Brilliant Books Staff Favorites Summer 2023

Bridge

A Novel of Suspense

By: Lauren Beukes
Narrated by: Lisa Cordileone
Length: 13 hours 27 minutes

In this reality-bending thriller from the author of The Shining Girls, a grieving daughter’s search for her mother becomes a journey across alternate realities.It was a game they played; the other worlds, the other lives. It was part of her mom’s grand delusions. It wasn’t real. Unless it was… 

Bridget Kittinger has always been paralyzed by... Read more

Slewfoot

A Tale of Bewitchery

By: Brom
Narrated by: Barrie Kreinik
Length: 14 hours 28 minutes

“A dark and vengeful historical fantasy full of excellent storytelling. This book is both a mystical fairytale, and an intense horror novel that will keep you listening to see what happens next! Fans of Guillermo Del Toro films will devour this book. 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 Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi

A Novel

By: Shannon Chakraborty
Narrated by: Lameece Issaq & Amin El Gamal
Length: 16 hours 59 minutes

“A fantastical pirate adventure on the Indian Ocean, full of magic inspired by Middle Eastern mythology! Amina, once an infamous pirate, is retired. She reluctantly goes on one more quest, facing monsters that threaten to keep her from her daughter. This book offers a refreshing take on fantasy born from Chakraborty’s Middle Eastern inspirations!... Read more

The House on Mango Street

By: Sandra Cisneros
Narrated by: Sandra Cisneros
Length: 2 hours 17 minutes

A TODAY SHOW #ReadWithJenna BOOK CLUB PICK

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A coming-of-age classic about a young girl growing up in Chicago • Acclaimed by critics, beloved by readers of all ages, taught in schools and universities alike, and translated around the world—from the winner of the 2019 PEN/Nabokov Award for Achievement in International... Read more

Cult Classic

A Novel

By: Sloane Crosley
Narrated by: Sloane Crosley
Length: 8 hours 9 minutes

“I'm a little in love with Sloane Crossley after this book. It's like a NYC-based, feminist version of Less by Andrew Sean Greer. Lola is 40 and engaged after a long and complicated dating history. Out with friends, she runs into an ex-boyfriend, then another, then another. As she tries to find closure with her love life, wonderfully bizarre and... Read more

Lapidarium

The Secret Lives of Stones

By: Hettie Judah
Narrated by: Nina Wadia
Length: 8 hours 43 minutes

Inspired by the lapidaries of the ancient world, this audiobook is a beautiful collection of true stories about sixty different stones that have influenced our shared history

The earliest scientists ground and processed minerals in a centuries-long quest for a mythic stone that would prolong human life. Michelangelo climbed mountains in Tuscany... Read more

Night's Edge

A Novel

By: Liz Kerin
Narrated by: Chase Sui Wonders
Length: 8 hours 9 minutes

“Night's Edge, at it's surface, is a vampire-esque thriller. Dig a little deeper and you'll find the story of a complicated (and toxic) mother-daughter relationship, and the trauma that comes with loving someone who causes so much hurt. It's emotional, claustrophobic, raw, and gripping... I couldn't stop listening, and now I can't stop thinking... Read more

The Salt Grows Heavy

By: Cassandra Khaw
Narrated by: Susan Dalian
Length: 2 hours 54 minutes

“The Salt Grows Heavy is a beautiful tapestry of words that I enjoyed immensely. With a post-apocalyptic and fable-like feel to it, it sweeps you up in a tale of woe decorated with the love that a mermaid has for her plague doctor. Read more

Bad Gays

A Homosexual History

By: Huw Lemmey & Ben Miller
Narrated by: Ben Allen
Length: 13 hours 31 minutes

We all remember Oscar Wilde, but who speaks for Bosie? What about those 'bad gays' whose un-exemplary lives reveal more than we might expect? Too many popular histories seek to establish heroes, pioneers and martyrs but, as Huw Lemmey and Ben Miller argue, the past is filled with queer people whose sexualities and dastardly deeds have been... Read more

The Order of Time

By: Carlo Rovelli
Narrated by: Benedict Cumberbatch
Length: 4 hours 19 minutes

“I was drawn to this book, the third in Rovelli's recent series of short introductions to the mind-blowing propositions of modern physics, by its inexhaustibly poignant and fascinating subject: time. He spends the first half of the book explaining why time doesn't exist, and the second half explaining why, at least for us lesser mortals, it does.... Read more

Witch King

The Rising World: Book #1

By: Martha Wells
Narrated by: Eric Mok
Length: 13 hours 9 minutes

“Demons, witches, spirits, realms; Witch King has it all. This exquisite world comes to life under Martha Wells’ craftsmanship. Kai, a Demon trapped on Earth after a devastating multi-realm attack, wakes up in a new body surrounded by people with bad intentions. After disposing of them, he embarks on a journey to find out what the hell happened... Read more