Bards Alley Staff Picks

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

“Fans of Becky Chambers' writing refer to her style as 'cozy-punk' and I think this description couldn't be more fitting. Encompassing both grit and fluff, A Psalm for the Wild-Built seems to perfectly bridge the gap between the comfort of Young Adult Fiction and the challenging problems tackled in more serious literature. From philosophical... Read more

A Study in Drowning

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

“What’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

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

“A 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.”

In Tokyo, sixteen-year-old Nao has decided there’s only one escape from her aching loneliness and her classmates’ bullying. But before... Read more

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

The Black Queen

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

“This was such a fun and twisty YA mystery. Told from two different POVs, Duchess (a Black student) and Tinsley (a white student), ultimately join forces to see if they can solve who killed Nova, the first Black homecoming queen and Duchess' best friend. This will satisfy all mystery readers and also tackles issues of structural racism, police... Read more

The Book Thief

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

DON’T MISS BRIDGE OF CLAY, MARKUS ZUSAK’S FIRST NOVEL SINCE THE BOOK THIEF.
 
The extraordinary #1 New York Times bestseller that is now a major motion picture, Markus Zusak's unforgettable story is about the ability of books to feed the soul.
 
Nominated as one of America's best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American Read.

When Death has a... Read more

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

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

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

“If you’re a huge audiobook fan like me, you must listen to Daisy Jones & The Six. The book is written as an oral history and is read by an entire cast of top notch readers and actors. I felt like I was listening to an amazing 70s rock & roll documentary, it felt so real that I even looked up the band online to make sure it was truly... Read more

Deacon King Kong (Oprah's Book Club)

A Novel

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

“Deacon King Kong centers around an uncharacteristic event life in the projects in 1960's New York City. McBride’s highly energetic story encompasses a multitude of characters that circle the Five Ends Baptist Church, where his main character, Sportcoat, is a Deacon. Sportcoat is a hard-drinking, odd-job handyman that lost his wife two years ago... Read more

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 …

It’s been an enjoyable and murder-free time for Judith, Suzie and Becks—AKA the Marlow Murder Club—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

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

The Dutch House

A Novel

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

“This complex novel details the story of two siblings and their childhood home across decades. After the mother leaves their home, a place which she always hated due to the ornate display of wealth (nicknamed the "Dutch House" after previous inhabitants), the two siblings are raised by their distant father. The novel traces the inescapability of... Read more

The Empress of Salt and Fortune

Singing Hills Cycle

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

“This intersection between stories, their tellers, and how we create memory is a must listen for anyone who loves complex, interwoven tales centered on female and other overlooked voices. Read more

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-Luddon’s case, to be in-kind with one of the last remaining wild wolves? Using a neurological interface to translate her animal subject’s perception through her own mind, Sean intends to chase both her scientific curiosity and her secret, lifelong desire to experience... Read more

For the Wolf

The Wilderwood: Book #1

By: Hannah Whitten
Narrated by: Inés 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

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

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

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.

“This book has bags of humor, bags of heart, and a proper murder mystery at its core.” —Janice... Read more

Hell Followed with Us

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

“Religious trauma, trans rage, and teen romance await in this tender and gruesome horror novel. In a disturbing near-future, with the help of a band of young queer survivors, trans-boy Benji escapes the eco-Christo-fascist cult that raised him (and brought about the apocalypse), but not before being injected with a bioweapon that will transform... Read more