New Reviews: Personal Growth

This authoritative guide to end-of-life care covers every imaginable issue that older people face as they move closer to death from illness or old age. It was written by a plain-speaking physician whose experiences with patients and his own parents make him skeptical about the value of heroic medical procedures to prolong life. A long-standing part of Western medicine, such... Read More

In a fast-paced world in which everyone wants quick answers, Elizabeth Weingarten's goal is to help listeners turn their struggles with uncertainty into pivotal moments for growth. Sadly, narrator Lauren Ezzo's pleasant but monotonous delivery undercuts this audiobook's dynamic energy. As listeners are advised to embrace uncertainty as a conduit for creativity and personal... Read More

Rooted in author Kate Williams's own quest to stop her relentless striving and self-condemnation, this affecting audiobook explores the many ways we can internalize negative judgments about ourselves when we fall short of society's imperatives and standards. Her struggles with ADD, depression, and anxiety are part of the story, but the broader narrative is about how... Read More

In a short audio program Clint Hurdle, former player and manager in Major League Baseball, offers 25 nuggets of wisdom gleaned from the sport. In an enthusiastic and almost impish tone, narrator Chris Sorensen presents the lessons, such as: Don't keep score (1), build the house (14), and celebrate others' successes (25). In the preface, Hurdle lists each bit of wisdom, and in... Read More

Listening to bestselling author Judith Viorst narrate her own stories and poems--and share tales from others about life in the "final fifth"--is a special experience. Listeners will appreciate the bittersweet humor and candid reflections on the ups and downs of life in one's 90s. Viorst shares her own journey, including moving from the home where she raised her children to a... Read More

Suzanne Toren's slower pacing, mature vocal timbre, and suffer-no-fools confidence make her performance a perfect fit for the late author's last audiobook, a collection of works written in the five years before her death at 96. Toren modulates her outsized dramatic talent to capture the full measure of class, wisdom, and charm of the New York City icon who was well known for... Read More

With previous books on entrepreneurship and travel behind him, author Chris Guillebeau now offers this eye-opening guide to taking the stress out of managing our time. He makes his case with multiple examples of how we needlessly put pressure on ourselves--with oppressive deadlines, indecision about priorities, and constant worry about how to make our lives meaningful. He's a... Read More

A neuroscientist and former Google superstar describes how to reject rigid career paths and, through open-minded personal experimentation, discover work that truly satisfies us. Instead of being trapped in a fixed vision of our future lives, Anne-Laure Le Cunff offers practical guidance on how we can work each day on challenges more aligned with our deepest aspirations. She... Read More

Podcast host and life coach Mary Marantz narrates her exceptional guide in a tone that fits the diligent research and personal introspection that make it so helpful. Sounding at once humble and confident, her vocal character inspires openness to her thinking about how creative people can become productive and fulfilled. She surveys fascinating research on how achievement is... Read More

Retired basketball coach George Raveling's audiobook is a road map to living a productive life. He says that can be achieved by reading, giving, listening, and doing everything you can to leave the world a better place. Golden Voice JD Jackson handles the reflective audiobook with the right amount of emotion. It's not a memoir, but Raveling describes his upbringing and lays out... Read More