Brilliant Books Staff Favorites Fall 2023

Autoportrait

By: Jesse Ball
Narrated by: James Patrick Cronin
Length: 2 hours 50 minutes

Jesse Ball has produced fourteen acclaimed works of deeply empathetic absurdism in poetry and fiction. Now, he offers listeners his first memoir, one that showcases his "humane curiosity" (James Wood) and invites the listener into a raw and personal account of love, grief, and memory. Inspired by the memoir Édouard Levé put to paper shortly... Read more

A Psalm for the Wild-Built

A Monk and Robot Book

Monk & Robot: Book #1

By: Becky Chambers
Narrated by: Em Grosland
Length: 4 hours 8 minutes

“A beautiful novella that's impossible to put down (or... turn off), Becky Chambers' A Psalm for the Wild Built is such a cozy and gentle reminder to enjoy the simplicity of life when you get it. 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

Devil House

A Novel

By: John Darnielle
Narrated by: John Darnielle
Length: 11 hours 17 minutes

“Playing with form, voice, and the reader's expectations of how a novel should operate; Devil House is a thrilling, bracing, and unmissable reading experience. Darnielle's latest novel begins straightforward enough - a true crime writer moves into a house where brutal murders took place to research his next project. With each passing chapter, the... Read more

The Anthropocene Reviewed

Essays on a Human-Centered Planet

By: John Green
Narrated by: John Green
Length: 10 hours 42 minutes

“In a voice familiar to those who have been listening since 2007, John Green speaks on humans, humanity, and baobab trees with remarkable sincerity. Read more

Red Rabbit

By: Alex Grecian
Narrated by: John Pirhalla
Length: 13 hours 4 minutes

“A strange and spooky combination of The Witch and True Grit, Red Rabbit is in a genre all its own. This book is bloody, brutal, and sidesplittingly funny. There are monsters, murderers, and a mysterious little girl who is much more than she appears - this plus a stolen red stagecoach equals a novel that is exhilarating, terrifying and somehow... Read more

Generation Loss

The Cass Neary Crime Novels: Book #1

By: Elizabeth Hand
Narrated by: Carol Monda
Length: 9 hours 20 minutes

Cass Neary made her name in the seventies as a photographer embedded in the burgeoning punk movement in New York City. Her pictures of the musicians and the hangers-on, the infamous, the damned, and the dead, earned her a brief moment of fame.Thirty years later she is adrift, on her way down, and almost out when an old acquaintance sends her on... Read more

Starling House

A Reese's Book Club Pick

By: Alix E. Harrow
Narrated by: Natalie Naudus
Length: 12 hours 25 minutes

“Come for the gothic horror romance small-town-with-a-dark-past drama... Stay for the dreaming house, its grumpy selfless warden, and the terrified brave woman fed up with everybody's bullshit. An empathetic book about a few people and their desires. Also, monsters! Read more

Under the Whispering Door

By: TJ Klune
Narrated by: Kirt Graves
Length: 14 hours 54 minutes

“Trigger warning: Suicide and death. TJ Klune has done it again. He has created a story (with some darkness) centered on a character that would otherwise have easily been seen as the villain. And again, he walked me through a funny, LGBTQ+ positive, and horror-esque journey where I grew in empathy for Wallace as he tackled questions about death,... Read more

Woman, Eating

A Literary Vampire Novel

By: Claire Kohda
Narrated by: Jane Lui
Length: 8 hours 15 minutes

An IndieNext Pick! A Best Book of 2022 in Harper’s Bazaar, Daily Mail, Glamour, and Thrillist!Most Anticipated of 2022 in The Millions, Ms. Magazine, LitHubA young, mixed-race vampire must find a way to balance her deep-seated desire to live amongst humans with her incessant hunger in this stunning debut novel from a writer-to-watch.Lydia is... Read more

The MANIAC

By: Benjamin Labatut
Narrated by: Gergo Danka & Eva Magyar
Length: 9 hours 50 minutes

“What do you do next if your first book to be translated into English becomes a worldwide sensation shortlisted for numerous literary prizes? If you are Benjamín Labatut, the brilliant Chilean author, you write a new novel in your non-native English. Some writers tackle the same plots, characters, or themes over and over until they descend into... Read more

A Short History of Queer Women

By: Kirsty Loehr
Narrated by: Ellie Gossage
Length: 4 hours 1 minute

Queer women have always existed—let's put them back in the history books



No, they weren't "just friends!"



Queer women have been written out of history since, well, forever. "But historians famously care about women!," said no one. From Anne Bonny and Mary Read who sailed the seas together disguised as pirates, to US football captain Megan Rapinoe... Read more

North Woods

A Novel

By: Daniel Mason
Narrated by: Mark Bramhall, Michael Crouch, Jason Culp, Mark Deakins, Jayne Entwistle, Billie Fulford-Brown, Arthur Morey, George Newbern, Kirsten Potter & Simon Vance
Length: 11 hours 5 minutes

“This book reminds me of a puzzle, with each chapter, character, and relationship adding a piece to the whole beautiful picture. However, I did have to pause and search where the puzzle pieces fit. I enjoyed the imagery Daniel Mason creates; I could see the scene come together before me as if painted on a canvas. The narration lends to the... Read more

The Secret History: A Read with Jenna Pick

A Novel

By: Donna Tartt
Narrated by: Donna Tartt
Length: 22 hours 2 minutes

“Moody, tense, and perfect for autumn. The Secret History is rich in character, setting, and Donna Tartt's narration will have you hypnotized. One of my favorite audiobooks of all time! Read more

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous

A Novel

By: Ocean Vuong
Narrated by: Ocean Vuong
Length: 7 hours 18 minutes

“A rare poignant visceral reading experience, tackling themes of war, immigration, identity, sexuality, violence, and carving out your place in the world. More poetic than narrative. Deeply Affecting! Absolutely Brilliant! Stunning! Read more

A Killer by Design

Murderers, Mindhunters, and My Quest to Decipher the Criminal Mind

By: Ann Wolbert Burgess
Narrated by: Gabra Zackman
Length: 9 hours 1 minute

Written by the forensic nurse who transformed the way the FBI profiles and catches serial killers, this thought-provoking book takes an intimate look at the creation of the Behavioral Science Unit–the inspiration for Hulu’s Mastermind documentary. In the 1970s, the FBI created the "Mindhunters" (better known as the Behavioral Science Unit) to... Read more

Land of Milk and Honey

A Novel

By: C Pam Zhang
Narrated by: Eunice Wong
Length: 8 hours 3 minutes

“Zhang’s gorgeous prose sets a stark contrast between a world destroyed and a seemingly pristine utopia. While darkness pervades this literary thrill ride, thoughtful questions about humanity save the reader from total madness. Read more