Bards Alley Listens
Hi friends! It's your friendly neighborhood booksellers from Bards Alley Bookshop in Vienna, VA. We're big readers--and big listeners!--and these are some of our favorites.
The Beholder
Beholder: Book #1
By Anna Bright
Narrated by Emily Rankin / 11 hours 49 minutes
“Sparkles with beauty, intrigue, and romance.”—Kiera Cass, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Selection series
Selah has waited her whole life for a happily ever after. As the only daughter of the leader of Potomac, she knows her duty is to find the perfect match.
But after an excruciatingly public rejection, Selah’s stepmother suggests... Read more »
The Scorpio Races
By Maggie Stiefvater
Narrated by Steve West & Fiona Hardingham / 12 hours 6 minutes
The Scorpio Races
“One reviewer wrote, "This is a difficult book to sum up," and that is true. All I can say is the story is written with a sense of magic in the air. Stiefvater writes with wonderful description and builds stories with tension that keeps me at the edge of my seat. I have enjoyed Stiefvater's books, both reading and listening to them. If you can't get into reading one, try listening! This is one of the more beautiful stories I've heard. She has created magic with her storytelling! The audio book is a treat to listen to!”
Julia, The Bookloft
Stories I Only Tell My Friends
An Autobiography
By Rob Lowe
Narrated by Rob Lowe / 9 hours 10 minutes
A wryly funny and surprisingly moving account of an extraordinary life lived almost entirely in the public eye
A teen idol at fifteen, an international icon and founder of the Brat Pack at twenty, and one of Hollywood's top stars to this day, Rob Lowe chronicles his experiences as a painfully misunderstood child actor in Ohio uprooted to the wild... Read more »
Persuasion
By Jane Austen
Narrated by Wanda McCaddon / 7 hours 59 minutes
The last novel completed by Jane Austen before her death, Persuasion is often thought to reflect on the author’s own lost love.
Sir Walter Elliot has raised his three daughters with his own sense of haughty pride. Elizabeth, at twenty-eight, has found no one good enough to marry, while Mary has, with some condescension, married the son of the... Read more »
Born to Run
By Bruce Springsteen
Narrated by Bruce Springsteen / 18 hours 12 minutes
The revelatory and wildly bestselling memoir by legendary rock star Bruce Springsteen: “Glorious…a philosophically rich ramble through a rock ’n roll life…It’s the lyric he was born to write” (USA TODAY, 4 out of 4 stars).
Over the past seven years, Bruce Springsteen has privately devoted himself to writing the story of his life. The result is... Read more »
Once Upon a River
A Novel
By Diane Setterfield & Juliet Stevenson
Narrated by Juliet Stevenson / 16 hours 27 minutes
Once Upon a River
“Time to settle down for a story. It begins, as good stories should, with the rescue of a pair of strangers on a winter night. Though all is not as it seems in Diane Setterfield’s latest, as Once Upon a River quickly delves into a mystery. The young girl was dead when she was pulled from the river, but hours later she begins to breathe. As the story of her revival spreads, more than one member of the village feels mysteriously drawn to her. Could she be their missing child, estranged granddaughter, long-lost sister? Setterfield’s work is the closest an adult can come to settling down for story time, and Once Upon a River has the same magic, timeless, and cozy charm of a tale that has been told through the ages. Simply lovely.”
Molly Gillespie, Joseph-Beth Booksellers
One of Us Is Lying
By Karen M. McManus
Narrated by Kim Mai Guest, MacLeod Andrews, Shannon McManus & Robbie Daymond / 10 hours 42 minutes
The Breakfast Club meets Pretty Little Liars, One of Us Is Lying is the story of what happens when five strangers walk into detention and only four walk out alive. Everyone is a suspect, and everyone has something to hide.
Pay close attention and you might solve this.
On Monday afternoon, five students at Bayview High walk into detention.
... Read more »
Soulless
The Parasol Protectorate: Book #1
By Gail Carriger
Narrated by Emily Gray / 10 hours 48 minutes
Soulless
“Alexia Tarabotti is a spinster and a lady, drinking tea and chaperoning balls in London during the time of Queen Victoria's reign. She also happens to be a preternatural, or soulless being, one of the very few lucky individuals who can take away the power of a supernatural being (such as a vampire or werewolf) simply by her touch. When she accidentally kills a vampire (well, he was trying to drink her blood at the time), she is forced to contend with Lord Maccon, the werewolf leader of both the local pack and the local national office of supernatural investigations. Fans of Jane Austen-ish writing and fantasy forces will love this wicked, and wickedly funny, romp through London, supernatural-style. The subtitle says it all, really: A Novel of Vampires, Werewolves, and Parasols. ”
BrocheAroe, River Dog Book Co.
Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death
The Agatha Raisin Mysteries: Book #1
By M. C. Beaton
Narrated by Penelope Keith / 6 hours 24 minutes
Putting all her eggs in one basket, Agatha Raisin gives up her successful public-relations firm, sells her London flat, and samples a taste of early retirement in the quiet village of Carsely. Bored, lonely, and used to getting her way, she enters a local baking contest-surely a blue ribbon for the best quiche will make her the toast of the... Read more »
To Kill A Mocking Girl
A Bookbinding Mystery
Bookbinding mysteries
By Harper Kincaid
Narrated by Renee Dorian / 9 hours 40 minutes
Quinn Victoria Caine is back in her quirky town of Vienna, Virginia, starting her new life as a bookbinder in her family-owned charm-for-days bookshop Prose & Scones. With her trusty German Shephard RBG—Ruff Barker Ginsburg—by her side, what can go wrong? Okay, sure, bumping into her ex Scott or her former high-school nemesis Tricia is a... Read more »
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
Harry Potter: Book #1
By J.K. Rowling
Narrated by Stephen Fry / 8 hours 43 minutes
"Turning the envelope over, his hand trembling, Harry saw a purple wax seal bearing a coat of arms; a lion, an eagle, a badger and a snake surrounding a large letter 'H'."
Harry Potter has never even heard of Hogwarts when the letters start dropping on the doormat at number four, Privet Drive. Addressed in green ink on yellowish parchment with a... Read more »
Always Look on the Bright Side of Life
A Sortabiography
By Eric Idle
Narrated by Eric Idle / 8 hours 12 minutes
From the ingenious comic performer, founding member of Monty Python, and creator of Spamalot, comes an absurdly funny memoir of unparalleled wit and heartfelt candor
We know him best for his unforgettable roles on Monty Python--from the Flying Circus to The Meaning of Life. Now, Eric Idle reflects on the meaning of his own life in this... Read more »
Daisy Jones & The Six
A Novel
By Taylor Jenkins Reid
Narrated by Jennifer Beals, Benjamin Bratt, Judy Greer & Pablo Schreiber / 9 hours 3 minutes
Daisy Jones & The Six
“The story of a band that experiences a meteoric rise and then comes apart. A great listen - the cast is fantastic. I wonder whether I would have enjoyed reading it as much as I did listening because the cast does such a great job.”
Kathy, Belmont Books