BookPeople Holiday Catalog 2020

A Burning

A novel

By: Megha Majumdar
Narrated by: Vikas Adam, Priya Ayyar, Deepti Gupta, Ulka Simone Mohanty, Soneela Nankani & Neil Shah
Length: 7 hours 21 minutes

“Wonderfully read by a full cast, Megha Majumdar’s A Burning is especially relevant in the age of highly-politicized social media and government extremism. Read more

Ex Libris

100+ Books to Read and Reread

By: Michiko Kakutani
Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert
Length: 8 hours

Pulitzer Prize–winning literary critic Michiko Kakutani shares her enthusiasm for more than 100 books in a series of succinct, thought-provoking essays.

“An ebullient celebration of books and reading.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
 
“Books can connect people across time zones and zip codes, across cultures, national boundaries, and historical... Read more

The Vanishing Half

A Novel

By: Brit Bennett
Narrated by: Shayna Small
Length: 11 hours 33 minutes

“The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett definitely lives up to the glowing reviews it has been receiving. The story reveals an interesting perspective on this history of race in the United States, while also telling a universal story of difficult decisions that change the course of life forever. Bennett doesn't offer pretty bows to tie up her... Read more

The Awkward Black Man

Stories

By: Walter Mosley
Narrated by: Mirron Willis
Length: 10 hours 9 minutes

Bestselling author Walter Mosley has proven himself a master of narrative tension, both with his extraordinary fiction and gripping writing for television. The Awkward Black Man collects seventeen of Mosley's most accomplished short stories to showcase the full range of his remarkable talent.

Mosley presents distinct characters as they struggle... Read more

When No One Is Watching

A Thriller

By: Alyssa Cole
Narrated by: Susan Dalian & Jay Aaseng
Length: 8 hours 54 minutes

“This is a must-read thriller rooted deeply in Brooklyn and its racist past. As the neighborhood makes plans for the annual block party, Sydney ends up battling more than the microaggressions from her new white neighbors. When her best friends go missing, her mom's prized garden is threatened, and a fake meter reader breaks into her home, she... Read more

Leave the World Behind

A Novel

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

“I can’t help but laugh as I recollect this novel. Darkly funny and richly suspenseful, it follows a white family and a Black couple in a remote New York house as a series of unfathomable events occur around them. Alam comments on our modern obsession with information, as we compulsively scroll our feeds and pat our pockets in panic to ensure our... Read more

Black Sun

Between Earth and Sky: Book #1

By: Rebecca Roanhorse
Narrated by: Cara Gee, Nicole Lewis, Kaipo Schwab & Shaun Taylor-Corbett
Length: 12 hours 46 minutes

“This is a whirlwind of a first installment and I am equally psyched and disappointed that I have to wait for the others to come out. I am a huge huge fan of the audio edition of this book, it is so beautifully done with a full cast and the image of each character is so complete and vivid. A total dream to listen to; I found myself just sitting... Read more

Under the Big Black Sun

A Personal History of L.A. Punk

By: John Doe & Tom Desavia
Narrated by: Exene Cervenka, Henry Rollins & Various
Length: 7 hours 19 minutes

“A biography of a time, a place, and the birth of a movement, Under the Big Black Sun is read by the voices who lived it (and—as unfortunately needs saying—survived it.) The essays, many of which are written by John Doe, span well beyond his legendary band X, which was co-fronted by the inimitable Excene Cervenka. Other voices included are Dave... Read more

A Deadly Education

A Novel

The Scholomance: Book #1

By: Naomi Novik
Narrated by: Anisha Dadia
Length: 10 hours 58 minutes

“If I could rate this more than 10, I would! The narrator in this book, El or Galadriel, is irritable, snarky, a giant grump, and prophesied to be a terrifying and destructive villain to humanity. She is also one of the most loveable characters I've had the pleasure of meeting in a novel, and I can't wait to learn more about her and her fellow... Read more

The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires

By: Grady Hendrix
Narrated by: Bahni Turpin
Length: 13 hours 48 minutes

“I don’t know about everyone else, but I, for one, am really excited that vampires are making a comeback. I think they’re such a fun trope in pretty much every genre, and this was no exception. True to the Grady Hendrix style, this book was the perfect campy, slightly off-kilter, and moderately gory suburban horror story I didn’t know I needed. Read more

Ready Player Two

A Novel

By: Ernest Cline
Narrated by: Wil Wheaton
Length: 13 hours 46 minutes

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The thrilling sequel to the beloved worldwide bestseller Ready Player One, the near-future adventure that inspired the blockbuster Steven Spielberg film.
 
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE WASHINGTON POST• “The game is on again. . . . A great mix of exciting fantasy and threatening fact.”—The Wall... Read more

Plain Bad Heroines

A Novel

By: Emily M. Danforth
Narrated by: Xe Sands
Length: 19 hours 27 minutes

“Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M. Danforth was by far my favorite book of 2021. It's spooky and sapphic and gothic to the extreme. The story switches between a haunted early 1900s boarding school and modern Hollywood with a rotating (and entirely queer) cast of characters. Read it read it read it!!! Read more

The City We Became

A Novel

The Great Cities: Book #1

By: N. K. Jemisin
Narrated by: Robin Miles
Length: 16 hours 12 minutes

“I love N.K. Jemisin’s books, I love New York City, and I love this book about the soul and personification of New York. The City We Became might just be my favorite book to be published in 2020. This story is filled with tension, humor, and great characters, with a guest appearance near and dear to me. While this book is the beginning of a... Read more

Something to Talk About

By: Meryl Wilsner
Narrated by: Jorjeana Marie & Xe Sands
Length: 9 hours 6 minutes

“Something to Talk About is an incredible debut about a Hollywood showrunner, Jo, and her assistant, Emma, who realize the tabloids may be correct in thinking there is something romantic between the two of them. The slowest of slow-burn romances in the best possible way, Something to Talk About touches on the #MeToo movement, the meaning of... Read more

Hamnet

By: Maggie O'Farrell
Narrated by: Ell Potter
Length: 12 hours 42 minutes

“In this acclaimed new novel, author Maggie O’Farrell takes one small detail from the life of William Shakespeare and spins it into a complex and wonderful love story and family saga, set during an outbreak of the bubonic plague in 1590’s England. Ell Potter's audiobook performance brings these characters to life, adding a layered intimacy to the... Read more

Beach Read

By: Emily Henry
Narrated by: Julia Whelan
Length: 10 hours 12 minutes

“2020 is apparently the year I start reading romance novels and loving them. Maybe it's my need for a little lighthearted fluff in quarantine, but straight fluff isn't really my jam no matter the day. I want fluff with meat on its bones. I want fluff with substance.

As for Beach Read... Did I just give a romance novel ALL THE STARS? Why yes. Yes I... Read more

Homie

Poems

By: Danez Smith
Narrated by: Danez Smith
Length: 1 hour 32 minutes

“In their third collection, Danez Smith shakes to life the parts of people that have gone to sleep waiting for this time in the world to be over. Those emotions that raise up too much anger or grief — all of them are alive again and seen and spoken for with utmost care and a tremendously welcome sense of humor. Pick this book up and carry it with... Read more

Barn 8

By: Deb Olin Unferth
Narrated by: Brittany Pressley
Length: 7 hours 34 minutes

“When two egg industry auditors devise a plan to steal a million chickens, you won’t think they’re crazy—you’ll be rooting for them the whole way. Barn 8 hits the ground running like a chicken with its head cut off. A colorful cast is brought to life beautifully in the audiobook, and there’s plenty of irony and thoughtfulness. The most emotional... Read more

Luster

A Novel

By: Raven Leilani
Narrated by: Ariel Blake
Length: 6 hours 39 minutes

“An incredibly unique story, Luster inserts the reader into the head of the novel's protagonist, a young Black woman having an affair with an older white man in an open marriage. Things get complicated when she sneaks into her lover's house and is caught by the wife who then invites her to stay for their anniversary party. Luster is a brilliant... Read more

You Had Me at Hola

A Novel

Primas of Power: Book #1

By: Alexis Daria
Narrated by: Seraphine Valentine
Length: 10 hours 27 minutes

“I don’t have enough superlatives to do this book justice. Everything is spot on, from the chemistry between the main characters to the telenovela drama to the meddling but supportive cousins. I love all the Spanish, the backstage glimpses into the making of a TV show (especially the inclusion of the intimacy coordinator), and the way the... Read more