Local bookseller recommendations

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

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 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 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 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

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 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

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

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 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

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

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

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

Dragon Teeth

By: Michael Crichton

Narrated by: Scott Brick & Sherri Crichton

Length: 7 hours 40 minutes

Abridged: No

Michael Crichton, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Jurassic Park, returns to the world of paleontology in this recently discovered novel—a thrilling adventure set in the Wild West during the golden age of fossil hunting.The year is 1876. Warring Indian tribes still populate America’s western territories even as lawless gold-rush towns... 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

Living in the Woods in a Tree

By: Sybil Rosen

Narrated by: Pam Ward

Length: 9 hours 27 minutes

Abridged: No

Living in the Woods in a Tree is an intimate glimpse into the turbulent life of Texas music legend Blaze Foley (1949–1989), seen through the eyes of Sybil Rosen, the woman for whom he wrote his most widely known song, "If I Could Only Fly." It captures the exuberance of their fleeting idyll in a tree house in the Georgia woods during the... Read more

The Fact of a Body

By: Alex Marzano-Lesnevich

Narrated by: Alex Marzano-Lesnevich

Length: 10 hours 37 minutes

Abridged: No

"This book is a marvel. The Fact of a Body is equal parts gripping and haunting and will leave you questioning whether any one story can hold the full truth." -- Celeste Ng, author of the New York Times bestselling Everything I Never Told You


Before Alex Marzano-Lesnevich begins a summer job at a law firm in Louisiana, working to help defend men... Read more

York: The Shadow Cipher

By: Laura Ruby

Narrated by: Adam Verner

Length: 10 hours 14 minutes

Abridged: No

“The pleasures of the novel go far beyond the crackling, breathless plot and the satisfaction of watching the puzzle fall into place. The book is shot through with humor, both laugh-out-loud and subtle.” —New York Times Book ReviewFrom National Book Award finalist and Printz Award winner Laura Ruby comes an epic alternate history series about... Read more

I Love Dick

By: Chris Kraus

Narrated by: David de Vries, Susan Ericksen & Teri Schnaubelt

Length: 8 hours 26 minutes

Abridged: No

In I Love Dick, published in 1997, Chris Kraus, author of Aliens & Anorexia, Torpor, and Video Green, boldly tore away the veil that separates fiction from reality and privacy from self-expression. It's no wonder that I Love Dick instantly elicited violent controversies and attracted a host of passionate admirers. The story is gripping... Read more

The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly

By: Stephanie Oakes

Narrated by: Morgan Hallett

Length: 8 hours 49 minutes

Abridged: No

An emotionally raw debut about the dangers of blind faith-and the power of having faith in oneself The cult known as the Community has taken everything from seventeen-year-old Minnow: twelve years of her life, her family, her ability to trust. And when she rebelled, they took away her hands, too. Now their Prophet has been murdered and their... Read more

The Light We Lost: Reese's Book Club

By: Jill Santopolo

Narrated by: Jill Santopolo

Length: 7 hours 15 minutes

Abridged: No

The New York Times Bestseller and A Reese’s Book Club Pick
 
“This love story between Lucy & Gabe spans decades and continents as two star-crossed lovers try to return to each other…Will they ever meet again? This book kept me up at night, turning the pages to find out, and the ending did not disappoint.”—Reese Witherspoon

“One Day meets Me... Read more