Essays bestsellers

Braiding Sweetgrass

Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants

By: Robin Wall Kimmerer
Narrated by: Robin Wall Kimmerer
Length: 16 hours 44 minutes

As a botanist and professor of plant ecology, Robin Wall Kimmerer has spent a career learning how to ask questions of nature using the tools of science. As a Potawatomi woman, she learned from elders, family, and history that the Potawatomi, as well as a majority of other cultures indigenous to this land, consider plants and animals to be our... Read more

Little Weirds

By: Jenny Slate
Narrated by: Jenny Slate
Length: 4 hours 19 minutes

“Little lovely weirds from the big, lovely, weirdness of Jenny Slate's brain. I am recommending that you get both a physical copy to beautify your shelves and the audiobook so that Slate can croon her little weirds into your ears and that way your hands are free for snacking or petting the dog or arranging acorns on your mantle. You will laugh... Read more

The Anthropocene Reviewed

Essays on a Human-Centered Planet

By: John Green
Narrated by: John Green
Length: 10 hours 42 minutes

“I found myself moved by Greene’s intellectual curiosity and humanism. Each review is a tiny, bite-sized memoir that says “I am here, this is my experience." Each essay is a teaspoon of liquid hope, reminding me that the world is filled with wonders large and small. Read more

Crying in H Mart

A Memoir

By: Michelle Zauner
Narrated by: Michelle Zauner
Length: 7 hours 22 minutes

“This memoir is an unflinchingly honest portrayal of grief as well as a tender look at the complex relationship between a mother and daughter bridging generational and cultural gaps through the comforting creation of food. This book had me simultaneously sobbing and starving. A perfect read. Read more

Hijab Butch Blues

A Memoir

By: Lamya H
Narrated by: Ashraf Shirazi
Length: 7 hours 32 minutes

“This memoir absolutely blew me away. Structured around stories from the Qur'an, Lamya H beautifully explores the intersections between faith, identity, culture, and belonging. I learned so much while reading this book, and really valued Lamya's unique perspective on queerness and religion. Incredibly raw and honest, this is a memoir I will be... Read more

Opinions

A Decade of Arguments, Criticism, and Minding Other People’s Business

By: Roxane Gay
Narrated by: Roxane Gay
Length: 9 hours 58 minutes

From beloved and bestselling author Roxane Gay, “a strikingly fresh cultural critic” (Washington Post) comes an exhilarating collection of her essays on culture, politics, and everything in between. Since the publication of the groundbreaking Bad Feminist and Hunger, Roxane Gay has continued to tackle big issues embroiling... Read more

I'm Just a Person

By: Tig Notaro
Narrated by: Tig Notaro
Length: 5 hours 15 minutes

One of America’s most original comedic voices delivers a darkly funny, wryly observed, and emotionally raw account of her year of death, cancer, and epiphany.In the span of four months in 2012, Tig Notaro was hospitalized for a debilitating intestinal disease called C. diff, her mother unexpectedly died, she went through a breakup, and then she... Read more

Kitchen Confidential

Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly

By: Anthony Bourdain
Narrated by: Anthony Bourdain
Length: 8 hours 18 minutes

When Chef Anthony Bourdain wrote "Don't Eat Before You Read This" in The New Yorker, he spared no one's appetite, revealing what goes on behind the kitchen door. In Kitchen Confidential, he expanded the appetizer into a deliciously funny, delectably shocking banquet that lays out his twenty-five years of sex, drugs, and haute cuisine.

From his... Read more

How Far the Light Reaches

A Life in Ten Sea Creatures

By: Sabrina Imbler
Narrated by: Sabrina Imbler
Length: 5 hours 40 minutes

“Imbler’s full-length debut is as much about their personal evolution as a queer, mixed race writer as it is an exploration of the deep sea creatures whose eccentricities inspire them. Imbler's tender approach and tactile prose toggles between expansive aquatic research and personal experiences, expanding the portrait of our world as we know it... Read more

Leslie F*cking Jones

By: Leslie Jones
Narrated by: Leslie Jones & Chris Rock
Length: 16 hours 32 minutes

“The best thing about the book Leslie F*cking Jones is that it is read by...Leslie F*cking Jones. Her bluntness, humor, and authenticity shine through in this moving memoir that is both witty and poignant. Existing fans and new followers will be carried away by Jones' informal and raucous style, telling stories both heartfelt and hilarious that... Read more

Ten Steps to Nanette

A Memoir Situation

By: Hannah Gadsby
Narrated by: Hannah Gadsby
Length: 13 hours 47 minutes

“In 2017, at the height of the Me Too movement, Hannah Gadsby changed comedy as we know it with her groundbreaking show, Nanette. As a woman, as a lesbian, as a gender-nonconforming person, as a neuro-atypical person, as a victim of trauma, Gadsby mapped out a way forward for comedy that didn't make herself, and people like her, the butt of the... Read more

Quietly Hostile

Essays

By: Samantha Irby
Narrated by: Samantha Irby
Length: 9 hours 31 minutes

“I'm obsessed with Samantha Irby (in a cute way, not a dangerous way). Her books are hilarious, endearing, and a little gross. Walking around the neighborhood listening to this audiobook got me a lot of weird looks as I gasped, gagged, talked back to her (she narrates all of her audiobooks!), and laughed with wild abandon. Read more

They Can't Kill Us Until They Kill Us

By: Hanif Abdurraqib
Narrated by: Hanif Abdurraqib
Length: 8 hours 37 minutes

*2018 "12 best books to give this holiday season" TODAY Show*Best Books of 2018* Rolling Stone"A Best Book of 2017" NPR, Buzzfeed, Paste Magazine, Esquire, Chicago Tribune, Vol. 1 Brooklyn, CBC, Stereogum, National Post, Entropy, Heavy, Book Riot, Chicago Review of Books, The Los Angeles Review, Michigan Daily*American Booksellers Association... Read more

Happy-Go-Lucky

By: David Sedaris
Narrated by: David Sedaris
Length: 7 hours 30 minutes

“This was my first experience listening to David Sedaris. It was great. His stories are always smart and funny, sometimes disturbing, but always make me think. Wonderful to hear him tell them authentically. Read more

Freedom is a Constant Struggle

Ferguson, Palestine, and the Foundations of a Movement

By: Angela Y. Davis
Narrated by: Angela Y. Davis & Coleen Marlo
Length: 5 hours 47 minutes

“A must read on the interconnection of all liberation struggles that has only become more relevant since its publication in 2016. Angela Davis is one of the most steadfast voices of our time, and her background as a public speaker makes for excellent narration. Read more

Dirtbag, Massachusetts

A Confessional

By: Isaac Fitzgerald
Narrated by: Isaac Fitzgerald
Length: 7 hours 11 minutes

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

USA TODAY BESTSELLER

Winner of the New England Book Award for Nonfiction

"The best of what memoir can accomplish . . . pulling no punches on the path to truth, but it always finds the capacity for grace and joy." —Esquire, "Best Memoirs of the Year"

A TIME Best Book of the Season * A Rolling Stone Top Culture Pick *... Read more

Yearbook

By: Seth Rogen
Narrated by: Seth Rogen & Full Cast
Length: 6 hours 13 minutes

“So funny. I couldn’t stop listening until I had heard all of his anecdotes. Loved it. Read more

Survival of the Thickest

Essays

By: Michelle Buteau
Narrated by: Michelle Buteau
Length: 6 hours 34 minutes

“I listened to this on my commute and it felt like, hilarious comedian, Michelle Buteau was hanging out with me in my passenger seat. What I liked was that, like everyone, she has insecurities (especially as a mixed-race plus-size woman in our society) but she doesn't dwell on them and then fully embodies confidence, not cockiness and not in a... Read more

The Book of Delights

By: Ross Gay
Narrated by: Ross Gay
Length: 5 hours

“For those of you having a rough year, take comfort and inspiration from Ross Gay’s aptly titled The Book of Delights. After going through a bumpy patch himself, Gay tasked himself with a year’s worth of essays, each day focusing on something delightful. What resulted is a warm, thoughtful range of reflections on tomato plants, high fives, and... Read more

Sunshine State

Essays

By: Sarah Gerard
Narrated by: Madeleine Maby
Length: 10 hours 4 minutes

“Sarah Gerard is a Southern writer for the 21st century. In Sunshine State, the sacred lies right next to the profane; the weird is always inextricable from its own beauty. These essays reach out toward the people and places of Gerard's childhood, family, and history while also reaching within to examine her own complicity in the creation of her... Read more

Fieldwork

A Forager's Memoir

By: Iliana Regan
Narrated by: Iliana Regan
Length: 9 hours 44 minutes

Not long after Iliana Regan’s celebrated debut, Burn the Place, became the first food-related title in four decades to become a National Book Award nominee in 2019, her career as a Michelin star–winning chef took a sharp turn north.Long based in Chicago, Iliana and her new wife, Anna, decided to create a culinary destination, the Milkweed Inn,... Read more

Bite by Bite

Nourishments and Jamborees

By: Aimee Nezhukumatathil
Narrated by: Aimee Nezhukumatathil
Length: 5 hours 32 minutes

From the New York Times bestselling author of World of Wonders, a lyrical book of short essays about food, offering a banquet of tastes, smells, memories, associations, and marvelous curiosities from natureIn Bite by Bite, poet and essayist Aimee Nezhukumatathil explores the way food and drink evoke our associations and remembrances—a subtext or... Read more

Calypso

By: David Sedaris
Narrated by: David Sedaris
Length: 6 hours 38 minutes

“David Sedaris’s storytelling capabilities are only strengthened through the audiobook, in which the author himself leads us through his gut-busting tale of his vacations in beach homes. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, and then you’ll listen to the audiobook forty times over again. Read more

These Precious Days

Essays

By: Ann Patchett
Narrated by: Ann Patchett
Length: 11 hours 13 minutes

“I loved absolutely everything about this book and did not want it to end. Ann Patchett's narration is magical and I believe is best way to experience her writing. Though these are essays, they are expertly arranged and together feel like a memoir. Patchett talks about everything from life and death to bookstores and book covers and you... Read more

Raw Dog

The Naked Truth About Hot Dogs

By: Jamie Loftus
Narrated by: Jamie Loftus
Length: 9 hours 38 minutes

“Raw Dog by Jamie Loftus, (host of The Lolita Podcast and Ghost Church), covers all the basics you'd expect from a writer embarking on a road trip to taste test all the hottest pork tubes in America - a crumbling relationship due to a distaste for mustard, xenophobia and sexism in the competitive hot-dog eating circuit, and the horrible... Read more

Wow, No Thank You.

Essays (Lambda Literary Award)

By: Samantha Irby
Narrated by: Samantha Irby
Length: 10 hours 3 minutes

A new rip-roaring essay collection from the smart, edgy, hilarious, unabashedly raunchy, and bestselling Samantha Irby.

Irby is forty, and increasingly uncomfortable in her own skin despite what Inspirational Instagram Infographics have promised her. She has left her job as a receptionist at a veterinary clinic, has published successful books and... Read more

Gathering Moss

A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses

By: Robin Wall Kimmerer
Narrated by: Robin Wall Kimmerer
Length: 7 hours 46 minutes

Living at the limits of our ordinary perception, mosses are a common but largely unnoticed element of the natural world. Gathering Moss is a beautifully written mix of science and personal reflection that invites listeners to explore and learn from the elegantly simple lives of mosses.

Robin Wall Kimmerer's book is not an identification guide,... Read more

If You Can't Take the Heat

Tales of Food, Feminism, and Fury

By: Geraldine DeRuiter
Narrated by: Geraldine DeRuiter
Length: 9 hours 34 minutes

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • From the James Beard Award–winning blogger behind The Everywhereist come hilarious, searing essays on how food and cooking stoke the flames of her feminism.

“With charm and humor, Geraldine DeRuiter welcomes us into her personal history and thus reconnects us with ourselves.”—Mikki Kendall, New York Times bestselling author... Read more

Strong Female Character

By: Fern Brady
Narrated by: Fern Brady
Length: 6 hours 43 minutes

INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER • “Witty, dry, and gimlet-eyed, this is a necessary corrective in a world where Autistic women are all either written off as quiet and docile, or erased entirely.” —Devon Price, Ph.D., author of Unmasking Autism

Scottish comedian Fern Brady was told she couldn't be autistic because she'd had loads of boyfriends and is... Read more

World Travel

An Irreverent Guide

By: Anthony Bourdain & Laurie Woolever
Narrated by: Laurie Woolever, Shep Gordon, Christopher Bourdain, Jen Agg, Matt Walsh, Bill Buford, Claude Tayag, Nari Kye, Vidya Balachander & Steve Albini
Length: 12 hours 11 minutes

“Like the cowriter Laurie Woolever, I was initially a little skeptical that the world needed this travel guide, but now that I've sampled it I'm so grateful to have a little bit more of Bourdain in the world. While there is some practical advice here (hotel and restaurant suggestions), what I really love is hearing Bourdain's trademark wry humor... Read more

The Best of Me

By: David Sedaris
Narrated by: David Sedaris
Length: 13 hours 8 minutes

“As if there is anything greater than a new David Sedaris, it's listening to David Sedaris read the new David Sedaris. This self-edited collection of essays from his prolific 25-year career is exactly what we need to boost the morale of 2020 and remind ourselves what a crazy world we've always lived in when viewed through Sedaris's keen... Read more

Broken (in the best possible way)

By: Jenny Lawson
Narrated by: Jenny Lawson
Length: 8 hours 18 minutes

“Jenny Lawson is and will forever be my crazy, taxidermied spirit animal. In Broken she managed to make me snort coffee from my nose in laughter, then grasp at my aching heart a moment later in mutual grief. There's so much exposed nerve in this book that it is impossible not to get sucked into her vulnerability. I think she'd want you to know... Read more

World of Wonders

In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments

By: Aimee Nezhukumatathil
Narrated by: Aimee Nezhukumatathil
Length: 3 hours 30 minutes

Barnes & Noble 2020 Book of the Year
A Kirkus Prize Finalist for Nonfiction
A Southern Book Prize Finalist
An NPR Best Book of 2020
An Esquire Best Book of 2020
A BookPage Best Book of 2020
A New York Public Library Best Book of 2020
A Wall Street Journal Holiday Gift Pick for 2020
An Indie Next Pick, September 2019
A Publishers Weekly "Big Indie... Read more

Sitting Pretty

The View from My Ordinary, Resilient, Disabled Body

By: Rebekah Taussig
Narrated by: Rebekah Taussig
Length: 7 hours 33 minutes

A memoir-in-essays from disability advocate and creator of the Instagram account @sitting_pretty Rebekah Taussig, processing a lifetime of memories to paint a beautiful, nuanced portrait of a body that looks and moves differently than most.Growing up as a paralyzed girl during the 90s and early 2000s, Rebekah Taussig only saw disability depicted... Read more

Shit, Actually

The Definitive, 100% Objective Guide to Modern Cinema

By: Lindy West
Narrated by: Lindy West
Length: 7 hours 16 minutes

“It might be that Lindy West talks during movies, but you wouldn't shush her. She's better than the movie. This audiobook is read by the author and she is hilarious. Smart, funny, irreverent and feminist. I'll take that with a bowl of popcorn. PS. I really, really want West's Hermione-lead HP remake. Read more

In a Sunburned Country

By: Bill Bryson
Narrated by: Bill Bryson
Length: 11 hours 53 minutes

Every time Bill Bryson walks out the door, memorable travel literature threatens to break out. This time in Australia.

His previous excursion along the Appalachian Trail resulted in the sublime national bestseller A Walk in the Woods. In A Sunburned Country is his report on what he found in an entirely different place: Australia, the country that... Read more

The Collected Schizophrenias

Essays

By: Esmé Weijun Wang
Narrated by: Esmé Weijun Wang
Length: 7 hours 51 minutes

“The Collected Schizophrenias is a heartbreaking and honest collection about chronic mental illness and its effects on Wang. Through personal narrative and scientific research, Wang has created a collection of essays that are challenging in the sense that they confront you with the reality of a misunderstood condition. Her mission is not to... Read more

You Get What You Pay For

Essays

By: Morgan Parker
Narrated by: Morgan Parker
Length: 5 hours 40 minutes

“A strong, impressive essay collection filled with smart observations Parker has an incredible way of words that is both witty and insightful. No essay is too long, and I found the ones criticizing pop culture especially intriguing. The audiobook is read by the author, and each essay was read like a performance. I found myself re-listening to... Read more

Weird but Normal

Essays

By: Mia Mercado
Narrated by: Mia Mercado
Length: 6 hours 3 minutes

“I adored this book! I laughed until I cried, I cringed in shared embarrassment, and I read entire essays out loud to anyone who would listen. Although almost any reader will find something to relate to in Mia Mercado’s writing, she will speak directly to the hearts of millennials who still remember their hilariously terrible first AIM... Read more

All Creatures Great and Small

The Warm and Joyful Memoirs of the World's Most Beloved Animal Doctor

All Creatures Great and Small

By: James Herriot
Narrated by: Nicholas Ralph
Length: 15 hours 22 minutes

“The classic memoir of a young veterinarian who arrives in the remote Yorkshire Dales region in a changing era, post-WWI. Beautiful descriptions of farming life, workplace hi-jinx, small village society, and of course lovable, memorable animals. Read by the actor who plays James Herriot in the new adaptation on Masterpiece. I might be imagining... Read more

Inciting Joy

Essays

By: Ross Gay
Narrated by: Ross Gay
Length: 8 hours 20 minutes

An intimate and electrifying collection of essays from the New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Delights  

In these gorgeously written and timely pieces, prize-winning poet and author Ross Gay considers the joy we incite when we care for each other, especially during life’s inevitable hardships. Throughout Inciting Joy, he explores... Read more

You'll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey

Crazy Stories about Racism

By: Amber Ruffin & Lacey Lamar
Narrated by: Amber Ruffin & Lacey Lamar
Length: 5 hours 21 minutes

“I didn’t think it was possible to combine education and humor so effectively in a book about racism, but Ruffin and Lamar proved me wrong. This incredibly well-structured, digestible, challenging, and engaging book opened my eyes to the many ways racism can permeate every interaction in Black people’s lives. The way the sisters play off each... Read more

Finding Freedom

A Cook's Story; Remaking a Life from Scratch

By: Erin French
Narrated by: Erin French
Length: 9 hours 35 minutes

“Erin French's memoir is so impressive, highly engrossing, and also so tough to read. She brings us through her life, all the highest peaks and deepest valleys and emphasizes the tremendous effort she has made to come back from each low point. I often listened to French's narration with bated breath, shocked at how much she has overcome in such a... Read more

Everything I Know About Love

A Memoir

By: Dolly Alderton
Narrated by: Dolly Alderton
Length: 8 hours 34 minutes

“Everything I Know About Love was a joy to read and relatable to me as a young woman in her early 20's. Dolly Alderton gives a transparent, brutally honest look at herself at the various stages of her 30 years of life. She accurately depicts the hedonistic nature of being young, somewhat clueless, and attempting to navigate through life's... Read more

The Princess Diarist

By: Carrie Fisher
Narrated by: Carrie Fisher & Billie Lourd
Length: 5 hours 10 minutes

“You know Carrie Fisher, the famous actress, but do you know Carrie Fisher, the writer? This witty, intimate and revealing memoir was published about a month before her death. I loved the listening experience. It felt like Fisher was in the room with me sharing memories from her past since she narrates the majority of the book. Included in this... Read more

The Witches Are Coming

By: Lindy West
Narrated by: Lindy West
Length: 6 hours 27 minutes

“ I struggle to write a review of Lindy West's work without resorting to simplistic three syllable sentences like "she's awesome," or, "she's the best." Maybe it's because she makes it look so very easy. She says everything I'm always thinking: about feminism, about politics, about our image-obsessed culture. And she does it with irrefutable... Read more

Burning Questions

Essays and Occasional Pieces, 2004 to 2021

By: Margaret Atwood
Narrated by: Margaret Atwood & Full Cast
Length: 18 hours 59 minutes

“Atwood is brilliant--obviously, yes, but wonderfully so, nonetheless. These pieces took me to somewhere I have never traveled on the wings of a goddess. She informs, scolds, gives warnings, and inspires action. She talks about books she's written and books others have written. She speaks with authority and humility. I listen with awe and gratitude. Read more

Walking with Sam

A Father, a Son, and Five Hundred Miles Across Spain

By: Andrew McCarthy
Narrated by: Andrew McCarthy
Length: 6 hours 43 minutes

An intimate, funny, and poignant New York Times bestseling travel memoir following award-winning author and actor Andrew McCarthy as he walks the Camino de Santiago with his son Sam. 
 
When Andrew McCarthy's eldest son began to take his first steps into adulthood, McCarthy found himself wishing time would slow down. Looking to create a more... Read more

All Things Aside

Absolutely Correct Opinions

By: Iliza Shlesinger
Narrated by: Iliza Shlesinger
Length: 6 hours 16 minutes

From the razor-sharp mind of comedian Iliza Shlesinger comes a collection of hilarious and insightful essays about the exasperating issues of everyday life.All Things Aside is a punchy, honest, incisive book that shares a view of the world through the eyes of the inimitable Iliza Shlesinger. From the macro to micro, Shlesinger tackles it all... Read more

I Might Regret This

Essays, Drawings, Vulnerabilities, and Other Stuff

By: Abbi Jacobson
Narrated by: Abbi Jacobson
Length: 6 hours 9 minutes

“Abbi Jacobson (of Broad City fame) set off on a solo road trip from New York City to Los Angeles in an impulsive attempt to shake off heartache from a breakup. This quietly introspective and sweetly self-deprecating essay collection brings readers along on Jacobson’s cross-country trek and shows us that we’re never too old to figure out who we... Read more