“In turns heartrending and quick-witted, these candid listens are exemplars of the genre”. With the arrival of each new year comes a fresh array of bios and memoirs, each holding a uniquely intimate take on what it means to be human. These 18 listens represent just a few of the very best released in 2023—living, breathing records of all the complexities of identity, culture, family, and coming of age. From lyrical reflections on trauma and healing to examinations of life with chronic illness to introspective studies of art and literature, these vivid accounts lay bare the life of one person while extending a universality to anyone who presses play for Audible
King: A Life
This landmark biography deserves its instant status as essential listening. If the culture has crystallized MLK into monuments and sound bites, Jonathan Eig’s intimate portrait reveals his full humanity, a thrilling feat that only enhances the civil rights leader’s legacy. Meet King, the preacher’s son, natty dresser, and ladies’ man. The FBI target who foresaw his own martyrdom. And the incomparable orator who drew from poetry, sermons, and scholarship to rouse the largest movement of Black Americans the world had ever seen. Decorated narrator Dion Graham channels King to perfection in an unforgettable performance. —Kat J.
A Man of Two Faces
The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Sympathizer expands his investigation of the double consciousness of the model minority in this blistering, uncoventional memoir. While it’s common to present an inspiring struggle from hardship to success, Viet Thanh Nguyen is skeptical of any narrative that easily romanticizes individual uplift. Beautifully read by the author, whose trademark sardonic wit shines through as he shares stories of refugeehood, colonization, and fatherhood, this meditation on memory and forgetting also details the sacrifices of his parents, born into rural poverty in Vietnam. —Jerry P.
While You Were Out
Meg Kissinger’s acclaimed reporting on systemic failures to address the mental health crisis sought to shatter the stigma pervading conversations on illness and care. In her memoir, she furthers that dialogue with a tremendous turn inward. With an investigative journalist’s keen eye, Kissinger examines her own family’s history with mental illness, which afflicted both of her parents and several of her seven siblings, two of whom would die by suicide. Shimmering with hope and pulsating with heartache, this exceptional listen is as much an exquisitely personal work as it is a fervent call to action. Kissinger’s narration, like her writing, is as incisive as it is boundlessly compassionate. —Alanna M.
Better Living Through Birding
Christian Cooper soars above and beyond his viral encounter in New York City’s Central Park in this heartfelt—and strikingly humorous—memoir that offers a healing reminder that no story ever begins or ends in a single moment. Infused with insights on queer sexuality and nerd culture, and featuring a natural abundance of birdcalls, this dynamic listen is made all the more memorable by Cooper’s charming narration. —Haley H.
Hijab Butch Blues
As soon as I registered that the title of Lamya H.’s memoir was a nod to the iconic novel Stone Butch Blues, I was sold. But it wasn’t until I finished the listen that I felt a deep appreciation for Lamya’s unique journey coming into her own as a queer and devout Muslim immigrant. Both breathtakingly intimate and utterly hopeful, this story refuses to fit neatly into any box. Through the clarity of her deft self-examination, Lamya teaches us that critical thinking is vital and that there is more than one way to be queer—just as there is more than one way to be Muslim. —Madeline A.
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