Allyson Johnson has narrated 138 audiobooks on Listento.it by 116 authors, with an average listener rating of 4.5★ across 8,305 ratings. The most-rated is All These Worlds.
Motherhood So White
Summary
In America, Mother = White That's what Nefertiti, a single African American woman, discovered when she decided she wanted to adopt a black baby boy out of the foster care system. Eager to finally join the motherhood ranks, Nefertiti was shocked when people started asking her why she wanted to adopt a "crack baby" or said that she would never be able to raise a black son on her own. She realized that American society saw motherhood through a white lens, and that there would be no easy understanding or acceptance of the kind of family she hoped to build. Motherhood So White is the story of Nefertiti's fight to create the family she always knew she was meant to have and the story of motherhood that all American families need now. In this unflinching account of her parenting journey, Nefertiti examines the history of adoption in the African American community, faces off against stereotypes of single, black motherhood, and confronts the reality of raising children of color in racially charged, modern-day America. Honest, vulnerable, and uplifting, Motherhood So White reveals what Nefertiti knew all along - that the only requirement for a successful family is one raised with love.
©2019 Nefertiti Austin (P)2019 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books
Who Do You Serve, Who Do You Protect?
Summary
What is the reality of policing in the United States? Do the police keep anyone safe and secure other than the very wealthy? How do recent police killings of young Black people in the United States fit into the historical and global context of anti-blackness? This collection of reports and essays (the first collaboration between Truthout and Haymarket Books) explores police violence against Black, Brown, Indigenous, and other marginalized communities, miscarriages of justice, and failures of token accountability and reform measures. It also makes a compelling and provocative argument against calling the police. Contributions cover a broad range of issues including the killing by police of Black men and women, police violence against Latino and Indigenous communities, law enforcement's treatment of pregnant people and those with mental illness, and the impact of racist police violence on parenting, as well as specific stories such as a Detroit police conspiracy to slap murder convictions on young Black men using police informants and the failure of Chicago's much-touted Independent Police Review Authority, the body supposedly responsible for investigating police misconduct. The title Who Do You Serve, Who Do You Protect? is no mere provocation: The book also explores alternatives for keeping communities safe. Contributors include William C. Anderson, Candice Bernd, Aaron Cantú, Thandi Chimurenga, Ejeris Dixon, Adam Hudson, Victoria Law, Mike Ludwig, Sarah Macaraeg, and Roberto Rodriguez.
©2016 Maya Schenwar, Joe Macaré, and Alana Yu-lan Price (P)2021 Audible, Inc.
The Horns of Ruin
Summary
Eva Forge is the last paladin of the dead God, Morgan. Eva, forsaken by her parents and forgotten by her family, was the last child dedicated to the Cult of Morgan. Morgan, God of battle and champion of the Fraterdom, was assassinated by his jealous brother, Amon. Over time, the Cult of Morgan has been surpassed by other Gods, his blessings ignored in favor of brighter technologies and more mechanical miracles. Now, Eva watches as her new family, her Cult, crumbles around her. When a series of kidnappings and murders makes it clear that someone is trying to hasten the death of the Cult of Morgan, Eva must seek out unexpected allies and unwelcome answers in the city of Ash. But will she be able to save the city from a growing conspiracy, one that reaches back to her childhood, even back to the murder of her God? As Eva wields her sword and wits in a city full of wonders, her story becomes the first perfect merger of steampunk and sword and sorcery.
©2010 Tim Akers (P)2013 Audible, Inc.
New Orleans Noir
Summary
Beneath the glitter of Mardi Gras lies the sleaze of Bourbon Street; under the celestial sounds of JazzFest, the nightmare screams of a city once at war within its neighborhoods, but after Hurricane Katrina, seemingly at war with nature and the rest of the country as well. New Orleans is a third world country in itself, a Latin, African, European (and often amoral) culture trapped in a Puritan nation. It's everyone's seamy underside, the city where respectable citizens go to get drunk, puke in the gutter, dance on tabletops, and go home with strangers, all without guilt. It's the metropolitan equivalent of eating standing up - if it happened in New Orleans, it doesn't count. The city was always the home of the lovable rogue, the poison magnolia, the bent politico, the sociopathic street thug, and, especially, the heartless con artist - but in post-Katrina times it struggles against... well, the same old problems, just writ large and with a new breed of carpetbagger thrown in. Combine all that with a brilliant literary tradition and you have New Orleans Noir, a sparkling collection of tales exploring the city's wasted, gutted neighborhoods, its outwardly gleaming "sliver by the river," its still-raunchy French Quarter, and other hoods so far from the Quarter they might as well be on another continent. It also looks back into the past, from that recent innocent time known in contemporary New Orleans as "pre-K," to the mid-nineteenth century, the other time the city was mostly swampland. The complete list of narrators includes: Allyson Johnson, Vikas Adam, Kevin T. Collins, Tom Stechschulte, Robin Miles, Jennifer Van Dyck, Johnny Heller, Lisa Renee Pitts, William Dufris, Kevin Free, Nick Sullivan, Therese Plummer, Mirron Willis, J. W. Wilburn, Lauren Fortgang, Raquel Lozano, Andy Caploe, and Aiello.
©2007 Akashic Books (P)2014 Audible Inc.
Sassafrass, Cypress & Indigo
Summary
Ntozake Shange’s most beloved novel, Sassafrass, Cypress & Indigo, is the story of three “colored girls,” three sisters and their mama from Charleston, South Carolina. Sassafrass, the oldest, is a poet and a weaver like her mother, gone north to college and living with other artists in Los Angeles, trying to weave a life out of her work, her man, her memories, and her dreams. Cypress, the dancer, leaves home to find new ways of moving and easing the contractions of her soul. Indigo, the youngest, is still a child of Charleston - with “too much of the South in her” - who lives in poetry, can talk to her dolls, and has a great gift of seeing the obvious magic of the world.
©1982 Ntozake Shange (P)2010 Blackstone Audio, Inc., and Buck 50 Productions, LLC
Final Vinyl Days
Summary
When Jill McCorkle feels a short story coming on, she goes right ahead and "wastes" wonderful ideas instead of hoarding them for a novel. The result is another extraordinary collection of stories and characters. In "It's a Funeral! RSVP," the storyteller is a woman who takes up self-styled "careers" that suit her circumstances. Now she's stumbled onto one that's so successful that she just can't quit. It's planning funerals, what she calls Going Out Parties, in which the clients are the soon-to-be-deceased themselves. In "Life Prerecorded," perhaps McCorkle's finest short piece to date, the pregnant narrator finds the real meaning of new life by visiting with a very old neighbor who's waiting, too, for his own new life. In these and the rest of the nine stories, Jill McCorkle acts on her penchant for taming the outrageous, humanizing the forbidden, and grounding the hilarious.
©1998 Jill McCorkle (P)2013 Audible, Inc.
The Peanuts Papers
Summary
A one-of-a-kind celebration of America's greatest comic strip - and the life lessons it can teach us - from a stellar array of writers and artists Over the span of 50 years, Charles M. Schulz created a comic strip that is one of the indisputable glories of American popular culture - hilarious, poignant, inimitable. Some 20 years after the last strip appeared, the characters Schulz brought to life in Peanuts continue to resonate with millions of fans, their beguiling four-panel adventures and television escapades offering lessons about happiness, friendship, disappointment, childhood, and life itself. In The Peanuts Papers, 33 writers and artists reflect on the deeper truths of Schulz’s deceptively simple comic, its impact on their lives and art and on the broader culture. These enchanting, affecting, and often quite personal essays show just how much Peanuts means to its many admirers - and the ways it invites us to ponder, in the words of Sarah Boxer, “how to survive and still be a decent human being” in an often bewildering world. Featuring essays, memoirs, poems, and two original comic strips, here is the ultimate listener's companion for every Peanuts fan. Featuring: Jill Bialosky Lisa Birnbach Sarah Boxer Jennifer Finney Boylan Ivan Brunetti Hilary Fitzgerald Campbell Rich Cohen Gerald Early Umberto Eco Jonathan Franzen Ira Glass Adam Gopnik David Hajdu Bruce Handy David Kamp Maxine Hong Kingston Chuck Klosterman Peter D. Kramer Jonathan Lethem Rick Moody Ann Patchett Kevin Powell Joe Queenan Nicole Rudick George Saunders Elissa Schappell Janice Shapiro Mona Simpson Leslie Stein Clifford Thompson David L. Ulin Chris Ware PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
©2019 Literary Classics of the United States, Inc. (P)2020 Audible, Inc.
Room Service
Summary
Best-selling author Rochelle Alers' heartwarming and seductive series follows four very different women risking second chances deep in the sultry heart of New Orleans.... New Yorker Jasmine Washington had a successful interior design business, a high-powered marriage, and a chance at motherhood - until her perfect husband betrayed her bigtime. Now starting from scratch, the Asian and African American stunner is tackling a lifetime opportunity: comanaging her friend's new luxury inn about to open in the Garden District. The last thing Jasmine needs is romance. New Orleans' most eligible bachelor, investment banker Cameron Singleton, begs to differ. Cameron challenges Jasmine's cautious ways, teases her back into having real fun - and makes one sexy, utterly irresistible Mr. Right Now. But their passionate nights soon result in a surprise bonus.... Even though Cameron insists on being there for Jasmine, can she really believe his love is the real thing? Can she shake the past and design a completely new life? And is there really only one way to find out?
©2018 Rochelle Alers (P)2021 Tantor
Elysium
Summary
Lily Palmer flees with her daughter to take refuge on her uncle's farm in Louisiana. Here she finds herself in a world struggling with the aftereffects of the Civil War. For the first time, she is confronted with her own careless assumptions about race as she learns to appreciate the humanity of everyone around her. Threatening the fragile peace she achieves, her love for Alistair Whiteaker collides with her own dark past, shattering all hope for a new life. Alistair Whiteaker returns from the war determined to make amends for having owned the men and women who toiled on his plantation. Sickened by his part in perpetuating slavery, he works to thwart the aims of white supremacists and violent racists. At the same time, he longs to make a family with Lily and her daughter. To do that, he must first eliminate the man who inflicts another kind of injustice on the woman he loves. Thomas Bickell uses every ounce of his talent and courage to win suffrage for Black men. An ex-slave himself, he knows emancipation is not enough. When Fanny Brown is assaulted by white supremacists whose true target is Thomas himself, he realizes his greatest challenge may be to reclaim the heart of his beloved.
©2015 Gretchen Craig (P)2017 Tantor
Our Lady of the Islands
Summary
Set in the lush and dangerous world of Jay Lake's Green, Our Lady of the Islands is a vibrant, enchanting tale of political intrigue and divine mystery. Selected as one of Publishers Weekly's Best Books of 2014. "Our Lady, heal us...." Sian Katte is a successful, middle-aged businesswoman in the tropical island nation of Alizar. Her life seems comfortable and well arranged...until a violent encounter one evening leaves her with an unwanted magical power. Arian des Chances is the wife of Alizar's ruler, with vast wealth and political influence. Yet for all her resources, she can only watch helplessly as her son draws nearer to death. When crisis thrusts these two women together, they learn some surprising truths: about themselves, their loved ones, and Alizar itself. Because beneath a seemingly calm facade, Alizar's people - and a dead god - are stirring....
©2014 Shannon Page and Joseph E. Lake, Jr. (P)2014 Audible Inc.
Phoebe the Spy
Summary
Someone is planning to kill George Washington, and young Phoebe Fraunces is trying to save his life. Phoebe gets a job as George Washington's housekeeper, but her real job is to work as a spy. She listens and watches very carefully, and she meets her father every day to tell him what she has learned. One day Phoebe's father tells her that Washington is planning to leave town in a few days, and the person plotting against him will act before then. Phoebe is very frightened, but she is determined to figure out who is after Washington before it's too late....
©2002 Judith Griffin (P)2018 Listening Library
The Complete Earthsinger Chronicles Novellas
Summary
A reluctant queen. A sheltered teen. A dangerous mage. Their futures are intertwined - the paths they walk will ultimately determine the fate of their people. Seeds sown in the past will bear unexpected fruit, and what’s come before could be the prologue to salvation. Delve deeper into the world of the Earthsinger Chronicles with these prequel novellas full of magic, adventure, destiny, and love.
©2019, 2020 L. Penelope (P)2021 Audible, Inc.
Obama's Challenge
Summary
The challenge: to be a transformative president. Barack Obama approaches the presidency at a critical moment in American history, facing simultaneous crises of war, the environment, health care, but especially the economy. If he is able to rise to the moment, he could join the ranks of a small handful of previous presidents who have been truly transformative, succeeding in fundamentally changing our economy, society, and democracy for the better. But this will require imaginative and decisive action as Obama takes office, action bolder than he has promised during his campaign, and will be all the more difficult given the undertow of conventional wisdom in Washington and on Wall Street that resists fundamental change. Decades of regressive politics and political gridlock have left America in its most precarious situation since the onset of the Great Depression. The collapse of the housing bubble continues, as does the financial meltdown it triggered; a revival of 1970s-style stagflation threatens; incomes continue to lag behind inflation; our household and international debts pile higher; disastrous climate change looms; energy and food prices continue their escalation; and the ranks of un- and under-insured Americans are growing as the health-insurance system unravels. Solutions to our multiple challenges do exist, but they won't be found in overly cautious or expedient quick fixes. With his exceptional skill at appealing to our better angels, Barack Obama could be the right leader at the right time to re-awaken America to the renewed promise of shared prosperity, coupled with responsibility towards future generations and the international community with whom we share the Earth. Invoking America's greatest leaders, Robert Kuttner explains how Obama must be a transformative president - or a failed one.
©2008 Robert Kuttner (P)2008 Audible, Inc.
Eel River
Summary
Eel River brings an original, hippie commune angle to horror, furthering our commitment to offering the best in innovative dark fiction.
©2013 Shannon Page (P)2015 Audible, Inc.
Minty
Summary
They called her "Minty". When she grew up, she became Harriet Tubman, the courageous and heroic woman who helped hundreds of slaves escape to freedom through the Underground Railroad. But she was just a little girl for a while - and this is her story. Minty, short for Araminta, was a feisty and headstrong young slave whose rebellious spirit often got her into trouble. She told stories to her doll, released animals from traps, and above all, dreamed of running away. When her father began to teach her the skills necessary for escape, she listened carefully and learned.... "Rich with melodrama, suspense, pathos, and, of course, a powerful vision of freedom. This exquisitely crafted book resonates well beyond its few pages." (Kirkus Reviews, starred review) Winner of the Coretta Scott King Award. An ALA notable book.
©1996 Alan Schroeder (P)2018 Listening Library
What to Read and Why
Summary
In this brilliant collection, the follow-up to her New York Times best seller Reading Like a Writer, the distinguished novelist, literary critic, and essayist celebrates the pleasures of reading and pays homage to the works and writers she admires above all others, from Jane Austen and Charles Dickens to Jennifer Egan and Roberto Bolaño. In an age defined by hyper-connectivity and constant stimulation, Francine Prose makes a compelling case for the solitary act of reading and the great enjoyment it brings. Inspiring and illuminating, What to Read and Why includes selections culled from Prose’s previous essays, reviews, and introductions, combined with new, never-before-published pieces that focus on her favorite works of fiction and nonfiction, on works by masters of the short story, and even on books by photographers like Diane Arbus. Prose considers why the works of literary masters such as Mary Shelley, Charles Dickens, George Eliot, and Jane Austen have endured, and shares intriguing insights about modern authors whose words stimulate our minds and enlarge our lives, including Roberto Bolaño, Karl Ove Knausgaard, Jennifer Egan, and Mohsin Hamid. Prose implores us to read Mavis Gallant for her marvelously rich and compact sentences, and her meticulously rendered characters who reveal our flawed and complex human nature; Edward St. Aubyn for his elegance and sophisticated humor; and Mark Strand for his gift for depicting unlikely transformations. Here, too, are original pieces in which Prose explores the craft of writing: "On Clarity" and "What Makes a Short Story". Written with her sharp critical analysis, wit, and enthusiasm, What to Read and Why is a celebration of literature that will give listeners a new appreciation for the power and beauty of the written word.
©2018 Francine Prose (P)2018 HarperCollins Publishers
Saint Monkey
Summary
A stunning debut novel of two girls raised in hardship, separated by fortune, and reunited through tragedy. Fourteen-year-old Audrey Martin, with her Poindexter glasses and her head humming the 3/4 meter of gospel music, knows she'll never get out of Kentucky - but when her fingers touch the piano keys, the whole church trembles. Her best friend, Caroline, daydreams about Hollywood stardom, but both girls feel destined to languish in a slow-moving stopover town in Montgomery County. That is, until chance intervenes and a booking agent offers Audrey a ticket to join the booming jazz scene in Harlem - an offer she can't resist, not even for Caroline. And in New York City the music never stops. Audrey flirts with love and takes the stage at the Apollo, with its fast-dancing crowds and blinding lights. But fortunes can turn fast in the city - young talent means tough competition, and for Audrey failure is always one step away. Meanwhile, Caroline sinks into the quiet anguish of a Black woman in a backwards country, where her ambitions and desires only slip further out of reach. Jacinda Townsend's remarkable first novel is a coming-of-age story made at once gripping and poignant by the wild energy of the Jazz Era and the stark realities of segregation. Marrying musical prose with lyric vernacular, Saint Monkey delivers a stirring portrait of American storytelling and marks the appearance of an auspicious new voice in literary fiction.
©2014 Jacinda Townsend (P)2014 Audible, Inc.
Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings
Summary
When Annette Gordon-Reed's groundbreaking study was first published, rumors of Thomas Jefferson's sexual involvement with his slave Sally Hemings had circulated for two centuries. Among all aspects of Jefferson's renowned life, it was perhaps the most hotly contested topic. The publication of Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings intensified this debate by identifying glaring inconsistencies in many noted scholars' evaluations of the existing evidence. In this study, Gordon-Reed assembles a fascinating and convincing argument: not that the alleged 38-year liaison necessarily took place but rather that the evidence for its taking place has been denied a fair hearing. Friends of Jefferson sought to debunk the Hemings story as early as 1800, and most subsequent historians and biographers followed suit, finding the affair unthinkable based upon their view of Jefferson's life, character, and beliefs. Gordon-Reed responds to these critics by pointing out numerous errors and prejudices in their writings, ranging from inaccurate citations, to impossible time lines, to virtual exclusions of evidence - especially evidence concerning the Hemings family. She demonstrates how these scholars may have been misguided by their own biases and may even have tailored evidence to serve and preserve their opinions of Jefferson.
©1997 the Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia (P)2020 Tantor
METAtropolis: Green Space
Summary
Audie Award Finalist, Original Work, 2014 Audible’s Audie Award-winning and Hugo Award-nominated vision of the not-too-distant future returns! As METAtropolis: Green Space moves into the 22nd Century, human social evolution is heading in new directions after the Green Crash and the subsequent Green Renaissance. Nearly everyone who cares to participate in the wired world has become part of the "Internet of things", a virtual environment mapped across all aspects of the natural experience. At the same time, the serious back-to-the-land types have embraced a full-on paleo lifestyle, including genetically engineering themselves and their offspring. At the same time, a back-to-space movement is seeking the moon, a green Mars, and even the stars, with the eventual goal of leaving a pristine and undisturbed Earth behind. METAtropolis: Green Space is the creation of Hugo and World Fantasy Award nominee Jay Lake; Hugo Award winning writers Seanan McGuire, Mary Robinette Kowal, and Elizabeth Bear; New York Times best-selling author Tobias S. Buckell; Aurora Award winner Karl Schroeder; and critically-acclaimed author Ken Scholes.
©2013 Joseph E. Lake, Jr., Elizabeth Bear, Karl Schroeder, Seanan McGuire, Tobias S. Buckell, Mary Robinette Kowal, Ken Scholes (P)2013 Audible Inc.
The Excoms
Summary
From best-selling author Brett Battles comes the first book in a spinoff series from his award-winning Jonathan Quinn thrillers. Ananke thought her week couldn't get worse, but as she hunts for the man who screwed up her previous job, things really go sideways. Turns out, she's not the only one having problems. Rosario can acquire anything for anyone, but can she obtain freedom for herself when her latest assignment goes awry? Dylan's sure his new gig will be a walk in the park - or rather, a drive, given that he's a courier. Unfortunately, the road is a bit bumpier than he expected. Liesel is having the worst week of her life, and blames only herself. And Ricky? Well, Ricky doesn't believe in bad weeks. Though he can't claim being stuck in prison is all that great. Convenient for all of them, then, that a mysterious organization comes along asking for their help, and in return promises to reverse their excommunication from the secret world. Of course, nothing good ever comes without strings attached.
©2016 Brett Battles (P)2016 Audible, Inc.