|
matter of fact
|
|
Now in Nonfiction
|
|
|
|
Happy September—the month that feels as fresh and productivity-inducing as a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils (h/t Emily for that Nora Ephron gem). Or as the new “lock in” trend has it: It’s the perfect time to hone in on your goals and commit to accomplishing them by year’s end. I love this idea, and I’m fully locked in on an intense home decor project, the blessed return of back to school, and the absurdly good crop of audiobooks due out this fall. Plus, our Best of the Year list is coming up fast, so while we eagerly await what’s ahead, we’re also actively taking stock of the year that was. Just another September in the life of an Audible editor!
|
|
 |
Kat
Audible Editor |
|
|
Liz Gilbert on love, loss, and recovery
|
|
|
Elizabeth Gilbert’s many fans often cite very different favorites: for some it’s Eat Pray Love, for others it’s her rich fiction, and then there’s team Big Magic, where I plant my flag. Her new memoir, All the Way to the River, is another bold swerve, this one into a devastating chapter of Gilbert’s life, in which her dear friend’s terminal cancer diagnosis is just the tip of the iceberg. Rayya’s looming death doesn’t just kickstart the pair’s romantic relationship, it also unearths personal demons and competing addictions. It’s not an easy listen—“the journey got dark,” as the author said in our poignant conversation—but is unforgettable via Gilbert’s luminescent prose, deep shadow work, and mesmerizing narration.
|
|
|
Fall’s ultimate listening guide
|
|
|
Build your soundtrack for sweater weather with our most-anticipated stories of the season. This is the time of year to stack your wish list and prep your Audible app for some serious listening. The big books of fall are here—ready and waiting for us to dive in.
|
|
|
Now on the pod: Don Katz!
|
|
|
|
This is not a drill: For a very special episode of This Is Audible, Katie and I were joined in the studio by the ultimate VIP, Audible founder Don Katz. I’m lucky enough to have worked with Don when he was still our CEO, so it was a delight to catch up with him (after my nerves calmed down) on the early days of Audible, his visionary People Principles, joining Amazon, and more. Plus, he answers three burning audiophile questions: What’s his listening speed, where does he listen, and what are some recent favorites? If you listen to any episode of our podcast, make it this one—and then stick around for new episodes every two weeks. We’d love to see you there!
|
|
|
Contemplating the AI apocalypse
|
|
|
I was recently arguing with my husband—a dyed-in-the-wool Kurzweil-style tech optimist—about whether people have heard “enough” about the existential threat of artificial superintelligence. Like our redecorating project, that’s up for debate, but thanks to an explosive new book from undisputed experts Eliezer Yudkowsky and Nate Soares, the doomer view is getting a wider audience. Whether or not you agree with all their points, there’s no denying they’ve laid out an important, lucid, highly informed, and highly entertaining perspective on THE issue of our time. Follow it up with Paul Kingsnorth’s latest, the result of three decades of writing and thinking about “the Machine,” as he says in a fascinating new interview.
|
|
|
Get outside your genre zone
|
|
Want more newsletters like this? Subscribe to your favorite genres.
|
|
|
|
