The Art of Asking: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Let People Help by Amanda Palmer

Reader: Amanda Palmer

Short Review: Intense and personal treatise on art, music, creativity, community, connection, love, loss, and asking for (and accepting) help from others. Amanda’s style of reading is intimate and confessional.

Seriously…I’m Kidding by Ellen DeGeneres

Reader: Ellen DeGeneres

Short Review: Light and airy visit with the popular comedienne. Nothing too deep here, but it is fun to listen to Ellen share her upbeat cheerful thoughts and get a taste for her life beyond the public eye. Be prepared for some outright silliness.

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

Reader: Elizabeth Gilbert

Short Review: Stunning memoir of a year in the life of a woman finding her way back to a life she wants to live. Beautifully read by the author. This one will stick with me for a long long time.

Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris

Reader: David Sedaris

Short Review: Sedaris’ funny, self-deprecating, heart-breaking stories about moving to France with his partner Hugh, learning French, his family, and his own flaws and experiences. The author reads his own work in his distinctive voice, never flinching as he excoriates himself either in front of a live audience or alone in a studio. Sedaris is an amazing, brave writer and reader. I’ve listened to this particular book three or four times, and I know I’ll keep returning to it.

Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster by Jon Krakauer

Read by: Jon Krakauer

Short Review: An author-narrated memoir of one of the most tragic seasons on Mt. Everest.