Downtown Books Staff Picks

Days at the Morisaki Bookshop

A Novel

By: Satoshi Yagisawa
Narrated by: Catherine Ho
Length: 5 hours

The wise and charming international bestseller and hit Japanese movie—about a young woman who loses everything but finds herself—a tale of new beginnings, romantic and family relationships, and the comfort that can be found in books. Twenty-five-year-old Takako has enjoyed a relatively easy existence—until the day her boyfriend Hideaki, the man... Read more

The Giver

By: Lois Lowry
Narrated by: Ron Rifkin
Length: 4 hours 47 minutes

Lois Lowry’s The Giver is the quintessential dystopian novel, followed by its remarkable companions, Gathering Blue, Messenger, and Son.

Jonas's world is perfect. Everything is under control. There is no war or fear of pain. There are no choices. Every person is assigned a role in the community. When Jonas turns 12 he is singled out to receive... Read more

The House in Amalfi

By: Elizabeth Adler
Narrated by: Carrington MacDuffie
Length: 8 hours 57 minutes

Elizabeth Adler is a master at depicting lush scenery, gourmet food, and the joys of travel. Here she tells the story of Lamour Harrington, a recent widow. She's immersed herself in landscape architecture, but even creating beautiful outdoor "rooms" can't bring back her happiness. When she's faced with a devastating truth about the husband she... Read more

Will They or Won't They

A Novel

By: Ava Wilder
Narrated by: Kristen DiMercurio & Jay Aaseng
Length: 10 hours 4 minutes

Onscreen, they’re in love. Offscreen, they can’t stand each other. From the author of How to Fake It in Hollywood comes “a sexy lovers-to-enemies-to-lovers romance that smolders then bursts into flames” (Abby Jimenez, New York Times bestselling author of Part of Your World).

“Wilder takes readers behind the scenes of a television shoot in this... Read more

The Only One Left

A Novel

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

“The Only One Left is a gothic thriller dripping with atmosphere that is so addictive I couldn’t touch another book until I consumed every last word. Sager has, once again, crafted a masterpiece. Read more

I Have Some Questions for You

A Novel

By: Rebecca Makkai
Narrated by: Julia Whelan & JD Jackson
Length: 14 hours 3 minutes

“Fresh, current and performed brilliantly by Julia Whelan and JD Jackson! I loved the way the story unfolded, the voice of the unassuming protagonist, and the way she used the "The one where...." and listed a few similar sad, remarkable events to show how repetitively these things happen. Don't sleep on this one! Read more

Happy Place

By: Emily Henry
Narrated by: Julia Whelan
Length: 11 hours 2 minutes

“Another great beach read from Emily Henry! I found myself unable to stop listening to this book. Henry just knows how to write a love story that makes you go noooo then yeeees then whaaaat then yeeees! The story of Wyn and Harriet will make your heart throb. And Harriet's journey to find herself and keep her friends will prove that self-love is... Read more

The Daydreams

By: Laura Hankin
Narrated by: Laura Hankin, Tyla Collier, Elena Rey, Briggon Snow, James Fouhey & Stephanie Sheh
Length: 10 hours 14 minutes

A deliciously entertaining novel about the stars of a popular teen show from the early 2000s—and the reunion special, thirteen years after their scandalous flameout, that will either be their last chance at redemption, or destroy them all for good.

Back in 2004, The Daydreams had it all: a cast of innocent-seeming teenagers acting and singing... Read more

The Wife App

A Novel

By: Carolyn Mackler
Narrated by: Jennifer Jill Araya, Joy Osmanski & Allyson Ryan
Length: 10 hours 8 minutes

“A roller coaster of a story! Three very different women's lives coalesce around the shared experience of bearing an unfair amount of their families' mental load and wanting to do something about it. The dynamic female characters doing the vulnerable work of learning and growing through setbacks and through new opportunities left me feeling... Read more

Mixed Signals

The Lovelight Series: Book #3

By: B.K. Borison
Narrated by: Pippa Jayne & Julio Maxwell
Length: 10 hours 16 minutes

“Mix Signals gives Gilmore Girls vibes with its small town setting, nosey side-characters and a bakery with a reoccurring regular main character. Caleb wants to learn what he’s doing wrong in the dating world, and Layla wants to learn how she should be treated... so they make an agreement. 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

“Over the course of eight years, master thief Stephane Breitwieser carried out over 200 brazen heists of fine art from museums and cathedrals across Europe! Amassing a private art collection with an estimated value of two billion dollars (in the top floor of his mother's home where he lived with his girlfriend and accomplice), Breitwieser saw... Read more

Forget Me Not

By: Julie Soto
Narrated by: Callie Dalton & Teddy Hamilton
Length: 9 hours 15 minutes

“This fun, steamy romance hits it right out of the park! With a mom who's been married 14 times, you'd think Ama would hate weddings. But while she doesn't want one herself, she loves weddings so much, she became a wedding planner, straight out of high school. Now she's struck out on her own, catering to smaller budget weddings. But when she... Read more

Iron Flame

Empyrean: Book #2

By: Rebecca Yarros
Narrated by: Rebecca Soler & Teddy Hamilton
Length: 28 hours 16 minutes

“The first year is when some of us lose our lives. The second year is when the rest of us lose our humanity." Xaden Riorson
Everyone expected Violet Sorrengail to die during her first year at Basgiath War College-Violet included. But Threshing was only the first impossible test meant to weed out the weak-willed, the unworthy, and the unlucky.... Read more

The Long Game

A Novel

By: Elena Armas
Narrated by: Frankie Corzo & Shane East
Length: 13 hours 42 minutes

“With The Long Game, Queen Elena Armas has gifted us with a woodsy small town romance featuring a strong but sensitive ex-pro footballer opposite a guarded girlboss who doesn’t know her worth. Both are running away and healing from something, whether they like it or not. He’s super competitive; she’s in crisis mode. I absolutely loved the... Read more

Funny Story

By: Emily Henry
Length: TBA

A shimmering, joyful new novel about a pair of opposites with the wrong thing in common, from #1 New York Times bestselling author Emily Henry.

Daphne always loved the way her fiancé Peter told their story. How they met (on a blustery day), fell in love (over an errant hat), and moved back to his lakeside hometown to begin their life together.... Read more

The Only Survivors

By: Megan Miranda
Narrated by: Alex Allwine, Erin Moon, Andre Bellido, Inés del Castillo, Michael Crouch, Priya Ayyar & Greg Chun
Length: 10 hours 6 minutes

From the New York Times bestselling author of All the Missing Girls and “master of suspense, Megan Miranda” (Mary Kubica, New York Times bestselling author of The Good Girl), a thrilling mystery about a group of former classmates who reunite to mark the tenth anniversary of a tragic accident—only to have one of the survivors disappear, casting... Read more

The Golden Spoon

A Novel

By: Jessa Maxwell
Narrated by: Andrea Emmes, Andy Garcia-Ruse, Graham Halstead, Kitty Hendrix, Kamran Khan, Jackie Sanders, André Santana & Emily Tremaine
Length: 8 hours 36 minutes

“This book is the perfect combination of The Great British Bake Off and Agatha Christie, with equal parts cozy mystery and chilling thriller. I enjoyed how Maxwell used multiple points of view throughout the story - as each character's true motivations for competing on Bake Week came to light, I didn't know who was going to make it out alive! Read more

Murder on the Vine

Tuscan Mysteries: Book #3

By: Camilla Trinchieri
Narrated by: Danny Deferrari
Length: 8 hours 25 minutes

On a late October Sunday morning in Gravigna, Tuscany, Maresciallo Perillo is having breakfast with former NYPD homicide detective Nico Doyle when he is called back to the station in Greve. Hotel Bella Vista’s young manager, Laura
Benati, is worried. Her eighty-year-old bartender, Cesare Costanzi, has been missing for three days.
The next... Read more

Murder on Mustang Beach

Outer Banks Bookshop Mystery: Book #2

By: Alicia Bessette
Narrated by: Karissa Vacker
Length: 9 hours 25 minutes

When a killer stirs up trouble in the Outer Banks, amateur sleuth and bookseller Callie Padget is on the case, in a new beachside mystery from author Alicia Bessette.

Cattail Island in the Outer Banks is a popular destination for honeymooners and nature lovers alike. So it is a huge blow when the murder of a newlywed grinds the pre-summer season... Read more

The Midnight Library

A Novel

By: Matt Haig
Narrated by: Carey Mulligan
Length: 8 hours 50 minutes

The #1 New York Times bestselling WORLDWIDE phenomenon

Winner of the Goodreads Choice Award for Fiction | A Good Morning America Book Club Pick | Independent (London) Ten Best Books of the Year

"A feel-good book guaranteed to lift your spirits."—The Washington Post

The dazzling reader-favorite about the choices that go into a life well... Read more