Essays audiobooks

A Thousand Ways to Pay Attention

By: Rebecca Schiller

Narrated by: Rebecca Schiller

Length: 11 hours 12 minutes

Abridged: No

It should have been Rebecca Schiller's dream come true: moving her young family to the English countryside to raise goats and coax their own fruit and vegetables from the land. But, as she writes: The summer of striding out toward a life of open fields and sacks of corn, I brought a confused black hole of something pernicious but not yet... Read more

The Book of (More) Delights

By: Ross Gay

Narrated by: Ross Gay

Length: 6 hours 48 minutes

Abridged: No

From bestselling author of The Book of Delights and award-winning poet, a book of lyrical mini-essays celebrating the everyday that will inspire readers to rediscover the joys in the world around us.

Ross Gay’s essays have been called “exquisite” (Tracy K. Smith), “imperative” (the New York Times Book Review), and “brilliant” (Ada Limón). Now,... Read more

Baggage

By: Alan Cumming

Narrated by: Alan Cumming

Length: 8 hours 36 minutes

Abridged: No

""An intimate look at the making of a man, an actor, an advocate—and most importantly—a happy human being. A wonderful book that is funny, honest, fearless, and generous in its vulnerability."" —Douglas Stuart, Booker Prize-winning author of Shuggie BainThere is absolutely no logical reason why I am here. The life trajectory my nationality and... Read more

Holidays on Ice

By: David Sedaris

Narrated by: David Sedaris, Ann Magnuson & Amy Sedaris

Length: 4 hours 19 minutes

Abridged: No

David Sedaris's beloved holiday collection is new again with six more pieces, including a never before published story. Along with such favoritesas the diaries of a Macy's elf and the annals of two very competitive families, are Sedaris's tales of tardy trick-or-treaters ("Us and Them"); the difficulties of explaining the Easter Bunny to the... Read more

Bad Vibes Only

By: Nora McInerny

Narrated by: Nora McInerny

Length: 5 hours 21 minutes

Abridged: No

NATIONAL BESTSELLER

From the host of the podcast Terrible, Thanks for Asking—called “a gift” by The New York Times—a raw and humorous essay collection in the spirit of Jenny Lawson and Samantha Irby.

Nora McInerny does not dance like no one is watching. In fact, she dances like everyone is watching, which is to say, she does not dance at all. A... Read more

This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage

By: Ann Patchett

Narrated by: Ann Patchett

Length: 11 hours 35 minutes

Abridged: No

A Reese Witherspoon Book Club Pick“I had been so engaged by Ann Patchett’s multifaceted story, so lured in by her confiding voice, that I forgot I was on the job. […] As the best personal essays often do, Patchett’s is a two-way mirror, reflecting both the author and her readers.” — New York Times Book ReviewBlending literature and memoir, New... Read more

Bad Feminist

By: Roxane Gay

Narrated by: Bahni Turpin

Length: 11 hours 46 minutes

Abridged: No

“Roxane Gay is so great at weaving the intimate and personal with what is most bewildering and upsetting at this moment in culture. She is always looking, always thinking, always passionate, always careful, always right there.”  — Sheila Heti, author of How Should a Person Be?A New York Times BestsellerBest Book of the Year: NPR • Boston Globe •... Read more

Furiously Happy

By: Jenny Lawson

Narrated by: Jenny Lawson

Length: 8 hours 19 minutes

Abridged: No

In Furiously Happy, #1 New York Times bestselling author Jenny Lawson explores her lifelong battle with mental illness. A hysterical, ridiculous book about crippling depression and anxiety? That sounds like a terrible idea.

But terrible ideas are what Jenny does best.

As Jenny says:

"Some people might think that being 'furiously happy' is just an... Read more

I'll Show Myself Out

By: Jessi Klein

Narrated by: Jessi Klein

Length: 6 hours 50 minutes

Abridged: No

An instant New York Times bestseller, I'll Show Myself Out is the eagerly anticipated second essay collection from Jessi Klein, author of the acclaimed debut You’ll Grow Out of It.Longlisted for the PEN Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay “Sometimes I think about how much bad news there is to tell my kid, the endlessly long,... Read more

Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim

By: David Sedaris

Narrated by: David Sedaris

Length: 6 hours 18 minutes

Abridged: No

David Sedaris plays in the snow with his sisters. He goes on vacation with his family. He gets a job selling drinks. He attends his brother's wedding. He mops his sister's floor. He gives directions to a lost traveler. He eats a hamburger. He has his blood sugar tested. It all sounds so normal, doesn't it? In his newest collection of essays,... Read more

We're Alone

By: Edwidge Danticat

Narrated by: Edwidge Danticat

Length: 4 hours 35 minutes

Abridged: No

Tracing a loose arc from Edwidge Danticat’s childhood to the COVID-19 pandemic and recent events in Haiti, the essays gathered in We’re Alone include personal narrative, reportage, and tributes to mentors and heroes such as Toni Morrison, Paule Marshall, Gabriel García Márquez, and James Baldwin that explore several abiding themes: environmental... Read more

Weird but Normal

By: Mia Mercado

Narrated by: Mia Mercado

Length: 6 hours 3 minutes

Abridged: No

Birth control. Body hair removal cream. Boobs. It’s all weird, but also pretty normal.Navigating racial identity, gender roles, workplace dynamics, and beauty standards, Mia Mercado's hilarious essay collection explores the contradictions of being a millennial woman, which usually means being kind of a weirdo. Whether it’s spending $30 on a... Read more

The Universe in Verse

By: Maria Popova

Narrated by: Maria Popova & Lili Taylor

Length: 1 hour 28 minutes

Abridged: No

In this audiobook Maria Popova, creator of The Marginalian, presents a celebration of the human search for truth and beauty through the lenses of science and poetry.

Poetry and science, as Popova writes in her introduction, "are instruments for knowing the world more intimately and loving it more deeply." In 15 short essays on subjects ranging... Read more

Bring Your Baggage and Don't Pack Light

By: Helen Ellis

Narrated by: Helen Ellis

Length: 2 hours 49 minutes

Abridged: No

The bestselling author of American Housewife and Southern Lady Code returns with an “inspiring, hilarious, straight-to-the-point” (Entertainment Weekly) collection of essays on friendship among grown-ass women.

"Ellis' prose is filled with so many laugh lines, you might want to go ahead and book the Botox.” —NPR

When Helen Ellis and her lifelong... Read more

Everything's Trash, But It's Okay

By: Phoebe Robinson

Narrated by: Phoebe Robinson

Length: 8 hours 55 minutes

Abridged: No

DON’T MISS PHOEBE ROBINSON’S COMEDY SERIES EVERYTHING’S TRASH—NOW ON FREEFORM!

New York Times bestselling author and star of 2 Dope Queens Phoebe Robinson is back with a new, hilarious, and timely essay collection on gender, race, dating, and the dumpster fire that is our world.

Wouldn't it be great if life came with instructions? Of course, but... Read more

Crying in the Bathroom

By: Erika L. Sánchez

Narrated by: Erika L. Sánchez

Length: 7 hours 16 minutes

Abridged: No

“Equal parts pee-your-pants hilarity and break your heart poignancy- like the perfect brunch date you never want to end!"--America Ferrera, Emmy award-winning actress in Ugly Betty

From the New York Times bestselling author of I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter, an utterly original memoir-in-essays that is as deeply moving as it is... Read more

Southern Lady Code

By: Helen Ellis

Narrated by: Helen Ellis

Length: 3 hours 10 minutes

Abridged: No

"I loved it." —Ann Patchett 

The bestselling author of American Housewife ("Dark, deadpan and truly inventive." --The New York Times Book Review) is back with a fiercely funny collection of essays on marriage and manners, thank-you notes and three-ways, ghosts, gunshots, gynecology, and the Calgon-scented, onion-dipped, monogrammed art of living... Read more

So Close to Being the Sh*t, Y'all Don't Even Know

By: Retta

Narrated by: Retta

Length: 6 hours 55 minutes

Abridged: No

"This book feels like a real conversation. When we enter Retta's world we are at the best party and in the hands of a gracious, self-perceptive, and deeply hilarious host." — Amy Poehler

This program is read by the author.

In this hilarious audiobook essay collection, Parks and Recreation star Retta shares the stories that led to her success in... Read more

Scrappy Little Nobody

By: Anna Kendrick

Narrated by: Anna Kendrick

Length: 6 hours

Abridged: No

The New York Times bestselling collection of humorous autobiographical essays by the Academy Award nominated actress and star of Up in the Air and Pitch Perfect.

Even before she made a name for herself on the silver screen starring in films like Pitch Perfect, Up in the Air, Twilight, and Into the Woods, Anna Kendrick was unusually small, weird,... Read more

I've Tried Being Nice

By: Ann Leary

Narrated by: Ann Leary

Length: 5 hours 46 minutes

Abridged: No

New York Times bestselling author Ann Leary offers a literary feast of humor and wisdom told from the perspective of a recovering people pleaser.

Having arrived at a certain age (her prime), Ann Leary casts a wry backward glance at a life spent trying—and often failing—to be nice. With wit and surprising candor, Leary recounts the bedlam of home... Read more

My Beloved Monster

By: Caleb Carr

Narrated by: James Lurie

Length: 13 hours 47 minutes

Abridged: No

The #1 bestselling author of The Alienist tells the extraordinary story of Masha, a half-wild rescue cat who fought off a bear, tackled Caleb like a linebacker—and bonded with him as tightly as any cat and human possibly can. Caleb Carr has had special relationships with cats since he was a young boy in a turbulent household, famously peopled by... Read more

Wolfish

By: Erica Berry

Narrated by: Lessa Lamb

Length: 15 hours 36 minutes

Abridged: No

"Lessa Lamb narrates with a fine tone and timbre. She inhabits the youthful sound and elegant style of this layered audiobook. Her timing and sense of occasion add richness to its informed foray into all things wolf as she captures the drama, fear, and anxiety that underlie the immersive presentation." - AudioFile Magazine (Earphones Award... Read more

My First Popsicle

By: Zosia Mamet

Narrated by: Zosia Mamet, Sian Clifford, Kaley Cuoco, Ted Da...

Length: 7 hours 4 minutes

Abridged: No

From a spectrum of talented authors, a collection of essays on food, and its entwinement with our emotions and our lives.

Of all the essentials for survival: oxygen, water, sleep, and food, only food is a vast treasure trove of memory and of sensory experience. Food is a portal to culture, to times past, to disgust, to comfort, to love: no matter... Read more

What If? 2

By: Randall Munroe

Narrated by: Wil Wheaton

Length: 6 hours 35 minutes

Abridged: No

The #1 New York Times bestselling author of What If? and How To answers more of the weirdest questions you never thought to ask
 
The millions of people around the world who read and loved What If? still have questions, and those questions are getting stranger. Thank goodness xkcd creator Randall Munroe is here to help. Planning to ride a fire... Read more