Acuff, Jon. Do Over: Rescue Monday, Reinvent Your Work, and Never Get Stuck. Blackstone. ISBN 9781481519960. Reader TBA.
Acuff’s (Start) latest is a guide to making big career changes—by choice or necessity—and escaping the horrible feeling of being trapped in the wrong job. Throughout the book, Acuff features inspiring and funny true stories—not merely his own but those of friends who restarted their careers after a layoff, an extended maternity leave, or simply the realization that they were suffering 50 weeks a year just to pay the bills and enjoy two weeks of vacation.
Adams, Mark. Meet Me in Atlantis : My Quest to Find the 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City. Recorded Bks. ISBN 9781470384586. Reader TBA.
Adams (Turn Right at Machu Picchu) interview Atlantis obsessives to determine why they believe it’s possible to find the world’s most famous lost city and whether any of their theories could prove or disprove its existence. He visits scientists who use cutting-edge technology to find legendary civilizations once thought to be fictional. He examines the numerical and musical codes hidden in Plato’s writings, and with the help of some charismatic sleuths traces their roots back to Pythagoras, the sixth-century BC mathematician. And he learns how ancient societies transmitted accounts of cataclysmic events and how one might dig out the kernel of truth in Plato’s original tale about Atlantis.
Bard, Elizabeth. Picnic in Provence. Hachette Audio. ISBN 9781478977339. Read by the author.
In this mouthwatering follow-up to Lunch in Paris, American Bard, her French husband, and their newborn son bid farewell to Paris for rural life in a tiny village in Provence. This is the story of how they embarked on a new adventure and became culinary entrepreneurs, starting an artisanal ice cream shop and experimenting with local ingredients such as saffron, sheep’s milk yogurt, and olive oil.
Barnett, Cynthia. Rain: A Natural and Cultural History. Brilliance Audio. ISBN 9781501224683. Reader TBA.
A natural history of rain, told through a blend of science, cultural history, and human drama. The story begins four billion years ago with the torrents that filled the oceans, and builds to the storms of climate change. It weaves together science—the true shape of a raindrop, the mysteries of colored rains—with the human story of our attempts to control rain, from ancient rain dances to the 2,203 miles of levees that attempt to straitjacket the Mississippi River. It offers a glimpse of our “founding forecaster,” Thomas Jefferson, who measured every drizzle long before modern meteorology. Two centuries later, rainy skies would help inspire Morrissey’s mopes and Kurt Cobain’s grunge. As climate change upends rainfall patterns and unleashes increasingly severe storms and drought, Barnett shows rain to be a unifying force in a fractured world.
Bergen, Candice. A Fine Romance. S. & S. Audio. ISBN 9781442377028. Read by the author.
In the follow-up to Knock Wood, Bergen shares the big events. She is happily married to French director Louis Malle, but Bergen’s real romance begins when she discovers overpowering love for her daughter after years of ambivalence about motherhood. As Chloe grows up, Bergen finds her comic genius in the biggest TV role of the 80s, Murphy Brown, and makes unwanted headlines when Dan Quayle pulls her into the 1992 presidential campaign. Fifteen years into their marriage, Malle is diagnosed with cancer, and Candice is unflinching in describing her and Chloe’s despair over his death. But after years of widowhood, she feels the sweet shock of finding a different kind of soulmate.
Berry, Amanda, Gina DeJesus, Kevin Sullivan, & Mary Jordan. Hope: A Memoir of Survival in Cleveland. Books on Tape. ISBN 9781101914786. Read by Jorjeana Marie, Marisol Ramirez, and Arthur Morey.
Two victims of infamous Cleveland kidnapper Ariel Castro share the story of their abductions, their decade in captivity, and their dramatic escape. Castro, a local school bus driver, had separately lured Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus, and Michelle Knight to his home, where he kept them chained. Drawing upon their recollections and the diary kept by Berry, Berry and DeJesus describe a tale of unimaginable torment, and Washington Post reporters Mary Jordan and Kevin Sullivan interweave the events within Castro’s house with original reporting on efforts to find the missing girls.
Bogosian, Eric. Operation Nemesis: The Assassination Plot that Avenged the Armenian Genocide. Blackstone. ISBN 9781478986423. Reader TBA.
In 1921 a small group of self-appointed patriots set out to avenge the deaths of almost one million victims of the Armenian Genocide. Over several years the men tracked down and assassinated former Turkish leaders. The story of this secret operation has never been fully told—until now. Bogosian (Pounding Nails in the Floor With My Forehead) sets the killings in context by providing a summation of Ottoman and Armenian history as well as the history of the genocide itself.
Bourgeault, Cynthia. The Meaning of Mary Magdalene: Discovering the Woman at the Heart of Christianity. Brilliance Audio. ISBN 9781501227530.Read by Gabra Zackman.
Mary Magdalene is one of the most influential symbols in the history of Christianity—yet, if you look in the Bible, you’ll find only a handful of verses that speak of her. How did she become such a compelling saint in the face of such paltry evidence? Bourgeault (The Holy Trinity and the Law of Three) examines the Bible, church tradition, art, legend, and newly discovered texts, applies her own reasoning and intuition, and emerges with a radical view of Mary Magdalene as Jesus’s most important disciple, the one he thought understood his teaching best.
Bradley, James. The China Mirage. Blackstone. ISBN 9781478957171. Reader TBA.
Beginning in the 1850s, Bradley (Flags of Our Fathers) introduces listeners to the prominent Americans who made their fortunes in the China opium trade. As they—good Christians all—profitably addicted millions, American missionaries arrived, promising salvation for those who adopted Western ways. And that was just the beginning. From drug dealer Warren Delano to his grandson Franklin Delano Roosevelt, from the port of Hong Kong to the towers of Princeton University, from the era of Appomattox to the age of the A-Bomb, this work explores a difficult century that defines U.S.-Chinese relations to this day.
Browne, David. So Many Roads: The Life and Times of the Grateful Dead. HighBridge. ISBN 9781622316700. Read by Sean Runnette.
Drawing on new interviews with surviving members and people in their inner circle along with previously unknown details gleaned from the group’s extensive archives, Browne lends the Dead’s epic story the vivid feel of a novel. He sheds new light on the band’s beginnings, music, dynamics, and struggles since Jerry Garcia’s death in 1995.
Butcher, Amy. Visiting Hours: A Memoir of Friendship and Murder. Blackstone. ISBN 9781481521789. Read by Emily Woo Zeller.
Four weeks before their college graduation, 21-year-old Kevin Schaeffer walked Amy Butcher to her home in their college town of Gettysburg, PA. Hours later, he fatally stabbed his ex-girlfriend, Emily Silverstein. While he awaited trial, psychiatrists concluded he had suffered an acute psychotic break. Amy was severely affected by Kevin’s crime but remained devoted to him as a friend. Over time she became obsessed—determined to discover the narrative that explained what Kevin had done. She drove across the country back to Gettysburg to sift through 200 pages of public records—mental health evaluations, detectives’ notes, inventories of evidence, search warrants, testimonies, even Kevin’s own confession.
Carson, Rachel. The Sea Around Us. Recorded Bks. ISBN 9781490650869. Reader TBA.
Published in 1951, this is one of the most remarkably successful books ever written about the natural world. Carson (Silent Spring) had a rare ability to combine scientific insight with moving, poetic prose. Reintroducing a classic work to a new generation of listeners, this edition features a new chapter written by Jeffrey Levinton, a leading expert in marine ecology, that incorporates the most recent thinking on continental drift, coral reefs, the spread of the ocean floor, the deterioration of the oceans, mass extinction of sea life, and many other topics.
Clark, Dorie. Stand Out: How to Find Your Breakthrough Idea and Build a Following Around It. Brilliance Audio. ISBN 9781491552124. Read by the author.
To make a name for yourself, you have to capitalize on your unique perspective and knowledge and inspire others to listen and take action. But becoming a “thought leader” is a mysterious and opaque process. Where do the ideas come from, and how do they get noticed? Dorie Clark explains how to identify the ideas that set you apart and promote them successfully. The key is to recognize your own value, cultivate your expertise, and put yourself out there.
Downing, Taylor. Secret Warriors: Key Scientists, Code Breakers, and Propagandists of the Great War. Blackstone. ISBN 9781481520522. Read by Derek Perkins.
Downing (Churchill’s War Lab) uncovers how wartime code-breaking, aeronautics, and scientific research laid the foundation for many of the innovations of the 20th century. World War I is often viewed as a war fought by armies of millions living and fighting in trenches, aided by brutal machinery that cost the lives of many. But behind all of this an intellectual war was also being fought between engineers, chemists, code-breakers, physicists, doctors, mathematicians, and intelligence gatherers. This hidden war was to make a lasting contribution to how war was conducted on land, at sea, and in the air and to life at home.
Dwyer, Johnny. American Warlord. Recorded Bks. ISBN 9781490657684. Reader TBA.
Chucky Taylor was in many ways an average American kid: growing up in Florida he had friends, a high school sweetheart, and some brushes with the law. But then, in 1992, at age 15, he traveled to Liberia to meet his estranged father, Charles Taylor—the warlord and future president of Liberia. Adrift in a strange country, Chucky became the commander of the infamous Anti-Terrorist Unit, aka “Demon Forces.” Suddenly powerful amidst the lawlessness of his father’s rule, any semblance of morality vanished: the savagery and pointlessness of his crimes shocked even his brutal father. Fleeing Liberia as his father’s government fell, Chucky was caught sneaking into the United States and became the first American convicted of the war crime of torture.
Ford, Martin. Rise of the Robots: Technology and the Threat of a Jobless Future. Brilliance Audio. ISBN 9781480574731. Read by Jeff Cummings.
In Silicon Valley the phrase “disruptive technology” is tossed around casually. No one doubts that technology has the power to devastate entire industries and upend various sectors of the job market. But Ford (The Lights in the Tunnel) asks a bigger question: can accelerating technology disrupt our entire economic system to the point where a fundamental restructuring is required? Some might imagine that this industrial revolution will unfold like the last: even as some jobs are eliminated, more will be created to deal with the new devices of a new era. Ford posits that, instead, machines will be able to take care of themselves, and fewer jobs will be necessary.
Freedman, Lawrence. Strategy: A History. Brilliance Audio. ISBN 9781501227721. Read by Michael Butler Murray.
Freedman (A Choice of Enemies) captures the vast history of strategic thinking, from the surprisingly advanced strategy practiced in primate groups, to the opposing strategies of Achilles and Odysseus in The Iliad, the strategic advice of Sun Tzu and Machiavelli, the great military innovations of Baron Henri de Jomini and Carl von Clausewitz, the grounding of revolutionary strategy in class struggles by Marx, the insights into corporate strategy found in Peter Drucker and Alfred Sloan, and the contributions of the leading social scientists working on strategy today.
Gessen, Masha. The Brothers: The Road to an American Tragedy. Books on Tape. ISBN 9781101923436. Reader TBA.
On April 15, 2013, two homemade bombs exploded near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, killing three people and wounding 264 others. The elder of the brothers suspected of committing this atrocity, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, died in the ensuing manhunt; jury selection recently began in Dzhokhar’s trial. Gessen (Words Will Break Cement) follows the brothers from their displaced beginnings as descendants of ethnic Chechens deported to Central Asia in the Stalin era, from strife-ridden Kyrgyzstan to war-torn Dagestan, and then, as émigrés to the United States, into an utterly disorienting new world. She also reconstructs the struggle between assimilation and alienation that fuels their apparent metamorphosis into a new breed of homegrown terrorist.
Glass, Philip. Words Without Music. Blackstone. ISBN 9781481529143. Reader TBA.
A world-renowned composer of symphonies, operas, and film scores, Glass has, almost single-handedly, crafted the dominant sound of late 20th-century classical music. Biography lovers will be inspired by the story of a precocious Baltimore boy, the son of a music-shop owner, who entered college at age 15 before traveling to Paris to study under the legendary Nadia Boulanger; Glass devotees will be fascinated by the stories behind Einstein on the Beach and Satyagraha, among other works. Whether recalling his experiences working at Bethlehem Steel, traveling in India, driving a cab in 1970s New York, or his professional collaborations with Allen Ginsberg, Ravi Shankar, Robert Wilson, Doris Lessing, and Martin Scorsese, Glass’s memoir affirms the power of music to change the world.
Grazer, Brian & Charles Fishman. A Curious Mind: The Key to a Good Life. S. & S. Audio. ISBN 9781442382084. Reader TBA.
For decades, film and TV producer Grazer has scheduled a weekly “curiosity conversation” with an accomplished stranger. From scientists to spies, and adventurers to business leaders, Grazer has met with anyone willing to answer his questions for a few hours. These informal discussions sparked the creative inspiration behind many of Grazer’s movies and TV shows, including Splash, 24, A Beautiful Mind, Apollo 13, Arrested Development, and 8 Mile.
Greene, Heather. Whisk(e)y Distilled: A Populist Guide to the Water of Life. Blackstone. ISBN 9781469030234. Read by Tavia Gilbert.
Over the past decade, whiskey expert Greene has been bombarded with thousands of questions such as, Can I have ice in my whiskey? Why is it sometimes spelled whisky? and What makes bourbon different? As New York City’s first female whiskey sommelier, Greene introduces audiences to the spirit’s charms, challenges, the boys’-club sensibilities that have made the drink seem inaccessible, and surprising new research that shows the crucial importance of nosing whiskey.
Korson, Kim. I Don’t Have a Happy Place: Cheerful Stories of Despondency and Gloom. Tantor Audio. Read by Xe Sands.
It’s a skill to find something wrong in just about every situation, but Korson has an exquisite talent for negativity. It is only after half a lifetime of finding kernels of unhappiness where others find joy that she begins to wonder if she is even capable of experiencing happiness. Here she untangles what it means to be a true malcontent.
Kruse, Kevin M. One Nation Under God: How Corporate America Invented Christian America. Brilliance Audio. ISBN 9781501238185. Read by Jeff Cummings.
Conventional wisdom holds that America has been a Christian nation since the Founding Fathers. But Kruse (White Flight) argues that the idea of “Christian America” is nothing more than a myth—and a relatively recent one at that. The assumption that America was, is, and always will be a Christian nation dates back no further than the 1930s, when a coalition of businessmen and religious leaders united in opposition to FDR’s New Deal. With the full support of Dwight Eisenhower in the 1950s, these activists—the forerunners of the Religious Right—propelled religion into the public sphere. Church membership skyrocketed; Congress added the phrase “under God” to the Pledge of Allegiance, made “In God We Trust” the country’s official motto, and, for the first time, America became a thoroughly religious nation.
Lawson, Gary. Arms and the Dudes: How Three Stoners from Miami Beach Became the Most Unlikely Gunrunners in History. Recorded Bks. ISBN 9781490658551. Reader TBA.
In January of 2007, two young stoners from Miami Beach won a $300 million Department of Defense contract to supply ammunition to the Afghanistan military. Instead of fulfilling the order with high-quality arms, Efraim Diveroli and David Packouz bought cheap Communist-style surplus ammunition from Balkan gunrunners and secretly repackaged millions of rounds of shoddy Chinese ammunition and shipped it to Kabul—until they were caught by Pentagon investigators. Lawson (Octopus) exposes the mysterious world of global arms dealing, showing how the American military came to use private contractors such as Diveroli and Packouz as middlemen to secure weapons from illegal arms dealers.
Lende, Heather. Find the Good. HighBridge Audio. ISBN 9781622315703. Reader TBA.
As she was digging deep into the lives of community members, Lende, the obituary writer for her tiny hometown newspaper in Haines, AK, began to notice something. Even the crustiest old Alaskan sourpuss who died in a one-room cabin always had Halloween candy for the neighborhood kids; the eccentric owner of the seafood store who regularly warned her about government conspiracies knew how to be a true friend—his memorial service was packed. When Lende started intentionally seeking what was positive and true in people and situations in her own life she felt happier and life seemed more meaningful, too. Awful events are always followed by dozens and dozens of good deeds, the author points out—there’s so much to gain by taking responsibility for your own happiness and nothing to lose.
Macks, Jon. Monologue: What Makes America Laugh Before Bed. Tantor Audio. ISBN 978-1494558741. Read by Johnny Heller.
Macks, a veteran writer for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, takes listeners behind the scenes of the late-night world for an in-depth, colorful look at what really makes these hosts the arbiters of public opinion. From the opening monolog—what’s funny, what’s dangerous, what’s untouchable—to the best vs. worst guests (think Billy Crystal and Martin Short vs. Kristen Stewart and John Edwards), Macks covers the landscape of late-night comedy and punctuates the narrative with hysterical personal anecdotes and draws from more than half a million of his own jokes written over the span of 20 years.
Mulgrew, Kate. Born With Teeth. Hachette Audio. ISBN 9781478986089. Read by the author.
At 22 Mulgrew gave birth to a daughter. Having already signed the adoption papers, she was allowed only a fleeting glimpse of her child. Three days later she returned to work as the star of a popular soap opera. Twenty years later she went in search of the daughter she had given away. Listeners likely know Mulgrew for the strong women she’s played—Captain Janeway on Star Trek; the tough-as-nails “Red” on Orange Is the New Black. Now, in her memoir, they will meet the most inspiring and lovable character of all: herself, as she weaves together the details of her career with the romance, adventure, and heartbreak behind the scenes.
Norris, Mary. Between You & Me: Confessions of a Comma Queen. Recorded Bks. ISBN 9781490664392. Reader TBA.
Norris has spent more than three decades in The New Yorker‘s copy department, maintaining its celebrated high standards. Now she brings her vast experience, good cheer, and finely sharpened pencils to help the rest of us. She draws on examples from Charles Dickens, Emily Dickinson, Henry James, and the Lord’s Prayer, as well as from The Honeymooners, The Simpsons, David Foster Wallace, and Gillian Flynn. Readers and writers will find in Norris neither a scold nor a softie but a wise and witty new friend in love with language and alive to the glories of its use in America.
Osborne, Steve. The Job: True Tales from the Life of a New York City Cop. Books on Tape. ISBN 9781101889480. Read by the author.
Osborne has seen a thing or two in his 20 years in the NYPD—some harmless things, some definitely not. In “Stakeout,” Steve and his partner mistake a Manhattan dentist for an armed robbery suspect and reduce the man to a puddle of snot and tears when questioning him. In “Mug Shot,” the mother of a suspected criminal makes a strange request and provides a sobering reminder of the humanity at stake in his profession. And in “Home,” the image of his family provides the adrenaline he needs to fight for his life when assaulted by two armed and violent crackheads. From his days as a rookie cop to the time spent patrolling in the Anti-Crime Unit—and his visceral, harrowing recollections of working during 9/11—Osborne’s stories capture both the absurdity of police work and the bravery of those who do it.
Roberts, Cokie. Capital Dames. Blackstone. ISBN 9781481534741. Reader TBA.
Roberts (Founding Mothers) marks the sesquicentennial of the Civil War by offering a riveting look at Washington, DC, and the experiences, influence, and contributions of its women during this momentous period of American history. Roberts chronicles these women’s increasing independence, their political empowerment, and their indispensable role in keeping the Union unified through the war and in helping heal it once the fighting was done. She concludes that the war not only changed Washington, it also forever changed the place of women in the United States. Sifting through newspaper articles, government records, and private letters and diaries—many never before published—Roberts brings the war-torn capital into focus through the lives of its formidable women.
Robinson, Ken & Lou Aronica. Creative Schools: The Grassroots Revolution That’s Transforming Education. Tantor Audio. ISBN 9781494504007. Read by Ken Robinson.
Robinson (The Element) focuses on how to transform the nation’s troubled educational system. At a time when standardized testing businesses are raking in huge profits, when many schools are struggling, and students and educators everywhere are suffering under the strain, Robinson argues for an end to our outmoded industrial educational system and proposes a highly personalized, organic approach that draws on today’s unprecedented technological and professional resources to engage all students, develop their love of learning, and enable them to face the real challenges of the 21st century.
Rousseau, Jean-Jacques. The Social Contract. Naxos. ISBN 978-1843799023. Read by Neville Jason.
Rousseau explores the concept of freedom and the political structures that may enable people to acquire it. He argues that the sovereign power of a state lies not in any one ruler, but in the will of the general population. Rousseau argues that the ideal state would be a direct democracy where executive decision-making is carried out by citizens who meet in assembly, as they would in the ancient city-state of Athens. The thoughts contained in the work, first published in 1762, were instrumental to the advent of the American Revolution and became sacred to those leading the French Revolution.
Thondup, Gyalo & Anne F. Thurston. The Noodle Maker of Kalimpong: The Dalai Lama’s Brother and His Struggle for Tibet. Blackstone. ISBN 9781483027340. Read by Lane Nishikawa & Bernadette Dunne.
In December 2010 residents of Kalimpong, a town on the Indian border with Tibet, turned out en masse to welcome the Dalai Lama. It was only then they realized that the neighbor they knew as the noodle maker of Kalimpong was also the Dalai Lama’s older brother. Gyalo Thondup had long lived out of the spotlight, but his whole life has been dedicated to the cause of his younger brother and Tibet. He served for decades as the Dalai Lama’s special envoy, the trusted interlocutor between Tibet and foreign leaders. Traveling the globe and meeting behind closed doors, Thondup has been an important witness to some of the epochal events of the 20th century. Only the Dalai Lama himself has played a more important role in the political history of modern, tragedy-ridden Tibet.
Welch, Jack & Suzy Welch. The Real-Life MBA: Your No-BS Guide to Winning the Game, Building a Team, and Growing Your Career. HarperAudio. ISBN 9780062394859. Read by Sean Pratt.
Jack and Suzy Welch (Winning) draw on their experiences to address the biggest problems facing modern management—and offer pragmatic solutions to overcome them. Going beyond theories, concepts, and ideologies, they tackle the real stuff of work today. When you get down to it, they argue, winning in business is all about mastering the gritty, inescapable, make-or-break, real-life dilemmas that define the new economy, the old economy, and everything in between. Work is a grind. My boss is driving me nuts. I’m stuck in career purgatory. My team has lost its mojo. IT is holding us hostage. Our strategy is outdated the day we launch it. We don’t know what our Chinese partners are talking about. We’re just not growing. Jack’s years of iconic leadership and Suzy’s insights as former editor of the Harvard Business Review imbue their stories with powerful solutions that every manager at any level can use right now.
