New Reviews: Biography & Memoir

Listeners hear Nancy Pelosi describe herself as a dedicated patriot with an unwavering code of ethics demonstrated by years of focus on the American people, especially their children, and a fierce protection of the Constitution. As described in her own words, Pelosi's tenacity spans decades of maneuvering through political ups and downs, especially as the first Lady Speaker of... Read More

Ina Garten narrates with the same precision, charm, poise, and irreverence exhibited on her "Barefoot Contessa" television productions. That same independent woman people know from her food preparation shows on Food Network spins quite the tale. Her philosophy has been to make quick decisions and "dive in"--figuring it all out later. Raised by exceptionally strict parents, she... Read More

Adam Barr is particularly effective narrating military histories and biographies of celebrated commanders. Barr brings the proper spit and shine to this abbreviated biography of a general whose public remarks as president often seemed fumbling and impenetrable--perhaps deliberately. Barr tracks the steady path of Dwight Eisenhower's rise in the military establishment. While he... Read More

Ulka Simone Mohanty provides a down-to-earth narration of this Bill Gates profile. Her impartial voice is ideal for hearing about the myriad facets of Gates, and her earnest tone personalizes the related figures who weave through the narrative. This audiobook is a study of how Gates has both shaped and punctured popular cultural phenomena, such as wealth inequality,... Read More

Narrator Saskia Maarleveld maintains a deliberate pace in this packed history of America's newborn spy network during WWII. The unexpected heroes are librarians, professors, and other bookish types who were experts in gathering--and fabricating--information. And what a story Maarleveld tells. Even familiar episodes like the planning of D-Day take on new fire and urgency in this... Read More

Bill Zehme began his Carson biography in 2005, and with Zehme's death last year, friend Mike Thomas completed the final third. Johnny Heller delivers a consistently solid, dry, yet folksy newscaster performance of the audiobook. Heller's style is nasal and gravelly, exerting sporadic underplayed enthusiasm. The work contains facts aplenty associated with the Nebraska boy who... Read More

Oscar-winning actor, respected singer, and self-declared icon whose comebacks and reinventions have had their own comebacks and reinventions, Cher offers the first volume of her memoir. She alternates narrating with actor and friend Stephanie J. Block--who portrayed Cher in a short-lived Broadway musical biography. Both narrators are charming, effective, and pleasing to the... Read More

The end of a presidency doesn't mean the end of a productive life. That's the primary lesson from this autobiography about Bill Clinton's career after leaving the White House. The former president reads the introduction and then turns the narration over to Steven Weber. He narrates the book in a straightforward, professional style. Any attempt at mimicry would have been... Read More

Anne Marie Lewis takes listeners on an emotional journey of resilience and courage in a memoir that reads like historical fiction. Near the end of WWII, a Japanese girl becomes an orphan at the age of 6 in the Philippines. Forced to work as a servant, she is passed from one family to another and is eventually given the name Diamond. Throughout her life, Diamond struggles with... Read More

Actor-singer Bethany Joy Lenz's vulnerability and resiliency radiate as she narrates her memoir, which is focused on her decade in a religious cult. That period of her life overlapped with the period in which she starred in the television drama "One Tree Hill." Lenz recalls building an emotional wall between herself and her co-stars because she needed to center her religious... Read More

Novelist Richard Powers calls narrator Edoardo Ballerini the very best, and many listeners would agree. Ballerini's range is impressive, but he excels with the difficult, the literary, the opaque, and the autobiographical. He brings particular ease and purposefulness to this memoir by NEW YORK TIMES style critic Guy Trebay portraying his early years in Manhattan in the 1970s.... Read More

Patricia Rodriguez wisely takes her time performing this biography of physicist and chemist Marie Curie. Curie's life was chock-full of scientific breakthroughs, tragedy, sexism, and dozens of female scientists who worked with her. It's a lot to keep straight. Most of Curie's life was spent in Paris, so Rodriguez's skill with French enhances this audiobook. Curie was the first... Read More

The son of a film composer, Randy Newman used his lineage and extraordinary musical talent to write popular songs, as well as scores for movies and the theater. Occasionally controversial or snarky, his songs frequently called out injustices and moral hypocrisy in American life. In this rich biography, LOS ANGELES TIMES music critic Robert Hilburn makes sense of Newman's life... Read More

Julia Roberts narrates the late Lisa Marie Presley's writing, and Presley's daughter, the actor Riley Keough, shares her own memories of her mother. Clips of interviews with Presley are interspersed throughout this incredible listening experience. Elvis Presley's only child enlisted her daughter to help tell her story just one month before she died. Keough's voice is... Read More

Glory Edim, founder of the Well-Read Black Girl book club, performs her eloquent new memoir with charm and enthusiasm. The memoir is structured around the books that have been significant in her life, particularly those written by Black authors: Nikki Giovanni, Maya Angelou, Toni Morrison, Audre Lorde, and more. Growing up in Arlington, Virginia, the child of Nigerian... Read More

Animal lovers are in for a moving listening experience as author and narrator Elaine Castillo takes them through her life-changing journey as a companion to Xena, her beloved German Shepherd rescue dog, and others she has fostered. Castillo's passion for responsible and thoughtful companionship leads into an examination of the indelible bond humans have formed with dogs over... Read More

Leon Nixon uses his vocal talent and enthusiasm to bring listeners from the early days of racism in football to the glory of the talented Black football players who enjoy leadership in the sport today. Two men at the forefront of this fight were Doug Williams and Vince Evans, promising talents in the 1980s. They both came up through the ranks at their respective colleges,... Read More

Rob Sheffield, a rock journalist for ROLLING STONE, is a huge fan of Taylor Swift and doesn't mind who knows it. Sheffield is middle-aged and so tall that he has to scrunch down at Swift's concerts so as not to block the view of the girls behind him. As author and narrator, Sheffield comes off as both nerdy and cool, which is a charming and infectious combination. He sounds... Read More

Fiction writer Charles Bock turns to memoir as he tells the story of his adored wife's death and the task of raising their 3-year-old daughter, Lily, solo. Bock narrates with such rhythm that you almost visualize the text's line breaks. His delivery illuminates the beauty of his writing and the harsh reality of his struggles with grief, trying to maintain a career despite... Read More

Youngmi Mayer is a Korean American woman who lived in Saipan and South Korea before moving to America. Here she narrates her memoir of growing up between cultures and encountering a rough start to life in the U.S. Mayer's sense of humor is self-deprecating, sometimes veering into self-abusive. She is alternately funny yet, at the same time, extremely critical to the point of... Read More

In this touching memoir, author Paul Weigel describes surviving an emotionally cold childhood by persevering with his schoolwork and entering athletic competitions. Later, as a dad, he describes the importance of his devotion to his daughter. Being a father is a source of peace and inspiration for the author, whose love for his daughter was essential to his overcoming cancer... Read More

Nobody else could narrate this memoir like its author, actor and transgender activist Nicole Maines. Raw and candid, she lets the listener hear her anger and joy, frustration and hope. Her authenticity when describing messy moments in her life is all the more compelling in her own voice. Her story may be familiar from the book BECOMING NICOLE, which is about her and her... Read More

Two new audiobooks--THE STALIN AFFAIR and now this full biography--present a fresh, sympathetic view of one of the last century's most intriguing and maligned figures, Pamela Digby Churchill Hayward Harriman. She was the daughter-in-law of Winston Churchill, the widow of the astronomically wealthy Averill Harriman, the lover of a legion of powerful men, the patron to a... Read More

Dr. Sacks was a prodigious researcher, tireless clinician, voracious reader, indefatigable traveler, influential neurologist, and long-winded correspondent. The talented James Langton pays close attention to Sacks's English accent and British point of view. He seems to inhabit the great man's extraordinary mind. These revealing and erudite letters testify to Sacks's appetite... Read More

In this entertaining account of the jazz saxophone player's life in music, we hear about the hard work, maturity, and self-respect that Kenny G applied during every phase of his fifty-year career. The diminutive Jewish boy who was bullied at his Seattle high school recounts discovering the saxophone and playing pro gigs with prominent jazz and pop bands as a teenager. Learning... Read More

With his recognizable gravelly voice, the Hootie and the Blowfish singer delivers his heartfelt memoir with genuine gusto. He narrates clearly and naturally, always sounding engaged with the considerable pathos of his personal life and career in music: his substance abuse, early career playing at frat parties and dive bars, and eventual status as a solo country music star. What... Read More

Award-winning actor and singer Keke Palmer weaves personal stories and valuable advice into her inspirational self-help memoir. Authentic and deep, she draws listeners in with her signature voice, which has the ability to be energetic, sincere, and playful all at once. Palmer candidly speaks of moments in her life that have had significant impacts on her self-improvement and... Read More

Patty Nieman's pleasing voice and steady pace keep this biography of painter Piet Mondrian (1872-1944) interesting. Nieman provides the right amount of expression and manages Dutch and French names with a convincing accent as Mondrian moves from the Netherlands to Paris and London. Mondrian evolved from painting profitable landscapes, portraits, and flowers to his deceptively... Read More

This audio biography doesn't shimmer as brightly as its subject, the wildly talented and stereotype-defying Chinese American actor Anna May Wong. The author narrates the preface slowly in a wooden tone. Caroline McLaughlin narrates the rest in a scratchy voice that evokes the tinny, high-pitched quality of audio recordings made during Wong's career apex in the early twentieth... Read More

In 1963, Tove Jansson built a cabin on Klovharun, a tiny, rugged island in the Gulf of Finland, with the help of a fisherman named Brunstrom. Narrator Orlagh Cassidy takes a minimalist approach to her narration, enunciating precisely and adopting a slow pace as she recounts Brunstrom's notes on building the cabin, the island's weather, and Jansson's and her partner Tuuti's... Read More

Author and narrator Herbie Pilato stitches together the facts surrounding the attractive, highly talented English-born actress Dame Enid Diana Elizabeth Rigg. She is most famous for her role as Emma Peel in the iconic 1960s television series "The Avengers." Pilato's narration is understandable, workmanlike, and without much flair or intonation. Direct quotes from other sources... Read More

With her literary skills on full display in this absorbing memoir, a senior editor for a media company combines an elegy for two departed friends with absorbing philosophical perspectives on how language is formed and passed on to others. She narrates her lyrical writing in hushed tones, sounding as though she's sharing intimate feelings and creating an atmosphere that is... Read More

Matthew Goode's amiable narration sets the right tone for this memoir by the late Russian anti-corruption activist. With Alexei Navalny's ghost hovering over the recording studio, Goode does an outstanding job of channeling the activist's humanity and warmth. Avoiding sanctimony, he dryly delivers Navalny's gallows humor--of which there is plenty. Amid the terror and confusion... Read More

Graham Winton is the perfect narrator to deliver this biography of Ronald Reagan, the Midwesterner who became a Hollywood actor, governor of California, and the fortieth president of the United States. Immediately engaging, Winton sounds consistently interested and earnest as he brings political analyst and historian Max Boot's deeply impressive work to life. In a tone of... Read More

If you find Emmy Award-winning actor Uzo Aduba's on-screen performances captivating ("Orange Is the New Black"), wait until you hear her narrate her life story. Aduba's lifelong habit of journaling produces a memoir sizzling with ambiance-enhancing details, beginning with descriptions of her '90s pop-culture-filled childhood in small-town Massachusetts. The daughter of Nigerian... Read More

Narrating her own memoir, author Rosie Schaap transports listeners from bustling New York to pastoral Northern Ireland in this story of loss, love, and eventual healing. When Schaap is just 39, her husband and mother pass away within a year of each other. Still struggling with grief nearly a decade later, she moves to Belfast for a writing program right before the pandemic... Read More

Narrator, author, and acclaimed method actor Al Pacino offers a meandering path through a life of astounding success and the absence of any at all. The many jumps both forward and back in his lifetime can, at times, be unsettling for the listener. His voice tonality is professionally strong but gravelly. Though his memoir is not very personally revealing, Pacino's earnestness... Read More

Alexis Pauline Gumbs narrates her unique biography of writer, intersectional feminist, and civil rights activist Audre Lorde in a quiet, musical voice that rings with wonder, love, and curiosity. Though the audiobook follows a more or less chronological pattern, that's all it has in common with a traditional biography. Gumbs uses a variety of lenses--earthquakes, gray whale... Read More

Amanda Jones, a middle school librarian in small-town Louisiana, became the target of an online harassment campaign after speaking up at a library meeting against censorship. In her own voice, Jones describes the effects of this harassment on her and her family. With a slight Southern accent and an insistent tone, Jones describes her mortification and outrage at being falsely... Read More

Actor/singer/dancer Kelly Bishop's warmth and emotional intelligence shine as she narrates her memoir. While her most well-known role is that of matriarch Emily Gilmore on "Gilmore Girls," she begins her memoir with the role that changed her life: that of Sheila, the oldest dancer in the Broadway production of A CHORUS LINE. Highlights of Bishop's story include a confident tone... Read More

Author and lifelong scientist Alan Townsend offers a moving account of how he learned to draw on a healing faith rooted in science to sustain himself amid catastrophe. Townsend shares how his family was asked to imagine the unimaginable: First, his young daughter and then his brilliant wife developed unrelated, life-threatening brain tumors. Listeners will be touched by the... Read More

In this biography of Henry VIII's second wife, Anne Boleyn, British actor Anna Wilson-Jones brings a clipped tone to the complex story of the King's efforts to divorce his first wife, Catherine, so he can marry Anne. Though Henry succeeds, the repercussions eventually result in England's break with the Vatican. Soon, Henry, tiring of his wife, has her beheaded so he can marry... Read More

Food writer, television personality, and memoirist Nigel Slater writes stylishly. His fine performance is the happy surprise of this audiobook. It may be the exactitude of his British pronunciation or that few travelers are as comfortable and perceptive abroad as he is. The text is packed--maybe overstuffed--with short chronicles of his experiences dining, cooking, traveling,... Read More

Swedish musician and citizen of the world Neneh Cherry narrates this memoir of her colorful and unconventional upbringing, as well as the punk rock scene she belonged to. Neneh Cherry was born to a free spirit of a mother; her stepfather was experimental jazz musician Don Cherry, who was from Sierra Leone. The family bounced from country to country, home to home, always... Read More

Tavia Gilbert narrates this unique audiobook. Shortly after their affair began in 2003, Nobel Prize winning French writer Annie Ernaux and photographer Marc Marie began taking pictures of the clothes they left on the floor before sex. Later, they selected 14 of those pictures to write about, each separately creating the texts that have become this audiobook. There is no... Read More

Listeners will marvel at the extraordinary experiences Shirley MacLaine, now 90, has packed into one lifetime. Her delivery is intimate and chatty--as if her listeners were sitting in her living room. She delivers surprises about Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, the Dalai Lama, and even Mikhail Baryshnikov--to name a few of her friends. It's a list of the most famous... Read More

Narrator Christine Anne-Roche uses impressive vocal agility, infusing her voice with strong emotion that matches the powerful message of this audiobook. Nemonte Nenquimo, a member of the Waorani people of Amazonian Ecuador, recounts her path from her childhood in the forest to her present work as a tenacious environmental activist. Listeners follow Nenquimo on her journey from... Read More

Celebrity chef Tom Colicchio, who has achieved fame for his restaurants, television shows, and five James Beard Awards, turns his considerable energy to his memoir. Happily, he turned the narration over to Will Damron, who knows how to tell a story and is especially good at capturing the rhythms of the kitchen and the ways of the chef. Damron brings this food-centered story... Read More

Like a subset of other actors who are so comfortable in front of the camera or a professional microphone, Tom Selleck presents an entirely relaxed, conversational, and professional memoir that may also serve as a primer on what the ascent of a performer's career resembles--brick by brick. Selleck has a somewhat halting delivery, which may be a function of age or style.... Read More