Bays, Jan Chozen. How to Train a Wild Elephant & Other Adventures in Mindfulness: Simple Daily Mindfulness Practices for Living Life More Fully & Joyfully. Brilliance. ISBN 9781501227424. Read by the author.
A growing body of research is showing that mindfulness can reduce stress, improve physical health, and improve one’s overall quality of life. Bays, a physician and Zen teacher, has developed a series of simple practices to help cultivate mindfulness as people go about their daily lives. Exercises include taking three deep breaths before answering the phone, noticing and adjusting your posture throughout the day, eating mindfully, and leaving no trace of yourself after using the kitchen or bathroom.
Bello, Maria. Love Is Love: A New Way of Talking about Family and Partnership. Blackstone. ISBN 9781504611206. Reader TBA.
When actress and activist Bello told her son that she had fallen in love with her best friend, a woman, she was relieved at his easy and immediate acceptance. In her first book, she looks at the idea of partnership in women’s lives. She examines the myths that so many of us believe about partnership and explores how different relationships—romantic, platonic, spiritual, familial, educational—helped define her life. She encourages women to realize that the only labels we have are the ones we put on ourselves, and that the best, happiest partnerships are the ones that make your life better, even if they don’t fit the mold of “typical.”
Betts, Kate. My Paris Dream: An Education in Style, Slang, and Seduction in the Great City on the Seine. Books on Tape. ISBN 9781101913222. Read by the author.
After college—and not without trepidation—Betts took off for Paris, determined to master French slang, style, and savoir faire, and to find a job that would give her a reason to stay. After a series of dues-paying jobs, she caught the eye of John Fairchild, the publisher of Women’s Wear Daily. Betts’s earliest assignments—investigating the mineral water preferred by high society, chasing after a costumed band of fox hunters through the forests of Brittany—were a rough apprenticeship, but she was rewarded for her efforts and initiated into the elite ranks of Mr. Fairchild’s trusted few. The author gives listeners a view of what it was like to be a young American girl, learning about herself, falling in love, and finding her tribe. She brings to life the enchantment of France—from the nightclubs of 1980s Paris to the lavender fields of Provence and the grand spectacle of the Cour Carrée—and recreates that moment when a young woman discovers whom she’s meant to be.
Bostrom, Nick. Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies. Brilliance. ISBN 9781501227745. Read by Napolean Ryan.
Bostrom (philosophy, Oxford) lays the foundation for understanding the future of humanity and intelligent life. If machine brains surpass human brains in general intelligence, then this new superintelligence could become extremely powerful—possibly beyond our control. As the fate of gorillas now depends more on humans than on the species itself, so the fate of humankind depends on the actions of the machine superintelligence. But we have one advantage: we get to make the first move. Will it be possible to construct a seed Artificial Intelligence, to engineer initial conditions so as to make an intelligence explosion survivable?
Bradley, Rusty. Lions of Kandahar: The Story of a Fight Against All Odds. Brilliance. ISBN 9781501252655. Read by Kevin Maurer & Eric G. Dove.
An inside account from the unique perspective of an active-duty U.S. Army Special Forces commander. Then-Captain Rusty Bradley began his third tour of duty in Afghanistan in 2006 as the Taliban were poised to reclaim Kandahar Province. To stop them, the NATO coalition launched Operation Medusa, the largest offensive in its history. The battlefield was the Panjwayi Valley, a densely packed warren of walled compounds. Bradley’s Special Forces A-team, along with their Afghan Army allies, watched from across the valley as the NATO force was engulfed in a vicious counterattack. Key to relieving it was possession of a modest patch of high ground called Sperwan Ghar. Bradley’s small detachment assaulted the hill and, in the midst of a savage and unforgettable firefight, soon learned they were facing nearly a thousand seasoned fighters—from whom they seized an impossible victory.
Burns, Eric. 1920: The Year that Made the Decade Roar. Blackstone. ISBN 9781483085111. Reader TBA.
The Roaring Twenties is the only decade in American history with a widely applied nickname, and our collective fascination with this era continues. But how did this surge of innovation and cultural milestones emerge out of the ashes of World War I? Burns investigates the year 1920, which was not only a crucial 12-month period of its own, but one that foretold the future.
Burriesci, Matt. Dead White Guys: A Father, His Daughter, and the Great Books of the Western World. Blackstone. ISBN 978-1-4815-3138-2. Reader TBA.
After his daughter was born prematurely in 2010, Burriesci set out to write a book for her 18th birthday. In short, honest, and simple letters, Burriesci teaches his daughter about 32 great books, by authors from Plato to Karl Marx, and how their lessons have applied to his life.
Cameron, Ardis. Unbuttoning America: A Biography of Peyton Place. Blackstone. ISBN 9781481528283. Reader TBA.
Published in 1956, Peyton Place became a bestseller and a literary phenomenon. A lurid and gripping story of murder, incest, female desire, and social injustice, it was loosely based on real-life places, people, and events. More than half a century later, the term “Peyton Place” is still in circulation as a code for a community harboring sordid secrets. Here Cameron mines extensive interviews, fan letters, and archival materials, including contemporary cartoons and cover images from film posters and foreign editions, to tell how the story of a patricide in a small New England village circulated over time and became a cultural phenomenon.
Doctor Dread. The Half That’s Never Been Told: The Real-Life Reggae Adventures of Doctor Dread. Blackstone. ISBN 9781504625166. Reader TBA.
Doctor Dread has committed his life to producing reggae music and releasing it on his label, RAS Records. In this memoir, he reveals how he came to be one of the world’s foremost reggae producers and what it’s like to have worked with almost all the genre’s icons, including Bunny Wailer, Black Uhuru, Ziggy and Damian Marley, and Gregory Isaacs.
Geist, Bill & Willie Geist. Good Talk, Dad : The Birds and the Bees…and Other Conversations We Forgot To Have. Hachette Audio. ISBN 9781478903888. Reader TBA.
Bill Geist, the long-time special correspondent for CBS: Sunday Morning, and Today Show host Willie Geist here share an extended father and son conversation on areas of mutual interest, agreement, and disagreement. They riff on fatherhood, religion, music, sports, summer camp disasters, driving lessons gone horribly wrong, being on TV, and their wonderfully odd family life.
Hodgman, George. Bettyville. Recorded Books. ISBN 9781490659046. Reader TBA.
When Hodgman leaves Manhattan for his hometown of Paris, MO, he finds himself an unlikely caretaker to his aging mother, Betty, a woman of wit and will. He can’t bring himself to force her from the home both treasure, the place where his father’s voice lingers, the scene of shared jokes, skirmishes, and’ a rarely acknowledged conflict: Betty has never really accepted the fact that her son is gay. As they try to bring their different worlds together, Hodgman reveals the challenges of Betty’s life and his own struggle for self-respect.
Innskeep, Steve. Jacksonland: President Andrew Jackson, Cherokee Chief John Ross, and a Great American Land Grab. Books on Tape. ISBN 9781101914953. Read by the author.
NPR Morning Edition cohost Inskeep here tells the harrowing, inspiring, and deeply moving narrative history of two men—President Andrew Jackson and Cherokee Chief John Ross—who led their respective nations at a crossroads of American history.
Jackson, Shirley. Life Among the Savages. Dreamscape. ISBN 9781681411125. Reader TBA.
In her celebrated fiction, Jackson explored the darkness lurking beneath the surface of small-town America, but here she takes on the lighter side of small-town life. In this witty and warm memoir of her family’s life in rural Vermont, first published in 1953, she exposes a domestic side in cheerful contrast to her quietly terrifying fiction. With a novelist’s gift for character, an unfailing maternal instinct, and her signature humor, Jackson turns everyday family experiences into brilliant adventures.
Kotler, Steven. Tomorrowland: Our Journey from Science Fiction to Science Fact. Brilliance. ISBN 9781501230615. Reader TBA.
Kotler here guides listeners on a mind-bending tour of the far frontier—from the ways science and technology are fundamentally altering our bodies and our world (the world’s first bionic soldier, the future of evolution) to explosive collisions between science and culture (life extension and bioweapons) in a work that takes a deep dive into those future technologies happening now—and examines what it means to be a part of this brave new world.
Krebs, Brian. Spam Nation: The Inside Story of Organized Cybercrime—from Global Epidemic to Your Front Door. Brilliance. ISBN 9781501210433. Read by Christopher Lane.
Investigative journalist and cybersecurity expert Krebs traces the rise, fall, and alarming resurrection of the digital mafia behind the two largest spam pharmacies—and countless viruses, phishing, and spyware attacks, delivering the first definitive narrative of the global spam problem and its threat to consumers everywhere. Blending cutting-edge research, investigative reporting, and firsthand interviews, this terrifying true story reveals how we unwittingly invite these digital thieves into our lives every day and proposes concrete solutions for protecting ourselves online and stemming this tidal wave of cybercrime.
Kreutzmann, Bill with Benjy Eisen. Deal: My Three Decades of Drumming, Dreams, and Drugs with the Grateful Dead. Macmillan Audio. ISBN 9781427261519. Reader TBA.
For 30 years, beginning in the hippie scene of San Francisco in 1965, the Grateful Dead were a musical institution. Kreutzmann, one of the band’s founding members and drummer for every one of their more than 2,300 concerts, has written an unflinching and wild account of playing in the greatest improvisational band of all time.
Loomis, Susan Hermann. In a French Kitchen: Tales and Traditions of Everyday Home Cooking in France. Blackstone. ISBN 9781481531849. Reader TBA.
Loomis, an American living in France, demystifies in lively prose the seemingly effortless je ne sais quoi behind a simple French meal. Listeners meet the busy people of Louviers and surrounding villages and towns of Loomis’s adopted home, from runway-chic Edith, who has zero passion for cooking—but a love of food that inspires her to whip up an array of mouthwatering dishes—to Nathalie, who becomes misty-eyed as she talks about her mother’s Breton cooking and then goes on to reproduce it. Through friends and neighbors like these, Loomis learns that delicious, even decadent meals don’t have to be complicated.
McCullough, David. The Wright Brothers. S. & S. Audio. ISBN 9781442376083. Reader TBA.
On December 17, 1903 at Kitty Hawk, NC, Wilbur and Orville Wright’s Wright Flyer became the first powered, heavier-than-air machine to achieve controlled, sustained flight with a pilot aboard. The Age of Flight had begun. How did they do it? And why? McCullough tells the extraordinary and truly American story of the two brothers who changed the world, drawing on nearly 1,000 letters of family correspondence—plus diaries, notebooks, and family scrapbooks in the Library of Congress—to tell the full story of the Wright brothers and their heroic achievement.
McGonigal, Kelly. The Upside of Stress: Why Stress Is Good for You, and How To Get Good at It. Penguin Audio. ISBN 978-1611764086.
McGonigal (The Willpower Instinct) turns her attention to long-held beliefs about stress. While most people do everything they can to reduce it, McGonigal makes the case that stress isn’t bad. She highlights new research indicating that stress can, in fact, make us stronger, smarter, and happier—if we learn how to embrace it and take advantage of the correlation between resilience—the human capacity for stress-related growth—and mind-set, the power of beliefs to shape reality. The author combines science, stories, and exercises to show listeners how stress can provide focus and energy and help people connect and strengthen close relationships, why your brain is built to learn from stress, and how to increase the mind’s ability to learn from challenging experiences
Moore, Tim. Gironimo!: Riding the Very Terrible 1914 Tour of Italy. Blackstone. ISBN 9781483085036. Reader TBA.
The 1914 Giro d’Italia was the most difficult bike race in history; 81 riders started and only eight finished. Its 400-kilometer stages were filled with cataclysmic storms, roads strewn with nails, and even the loss of an eye by one competitor—and it was all on a diet of raw eggs and red wine. Moore decides to attempt it himself, and he’s committed to total authenticity: To truly capture the essence of what these riders endured a century ago, he acquires the ruined husk of a gearless, wooden-wheeled 1914 road bike, some maps, and a period outfit topped off with a pair of blue-lensed welding goggles, riding up and over the Alps and then down to the Adriatic (with only wine corks for brakes).
Morell, Michael with Bill Harlow. The Great War of Our Time : An Insider’s Account of the CIA vs. al Qa’ida. Hachette Audio. ISBN 9781478954637. Reader TBA.
Morell, the CIA’s recently retired deputy director, provides a look inside the Agency’s inner workings and a harrowing assessment of the threats that still loom large today. He offers an unprecedented assessment of the CIA while at the forefront of our nation’s war against al-Qa’ida and during the most remarkable period in the history of the Agency.
Nelson, Willie with David Ritz. It’s a Long Story: My Life. Hachette Audio. ISBN 9781478952527. Reader TBA.
Having recently turned 80, Nelson is ready to shine on a light on all aspects of his life, including his drive to write music, the women in his life, his collaborations, and his biggest lows and highs—from his bankruptcy to the founding of Farm Aid.
Offerman, Nick. Gumption: Relighting the Torch of Freedom with America’s Gutsiest Troublemakers. Books on Tape. ISBN 9781101914892. Read by the author.
Both Offerman and his Parks and Recreation character, Ron Swanson, are known for their humor and patriotism in equal measure. Here Offerman focuses on the lives of those who inspired him. From George Washington to Willie Nelson, he describes a few dozen of these heroic figures and why they inspire in him such great meaning. He combines both serious history with light-hearted humor—comparing, say, George Washington’s wooden teeth to his own experience as a woodworker. The subject matter also allows Offerman to expound upon his favorite topics—areas such as religion, politics, woodworking and handcrafting, agriculture, creativity, philosophy, fashion, and, of course, meat.
Reston, James Jr. Luther’s Fortress: Martin Luther and His Reformation Under Siege. Blackstone. ISBN 978-1-4815-3168-9. Reader TBA.
In 1521, the Catholic Church was hunting for Martin Luther. Knowing that inquisitors would murder the monk and crush his fragile movement if they caught him, Luther’s followers spirited him away to Wartburg Castle in central Germany. There Luther hid for the next eight months as his fate—and that of the Reformation—hung in the balance. While at Wartburg, Luther translated the Bible, fought his inner demons, and held together his fractious and increasingly radicalized movement from afar. Reston reveals how Luther and his Reformation emerged from Wartburg Castle stronger than ever.
Rivers, Melissa. The Book of Joan: Tales of Mirth, Mischief, and Manipulation. Penguin Audio. ISBN 9781101923344. Read by the author.
Joan and Melissa Rivers had one of the most celebrated mother-daughter relationships of all time. If you think Joan said some outrageous things to her audiences as a comedian, you won’t believe what she said and did in private. Her love for her daughter knew no bounds—or boundaries, apparently. (“Melissa, I acknowledge that you have boundaries. I just choose to not respect them.”) Here Melissa shares stories, bon mots, and life lessons from growing up in the family that Melissa describes as more Addams than Cleaver. And at the center of it all was a tiny blond force of nature.
Wallace, B. Alan. Dreaming Yourself Awake: Lucid Dreaming and Tibetan Dream Yoga for Insight and Transformation. Brilliance. ISBN 9781501221545. Read by Brian Hodel & Tom Pile.
Lucid dreaming is the ability to alter your own dream reality any way you like simply by being aware of the fact that you’re dreaming while you’re in the midst of a dream. There is a range of techniques anyone can learn to become a lucid dreamer—and this audiobook provides all the instruction you need to get started. Wallace also shows how to take the experience of lucid dreaming beyond entertainment to use it to heighten creativity, solve problems, and increase self-knowledge.