Omar El Akkad

Omar El Akkad

Omar El Akkad is an award-winning journalist and author who has travelled around the world to cover many of the most important news stories of the last decade. Below, the Canada Reads-nominated author of the dystopian tale American War recommends for Audible listeners some of his favourite nonfiction titles from recent years, as well as a few he considers "all-time greats."
Product list
  • Tomboy Survival Guide cover art

    • Tomboy Survival Guide

    • Written by: Ivan Coyote
    • Narrated by: Ivan Coyote
    • Length: 5 hrs and 12 mins
    • Release date: 2017-08-02
    • Language: English
    • 5 out of 5 stars 90 ratings
    • "Perhaps my favourite nonfiction book of 2017. Coyote’s memoir is warm, honest, and frequently hilarious. I read it in one sitting."
  • The Morning They Came for Us cover art

    • The Morning They Came for Us

    • Dispatches from Syria
    • Written by: Janine di Giovanni
    • Narrated by: Teri Schnaubelt
    • Length: 5 hrs and 21 mins
    • Release date: 2016-10-25
    • Language: English
    • 5 out of 5 stars 4 ratings
    • "One of the most harrowing accounts I've ever read on the reality of the Syrian government's crimes against its own people. Not an easy listen."
  • Let Us Now Praise Famous Men cover art

    • Let Us Now Praise Famous Men

    • Three Tenant Families
    • Written by: James Agee
    • Narrated by: Lloyd James
    • Length: 15 hrs and 13 mins
    • Release date: 2015-12-10
    • Language: English
    • 5 out of 5 stars 2 ratings
    • "Agee's masterwork on poverty-stricken tenant farmers during the Great Depression has influenced me more than almost any other book. It's absolutely timeless."
  • The New Odyssey cover art

    • The New Odyssey

    • The Story of Europe's Refugee Crisis
    • Written by: Patrick Kingsley
    • Narrated by: Thomas Judd
    • Length: 8 hrs and 50 mins
    • Release date: 2016-05-03
    • Language: English
    • 5 out of 5 stars 1 rating
    • "A thorough and well-researched investigation of what the Mediterranean migration crisis really looks like. Excellent, on-the-ground journalism."
  • Wave cover art

    • Wave

    • A Memoir
    • Written by: Sonali Deraniyagala
    • Narrated by: Hannah Curtis
    • Length: 5 hrs and 24 mins
    • Release date: 2013-03-05
    • Language: English
    • 5 out of 5 stars 12 ratings
    • "Deraniyagala lost her family — and almost died herself — during the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and earthquake. She writes about the tragedy with incredible fearlessness. A small, devastating book."
  • Just Kids cover art

    • Just Kids

    • Written by: Patti Smith
    • Narrated by: Patti Smith
    • Length: 9 hrs and 50 mins
    • Release date: 2011-07-26
    • Language: English
    • 4.5 out of 5 stars 165 ratings
    • "Patti Smith is one of the finest artists alive, and her memoir is a piece of absolute magic."
  • Ernest Hemingway cover art

    • Ernest Hemingway

    • A Biography
    • Written by: Mary V. Dearborn
    • Narrated by: Tanya Eby
    • Length: 29 hrs and 40 mins
    • Release date: 2017-05-16
    • Language: English
    • 4 out of 5 stars 9 ratings
    • "The best biography I read last year was Dearborn’s reexamination of an endlessly examined writer. I learned so many new details about Hemingway's life from this book."

From the Author