Local bookseller recommendations

The Sword Defiant

By: Gareth Hanrahan

Narrated by: George Weightman

Length: 19 hours 17 minutes

Abridged: No

Set in a world of dark myth and dangerous prophecy, this thrilling fantasy launches an epic tale of daring warriors, living weapons, and bloodthirsty vengeance.​

Many years ago, Sir Aelfric and his nine companions saved the world, seizing the Dark Lord's cursed weapons, along with his dread city of Necrad. That was the easy part.

Now, when... Read more

It Was an Ugly Couch Anyway

By: Elizabeth Passarella

Narrated by: Elizabeth Passarellla

Length: 7 hours 45 minutes

Abridged: No

Read by the author.A collection of refreshingly honest and hilarious essays from Southern Living columnist Elizabeth Passarella about navigating change--whether emotional or logistical--and staying sane during life's unexpected twists and turns.After Elizabeth Passarella and her husband finally decided that it was time to sell their two-bedroom... Read more

The Story of Art Without Men

By: Katy Hessel

Narrated by: Katy Hessel

Length: 10 hours 44 minutes

Abridged: No

The story of art as it's never been told before, from the Renaissance to the present day.



How many women artists do you know? Who makes art history? Did women even work as artists before the twentieth century? And what is the Baroque anyway?



Guided by Katy Hessel, art historian and founder of @thegreatwomenartists, discover the glittering... Read more

Ellie Engle Saves Herself

By: Leah Johnson

Narrated by: Rocky Anicette

Length: 6 hours 16 minutes

Abridged: No

From award-winning YA author Leah Johnson comes her middle grade debut: a laugh-until-you-cry, cry-until-you-laugh story about friendship, change, and the power we have to love ourselves. Ellie Engle doesn't stand out. Not at home, where she's alone with her pet fish since her dad moved away and her mom has to work around the clock . Not at the... Read more

The Fall Between

By: Darcy Tindale

Length: 9 hours 14 minutes

Abridged: No

'Rural noir at its very best.' Candice Fox

'Unpredictable, authentic, a thrilling debut. This gripping tale kept me up all night.' Margaret Hickey

On a hot November morning, the first body lies in a cattle trough . . . It will be another two hours before rigor mortis sets in. Until then, the slim fingers will float below the water's surface,... Read more

Unmoored

By: J. R. Roessl

Narrated by: J. R. Roessl

Length: 10 hours 7 minutes

Abridged: No

It’s the sixties. Everything’s groovy. Teenagers bask in the freedom of a country transformed. Counterculture is on the rise, and the times, they-are-a-changing. Everything, that is, except the author’s young life. She doesn’t swoon for the Beatles or scream for the Stones. She doesn’t protest the Vietnam War or fight for women’s rights.... Read more

Once Upon a Tome

By: Oliver Darkshire

Narrated by: Oliver Darkshire

Length: 5 hours 40 minutes

Abridged: No

Some years ago, Oliver Darkshire stepped into the hushed interior of Henry Sotheran Ltd (est. 1761) to apply for a job. Allured by the smell of old books and the temptation of a management-approved afternoon nap, Darkshire was soon unteetering stacks of first editions and placating the store's resident ghost (the late Mr. Sotheran, hit by a... Read more

Ascension

By: Nicholas Binge

Narrated by: Peter Kenny

Length: 10 hours 30 minutes

Abridged: No

NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY VULTURE!

"You've gotta read Ascension by Nicholas Binge. Old-school creepy. . .five-star horror."—Stephen King

"Smartly paced, deploying twists and turns strategically to keep the reader moving. . . The ideas are big and the journey is a whole lot of fun." —The New York Times

"[An] excellent page-turner. . . a... Read more

Collecting Confidence

By: Kim Gravel

Narrated by: Kim Gravel

Length: 5 hours 31 minutes

Abridged: No

Read by the author with audiobook-exclusive commentary and an audiobook-exclusive episode of The Kim Gravel Show. See yourself with fresh new eyes. Start where you are and become the person you were meant to be!Showcasing the confidence she's gathered from her own life journey, Kim Gravel--beloved QVC star and creator of Belle by Kim Gravel and... Read more

Mott Street

By: Ava Chin

Narrated by: Ava Chin

Length: 11 hours 34 minutes

Abridged: No

“Essential reading for understanding not just Chinese American history but American history—and the American present.” —Celeste Ng, #1 bestselling author of Little Fires Everywhere

* TIME 100 Must-Read Books of 2023 * San Francisco Chronicle's Favorite Nonfiction * Kirkus Best Nonfiction of 2023 * Winner of the Chinese American Librarians... Read more

Ghosts, Toast, and Other Hazards

By: Susan Tan

Narrated by: Dana Wing Lau

Length: 5 hours 13 minutes

Abridged: No

"Susan Tan's writing is funny, fun, and hits straight to the heart."―Christina Soontorvat, two-time Newbery Honor recipient

From APALA Honor award-winning author Susan Tan, a middle-grade novel about a girl who must overcome her worries to find the truth behind her town's urban legend.

Mo is not afraid of toast. Just to be clear. She is afraid of... Read more

Becoming a Queen

By: Dan Clay

Narrated by: Dan Clay

Length: 10 hours 40 minutes

Abridged: No

This program is read by the author.

A vibrant and emotional novel from debut author Dan Clay about a boy who turns toward love, self-expression, and drag when the unthinkable happens, perfect for fans of Jandy Nelson and Julie Murphy.

If only Mark Davis hadn’t put on a dress for the talent show. It was a joke—other guys did it too—but when his... Read more

Wonder Boy

By: Angel Au-Yeung & David Jeans

Narrated by: Kurt Kanazawa

Length: 11 hours 58 minutes

Abridged: No

"Kurt Kanazawa presents this absorbing story of the initial success and later downward spiral of Tony Hsieh, tech founder and former CEO of Zappos. Kanazawa's youthful tone and vocal energy connect with Hsieh's wealth and celebrity status without glossing over his descent into drugs, alcohol, and mental health problems."-- AudioFile

Wonder Boy... Read more

Just as You Are

By: Camille Kellogg

Narrated by: Bailey Carr

Length: 8 hours 20 minutes

Abridged: No

Equal parts witty and steamy, this debut rom-com is “filled with fun” (People) and brings a healthy dose of queerness to a Pride and Prejudice-inspired enemies-to-lovers romance.

“Brims with heart, spice, and humor.”—Ashley Herring Blake, author of Delilah Green Doesn’t Care
“The L Word, but better.”—TJ Alexander, author of Chef’s Kiss
“A juicy... Read more

The Shotgun Conservationist

By: Brant MacDuff

Narrated by: Brant MacDuff

Length: 10 hours 50 minutes

Abridged: No

At the intersection of hunting and conservation, a man shares his personal journey from staunch anti-hunter to compassionate, ethical hunter, weaving together a larger history of humans, animals, the environment, and our food systems.

The Shotgun Conservationist doesn’t teach us how to hunt, it explores why we should hunt. As public lands remain... Read more

Untethered Sky

By: Fonda Lee

Narrated by: Nikki Massoud

Length: 3 hours 59 minutes

Abridged: No

From World Fantasy Award–winning author Fonda Lee comes an epic fantasy fable about the pursuit of obsession at all costs.Ester’s family was torn apart when a manticore killed her mother and baby brother, leaving her with nothing but her father’s painful silence and a single, overwhelming need to kill the monsters that took her family.Ester’s... Read more

A Long Time Dead

By: Mickey Spillane & Max Allan Collins

Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki

Length: 6 hours 24 minutes

Abridged: No

With an introduction by Max Allan Collins: the first collection of stories starring legendary Mike Hammer, the toughest private investigator in historyIt starts with a few near-accidents: A car almost swipes Mike Hammer when he’s crossing the street. A junkie robs the notoriously hardboiled detective at knifepoint. A fight on a subway platform... Read more

Where Are the Children Now?

By: Mary Higgins Clark & Alafair Burke

Narrated by: January LaVoy

Length: 7 hours 30 minutes

Abridged: No

The legacy of the “Queen of Suspense” continues with the highly anticipated follow-up to Mary Higgins Clark’s iconic novel Where Are The Children?, featuring the children of Nancy Harmon, facing peril once again as adults.

Of the fifty-six bestsellers the “Queen of Suspense” Mary Higgins Clark published in her lifetime, Where Are the Children?... Read more

Body Horror

By: Anne Elizabeth Moore

Narrated by: Anne Elizabeth Moore

Length: 8 hours 24 minutes

Abridged: No

Whether for entertainment, under the guise of medicine, or to propel consumerism, heinous acts are perpetrated daily on women’s bodies. In Body Horror: Capitalism, Fear, Misogyny, Jokes, award-winning journalist Anne Elizabeth Moore catalogs the global toll of capitalism on our physical autonomy. Weaving together unflinching research and... Read more

The Wishing Pool and Other Stories

By: Tananarive Due

Narrated by: William DeMeritt & Jasmin Walker

Length: 8 hours 14 minutes

Abridged: No

American Book Award–winning author Tananarive Due’s second collection of stories includes offerings of horror, science fiction, and suspense—all genres she wields masterfully. From the mysterious, magical town of Gracetown to the aftermath of a pandemic to the reaches of the far future, Due’s stories all share a sense of dread and fear balanced... Read more

A Wing and a Prayer

By: Anders Gyllenhaal & Beverly Gyllenhaal

Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell & Stephen Graybill

Length: 9 hours 2 minutes

Abridged: No

A captivating drama from the frontlines of the race to save birds set against the devastating loss of one third of the avian population.

Three years ago, headlines delivered shocking news: nearly three billion birds in North America have vanished over the past fifty years. No species has been spared, from the most delicate jeweled hummingbirds... Read more

Without Children

By: Peggy O'Donnell Heffington

Narrated by: Marguerite Gavin

Length: 8 hours 2 minutes

Abridged: No

A historian of gender explores the complicated relationship between womanhood and motherhood In an era of falling births, it’s often said that millennials invented the idea of not having kids. But history is full of women without children: some who chose childless lives, others who wanted children but never had them, and still others—the vast... Read more

Ordinary Wonder Tales

By: Emily Urquhart

Narrated by: Anne Wessel

Length: 7 hours 43 minutes

Abridged: No

A journalist and folklorist explores the truths that underlie the stories we imagine—and reveals the magic in the everyday.“I’ve always felt that the term fairy tale doesn’t quite capture the essence of these stories,” writes Emily Urquhart. “I prefer the term wonder tale, which is Irish in origin, for its suggestion of awe coupled with... Read more

Woman, Captain, Rebel

By: Margaret Willson

Narrated by: Ann Richardson

Length: 11 hours 34 minutes

Abridged: No

History would have us believe the sea has always been a male realm, the idea of female captains almost unthinkable. But there is one exception, so notable she defies any expectation.



This is her remarkable story.



Captain Thurídur, born in Iceland in 1777, lived a life that was both controversial and unconventional. Her first time fishing, on the... Read more