Every audiobook listener is different. While I typically prefer listening to nonfiction, I’ve discovered that memoir reliably works for me on audio. I love listening to memoir, especially when the author reads their own story. It’s not a guarantee that every memoirist will narrate their own audiobook but it makes sense that so many are. It’s a uniquely personal writing form and there’s something special about hearing it brought to life in the author’s own voice.
When you’re listening to a memoir, you might hear the author laugh or get choked up or even add an aside that wasn’t in the original book. It can feel like you’re having a conversation with a new friend and learning more about their life—and also listening to really great stories. A good memoir makes me feel deeply seen and encouraged, while also giving me a window into someone else’s world and allowing me to contemplate my life from a new vantage point.
I enjoy a good celebrity memoir on audiobook but today’s list features memoirists who are wonderful writers and also who live their lives outside the spotlight. I happened to notice that this list has a strong focus on familial relationships, which is unsurprising for any list featuring my personal favorites because I gravitate so strongly to that theme in my reading.
There were so many more I could have included on this list, and so many more I hope to read in the future—so I hope you’ll share your favorites (NOT by a celebrity) in the comments.
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I read this in print the first time and so enjoyed revisiting it on audio before our conversation with the author in MMD Book Club this spring. Calhoun is the daughter of art critic Peter Schjeldahl, who I’ve been quoting for years about his approach to works that aren’t “immediately hospitable.” In this genre-blending book, Calhoun begins by chronicling her father’s failed attempt to write a biography about the poet Frank O’Hara. He seemed to be in an ideal position to write the book, so why couldn’t he do it? Calhoun at first assumes finishing the book itself will be easy—but soon the narrative is taken over both by her own struggles with the work itself and by the story of her complex father-daughter relationship. The audiobook, as narrated by Calhoun, incorporates the actual recorded interviews her father conducted many years ago (as opposed to the transcripts used in the print version). I found this utterly fascinating and definitely worth my rereading time. Please note that content warnings apply that aren’t obvious from the publisher’s description or reviews. 6 hrs 33 mins. More info →
If I wasn’t already an R. Eric Thomas fan for life, this collection would have clinched it. In his sophomore book of essays, the Here for It author tells hilarious, moving, and deeply insightful tales of love, adult friendship, family, and marriage, and also therapy, Zoom funerals, working alone, COVID isolation, middle age, and his home city of Baltimore. There’s no weak link in this collection: every story feels immediate, intimate, and real. I first read this in print and had to re-read it once it came out in audiobook; Eric’s narration is not to be missed. (It was a joy to talk with Eric in WSIRN Episode 392: Insightful and entertaining memoirs, where you can hear him share more about this collection) 6 hrs 40 mins. More info →
This lyrical memoir, beautifully narrated by the author on audio, explores patriarchy, colonialism in Jamaica, and how she discovered her own power. Sinclair grew up in a strict Rastafarian home in Jamaica, where her father, a reggae musician, was obsessed with keeping the corruption of the Western world (that he called Babylon) at bay. Almost everything was forbidden to Safiya and her siblings: she wasn’t allowed to wear pants, make friends, or cut her hair, and any disobedience—perceived or real—was met with violence. In this moving story, she shares how she finds her voice and eventually, her escape, with the help of good books, teachers, and mentors. It took me a few chapters to get oriented in the story but once I did I couldn’t stop listening. 16 hrs 46 mins. More info →
In Alexander’s words: “The story seems to begin with catastrophe but in fact began earlier and is not a tragedy but rather a love story.” The author’s husband died just four days after his fiftieth birthday. A few years later, Alexander looks back on their life together, their love, and the impact of that loss in her life. She was an American born in Harlem, and he was a refugee of war from Eritrea; when they meet in New Haven, a beautiful story begins. I loved reading about how they built a life together. Both were artists—that’s his painting on the cover of the book—and their home sounds like this amazing, vibrant, multicultural extravaganza with food and friends and music and art. As a poet and poetry professor at Yale, Alexander’s way with words leaves a significant impression, and while sad, it exudes joy. The author’s narration of her own work is magnificent. 3 hrs 45 mins. More info →
This is Shapiro’s story about how at age 54, she discovered a life-changing, identity-threatening secret about her family, and how she chooses to move forward. At the moment of discovery, Shapiro has no idea what to do. “I couldn’t imagine what might come next,” she writes. “It turns out that it is possible to live an entire life — even an examined life, to the degree that I had relentlessly examined mine — and still not know the truth of oneself.” If you have any inclination to pick this up, I recommend you avoid the spoiler-laden reviews (that specify what the family secret is) and dive right in. Inheritance reads like a twisty mystery, full of false starts and dead ends, but with a lot of help—some from unlikely places—she solves her case in the end. Shapiro reads her own audiobook. 6 hrs 44 mins. More info →
Part cookbook, part memoir, this collection is Bragg’s tribute to the south and his family in the form of stories and recipes. His mother cooks from memory; there aren’t any precise measurements or cooking times to be found but she peppers each recipe with tips and wisdom. Bragg’s writing is wistful, funny, and poignant, and his love for his material—both his mother and her cooking—is palpable throughout. His pitch-perfect narration adds even more to the stories. 19 hrs 17 mins. More info →
I loved this when I read it the first time in print, but wish I could go back and experience it for the first time on audio! The musicality of Jones’s words makes for excellent listening, especially when he’s reading his own work. Jones is an award-winning poet; this is his remarkable and often bracing coming-of-age memoir about being a Black gay man from the South, told in a series of moments and scenes from his childhood through young adulthood. It’s a searing portrait of race and identity and the struggle to become who we truly are. His stories lingered in my mind long after I turned the last page, particularly those from his final section that unfolds in Barcelona. 5 hrs 34 mins. More info →
Do you have any favorite memoirs read by the author (who isn’t a celebrity)? Please share in the comments.
P.S. 20 celebrity memoirs read by their authors, 15 MORE celebrity memoirs read by their authors, and 10 literary fiction audiobooks narrated by their authors.
