New Reviews: Personal Growth

Nikolas Salmon's narration ensures that this exploration of Danish workplace culture is digestible as a listening experience. His delivery highlights the contrast between the Danish approach and stressful environments elsewhere. He captures the optimism behind practical solutions for reducing stress and increasing happiness. Salmon's voice remains consistent, making the... Read More

Jesse Lipscombe shares personal details of his life as an athlete, actor, and public speaker to help listeners overcome obstacles and achieve their goals. He is simple yet effective in delivering his well-organized tools and advice on how to address passions, pursue them, and conquer dreams. Lipscombe motivates through his stories and heartfelt tone, and he explains how the... Read More

As narrator, author Martha Beck offers an inviting and calming listening experience. She brings clarity and a personal touch to her exploration of anxiety and creativity. Her conversational tone and well-paced delivery make complex ideas, such as the "anxiety spiral" and the transformative "creativity spiral," approachable and relatable. Beck's voice carries the warmth and... Read More

Tom Rosshirt, a former White House speechwriter, discusses his experience with pursuing a dream with passion, failing, breaking down, and building himself back up. His narration is conversational and informal--he sounds like an everyday person. With an Eastern accent, he describes his early ideas about spirituality, his search for an idealized self-image in the eyes of others,... Read More

In conversational tones, positivity expert Shola Richards shares his playbook on how each person can begin to lead the charge to bring kindness back in a society in which hate and indifference are often fueled by social media and 24/7 news. Richards candidly shares how being the recipient of hateful behavior for far too long led to a suicide attempt that started him on this... Read More

Psychologist and therapist Ellen Hendriksen has a likable, easygoing narrating style that holds together the impressive amount of useful information in her latest audiobook. With her vocal clarity and strength, she sounds at once relaxed, assertive, and focused on connecting with her listeners. Her desire to help sounds authentic. This guide to recognizing perfectionism in... Read More

Narrating this exceptional audiobook with power and confidence, Alexis Fernandez-Preiksa, the host of a popular podcast, uses her training in neuroscience and her own personal growth adventures to explain the mindset and strategies needed for each of us to live our best life. The implicit message in her muscular voice and matter-of-fact tone is that all of us have the ability... Read More

Episcopal Bishop Mariann Budde narrates in a calm, well-modulated voice with a deliberate, sometimes halting cadence, evoking her delivery from the pulpit. The bishop explores six practices generating effective responses to "the decisive moments when we are called to act with courage." Using examples from her own life, as well as from luminaries including Justice Thurgood... Read More

Mel Robbins's superpower is transforming common-sense actions into powerful tools for change. She dives into background research, tests concepts in her own life, and shares them with relatable, actionable clarity. This time, Robbins focuses on the core principle of control: understanding what's beyond your grasp--others (them)--and what's within it--yourself (me). Robbins... Read More

In this thoughtful audiobook about women's position in our overachieving, sexist culture, a former editor of TEEN VOGUE uses her career fortunes and misfortunes to make a powerful point: Working women deserve a life defined by what fulfills and pleases them, not the compulsive overachievement, shallow gratifications, and draining quests for success defined by others.... Read More

The author and narrator of this charming guide felt isolated and inferior earlier in life. Here she describes how being honest with herself and other women helped her find self-acceptance. While she doesn't perform with the polish of a voice pro, Johnston has a likable voice, conversational rhythm, and affecting vulnerability. Her vocal sweetness and the funny life episodes she... Read More

Author/narrator Paula Price's gentle, encouraging voice is fitting for this self-help audiobook focusing on happiness for ourselves and others. Non-intrusive background music accompanying Price's thoughts proves compelling as she shares suggestions for finding, maintaining, and sharing joy and life satisfaction during our most challenging times. Internal and external happiness... Read More

Author and narrator Gabrielle Bernstein offers tools for real change using Internal Family Systems Therapy (IFS). In a calm, even tone, she shares personal experiences and guides listeners on how to remove blockages and tap into self-energy. The strategy involves recognizing, identifying, and compassionately connecting with emotionally protective parts of oneself that may... Read More

Rachel Syme is delightful company. Upbeat, witty, informative, and persuasive, her guide to all things epistolary entertains while convincing listeners that letters (preferably hand-scrawled) are some of the best things in life. Narrating in a cheerful, perky, and crisply enunciated tone, and introduced by romantic music, Syme explores it all: letter-writing history, tales of... Read More

A likable teacher who lives with his wife and three daughters in a New York City apartment shares tips for organizing small spaces and complicated families. Tyler Moore's vocal clarity and charisma are wonderful vehicles for his excellent advice. While broad changes in managing one's space and family may be a tough sell for overly busy people, Moore's pleasing delivery gives... Read More