, Ruth E. Macy (Author), TBD (Narrator)

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What Are Children For?: On Ambivalence and Choice

A modern argument, grounded in philosophy and cultural criticism, about childbearing ambivalence and how to overcome it Becoming a parent, once the expected outcome of adulthood, is increasingly viewed as a potential threat to the most basic goals and aspirations of modern life. We seek self-fulfillment; we want to liberate women to find meaning and self-worth outside the home; and we wish to protect the planet from the ravages of climate change. Weighing the pros and cons of having children, Millennials and Zoomers are finding it increasingly difficult to judge in its favor. With lucid argument and passionate prose, Anastasia Berg and Rachel Wiseman offer the guidance necessary to move beyond uncertainty. The decision whether or not to have children, they argue, is not just a women’s issue but a basic human one. And at a time when climate change worries threaten the very legitimacy of human reproduction, Berg and Wiseman conclude that neither our personal nor collective failures ought to prevent us from embracing the fundamental goodness of human life—not only in the present but, in choosing to have children, in the future.

Anastasia Berg, Rachel Wiseman (Author), Jennifer Pickens, Kirsten Potter, TBD, Zura Johnson (Narrator)

Audiobook

MILF: Motherhood, Identity, Love and F*ckery

Brought to you by Penguin. Can women have it all? What does it mean to be a woman and a mother in the modern age? In this passionate, funny and fierce polemic, Paloma Faith delves deep into the issues that face women today, from puberty and sexual awakenings, to battling through the expectations of patriarchy and the Supermum myth. Infused with Paloma's characteristic humour and raw honesty about the challenges of IVF and the early years of motherhood, this book is a beautiful celebration of women's work and the invisible load women carry. Moving from questions around identity and how motherhood impacts on that, to what it even means to be a 'good mother', how we need to embrace messiness, imperfection and the bitter sweet pleasures of being 'selfish' and putting ourselves first. Paloma invites us into her own coming of age and relationship with her mum, to explore how our bonds with our children evolve into adulthood. We see a glimpse of the complexities and joys of Paloma's experience of juggling romantic love, heartbreak and dating with the demands of motherhood. ©2024 Paloma Faith (P)2024 Penguin Audio

Paloma Faith (Author), Paloma Faith, TBD (Narrator)

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Fighting Shadows: Stop Wasting Time Arguing About What a Man Is---Just Be One

In a world that's grown increasingly confused about--and hostile toward--the very notion of masculinity, authors Jefferson Bethke and Jon Tyson send a powerful call to men everywhere: it's time to step into the light of Jesus' vision for you as a man. There's a shadow that's settled over the hearts of men today. Masculinity is in crisis. Critiques about the dangers of toxic masculinity and the abuses of patriarchal systems have grown louder than ever. The very notions of masculinity and manhood are under attack. In response to cultural shifts, some have doubled down on old stereotypes in ways that just add to the conflict and confusion. The result? Many men simply feel paralyzed--worried about saying the wrong thing, unsure what to do with their ambitions or strengths, simultaneously tempted and shamed by a hypersexualized and pornified culture. Our models and mentors have failed us. Based on their years of working in men's ministry, Bethke and Tyson have good news for men looking for clarity and courage in this age of quiet desperation. In Fighting Shadows, they help men - overcome the temptations of escapism, passivity, or overcompensation; - combat the most harmful shadows that men battle today, including loneliness, apathy, distraction, lust, and shame; and - embrace masculinity as a God-given gift, not a curse to be avoided, suppressed, or battled. An entire generation of men is being told they should abdicate the responsibility and joy of living into God's calling on their lives-don't be one of them. If you're a man who's wondering what to do with your strength, your longings, and your gifts, it's time to step out of the shadows. Jesus has a vision for you.

Jefferson Bethke, Jon Tyson (Author), Jefferson Bethke, Jon Tyson, TBD (Narrator)

Audiobook

Excitable Boy: Essays on Risk

A wild ride through a disaffected youth by a gifted writer. Dominic Gordon explores his memories in tight prose bursting with insight, audacious ideas, and dark humor. What happens to the adolescent spirit when all vestiges of innocence about the world are foregone, replaced within the grinding sounds of concrete and metal of the CBD of Melbourne? A place where train tunnels become nesting sites, carpark stairwells spots to refuel on methamphetamine and hide from predators; where agility leads you across nightclub rooftops, yielding cash in tight spaces with a quick reflex. For a rest, why not ride on the back of a train as it speeds through the night? The dangers of a decades-long exploration of risk in the streets of his city is exhilarating. Excitable Boy is an immersive experience of what it was like growing up in and around criminal-class and working-class culture in the inner city of Melbourne at the turn of the twentieth century.

Dominic Gordon (Author), Dominic Gordon, Kyle Walmsley, TBD (Narrator)

Audiobook

Parenting Audiobooks in Health & Wellness