Janis Ian has narrated 13 audiobooks on Listento.it by 12 authors, with an average listener rating of 3.9★ across 34 ratings. The most-rated is Dangerous Women.
Dangerous Women
Summary
All new and original to this volume, the 21 stories in Dangerous Women include work by 12 New York Times best sellers, and seven stories set in the authors’ best-selling continuities - including a new "Outlander" story by Diana Gabaldon, a tale of Harry Dresden’s world by Jim Butcher, a story from Lev Grossman set in the world of The Magicians, and a 35,000-word novella by George R. R. Martin about the Dance of the Dragons, the vast civil war that tore Westeros apart nearly two centuries before the events of A Game of Thrones. Also included are original stories of dangerous women - heroines and villains alike - by Brandon Sanderson, Joe Abercrombie, Sherilynn Kenyon, Lawrence Block, Carrie Vaughn, S. M. Stirling, Sharon Kay Penman, and many others. Writes Gardner Dozois in his introduction, "Here you’ll find no hapless victims who stand by whimpering in dread while the male hero fights the monster or clashes swords with the villain, and if you want to tie these women to the railroad tracks, you’ll find you have a real fight on your hands. Instead, you will find sword-wielding women warriors, intrepid women fighter pilots and far-ranging spacewomen, deadly female serial killers, formidable female superheroes, sly and seductive femmes fatale, female wizards, hard-living bad girls, female bandits and rebels, embattled survivors in post-apocalyptic futures, female private investigators, stern female hanging judges, haughty queens who rule nations and whose jealousies and ambitions send thousands to grisly deaths, daring dragonriders, and many more." Authors: George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois Stories and Narrators (in order of appearance): “Some Desperado” by Joe Abercrombie; Read by Stana Katic “My Heart Is Either Broken” by Megan Abbott; Read by Jake Weber “Nora’s Song” by Cecelia Holland; Read by Harriet Walter “The Hands That Are Not There” by Melinda Snodgrass; Read by Jonathan Frakes “Bombshells” by Jim Butcher; Read by Emily Rankin “Raisa Stepanova” by Carrie Vaughn; Read by Inna Korobkina “Wrestling Jesus” by Joe R. Lansdale; Read by Scott Brick “Neighbors” by Megan Lindholm; Read by Lee Meriwether “I Know How to Pick ’Em” by Lawrence Block; Read by Jake Weber “Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell” by Brandon Sanderson; Read by Claudia Black “A Queen in Exile” by Sharon Kay Penman; Read by Harriet Walter “The Girl in the Mirror” by Lev Grossman; Read by Sophie Turner “Second Arabesque, Very Slowly” by Nancy Kress; Read by Janis Ian “City Lazarus” by Diana Rowland; Read by Scott Brick “Virgins” by Diana Gabaldon; Read by Allan Scott-Douglas “Pronouncing Doom” by S.M. Stirling; Read by Stana Katic “Name the Beast” by Sam Sykes; Read by Claudia Black “Caregivers” by Pat Cadigan; Read by Janis Ian “Lies My Mother Told Me” by Caroline Spector; Read by Maggi-Meg Reed “Hell Hath No Fury” by Sherilynn Kenyon; Read by Jenna Lamia “The Princess and the Queen” by George R. R. Martin; Read by Iain Glen The introduction by Gardner Dozois is read by Fred Sanders and the interstitial author biographies are read by Karen Dotrice.
©2013 Random House (P)2013 Random House Audio
Society's Child
Summary
Audie Award, Narration by the Author or Authors, 2013 Grammy Award Winner, Best Spoken Word Album, 2013 Booklist Top 10 Biography Audiobooks Janis Ian was catapulted into the spotlight in 1966 at the age of 15, when her soul-wrenching song "Society's Child" became a hit. An intimate portrait of an interracial relationship, "Society's Child" climbed the charts despite the fact that many radio stations across the country refused to play it because of its controversial subject matter. But this was only the beginning of a long and illustrious career. In this fascinating memoir of her more than 40 years in the music business, Ian chronicles how she did drugs with Jimi Hendrix, went shopping for Grammy clothes with Janis Joplin, and sang with Mel Tormé, all the while never ceasing to create unforgettable music. In 1975, Ian's legendary "At Seventeen" earned two Grammy awards and five nominations. Her next two albums brought her worldwide platinum hits. But after seven albums in as many years, she made a conscious decision to walk away from the often grueling music business. During this period, she struggled through a difficult marriage, which ended with her then husband's attempt to destroy her, and a sudden illness that very nearly cost her her life. The hiatus from music lasted for close to a decade until, in 1993, Ian returned with the release of the Grammy-nominated Breaking Silence. Now, as she moves gracefully into her fifth decade as a recording artist and writer, Ian continues to draw large audiences around the globe. In Society's Child, Janis Ian provides a relentlessly honest account of the successes and failures - and the hopes and dreams - of an extraordinary life.
©2008 Janis Ian (P)2012 Audible, Inc.
When Women Were Warriors Book I
Summary
"All the women of my family had gone to war... Now my turn had come... So, it is the custom that a free woman leave her mother's house to bind herself and those of her blood to a neighboring clan, either by the sword or by the cradle." So begins the story of young Tamras, as she embarks on her journey to become a warrior's apprentice. This epic story is not about battles and armor, but rather about relationships, coming of age and wisdom, and deep insights into the human experience.
©2008 Catherine M. Wilson (P)2013 Dog Ear Audio
Patience and Sarah
Summary
Grammy Award Nominee, Best Spoken Word Album, 2016 Set in the 19th century, Isabel Miller's classic lesbian novel traces the relationship between Patience White, an educated painter, and Sarah Dowling, a farmer's daughter, whose romantic bond does not sit well with the puritanical New England community in which they live. They choose to live together and love each other freely, even though they know of no precedents for their relationship; they must trust their own instincts and see beyond the disdain of their neighbors. Patience and Sarah is a meticulously researched historical novel, originally self-published by the author in 1969. This classic of GLBT literature garnered so much attention that the American Library Association created its first Stonewall Award specifically for it in 1971. Grammy Award-winning narrator Janis Ian and Emmy and Tony Award-winning actress Jean Smart each perform as one of the characters in this dual-point-of-view love story. Their narration marks the first time that this beautiful work is available in audio and brings new life into this inspiring novel that is just as relevant today as it was decades ago. In addition to being an inspiring love story, the audiobook for Patience and Sarah is an ideal listen for young-adult audiences. It is a story that shows how irrelevant race, religion, and gender are to love and that loving and being loved are what keep us human and sane.
©1969 Isabel Miller under the title "A Place for Us" (P)2014 Janis Ian
Collected Stories
Summary
Collected Stories is the definitive compilation of Lewis Shiner’s short work, featuring over forty stories voiced by top narrators in the business. Contents include: Introduction, read by Karen Joy Fowler “Perfidia,” read by Stefan Rudnicki “Stuff of Dreams,” read by John Rubinstein “The War at Home,” read by Stefan Rudnicki “Straws,” read by Scott Brick “Nine Hard Questions,” read by Kimberly Farr “White City,” read by Gabrielle de Cuir “Primes,” read by Arthur Morey “The Long Ride Out,” read by Rex Linn “Sitcom,” read by Stefan Rudnicki “The Death of Che Guevara,” read by Roxanne Hernandez and Stefan Rudnicki “His Girlfriend’s Dog,” read by Stefan Rudnicki “Deep without Pity,” read by Rex Linn “The Circle,” read by Kimberly Farr “Twilight Time,” read by Stefan Rudnicki “Jeff Beck,” read by Stefan Rudnicki “Wild for You,” read by Kris Tabori “Till Human Voices Wake Us,” Read by John Rubinstein “Flagstaff,” read by Scott Brick “Tommy and the Talking Dog,” read by Janis Ian “Oz,” read by Kris Tabori “Love in Vain,” read by Stefan Rudnicki “Steam Engine Time,” read by Stefan Rudnicki “Kings of the Afternoon,” read by Stefan Rudnicki “Sticks,” read by Stefan Rudnicki “The Tale of Mark the Bunny,” read by Janis Ian “The Killing Season,” read by Rex Linn “Scales,” read by Gabrielle de Cuir “Snowbirds,” read by Gabrielle de Cuir and Stefan Rudnicki “Match,” read by Kris Tabori “Relay,” read by Gabrielle de Cuir and Stefan Rudnicki “Castles Made of Sand,” read by Stefan Rudnicki “Prodigal Son,” read by Rex Linn “Mozart in Mirrorshades,” read by Stefan Rudnicki “Kidding Around,” read by Stefan Rudnicki “Mystery Train,” read by John Rubinstein “Secrets,” read by Roxanne Hernandez “Golfing Vietnam,” read by Gabrielle de Cuir “Stompin’ at the Savoy,” read by Stefan Rudnicki “Gold,” read by Arthur Morey “Dirty Work,” read by Stefan Rudnicki “Lizard Men of Los Angeles,” read by David Birney
©2013 Lewis Shiner (P)2013 Blackstone Audiobooks
Grimm's Fairy Tales
Summary
Read by a cast of award-winning narrators, this collection contains some of the most timeless and enchanting folk and fairy tales collected by the Brothers Grimm. The Brothers Grimm collected the original fairy tales that Americans are most familiar with today. Lyrically translated and beautifully narrated by an all-star cast, these 21 tales are selected from The Complete Grimm's Fairy Tales and presented just as Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm originally set them down: bold, primal, just frightening enough, and endlessly engaging. Stories include: "Rapunzel", read by Katherine Kellgren "Cinderella", read by January LaVoy "Little Red-Cap", read by Simon Vance "Little Briar-Rose", read by Grover Gardner "Little Snow-White", read by Kate Rudd "Rumpelstiltskin", read by Jim Dale "The Shoes That Were Danced to Pieces", read by Alfred Molina "A Riddling Tale", read by Janis Ian "The Twelve Brothers", read by Graeme Malcolm "The White Snake", read by Scott Brick "The Elves", read by Bahni Turpin "The Six Swans", read by Davina Porter "The Twelve Huntsmen", read by Dion Graham "The Goose-Girl", read by Edoardo Ballerini "Sweet Porridge", read by Jayne Entwistle "The Golden Goose", read by Luke Daniels "Eve's Various Children", read by Roy Dotrice "Snow-White and Rose-Red", read by Julia Whelan "The Frog-King, or Iron Henry", read by Kirby Heyborne "The Sea-Hare", read by Mark Bramhall "Hansel and Gretel", read by Robin Miles
Public Domain (P)2016 Listening Library
Course Correction
Summary
Wild meets The Boys in the Boat, a memoir about the quest for Olympic gold and the triumph of love over fear. Forty years ago, when a young Ginny Gilder stood on the edge of Boston's Charles River and first saw a rowing shell in motion, it was love at first sight. Yearning to escape her family history, which included her mother's emotional unraveling and her father's singular focus on investment acumen as the ultimate trophy, Gilder discovered rowing at a pivotal moment in her life. Having grown up in an era when girls were only beginning to abandon the sidelines as observers and cheerleaders to become competitors and national champions, Gilder harbored no dreams of athletic stardom. Once at Yale, however, her operating assumptions changed nearly overnight when, as a freshman in 1975, she found her way to the university's rowing tanks in the gymnasium's cavernous basement. From her first strokes as a novice, Gilder found herself in a new world, training with Olympic rowers and participating in the famous Title IX naked protest, which helped define the movement for equality in college sports. Short, asthmatic, and stubborn, Gilder made the team against all odds and for the next 10 years devoted herself to answering a seemingly simple question: how badly do you want to go fast? Course Correction recounts the physical and psychological barriers Gilder overcame as she transformed into an elite athlete who reached the highest echelon of her sport. Set against the backdrop of unprecedented cultural change, Gilder's story personalizes the impact of Title IX, illustrating the life-changing lessons learned in sports but felt far beyond the athletic arena. Heartfelt and candid, Gilder recounts lessons learned from her journey as it wends its way from her first glimpse of an oar to the Olympic podium in 1984, carries her through family tragedy, strengthens her to accept her true sexual identity, and ultimately frees her to live her life.
©2015 Virginia A. Gilder (P)2016 Virginia A. Gilder
Big World
Summary
A short story collection full of powerful prose and remarkably genuine characters from the author of The Last Days of California. The characters in Mary Miller's debut short story collection, Big World, are at once autonomous and lonesome, possessing both a longing to connect with those around them and a cynicism regarding their ability to do so, whether they're holed up in a motel room in Pigeon Forge with an air-gun-shooting boyfriend, as in "Fast Trains", or navigating the rooms of their house with their dad after their mother's death as in "Leak". Mary Miller's writing is unapologetically honest and efficient, and the gut-wrenching directness of her prose is reminiscent of Mary Gaitskill and Courtney Eldridge - if Gaitskill's and Eldridge's stories were set in the South and reeked of spilled beer and cigarette smoke.
©2009 Mary Miller (P)2014 Blackstone Audio
Kirinyaga
Summary
Hailed for his grandeur of imagination and superb worldbuilding, winner of and nominee for more than 50 awards for his outstanding work, Mike Resnick has rightfully won a place as one of science fiction's master storytellers. Now, in Kirinyaga, Resnick presents the haunting and utterly compelling tale of one man's utopia. By the 22nd century in the African nation of Kenya, polluted cities sprawl up the flanks of sacred Mount Kirinyaga. Great animal herds are but distant memories. European crops now grow on the sweeping savannas. But Koriba, a distinguished, educated man of Kikuyu ancestry, knows that life was different for his people centuries ago - and he is determined to build a utopian colony, not on Earth, but on the terraformed planetoid he proudly names Kirinyaga. As the mundumugu - witch doctor - Koriba leads the colonists. Reinstating the ancient customs and stringent laws of the Kikuyu people, he alone decides their fate. He must face many challenges to the struggling colony's survival: from a brilliant young girl whose radiant intellect could threaten their traditional ways, to the interference of "Maintenance", which holds the power to revoke the colony's charter. All the while, only Koriba - unbeknownst to his people - maintains the computer link to the rest of humanity. Ironically, the Kirinyaga experiment threatens to collapse - not from violence or greed - but from humankind's insatiable desire for knowledge. The Kikuyu people can no more stand still in time than their planet can stop revolving around its sun. Deeply moving, swiftly paced, and profound in its implications, Kirinyaga is Mike Resnick's most triumphant work to date. His Fable of Utopia is the book every listener will want to own and savor for years to come.
©1998 Mike Resnick; Published by arrangement with Spectrum Literary Agency (P)2015 Audible, Inc.
Who Really Cares
Summary
Who Really Cares: Childhood Poems, by Grammy Award-winning singer and songwriter Janis Ian, includes all poetry from earlier print editions of this early proof of what was to come from one of America's most talented songwriters as well as additional poems rejected by the original publisher as being too "controversial"; a new forward and afterword; and more. Though Ian is a prolific composer and world-famous for her music and performances, this is the musician's only book of poetry. It was first published in 1969 and has become a collector's item in print. Janis Ian wrote almost all of the poems during her teen years, a time when she was first thrust into the national and international spotlight as a songwriter and voice of her generation. Janis Ian began her career as a singer-songwriter in the 1960s with "Society's Child". In 1975 she won her first Grammy Award for the self-penned song "At Seventeen". Since then she has had number-one hits all over the world, sold more than 10 million albums, and had her songs recorded by such diverse artists as Bette Midler, Roberta Flack, and John Mellencamp. She shows no signs of slowing down, recently beginning yet another career as an audiobook narrator (which earned her a ninth nomination and second Grammy in 2013 for Society's Child: My Autobiography).
©2015 Janis Ian (P)2016 Janis Ian
Sailing Bright Eternity
Summary
Millennia of conflict between humans and mechs have driven the human race to near-extinction. Now, as the fierce AI mechs begin their final assault on mankind, it soon becomes apparent that three men - three generations in a family of voyagers - are their targets. Toby Bishop, his father, Killeen Bishop, and his grandfather, Nigel Walmsley, each carry a piece of the lethal secret that can destroy their enemies. But hunted through space and time by relentless assassins, they have no idea that they possess the only weapon that can save humanity.
©1995 Abbenford Associates (P)2012 Audible, Inc.
Furious Gulf
Summary
Few writers have successful blended hard science and speculation with fully realized characters as Gregory Benford has in his critically acclaimed novels. Now he draws us into a vortex of mystery and danger at the heart of the galaxy in his dazzling epic drama, Furious Gulf.Containing the remnants of humanity from the planet Snowglade, the spaceship Argo hurtles toward its uncertain destiny, the bold and brilliant Captain Killeen at its helm. But he has grown increasingly isolated and anguished in command. The ship’s gardens are failing, its voyagers face starvation, and there are dark whispers within, talk of mutiny. Killeen’s will, however, remains as strong as ever, his determination to reach the True Center of the galaxy bordering on obsession.Amid a mad swirl of incandescent suns and ghostly blue clouds of galactic dust, beset by hostile worlds controlled by the mechs – a vast and violent artificial intelligence whose only meaning, only mission, is the complete extermination of the human race - Killeen pursues his desperate search, convinced his people’s one hope of survival lies in the True Center. The crew has followed him this far on faith, a faith now being tested to the limit. Even his own son Toby, groomed for leadership, is beginning to question his father’s command.As the Argo undertakes a perilous quest into the unknown, Toby faces his own journey into the mysteries of adulthood. Like the others in this Family of voyagers, Toby’s spine contains microchip implants holding the memories – the legacy – of his race. But just as the technology designed to save his people may tear Toby himself apart, so his father’s desperate gamble to save the Argo may plunge the ship and its inhabitants into a cosmic pit of all-consuming fire. In this extraordinary novel, part of an interconnected series of novels that began with In the Ocean of Night and continued in Across the Sea of Suns, Great Sky River, and Tides of Light, Gregory Benford explores the fundamental nature of human development and discovery. Across the gulf that stretches between fear and faith, past and future, we watch in wonder as an age-old question continues…the quest for the fulfillment of an individual, for the evolution of a species, for the immortality of the soul.
©1994 Abbenford Associates (P)2012 Audible, Inc.
Stars
Summary
Janis Ian and 30 top science fiction writers team up to create an astonishing book of original short fiction. Stars is a huge anthology in both volume and talent. Each story, available only here, is based on a Janis Ian song that meant something special to the author, who then wrote the story expressly for Stars, creating a meld of jazz, prose, and science fiction found nowhere else - a treasure trove for fans of both SF and Janis Ian! Ian, who won the Grammy Award for spoken-word entertainment for Society's Child, joins the cast of this intimate and unique audiobook to narrate portions of Stars and also to perform the music that inspired each story. This edition of Stars also features an original new story by Michael Swanwick, "For I Have Lain Me Down on the Stone of Loneliness and I'll Not Be Back Again", based on "Mary's Eyes", a Janis Ian song that has always moved him to tears. Stars was compiled and edited by Mike Resnick and Janis Ian and includes stories by Nebula winners and such science fiction greats as Joe Haldeman, Jane Yolen, Gregory Benford, Orson Scott Card, and more. It also includes Ian's first original story, "Prayerville". As Janis herself says, "The stories have heart. They have life. They have truth. They move me. As an artist, I can ask for nothing more."
©2003 Janis Ian and Mike Resnick (P)2013 Audible, Inc.