Hi!
I must be losing my mind, because someone talked me into doing National Novel Writing Month. Known more affectionately as NaNoWriMo, it’s a challenge that comes around each November to write a 50,000 word book in just one month. No one here will be surprised that I’m completely ignoring theNovelpart of
NaNoWriMoand going all in on a true story from my own life. Y’all, writing memoir is *hard*. It takes a lot of guts (and energy!!) to confront yourself in order to get at any deeper truth. It’s giving me so much respect for anyone who’s ever pulled it off.
At the moment I’m writing this, I’m 7 days and 11,786 words into the challenge, and I’d be completely lost if it weren’t for Rachael Herron’s fantastic guide, Fast-Draft Your Memoir: Write Your Life Story in 45 Hours. And if writing guides are your jam, you’re definitely going to want to check out our list of 10 best audiobooks on writing.
Wish me luck!
-
A Song for You
- My Life with Whitney Houston
- By: Robyn Crawford
- Narrated by: Robyn Crawford
- Length: 10 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 3,101
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,711
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 2,713
Whitney Houston is as big a superstar as the music business has ever known. She exploded on the scene in 1985 with her debut album and spent the next two decades dominating the charts and capturing the hearts of fans around the world. One person was there by her side through it all - her best friend, Robyn Crawford.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Couldn’t listen to it anymore
- By Sharron Denice on 03-03-20
Robyn Crawford opens up about her romance with Whitney Houston
When editor Abby and I first heard that Robyn Crawford was going to be writing a memoir, we raised eyebrows at each other from across the room. This was a big deal. Robyn Crawford was Whitney Houston’s longtime friend, and rumors swirled around them for decades that there was something more to their relationship. In A Song for You, Robyn has finally broken her silence about their romance. Abby recently had a chance to sit down with Robyn to talk about why she was finally ready to tell her story.
Listen In
-
Self-Tanner for the Soul
- How I Ran Away to Europe and Found My Inner Glow (When Life Got Dark)
- By: Cat Marnell
- Narrated by: Cat Marnell
- Length: 6 hrs
- Original Recording
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 361
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 315
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 313
The spring of 2017 should have been the greatest time of Cat Marnell’s life. She was 34 and living the New York glamour life downtown, with a thriving career and a best-selling memoir. Instead, it was one of the worst. She’d gone through a protracted and traumatic breakup, nearly run out of money, and, during a month-long binge, "done something horrible" to herself that she couldn’t undo. Her troubles mounting, Marnell makes a radically simple choice: She decides to leave her problems behind.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Substance free and self indulgent
- By CC on 10-24-19
We asked Cat Marnell about wizard energy
Cat Marnell’s career had a glamorous trajectory from beauty editor at XoJane to New York Times best-selling author. But after her 2017 memoir How to Murder Your Life blew up, her substance abuse worsened and she spiraled into a full-on month-long binge. Her new Audible Original Self Tanner for the Soul is the magical, zany travel diary of the trip she took to Europe in order to put the episode behind her. In a meeting of the Cats, editor Kat (a longtime Marnell STAN) asked Cat Marnell about what self tanner means to her and what, exactly, is wizard energy,
anyway?
Apply Liberally
-
Sissy
- A Coming-of-Gender Story
- By: Jacob Tobia
- Narrated by: Jacob Tobia
- Length: 11 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 760
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 678
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 675
As a young child in North Carolina, Jacob Tobia wasn't the wrong gender, they just had too much of the stuff. Barbies? Yes. Playing with bugs? Absolutely. Getting muddy? Please. Princess dresses? You betcha. Jacob wanted it all, but because they were "a boy", they were told they could only have the masculine half. Acting feminine labelled them "a sissy" and brought social isolation. It took Jacob years to discover that being "a sissy" isn't something to be ashamed of. It's a source of pride.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Groundbreaking
- By Rowan Coulter on 03-20-19
It's Transgender Awareness Week. What will you be listening to?
Trans stories are just as diverse and resilient as the trans community itself. No one’s experience is the same as anyone else’s, which is why my favorite memoirs by trans people run the gamut from earnest to irreverent, heartbreaking to hilarious. In honor of Transgender Awareness Week, here are 20 great memoirs that explore transgender identities and gender expression.
Explore the List
New Releases
-
Acid for the Children
- A Memoir
- By: Flea
- Narrated by: Flea
- Length: 9 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 4,213
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 3,709
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,693
Iconic bassist and co-founder of the immortal Red Hot Chili Peppers finally tells his fascinating life story, complete with all the dizzying highs and the gutter lows you'd expect from an LA street rat turned world-famous rock star.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Flea gets it right...
- By Anonymous User on 11-15-19
-
The Beautiful Ones
- By: Prince
- Narrated by: Esperanza Spalding, Adepero Oduye, Dan Piepenbring
- Length: 3 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,045
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 901
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 899
Prince was a musical genius, one of the most beloved, accomplished, and acclaimed musicians of our time. The Beautiful Ones is the story of how Prince became Prince - a first-person account of a kid absorbing the world around him and then creating a persona, an artistic vision, and a life, before the hits and fame that would come to define him. This work is not just a tribute to an icon, but an original and energizing literary work in its own right, full of Prince’s ideas and vision, his voice and image - his undying gift to the world.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Reminiscing
- By Bodyguard Careers on 10-29-19
-
Free Cyntoia
- My Search for Redemption in the American Prison System
- By: Cyntoia Brown-Long
- Narrated by: Cyntoia Brown-Long
- Length: 10 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 1,277
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 1,118
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 1,120
At the age of 16, Cyntoia Brown, a victim of sex trafficking, was arrested for killing a man who had picked her up for sex. Two years later, she was sentenced to life in prison. In this audiobook, written over the 15 years she was incarcerated, Cyntoia shares her most intimate experiences as an inmate. A coming-of-age memoir set against the shocking backdrop of a life behind bars, Free Cyntoia takes you on a spiritual journey as Cyntoia struggles to overcome a legacy of family addiction and a lifetime of feeling ostracized and abandoned by society.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Excellent!!!
- By Justicepirate on 11-22-19
-
Life Undercover
- Coming of Age in the CIA
- By: Amaryllis Fox
- Narrated by: Amaryllis Fox
- Length: 7 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,686
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,487
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,484
Amaryllis Fox's riveting memoir tells the story of her 10 years in the most elite clandestine ops unit of the CIA, hunting the world's most dangerous terrorists in 16 countries while marrying and giving birth to a daughter. Life Undercover is exhilarating, intimate, fiercely intelligent - an impossible-to-pause record of an extraordinary life, and of Amaryllis Fox's astonishing courage and passion.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Book of the year...
- By Mr Dangerous on 10-16-19
-
Acid for the Children
- A Memoir
- By: Flea
- Narrated by: Flea
- Length: 9 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 4,213
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 3,709
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,693
Iconic bassist and co-founder of the immortal Red Hot Chili Peppers finally tells his fascinating life story, complete with all the dizzying highs and the gutter lows you'd expect from an LA street rat turned world-famous rock star.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Flea gets it right...
- By Anonymous User on 11-15-19
-
The Beautiful Ones
- By: Prince
- Narrated by: Esperanza Spalding, Adepero Oduye, Dan Piepenbring
- Length: 3 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,045
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 901
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 899
Prince was a musical genius, one of the most beloved, accomplished, and acclaimed musicians of our time. The Beautiful Ones is the story of how Prince became Prince - a first-person account of a kid absorbing the world around him and then creating a persona, an artistic vision, and a life, before the hits and fame that would come to define him. This work is not just a tribute to an icon, but an original and energizing literary work in its own right, full of Prince’s ideas and vision, his voice and image - his undying gift to the world.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Reminiscing
- By Bodyguard Careers on 10-29-19
-
Free Cyntoia
- My Search for Redemption in the American Prison System
- By: Cyntoia Brown-Long
- Narrated by: Cyntoia Brown-Long
- Length: 10 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 1,277
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 1,118
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 1,120
At the age of 16, Cyntoia Brown, a victim of sex trafficking, was arrested for killing a man who had picked her up for sex. Two years later, she was sentenced to life in prison. In this audiobook, written over the 15 years she was incarcerated, Cyntoia shares her most intimate experiences as an inmate. A coming-of-age memoir set against the shocking backdrop of a life behind bars, Free Cyntoia takes you on a spiritual journey as Cyntoia struggles to overcome a legacy of family addiction and a lifetime of feeling ostracized and abandoned by society.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Excellent!!!
- By Justicepirate on 11-22-19
-
Life Undercover
- Coming of Age in the CIA
- By: Amaryllis Fox
- Narrated by: Amaryllis Fox
- Length: 7 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,686
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,487
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,484
Amaryllis Fox's riveting memoir tells the story of her 10 years in the most elite clandestine ops unit of the CIA, hunting the world's most dangerous terrorists in 16 countries while marrying and giving birth to a daughter. Life Undercover is exhilarating, intimate, fiercely intelligent - an impossible-to-pause record of an extraordinary life, and of Amaryllis Fox's astonishing courage and passion.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Book of the year...
- By Mr Dangerous on 10-16-19