QRB Staff Picks

Red Rabbit

By: Alex Grecian
Narrated by: John Pirhalla
Length: 13 hours 4 minutes

“A ragtag bunch of weirdos - an old witch hunter, a couple of cowboys, a widowed schoolteacher, and a child who doesn't speak - sets out to collect the bounty on a witch's head. Along the way, they encounter friends and enemies both natural and supernatural. The witch herself doesn't fit neatly into either category... This story meanders in the... Read more

Babel

Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of The Oxford Translators' Revolution

By: R. F. Kuang
Narrated by: Chris Lew Kum Hoi & Billie Fulford-Brown
Length: 21 hours 45 minutes

“This is it. This is the magical school story that adults who grew up in the 90s and 00s have been hoping to find: one that incorporates a beautiful, erudite, delightfully post-steampunk world of magic, but that is ultimately about the hopes and the friendships of young people who came from outside the elite class, and whose lives have been... Read more

The Only One Left

A Novel

By: Riley Sager
Narrated by: Christine Lakin & Dawn Harvey
Length: 12 hours 31 minutes

“Sager's writing made me feel like I was on a wooden roller coaster, the kind where the safety bar only comes over your lap, doesn't completely lock into place, and those innocent twist and turns have you grasping for support. If you thought Verity had an unreliable narrator, The Only One Left takes it to a whole new level. Recommended for fans... Read more

Mister Magic

A Novel

By: Kiersten White
Narrated by: Rebecca Lowman & Kiersten White
Length: 10 hours 33 minutes

“This is what nightmares are made of: our favorite children's shows being run by a cult. I literally could not put this book down. I was mesmerized by the '80s and '90s television nostalgia, the cluelessness of Val's character, and the magical power of childhood friendships. White's writing style and the format (c'mon the chapter titles!) was... Read more

All the Sinners Bleed

A Novel

By: S. A. Cosby
Narrated by: Adam Lazarre-White
Length: 13 hours 5 minutes

“What appears at the start to be a story about a Black boy being killed by police turns into a layered tale of sustained abuse, systemic neglect, and deranged evangelical serial killers set in a small Appalachian town. At no point reading this powerful and suspenseful mystery did I have any guess where it was going and it was such a wonderful... Read more

Being Henry

The Fonz . . . and Beyond

By: Henry Winkler
Narrated by: Henry Winkler
Length: 9 hours 22 minutes

“Ayyyyyyyyyy! - If you don't recognize that tag line, then you haven't watched TV for the last 50 years. Yes, I'm talking about 'the Fonz'. I (along with most of the rest of the world) loved that guy. Until recently, I never really considered the actor who created such a memorable character. The new autobiography by Henry Winkler, Being Henry... Read more

This is How We End Things

A Novel

By: R.J. Jacobs
Narrated by: Chelsea Stephens
Length: 9 hours 36 minutes

“An authorized psychological study on dishonesty that requires deceiving subjects is suspended after one brings a knife to a session. The six PhD candidates running the experiment are upset, and one ends up dead in their professor's office. Thus begins a fun closed-circle mystery investigated by the determined Detective Larson and the... Read more

My Name Is Iris

A Novel

By: Brando Skyhorse
Narrated by: Alejandra Reynoso
Length: 8 hours 53 minutes

“For second-generation Mexican American Iris, success is a well-paying office job (even if her coworkers think she and her one Latinx coworker are the same person), a house in a nice neighborhood without sidewalks or chain fences or front-yard barbeques, and being able to provide a comfortable life for her daughter even when she leaves her... Read more

Tessa Miyata Is No Hero

By: Julie Abe
Narrated by: Sura Siu
Length: 8 hours 28 minutes

“Steeped in Japanese lore and mythology, this is perfect for Rick Riordan fans! When social outcast Tessa visits her grandparents in Japan, she accidentally releases an angry samurai god and must stop him from destroying Tokyo, with the help of neighbor Jin and mythical companion Kit, a nine-tailed fox. Read more

The Third Daughter

Betrayal Prophecies: Book #1

By: Adrienne Tooley
Narrated by: Rebecca Lee
Length: 8 hours 32 minutes

A sweeping YA fantasy about legacy, betrayal, sisterhood, and politicizing emotion in the quest for power—all balanced by a slow-burn LGBTQ romance.
 
For centuries, the citizens of Velle have waited for their New Maiden to return. The prophecy states she will appear as the third daughter of a third daughter. When the fabled child is finally... Read more

A Magic Steeped in Poison

The Book of Tea: Book #1

By: Judy I. Lin
Narrated by: Carolyn Kang
Length: 11 hours 11 minutes

Judy I. Lin's sweeping debut A Magic Steeped in Poison, first in a duology, is sure to enchant fans of Adrienne Young and Leigh Bardugo.

I used to look at my hands with pride. Now all I can think is, "These are the hands that buried my mother."

For Ning, the only thing worse than losing her mother is knowing that it's her own fault. She was the... Read more

Tom Lake

A Novel

By: Ann Patchett
Narrated by: Meryl Streep
Length: 11 hours 22 minutes

“This is a story of love for family, of past passions and people once loved, and their continuing influence on the present. With Ann Patchett’s wit and wryness finely tuned, Tom Lake is the perfect book for a summer weekend read. Read more

The Clementine Complex

By: Bob Mortimer
Narrated by: Bob Mortimer & Sally Phillips
Length: 6 hours 54 minutes

“A 'veddy, veddy' British rom-com/mystery. Quick characters and witty banter make for a delightfully droll read. Read more

Whalefall

A Novel

By: Daniel Kraus
Narrated by: Kirby Heyborne
Length: 8 hours 7 minutes

“Whalefall, by Daniel Kraus, is based on a ridiculous premise - a skinny little scuba diver is swallowed by a huge sperm whale. Also, the first couple of chapters are kind of slow going. So why am I recommending this book? Because it is a rollercoaster of a story. Jay Gardiner's estranged father commits suicide by drowning himself. We know it's... Read more

Shark Heart

A Love Story

By: Emily Habeck
Narrated by: Karissa Vacker, Shaun Taylor-Corbett & Soneela Nankani
Length: 7 hours 46 minutes

“Shark Heart is a devastating exploration of change and freedom and womanhood and it just absolutely gutted me. Habeck had me contemplating very seriously if I could stay with my partner if he, too, turned into a great white shark. It's hard to make your reader relate to such an absurd scenario, but at the end of the day pain is pain. And Wren's... Read more

Those We Thought We Knew

By: David Joy
Narrated by: MacLeod Andrews
Length: 9 hours 53 minutes

“Raw, gritty and masterful, David Joy's latest novel, Those We Thought We Knew, is set in his beloved Appalachian mountains among folks who believe their town is peaceful and nurturing. But that façade is lifted when Toya Gardner, a young Black artist, comes to stay with her grandmother at the family homestead to finish her MFA thesis project.... Read more

The Postcard

By: Anne Berest
Narrated by: Barrie Kealoha
Length: 13 hours 5 minutes

“A powerful personal account of a family’s history over multiple generations with a stunning ending that resolves the mystery of the postcard’s sender! The author launches her family research and investigation of who could have written the anonymous, unsigned postcard a decade earlier when her daughter experiences an anti-semitic incident at... Read more

Where Are Your Boys Tonight?

The Oral History of Emo's Mainstream Explosion 1999-2008

By: Chris Payne
Narrated by: Graham Halstead & Chris Abell
Length: 13 hours 53 minutes

“Relive your younger years with this book on emo's heyday. Where Are Your Boys Tonight? is a chaotic ride, told entirely through interviews with the major players of the day with no editorializing. Even a regular reader of early 2000s fansites will find something new here. Read more

Did You Hear About Kitty Karr?

A Novel

By: Crystal Smith Paul
Narrated by: Ariel Blake, Kineta Kunutu & Lynnette Nicholas
Length: 13 hours 10 minutes

“Intriguing from the start and layered through decades-long remembrances and current-day drama, this one will keep you strapped to the seat and dazzle you with a new view of Golden Age Hollywood. For those who love a multi-generational story, historical fiction, and myriad characters. Read more

Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands

Emily Wilde: Book #2

By: Heather Fawcett
Narrated by: Ell Potter & Michael Dodds
Length: TBA

“Lately in canon, the world of books has been missing a sense of wonder and whimsy to go along with the darkness of so much fantasy. Emily Wilde has done a stupendous job of jumping right in with her awkward self and stealing my heart away. I absolutely could not put down the first book and squealed with delight when I saw the arc of the second... Read more