Country Bookshelf Staff Picks

Inland

A Novel

By: Téa Obreht 
Narrated by: Anna Chlumsky, Edoardo Ballerini & Euan Morton
Length: 13 hours 7 minutes

“Man, I could live my whole life inside this novel and be perfectly happy. Téa Obreht is the real thing. Inland has the stern gorgeousness of Blood Meridian, the cinematic perfection of Station Eleven, the fantasia-like atmosphere of Cloud Atlas, and the deep-heartedness of The Winter Soldier. This is the sort of novel that makes people want to... Read more

Chain Gang All Stars: A Read with Jenna Pick

National Book Award Finalist

By: Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
Narrated by: Shayna Small, Aaron Goodson, Michael Crouch & Lee Osorio
Length: 13 hours 38 minutes

“In the near future, US prisons are run by private corporations for maximum profit and maximum punishment. Prisons are a hellscape of physical pain and emotional torture. But there is an avenue of escape for those who are desperate enough: The Chain-Gang All-Stars. Prisoners can volunteer for a modern-day Roman arena where they fight their... Read more

James

A Novel

By: Percival Everett
Narrated by: Dominic Hoffman
Length: 7 hours 48 minutes

“I LOVED listening to this book! I found myself laughing and crying. Beautiful writing...Percival Everett has fast become one of my favorites! Read more

Raw Dog

The Naked Truth About Hot Dogs

By: Jamie Loftus
Narrated by: Jamie Loftus
Length: 9 hours 38 minutes

“I would like Jamie Loftus to narrate my LIFE please and thanks. Sardonic, brilliant, anarchy on a bun! Read more

They Can't Kill Us Until They Kill Us

By: Hanif Abdurraqib
Narrated by: Hanif Abdurraqib
Length: 8 hours 37 minutes

*2018 "12 best books to give this holiday season" TODAY Show*Best Books of 2018* Rolling Stone"A Best Book of 2017" NPR, Buzzfeed, Paste Magazine, Esquire, Chicago Tribune, Vol. 1 Brooklyn, CBC, Stereogum, National Post, Entropy, Heavy, Book Riot, Chicago Review of Books, The Los Angeles Review, Michigan Daily*American Booksellers Association... Read more

How to Do Nothing

Resisting the Attention Economy

By: Jenny Odell
Narrated by: Rebecca Gibel
Length: 8 hours 10 minutes

“This book is not a social media detox - it's way weirder than that! Through examples of cool ass performance art, bioregionalism, radical utopian and labor history, and more, artist Jenny Odell busts up the narrow confines of what we value as worth our attention when our attention is for sale and blazes a way back toward repossessing one of our... Read more

The Book of Goose

A Novel

By: Yiyun Li
Narrated by: Caroline Hewitt
Length: 9 hours 1 minute

“The Book of Goose by Yiyun Li is a beautifully told tale of friendship, obsession, power and creativity. Childhood friends Agnes and Fabienne entertain themselves by spinning tales about the strange characters and situations in their post-war French province. As in many intense friendships, one is the leader and one the follower but with a... Read more

Shrines of Gaiety

A Novel

By: Kate Atkinson
Narrated by: Jason Watkins
Length: 15 hours 58 minutes

“Excellent historical fiction! 1920s post war London. Nelly Coker is such a likable law breaking queen, owner of the best night clubs! Many other equally as likable characters include her adult children, a runaway, Frida from York, and Gwendoline Kelling former WWI nurse, and cops both good and corrupt! So far my favorite read of 2022! Read more

White Horse

A Novel

By: Erika T. Wurth
Narrated by: Tonantzin Carmelo
Length: 9 hours 34 minutes

“If I had read White Horse on the page, Kari would have sounded exactly in my head the way Tonantzin Carmelo sounds in the audiobook. The main character of White Horse is fierce, sure of herself, and amazingly loving despite everything she’s gone through, and Carmelo captures her subtle intensity with expertise. In fact, White Horse is subtly... Read more

Stay True

A Memoir (Pulitzer Prize Winner)

By: Hua Hsu
Narrated by: Hua Hsu
Length: 5 hours 28 minutes

“I both read and listened to this memoir, I loved it so much. I just didn't want to be apart from it! A beautiful, heartwrenching recounting of friendship, coming into one's self, found family, how our friends shape us, and ultimately grief—especially grief in hindsight—it will stay with you forever. Read more

How Far the Light Reaches

A Life in Ten Sea Creatures

By: Sabrina Imbler
Narrated by: Sabrina Imbler
Length: 5 hours 40 minutes

“How Far the Light Reaches by Sabrina Imbler is badass. I never thought I'd walk away from a collection of essays about weird sea creatures with a more crystal-clear understanding of my own gender identity than I have had in years—but curious readers live to be surprised! In winding personal essay with science writing, Imbler gifts the reader... Read more

Vagabonds!

A Novel

By: Eloghosa Osunde
Narrated by: Arit Okpo, Atta Otigba, Eloghosa Osunde, Ifeyinwa Unachukwu, Obongjayar & Sheila Chukwulozie
Length: 11 hours 43 minutes

NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE NEW YORKER

LONGLISTED FOR THE CENTER FOR FICTION FIRST NOVEL PRIZE AND THE VCU CABELL FIRST NOVELIST AWARD

“If you read one debut novel in 2022, this should be it.” —Los Angeles Times

In the bustling streets and cloistered homes of Lagos, a cast of vivid characters—some haunted, some defiant—navigate danger,... 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

What Happened to Rachel Riley?

By: Claire Swinarski
Narrated by: Ferdelle Capistrano, Alexandra Hunter, Karla Serrato, Gail Shalan, Reena Dutt, Caitlin Davies, Andrew Eiden & Kirby Heyborne
Length: 5 hours 49 minutes

ALA Notable Children's Book Regional Indie Bestseller Audie Award Winner Edgar Award Nominee Cybils Award Nominee YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults New York Public Library Best Book of the Year Chicago Public Library Best of the Best Amazon Best Book of the Year SLJ Best Book of the Year Texas Lone Star Reading List Capital Choices Noteworthy... Read more

I'm Glad My Mom Died

By: Jennette McCurdy
Narrated by: Jennette McCurdy
Length: 6 hours 25 minutes

“From the eyes and experiences of a child-actress, Jennette McCurdy recounts her life with a heavy focus on how her mother developed, impacted, and controlled it. It’s a fascinating and heavy read, and the lasting effect it leaves will make you really think about how you view celebrities. They are just as human as everyone else and the lasting... Read more

Little Weirds

By: Jenny Slate
Narrated by: Jenny Slate
Length: 4 hours 19 minutes

“This dazzling and appropriately titled essay collection from Jenny Slate is everything you might expect from the whip-smart actress/comedian/voice of an anthropomorphic seashell, and probably also a few things you might not. No two vignettes are alike — some are fleeting, some panoramic; there’s effervescence and melancholy and bravery and... Read more

The Power of Ritual

Turning Everyday Activities into Soulful Practices

By: Casper ter Kuile
Narrated by: Casper ter Kuile
Length: 5 hours 54 minutes

Casper ter Kuile, a Harvard Divinity School fellow and cohost of the popular Harry Potter and the Sacred Text podcast, explores how we can nourish our souls by transforming common, everyday practices—yoga, reading, walking the dog—into sacred rituals that can heal our crisis of social isolation and struggle to find purpose—a message we need more... Read more

The Night Circus

A Novel

By: Erin Morgenstern
Narrated by: Jim Dale
Length: 13 hours 38 minutes

“A modern classic and the book that dragged me back into the magical realism genre. I've listened to this book multiple times and still enjoy it on the umpteenth time around. Morgenstern captures that same wonder that you remember from whimsical children's fantasy, but matures it into a complex and emotional tale. Read more

The Royal Wulff Murders

Sean Stranahan Mysteries: Book #1

By: Keith McCafferty
Narrated by: Rick Holmes
Length: 10 hours 26 minutes

An award-winning editor for Field & Stream magazine, Keith McCafferty presents his debut novel, The Royal Wulff Murders. A local fisherman lands more than he bargained for when he pulls a dead body out of Montana's Madison River. Sheriff Martha Ettinger takes on the case and soon comes into the company of reclusive artist, Montana newcomer,... Read more

Why Fish Don't Exist

A Story of Loss, Love, and the Hidden Order of Life

By: Lulu Miller
Narrated by: Lulu Miller
Length: 4 hours 55 minutes

“I was absolutely riveted to this beautiful book. This story is fascinating and seamlessly threaded into the author's own struggles. It made me pause, rewind, start over, cry, laugh.....it's just one of the best memoirs I've ever read. Read more