May's Bookseller Picks

The Swimmers

A novel

By: Julie Otsuka
Narrated by: Traci Kato-Kiriyama
Length: 4 hours 5 minutes

“Beautiful, intense, sad, haunting, heartfelt, scary, loving, mesmerizing, poignant, astonishing story of dementia. While Otsuka expresses the tale of a daughter’s experience with her mother’s illness from a distance, it is so immediate that you feel you are in the middle of their lives. Breathtaking. Read more

Fencing with the King

A Novel

By: Diana Abu-Jaber
Narrated by: Rasha Zamamiri
Length: 11 hours 7 minutes

“It's a lovely read. It's fiction, but based on stories passed down through Diana Abu-Jaber's family, who were politically well-connected in Jordan. It's the story of a young woman exploring her family's past and finding unexpected revelations. Read more

Paradise Falls

The True Story of an Environmental Catastrophe

By: Keith O'Brien
Narrated by: Eileen Stevens
Length: 13 hours 5 minutes

From the New York Times best-selling journalist, the staggering, hidden story of an unlikely band of mothers who discovered the deadly secret of Love Canal, and exposed one of America’s most devastating environmental disasters.

Lois Gibbs, Luella Kenny, and other mothers loved their neighborhood on the east side of Niagara Falls. It had an... Read more

A Magic Steeped in Poison

The Book of Tea: Book #1

By: Judy I. Lin
Narrated by: Carolyn Kang
Length: 11 hours 11 minutes

Judy I. Lin's sweeping debut A Magic Steeped in Poison, first in a duology, is sure to enchant fans of Adrienne Young and Leigh Bardugo.

I used to look at my hands with pride. Now all I can think is, "These are the hands that buried my mother."

For Ning, the only thing worse than losing her mother is knowing that it's her own fault. She was the... Read more

The Worth of Water

Our Story of Chasing Solutions to the World's Greatest Challenge

By: Gary White & Matt Damon
Narrated by: Gary White & Matt Damon
Length: 4 hours 44 minutes

“This story is eye opening. And I really enjoyed diving into this book in audio format with Libro.fm. Gary and Matt take turns with the chapters, writing and reading, and it really adds to the story to get both of their points of view. The whole book just flows and is inspiring! READ THIS Read more

The Emergency

A Year of Healing and Heartbreak in a Chicago ER

By: Thomas Fisher
Narrated by: Thomas Fisher
Length: 7 hours 50 minutes

The riveting, pulse-pounding story of a year in the life of an emergency room doctor trying to steer his patients and colleagues through a crushing pandemic and a violent summer, amidst a healthcare system that seems determined to leave them behind

“Gripping . . . eloquent . . . This book reminds us how permanently interesting our bodies are,... Read more

Joan Is Okay

A Novel

By: Weike Wang
Narrated by: Catherine Ho
Length: 6 hours 36 minutes

“Literary fiction with a great wry voice! Just read the beginning of this close first-person narrative and see the world through Joan's eyes. She cuts through all the bulls*** and you get to be this completely idiosyncratic character smashing sexist, cultural, and patriarchal norms. And, it's all deadpan hilarious! Read more

The Cherry Robbers

By: Sarai Walker
Narrated by: January LaVoy
Length: 15 hours 31 minutes

“The Bellflower Village is convinced that the Chapel family is cursed, with their wedding cake shaped house and crazy (or clairvoyant depending who you ask) mother, and a fortune made from death. And then the six daughters start dying off, one by one, buried in their barely-cool wedding dresses. To survive, the remaining daughter has to become... Read more

The Murder Rule

A Novel

By: Dervla McTiernan
Narrated by: Kate Orsini, Sophie Amoss & Michael Crouch
Length: 9 hours 19 minutes

“Hannah is a 3rd year law student in Maine. She is on a mission to seek revenge on the man who she believes killed her father. She wants him to stay in prison for life for a murder he swears he didn’t commit. To do this she must transfer to UVA law school and talk her way on to the Innocence project – specifically on to the case of Michael... Read more

Beautiful Country

A Memoir

By: Qian Julie Wang
Narrated by: Qian Julie Wang
Length: 9 hours 38 minutes

“In this brutally honest coming-of-age memoir, Qian Julie Wang comes to terms with the deprivations and struggles of her undocumented Chinese upbringing in New York City in the 1990s. Read more

Year on Fire

By: Julie Buxbaum
Narrated by: Kristen Sieh
Length: 7 hours 31 minutes

“I strongly recommend my friend Julie Buxbaum’s new book, Year on Fire! She’s an AMAZING writer and has a way of looking at the world that even the most cynical reader will be able to relate to. Read more

Take My Hand

By: Dolen Perkins-Valdez
Narrated by: Lauren J. Daggett
Length: 10 hours 56 minutes

“Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez is historical fiction that addresses a still very relevant topic -- women's reproductive rights, and it does so in a very personal way. Set in 1973 and 2016, the book is based on the true story of forced sterilizations performed by the US government primarily on poor women of color. I loved that the nuances... Read more

Book Lovers

By: Emily Henry
Narrated by: Julia Whelan
Length: 11 hours 23 minutes

“Emily Henry’s Book Lovers is just plain awesome. Meet Nora Stephens, her whole life is books-she’s been unlucky in love but her career as a literary agent is flourishing. When her sister Libby convinces her to take a month off and accompany her to a small town in North Carolina to slow down and unwind she has no idea it’s the hometown of... Read more

Trust (Pulitzer Prize Winner)

By: Hernan Diaz
Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini, Jonathan Davis, Mozhan Marnò & Orlagh Cassidy
Length: 10 hours 20 minutes

“Hernan Diaz does things I've never seen in a novel before. Trust ties up threads of money and art, family and history, lies and truth. Think historical fiction turned meta, with a beating heart and spectacular writing. Read more

Four Treasures of the Sky

A Novel

By: Jenny Tinghui Zhang
Narrated by: Jenny Tinghui Zhang & Katharine Chin
Length: 12 hours 18 minutes

“A stunning debut! Four Treasures of the Sky is pointed, heartbreaking, and breathtakingly beautiful. Indisputably a masterpiece, and I am already looking forward to whatever journey Zhang wants to take us on next. Read more

Book of Night

By: Holly Black
Narrated by: Sara Amini
Length: 12 hours 32 minutes

“Holly Black’s adult fantasy debut is as chilling, dark, and action-packed as you’d expect. The world of shadow magic is fascinating, the story is an absolute page-turner, and Charlie is messy, clever, and completely relatable. Read more

Hidden Pictures

A Novel

By: Jason Rekulak
Narrated by: Suzy Jackson
Length: 9 hours 29 minutes

“Hidden Pictures is reminiscent of the John Saul books I loved in the late 70s and 80s. As his usually did, this story includes a child and some unexplained happenings that may or may not have a rational explanation. Mallory is a 20-year-old just recently out of rehab and a halfway house for drug abuse. Her sponsor finds her a job as a nanny to... Read more

Atomic Anna

By: Rachel Barenbaum
Narrated by: Traci Odom, Natalie Naudus, Emily Lawrence & Zachary Johnson
Length: 15 hours 30 minutes

“Atomic Anna is a dazzling work of ingenuity and imagination.”―Téa Obreht,National Book Award finalist and New York Times bestselling author of Inland

From the author of A Bend in the Stars, an epic adventure as three generations of women work together and travel through time to prevent the Chernobyl disaster and right the wrongs of their... Read more

Honor

By: Thrity Umrigar
Narrated by: Sneha Mathan
Length: 11 hours 18 minutes

“This is one of those books that I didn’t want to end! It is a story of an Indian -American journalist going back to India for the first time in 20 years. She returns to cover the story of a young Hindu woman who defies tradition both by working outside the home and marrying a Muslim. The consequences for her are horrific and heartbreaking,... Read more

Lakelore

By: Anna-Marie McLemore
Narrated by: Vico Ortiz & Avi Roque
Length: 6 hours 28 minutes

“Written in the exquisite lyrical manner that Anna-Marie McLemore does better than anyone, Lakelore is a vibrant and sensitive exploration of gender identity and neurodivergence. Their writing is always luminous and honest; their use of magical realism is powerful; and their deftness and care in writing about ADHD, Dyslexia, bullying, trans, and... Read more