Bookseller picks

Caesar's Last Breath

By: Sam Kean

Narrated by: Ben Sullivan

Length: 10 hours 33 minutes

Abridged: No

The Guardian's Best Science Book of 2017: the fascinating science and history of the air we breathe.

It's invisible. It's ever-present. Without it, you would die in minutes. And it has an epic story to tell.

In Caesar's Last Breath, New York Times bestselling author Sam Kean takes us on a journey through the periodic table, around the globe,... Read more

What We Lose

By: Zinzi Clemmons

Narrated by: Nicole Lewis

Length: 3 hours 46 minutes

Abridged: No

A National Book Foundation 5 Under 35 Honoree
NBCC John Leonard First Book Prize Finalist
Aspen Words Literary Prize Finalist

Named a Best Book of the Year by Vogue, NPR, Elle, Esquire, Buzzfeed, San Francisco Chronicle, Cosmopolitan, The Huffington Post, The A.V. Club, The Root, Harper’s Bazaar, Paste, Bustle, Kirkus Reviews, Electric Literature,... Read more

The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen

By: Hendrik Groen

Narrated by: Derek Jacobi

Length: 11 hours 53 minutes

Abridged: No

A #1 international bestseller in the vein of Fredrik Backman's A Man Called Ove: a funny and tender-hearted tale about friendship, love, and an old man who is young at heart.

Technically speaking, Hendrik Groen is....elderly. But at age 83 1/4, this feisty, indomitable curmudgeon has no plans to go out quietly. Bored of weak tea and potted... Read more

Hum If You Don't Know the Words

By: Bianca Marais

Narrated by: Katharine Lee McEwan & Bahni Turpin

Length: 14 hours 24 minutes

Abridged: No

Perfect for readers of The Secret Life of Bees and The Help, a perceptive and searing look at Apartheid-era South Africa, told through one unique family brought together by tragedy.

Life under Apartheid has created a secure future for Robin Conrad, a ten-year-old white girl living with her parents in 1970s Johannesburg. In the same nation but... Read more

Reading with Patrick

By: Michelle Kuo

Narrated by: Michelle Kuo

Length: 8 hours 28 minutes

Abridged: No

“In all of the literature addressing education, race, poverty, and criminal justice, there has been nothing quite like Reading with Patrick.”—The Atlantic

A memoir of the life-changing friendship between an idealistic young teacher and her gifted student, jailed for murder in the Mississippi Delta

FINALIST FOR THE DAYTON LITERARY PEACE PRIZE

... Read more

The Graybar Hotel

By: Curtis Dawkins

Narrated by: Pete Simonelli

Length: 4 hours 57 minutes

Abridged: No

In this “toughly courageous, unflinching, and unapologetic” (O, The Oprah Magazine) debut collection, Curtis Dawkins, an MFA graduate and convicted murderer serving life without parole, “takes us inside the worlds of prison and prisoners with stories that dazzle with their humor and insight, even as they describe a harsh and barren existence”... Read more

Lost Boy

By: Christina Henry

Narrated by: Samuel Roukin

Length: 7 hours 43 minutes

Abridged: No

The author of Alice takes readers through a dark tale of Peter Pan, who turns his best friend into his nemesis, Captain Hook. On an island lives a boy called Peter and his band of merry lost boys, young forever. That is, unless they get sick or killed by pirates or eaten by crocodiles or unless-inexplicably-they grow old. For some of them do... Read more

The Reason You're Alive

By: Matthew Quick

Narrated by: R.C. Bray

Length: 5 hours 37 minutes

Abridged: No

The New York Times bestselling author of The Silver Linings Playbook offers a timely novel featuring his most fascinating character yet, a Vietnam vet embarking on a quixotic crusade to track down his nemesis from the war.After sixty-eight-year-old David Granger crashes his BMW, medical tests reveal a brain tumor that he readily attributes to... Read more

The Fourth Monkey

By: J.D. Barker

Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini

Length: 12 hours 31 minutes

Abridged: No

Se7en meets The Silence of the Lambs in this dark and twisting novel from the author Jeffery Deaver called, "A talented writer with a delightfully devious mind." For over five years, the Four Monkey Killer has terrorized the residents of Chicago. When his body is found, the police quickly realize he was on his way to deliver one final message,... Read more

The Windfall

By: Diksha Basu

Narrated by: Soneela Nankani

Length: 10 hours 15 minutes

Abridged: No

“Charming . . . What Kevin Kwan did for rich-people problems, Diksha Basu does for trying-to-be-rich-people problems.”—People

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY ESQUIRE • A PEOPLE PICK • A TIME PICK  

The Jhas are moving up. For the past thirty years, their lives have been defined by cramped spaces and gossipy neighbors. But when... Read more

The Waking Land

By: Callie Bates

Narrated by: Erin Spencer

Length: 15 hours 18 minutes

Abridged: No

In the lush and magical tradition of Naomi Novik’s award-winning Uprooted comes this riveting debut from brilliant young writer Callie Bates—whose boundless imagination places her among the finest authors of fantasy fiction, including Sarah J. Maas and Sabaa Tahir.

Lady Elanna is fiercely devoted to the king who raised her like a daughter. But... Read more

Spoonbenders

By: Daryl Gregory

Narrated by: Ari Fliakos

Length: 14 hours 1 minute

Abridged: No

A NEBULA AWARD FINALIST
ONE OF NPR'S BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR

"Hilarious, heartfelt and brimming with humanity.” —Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney, author of The Nest

Teddy Telemachus is a charming con man with a gift for sleight of hand and some shady underground associates. In need of cash, he tricks his way into a classified government study about... Read more

Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore

By: Matthew Sullivan

Narrated by: Madeleine Maby

Length: 8 hours 59 minutes

Abridged: No

When a bookshop patron dies by suicide, his favorite store clerk must unravel the puzzle he left behind in this "shocking, charming, thrilling" (Associated Press) and award-winning debut novel.

Lydia Smith lives her life hiding in plain sight. A clerk at the Bright Ideas bookstore, she leads a meticulously ordered existence among her beloved... Read more

The Marsh King's Daughter

By: Karen Dionne

Narrated by: Emily Rankin

Length: 9 hours 54 minutes

Abridged: No

THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER—NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE!

“Brilliant....About as good as a thriller can be.”—The New York Times Book Review

The Marsh King’s Daughter is the mesmerizing tale of a woman who must risk everything to hunt down the dangerous man who shaped her past and threatens to steal her future: her own father.
 
Helena... Read more

Wolf on a String

By: John Banville & Benjamin Black

Narrated by: Simon Vance

Length: 9 hours 57 minutes

Abridged: No

Bestselling author Benjamin Black turns his eye to sixteenth century Prague and a story of murder, magic and the dark art of wielding extraordinary power/

"...outstandingly read by Simon Vance, whose versatility with voices and intonations brings the cast to life." — Fran Wood, NJ.com

Christian Stern, an ambitious young scholar and alchemist,... Read more

The Bright Hour

By: Nina Riggs

Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell

Length: 7 hours 33 minutes

Abridged: No

* INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER *

“Stunning…heartrending…this year’s When Breath Becomes Air.” —Nora Krug, The Washington Post

“Beautiful and haunting.” —Matt McCarthy, MD, USA TODAY

“Deeply affecting…simultaneously heartbreaking and funny.” —People (Book of the Week)

“Vivid, immediate.” —Laura Collins-Hughes, The Boston Globe

Starred... Read more

Dividing Eden

By: Joelle Charbonneau

Narrated by: Lauren Fortgang

Length: 9 hours 48 minutes

Abridged: No

From the author of the New York Times bestselling The Testing trilogy comes a sweeping new fantasy series, perfect for fans of Victoria Aveyard and Sarah J. Maas. Twins Carys and Andreus were never destined to rule Eden. With their older brother next in line to inherit the throne, the future of the kingdom was secure.But appearances—and... Read more

The Prisoner in His Palace

By: Will Bardenwerper

Narrated by: Danny Campbell

Length: 7 hours 28 minutes

Abridged: No

In the tradition of In Cold Blood and The Executioner’s Song, this haunting, insightful, and surprisingly intimate portrait of Saddam Hussein provides “a brief, but powerful, meditation on the meaning of evil and power” (USA TODAY).

The “captivating” (Military Times) The Prisoner in His Palace invites us to take a journey with twelve young... Read more

Do Not Become Alarmed

By: Maile Meloy

Narrated by: Maile Meloy

Length: 8 hours 58 minutes

Abridged: No

The moving and suspenseful new novel that Ann Patchett calls "smart and thrilling and impossible to put down... the book that every reader longs for."

“This summer’s undoubtable smash hit… an addictive, heart-palpitating story.” —Marie Claire

The sun is shining, the sea is blue, the children have disappeared.

When Liv and Nora decide to take their... Read more

The Great Passage

By: Shion Miura

Narrated by: Brian Nishii

Length: 7 hours 31 minutes

Abridged: No

An award-winning story of love, friendship, and the power of human connection. Kohei Araki believes that a dictionary is a boat to carry us across the sea of words. But after thirty-seven years of creating dictionaries, it's time for him to retire and find his replacement. He discovers a kindred spirit in Mitsuya Majime—a young, disheveled... Read more

Theft by Finding

By: David Sedaris

Narrated by: David Sedaris

Length: 13 hours 51 minutes

Abridged: No

One of the most anticipated books of 2017: Boston Globe, New York Times Book Review, New York's "Vulture", The Week, Bustle, BookRiot
An NPR Best Book of 2017An AV Club Favorite Book of 2017A Barnes & Noble Best Book of 2017A Goodreads Choice Awards nominee

David Sedaris tells all in a book that is, literally, a lifetime in the making.

For... Read more

Touch

By: Courtney Maum

Narrated by: Kristen Sieh

Length: 9 hours 43 minutes

Abridged: No

“[A] warm-hearted tale of a woman reconfiguring her priorities.”—O, The Oprah Magazine
 
NPR, "Best Books of 2017"
Belletrist's Book Pick for June
New York Times Book Review, Editors' Choice
Glamour, "The 6 Juiciest Summer Reads”
New York Post, “The 29 Best Books of the Summer”
Huffington Post, “24 Incredible Books You Should Read This... Read more

Shadow Man

By: Alan Drew

Narrated by: Will Damron

Length: 13 hours 20 minutes

Abridged: No

A novel of psychological suspense about an idyllic community rocked by a serial killer—and a dark secret.

“A stellar achievement, a book that unspools like a dark-toned movie in the reader’s mind.”—The Wall Street Journal (One of the Best Mysteries of the Year)

Detective Ben Wade has returned to his hometown of Rancho Santa Elena in search of a... Read more

Standard Deviation

By: Katherine Heiny

Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell

Length: 10 hours 15 minutes

Abridged: No

TheSkimm’s Best of Skimm Reads
NPR’s Guide to Great Reads
The Washington Post’s 50 Notable Works of Fiction of the Year
Minnesota Public Radio’s The Best Books to Give and Get: Fiction Picks of the Year

An uproarious novel ("Both heart-piercing and, crucially, very funny." —Louise Erdrich, The New York Times) from the celebrated author of Single,... Read more