Niche Nonfiction

The Anthropocene Reviewed

Essays on a Human-Centered Planet

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

“A continuation of John Green's podcast of the same name, this audiobook is engaging, intriguing and hard to put down. Read by the author, this book resonated with me on so many levels and left me with food for thought. 5 stars. Read more

A Walk in the Woods

Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail

By: Bill Bryson
Narrated by: Rob McQuay
Length: 9 hours 43 minutes

The Appalachian Trail trail stretches from Georgia to Maine and covers some of the most breathtaking terrain in America–majestic mountains, silent forests, sparking lakes. If you’re going to take a hike, it’s probably the place to go. And Bill Bryson is surely the most entertaining guide you’ll find. He introduces us to the history and... Read more

American Wolf

A True Story of Survival and Obsession in the West

By: Nate Blakeslee
Narrated by: Mark Bramhall & Nate Blakeslee
Length: 9 hours 12 minutes

“American Wolf uncovers the true legacy of the American wolf's survival after its reintroduction into the Rockies after nearly becoming extinct in the 1920s. The book focuses on renowned wolf O-Six, who's unlike any female wolf that Yellowstone park ranger Rick McIntyre has ever seen. Many of O-Six's survival challenges are directly linked to the... Read more

At Home

A Short History of Private Life

By: Bill Bryson
Narrated by: Bill Bryson
Length: 16 hours 31 minutes

From one of the most beloved authors of our  time—more than six million copies of his books have been sold in this country alone—a fascinating excursion into the history behind the place we call home.

“Houses aren’t refuges from history. They are where history ends up.”
 
Bill Bryson and his family live in a Victorian parsonage in a part of... Read more

Without Children

The Long History of Not Being a Mother

By: Peggy O'Donnell Heffington
Narrated by: Marguerite Gavin
Length: 8 hours 2 minutes

A historian of gender explores the complicated relationship between womanhood and motherhood In an era of falling births, it’s often said that millennials invented the idea of not having kids. But history is full of women without children: some who chose childless lives, others who wanted children but never had them, and still others—the vast... Read more

Orwell's Roses

By: Rebecca Solnit
Narrated by: Rebecca Solnit
Length: 7 hours 51 minutes

Finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction
Finalist for the PEN/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award for Biography

“An exhilarating romp through Orwell’s life and times and also through the life and times of roses.” —Margaret Atwood

“A captivating account of Orwell as gardener, lover, parent, and endlessly curious thinker.” —Claire... Read more

The Redemption of Wolf 302

From Renegade to Yellowstone Alpha Male

The Alpha Wolves of Yellowstone: Book #3

By: Rick McIntyre
Narrated by: Geoff Sugiyama
Length: 7 hours 35 minutes

From the renowned wolf researcher and author of The Rise of Wolf 8 and The Reign of Wolf 21 comes a stunning account of an unconventional alpha male.

A lover, not a fighter. That was wolf 302. A renegade with an eye for the ladies, 302 was anything but Yellowstone’s perfect alpha male. For starters, he fled from danger. He begged for food from... Read more

The Alpha Female Wolf

The Fierce Legacy of Yellowstone's 06

The Alpha Wolves of Yellowstone

By: Rick McIntyre
Narrated by: Geoff Sugiyama
Length: 6 hours 40 minutes

Book Four in the Award-Winning Alpha Wolves of Yellowstone series

Following five generations of female wolves—including the famous 06—this gripping family saga set in Yellowstone National Park reveals the pivotal role that female wolves play in pack life.

“Rick’s writing is so vivid, so powerful, that I feel I have been right there with him among... Read more

The Rise of Wolf 8

Witnessing the Triumph of Yellowstone's Underdog

The Alpha Wolves of Yellowstone: Book #1

By: Rick McIntyre
Narrated by: Geoff Sugiyama
Length: 8 hours 1 minute

“The powerful origin story of one of Yellowstone’s greatest and most famous wolves.” —Washington Post“[The Rise of Wolf 8] is a goldmine for information on all aspects of wolf behavior and clearly shows they are clever, smart, and emotional beings.” —Marc Bekoff, Psychology TodayYellowstone National Park was once home to an abundance of wild... Read more

The Reign of Wolf 21

The Saga of Yellowstone's Legendary Druid Pack

The Alpha Wolves of Yellowstone: Book #2

By: Rick McIntyre
Narrated by: Geoff Sugiyama
Length: 6 hours 41 minutes

“A redemption story, an adventure story, and perhaps above all, a love story.”—Nate Blakeslee, New York Times-bestselling author of American WolfThe Druid Peak Pack was the most famous wolf pack in Yellowstone National Park, and maybe even in the world.This is the dramatic true story of its remarkable leader, Wolf 21—whose compassion and loyalty... Read more

We Had a Little Real Estate Problem

The Unheralded Story of Native Americans & Comedy

By: Kliph Nesteroff
Narrated by: Kliph Nesteroff
Length: 9 hours 34 minutes

A Best Book of 2021 by NPR and Esquire

From Kliph Nesteroff, “the human encyclopedia of comedy” (VICE), comes the important and underappreciated story of Native Americans and comedy.

It was one of the most reliable jokes in Charlie Hill’s stand-up routine: “My people are from Wisconsin. We used to be from New York. We had a little real estate... Read more

Dark Archives

A Librarian's Investigation Into the Science and History of Books Bound in Human Skin

By: Megan Rosenbloom
Narrated by: Justis Bolding
Length: 6 hours 58 minutes

On bookshelves around the world, surrounded by ordinary books bound in paper and leather, rest other volumes of a distinctly strange and grisly sort: those bound in human skin. Would you know one if you held it in your hand? In Dark Archives, Megan Rosenbloom seeks out the historic and scientific truths behind anthropodermic bibliopegy?the... Read more

A History of the World in Seven Cheap Things

A Guide to Capitalism, Nature, and the Future of the Planet

By: Raj Patel & Jason W. Moore
Narrated by: Simon Mattacks
Length: 6 hours 40 minutes

Nature, money, work, care, food, energy, and lives: these are the seven things that have made our world and will shape its future. In making these things cheap, modern commerce has transformed, governed, and devastated Earth. In A History of the World in Seven Cheap Things, Raj Patel and Jason W. Moore present a new approach to analyzing today’s... Read more

Red Meat Republic

A Hoof-to-Table History of How Beef Changed America

Histories of Economic Life: Book #3

By: Joshua Specht
Narrated by: John Chancer
Length: 9 hours 28 minutes

In this audiobook, John Chancer narrates the story of how beef conquered America and gave rise to the modern industrial food complex

By the late nineteenth century, Americans rich and poor had come to expect high-quality fresh beef with almost every meal. Beef production in the United States had gone from small-scale, localized operations to a... Read more

Packing for Mars

The Curious Science of Life in the Void

By: Mary Roach
Narrated by: Sandra Burr
Length: 10 hours 27 minutes

Space is a world devoid of the things we need to live and thrive: air, gravity, hot showers, fresh produce, privacy, beer. Space exploration is in some ways an exploration of what it means to be human. How much can a person give up? How much weirdness can they take? What happens to you when you can’t walk for a year? have sex? smell flowers?... Read more

Grunt

The Curious Science of Humans at War

By: Mary Roach
Narrated by: Abby Elvidge
Length: 8 hours 54 minutes

Bestselling author Mary Roach explores the science of keeping human beings intact, awake, sane, uninfected, and uninfested in the bizarre and extreme circumstances of war.Grunt tackles the science behind some of a soldier’s most challenging adversaries—panic, exhaustion, heat, noise—and introduces us to the scientists who seek to conquer them.... Read more

Gulp

Adventures on the Alimentary Canal

By: Mary Roach
Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller
Length: 8 hours 21 minutes

"America's funniest science writer" (Washington Post) takes us down the hatch on an unforgettable tour. The alimentary canal is classic Mary Roach terrain: the questions explored in Gulp are as taboo, in their way, as the cadavers in Stiff and every bit as surreal as the universe of zero gravity explored in Packing for Mars. Why is crunchy food... Read more

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

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

Humankind

A Hopeful History

By: Rutger Bregman
Length: 11 hours 37 minutes

“Lengthy, but fascinating book delving into the resiliency and nature of humankind, and how are beliefs about that shape our society. Great for a book club conversation or dinner table discussion. Stories and research woven throughout keep the book moving. Read more