Black Leopard, Red Wolf
The Dark Star Trilogy: Book #1
By Marlon James
Narrated by: Dion Graham
Length: 23 hours 59 minutes
Black Leopard, Red Wolf
“Black Leopard, Red Wolf is fantastically queer, black, and confounding! It is an enticing read, filled with love, sex, betrayal, and truths that are not so true.”
Dartricia, @dartricia_
On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous
A Novel
By Ocean Vuong
Narrated by: Ocean Vuong
Length: 7 hours 18 minutes
On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous
“Written as a letter from son to mother, Ocean Vuong's On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous is desolately beautiful. Each carefully crafted sentence builds upon the last, a momentum that carries you through a hundred pages before you remember to take a breath. Bleak, brilliant, it is the book other books will be compared to for years. Honestly, I would have been fine if it had been the last book I ever read.”
Cody, Book Culture, @thecodystuart
Circe
By Madeline Miller
Narrated by: Perdita Weeks
Length: 12 hours 8 minutes
Circe
“Beautifully composed and deeply compelling, Circe is hands-down one of the best novels of 2018. As she did in Song of Achilles, Miller recreates the ancient and enchanting world of Greek mythology, this time focusing on ocean nymph Circe. Cast out of her home and exiled to the island of Aiaia, Circe turns not only to her enchantments, but also to the world of Mortals, becoming close with legendary figures like Daedalus, Odysseus, and Penelope. Miller’s delicate, yet stunning prose swept me off my feet — I wanted to savor every moment with Circe in her immortal world. Introspective, soft, at times simply breathtaking, but always beautiful. So, so beautiful.”
Kelly, Mysterious Galaxy Books
Exhalation
Stories
By Ted Chiang
Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini, Dominic Hoffman, Amy Landon & Ted Chiang
Length: 11 hours 21 minutes
Exhalation
“WOW. My first experience with Ted Chiang absolutely blew me out of the water. Each story left me with wide eyes and a racing mind, running to my husband to read a passage so we could both be knocked over with wonder. Exhalation filled me with so many questions about our collective past, present, and future, I’ll be coming back to this book again and again trying to find the answers.”
Kasey Kane, Country Bookshelf
I Miss You When I Blink
Essays
By Mary Laura Philpott
Narrated by: Mary Laura Philpott
Length: 6 hours 5 minutes
I Miss You When I Blink
“Mary Laura Philpott writes about today’s American woman in her marvelously frank and witty book of essays, I Miss You When I Blink. Women of all ages will nod their heads when reading about the decision to have babies (or not), the pitfalls of volunteering, the difficulty of getting a cat out from under the bed, the reward of crossing things off ‘the list,’ the challenge of finding time for relaxation, and, above all, the acceleration of time as we age. Philpott shares pivotal moments from her life in such a relatable way that, through both laughter and tears, readers will exclaim, ‘Yes, yes, this is ME!’ Don’t miss this gem!”
Nancy Simpson-Brice, Vault Books and Brew
Save Me the Plums
My Gourmet Memoir
By Ruth Reichl
Narrated by: Ruth Reichl
Length: 7 hours 54 minutes
Save Me the Plums
“In her new memoir, trendsetting food writer and editor Ruth Reichl writes lovingly of the full-blast creativity of her 10 years as editor-in-chief of Gourmet. By book’s end, you’ll miss the storied and groundbreaking magazine, but you’ll be grateful she shared the tale of how its outstanding roster of writers, photographers, designers, and cooks transformed how we look at food. Reichl takes readers behind the scenes as chefs became rock stars, as writers like David Foster Wallace reshaped food writing, and as she fought to save the magazine she adored. A beloved writer with an enviable career, Reichl reminds us that although things may change, simple, honest pleasures — like a perfect plum — endure and make life rich.”
Mary Vermillion, Village Books
Talking to Strangers
What We Should Know about the People We Don't Know
By Malcolm Gladwell
Narrated by: Malcolm Gladwell
Length: 8 hours 42 minutes
Talking to Strangers
“Talking To Strangers is perfect on audio. It reads (listens) like a podcast including audio clips from interviews, etc.”
Jessica, Main Street Books Davidson
Three Women
By Lisa Taddeo
Narrated by: Tara Lynne Barr, Marin Ireland, Mena Suvari & Lisa Taddeo
Length: 11 hours 24 minutes
Three Women
“I can’t recall the last time I’ve been reading a work of nonfiction and woken up excited purely by the fact that, today, I would get to read more. Compulsive and psychologically riveting, Three Women reads like a novel. I couldn’t keep from dog-earing its pages each time Taddeo perfectly expressed something I’d felt but never had the words for. In Sloane, Maggie, and Lina, I recognized aspects of myself — namely the desire for connection and for love. When three women tell their uncensored truth, they can liberate a nation. I feel deeply grateful to Lisa Taddeo for giving us this gift of raw authenticity.”
Michaela Carter, Peregrine Book Company
The Nickel Boys (Winner 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction)
A Novel
By Colson Whitehead
Narrated by: JD Jackson & Colson Whitehead
Length: 6 hours 45 minutes
The Nickel Boys (Winner 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction)
“With every book, Colson Whitehead proves his ever-growing genius. He’s a master of the written word and truly one of the greatest living American novelists of our time. I didn’t think it was possible for him to write something better than Underground Railroad, but he most certainly has — The NickelBoys grabbed me at page one. It’s a mystery and a thriller, a treatise on race and social injustice, and a literary masterpiece all rolled into one. Ellwood and Turner are characters that will stay with me forever. This should be mandatory reading in every classroom.”
Michelle Malonzo, Changing Hands
Where'd You Go, Bernadette
A Novel
By Maria Semple
Narrated by: Kathleen Wilhoite
Length: 9 hours 35 minutes
A misanthropic matriarch leaves her eccentric family in crisis when she mysteriously disappears in this "whip-smart and divinely funny" novel that inspired the movie starring Cate Blanchett (New York Times).
Bernadette Fox is notorious. To her Microsoft-guru husband, she's a fearlessly opinionated partner; to fellow private-school mothers in... Read more »
You'll Grow Out of It
By Jessi Klein
Narrated by: Jessi Klein
Length: 7 hours 21 minutes
From Emmy award-winning comedy writer Jessi Klein, You'll Grow Out of It hilariously and candidly explores the journey of the 21st-century woman.
As both a tomboy and a late bloomer, comedian Jessi Klein grew up feeling more like an outsider than a participant in the rites of modern femininity.
In You'll Grow Out of It, Klein offers -... Read more »