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Bards Alley Staff Picks
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Bards Alley Staff Picks

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.

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

“Itā€™s far into the future on an unnamed moon. Humanity has learned to live in harmony without fossil fuels and, generations before, the robots were set free to pursue their own existence. A charming meditation on the meaning of life. Read more

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A Study in Drowning

By: Ava Reid
Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld
Length: 10 hours 31 minutes

“Whatā€™s more dangerous - a sinking mansion full of secrets, a vicious and enthralling Fairy King, or the forces that have historically silenced and subjugated young women in academia? Fans of Mexican Gothic and The Hazel Wood, this Welsh folklore-infused dark academia fantasy will sweep you under and leave you drowning in all its lush and eerie,... Read more

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A Tale for the Time Being

By: Ruth Ozeki
Narrated by: Ruth Ozeki
Length: 14 hours 43 minutes

A brilliant, unforgettable, and long-awaited novel from bestselling author Ruth Ozeki

ā€œAā€‰time being is someone who lives in time, and that means you, and me, and every one of us who is, or was, or ever will be.ā€

In Tokyo, sixteen-year-old Nao has decided thereā€™s only one escape from her aching loneliness and her classmatesā€™ bullying. But before... Read more

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Limited-time offer

Get two free audiobooks!

Nowā€™s a great time to shop indie. When you start a new one credit per month membership supporting local bookstores with promo code SWITCH, weā€™ll give you two bonus audiobook credits at sign-up.

Sign up today

The Black Guy Dies First

Black Horror Cinema from Fodder to Oscar

By: Robin R. Means Coleman & Mark H. Harris
Narrated by: Jaime Lincoln Smith
Length: 9 hours 30 minutes

A definitive and surprising exploration of the history of Black horror films, after the rising success of Get Out, Candyman, and Lovecraft Country from creators behind the acclaimed documentary, Horror Noire.

The Black Guy Dies First explores the Black journey in modern horror cinema, from the fodder epitomized by Spider Baby to the... Read more

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The Black Queen

By: Jumata Emill
Narrated by: Angel Pean & Erin Spencer
Length: 10 hours 53 minutes

“Fans of One of Us Is Lying and the Good Girl's Guide to Murder series will love this fast paced murder mystery where two unlikely allies (the victim's best friends and the number one murder suspect - the school's IT girl that would have been homecoming queen had the school not recently instated a new policy to make the queen selection more... Read more

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The Book Thief

By: Markus Zusak
Narrated by: Allan Corduner
Length: 13 hours 55 minutes

DONā€™T MISS BRIDGE OF CLAY, MARKUS ZUSAKā€™S FIRST NOVEL SINCE THE BOOK THIEF.
Ā 
The extraordinary #1Ā New York TimesĀ bestseller that is now a major motion picture, Markus Zusak's unforgettable story is about the ability of books to feed the soul.
Ā 
Nominated as one of America's best-loved novels byĀ PBSā€™sĀ The Great American Read.

When Death has a...
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The Bruising of Qilwa

By: Naseem Jamnia
Narrated by: Fajer Al-Kaisi
Length: 5 hours 4 minutes

In this intricate debut fantasy introducing a queernormative Persian-inspired world, a nonbinary refugee practitioner of blood magic discovers a strange disease that causes political rifts in their new homeland. Persian-American author Naseem Jamnia has crafted a gripping narrative with a moving, nuanced exploration of immigration, gender,... Read more

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Camp Damascus

By: Chuck Tingle
Narrated by: Mara Wilson
Length: 9 hours 29 minutes

“Neverton is home to the only gay conversion camp in the country to boast a 100% success rate: Camp Damascus. God-fearing Rose Darling knows all about the camp from the commercials starring the charismatic Pastor Pete Bend. But when Rose starts coughing up flies and getting flashes of a life she doesn't remember living -- and a girl she doesn't... Read more

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Daisy Jones & The Six

A Novel

By: Taylor Jenkins Reid
Narrated by: Jennifer Beals, Benjamin Bratt, Judy Greer & Pablo Schreiber
Length: 9 hours 3 minutes

“Oh man, what a ride! I guess Iā€™m the right demographic for this book: I love rock and I grew up in the ā€™70s, so I wanted to like it...instead, I loved it! Yes, itā€™s sex, drugs, and rock ā€™nā€™ roll, but itā€™s also got wonderfully complex characters that I cared about even if I didnā€™t like how they acted. Itā€™s a peek into the formation of a band, how... Read more

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Deacon King Kong (Oprah's Book Club)

A Novel

By: James McBride
Narrated by: Dominic Hoffman
Length: 14 hours 5 minutes

“An amazing cast of characters and compelling storyline coupled with fantastic dialogue delivers a dynamic novel. One one level this is a great story, but on so many other levels it touches on the Great Migration and class and society - and also how regular folks cross many divides to simply just support each other through life. A great audiobook... Read more

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Death Comes to Marlow

Marlow Murder Club: Book #2

By: Robert Thorogood
Narrated by: Nicolette McKenzie
Length: 9 hours 28 minutes

The Marlow Murder Club meets again ā€¦

Itā€™s been an enjoyable and murder-free time for Judith, Suzie and Becksā€”AKA the Marlow Murder Clubā€”since the events of last year. The most exciting thing on the horizon is the upcoming wedding of Marlow grandee, Sir Peter Bailey. Sir Peter is having a party at his grand mansion on the Thames
the day before the... Read more

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The Disordered Cosmos

A Journey into Dark Matter, Spacetime, and Dreams Deferred

By: Chanda Prescod-Weinstein
Narrated by: Joniece Abbott-Pratt
Length: 10 hours 55 minutes

“If this was the science I learned growing up, I would have been way more invested. This is an intersectional look at physics, detailing the dazzling wonder and the stifling social conditions of physics. Read more

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The Dutch House

A Novel

By: Ann Patchett
Narrated by: Tom Hanks
Length: 9 hours 52 minutes

“This is a wonderful story - well written, excellent character development, and interesting. A story of redemption for siblings. This novel hits an emotional chord on many levels - personal choice, the importance of being present in your everyday life, and letting others make life choices for you instead of you making them for yourself. The novel... Read more

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The Empress of Salt and Fortune

Singing Hills Cycle: Book #1

By: Nghi Vo
Narrated by: Cindy Kay
Length: 2 hours 25 minutes

“Incredibly rich storytelling with amazing voicework. This experience convinced me to continue the series as an audiobook journey. Read more

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Feed Them Silence

By: Lee Mandelo
Narrated by: Natalie Naudus
Length: 4 hours 17 minutes

What does it mean to be-in-kind with a nonhuman animal? Or, in Dr. Sean Kell-Luddonā€™s case, to be in-kind with one of the last remaining wild wolves? Using a neurological interface to translate her animal subjectā€™s perception through her own mind, Sean intends to chase both her scientific curiosity and her secret, lifelong desire to experience... Read more

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For the Wolf

The Wilderwood: Book #1

By: Hannah Whitten
Narrated by: InƩs del Castillo
Length: 13 hours 40 minutes

The first daughter is for the Throne.
The second daughter is for the Wolf.

For fans of Uprooted and The Bear and the Nightingale comes a dark, sweeping debut fantasy novel about a young woman who must be sacrificed to the legendary Wolf of the Wood to save her kingdom. But not all legends are true, and the Wolf isn't the only danger lurking in the... Read more

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Ghost Station

By: S.A. Barnes
Narrated by: Zura Johnson
Length: 14 hours 51 minutes

“It has the most enticing The Thaw vibe (IYKYK) wrapped up in a corrupted futuristic scenario of the universe and S.A. Barnes did not disappoint me in the least. Thaw-ly enjoyed this! Read more

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Gideon the Ninth

Locked Tomb: Book #1

By: Tamsyn Muir
Narrated by: Moira Quirk
Length: 16 hours 49 minutes

“Moira Quirk is a genius. The voices she's chosen for all these characters and the absolute performance she puts into every line is remarkable. If there's ever an adaptation of these books and Lanthe doesn't speak as she does in these audiobooks, I will not be able to recognize her. An incredible narrator reading an incredible series. Give it a... Read more

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Grave Expectations

A Mystery

By: Alice Bell
Narrated by: Sophie Roberts
Length: 10 hours 27 minutes

A fast-paced and hilarious debut crime novel, in which a burnt-out Millennial medium must utilize her ability to see ghosts and team-up with a band of oddball investigators to figure out which member(s) of a posh English family are guilty of murder.

ā€œThis book hasĀ bags of humor, bags of heart, and a proper murder mystery at its core.ā€ ā€”Janice...
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Hell Followed with Us

By: Andrew Joseph White
Narrated by: Shaan Dasani, Graham Halstead & Avi Roque
Length: 10 hours 47 minutes

“With much inspiration taken from the ancient horror stories of The Bible, Hell Followed with Us is a post-apocalyptic adventure featuring queer teens as the heroes. A new plague has been released upon the world by an evangelical cult, The Angels. Benjiā€™s mother is one of their leaders, his father his greatest ally, and he: a trans boy trapped... Read more

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Our 2024 impact report is here! Read now