Share in the childhood tales of A Girl Named Zippy. Hear Kenneth Branagh read Samuel Pepys' exuberant 17th-century diary. Be transformed by the extraordinary women of Half the Sky. You'll find these and other remarkable life stories under biography and memoir.
by Natascia Tornetta-Mallin; read by Jean Ann Douglass
A proudly humanist portrayal of sexual impulse and impropriety in the City of Angels, The First 50 is a chronological recapitulation of fifty erotic encounters that take place between the ages of thirteen and thirty-three. Columbine, 9/11, The Iraq War, and The Great Recession set the stage as a young woman navigates the ambient decadence that has long defined Los Angeles. Learn More
by Thomas Huening; foreword by Congresswoman Jackie Speier; read by Mike Chamberlain
The authorized biography of John Joseph Kelly—the quintessential Good Samaritan—who changed the lives of thousands of people in need, first as a devoted Catholic priest; then as a champion of the poor and a father figure to troubled minority youth; and finally, as a one-on-one mentor offering hope and guidance to hardcore San Quentin inmates. Learn More
by Rodney Stotts with Kate Pipkin; read by James Fouhey
To escape the tough streets of Southeast Washington DC in the late 1980s, young Rodney Stotts would ride the metro to the Smithsonian National Zoo. There, the bald eagles and other birds of prey captured his imagination for the first time. In Bird Brother, Rodney shares his unlikely journey to becoming a conservationist and one of America's few Black master falconers. Learn More
A celebrated Irish writer's magisterial, brilliantly insightful chronicle of the wrenching transformations that dragged his homeland into the modern world. Learn More
Five Nickels is the true story of Captain Steve Phillis, a decorated Air Force A-10 fighter pilot killed under heroic circumstances while trying to save his downed wingman on their thirtieth Desert Storm combat mission. Learn More
by Jori Epstein; foreword by Michael Berenbaum; read by Jori Epstein
Infused with raw emotion and vivid detail, this memoir relays holocaust survivor Max Glauben's powerful lifetime commitment to actively thwarting hate and galvanizing resilience. Max insists you, too, can transform your adversity into your greatest strength. Learn More
The incredible, untold story of the men who risked their lives in the first transcontinental air contest―and put American aviation on the map. Learn More
1975: A young Irish-American man joins an elite US Marine unit to get the most intensive military training possible—then joins the Irish Republican Army, during the days of some of the bloodiest fighting ever in the Irish-British conflict. Learn More
Many of the systems built to serve people instead do more harm than good. In Broken, Dr. Paul LeBlanc, president of Southern New Hampshire University, draws on his experience working in one such system—education—to reconnect us to the human facets of serving people. In doing so, he charts a course for rebuilding and reinhabiting better systems across education, healthcare, criminal justice, government, and more. Learn More
by Chelsea Austin Montgomery-Duban Wächter; read by Chelsea Austin Montgomery-Duban Wächter
A hilariously moving and inspirational memoir of a girl with two gay dads, navigating her way through life with joy, love, gratitude, and an excellent sense of humor. Learn More
This National Book Critics Circle Award winner is "an entrancing attempt to catch what falls between: the irreducibly personal, messy, even embarrassing ways reading and living bleed into each other, which neither literary criticism nor autobiography ever quite acknowledges" (The New York Times). Learn More
by Samuel W. Mitcham, Jr.; read by J. Rodney Turner
They say history is written by the victors. In the case of the Civil War, that's largely true. But historian Samuel Mitcham brings the Southern point of view to life in Voices from the Confederacy. Learn More
God of Sperm tells the remarkable story of Dr. Cappy Miles Rothman, the son of notorious gangster Norman "Roughhouse" Rothman, who went on to become a trailblazer in the field of reproductive medicine. Learn More
Good Morning, Olive (named for one of the most beautiful and temperamental of Broadway's ghosts) is about the ghosts that haunt theatres in New York and around the world. Learn More
The first biography of Frances Willard to be published in over thirty-five years, Do Everything explores Willard's life, her contributions as a reformer, and her broader legacy as a women's rights activist in the United States. Learn More
by David Satcher, MD, PhD; read by David Satcher, MD, PhD
In My Quest for Health Equity, Dr. Satcher takes an inspiring and instructive look inside his fifty-year career to shed light on the challenge and burden of leadership. Explaining that he has thought of each leadership role—whether in academia, community, or government—as an opportunity to move the needle toward health equity, he shares the hard-won lessons he has learned over a lifetime in the medical field. Learn More
From a junkie addicted to methamphetamines to a federal judge, Mary Beth O'Connor's memoir shares her inspiring journey from rock bottom to resilience as she forged a personal path to recovery from trauma and addiction. Learn More