Boston Book Festival 2018

The Good Neighbor

The Life and Work of Fred Rogers

By: Maxwell King
Narrated by: LeVar Burton
Length: 14 hours 7 minutes

“A wonderful biography of an American icon who seemed too good to be true. And yet, believe it or not, he was an even better, more caring man than he portrayed on television. If you are a fan of Fred Rogers and want to understand what drove him to create Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood, this is an essential read. Learning more about Rogers’ life through... Read more

The Optimistic Decade

By: Heather Abel
Narrated by: Tanya Eby
Length: 11 hours 34 minutes

Framed by the oil shale bust and the real estate boom, by protests against Reagan and against the Gulf War, The Optimistic Decade takes us into the lives of five unforgettable characters, and is a sweeping novel about idealism, love, class, and a piece of land that changes everyone who lives on it.

There is Caleb Silver, the beloved founder of... Read more

An American Marriage

A Novel

By: Tayari Jones
Narrated by: Sean Crisden & Eisa Davis
Length: 8 hours 59 minutes

“Tayari Jones comes in fierce with An American Marriage. Delving into the lives of the newly married Roy and Celestial, this is a novel that pulls no punches from beginning to end. I won't ruin the surprise, but they're hit with a harrowing event that will define not only their relationship, but each of their lives, forever. Writing with an... Read more

The Collector’s Apprentice

A Novel

By: B. A. Shapiro
Narrated by: Xe Sands
Length: 10 hours 20 minutes

“What enormous fun Barbara Shapiro had in constructing this mini-universe of arts, artists, collectors, and grifters. Loosely based on Barnes Foundation founder Albert C. Barnes and his assistant, Shapiro’s fictional pair — Edwin Bradley, the collector, and the lovely but unlucky Paulien Mertens — flit from Europe to Pennsylvania and back in the... Read more

The Price of the Haircut

Stories

By: Brock Clarke
Narrated by: P.J. Ochlan & Suzanne Elise Freeman
Length: 7 hours 15 minutes

From an acclaimed and original writer comes a new collection of stories bursting with absurdist plot twists and laced with trenchant wit. Brock Clarke, author of An Arsonist's Guide to Writers' Homes in New England and Exley, among other novels, now offers up bite-sized morsels of his trademark social satire that will have listeners laughing,... Read more

A Room Away from the Wolves

By: Nova Ren Suma
Narrated by: Sandy Rustin
Length: 8 hours 19 minutes

Bina has never forgotten the time she and her mother ran away from home. Her mother promised they would hitchhike to the city to escape Bina's cruel father and start over. But before they could even leave town, Bina had a new stepfather and two new stepsisters, and a humming sense of betrayal pulling apart the bond with her mother-a bond Bina... Read more

Dactyl Hill Squad

Dactyl Hill Squad: Book #1

By: Daniel Jose Older
Narrated by: Channie Waites
Length: 6 hours 42 minutes

It's 1863 and dinosaurs roam the streets of New York as the Civil War rages between raptor-mounted armies down South. Magdalys Roca and her friends from the Colored Orphan Asylum are on a field trip when the Draft Riots break out, and a number of their fellow orphans are kidnapped by an evil magistrate, Richard Riker. Magdalys and her friends... Read more

An Earl Like You

The Wagers of Sin

By: Caroline Linden
Narrated by: Beverley A. Crick
Length: 9 hours 38 minutes

When you gamble at love . . .When Hugh Deveraux discovers his newly inherited earldom is bankrupt, he sets about rebuilding the family fortune—in the gaming hells of London. But the most daring wager he takes isn’t at cards. A wealthy tradesman makes a tantalizing offer: marry the man’s spinster daughter and Hugh’s debts will be paid and his... Read more

Wicked and the Wallflower

The Bareknuckle Bastards Book I

By: Sarah MacLean
Narrated by: Justine Eyre
Length: 12 hours 39 minutes

When Wicked Comes Calling . . .When a mysterious stranger finds his way into her bedchamber and offers his help in landing a duke, Lady Felicity Faircloth agrees—on one condition. She’s seen enough of the world to believe in passion, and won’t accept a marriage without it.The Wallflower Makes a Dangerous Bargain . . .Bastard son of a duke and... Read more

The Darkling Bride

A Novel

Gallagher Family: Book #1

By: Laura Andersen
Narrated by: Sarah-Jane Drummey
Length: 12 hours 2 minutes

The Gallagher family has called Deeprath Castle home for seven hundred years. Nestled in the Wicklow Mountains of Ireland, the estate is now slated to become a public trust, and book lover and scholar Carragh Ryan is hired to take inventory of its historic library. But after meeting Aidan, the current Viscount Gallagher, and his enigmatic... Read more

How to Love a Jamaican

Stories

By: Alexia Arthurs
Narrated by: Janina Edwards, Adenrele Ojo, Dominic Hoffman & James Fouhey
Length: 7 hours 3 minutes

“In these kaleidoscopic stories of Jamaica and its diaspora we hear many voices at once. All of them convince and sing. All of them shine.”—Zadie Smith

An O: The Oprah Magazine “Top 15 Best of the Year” • A Well-Read Black Girl’s Pick

Tenderness and cruelty, loyalty and betrayal, ambition and regret—Alexia Arthurs navigates these tensions to... Read more

Edge of Chaos

Why Democracy Is Failing to Deliver Economic Growth-and How to Fix It

By: Dambisa Moyo
Narrated by: Pamala Tyson
Length: 8 hours 28 minutes

From an internationally acclaimed economist, a provocative call to jump-start economic growth by aggressively overhauling liberal democracy

Around the world, people who are angry at stagnant wages and growing inequality have rebelled against established governments and turned to political extremes. Liberal democracy, history's greatest engine of... Read more

The Heritage

Black Athletes, a Divided America, and the Politics of Patriotism

By: Howard Bryant
Narrated by: Ronnie Butler
Length: 11 hours 16 minutes

Following in the footsteps of Robeson, Ali, Robinson and others, today’s Black athletes re-engage with social issues and the meaning of American patriotism

Named a best book of 2018 by Library Journal

It used to be that politics and sports were as separate from one another as church and state. The ballfield was an escape from the world’s worst... Read more

Modern Girls

By: Jennifer S. Brown
Narrated by: Elizabeth Wiley
Length: 13 hours 20 minutes

In 1935, Dottie Krasinsky is the epitome of the modern girl. A bookkeeper in Midtown Manhattan, Dottie steals kisses from her steady beau, meets her girlfriends for drinks, and eyes the latest fashions. Yet at heart, she is a dutiful daughter, living with her Yiddish-speaking parents on the Lower East Side. So when, after a single careless... Read more

The Fifth Petal

A Novel

By: Brunonia Barry
Narrated by: Ann Marie Lee
Length: 18 hours

“Brunonia Barry's newest witchy tale, set in Salem, follows the threads of three mysteries that all ended in murder. Callie, who carries the scars of murders past, is joined by detectives Rafferty and Towner from Barry's The Lace Reader in a race to stop yet more killings and collective town wounds. Barry's prose excels at keeping readers chasing... Read more

Louisiana's Way Home

By: Kate DiCamillo
Narrated by: Cassandra Morris
Length: 3 hours 34 minutes

From two-time Newbery Medalist Kate DiCamillo comes a story of discovering who you are--and deciding who you want to be.

When Louisiana Elefante's granny wakes her up in the middle of the night to tell her that the day of reckoning has arrived and they have to leave home immediately, Louisiana isn't overly worried. After all, Granny has many... Read more

Merci Suárez Changes Gears

Merci Suárez: Book #1

By: Meg Medina
Narrated by: Frankie Corzo
Length: 7 hours 9 minutes

Winner of the 2019 Newbery MedalThoughtful, strong-willed sixth-grader Merci Suarez navigates difficult changes with friends, family, and everyone in between in a resonant new novel from Meg Medina.

Merci Suarez knew that sixth grade would be different, but she had no idea just how different. For starters, Merci has never been like the other kids... Read more

Like Vanessa

By: Tami Charles
Narrated by: Channie Waites
Length: 7 hours 38 minutes

Middle graders will laugh and cry with thirteen-year-old Vanessa Martin as she tries to be like Vanessa Williams, the first black Miss America, by reluctantly entering her own beauty pageant. In this semi-autobiographical debut novel set in 1983, Vanessa Martin's real-life reality of living with family in public housing in Newark, New Jersey is... Read more

Stray City

A Novel

By: Chelsey Johnson
Narrated by: Natalie Moore
Length: 10 hours 22 minutes

“A coming-of-age story about Andrea, a Midwestern, Catholic, artistic lesbian who escapes her family to try and find herself. After moving to Portland, Oregon, in the '90s, Andrea gets involved in printmaking and music, meets a circle of people she depends upon, experiences a breakup, and finds a new friend. I could not put this novel down once I... Read more

The Girl in the Tower

A Novel

Winternight Trilogy: Book #2

By: Katherine Arden
Narrated by: Kathleen Gati
Length: 13 hours 1 minute

A remarkable young woman blazes her own trail, from the backwoods of Russia to the court of Moscow, in the exhilarating sequel to Katherine Arden’s bestselling debut novel, The Bear and the Nightingale.

Katherine Arden’s enchanting first novel introduced readers to an irresistible heroine. Vasilisa has grown up at the edge of a Russian... Read more