Helianthus Books Book Club

Pockets

An Intimate History of How We Keep Things Close

By: Hannah Carlson
Narrated by: Stephanie Cannon
Length: 6 hours 38 minutes

“This fun and fascinating microhistory explores the contentious issue of pocket allocation in clothing. It delves into the historical origins of pockets, initially ubiquitous in medieval attire but controversially restricted in women's clothing. The disparity sparks debates on gender politics, security, power dynamics, and societal norms.... Read more

Every Good Boy Does Fine

Poetry and Prose

By: Calvin Arsenia
Narrated by: Calvin Arsenia
Length: 1 hour 10 minutes

“Glowing with warmth, vulnerability, and a heavy heart, Arsenia’s intimate reflections depict the past and present wrestling within the individual as he endeavors to chart his own course in the world.”—Atwood Magazine

Both a journey of individual healing and a call for action, these poems show that, with a little love and acceptance, anyone can... Read more

On Tyranny

Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century

By: Timothy Snyder
Narrated by: Timothy Snyder
Length: 1 hour 47 minutes

“This handbook will take you less than 2 hours to listen to. Each short chapter provides a separate lesson on what tyranny looks like and how it rises in a nation. It's concise, accessible, and cites well-researched historical events to help readers understand how the unthinkable has happened in the past, and how individuals either contributed... Read more

The President and the Frog

A novel

By: Carolina De Robertis
Narrated by: Carolina De Robertis
Length: 5 hours 28 minutes

A "sublime and gripping novel ... about hope: that within the world's messy pain there is still room for transformation and healing" (Madeline Miller, New York Times bestselling author of Circe), from the acclaimed author of Cantoras.

“In the president’s excruciating (and sometimes humorous) encounters with his strangely healing frog ... De... Read more

As Long as Grass Grows

The Indigenous Fight for Environmental Justice, from Colonization to Standing Rock

By: Dina Gilio-Whitaker
Narrated by: Kyla Garcia
Length: 7 hours 8 minutes

The story of Native peoples’ resistance to environmental injustice and land incursions, and a call for environmentalists to learn from the Indigenous community’s rich history of activism

Through the unique lens of “Indigenized environmental justice,” Indigenous researcher and activist Dina Gilio-Whitaker explores the fraught history of treaty... Read more

The Memory Police

A Novel

By: Yoko Ogawa
Narrated by: Traci Kato-Kiriyama
Length: 9 hours 8 minutes

“On the island, things regularly disappear en masse. Boats. Roses. Birds. Calendars. The people of the island are expected to gather and destroy any remaining evidence of these disappearances, and with it, their memories. The narrator refers to "killing two creatures with one stone" long after the island's birds are disappeared--even the word... Read more

Sold

By: Patricia McCormick
Narrated by: Justine Eyre
Length: 3 hours 42 minutes

Lakshmi is a thirteen-year-old girl who lives with her family in a small hut on a mountain in Nepal. Though she is desperately poor, her life is full of simple pleasures, like playing hopscotch with her best friend from school and having her mother brush her hair by the light of an oil lamp. But when the harsh Himalayan monsoons wash away all... Read more

Salt Houses

By: Hala Alyan
Narrated by: Leila Buck
Length: 12 hours 15 minutes

Winner of the Dayton Literary Peace Prize and the Arab American Book Award A Best Book of the Year: NPR • NYLON • Kirkus • Bustle • BookPage "What does home mean when you no longer have a house—or a homeland? This beautiful novel traces one Palestinian family's struggle with that question and how it can haunt generations. … This is an example of... Read more

On Juneteenth

By: Annette Gordon-Reed
Narrated by: Karen Chilton
Length: 3 hours 44 minutes

Weaving together American history, dramatic family chronicle, and searing episodes of memoir, Annette Gordon-Reed’s On Juneteenth provides a historian’s view of the nation’s long road to Juneteenth, recounting both its origins in Texas
and the enormous hardships that African-Americans have endured in the century since, from Reconstruction... Read more

Under Lock & Skeleton Key

A Secret Staircase Mystery

Secret Staircase Mysteries: Book #1

By: Gigi Pandian
Narrated by: Soneela Nankani
Length: 9 hours 44 minutes

Known for her wonderfully addictive characters, multiple award-winning author Gigi Pandian introduces her newest heroine in this heartfelt series debut. Under Lock & Skeleton Key layers stunning architecture with mouthwatering food in an ode to classic locked-room mysteries that will leave readers enchanted.

An impossible crime. A family... Read more

Financial Feminist

Overcome the Patriarchy’s Bullsh*t to Master Your Money and Build a Life You Love

By: Tori Dunlap
Narrated by: Tori Dunlap, Samantha Tan, Shayna Small, Jaime Lamchick & Graham Halstead
Length: 8 hours 3 minutes

“In Financial Feminist Tori gives you actionable recommendations on financial independence. She starts with explanations so you can understand financial terms, then prioritizes goals for anyone looking for financial growth. Read more

What's Mine and Yours

By: Naima Coster
Narrated by: Bahni Turpin
Length: 12 hours 15 minutes

A Read with Jenna Today Show Book Club Pick!

An instant New York Times bestseller!

A USA Today bestseller!

Named a Best Book of 2021 by Amazon • Esquire • Marie Claire • Refinery29 • Kirkus • Redbook • Ms. Magazine • The Millions • Undomesticated Magazine • Paperback Paris

"A once-every-few-years reading experience."—Mary Beth Keane, New York... Read more

Cutting School

Privatization, Segregation, and the End of Public Education

By: Noliwe Rooks
Narrated by: Robin Eller
Length: 8 hours 44 minutes

What do public schools have in common with the pyramid schemes of Amway? Absolutely nothing, yet Trump's education secretary Betsy DeVos—part of the family at the helm of this corporation and a fierce advocate for vouchers, school choice, and free market competition in the education system—may soon be deciding the fate of American children. The... Read more

A Pho Love Story

By: Loan Le
Narrated by: Ryan Do & Vyvy Nguyen
Length: 9 hours 52 minutes

“Will leave readers swooning.” —PopSugar

​When Dimple Met Rishi meets Ugly Delicious in this funny, smart romantic comedy, in which two Vietnamese American teens fall in love and must navigate their newfound relationship amid their families’ age-old feud about their competing, neighboring restaurants.

If Bao Nguyen had to describe himself, he’d... Read more

Saving Us

A Climate Scientist's Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World

By: Katharine Hayhoe
Narrated by: Katharine Hayhoe
Length: 8 hours 7 minutes

United Nations Champion of the Earth, climate scientist, and evangelical Christian Katharine Hayhoe changes the debate on how we can save our future in this nationally bestselling “optimistic view on why collective action is still possible—and how it can be realized” (The New York Times).

Called “one of the nation’s most effective communicators... Read more

I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself

A Novel

By: Marisa Crane
Narrated by: Bailey Carr
Length: 8 hours 29 minutes

Dept. of Speculation meets Black Mirror in this lyrical, speculative debut about a queer mother raising her daughter in an unjust surveillance stateIn a United States not so unlike our own, the Department of Balance has adopted a radical new form of law enforcement: rather than incarceration, wrongdoers are given a second (and sometimes, third,... Read more

Eartheater

A Novel

By: Dolores Reyes
Narrated by: Frankie Corzo
Length: 3 hours 55 minutes

“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. Read more

I Will Die On This Hill

Autistic Adults, Autism Parents, and the Children Who Deserve a Better World

By: Meghan Ashburn & Jules Edwards
Narrated by: Jillian Nelson, Jules Edwards & Meghan Ashburn
Length: 7 hours 44 minutes

A call-to-action for anyone involved in the autism community - especially autistic people and non-autistic parents - to learn from one another and achieve more together.

There is a significant divide between autistic advocates and parents of autistic children. Parents may feel attacked for their lack of understanding, and autistic adults who... Read more

Revolution in Our Time

The Black Panther Party's Promise to the People

By: Kekla Magoon
Narrated by: Tyla Collier
Length: 7 hours 47 minutes

With passion and precision, Kekla Magoon relays an essential account of the Black Panthers—as militant revolutionaries and as human rights advocates working to defend and protect their community.

In this comprehensive, inspiring, and all-too-relevant history of the Black Panther Party, Kekla Magoon introduces readers to the Panthers’ community... Read more