Book & Cocktails Reads

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

By: Stephen Chbosky
Narrated by: Noah Galvin
Length: 6 hours 23 minutes

“This is one of my favorite books. I read it at a time when adolescence, finding your tribe and discovering who you are were all starting to take shape for me. And then I went and grew up and named my bookstore after it! Read more

We All Want Impossible Things

A Novel

By: Catherine Newman
Narrated by: Jane Oppenheimer
Length: 6 hours 55 minutes

“One of my top books for 2022! Ash cares for her friend in hospice while grappling with the other relationships in her life. Newman captures the mundanity and comedy that arises even in the most tragic circumstances. For example, one of the other hospice residents listens to Fiddler on The Roof twice a day, and the comfort animal, a golden... Read more

Bunny

A Novel

By: Mona Awad
Narrated by: Sophie Amoss
Length: 11 hours 44 minutes

“Mona Awad tells a harrowing story of a writer trying to overcome her writer’s block while simultaneously refusing to look deeper into herself or acknowledge her own needs or desires. This lack of self-knowledge leads her to a friendship with a group of young MFA students who are always ‘workshopping’…with disastrous consequences. The writing... Read more

Finlay Donovan Is Killing It

A Novel

The Finlay Donovan Series: Book #1

By: Elle Cosimano
Narrated by: Angela Dawe
Length: 9 hours 59 minutes

“Finlay Donovan is a hilarious book about a recently divorced author and mother of 2 small children who is barely holding her life together when she is mistaken for a hitman and is reluctantly (or maybe not so reluctantly) drawn into a life of crime with her nanny. Treat yourself to the audiobook! Angela Dawe knocks it out of the... Read more

The Bandit Queens

A Novel

By: Parini Shroff
Narrated by: Soneela Nankani
Length: 13 hours 14 minutes

“I loved this story of female friendship and small town life. I laughed out loud so many times and the narrator of the audiobook was perfect. Highly recommended! Read more

The Secret Lives of Church Ladies

By: Deesha Philyaw
Narrated by: Janina Edwards
Length: 4 hours 6 minutes

“Having grown up in a Mississippi Southern Baptist church, it wasn't until I was a teenager that I saw the secret double lives of some of us. Rebelling against the submit to authority messages on Saturday night, but sitting pious and submissive come Sunday morning services was de rigueur. Deesha Philyaw's book The Secret Lives of Church Ladies... Read more

Pies and Prejudice

Charmed Pie Shoppe Mystery: Book #1

By: Ellery Adams
Narrated by: C.S.E. Cooney
Length: 8 hours 57 minutes

When the going gets tough, Ella Mae LaFaye bakes pies. So when she catches her husband cheating in New York, she heads back home to Havenwood, Georgia, where she can drown her sorrows in fresh fruit filling and flaky crust. But her pies aren't just delicious. They're having magical effects on the people who eat them, and the public is hungry for... Read more

The Banned Bookshop of Maggie Banks

By: Shauna Robinson
Narrated by: Imani Jade Powers
Length: 9 hours 18 minutes

I, Maggie Banks, solemnly swear to uphold the rules of Cobblestone Books.
If only, I, Maggie Banks, cared about following the rules.
When Maggie Banks arrives to run her best friend's struggling bookstore, she expects to sell bestsellers to the small-town clientele. But with the town on the map as a top literary destination and the tourist... Read more

Lessons in Chemistry

A Novel

By: Bonnie Garmus
Narrated by: Miranda Raison, Bonnie Garmus & Pandora Sykes
Length: 11 hours 55 minutes

“Formidable Elizabeth Zott will capture your heart as she, Six-Thirty, Mad and others did me. It’s 1960 and Elizabeth is a woman in a man’s field – she experiences sexism, inequality, and abuse. I found this heartwarming, fun, with a sense of intelligent humor, and full of charm and hope. Read more

Woman of Light

A Novel

By: Kali Fajardo-Anstine
Narrated by: Melinna Bobadilla
Length: 10 hours 5 minutes

“Woman of Light is a beautifully written story of unity, adversity, and the struggles of the Lopez family in the 1920s and 1930s. Perfectly connecting the past and present up to a meeting point for the family. I 100% recommend this book! Read more

The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches

By: Sangu Mandanna
Narrated by: Samara MacLaren
Length: 9 hours 59 minutes

“This book is such a cozy, comforting read. If you're looking for a good book to curl up with, this will whisk you away to a safe, magical place filled with characters that will feel like family from start to finish. Read more

Velvet Was the Night

By: Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Narrated by: Gisela Chípe
Length: 9 hours 51 minutes

“From the author of Mexican Gothic comes a classic noir with a side of romance based on the Mexican government’s suppression of dissent in the ’60s and ’70s and the involvement of the CIA and KGB. Read more

The School for Good Mothers

A Novel

By: Jessamine Chan
Narrated by: Catherine Ho
Length: 11 hours 56 minutes

“This novel toggles between infuriating, terrifying, and comedic. An interesting study on what it means to be a woman and a mother. Extremely satisfied with an unexpected ending. Read more

Outlawed

By: Anna North
Narrated by: Cynthia Farrell
Length: 8 hours 38 minutes

Bloomsbury presents Outlawed by Anna North, read by Cynthia Farrell.

A REESE’S BOOK CLUB PICK * INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * BELLETRIST BOOK CLUB PICK * INDIE NEXT SELECTION * LIBRARY READS SELECTION * AMAZON EDITORS' CHOICE * WASHINGTON POST BEST OF THE YEAR

The "terrifying, wise, tender, and thrilling" (R.O. Kwon) adventure story of a... Read more

Her Body and Other Parties

Stories

By: Carmen Maria Machado
Narrated by: Amy Landon
Length: 8 hours 41 minutes

“Her Body and Other Parties: Stories by Carmen Maria Machado is a blend of urban legends and horror stories all focusing on the roles women play in society. Machado writes in the most beautiful, haunting way, and each story is truly unique and almost always a little uncomfortable. Read more

You Exist Too Much

A Novel

By: Zaina Arafat
Narrated by: Zehra Jane Naqvi
Length: 7 hours 53 minutes

“Zaina Arafat’s You Exist Too Much is one of my favorite books of the year. This debut novel blew me away. Arafat’s narrator is confident in her vulnerability; her desire to be seen and understood is visceral and uncomfortably familiar. The intoxication of unrequited love and the disconcerting feeling that can accompany settling down are... 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

Gingerbread

A Novel

By: Helen Oyeyemi
Narrated by: Helen Oyeyemi
Length: 7 hours 28 minutes

“Helen Oyeyemi's beautiful, sweet, almost sing-song voice is the perfect narration for Gingerbread's quirky and magical story. The novel flows like a river, twisting and turning in unexpected but pleasurable ways as we explore Perdita, her mother Harriet, and the mystery of their gingerbread recipe. Taking elements from traditional folk stories... Read more

The Ten Thousand Doors of January

By: Alix E. Harrow
Narrated by: January LaVoy
Length: 12 hours 20 minutes

“"The Ten Thousand Doors of January" is a story about stories, and about escape, and about adventure. A fantastic tale that follows January Scholar, as she shares the story of the Doors that changed her life. January LaVoy's narration, combined with the portal fantasy aspects of the story sucked me into the ten thousand worlds of the book. An... Read more

The Sentence

By: Louise Erdrich
Narrated by: Louise Erdrich
Length: 11 hours 49 minutes

“A heartfelt and occasionally hilarious account of life and work at an independent bookstore through the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic. While the reflections on family and pandemic life are cathartic, this book is also about identity and how our history and present shape it. Through encounters with the ghost of a troublesome lifelong customer, and the... Read more