Kyra Miller has narrated 4 audiobooks on Listento.it by 4 authors, with an average listener rating of 4.7★ across 6 ratings. The most-rated is Labor of Love.
Labor of Love
Summary
"Does anyone date anymore?" Today the authorities tell us that courtship is in crisis. But when Moira Weigel dives into the history of sex and romance in modern America, she discovers that authorities have always said this. Ever since young men and women started to go out together, older generations have scolded them: That's not the way to find true love. The first women who made dates with strangers were often arrested for prostitution; long before "hookup culture", there were "petting parties"; before parents worried about cell phone apps, they fretted about joyrides and "parking". Dating is always dying. But this does not mean that love is dead. It simply changes with the economy. Dating is, and always has been, tied to work. Lines like "I'll pick you up at six" made sense at a time when people had jobs that started and ended at fixed hours. But in an age of contract work and flextime, many of us have become sexual freelancers, more likely to text a partner, "u still up?" Weaving together over 100 years of history with scenes from the contemporary landscape, Labor of Love offers a fresh feminist perspective on how we came to date the ways we do. This isn't a guide to "getting the guy". There are no ridiculous "rules" to follow. Instead Weigel helps us understand how looking for love shapes who we are and hopefully leads us closer to the happy ending that dating promises.
©2016 Moira Weigel (P)2016 Recorded Books
The Man in the Monster
Summary
Michael Ross was a serial killer who raped and murdered eight young women between 1981 and 1984, and several years ago the state of Connecticut put him to death. His crimes were horrific, and he paid the ultimate price for them. When journalist Martha Elliott first heard of Ross, she learned what the world knew of him - that he had been a master at hiding in plain sight. Elliott, a staunch critic of the death penalty, was drawn to the case when the Connecticut Supreme Court overturned Ross' six death sentences. Rather than fight for his life, Ross requested that he be executed because he didn't want the families of his victims to suffer through a new trial. Elliott was intrigued and sought an interview. The two began a weekly conversation - that developed into an odd form of friendship - that lasted over a decade, until Ross' last moments on Earth. Over the course of his 20 years in prison, Ross had come to embrace faith for the first time in his life. He had also undergone extensive medical treatment. The Michael Ross whom Elliott knew seemed to be a different man from the monster who was capable of such heinous crimes. This Michael Ross made it his mission to share his story with Elliott in the hopes that it would save lives. In The Man in the Monster, Martha Elliott gives us a groundbreaking look into the life and motivation of a serial killer. Drawing on a decade of conversations and letters between Ross and the author, listeners are given an in-depth view of a killer's innermost thoughts and secrets, revealing the human face of a monster - without ignoring the horrors of his crimes. Elliott takes us deep into a world of court hearings, tomblike prisons, lawyers hell-bent to kill or to save, and families ravaged by love and hate. This is the personal story of a journalist who came to know herself in ways she could never have imagined when she opened the notebook for that first interview.
©2015 Martha Elliott (P)2015 Recorded Books
Poor Your Soul
Summary
Guided by the narrative of her mother's tragic loss of a son years earlier, Mira Ptacin confronts an unexpected pregnancy with a child who has no chance of survival outside the womb. At age 28, Mira Ptacin discovered she was pregnant. Though it was unplanned, she soon embraced the pregnancy and became engaged to Andrew, the father. But five months later, an ultrasound revealed birth defects that would give the child no chance of survival outside the womb. Mira was given three options: terminate her pregnancy, induce early delivery, or wait and inevitably miscarry. Her story is woven together with the story of Mira's mother, who immigrated from Poland (also at the age of 28) and adopted a son, Julian, who would die tragically, bringing her a similar, unimaginable grief. A gorgeous, heartfelt first book by an award-winning essayist and Guernica contributor. An earnest and direct discussion of women's reproductive rights from a personal angle rather than a political one. Author has a robust social presence on Facebook and Twitter and has written for The Atlantic, New York Magazine, McSweeney's, Poets & Writers, The Rumpus, and more.
©2016 Mira Ptacin (P)2016 Recorded Books
Recipes for a Beautiful Life
Summary
Writing with a delicate balance of humor and truth, critically acclaimed author Rebecca Barry reflects on motherhood, work, and marriage in her new memoir about trying to build a creative life. When Rebecca Barry and her husband moved to upstate New York to start their family, they wanted to be surrounded by natural beauty but close to a small urban center, doing work they loved, and plenty of time to spend with their kids. But living their dreams turned out not to be so simple: The lovely old house they bought had lots of character, but also needed lots of repairs; they struggled to stay afloat financially; their children refused to sleep or play quietly; and the novel Rebecca had dreamed of writing simply wouldn't come to her. Recipes for a Beautiful Life blends heartwarming, funny, authentically told stories about the messiness of family life, a fearless examination of the anxieties of creative work, and sharp-eyed observations of the pressures that all women face. This is a story of a woman confronting her deepest fears: What if I'm a terrible mother? What if I'm not good at the work I love? What if my children never eat anything but peanut butter and cake? What if I go to sleep angry? It's also a story of the beauty, light, and humor that's around us, all the time - even when things look bleak, and using that to find your way back to your heart.
©2015 Rebecca Barry (P)2015 Recorded Books