A Promised Land
By Barack Obama
Narrated by: Barack Obama
Length: 29 hours 9 minutes
A riveting, deeply personal account of history in the making—from the president who inspired us to believe in the power of democracy
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The Washington Post • Jennifer Szalai, The New York Times • NPR •... Read more »
The Cold Millions
A Novel
By Jess Walter
Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini, Gary Farmer, Marin Ireland, Cassandra Campbell, MacLeod Andrews, Tim Gerard Reynolds, Mike Ortego, Rex Anderson, Charlie Thurston & Frankie Corzo
Length: 11 hours 29 minutes
The Cold Millions
“The gorgeous writing, vivid setting, compelling characters, and engrossing story aren’t even the best parts of this novel. Instead, I just keep marveling at how Jess Walter takes events from history to illuminate our present while keeping them rooted in their own time, from the labor movement to class, race, and gender equality and civil rights issues, to protests and freedom of speech. The northwest in 1909 has never been so relevant. Beautiful Ruins was a hard act to follow but, amazingly, Walter manages it with aplomb.”
Ariana Paliobagis, The Country Bookshop
Missionaries
A Novel
By Phil Klay
Narrated by: MacLeod Andrews, Cynthia Farrell, Henry Leyva & Anthony Rey Perez
Length: 14 hours 28 minutes
One of President Obama's Favorite Books of the Year
A New York Times Notable Book
One of the Wall Street Journal Ten Best Books of the Year
“Mr. Klay’s bravura novel homes in on the ground-level consequences of American interference in Colombia’s ongoing civil war and tumultuous peace process. But the engrossing local conflict is only part of the... Read more »
Nights When Nothing Happened
A Novel
By Simon Han
Narrated by: James Chen
Length: 7 hours 9 minutes
Nights When Nothing Happened
“Most anyone who grows up in a suburb knows these neighborhoods are not always what they purport to be. Simon Han, in his dazzling debut, blows the curtains wide open on the actual lives a onetime model home might conceal. Deftly shifting time frames and points of view, he gives a piercing, often funny, and deeply moving account of a Chinese family’s struggle to settle into the lives they think they should be living. It’s a coming of age for all of them, each in their own way and time. Far from nothing happening, so much does.”
Rick Simonson, The Elliott Bay Book Company
Before the Coffee Gets Cold
A Novel
By Toshikazu Kawaguchi
Narrated by: Arina Ii
Length: 6 hours 52 minutes
Before the Coffee Gets Cold
“This was the most interesting and wholesome take on time travel I have ever read. Everything in the world is totally normal, but if you sit in a specific seat in a specific cafe in Tokyo, you can travel back in time. There are some rules in order to time travel, but my favorite one? You can only stay in the past for as long as your coffee is warm. This charming and emotional story of four different women teaches about the importance of making the most with the time you’re given.”
Lauren Suidgeest, Schuler Books
The Orchard
A Novel
By David Hopen
Narrated by: Micky Shiloah
Length: 17 hours 13 minutes
The Orchard
“Evocative of both Donna Tartt and Chaim Potok, The Orchard boldly dives into the depth of teen drama and Jewish philosophy and emerges with a heartfelt story of transformation. Ari is entering his senior year when his parents decide to move from their Orthodox Brooklyn community to a more modern enclave in suburban Miami. His surprising acceptance into an elite clique at his new school has him grappling with questions regarding pleasure and spirituality as he attempts to find his way with his new peers. Straying from the teachings of his youth, he is drawn to investigate his religion in increasingly surprising ways, with unforeseen consequences. An impressive debut!”
Luisa Smith, Book Passage
Eartheater
A Novel
By Dolores Reyes
Narrated by: Frankie Corzo
Length: 3 hours 55 minutes
Eartheater
“This an example of a beautifully translated work with a gripping concept. The main character’s compulsion to eat earth felt visceral, the writing enigmatically lyrical. I couldn’t put it down, yet I had to force myself to absorb this book painfully slowly, so as to not let it pass me by.”
Tori-Lynn Bell, House of Books
Big Girl, Small Town
By Michelle Gallen
Narrated by: Nicola Coughlan
Length: 9 hours 41 minutes
Big Girl, Small Town
“You might fall in love with this rough, bawdy, funny, and heart-wrenching novel because of the skill with which Michelle Gallen gives you the cadences and nuances of English as spoken in small-town Northern Ireland. You might fall in love because Gallen is showing you a working-class setting seldom depicted on either side of the pond, an atmosphere of sweat, grease, and labor, of Friday night pubs and Saturday hangovers, of people bursting with shattered dreams and electric intelligence. But you’ll most fall in love with Majella O’Neill, the narrator. She is unapologetically and completely herself, and unlike anyone I’ve met in fiction before. Through O’Neill, Gallen offers an outlook and experience that I’d happily share with other readers.”
Robert McDonald, The Book Stall
Anxious People
By Fredrik Backman
Narrated by: Marin Ireland
Length: 9 hours 53 minutes
Anxious People
“This book made me feel all the feels! It was sad, it was funny, it was hopeful, it was everything. The character development is incredible at revealing what’s inside each of the characters, and the way their stories link and interconnect is genius. It’s a story about sadness and hope and human connections. I couldn’t put it down and barreled to the end, but now I am sad it’s over. Anxious People is truly the best thing I’ve read in a long time!”
Lisa Driban, Hockessin Book Shelf
Deacon King Kong
A Novel
By James McBride
Narrated by: Dominic Hoffman
Length: 14 hours 5 minutes
Deacon King Kong
“It's been a while since I wanted to listen to an audiobook from the beginning right after I finished it. Deacon King Kong, narrated by Dominic Hoffman, is well-crafted storytelling with memorable characters and oddball humor that I just loved. It's also gritty and heartbreaking. What more can you ask of an engaging story when you are house-bound by a viral pandemic. Thank you, James McBride!”
Becky, Rediscovered Books
The Evening and the Morning
Kingsbridge: Book #4
By Ken Follett
Narrated by: John Lee
Length: 24 hours 19 minutes
#1 New York Times Bestseller
An Amazon Best Book of 2020
A thrilling and addictive new novel--a prequel to The Pillars of the Earth--set in England at the dawn of a new era: the Middle Ages
"Just as transporting as [The Pillars of the Earth] . . . A most welcome addition to the Kingsbridge series." --The Washington Post
It is 997 CE, the end of the... Read more »
The Midnight Library
A Novel
By Matt Haig
Narrated by: Carey Mulligan
Length: 8 hours 50 minutes
A WASHINGTON POST “FEEL-GOOD BOOK GUARANTEED TO LIFT YOUR SPIRITS”
A New York Times bestseller | Winner of the Goodreads Choice Award for Fiction | A Good Morning America Book Club Pick!
"Between life and death there is a library, and within that library, the shelves go on forever. Every book provides a chance to try another life you could have... Read more »
Like a Bird
A Novel
By Fariha Róisín
Narrated by: Ariana Delawari
Length: 12 hours 6 minutes
Like a Bird is the reckoning of a life force—or in Taylia Chatterjee’s opinion, a forced life. The daughter of a white, over-proactive American mother and a stern, intellectual Indian father, Taylia navigates a world constantly challenged by standards she never agreed to. She resents her father’s submission to assimilation, and his shameless... Read more »
The Chicken Sisters
By KJ Dell'Antonia
Narrated by: Xe Sands & Cassandra Campbell
Length: 12 hours 22 minutes
The Chicken Sisters
“I am charmed by The Chicken Sisters! Family fights, fried chicken, a dog and her puppies, mental illness, a shaky marriage, a potential romance, and a reality show taping all combine for a great small-town story. Generations of feuding sisters with competing chicken shack restaurants hash it out for the cameras, their loved ones, and themselves. The Chicken Sisters is a delightful read.”
Susan Williams, M. Judson Booksellers & Storytellers
The Best of Me
By David Sedaris
Narrated by: David Sedaris
Length: 13 hours 8 minutes
The Best of Me
“As if there is anything greater than a new David Sedaris, it's listening to David Sedaris read the new David Sedaris. This self-edited collection of essays from his prolific 25-year career is exactly what we need to boost the morale of 2020 and remind ourselves what a crazy world we've always lived in when viewed through Sedaris's keen observational eye and told with his unique & irreverent voice. The Best of Me is perfect for both long-time fans or those reading Sedaris for the first time and the audio read by the author means no nuance is left behind.”
Jessica, Literally Speaking
Migrations
A Novel
By Charlotte McConaghy
Narrated by: Barrie Kreinik
Length: 8 hours 48 minutes
Migrations
“Imagine a world where almost all the animals have disappeared. Imagine a love strong enough to believe it can make a difference. In a fragile, near-future world, author Charlotte McConaghy gives us Franny Stone, a character as wild and broken as the few remaining Arctic terns she is determined to follow on what will most likely be their last migration. Franny’s quest is as epic as Captain Ahab’s, and while it leaves much destruction in its wake, it is ultimately a quest toward life. Migrations is a book so beautiful it will leave you breathless. Breathless with cold despair, and breathless with pulsating life and hope. This is a truly stunning debut.”
Lisa Swayze, Buffalo Street Books
Caste (Oprah's Book Club)
The Origins of Our Discontents
By Isabel Wilkerson
Narrated by: Robin Miles
Length: 14 hours 25 minutes
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • OPRAH’S BOOK CLUB PICK • LONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD • “An instant American classic and almost certainly the keynote nonfiction book of the American century thus far.”—Dwight Garner, The New York Times
The Pulitzer Prize–winning, bestselling author of The Warmth of Other Suns examines the unspoken caste... Read more »
Transcendent Kingdom
A novel
By Yaa Gyasi
Narrated by: Bahni Turpin
Length: 8 hours 40 minutes
Transcendent Kingdom
“This is a flippin’ gorgeous book. The writing is exquisite, the story is moving, and the characters are rendered with the skill of a true artist. Can you tell that I enjoyed this? Transcendent Kingdom is about Gifty, a young neuroscientist studying addiction. We come into her story just as she has taken her depressed mother into her care and is wrapping up an experiment. We see how her relationships with her mother, faith, and science have brought her to this point. If you need a book that is heartfelt and honest, read this one.”
Izzy, Off the Beaten Path
Ready Player Two
A Novel
By Ernest Cline
Narrated by: Wil Wheaton
Length: 13 hours 46 minutes
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The highly anticipated 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... Read more »
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue
By V. E. Schwab
Narrated by: Julia Whelan
Length: 17 hours 9 minutes
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue
“Epic, beautifully written, heartwarming, and heartbreaking, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is a contemplation on life, death, what it means to make your mark on the world, and why we feel it’s important to do so. Addie makes a deal with a demon so she can live her life the way she wants to. But, like most deals, there are strings attached — and these strings make it so she is forgotten by everyone she meets. Dancing about time, the book shows Addie’s life over 300 years and takes a closer look at her modern life — after a boy in a bookshop remembers her. Months later, I’m still thinking about this book and how beautiful it is; my words don’t even come close to doing it justice. Read this book.”
Lindsey Pattavina, R.J. Julia Booksellers