Ostentatious October Staff Picks

The Book of Two Ways

A Novel

By: Jodi Picoult
Narrated by: Patti Murin
Length: 15 hours 47 minutes

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the author of Small Great Things and A Spark of Light comes a “powerful” (The Washington Post) novel about the choices that alter the course of our lives.

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY MARIE CLAIRE

Everything changes in a single moment for Dawn Edelstein. She’s on a plane when the flight attendant... Read more

The Death of Vivek Oji

A Novel

By: Akwaeke Emezi
Narrated by: Yetide Badaki & Chukwudi Iwuji
Length: 7 hours 38 minutes

“I am fairly new to audiobooks because I've found myself to be incredibly picky when it comes to narration. That being said, I couldn't have picked a better book to listen to. Not only is this a beautiful and important story, but the narrators are nothing short of brilliant. I still think about this one often and highly recommend! Read more

The Unraveling of Cassidy Holmes

A Novel

By: Elissa R. Sloan
Narrated by: Brittany Pressley, Natalie Naudus, Jayme Mattler, Piper Goodeve, Caitlin Kelly, Megan Tusing & Stephen Graybill
Length: 12 hours

“The Unraveling of Cassidy Holmes is a page-turning peek inside the glamour and brutality of life as a pop star. Sloan takes us on a wild ride through the world of music video shoots, expensive hotels, and arena tours—showing us the darkness that threatens just below the surface.” —Taylor Jenkins Reid, New York Times bestselling author of Daisy... Read more

Find Me

A Novel

By: André Aciman
Narrated by: Michael Stuhlbarg
Length: 8 hours 4 minutes

"[Narrator Michael Stuhlbarg's] elegant performance and Aciman's sensitive writing keep things touching without ever being sentimental. Wonderful listening." — AudioFile Magazine, Earphones Award winner

This program is read by Michael Stuhlbarg, the actor who played Professor Samuel Perlman in Luca Guadagnino's critically-acclaimed film, Call... Read more

Transcendent Kingdom

A novel

By: Yaa Gyasi
Narrated by: Bahni Turpin
Length: 8 hours 40 minutes

“Gifty immigrated from Ghana, grew up in Alabama, and is working on a PhD in neuroscience at Stanford, where she experiments with mice. She has always felt she wasn’t cool enough or white enough, and tries to prove her value through her brilliance. She tells her raw and powerful story of racism, addiction, mental illness, and especially faith and... Read more

Squeeze Me

A novel

By: Carl Hiaasen
Narrated by: Scott Brick
Length: 11 hours 39 minutes

NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER • A hilarious novel of social and political intrigue, set against the glittering backdrop of Florida’s gold coast, from the author of Skinny Dip and Razor Girl

“If you could use some wild escapism right now, Hiaasen is your guy.” —The New York Times

WITH A NEW EPILOGUE

At the height of Palm Beach’s charity ball season,... Read more

The Second Home

A Novel

By: Christina Clancy
Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert
Length: 12 hours 22 minutes

“While reading The Second Home, you can taste the saltwater of both the ocean and the tears of familial pain. Christina Clancy has written a beautiful story of family and the bonds that can be broken and somehow repaired again. The characters and location are so well-written, you’ll feel like you’ve vacationed on the Cape for years with the... Read more

The Night Swim

A Novel

Rachel Krall: Book #1

By: Megan Goldin
Narrated by: Bailey Carr, January LaVoy & Samantha Desz
Length: 10 hours 24 minutes

“While Megan Goldin’s new novel The Night Swim is quite different from her first book, I think I liked this one even better. I am getting kind of tired of ‘psychological’ thrillers so was glad to find that Night Swim was actually a crime drama. I loved the way it was presented, a podcast by Rachel Krall about a rape case currently being tried in... Read more

Leave the World Behind

A Novel

By: Rumaan Alam
Narrated by: Marin Ireland
Length: 7 hours 26 minutes

“This fraught and claustrophobic psychological thriller begins innocently enough, with a family leaving New York for a long weekend at a rented house near the beach. They enjoy the luxury and languor of their getaway, until the house's owners, an older Black couple, show up unexpectedly, late at night, fleeing from a wide-spread power outage in... Read more

The Guest List

A Novel

By: Lucy Foley
Narrated by: Jot Davies, Chloe Massey, Olivia Dowd, Aoife McMahon, Sarah Ovens & Rich Keeble
Length: 10 hours 22 minutes

“The wild Irish setting was perfect for this Christie-esque whodunit that will keep you guessing until the end! This is a great listening experience as the cast of talented voice actors help tell the story from varied perspectives. Read more

The Roommate

The Shameless Series: Book #1

By: Rosie Danan
Narrated by: Brittany Pressley & Teddy Hamilton
Length: 10 hours 46 minutes

"Warmly funny and gorgeously sexy."—New York Times Book Review

A LibraryReads Pick

House Rules:
Do your own dishes
Knock before entering the bathroom
Never look up your roommate online
 
The Wheatons are infamous among the east coast elite for their lack of impulse control, except for their daughter Clara. She’s the consummate socialite:... Read more

The Lies That Bind

A Novel

By: Emily Giffin
Narrated by: Brittany Pressley, Will Damron & Vikas Adam
Length: 10 hours 44 minutes

“Cecily is heartbroken over a recent break-up with her boyfriend. She decides to go out for a beer to drown her sorrows. As she places a call to her ex, a very handsome gentleman approaches her and tells her to hang up. They begin a conversation, and Grant tells her about his life. He neglects to tell her some very important information about... Read more

Parable of the Sower

Earthseed: Book #1

By: Octavia E. Butler
Narrated by: Lynne Thigpen
Length: 12 hours 2 minutes

Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author Octavia E. Butler paints a stunning portrait of an all-too-believable near future. As with Kindred and her other critically-acclaimed novels, Parable of the Sower skillfully combines startling visionary and socially realistic concepts. God is change. That is the central truth of the Earthseed movement, whose... Read more

A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor

A Novel

The Carls: Book #2

By: Hank Green
Narrated by: Kristen Sieh, Joe Hempel, Jesse Vilinsky, Nicole Lewis, Kevin R. Free, Hank Green, Robert Petkoff, Angelo Di Loreto, Oliver Wyman, Hillary Huber, P.J. Ochlan & Gabra Zackman
Length: 15 hours 45 minutes

THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

Who has the right to change the world forever? 
How will we live online? 
How do we find comfort in an increasingly isolated world?
 
The Carls disappeared the same way they appeared, in an instant. While the robots were on Earth, they caused confusion and destruction with only their presence. Part of their... Read more

Hench

A Novel

By: Natalie Zina Walschots
Narrated by: Alex McKenna
Length: 14 hours 14 minutes

“How can I describe a book so compelling that I couldn't put it down and so engrossing that I screamed out loud? Natalie Zina Walschots has taken many of the tropes of the superhero genre and twisted them to look at the real human cost of those actions. HENCH asks what separates a villian from a hero and how much are we willing to sacrifice in... Read more

Yellow Bird

Oil, Murder, and a Woman's Search for Justice in Indian Country

By: Sierra Crane Murdoch
Narrated by: Sierra Crane Murdoch
Length: 14 hours 56 minutes

PULITZER PRIZE FINALIST • The gripping true story of a murder on an Indian reservation, and the unforgettable Arikara woman who becomes obsessed with solving it—an urgent work of literary journalism.

“I don’t know a more complicated, original protagonist in literature than Lissa Yellow Bird, or amore dogged reporter in American journalism than... Read more

The Socrates Express

In Search of Life Lessons from Dead Philosophers

By: Eric Weiner
Narrated by: Eric Weiner
Length: 11 hours 20 minutes

The New York Times bestselling author of The Geography of Bliss embarks on a rollicking intellectual journey, following in the footsteps of history’s greatest thinkers and showing us how each—from Epicurus to Gandhi, Thoreau to Beauvoir—offers practical and spiritual lessons for today’s unsettled times.

We turn to philosophy for the same reasons... Read more

A Song Below Water

A Novel

A Song Below Water: Book #1

By: Bethany C. Morrow
Narrated by: Andrea Laing & Jennifer Haralson
Length: 9 hours 23 minutes

“I loved this book so much; hands down one of my new favorites! This is an incredibly moving story of sisterhood, female power, and finding your voice and using it for good. As a mixed woman, it felt as though Bethany C. Morrow reached into my heart and mind and was speaking for me - verbalizing emotions I’ve never been able to describe before.... Read more

The Left-Handed Booksellers of London

By: Garth Nix
Narrated by: Marisa Calin
Length: 11 hours 15 minutes

A girl's quest to find her father leads her to an extended family of magical fighting booksellers who police the mythical Old World of England when it intrudes on the modern world. From the bestselling master of teen fantasy, Garth Nix.

In a slightly alternate London in 1983, Susan Arkshaw is looking for her father, a man she has never met. Crime... Read more

Fable

A Novel

The World of the Narrows: Book #2

By: Adrienne Young
Narrated by: Emma Lysy
Length: 8 hours 51 minutes

“This story makes for a perfect audiobook! It is one of adventures at sea, an island of thieves, a handsome young sailor, and a girl who is determined to find her place in the world even if the journey will kill her. A very fast-paced and exciting read that will make it almost impossible to press pause on. Read more