Jumpin' July Staff Picks

Dark Earth

A Novel

By: Rebecca Stott
Narrated by: Hannah Morrish
Length: 9 hours 27 minutes

A “superb” (The Guardian) novel about two sisters fighting for survival in Dark Ages Britain that weaves “a dazzling blend of history and fantasy” (BuzzFeed)
 
“Rich in history and folklore . . . Stott is astute on the use of stories to control others and maintain power. . . . Female defiance blazes through as her women reclaim this brutal... Read more

The Many Daughters of Afong Moy

A Novel

By: Jamie Ford
Narrated by: Jennifer Lim, Cindy Kay, Mirai, Natalie Naudus, Sura Siu, Emily Woo Zeller, Nancy Wu & Jamie Ford
Length: 13 hours 28 minutes

“Besides the excellent historical research Ford incorporates, what makes this book unusual is Ford's compassion for his characters, from Dorothy Moy back through her ancestry. As Dorothy reaches back through generations, finding life-changing events that turn out to be echoes of even earlier events, she begins to realize that along with the... Read more

The Latecomer

A Novel

By: Jean Hanff Korelitz
Narrated by: Julia Whelan
Length: 16 hours 19 minutes

“This is a big, juicy intelligent page-turner, guilt-free summer reading at its best. Korelitz weaves an entertaining tapestry with familial wealth, art collecting, in vitro fertilization, 9/11, and secrets and betrayals galore. Fast and fun! Read more

Nora Goes Off Script

By: Annabel Monaghan
Narrated by: Hillary Huber
Length: 6 hours 56 minutes

“I ABSOLUTELY loved this book! Nora writes scripts for movies on the romance channel-until her life blows up, her self-centered husband walks out leaving her with a mountain of debt and two kids to raise. She then writes a script about her life and it becomes a big budget film starring two of Hollywood's best. When they arrive for a two day shoot... Read more

Love Marriage

A Novel

By: Monica Ali
Narrated by: Ayesha Dharker
Length: 15 hours 50 minutes

“A can't-put-down saga set in London about family, faith, class, race, culture, politics, sex… What starts as a more typical first get-together between a newly engaged couple’s families soon takes a turn as each family’s dysfunctional behavior and deep secrets begin to surface, threatening to unravel Joe’s and Yasmin’s future life together. Read more

Juniper & Thorn

A Novel

By: Ava Reid
Narrated by: Stina Nielsen
Length: 11 hours 55 minutes

“Horror and romance, the magical and monstrous all merge together in this gruesome gothic fantasy inspired by The Grimm Brothers’ Juniper Tree. This is a viscerally potent story about surviving familial abuse, finding your power, and the potential of love for mutual self-liberation, that captures all the beauty and gore of the old fairy tales... Read more

A Thousand Splendid Suns

A Novel

By: Khaled Hosseini
Narrated by: Atossa Leoni
Length: 11 hours 43 minutes

“Some stories stay with you long after you’ve finished them. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini is one of those books. It’s stunning. It’s heartbreaking. And it’s a story that opens your eyes to a world so different from our own here in New Zealand. Set in Afghanistan, the book spans decades of turmoil and change. At its... Read more

Red Rising

Red Rising: Book #1

By: Pierce Brown
Narrated by: Tim Gerard Reynolds
Length: 16 hours 11 minutes

“Action scenes so intense they are borderline cheesy but in the BEST way! Read more

The Way of Kings

Book One of the Stormlight Archive

The Stormlight Archive: Book #1

By: Brandon Sanderson
Narrated by: Michael Kramer & Kate Reading
Length: 45 hours 29 minutes

“I have a love of hefty fantasy, partnered with a lack of the time usually needed to invest into the genre. The Way of Kings is the peak of everything that has made fantasy my go-to genre for enjoyment, and my ability to proclaim it as such lay directly with the audiobook. Reading and Kramer deliver the world with a clear poise, and give shape to... Read more

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

By: John Boyne
Narrated by: Michael Maloney
Length: 4 hours 56 minutes

BONUS FEATURE: Conversation between the author and the editor, David Fickling.

Berlin 1942

When Bruno returns home from school one day, he discovers that his belongings are being packed in crates. His father has received a promotion and the family must move from their home to a new house far far away, where there is no one to play with and nothing... Read more

The Lesbiana's Guide to Catholic School

By: Sonora Reyes
Narrated by: Karla Serrato
Length: 9 hours 27 minutes

National Book Award Finalist * William C. Morris YA Debut Award Finalist * Goodreads Finalist for Best Teen Book of the Year * Walter Honor Award Winner * Pura Belpré Honor Book * Lambda Literary Award Winner for LGBTQ+ Young AdultA sharply funny and moving debut novel about a queer Mexican American girl navigating Catholic school, while falling... Read more

Winterkeep

Graceling Realm

By: Kristin Cashore
Narrated by: Xanthe Elbrick
Length: 16 hours 30 minutes

The highly anticipated next book in the New York Times bestselling, award-winning Graceling Realm series, which has sold 1.3 million copies.

For the past five years, Bitterblue has reigned as Queen of Monsea, heroically rebuilding her nation after her father's horrific rule. After learning about the land of Torla in the east, she sends envoys to... Read more

The Mirrorwood

By: Deva Fagan
Narrated by: Jade Wheeler
Length: 8 hours 45 minutes

Perfect for fans of the Twisted Tales series and Doll Bones, this thrilling, “cleverly original” (Kirkus Reviews) middle grade fantasy follows a girl without a face as she battles a deadly enchanted forest and learns the truth behind her world’s fairy tales.

Appearances are always deceiving…

Fable has been cursed by what the people in her village... Read more

The Elephant Girl

By: James Patterson & Ellen Banda-Aaku
Narrated by: Krystel Roche
Length: 4 hours 24 minutes

James Patterson and award-winning author Ellen Banda-Aaku deliver an unforgettable story of a girl, an elephant, and their life-changing friendship. 
 
Clever, sensitive Jama likes elephants better than people. While her classmates gossip—especially about the new boy, Leku—twelve-year-old Jama takes refuge at the watering hole outside her village.... Read more

The List of Things That Will Not Change

By: Rebecca Stead
Narrated by: Rachel L. Jacobs
Length: 4 hours 56 minutes

“Rebecca Stead has written yet another layered novel about familial love in its myriad of forms. When her parents divorce, Bea is given a journal to write down things that will remain constant in her life. When her dad announces that he is marrying his boyfriend Jesse, Bea is excited to gain a sister. With the help of her notebook and her kind... Read more

The Divorce Colony

How Women Revolutionized Marriage and Found Freedom on the American Frontier

By: April White
Narrated by: April White & Lisa Flanagan
Length: 8 hours 17 minutes

From a historian and senior editor at Atlas Obscura, a fascinating account of the daring nineteenth-century women who moved to South Dakota to divorce their husbands and start living on their own termsFor a woman traveling without her husband in the late nineteenth century, there was only one reason to take the train all the way to Sioux Falls,... Read more

The Tiny Warrior

A Path to Personal Discovery and Achievement

By: D.J. Eagle Bear Vanas
Narrated by: D.J. Eagle Bear Vanas
Length: 1 hour 28 minutes

Learn to look inward and find strength by learning to use your warrior spirit in this guide from D.J. Eagle Bear Vanas, star and host of the PBS special, Discovering Your Warrior Spirit.

Why seek outside answers when you already possess the resources and power you need? In a world moving faster than ever, the challenge to stay connected to... Read more

I Can Take it from Here

A Memoir of Trauma, Prison, and Self-Empowerment

Truth to Power

By: Lisa Forbes
Narrated by: Sandra Martial
Length: 8 hours 3 minutes

An emotional, page-turning account of unhealed trauma and personal transformation that will break your heart and change your mind, in the tradition of Somebody's Daughter, A Piece of Cake, and Jesmyn Ward's Men We Reaped

Riveting, honest, and raw, I Can Take It From Here recounts Lisa Forbes's harrowing journey into darkness — including a ... Read more