The Bookish Life Podcast

Black AF History

The Un-Whitewashed Story of America

By: Michael Harriot
Narrated by: Michael Harriot
Length: 15 hours 42 minutes

From acclaimed columnist and political commentator Michael Harriot, a searingly smart and bitingly hilarious retelling of American history that corrects the record and showcases the perspectives and experiences of Black Americans.America’s backstory is a whitewashed mythology implanted in our collective memory. It is the story of the pilgrims on... Read more

Wandering Stars

A novel

By: Tommy Orange
Narrated by: Shaun Taylor-Corbett, MacLeod Andrews, Alma Cuervo, Curtis Michael Holland, Calvin Joyal, Phil Ava, Emmanuel Chumaceiro, Christian Young & Charley Flyte
Length: 9 hours 37 minutes

“Tommy Orange has struck gold again! Read more

The Darkness Manifesto

Our Light Pollution, Night Ecology, and the Ancient Rhythms that Sustain Life

By: Johan Eklöf
Narrated by: Owen Findlay
Length: 5 hours 31 minutes

“My favorite takeaway from this book is that it made me think about darkness and night in an entirely new way. With winter fast approaching, I’ve been able to appreciate - rather than dread - the longer nights for the power they give to beloved nocturnal species like bats and moths. I’ve also started to interrogate my human perception that... Read more

The Fraud

A Novel

By: Zadie Smith
Narrated by: Zadie Smith
Length: 12 hours 24 minutes

“An exuberant story based on historical characters and events in Victorian England and Jamaica, this novel is even better as an audio book! Zadie Smith reads it herself and she is an absolutely amazing voice-actor, able to take on the lilt, intonation and brogue of the novel’s characters, whether they are from Scotland, London or Jamaica. Read more

A Little Blood and Dancing

A Novel

By: Tyler Parker
Narrated by: Jenny Pudavick
Length: 11 hours 1 minute

It’s a tale as old as time: doomed romance, bloody revenge, fast food, and the voice of God. Welcome to Tyler Parker’s Oklahoma, and one of the most anticipated debut novels of the year from one of our best, funniest new writers.

Check out Sylvia Table: he drives a seafoam-green 1968 Ranchero, owns a badass sword, and is one dead uncle away from... Read more

Absolution

A Novel

By: Alice McDermott
Narrated by: Jesse Vilinsky & Rachel Kenney
Length: 10 hours 2 minutes

"A breath of fresh air."—BookPage

"Both narrators bring deep emotional tonality...this exceptional listen will foster deep book club discussions." —Booklist

"Alternately gripping, moving, and thought-provoking...this is an audiobook to savor." - AudioFile

A riveting account of women’s lives on the margins of the Vietnam War, from the renowned... Read more

Come and Get It: A GMA Book Club Pick

By: Kiley Reid
Narrated by: Nicole Lewis
Length: 12 hours 52 minutes

“This was such a fun and dramatic story!! It's usually difficult to keep up with as many characters as this book has, but I really felt I KNEW and recognized every single character in this story. The web of Millie's and Agatha's missteps was so fun to follow, and my jaw was on the literal floor when everything blew up in their faces. Can't wait... Read more

Disruptions

Stories

By: Steven Millhauser
Narrated by: Gisela Chípe, Vas Eli & Arthur Morey
Length: 9 hours 1 minute

“Disruptions was a wild surprise, and definitely my favorite short story collection of the year. The collection is worth the price of admission for the first story alone. Millhauser has an incredible way of capturing the very small, unvoiced dreams and anxieties that percolate just under the surface of everyday life. Very subtle, very humane... Read more

Whalefall

A Novel

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

“A completely addictive page turner! I consumed it in one big gulp! Marvelous! Read more

The Rachel Incident

A novel

By: Caroline O'Donoghue
Narrated by: Tara Flynn
Length: 9 hours 22 minutes

“As soon as I finished this book, I went back and re-read the first chapter, just to stay with Rachel and James a little longer. O'Donoghue deftly captures all the messy-wonderful intensity of young adulthood and the haven of friendship during turbulent times. Loved it! Read more

Lone Women

A Novel

By: Victor LaValle
Narrated by: Joniece Abbott-Pratt
Length: 9 hours 10 minutes

“A great mixture of historical fiction and horror through the unique lens of a woman on the Western Frontier - it’s a chilling tale that touches on the trauma we carry and how we reckon with our past. Read more

No Country for Old Men

By: Cormac McCarthy
Narrated by: Tom Stechschulte
Length: 7 hours 31 minutes

Llewelyn Moss, hunting antelope near the Rio Grande, instead finds men shot dead, a load of heroin, and more than $2 million in cash. Packing the money out, he knows, will change everything. But only after two more men are murdered does a victim's burning car lead Sheriff Bell to the carnage out in the desert, and he soon realizes how... Read more

The Art Thief

A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession

By: Michael Finkel
Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini & Michael Finkel
Length: 5 hours 39 minutes

“Once again, truth proves to be stranger than fiction. Who could have invented a kleptomaniac who stole hundreds of works of art from museums across Europe all before he turned 30? And by the end, you still aren’t sure whether to hate him or feel sorry for him. Read more

Four Thousand Weeks

Time Management for Mortals

By: Oliver Burkeman
Narrated by: Oliver Burkeman
Length: 6 hours 13 minutes

“This little philosophical gem is my top non-fiction recommendation for this holiday season. What a gift, to give up on getting everything done, and focus on the things that really matter. The audiobook is a joy to listen to; the words seemed to mean even more as I listened, inspired. Read more

The Only One Left

A Novel

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

“A fast paced mystery full of twists and turns. I loved the two different narrators throughout the book . More than once I yelled out loud at the wild plot twists and the ending had me gasping out loud! Read more

Tom Lake

A Novel

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

“With its vivid descriptions of lake swimming, cherry picking fruit trees and orchards, it makes a fine spring or summer read. Both a coming of age and an “of age” story deftly pieced together, and told all at once. A book about finding out who you are, the right and wrong turns that help you determine what you value, and then living with... Read more

Crook Manifesto

A Novel

By: Colson Whitehead
Narrated by: Dion Graham
Length: 10 hours 47 minutes

“Colson Whitehead is a singular talent, (talent isn't a big enough word though.) Crook Manifesto is so rich and evocative. With Dion Graham's narration, it's as if we're also seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling, feeling and sometimes fearing along with the characters. Whitehead give us an unvarnished look at the people and goings on in 1970'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

All the Sinners Bleed

A Novel

By: S. A. Cosby
Narrated by: Adam Lazarre-White
Length: 13 hours 42 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

Trust (Pulitzer Prize Winner)

By: Hernan Diaz
Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini, Jonathan Davis, Mozhan Marnò & Orlagh Cassidy
Length: 10 hours 20 minutes

“Who can you trust in the end? This 'brilliant literary puzzle' tells the story of the legendary Wall Street Tycoon Andrew Bevel and his enigmatic wife Mildred. Told in four interlocking parts, Trust is a novel within a novel, the fragmented notes for a ghostwritten memoir that Andrew hopes will set the record straight, the ghostwriter's own... Read more