Memoirs & Bios Winner: Educated
What would you give up for an education? Would you give up your family? Tara Westover never wanted to make that choice, yet the more she learned about the wider world beyond her sheltered upbringing in an eccentric Idaho family, the more that choice became inevitable. It’s so easy to get swept up in the more sensational aspects of Westover’s story—the physical danger that swirled around her daily life at home, how she became a Harvard-educated PhD without any formal childhood schooling—but the reason I lived and breathed nothing but this memoir until I’d listened to every last minute (just ask my colleagues who saw me listening to it in the cafeteria!) is her compassionate insight into what it means to lose a family you love because the gulf between your worlds has grown too wide. —Rachel, Audible EditorRunners-Up
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Small Fry
- By: Lisa Brennan-Jobs
- Narrated by: Eileen Stevens
- Length: 12 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
A frank, smart, and captivating memoir by the daughter of Apple founder Steve Jobs. Small Fry is Lisa Brennan-Jobs' poignant story of a childhood spent between two imperfect but extraordinary homes. Scrappy, wise, and funny, young Lisa is an unforgettable guide through her parents' fascinating and disparate worlds. Part portrait of a complex family, part love letter to California in the '70s and '80s, Small Fry is an enthralling audiobook by an insightful new literary voice.
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Thesaurus Overkill
- By BellaLeah on 10-02-18
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If You Love Me
- A Mother's Journey Through Her Daughter's Opioid Addiction
- By: Maureen Cavanagh
- Narrated by: Maureen Cavanagh
- Length: 5 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
When Maureen and her ex-husband Mike see their daughter Katie’s needle track marks for the first time, it is a complete shock. But, slowly, the drug use explains everything - Katie’s constant exhaustion, erratic moods, and all those spoons that have gone missing from the house. Once Mike and Maureen get Katie into detox, Maureen goes to sleep that night hoping that in 48 hours she’ll have her daughter back. It’s not that simple. Like the millions of parents and relatives all over the country, Maureen learns that recovery is neither straightforward nor brief.
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I cried, I laughed, beautiful book
- By Lynney on 08-27-19
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Becoming
- By: Michelle Obama
- Narrated by: Michelle Obama
- Length: 19 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
In her memoir, a work of deep reflection and mesmerizing storytelling, Michelle Obama invites listeners into her world, chronicling the experiences that have shaped her - from her childhood on the South Side of Chicago to her years as an executive balancing the demands of motherhood and work to her time spent at the world's most famous address. With unerring honesty and lively wit, she describes her triumphs and her disappointments, both public and private, telling her full story as she has lived it - in her own words and on her own terms.
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Didn't know what I was getting into
- By Kenneth Woodward on 12-05-18
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Heartland
- A Memoir of Working Hard and Being Broke in the Richest Country on Earth
- By: Sarah Smarsh
- Narrated by: Sarah Smarsh
- Length: 9 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
During Sarah Smarsh’s turbulent childhood in Kansas in the 1980s and 1990s, the forces of cyclical poverty and the country’s changing economic policies solidified her family’s place among the working poor. By telling the story of her life and the lives of the people she loves, Smarsh challenges us to look more closely at the class divide in our country and examine the myths about people thought to be less because they earn less.
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My favorite memoir of 2018
- By NMwritergal on 11-25-18
-
Small Fry
- By: Lisa Brennan-Jobs
- Narrated by: Eileen Stevens
- Length: 12 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A frank, smart, and captivating memoir by the daughter of Apple founder Steve Jobs. Small Fry is Lisa Brennan-Jobs' poignant story of a childhood spent between two imperfect but extraordinary homes. Scrappy, wise, and funny, young Lisa is an unforgettable guide through her parents' fascinating and disparate worlds. Part portrait of a complex family, part love letter to California in the '70s and '80s, Small Fry is an enthralling audiobook by an insightful new literary voice.
-
-
Thesaurus Overkill
- By BellaLeah on 10-02-18
-
If You Love Me
- A Mother's Journey Through Her Daughter's Opioid Addiction
- By: Maureen Cavanagh
- Narrated by: Maureen Cavanagh
- Length: 5 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Maureen and her ex-husband Mike see their daughter Katie’s needle track marks for the first time, it is a complete shock. But, slowly, the drug use explains everything - Katie’s constant exhaustion, erratic moods, and all those spoons that have gone missing from the house. Once Mike and Maureen get Katie into detox, Maureen goes to sleep that night hoping that in 48 hours she’ll have her daughter back. It’s not that simple. Like the millions of parents and relatives all over the country, Maureen learns that recovery is neither straightforward nor brief.
-
-
I cried, I laughed, beautiful book
- By Lynney on 08-27-19
-
Becoming
- By: Michelle Obama
- Narrated by: Michelle Obama
- Length: 19 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In her memoir, a work of deep reflection and mesmerizing storytelling, Michelle Obama invites listeners into her world, chronicling the experiences that have shaped her - from her childhood on the South Side of Chicago to her years as an executive balancing the demands of motherhood and work to her time spent at the world's most famous address. With unerring honesty and lively wit, she describes her triumphs and her disappointments, both public and private, telling her full story as she has lived it - in her own words and on her own terms.
-
-
Didn't know what I was getting into
- By Kenneth Woodward on 12-05-18
-
Heartland
- A Memoir of Working Hard and Being Broke in the Richest Country on Earth
- By: Sarah Smarsh
- Narrated by: Sarah Smarsh
- Length: 9 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
During Sarah Smarsh’s turbulent childhood in Kansas in the 1980s and 1990s, the forces of cyclical poverty and the country’s changing economic policies solidified her family’s place among the working poor. By telling the story of her life and the lives of the people she loves, Smarsh challenges us to look more closely at the class divide in our country and examine the myths about people thought to be less because they earn less.
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My favorite memoir of 2018
- By NMwritergal on 11-25-18