General Audiobooks | Science & Technology

Award-winning memoirist and New York Times best-selling author Nuala O'Faolain branches into new territory with her biography of the infamous Irish-American prostitute and thief, Chicago May. O'Faolain uses May's autobiography, primary sources from the turn of the 19th century and her own experience as an Irishwoman to bring May-and all her heartache, deception and violence-to life. "The biographer makes herself a complement rather than an intrusion, and May emerges lively, unique and cut from the cloth of Irish and American reinvention." -Publishers Weekly

Nuala O'Faolain (Author), Terry Donnelly (Narrator)

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Barbra: The Way She Is

She is a one-name legend, a global icon, the ultimate diva. Yet most of what we know about Barbra Joan Streisand is the stuff of caricature: the Brooklyn girl made good, the ugly duckling who blossomed into a modern-day Nefertiti, the political dilettante driving to the barricades in her Rolls-Royce, the Oscar-winning actress and bona fide movie mogul, the greatest female singer who ever lived, a skinflint, a philanthropist, a connoisseur and a barbarian, the woman whose physical characteristics are instantly identifiable around the planet-the tapered nails, those slightly crossed eyes, that nose, the voice. Even to the multitudes around the world who idolize her, Streisand remains aloof, unknowable, tantalizingly beyond reach. Until now. In the manner of his number-one New York Times bestsellers The Day Diana Died and The Day John Died, Christopher Andersen taps into important sources-eyewitnesses to Streisand's remarkable life and career-to paint a startling portrait of the artist...and the woman. Whether you love her, hate her, or are simply spellbound by her titanic talent, Barbra is one thing above all others: a true American original.

Christopher Andersen (Author), Ellen Archer (Narrator)

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The Pursuit of Happyness

The astounding yet true rags-to-riches saga of a homeless father who raised and cared for his son on the mean streets of San Francisco and went on to become a crown prince of Wall Street. At the age of twenty, Chris Gardner arrived in San Francisco to pursue a promising career in medicine. However, he surprised everyone and himself by setting his sights on the competitive world of high finance. Yet no sooner had he landed an entry level position at a prestigious firm, Gardner found himself caught in a web of incredibly challenging circumstances that left him part of the city's working homeless with his toddler son. Motivated by the promise he made to himself as a fatherless child to never abandon his own children, the two spent almost a year moving from shelters, "HO-tels", and soup-lines. Never giving in to despair, Gardner makes an astonishing transformation from being part of the city's invisible to being a powerful player in its financial district. Here is the story of a man who breaks his own family's cycle of men abandoning their children, a story that appeals to the very essence of the American Dream. Read by Andre Blake

Chris Gardner (Author), Andre Blake (Narrator)

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And You Know You Should Be Glad: A True Story of Friendship

A highly personal and moving true story of friendship and remembrance from the New York Times bestselling author of Duty and Be True to Your School. Growing up in Bexley, Ohio, Bob Greene and his four best friends -- Allen, Chuck, Dan, and Jack -- were inseparable. Of the four, Jack was Bob\'s very best friend, a bond forged from the moment they met on the first day of kindergarten. They grew up together, got in trouble together, learned about life together -- and were ultimately separated by time and distance, as all adults are. But through the years Bob and Jack stayed close, holding on to the friendship that had formed years before. Then, the fateful call came: Jack was dying. And in this hour of need, as the closest of all friends will do, Bob, Allen, Chuck, and Dan put aside the demands of their own lives, came together, and saw Jack through to the end of his journey. Tremendously moving, funny, heart-stirring, and honest, And You Know You Should Be Glad is an uplifting exploration of the power of friendship to uphold us, sustain us, and ultimately set us free.

Bob Greene (Author), Bob Greene (Narrator)

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Now It's My Turn: A Daughter's Chronicle of Political Life

In the most eagerly awaited political memoir of the season, Mary Cheney presents a behind-the-scenes look at the high-intensity world of presidential politics and talks for the first time about her life, her family, her political views and her role in the campaigns of 2000 and 2004. As a senior adviser to her father, the vice president, she was in the middle of every major event of the 2000 and 2004 presidential contests -- at the conventions, the debates, and on the trail. Both elections made history -- and so did Mary. And for the first time ever, she writes about what it was like to be at the center of her father's campaigns as his daughter, as a member of the senior staff, and, though she never intended it, as a political target for the other side. In her frank, funny, and down-to-earth memoir, Mary Cheney describes life inside the bubble of a national campaign. She talks about her close relationship with her parents, how it feels to be pursued by the press, and what it was like when John Edwards and John Kerry made her sexual orientation an issue in live debates televised to millions of Americans. As she describes it, life inside a presidential campaign can be uplifting, frustrating, and heartbreaking, but no matter what else it may be, it's always entertaining.

Mary Cheney (Author), Mary Cheney (Narrator)

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A G-Man's Life: The FBI, Being

This absorbing account of Mark Felt's FBI career, from the end of the great American crime wave through World War II, the culture wars of the 1960s, and his conviction for his role in penetrating the Weather Underground, provides a rich historical and personal context to the "Deep Throat" chapter of his life. It also provides Felt's personal recollections of the Watergate scandal, which he wrote in 1982 and kept secret, in which he explains how he came to feel that the FBI needed a "Lone Ranger" to protect it from White House corruption.

John O'Connor, Mark Felt (Author), Michael Prichard (Narrator)

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A Perfect Union: Dolley Madison and the Creation of the American Nation

An extraordinary American comes to life in this vivid, incisive portrait of the early days of the republic-and the birth of modern politics hen the roar of the Revolution had finally died down, a new generation of American politicians was summoned to the Potomac to assemble the nation's newly minted capital. Into that unsteady atmosphere which would soon enough erupt into another conflict with Britain in 1812, Dolley Madison arrived, alongside her husband James. Within a few years, she had mastered both the social and political intricacies of the city, and, by her death in 1849, was the most celebrated person in Washington. And yet, to most Americans, she's best known for saving a portrait from the burning White House, or as the namesake for a line of ice cream. Why did the Americans of her time give so much adulation to a lady so little known today? In A Perfect Union, Catherine Allgor reveals that while Dolley's gender prevented her from openly playing politics, those very constraints of womanhood allowed her to construct an American democratic ruling style, and to achieve her husband's political goals. And the way that she did so-by emphasizing cooperation over coercion, building bridges instead of bunkers-has left us with not only an important story about our past but a model for a modern form of politics. Introducing a major new American historian, A Perfect Union is both an illuminating portrait of an unsung founder of our democracy, and a vivid account of a little-explored time in our history.

Catherine Allgor (Author), Anne Twomey (Narrator)

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Laura Bush: An Intimate Portrait of the First Lady

When Laura Bush moved into the White House on January 20, 2001, everyone wanted to know what kind of first lady she would be. Would she be like Mamie Eisenhower? Would she follow in Barbara Bush's footsteps? Would she be another Hillary Clinton? I think I'll just be Laura Bush, she would say. On Saturday, April 30, 2005, the world got a glimpse of what that meant when she pushed aside the leader of the free world and stole the show at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner. Wearing a shimmering lime green Oscar de la Renta gown, Laura wisecracked that she was a desperate housewife married to a president who was always asleep at nine. Replayed constantly on the air, the stand-up routine with its impeccable comedic timing turned the first lady into a glittering star. But while the performance catapulted her to new status, it did not answer the question of who this former teacher and librarian really is and just what role she plays in influencing her husband and shaping his administration. The Bushes are more effective than the FBI or CIA at keeping secret what goes on behind the scenes at the White House, the ranch, or Camp David. Now, New York Times bestselling author Ronald Kessler draws back that curtain in the first biography of Laura Bush to be written with White House cooperation. Based on interviews with her closest friends and confidantes from childhood to the present, as well as family members and administration heavyweights like Condoleezza Rice and Andrew Card, Kessler paints a portrait of a woman who, even as she ascended to the heights of political fortune and power, never lost touch with the bedrock American values she absorbed in her youth. In this unprecedented account, Kessler reveals: How Laura's opinions have brought budget changes to a range of federal agencies and have affected her husband's policies, appointments, and worldview. Why Laura told her press secretary in May 2001 she did not want to do any more media interviews. What President Bush said to Laura at the dinner table after giving the go for the invasion of Iraq, and what his father, former President George H. W. Bush, wrote him the next day about the war. What Laura's own political opinions are and what her relationship with twin daughters Jenna and Barbara is really like. What Laura says in private about Hillary Clinton, media attacks on her husband, and his victory in the 2004 election. And why Laura, at the age of seventeen, missed a stop sign and caused a fatal accident that tragically left one of her best friends dead. LAURA BUSH offers a remarkable look at the private world of this famously reserved woman, as well as the beliefs and attitudes that shape it. The book will surprise readers whose knowledge of the first lady comes from cautious media interviews and speeches. Laura Bush's approval rating stands at 85 percent. Since opinion polls first began asking about them, no first lady has received a higher rating. This moving biography is the first to penetrate the secret world of the president's stealth counselor who is one of our most admired public figures.

Ronald Kessler (Author), Susan Denaker (Narrator)

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Many Ways to Say I Love You

Inspirational words on parenting from the beloved Fred Rogers, showing appreciation for parents whose children are grown as well as giving advice to those parents raising young ones Fred Rogers has long been a wonderful resource for parents, offering their children entertainment and education through his enduring television show Mister Rogers' Neighborhood . Now his special brand of good cheer and wisdom are brought together especially for parents in this newest book based on never-before-published works. Many Ways to Say I Love You is a treasury of segments from speeches and observations from his years of working with parents and children, as well as other materials from books, songs, TV commentary, and more. Using stories from his own life, Mister Rogers discusses the importance of children and the role of parents.

Fred Rogers (Author), Various, Various Narrators (Narrator)

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Kabul Beauty School: An American Woman Goes behind the Veil

When Deborah Rodriguez bravely opened the Kabul Beauty School, she empowered Afghan women with a new sense of autonomy. This book tells the stories of her students, including the wife who pursues her training despite her Taliban husband's beatings, who learn the lessons of perms, friendship, and freedom.

Deborah Rodriguez, Kristin Ohlson (Author), Bernadette Dunne (Narrator)

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Nature Notes for 1906

In January 1906, a sensitive woman naturalist, nature lover, and accomplished artist began to chronicle all that she encountered while walking and bicycling around the countryside of her native England and neighboring Scotland for an entire year. Besides noting the birds, flowers, grasses, trees, insects, and reptiles she encountered on her country walks, she included poems, folk sayings, saints' days, mottoes, and tidbits of history.

Edith Holden (Author), Vanessa Benjamin (Narrator)

Audiobook

For Laci: A Mother's Story of Love, Loss, and Justice

Laci Rocha Peterson, 8 months pregnant, was last seen by her sister, Amy, in the late afternoon of December 23, 2002. She spoke to her mother, Sharon Rocha, at 8:30 p.m. that night. This would be the last time anyone from her immediate family ever spoke to her. A search began which lasted an agonizing four months. Sadly, Laci Peterson and her son Conner were found dead on the shores of San Francisco Bay on April 18, 2003. Her husband, Scott, was eventually arrested and charged with the murder of Laci and Connor. After a sensational, media-saturated trial, Peterson was found guilty of capital murder and was sentenced to death on March 16, 2005. This book deals with the story in three separate sections: first, Sharon describes the ordinary, loving life her daughter led, including fond memories of her childhood and adolescence. Second, it covers her marriage, disappearance, the community's moving search for her, and her and Connor's eventual recovery from San Francisco Bay. Third, it tells the story of the trial in detail not before revealed. Sharon will also talk about victim's rights, a subject on which she now campaigns regularly. From the Hardcover edition.

Sharon Rocha (Author), Staci Snell (Narrator)

Audiobook

General Audiobooks in Science & Technology