Audiobooks narrated by Nikki Massoud

The Evin Prison Bakers’ Club: Surviving Iran's Most Notorious Prisons in 16 Recipes

How do you cheer up a woman who has spent hours cleaning prison toilets with a broken mop? The secret is in a tres leches cake. In Iran’s prisons, women endure horrors: they are beaten, interrogated, and humiliated in a thousand ways. Even a whisper to a fellow inmate can be punished. Yet—in spite of anything and everything—they resist: they bake. They console each other, cry together, dance together. Sepideh Gholian, in prison since 2018, bakes scones for Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s daughter, a pumpkin pie for Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi, madeleines for Marzieh Amiri, serving time for a May Day demonstration in 2019. The Evin Prison Bakers’ Club is a call to stand up for Woman, Life, Freedom by a woman still fighting for a free Iran.

Sepideh Gholian (Author), Nikki Massoud (Narrator)

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Unbecoming

Two Muslim teens in Texas fight for access to abortion while one harbors a painful secret in this funny and heartfelt near-future speculative novel perfect for fans of Unpregnant. In a not-too-distant America, abortions are prosecuted and the right to choose is no longer an option. But best friends Laylah and Noor want to change the world. After graduating high school, they'll become an OBGYN and a journalist, but in the meantime, they're working on an illegal guide to abortion in Texas. In response to the unfair laws, underground networks of clinics have sprung up, but the good fight has gotten even more precarious as it becomes harder to secure safe medication and supplies. Both Layla and Noor are passionate about getting their guide completed so it can help those in need, but Laylah treats their project with an urgency Noor doesn't understand—that may have something to do with the strange goings-on between their mosque and a local politician. Fighting for what they believe in may involve even more obstacles than they bargained for, but the two best friends will continue as they always have: together.

Seema Yasmin (Author), Nikki Massoud, Reena Dutt, Suehyla El-Attar Young, TBD (Narrator)

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On the Art of the Craft: A Guidebook to Collaborative Storytelling

A writing companion, inspirational guide to the craft, and anthology featuring outstanding essays from the acclaimed nonprofit mentoring organization on its twenty-fifth anniversary helping underserved youth find their voice. We all have stories to tell, but not everyone gets the training or encouragement necessary to be great storytellers. Founded a quarter century ago, the Girls Write Now mentoring program has helped young women and gender expansive youth unleash their creative talent to gain confidence and skills that last a lifetime. When these underserved communities get to tell their stories in their most powerful voices, we all benefit from their insight, empathy, ideas, ingenuity, and ultimately hope. In celebration of the organization’s more than two decades working with youth, this hands-on guide gives aspiring young writers the tools they need to develop their own skills—including tips, insights on the writing and publishing process, critical thinking about the future of storytelling, and advice on how to become a writer—drawn from their creative workshops and one-on-one mentoring. With this handbook, readers everywhere can develop their own talents, thoughts, and ideas to become the writers—and leaders—they are capable of becoming, no matter their pathway in life. On the Art of the Craft is structured around three main themes: Creation, Combination, and Transformation. From the organization’s remarkable archive, current mentees have selected topical and resonant pieces and addressed them, crafting their own essay in conversation with the past. At the end of each piece, readers will find prompts they can use to craft their own responses. Both uplifting and practical, this book, written by young people, is meant to help the upcoming generations empower each other. Showcasing rising talents, offering fresh and welcome new perspectives, and providing hands-on tools, community, and encouragement, On the Art of the Craft will inspire change for all.

Girls Write Now (Author), Alice Wen, Dana Wing Lau, Elena Rey, Grace Capeless, Karen Chilton, Nicky Endres, Nikki Massoud, Rachel Perry, Reader Tbd 1, Tyla Collier (Narrator)

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Just Another Epic Love Poem

Best friendship blossoms into something more in this gorgeously written queer literary romance. Over the past five years, Mitra Esfahani has known two constants: her best friend Bea Ortega and The Book-a dogeared moleskin she and Bea have been filling with the stanzas of an epic, never-ending poem since they were 13. For introverted Mitra, The Book is one of the few places she can open herself completely and where she gets to see all sides of brilliant and ebullient Bea. There, they can share everything-Mitra's complicated feelings about her absent mother, Bea's heartache over her most recent breakup-nothing too messy or complicated for The Book. Nothing except the one thing with the power to change their entire friendship: the fact that Mitra is helplessly in love with Bea. Told in lyrical, confessional prose and snippets of poetry Just Another Epic Love Poem takes readers on a journey that is equal parts joyful, heartbreaking, and funny as Mitra and Bea navigate the changing nature of I love you.

Parisa Akhbari (Author), Elena Rey, Nikki Massoud, TBD (Narrator)

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The Summer Queen

This captivating sequel to The Buried and the Bound draws listeners into the twisted and irresistible world of the Fair Folk―perfect for fans of The Cruel Prince and The Hazel Wood. As a new coven, Aziza, Leo, and Tristan faced evil and triumphed. All that’s left is to put their lives back together, a process complicated by the fallout from painful secrets, the emotional and physical scars they now carry, and the mysteries that still haunt them. But with the approach of the solstice comes the arrival of strange new visitors to Blackthorn: the Summer Court, a nomadic community of Fair Folk from deep in Elphame. They’ve journeyed to the border between the human world and fairyland, far from their usual caravan route, to take back something that belongs to them―something Leo’s not willing to lose. 'Refusing to give up without a fight, he makes a risky deal with the Summer Court’s princess and regent. The challenge she proposes sends Coven Blackthorn into the farthest, wildest reaches of Elphame. But when you play games with the Fair Folk, even winning has a cost.

Rochelle Hassan (Author), Dan Bittner, Daniel Henning, Nikki Massoud (Narrator)

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Sad Happens

A beautifully-illustrated, celebratory anthology exploring sadness—and the transformative power of tears. When was the last time you cried? Was it because you were sad? Or happy? Overwhelmed, or frustrated? Maybe from relief or from pride? Was it in public or in private? Did you feel better afterwards, or worse? The reasons that we cry—and the circumstances in which we shed a tear—are often surprising and beautiful. Sad Happens is a collective, multi-faceted archive of tears that captures the complexity and variety of these circumstances. We hear from Mike Birbiglia on the role that grief and pain have in comedy; Jia Tolentino on how motherhood made her cry in both hormonal joy and fervent rage; and Hanif Abdurraqib on the intimacy of crying on planes. We hear from Phoebe Bridgers on poignant moments of departure and JP Brammer on the strange disappointments of success; Matt Berninger on becoming a crybaby in his adulthood and Hua Hsu on crying during a moment of public uncertainty. We also hear from everyday people in a range of professions: an actor on the tips she learned from drag queens about preserving a full face of makeup while crying; a zookeeper on mourning the animals who have died during her tenure; a bartender on crying in the walk-in; and a TV critic on the shows that have moved her. Brimming with humanity, this anthology is confirmation that sad happens—but so does joy, love, a sense of community, and a host of other emotions. By turns moving and affirming, Sad Happens is an emotional balm and visual delight.

Brandon Stosuy (Author), André Santana, Cynthia Farrell, Deanna Anthony, Em Grosland, Eric Yang, George Newbern, Nikki Massoud, Reena Dutt (Narrator)

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The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2023

Award-winning writer, columnist, and journalists Carl Zimmer selects twenty science and nature essays that represent the best examples of the form published in 2022. “What's most compelling about a scientific story is the way it challenges us to think about the concepts we take for granted,” writes guest editor Carl Zimmer in his introduction. The essays in this year’s Best American Science and Nature Writing probe at the ordinary and urge us to think more deeply about our place in the world around us. From a hopeful portrait of a future for people with Alzheimer’s disease, to a fascinating exploration of the rise of nearsightedness in children, to the heroic story of a herd of cows that evaded a hurricane, these selections reveal how science and nature shape our everyday lives. With tremendous intelligence, clarity, and insight, this anthology offers an expansive look at where we are and where we are headed. The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2023 includes JESSICA CAMILLE AGUIRRE • VANESSA GREGORY • SABRINA IMBLER FERRIS JABR • MARION RENAULT • ELIZABETH SVOBODA NATALIE WOLCHOVER • SARAH ZHANG and others

Carl Zimmer, Jaime Green (Author), Em Grosland, Jeena Yi, Johnny Rey Diaz, Katharine Chin, Nikki Massoud, Shahjehan Khan (Narrator)

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The Best American Food Writing 2023

A collection of the year’s top food writing, selected by prolific food writer and author of How to Cook Everything Mark Bittman. 'In almost any culture, at any time, you can find food writing,” writes guest editor Mark Bittman in his introduction. “Food means growing and hardship, and health and medicine, and work and holiday. In its abundance it is a gift and a joy, and in its absence a curse and a tragedy. If a culture has writing, that culture has food writing.” The stories in this year’s Best American Food Writing are brilliant, eye-opening windows into the heart of our country’s culture. From the link between salt and sex, to Syrian refugees transforming ancient Turkish food traditions, to the FDA’s crusade on alternative non-dairy milk options, to Black farmers in Arkansas seeking justice, the scope of these essays spans nearly every aspect of our society. This anthology offers an entertaining and poignant look at how food shapes our lives and how food writing shapes our culture. THE BEST AMERICAN FOOD WRITING 2023 INCLUDES JAYA SAXENA • LIGAYA MISHAN • MARION NESTLE TOM PHILPOTT • WESLEY BROWN • ALICIA KENNEDY CAROLINE HATCHETT • AMY LOEFFLER and others

Mark Bittman, Silvia Killingsworth (Author), Anthony Rey Perez, Carolina Hoyos, Chanté Mccormick, Dylan Moore, Elyse Dinh, Johnny Rey Diaz, Justin Chien, Nikki Massoud, Terrence Kidd, Will Tulin (Narrator)

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50 Years of Ms.: The Best of the Pathfinding Magazine That Ignited a Revolution

A celebration of Ms.-the most startling, most audacious, most norm-breaking of the magazine's groundbreaking pieces on women, men, politics (sexual and otherwise), marriage, family, education, work, motherhood, and reproductive rights, as well as the best of the magazine's fiction, poetry, and letters. • Featuring Billie Jean King, Alison Bechdel, and Audre Lorde, among many others. "I've been a Ms. reader since its earliest days. The magazine's bold, boundary-breaking reporting has motivated me, infuriated me, and inspired me. And now this one extraordinary book-50 Years of Ms.-captures it all." -Jane Fonda, actor and activist "Ms.-in 1972-normalized being a woman, abortion and all. And here we are, 50 years later, needing that now more than ever." -Sarah Silverman, comedian, actor, and writer For the past five decades Ms. has been the nation's most influential source of feminist ideas, and it remains at the forefront of feminism today, affecting thought and culture with a younger-than-ever readership (ages 16-20!). Ms. was the first U.S. magazine to: - feature prominent American women demanding the repeal of laws that criminalized abortion - explain and advocate for the Equal Rights Amendment - rate presidential candidates on women's issues - feature domestic violence and sexual harassment on its cover, long before either was widely understood or acknowledged - commission and publish a national study on date rape Here is the best reporting, fiction, and advertising, decade by decade, as well as the best photographs and features that reveal and reflect the changes set in motion by Ms., along with the iconic covers that galvanized readers. Here are essays, profiles, conversations with and features by: Alice Walker, Cynthia Enloe, Pauli Murray, Nancy Pelosi, bell hooks, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Brittney Cooper, and Joy Harjo, as well as fiction and poetry by Toni Morrison, Joyce Carol Oates, Adrienne Rich, Rita Dove, and Sharon Olds, and many others. * This audiobook edition includes a downloadable PDF of visuals from the book.

Katherine Spillar (Author), Annie Q, Carolina Hoyos, Donna Allen, Emily Lawrence, Hayden Bishop, Henriette Zoutomou, Hillary Huber, Imani Jade Powers, Jonathan Todd Ross, Nancy Bober, Nikki Massoud (Narrator)

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Book of Queens: The True Story of the Middle Eastern Horsewomen Who Fought the War on Terror

The untold story of generations of Middle Eastern freedom fighters-horsewomen who safeguarded an ancient breed of Caspian horse-and their efforts to defend their homelands from the Taliban and others seeking to destroy them."A breathtaking book that revisits nearly one hundred years of Iranian history, highlighting the power and beauty of women who refuse to be subdued." ―Alison Hawthorne Deming, author of A Woven World Book of Queens reaches back centuries to the Persian Empire and a woman disguised as a man, facing an invading army, protected only by light armor and the stallion she sat astride. Mahdavi draws a thread from past to present: from her fearless Iranian grandmother, who guided survivors of domestic violence to independent mountain colonies in Afghanistan where the women, led by a general named Mina, became their country's first line of defense from marauding warlords. To the female warriors who helped train and breed the horses used by US Green Berets when they touched down in October 2001, with a mission but insufficient intelligence on the ground-women whose contributions were then forgotten. Pardis Mahdavi chases the legacy of Caspian horses and the women whose lives are saved by them, drawing on decades of research, newly-discovered diaries, and exclusive military sources. Among those intersecting stories is that of American Louise Firouz, who helped bring the breed back from the brink of extinction, connecting Virginia traders to British royals to the son of the Shah. Firouz's life is forever changed when she meets Mahdavi's own family, who run an unusual smuggling operation in addition to raising horses in a wild bid for freedom. Book of Queens is an epic tale of hidden women whose communal knowledge was instrumental in saving an animal as ancient as civilization, and who were the genesis of their own liberation.

Pardis Mahdavi (Author), Nikki Massoud, Pardis Mahdavi, Sean Rohani, Shila Ommi, Sitara Attaie, Suzanne Toren (Narrator)

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The Kitchen Witch: Your Complete Guide to Creating a Magical Kitchen with Natural Ingredients, Sacre

Discover the magical properties, qualities, and symbolism of 100 basic ingredients so they can add magic to any meal—at any time and in any situation. Every house witch knows: the kitchen is an essential part of your magical practice. From preparing food to enjoying a meal, it's important to honor the process of making a dish, to appreciate each individual ingredient, and to make magic from the recipes you already know and love. First, dive into the world of kitchen magic and spellwork; then go back to the basics to learn the magical properties, qualities, and symbolism of 100 essential everyday ingredients so that you can learn to add a little magic to every meal. You'll learn: -That chocolate (especially the rich, dark variety!) is associated with love -That snacking on figs can spark creativity and even help you earn money from your creative endeavors -That you should choose your squash wisely for different shapes, colors, and even growing seasons are associated with different outcomes -That onions can be used to ward off evil spirits and negative energies and can protect your home -And much more! Transform your favorite recipes into magical spells, use different ingredients to maximum advantage, and enhance your kitchen witchery with the help of The Kitchen Witch.

Skye Alexander (Author), Nikki Massoud (Narrator)

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Untethered Sky

From World Fantasy Award–winning author Fonda Lee comes an epic fantasy fable about the pursuit of obsession at all costs. Ester’s family was torn apart when a manticore killed her mother and baby brother, leaving her with nothing but her father’s painful silence and a single, overwhelming need to kill the monsters that took her family. Ester’s path leads her to the king’s Royal Mews, where the giant rocs of legend are flown to hunt manticores by their brave and dedicated ruhkers. Paired with a fledgling roc named Zahra, Ester finds purpose and acclaim by devoting herself to a calling that demands absolute sacrifice and a creature that will never return her love. The terrifying partnership between woman and roc leads Ester not only on the empire’s most dangerous manticore hunt, but on a journey of perseverance and acceptance.

Fonda Lee (Author), Nikki Massoud (Narrator)

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Audiobooks Narrated by Nikki Massoud