Shattered
A Memoir
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
3 months free
Shattered
Buy for $19.79
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Art Malik
-
By:
-
Hanif Kureishi
About this listen
From acclaimed author and playwright Hanif Kureishi comes an urgent and stunning memoir about rebuilding a new life in the wake of devastating physical loss.
In late 2022, in Rome, Hanif Kureishi had a fall. When he came to, he realized he could no longer walk. He could do nothing without the help of others and required constant care in a hospital. So began a yearlong odyssey through the medical systems of Rome and Italy, with the hope of somehow being able to return home to his house in London.
While confined to a series of hospital wards, he felt compelled to write, but being unable to type or hold a pen, he began to dictate to family members the words that formed in his head—thoughts on his medical condition, but also parenthood, immigration, sex, psychoanalysis, and, of course, writing. The result was an extraordinary series of dispatches from his hospital bed: a diary of a life in pieces, recorded with rare honesty, humor, and verve.
Shattered takes these dispatches—edited, expanded, and meticulously interwoven with new writing—and charts both a shattering and a reassembling: a new life born of pain and loss but also animated by new feelings of gratitude, humility, and love.
©2025 Hanif Kureishi (P)2025 HarperCollins PublishersListeners also enjoyed...
-
Notes to John
- By: Joan Didion
- Narrated by: Julianne Moore
- Length: 6 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 45
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 44
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 44
In November 1999, Joan Didion began seeing a psychiatrist because, as she wrote to a friend, her family had had “a rough few years.” She described the sessions in a journal she created for her husband, John Gregory Dunne. For several months, Didion recorded conversations with the psychiatrist in meticulous detail. The initial sessions focused on alcoholism, adoption, depression, anxiety, guilt, and the heartbreaking complexities of her relationship with her daughter, Quintana. The subjects evolved to include her work, which she was finding difficult to maintain for sustained periods.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
This autobiography discusses notes from therapy regarding Joan’s daughter’s addiction. Very insightful!
- By Laura Borealis on 04-24-25
By: Joan Didion
-
Things in Nature Merely Grow
- By: Yiyun Li
- Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
- Length: 4 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 29
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 27
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 27
Yiyun Li’s remarkable, defiant work of radical acceptance as she considers the loss of her son James. Things in Nature Merely Grow is a testament to Li’s indomitable spirit.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Very Moving thoughtful meditation on tragedy and grief.
- By Zeta on 06-27-25
By: Yiyun Li
-
Memorial Days
- A Memoir
- By: Geraldine Brooks
- Narrated by: Geraldine Brooks
- Length: 4 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 216
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 205
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 205
Many cultural and religious traditions expect those who are grieving to step away from the world. In contemporary life, we are more often met with red tape and to-do lists. This is exactly what happened to Geraldine Brooks when her partner of more than three decades, Tony Horwitz–just sixty years old and, to her knowledge, vigorous and healthy–collapsed and died on a Washington, D. C. sidewalk.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Uninspired, mediocre writing.
- By C. Tyler on 03-04-25
By: Geraldine Brooks
-
I Regret Almost Everything
- A Memoir
- By: Keith McNally
- Narrated by: Richard E. Grant
- Length: 11 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 163
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 158
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 158
A memoir by the legendary proprietor of Balthazar, Pastis, Minetta Tavern, and Morandi, taking us from his gritty London childhood in the fifties to his serendipitous arrival in New York, where he founded the era-defining establishments the Odeon, Cafe Luxembourg, and Nell’s. Eloquent and opinionated, Keith McNally writes about the angst of being a child actor, his lack of insights from traveling overland to Kathmandu at nineteen, the instability of his two marriages and family relationships, his devastating stroke, and his Instagram notoriety.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Bingeworthy!
- By murphy o'brien on 05-14-25
By: Keith McNally
-
The Antidote
- A Novel
- By: Karen Russell
- Narrated by: Elena Rey, Sophie Amoss, Mark Bramhall, and others
- Length: 16 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 85
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 81
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 81
From Pulitzer finalist, MacArthur Fellowship recipient, and bestselling author of Swamplandia! and Vampires in the Lemon Grove Karen Russell comes a gripping dust bowl epic about five characters whose fates become entangled after a storm ravages their small Nebraskan town The Antidote opens on Black Sunday, as a historic dust storm ravages the fictional town of Uz, Nebraska. But Uz is already collapsing—not just under the weight of the Great Depression and the dust bowl drought, but beneath its own violent histories.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
1935 Nebraska Dustbowl drama with a Supernatural twist.
- By CarolynL on 03-16-25
By: Karen Russell
-
We Do Not Part
- A Novel
- By: Han Kang, E. Yaewon - translator, Paige Aniyah Morris - translator
- Narrated by: Greta Jung
- Length: 7 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 87
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 83
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 83
One winter morning, Kyungha receives an urgent message from her friend Inseon to visit her at a hospital in Seoul. Inseon has injured herself in an accident, and she begs Kyungha to return to Jeju Island, where she lives, to save her beloved pet—a white bird called Ama. A snowstorm hits the island when Kyungha arrives. She must reach Inseon’s house at all costs, but the icy wind and squalls slow her down as night begins to fall. She wonders if she will arrive in time to save the animal—or even survive the terrible cold that envelops her with every step.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Powerful, Tough Listen
- By ncnickle on 01-26-25
By: Han Kang, and others
-
Notes to John
- By: Joan Didion
- Narrated by: Julianne Moore
- Length: 6 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 45
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 44
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 44
In November 1999, Joan Didion began seeing a psychiatrist because, as she wrote to a friend, her family had had “a rough few years.” She described the sessions in a journal she created for her husband, John Gregory Dunne. For several months, Didion recorded conversations with the psychiatrist in meticulous detail. The initial sessions focused on alcoholism, adoption, depression, anxiety, guilt, and the heartbreaking complexities of her relationship with her daughter, Quintana. The subjects evolved to include her work, which she was finding difficult to maintain for sustained periods.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
This autobiography discusses notes from therapy regarding Joan’s daughter’s addiction. Very insightful!
- By Laura Borealis on 04-24-25
By: Joan Didion
-
Things in Nature Merely Grow
- By: Yiyun Li
- Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
- Length: 4 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 29
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 27
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 27
Yiyun Li’s remarkable, defiant work of radical acceptance as she considers the loss of her son James. Things in Nature Merely Grow is a testament to Li’s indomitable spirit.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Very Moving thoughtful meditation on tragedy and grief.
- By Zeta on 06-27-25
By: Yiyun Li
-
Memorial Days
- A Memoir
- By: Geraldine Brooks
- Narrated by: Geraldine Brooks
- Length: 4 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 216
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 205
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 205
Many cultural and religious traditions expect those who are grieving to step away from the world. In contemporary life, we are more often met with red tape and to-do lists. This is exactly what happened to Geraldine Brooks when her partner of more than three decades, Tony Horwitz–just sixty years old and, to her knowledge, vigorous and healthy–collapsed and died on a Washington, D. C. sidewalk.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Uninspired, mediocre writing.
- By C. Tyler on 03-04-25
By: Geraldine Brooks
-
I Regret Almost Everything
- A Memoir
- By: Keith McNally
- Narrated by: Richard E. Grant
- Length: 11 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 163
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 158
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 158
A memoir by the legendary proprietor of Balthazar, Pastis, Minetta Tavern, and Morandi, taking us from his gritty London childhood in the fifties to his serendipitous arrival in New York, where he founded the era-defining establishments the Odeon, Cafe Luxembourg, and Nell’s. Eloquent and opinionated, Keith McNally writes about the angst of being a child actor, his lack of insights from traveling overland to Kathmandu at nineteen, the instability of his two marriages and family relationships, his devastating stroke, and his Instagram notoriety.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Bingeworthy!
- By murphy o'brien on 05-14-25
By: Keith McNally
-
The Antidote
- A Novel
- By: Karen Russell
- Narrated by: Elena Rey, Sophie Amoss, Mark Bramhall, and others
- Length: 16 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 85
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 81
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 81
From Pulitzer finalist, MacArthur Fellowship recipient, and bestselling author of Swamplandia! and Vampires in the Lemon Grove Karen Russell comes a gripping dust bowl epic about five characters whose fates become entangled after a storm ravages their small Nebraskan town The Antidote opens on Black Sunday, as a historic dust storm ravages the fictional town of Uz, Nebraska. But Uz is already collapsing—not just under the weight of the Great Depression and the dust bowl drought, but beneath its own violent histories.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
1935 Nebraska Dustbowl drama with a Supernatural twist.
- By CarolynL on 03-16-25
By: Karen Russell
-
We Do Not Part
- A Novel
- By: Han Kang, E. Yaewon - translator, Paige Aniyah Morris - translator
- Narrated by: Greta Jung
- Length: 7 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 87
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 83
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 83
One winter morning, Kyungha receives an urgent message from her friend Inseon to visit her at a hospital in Seoul. Inseon has injured herself in an accident, and she begs Kyungha to return to Jeju Island, where she lives, to save her beloved pet—a white bird called Ama. A snowstorm hits the island when Kyungha arrives. She must reach Inseon’s house at all costs, but the icy wind and squalls slow her down as night begins to fall. She wonders if she will arrive in time to save the animal—or even survive the terrible cold that envelops her with every step.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Powerful, Tough Listen
- By ncnickle on 01-26-25
By: Han Kang, and others
-
Stone Yard Devotional
- A Novel
- By: Charlotte Wood
- Narrated by: Ailsa Piper
- Length: 6 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 115
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 112
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 112
Burnt out and in need of retreat, a middle-aged woman leaves Sydney to return to the place she grew up, taking refuge in a small religious community hidden away on the stark plains of rural Australia. She doesn't believe in God, or know what prayer is, and finds herself living this strange, reclusive existence almost by accident.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A profound inward journey
- By Kathlene barrett on 02-17-25
By: Charlotte Wood
-
Lost & Found
- A Memoir
- By: Kathryn Schulz
- Narrated by: Kathryn Schulz
- Length: 7 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 322
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 280
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 281
One spring morning, Kathryn Schulz went to lunch with a stranger and fell in love. Having spent years looking for the right relationship, she was dazzled by how swiftly everything changed when she finally met her future wife. But as the two of them began building a life together, Schulz’s beloved father—a charming, brilliant, absentminded Jewish refugee—went into the hospital with a minor heart condition and never came out. Newly in love yet also newly bereft, Schulz was left contending simultaneously with wild joy and terrible grief.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Bored to death
- By Amazon Customer on 03-15-22
By: Kathryn Schulz
-
Aflame
- Learning from Silence
- By: Pico Iyer
- Narrated by: Pico Iyer
- Length: 4 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 36
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 32
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 32
Pico Iyer has made more than one hundred retreats over the past three decades to a small Benedictine hermitage high above the sea in Big Sur, California. He’s not a Christian—or a member of any religious group—but his life has been transformed by these periods of time spent in silence. That silence reminds him of what is essential and awakens a joy that nothing can efface. It’s not just freedom from distraction and noise and rush: it’s a reminder of some deeper truths he misplaced along the way. In Aflame, Iyer connects with inner stillness and joy in his many seasons at the monastery.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
The title is misleading. The book doesn't explore "silence" but only talks about being on tge periphery of monasteries.
- By Placeholder on 01-26-25
By: Pico Iyer
-
Careless People
- A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism
- By: Sarah Wynn-Williams
- Narrated by: Sarah Wynn-Williams
- Length: 13 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,241
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 2,143
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,143
From trips on private jets and encounters with world leaders to shocking accounts of misogyny and double standards behind the scenes, this searing memoir exposes both the personal and the political fallout when unfettered power and a rotten company culture take hold. In a gripping and often absurd narrative where a few people carelessly hold the world in their hands, this eye-opening memoir reveals what really goes on among the global elite.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Only a few hours in
- By Cody Konior on 03-24-25
-
The First Bad Man
- A Novel
- By: Miranda July
- Narrated by: Miranda July
- Length: 8 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,157
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,040
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 1,029
Here is Cheryl, a tightly-wound, vulnerable woman who lives alone, with a perpetual lump in her throat. She is haunted by a baby boy she met when she was six, who sometimes recurs as other people's babies. Cheryl is also obsessed with Phillip, a philandering board member at the women's self-defense nonprofit where she works. She believes they've been making love for many lifetimes, though they have yet to consummate in this one.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Yes, yes, yes.
- By Jo on 02-03-15
By: Miranda July
-
One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This
- By: Omar El Akkad
- Narrated by: Omar El Akkad
- Length: 5 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 358
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 344
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 344
As an immigrant who came to the West, El Akkad believed that it promised freedom. A place of justice for all. But in the past twenty years, reporting on the War on Terror, Ferguson, climate change, Black Lives Matter protests, and more, and watching the unmitigated slaughter in Gaza, El Akkad has come to the conclusion that much of what the West promises is a lie. That there will always be entire groups of human beings it has never intended to treat as fully human—not just Arabs or Muslims or immigrants, but whoever falls outside the boundaries of privilege.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Outstanding - Should be required reading
- By Steve Siegmund on 03-19-25
By: Omar El Akkad
-
Intimacy
- By: Hanif Kureishi
- Narrated by: Selva Rasalingam
- Length: 3 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 12
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 10
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 10
Jay is leaving his partner and their two sons. As the long night before his departure unfolds, he remembers the ups and downs of his relationship with Susan. In an unforgettable and often pitiless reflection of their time together, he analyses the agonies and the joys of trying to make a life with another person.
By: Hanif Kureishi
-
Free
- My Search for Meaning
- By: Amanda Knox
- Narrated by: Amanda Knox
- Length: 10 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 79
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 76
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 76
Amanda Knox spent nearly four years in prison and eight years on trial for a murder she didn’t commit—and became a notorious tabloid story in the process. Though she was exonerated, it’s taken more than a decade for her to reclaim her identity and truly feel free. Free recounts how Knox survived incarceration, the mistakes she made and misadventures she had reintegrating into society, and culminates in the as-yet-untold story of her return to Italy and the extraordinary relationship she went on to build with the man who sent her to prison.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Amanda walks her talk.
- By Nikki Lee on 04-09-25
By: Amanda Knox
-
The Quiet Room: A Journey out of the Torment of Madness
- By: Lori Schiller, Amanda Bennett
- Narrated by: Brittany Pressley, Gregory Abbey, Cheryl Smith
- Length: 10 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 274
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 244
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 244
Moving, harrowing, and ultimately uplifting, Lori Schiller's memoir is a classic testimony to the ravages of mental illness and the power of perseverance and courage. At 17, Lori Schiller was the perfect child - the only daughter of an affluent, close-knit family. Six years later she made her first suicide attempt, then wandered the streets of New York City dressed in ragged clothes, tormenting voices crying out in her mind. Lori Schiller had entered the horrifying world of full-blown schizophrenia.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Mental Health Care in America
- By Dee Garza on 02-29-20
By: Lori Schiller, and others
-
Time of the Child
- By: Niall Williams
- Narrated by: Dermot Crowley
- Length: 13 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 401
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 380
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 380
Doctor Jack Troy was born and raised in Faha, but his responsibilities for the sick and his care for the dying mean he has always been set apart from the town. His eldest daughter, Ronnie, has grown up in her father’s shadow, and remains there, having missed one chance at love – and passed up another offer of marriage from an unsuitable man. But in the Advent season of 1962, as the town readies itself for Christmas, Ronnie and Doctor Troy’s lives are turned upside down when a baby is left in their care.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
The very top of my Audio listens.
- By Whipsnead on 12-24-24
By: Niall Williams
-
How to Lose Your Mother
- A Daughter's Memoir
- By: Molly Jong-Fast
- Narrated by: Molly Jong-Fast
- Length: 6 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 162
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 159
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 159
Molly Jong-Fast is the only child of a famous woman, writer Erica Jong, whose sensational book Fear of Flying launched her into second-wave feminist stardom. She grew up yearning for a connection with her dreamy, glamorous, just out of reach mother, who always seemed to be heading somewhere that wasn’t with Molly. When, in 2023, Erica was diagnosed with dementia just as Molly’s husband discovered he had a rare cancer, Jong-Fast was catapulted into a transformative year.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Pause and rewind
- By Harkins5 on 06-09-25
By: Molly Jong-Fast
-
On the Hippie Trail
- Istanbul to Kathmandu and the Making of a Travel Writer
- By: Rick Steves
- Narrated by: Rick Steves
- Length: 4 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 177
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 163
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 163
In the 1970s, the ultimate trip for any backpacker was the storied “Hippie Trail” from Istanbul to Kathmandu. A 23-year old Rick Steves made the trek, and like a travel writer in training, he documented everything along the way: jumping off a moving train, making friends in Tehran, getting lost in Lahore, getting high for the first time in Herat, battling leeches in Pokhara, and much more. The experience ignited his love of travel and forever broadened his perspective on the world.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Nice but a bit tame
- By delacube on 02-16-25
By: Rick Steves
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
The Buddha of Suburbia
- By: Hanif Kureishi
- Narrated by: Christopher Simpson
- Length: 10 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 75
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 50
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 50
The hero of Hanif Kureishi's debut novel is a dreamy teenager, desperate to escape suburban South London and experience the forbidden fruits which the 1970s seem to offer. When the unlikely opportunity of a life in the theatre announces itself, Karim starts to win the sort of attention he has been craving, albeit with some rude and raucous results.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
A bit disappointing
- By Alexander on 03-21-09
By: Hanif Kureishi
-
Reading the Waves
- A Memoir
- By: Lidia Yuknavitch
- Narrated by: Lidia Yuknavitch
- Length: 7 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 12
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 10
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 10
Drawing on her background—her father's abuse, her complicated dynamic with her disabled mother, the death of her child, her sexual relationships with men and women—and her creative life as an author and teacher, Yuknavitch has come to understand that by using the power of literature and storytelling to reframe her memories, she can loosen the bonds that have enslaved her emotional growth. Armed with this insight, she allows herself to look with the eye of an artist at the wounds she suffered and come to understand the transformational power this has to restore her soul.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Lyrical prose that stirs and startles.
- By Noelle on 04-20-25
By: Lidia Yuknavitch
-
Lady’s Knight
- By: Amie Kaufman, Meagan Spooner
- Narrated by: Helen Keeley, Barbara Rosenblat
- Length: 11 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 7
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 7
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 7
Gwen is sick of hiding—hiding the fact that she’s taken over her father’s blacksmithing duties, hiding her attraction to girls, hiding her yearning for glory as a knight. Meanwhile, Lady Isobelle of Avington, queen bee of the castle, has never once considered hiding who she is—until now. She’s been chosen as the grand prize in the Tournament of Dragonslayers, to be given to whichever knight can claim her hand. And for the first time in her life, she can’t talk her way out of trouble.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Sapphic A Knight’s Tale
- By Gloria on 06-28-25
By: Amie Kaufman, and others
-
My Good Bright Wolf
- A Memoir
- By: Sarah Moss
- Narrated by: Morven Christie
- Length: 8 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 25
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 23
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 23
A girl must watch her figure but never be vain. She must be intelligent but never a know-it-all. She must be ambitious, if she is clever, but not in a way that shows. She must cook and sew and make do and mend. She must know (but never say) that these skills are, in some fundamental way, flawed and frivolous—feminine. Girls must stay small, even as they grow. Women must show restraint. And yet. In books, in the landscape of imagination, a girl can run free.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A brilliant thinker.
- By Sarah Steinberg on 12-05-24
By: Sarah Moss
-
Bibliophobia
- A Memoir
- By: Sarah Chihaya
- Narrated by: Traci Kato-Kiriyama
- Length: 6 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 5
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 5
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 5
Books can seduce you. They can, Sarah Chihaya believes, annihilate, reveal, and provoke you. And anyone incurably obsessed with books understands this kind of unsettling literary encounter. Sarah calls books that have this effect “Life Ruiners”. Her Life Ruiner, Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye, became a talisman for her in high school when its electrifying treatment of race exposed Sarah’s deepest feelings about being Japanese American in a predominantly white suburb of Cleveland.
By: Sarah Chihaya
-
The Optimist
- By: Keach Hagey
- Narrated by: Will Damron
- Length: 12 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 34
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 28
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 28
In The Optimist, the Wall Street Journal reporter Keach Hagey presents the most detailed account yet of Altman’s rise, from his precocious childhood in St. Louis to his first, failed startup experience; his time as legendary entrepreneur Paul Graham’s protégé and successor as head of Y Combinator, the start-up accelerator where Altman became the premier power broker in Silicon Valley; the founding of OpenAI and his recruitment of a small yet superior team; and his struggle to keep his company at the cutting edge while fending off determined rivals, including Elon Musk.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
The author is a big fan of Sam
- By Timpboy on 06-28-25
By: Keach Hagey
-
The Buddha of Suburbia
- By: Hanif Kureishi
- Narrated by: Christopher Simpson
- Length: 10 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 75
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 50
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 50
The hero of Hanif Kureishi's debut novel is a dreamy teenager, desperate to escape suburban South London and experience the forbidden fruits which the 1970s seem to offer. When the unlikely opportunity of a life in the theatre announces itself, Karim starts to win the sort of attention he has been craving, albeit with some rude and raucous results.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
A bit disappointing
- By Alexander on 03-21-09
By: Hanif Kureishi
-
Reading the Waves
- A Memoir
- By: Lidia Yuknavitch
- Narrated by: Lidia Yuknavitch
- Length: 7 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 12
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 10
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 10
Drawing on her background—her father's abuse, her complicated dynamic with her disabled mother, the death of her child, her sexual relationships with men and women—and her creative life as an author and teacher, Yuknavitch has come to understand that by using the power of literature and storytelling to reframe her memories, she can loosen the bonds that have enslaved her emotional growth. Armed with this insight, she allows herself to look with the eye of an artist at the wounds she suffered and come to understand the transformational power this has to restore her soul.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Lyrical prose that stirs and startles.
- By Noelle on 04-20-25
By: Lidia Yuknavitch
-
Lady’s Knight
- By: Amie Kaufman, Meagan Spooner
- Narrated by: Helen Keeley, Barbara Rosenblat
- Length: 11 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 7
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 7
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 7
Gwen is sick of hiding—hiding the fact that she’s taken over her father’s blacksmithing duties, hiding her attraction to girls, hiding her yearning for glory as a knight. Meanwhile, Lady Isobelle of Avington, queen bee of the castle, has never once considered hiding who she is—until now. She’s been chosen as the grand prize in the Tournament of Dragonslayers, to be given to whichever knight can claim her hand. And for the first time in her life, she can’t talk her way out of trouble.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Sapphic A Knight’s Tale
- By Gloria on 06-28-25
By: Amie Kaufman, and others
-
My Good Bright Wolf
- A Memoir
- By: Sarah Moss
- Narrated by: Morven Christie
- Length: 8 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 25
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 23
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 23
A girl must watch her figure but never be vain. She must be intelligent but never a know-it-all. She must be ambitious, if she is clever, but not in a way that shows. She must cook and sew and make do and mend. She must know (but never say) that these skills are, in some fundamental way, flawed and frivolous—feminine. Girls must stay small, even as they grow. Women must show restraint. And yet. In books, in the landscape of imagination, a girl can run free.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A brilliant thinker.
- By Sarah Steinberg on 12-05-24
By: Sarah Moss
-
Bibliophobia
- A Memoir
- By: Sarah Chihaya
- Narrated by: Traci Kato-Kiriyama
- Length: 6 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 5
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 5
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 5
Books can seduce you. They can, Sarah Chihaya believes, annihilate, reveal, and provoke you. And anyone incurably obsessed with books understands this kind of unsettling literary encounter. Sarah calls books that have this effect “Life Ruiners”. Her Life Ruiner, Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye, became a talisman for her in high school when its electrifying treatment of race exposed Sarah’s deepest feelings about being Japanese American in a predominantly white suburb of Cleveland.
By: Sarah Chihaya
-
The Optimist
- By: Keach Hagey
- Narrated by: Will Damron
- Length: 12 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 34
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 28
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 28
In The Optimist, the Wall Street Journal reporter Keach Hagey presents the most detailed account yet of Altman’s rise, from his precocious childhood in St. Louis to his first, failed startup experience; his time as legendary entrepreneur Paul Graham’s protégé and successor as head of Y Combinator, the start-up accelerator where Altman became the premier power broker in Silicon Valley; the founding of OpenAI and his recruitment of a small yet superior team; and his struggle to keep his company at the cutting edge while fending off determined rivals, including Elon Musk.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
The author is a big fan of Sam
- By Timpboy on 06-28-25
By: Keach Hagey
-
Strangers in the Land
- Exclusion, Belonging, and the Epic Story of the Chinese in America
- By: Michael Luo
- Narrated by: Eric Yang
- Length: 17 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 9
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 8
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 8
In 1889, while upholding Chinese exclusion, Supreme Court Justice Stephen J. Field characterized them as “strangers in the land.” Only in 1965 did America’s gates swing open to people like Luo’s parents, immigrants from Taiwan. Today there are more than twenty-two million people of Asian descent in the United States and yet the “stranger” label, Luo writes, remains. Drawing on archives from across the country and written with a New Yorker writer’s style and sweep, Strangers in the Land is revelatory and unforgettable, an essential American story.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Thank you for this important history
- By cindy on 06-22-25
By: Michael Luo
-
So Far Gone
- A Novel
- By: Jess Walter
- Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini
- Length: 8 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 55
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 49
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 49
A few weeks after the 2016 election, at Thanksgiving with his daughter’s family, Rhys Kinnick snapped. After an escalating fight about politics, he hauled off and punched his conspiracy theorist son-in-law. Horrified by what he'd done, by the state of the country and by his own spiraling mental health, Rhys chucked his smartphone out a car window and fled for a cabin in the woods, off the grid and with no one around—except a pack of hungry raccoons. Now, seven years later, Kinnick’s old life is about to land right back on his crumbling doorstep.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Masterful characters; gripping story.
- By LFR on 06-24-25
By: Jess Walter
-
Theft
- A Novel
- By: Abdulrazak Gurnah
- Narrated by: Ashley Zhangazha
- Length: 9 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 22
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 20
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 20
At the turn of the twenty-first century, three young people come of age in Tanzania. Karim returns to his sleepy hometown after university with new swagger and ambition. Fauzia glimpses in him a chance at escape from a smothering upbringing. The two of them offer a haven to Badar, a poor boy still unsure if the future holds anything for him at all. As tourism, technology, and unexpected opportunities and perils reach their quiet corner of the world, bringing, each arrives at a different understanding of what it means to take your fate into your own hands.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Potting more than a slice of life
- By Susan on 06-07-25
-
Havoc
- A Novel
- By: Christopher Bollen
- Narrated by: Maggi-Meg Reed
- Length: 10 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 126
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 114
-
Story3.5 out of 5 stars 114
Eighty-one-year-old widow Maggie Burkhardt came to the Royal Karnak to escape. But not in quite the same way as most other guests who are relaxing at this hotel on the banks of the Nile. Maggie, a compulsive fixer of other people’s lives, may have found herself in hot water at her last hotel in Switzerland and just might have needed to get out of there fast. But here at the Royal Karnak, under the hot Saharan sun, she has a comfortable suite, a loyal confidante in the hotel manager, Ahmed, and a handful of sympathetic friends. One morning, however, Maggie notices a new arrival at check-in.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Well written but not for animal lovers
- By Erin G on 01-11-25
-
Stone Yard Devotional
- A Novel
- By: Charlotte Wood
- Narrated by: Ailsa Piper
- Length: 6 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 115
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 112
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 112
Burnt out and in need of retreat, a middle-aged woman leaves Sydney to return to the place she grew up, taking refuge in a small religious community hidden away on the stark plains of rural Australia. She doesn't believe in God, or know what prayer is, and finds herself living this strange, reclusive existence almost by accident.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A profound inward journey
- By Kathlene barrett on 02-17-25
By: Charlotte Wood
-
Notes to John
- By: Joan Didion
- Narrated by: Julianne Moore
- Length: 6 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 45
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 44
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 44
In November 1999, Joan Didion began seeing a psychiatrist because, as she wrote to a friend, her family had had “a rough few years.” She described the sessions in a journal she created for her husband, John Gregory Dunne. For several months, Didion recorded conversations with the psychiatrist in meticulous detail. The initial sessions focused on alcoholism, adoption, depression, anxiety, guilt, and the heartbreaking complexities of her relationship with her daughter, Quintana. The subjects evolved to include her work, which she was finding difficult to maintain for sustained periods.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
This autobiography discusses notes from therapy regarding Joan’s daughter’s addiction. Very insightful!
- By Laura Borealis on 04-24-25
By: Joan Didion
-
Black in Blues
- How a Color Tells the Story of My People
- By: Imani Perry
- Narrated by: Imani Perry
- Length: 9 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 57
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 50
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 50
Throughout history, the concept of Blackness has been remarkably intertwined with another color: blue. In daily life, it is evoked in countless ways. Blue skies and blue water offer hope for that which lies beyond the current conditions. But blue is also the color of deep melancholy and heartache, echoing Louis Armstrong’s question, “What did I do to be so Black and blue?” In this book, celebrated author Imani Perry uses the world’s favorite color as a springboard for a riveting emotional, cultural, and spiritual journey.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
So many lessons in this book
- By Christina the Teacher on 02-04-25
By: Imani Perry
-
The Pretender
- A Novel
- By: Jo Harkin
- Narrated by: John Hollingworth
- Length: 14 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 24
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 22
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 22
Set in the tumultuous period of the Tudors' ascent, The Pretender brings to life the little-known story of Lambert Simnel. From humble beginnings as a peasant boy, Lambert's life takes an astonishing turn when, at just ten years old, he becomes a claimant to the English throne as one of the last of the Plantagenet line. As Lambert navigates the treacherous waters of royal intrigue and court life, complex themes of identity, power, and destiny unfold, weaving a tapestry of ambition and survival in a world where the stakes couldn't be higher.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Brilliant Simply Brilliant
- By C. Sanders on 05-10-25
By: Jo Harkin
-
Aflame
- Learning from Silence
- By: Pico Iyer
- Narrated by: Pico Iyer
- Length: 4 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 36
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 32
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 32
Pico Iyer has made more than one hundred retreats over the past three decades to a small Benedictine hermitage high above the sea in Big Sur, California. He’s not a Christian—or a member of any religious group—but his life has been transformed by these periods of time spent in silence. That silence reminds him of what is essential and awakens a joy that nothing can efface. It’s not just freedom from distraction and noise and rush: it’s a reminder of some deeper truths he misplaced along the way. In Aflame, Iyer connects with inner stillness and joy in his many seasons at the monastery.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
The title is misleading. The book doesn't explore "silence" but only talks about being on tge periphery of monasteries.
- By Placeholder on 01-26-25
By: Pico Iyer
-
Knife
- Meditations After an Attempted Murder
- By: Salman Rushdie
- Narrated by: Salman Rushdie
- Length: 6 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 588
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 527
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 527
On the morning of August 12, 2022, Salman Rushdie was standing onstage at the Chautauqua Institution, preparing to give a lecture on the importance of keeping writers safe from harm, when a man in black—black clothes, black mask—rushed down the aisle toward him, wielding a knife. His first thought: So it’s you. Here you are. What followed was a horrific act of violence that shook the literary world and beyond.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Triumph of Life
- By Donna Ponte on 04-17-24
By: Salman Rushdie
-
Things in Nature Merely Grow
- By: Yiyun Li
- Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
- Length: 4 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 29
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 27
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 27
Yiyun Li’s remarkable, defiant work of radical acceptance as she considers the loss of her son James. Things in Nature Merely Grow is a testament to Li’s indomitable spirit.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Very Moving thoughtful meditation on tragedy and grief.
- By Zeta on 06-27-25
By: Yiyun Li
-
Memorial Days
- A Memoir
- By: Geraldine Brooks
- Narrated by: Geraldine Brooks
- Length: 4 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 216
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 205
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 205
Many cultural and religious traditions expect those who are grieving to step away from the world. In contemporary life, we are more often met with red tape and to-do lists. This is exactly what happened to Geraldine Brooks when her partner of more than three decades, Tony Horwitz–just sixty years old and, to her knowledge, vigorous and healthy–collapsed and died on a Washington, D. C. sidewalk.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Uninspired, mediocre writing.
- By C. Tyler on 03-04-25
By: Geraldine Brooks
Honest, courageous and beautifully written
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Excellent Narrator for the material
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Honesty
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.