New Reviews: Personal Growth

NEW YORK TIMES travel columnist Rosenbloom narrates her provocative and timely rumination on the merits of solo travel. Her energetic delivery reflects her familiarity with her own work. Rosenbloom's crisp narration has an effective cadence, but her French and Italian pronunciations are sometimes off. Little matter, the substance of this audiobook--her singular travels and... Read More

In a nonlinear fashion, Patricia Hampl's essays moves from topic to topic--from place to biography to marriage--as she discusses the importance of daydreaming, solitude, and the pursuit of happiness. (For Hampl, pursuit is the key.) What makes this audiobook remarkable is Hampl's performance--gentle and wise, along with a dash of wry humor and an edge of melancholy. When Hampl,... Read More

Karen Cass offers a polished narration of Helsinki-based writer, editor, and broadcast journalist Pantzar's audiobook. The work is part memoir and part informal study on the Finnish quality of sisu--loosely translated as courage, resilience, and grit. This audiobook takes listeners on a journey to Finland, exploring Nordic-inspired life choices that seem to make Finnish people... Read More

This important and often personal summary of how age affects happiness is served well by the equanimity and grace of Robert Fass's narration. Whether it's author Rauch's personal journey, his fascinating data, or his sensitive portraits of the experts he interviews, Fass captures all of this author's intensity and colorful writing. In our later years, after the inevitable... Read More

Narrator Teri Schnaubelt's assertive performance is a good vehicle for Alice Boyes's clear thinking, incisive writing, and can-do spirit. The author's strategies are broad ranging, often ingenious, and largely behavioral. The behavioral quality gives many of them a mechanical quality that will appeal to left-brain listeners--people who like to think their way through life by... Read More

The author is not a polished narrator, but his easy-to-listen-to narration captures his deep desire to express his art--and his ideas about how others can do so, too. His boyish charm and ability to speak directly to his listeners make it hard to imagine anyone else delivering this audiobook. Kadavy took chances moving his life forward, and he's candid about his naïveté and... Read More

The veteran author, editor, and TV producer sounds immensely competent in this motivating look at every aspect of luck. Her confidence and clear narration are perfect vehicles for sharing the fruits of her collaboration with psychology and economics researcher Barnaby Marsh. Luck is more than a winning lottery ticket, and it never stands alone: To be effective, luck needs your... Read More

As writer and narrator, psychologist Ellen Hendriksen offers up her expert advice on the subject of social anxiety. Her voice resonates with the confidence and intensity needed to assure listeners that it is possible to overcome social anxiety by confronting one's inner critic and challenging oneself. Hendriksen describes her own struggle with social anxiety in a bold manner... Read More

Emily Rankin's colorful phrasing occasionally overpowers the content of this timely audiobook, but her cheery tone will help listeners absorb the unpleasant truth that smartphones are ruining our lives. Catherine Price's journalistic flair makes her sobering research findings and accessible advice move quickly. She shows how the smartphone industry has glued our brains to the... Read More

An attitude of calm acceptance soothes listeners amid the author's enlightening explanation of what meditation is and is not. Author/narrator Kabat-Zinn gently sets aside the popular belief that meditation revolves around a state of being that is devoid of thoughts. With quiet encouragement, Kabat-Zinn reveals that meditation is simpler and more fluid than this and, therefore,... Read More

Stephen Thorne narrates this lively guide to midlife's dilemmas with the color and verve of an expert storyteller. His seemingly endless range of tonal and phrasing patterns is fun to hear and attuned to every nuance in the author's personable writing. Setiya, a popular MIT philosophy professor, is an optimistic writer. His message, at once wise and youthful, is that while... Read More

Rick Hanson's latest personal growth guide, written with his son, gently invites listeners to focus less on the outside world and more on developing their inner lives. His quiet, almost whispering, performance is phrased with graceful clarity and would be hypnotic were it not for the abundant information and formulas that pepper his writing. Citing neuroanatomy and positive... Read More

Narrator Christian Barillas offers a well-modulated, low-key narration of this deeper exploration of Native American Toltec spiritual practice. Many listeners may be familiar with Don Miguel Ruiz's earlier bestseller, THE FOUR AGREEMENTS. The framework here presents the need to ask oneself three eternal questions: "Who am I?" "What is real?" and "How do I express love?" The... Read More

Wellesley College's annual hoop race is said to make its winner a winner at life, at least by society's standards. Once, that victory was to be the first married; now it's to be the first CEO. In her 1990 commencement speech at the women's college, Barbara Bush tells graduates it's time for a different saying: The winner should be the first to reach her dream. The first lady's... Read More