This author-narrated audiobook blends memories and poems with some mind-bending moments--as Elizabeth Gilbert talks with her late lover and converses with God. A practiced speaker, Gilbert performs this excruciatingly honest work with passion and restraint. The memoir is about addiction and how Gilbert healed after the death of her friend, lover, global-traveling companion, and one-time hairdresser, Rayya, a "badass," streetwise recovering addict until not long before her death from cancer. Composed in fragments--stories, recollections, poems, aphorisms--that are connected by guitar bridges, it ends in the present. Gilbert describes herself as a "sex and love addict," and much of the text reveals her struggles. She's been in a 12-step program for five years, stayed celibate, stopped drinking and drugs, and has buzz cut her hair.
Pub Date: Sept. 9, 2025
Duration: 10 hrs, 15 mins
DD ISBN: 9798217156726
Publisher: Penguin Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
A peaceful, restorative performance that encourages conscious observation.
Author Haynes may live in London, but she grew up on a farm. Nadia Albina’s British accent and warm voice encapsulate the bucolic vibe of this investigation into tracking time by the natural world. It’s all about rhythms and cycles—the time of year, the time of day, and the inner clocks of the physical world. Primroses open their blooms at the same time every day, and sunflowers turn their heads toward the sun as they move across the sky. Haynes urges listeners to be “trill-seekers” and pay attention to the dawn chorus as the birds layer their morning songs. Together, author and narrator conjure the soft light of late afternoon and the glitter of stars in a dark sky.
A peaceful, restorative performance that encourages conscious observation.Pub Date: April 21, 2026
Duration: 6 hrs, 33 mins
DD ISBN: 9798217336838
Publisher: Penguin Audio
Review Posted Online: July 6, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2026
Listeners looking to examine joy from a faith-based perspective will find much to reflect on.
In this audiobook, Bowler poses the question, "What is joy?" Narrating her own work, she muses on this theme, discussing finding joy in the ordinary, the role of emotions, recapturing past joy, and the way her faith has shaped her interpretation and experience of joy. Bowler’s narration is down to earth as she talks about her experience battling Stage 4 cancer shortly after her mother's death. She also tackles big ideas about duty and obligation, shared emotion, toxic positivity, how to convert faith into something concretely good, the secret of miracles, and taking risks to achieve joy.
Listeners looking to examine joy from a faith-based perspective will find much to reflect on.Pub Date: April 7, 2026
Duration: 5 hrs, 58 mins
DD ISBN: 9798217176564
Publisher: Random House Audio
Review Posted Online: April 1, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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