This summer I’ve been listening to audiobooks at a fast clip, and I thought it would be fun and useful to bring you a Quick Lit-style roundup of not just the good books but good listens I’ve enjoyed lately. (We haven’t done an audiobook roundup like this since this time last year, yikes!) I know many of you are avid audiobook listeners, and are always on the lookout for books that are particularly well-suited to that format.
I’m a longtime audiobook fan, but my listening took a big dip at the dawn of the year. It’s interesting to observe the domino effects of a change in routine: I got just a little bit sick in late December, but that mild illness turned into a big problem with my lungs and airway. Long story short, I spent A LOT of time off my feet and on the couch early this year as we struggled to figure out what on earth was happening and what we could do about it. And while couch time isn’t the worst thing in the world, it proved to be terrible for my audiobook listening. I typically listen while I’m walking the dog, folding laundry, watering houseplants (or outdoor plants in the warmer months), standing at the sink doing dishes … and for a while I wasn’t able to do those things.
But come spring I was able to get moving again. My doctors told me it was important to spend time getting my heart rate up, even if it wasn’t particularly comfortable. I started slowly with short walks, which turned into longer walks, and first of all Daisy was over the moon, but then, with the increased listening time, I started racing through audiobooks.
This summer I’ve also spent a good bit of time in the car (like taking kids to college, sniff) or on projects amenable to listening (like freshening up our pantry organization I haven’t touched since early COVID days). That means I’ve racked up lots of listening hours lately!
You’ll see lots of variety in this recent audiobook roundup: old books and new books, an eclectic assortment of genres, first reads and re-reads, books ranging from under four hours in length all the way up to nearly twenty! (You won’t see any truly, epically long listens in this list—but if you have recommendations, I’m all ears! Bookish puns always intended.)
I’m sharing six recent reads below that I haven’t yet told you about here on the blog. With our MMD audiophiles in mind, I also opted to share my twelve summer audiobook listens that I shared throughout the season in Quick Lit, so those great-on-audio books would appear in one place.
As always, I’m tracking my reading in the My Reading Life book journal, which makes it easy to see and share what I’ve been reading lately. I know these are audiobook listens because I jot “audiobook” in the margin. Easy peasy.
I hope you find something that looks intriguing for your TBR on this list (and in these comments!), and I look forward to browsing your recent audiobook winners below. Thanks in advance for your recommendations.
New-to-the-blog audiobook listens
I opted to read these books on audio because I suspected they’d be particularly good in that format, and they did not disappoint.
The Ensemble
I so enjoyed revisiting this 2018 Summer Reading Guide selection, this time on audio as narrated by Rebecca Lowman. In the 1990s, four promising young musicians decide to forego the usual soloist paths and bind their professional (and personal) lives together to form a string quartet. Jana is driven, Henry a prodigy, Daniel a success through dogged determination, and Brit a bit of a wild card. With the feel of a dysfunctional family novel, the characters aren't always likable but always ring true, and Gabel nails a wide range of human emotions—joy and pain, envy and fear, frustration and near-despair—as she portrays the group's turbulent eighteen years together. This utterly believable and emotionally compelling submersion into the competitive world of classical music is for lovers of family dramas and found family narratives. 11 hrs 37 mins. More info →
Barracoon
I've always listened to Zora Neale Hurston on audio; here the combination of her nonfiction work—just published in its entirety for the first time in 2018—and narrator Robin Miles is exceptional. This is the true story of Cudjo Lewis, believed to have been the last survivor of the last slave ship that came from Africa to the United States. Hurston, who also had a career as an anthropologist, spent three months interviewing Lewis in 1927, when he was nearly 90 years old, in order to tell this story. I especially enjoyed Alice Walker's foreword and was quite surprised by some of its contents (I don't want to say more!). 3 hrs 50 mins. More info →
Strange Sally Diamond
I knew nothing about this book going in and really wish I had; let me help you not make the same mistake! This story, which reads somewhat like a darker Elinor Oliphant, begins when Sally's father dies. He told her many a time that he wanted her to put him out with the trash when he dies—and when she takes this advice at face value, she prompts a police investigation that makes headlines. The news reports lead to the disclosure of a secret Sally's adoptive parents had managed to keep buried for many years: the identity of her birth father, who committed unspeakable crimes, including against Sally herself. In many ways, this book is an exploration of generational trauma and the question of nature vs. nurture; shockingly terrible things happen in these pages, yet Sally herself is an altogether winning character and a source of much of the book's humor and light. Although I hear there's less of that light in the original Irish edition: I'm in the U.S., and read an ending that was modified to be a bit more hopeful. (I can't get my hands on that original ending: If you know more, please tell me!) Narrated by Jessica Regan, Stephen Hogan, and Sara Lynam. 10 hrs 4 mins. More info →
The Master Butchers Singing Club
I've had this on my radar since Anne Helen Petersen named it a favorite in What Should I Read Next episode 284: I need an irresistible read this summer, back in 2021. (That's a great episode, all about burnout and the reading life.) I've loved Erdrich's recent releases and have very much enjoyed listening to her narrate her own work; I believe this is the furthest I've gone into her backlist and I opted to listen here as well. The story spans 36 years in the fictional small town of Argus, North Dakota, a place where Erdrich has set many of her novels. I was delighted to encounter familiar characters in Erdrich's story world and enjoyed getting to know new ones, even if the whole plot didn't quite come together for me. The strong sense of place and robust, textured portrayal of the multifaceted community was worth the price of admission. Erdrich is one of the rare novelists who narrate their own work narration of her own work here. 16 hrs 43 mins. More info →
The Great Transition
This cli-fi novel caught my attention for its comparisons to books I love like Station Eleven and Future Home of the Living God. The author himself calls it a "climate crisis utopia": the story is set in a near-future world that almost collapsed due to the great climate crisis, but global citizens forged a post-nation-state, post-fossil-fuel way of being, and this change became known as The Great Transition. In one timeline, 15-year-old Emi listens to oldies like Adele and Taylor Swift, works on a school research project about The Great Transition, and seeks to find her mother, a missing climate change activist. In the past timeline, we follow Emi's mother and father as they meet and fall in love while working to avert climate disaster before the crucial milestone of Day Zero. This is a fast-paced, intelligent genre mash-up and a worthy addition to the rapidly expanding catalog of ecological fiction. Narrated by Stacy Carolan and Stacy Gonzalez. 11 hrs 31 mins. More info →
Alias Emma
Sometimes the right book drops in my lap exactly when I need it, and that was the case with this 2022 spy thriller: I had just finished The Great Transition on audio and had no idea what to listen to next when I got my library notification alerting me that my long-awaited hold was in! Our team member Donna put this on my radar last summer when she described it as "a perfect page-turner" in WSIRN Ep 344: our team's favorite summer reads. I also loved that it was set in London. In this series opener, British spy Emma Makepeace (not her real name) is charged to deliver her charge—a handsome doctor the Russians want dead—to safety at MI6. But to get to safety, the pair need to cross the city of London and the Thames without being detected by a single of the city's hundreds of thousands CCTV cameras. It sounds impossible, but the alternative is unthinkable. With a fast-moving plot, likable characters, and terrific narration by Sophie Colquhoun, this was a winner. I can't wait for the sequel that comes out later this month. 8 hrs 16 mins. More info →
Great-on-audio books that have previously been featured on MMD this summer
For your convenience, I’ve gathered my audiobook-specific recommendations from this summer’s Quick Lit posts here in one place. Happy listening!
Hula: A Novel
I shared this May 2023 release in our May edition of Quick Lit. Our MMD Book Club community manager Ginger has lived in Hawai'i for several years now, and she put this new release on my radar. In recent years my eyes have been opened to how little I knew about the islands' history, industry, and current struggles, including its complex relationship with tourism. This is a multigenerational family saga, in which three generations of women tell their story about life on the Big Island. It's also very much about Hawai'i's history and heritage, the US colonization of Hawai'i, and the more recent Sovereignty movement, all seen through the eyes of the family's women. Hakes's writiing is warm and lush, and her evocative descriptions will make you feel like you're right there on the island. Mapuana Makia's narration for the audiobook is completely lovely and definitely enhanced my reading experience. 10 hrs 44 mins. More info →
Skyward
As I said in August Quick Lit, this was such a fun change of pace! I raced through the audiobook, narrated by Suzy Jackson, and while my app clearly shows it's 15 1/2 hours long the reading time sped by. This series opener for the Skyward series introduces us to Spensa, a 16-year-old girl who has long dreamed of following in her father's footsteps as a pilot for the Defiant Defense Force. It's not easy to land a coveted pilot position, but Spensa's way is made much harder because of that same father: years ago, he was branded as a coward during an important battle, and the powers that be fear that if allowed to fly, Spensa will turn coward as well. Despite these obstacles, Spensa manages to clinch a position with Defiant, where she makes friends, excels in the air, and discovers that Defiant's leaders seem to be hiding key information about her father's last battle from the people. I really enjoyed this, and might need to make time to read the rest of the series this fall. 15 hrs 28 mins. More info →
Once There Were Wolves
This 2021 ecothriller appeared in June Quick Lit. Several What Should I Read Next guests have raved about this eco-thriller, most recently Mollie Hedgecock in Episode 368 ("Learning to trust your reading instincts"). The story revolves around twins Inti and Aggie: Inti is the lead biologist overseeing the reintroduction of wolves into the Scottish Highlands; her sister Aggie has accompanied her to Scotland as she heals from a traumatic history that is slowly revealed to the reader over the course of the story. Inti has good reason to believe the newly-arrived wolves will be beneficial to all, but the neighboring farmers are understandably leery: they fear the wolves put their livestock in danger, and the residents of this tight-knit community don't hide their ill feelings towards the wolves or Aggie herself. McConaghy combines elements of crime fiction, romance, and domestic drama to craft a tense story that builds to a breathtaking conclusion. I quite enjoyed the audio, narrated by Saskia Maarleveld. 8 hrs 27 mins. (If you enjoyed this, Peter Heller's August 2023 release—included in the 2023 Summer Reading Guide— is a must-read!) More info →
Monsters: A Fan’s Dilemma
Another one from May Quick Lit! I was previously unfamiliar with Dederer's work but picked up this new spring release because I was interested in the topic: how can we reconcile our love for art with the biographies of its creators? Gone are the days when fans knew little about the real people who created the art they consumed; Dederer writes of how things are different in the internet era: "Biography used to be something you sought out, yearned for, actively pursued. Now it falls on your head all day long." She frames her case from the jarring (and somewhat graphic) opening: she has long loved the films of Roman Polanski—Chinatown, Rosemary's Baby, The Pianist—yet Polanski committed objectively terrible crimes. What is the fan to make of this? How can the fan think about their relationship to art made by always imperfect and sometimes monstrous people? I found this a thoughtful and thought-provoking treatment, which covered questions I knew I wanted to hear more about and also topics I didn't expect to enter the conversation, like capitalism. (So fascinating!) Dederer narrates her own audiobook; I appreciated her conversational style. 8 hrs 14 mins. More info →
Tom Lake
I shared this August 1 release in our August edition of Quick Lit. When I included this new release in the 2023 Summer Reading Guide, I closed my blurb with the words "I can't wait to read it again." And despite having a mountainous TBR, I chose to read this brilliant new novel for the second time in six months—this time, on audio. I loved everything about it: its tender familial relationships, Michigan cherry orchard setting, and insider look at summer stock theater. When Lara is nearing sixty and the pandemic is just beginning, her three adult daughters return home for the summer. The girls have long romanticized their mother’s once-upon-a-time romance with a megastar actor, and now, all together again, the girls direct Lara to tell them the whole story from the beginning. She unspools her story slowly, over three long weeks harvesting cherries on the family property. I’m still not sure how I feel about the ending, but the story is gorgeous, wistful, and tender, with every word falling in exactly the right place. 11 hrs 22 mins. More info →
The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece
From June Quick Lit: I had this on my Summer Reading Guide reading list, but I didn't get my copy until just before its May 9 release. And it's long: 448 pages, or nearly 16 hours in the audiobook version I listened to, but the time sped by because I wanted to hear what would happen next! As its title suggests, this enjoyable novel is about the making of a contemporary blockbuster superhero movie, based on a 1970 comic depicting a soldier's experience in WWII. Hanks is clearly writing what he knows here, including lots of juicy details about everything from location scouting to casting concerns to dealing with on-set drama. I especially enjoyed the character backstories that revealed how each cast and crew member got into the business in the first place. The tone is undeniably earnest, but that worked just fine for me. While the print novel contains illustrations of the comic, I would highly recommend the audiobook, read by a full cast including Peter Gerety, Natalie Morales, Rita Wilson, and, of course, Tom Hanks. 15 hrs 57 mins. More info →
Walking with Sam: A Father, a Son, and Five Hundred Miles Across Spain
From June Quick Lit: Our team member Ginger raved about this book ... and then when I was looking for an audiobook Will and I could listen to together on our way to the beach, I realized the walk in question takes place on Spain's Camino de Santiago. Will and I were actively anticipating our upcoming trip to Spain, so the timing was perfect! This is the real-time account of the Brat Pack actor's 500-mile walk across Spain with his 19-year-old son Sam, detailing the pair's reasons for embarking on the trip, their long, hot days spent walking—sometimes upwards of 20 miles a day—in the hot summer sun, the fellow walkers they meet along the way, the food they eat, the coffee they drink, the inns they sleep in, what they talk about along the way. We rarely listen to audiobooks together and enjoyed this one so much. The narration was especially good: the elder McCarthy reads the majority but son Sam frequently adds his own voice, which made for a wonderful listening experience. 6 hrs 43 mins. More info →
A Very Punchable Face: A Memoir
From June Quick Lit: I'd heard good things about this memoir since it came out in 2020, but Curtis Sittenfeld (who was a DELIGHT) nudged me to finally read it when she praised it during our MMD Book Club discussion for Summer Reading Guide selection Romantic Comedy. Of course I expected (and enjoyed) stories about SNL, but was pleasantly surprised by much of the contents: I had no idea Jost grew up on Staten Island, or that his mom for many years served as chief medical officer for the NYC Fire Department, or that the most horrifying/laugh-provoking story would be about an infectious disease acquired on a surfing trip to Nicaragua. This celebrity memoir is narrated by the author, and I'm glad I opted for the audiobook. I especially enjoyed the moments when Jost was clearly having a hard time not laughing! 7 hrs 41 mins. More info →
True Biz
This 2022 campus novel, which I first shared in July Quick Lit, is our September Modern Mrs Darcy Book Club selection! This story unfolds at Ohio's River Valley School for the Deaf, a boarding school where students come to learn and can count on the cultural richness of the deaf community being celebrated. When Charlie enrolls as a new student, she's never met another deaf student; her parents had kept her in traditional school for far too long, hoping her issues with hearing would simply disappear once they got her cochlear implants dialed in. Charlie knew that would never happen, and quickly makes herself at home in her new school setting, not knowing the school's very existence is actively being threatened. I knew little about deafness and the deaf community prior to reading this book, and ate up all the details about various facets of the deaf experience deaf author Nović wove into the story. I loved the audiobook narrated by Lisa Flanagan and Kaleo Griffith, with the sound of signing over the speech when ASL was being used. 10 hrs 23 mins. More info →
This Story Will Change: After the Happily Ever After
Another from August Quick Lit! I picked up this short memoir after Curtis Sittenfeld praised it during our MMD Book Club discussion of Romantic Comedy. This is the almost real-time chronicle of the death of a marriage, an ending that felt premature to the author. What's more, when the story ends, it's not over, necessarily, for the author still does not know what will happen next, either in her life or the life of her marriage. The beginning, at least, is clear: in the opening pages, the husband unexpectedly tells the wife "I'm not happy;" the wife then proceeds to interrogate what might have gone wrong—for she has many theories on this point, though she doesn't know which, if any, is true. The narrator does indeed refer to the characters as "the husband" and "the wife," no one is named in this memoir, and the third person narrative is only occasionally broken by a first person chapter. I would have guessed this approach would make the characters feel distant, but instead felt as though the author was making room to tell a story more universal than the breakdown of one marriage. This is a book about sad things, but I found the storytelling—and specifically the narrative approach—made for interesting listening; I appreciated that Crane voiced her own memoir as I felt I was hearing her story exactly as she intended. 4 hrs 41 mins. More info →
Joan Is Okay
From August Quick Lit: In this first person, character-driven narrative, we meet thirtysomething ICU doctor Joan. Her relationships with her Chinese and Chinese American family members are fraught, and her inability to read cues makes friendship and neighborliness tricky, but her great love for her work is utterly uncomplicated—that is, until her father dies. Her workaholism has always been seen as an attribute in her NYC hospital, but when she takes just 48 hours off to fly to Shanghai and back for his funeral, HR steps in and makes her take some extended time off. Without the distraction of work, Joan is forced to reckon with the things she's been avoiding, in all their complexity and ambiguity. But then COVID-19 enters the story, with devastating effects in her personal and professional life. I so appreciated being let into Joan's interior world: her cool assessments of the people around her, her dry (and sometimes unintentional) humor, and her frank reckoning with individual and societal struggles. If you enjoy introspective literary fiction on audio, this one belong on your TBR. Catherine Ho's excellent narration was a wonderful way to experience this story. 6 hrs 36 mins. More info →
How to Stay Married: The Most Insane Love Story Ever Told
Another one from August Quick Lit. This memoir begins in much the same way as Crane's: one night the author's wife turns to him and says she wants a divorce. Both memoirs explore the aftermath of a spouse's revelation, both are written in more or less real time, and yet the stories felt completely different. I think this is as much due to the tone and approach as the ending, as the title indicates that this is not the story of a marriage's dissolution but its unlikely continuation. Key's voice is frank and funny, even as he tells his readers about his wife's affair with a family friend and the chaos this revelation brought to his family, including the couple's three young daughters. Early on, Key takes a close friend's advice to fight for his wife, and proceeds to interrogate his own role in their problems, the past unaddressed traumas that continue to fuel present hurts, and what his Christian faith means to his life and relationship now. I'm sure my jaw dropped a time or two while listening, including when Lauren showed up to voice her own chapter in which she shares her side of what happened. I'm glad I opted for the audio: Key's humor added levity to tough moments, and the Southern accent was a nice surprise and fitting for a story that unfolds mostly in Savannah. 8 hrs 43 mins. More info →
What have you been listening to lately? Please share your favorite titles that are particularly good in the audio format in the comments section!
P.S. 15 standout backlist summer novels perfect for seasonal listening, 10 absorbing classics for your Autumn audiobook queue, and 15 backlist Summer Reading Guide favorites that are even better on audio. Plus, check out all our audiobook archives here.
43 comments
I love love loved The Cherry Robbers by Sarai Walker, narrated by January LaVoy. Her voice is velvety and luxurious — an ideal match to a Gothic-tinged family saga with threads in 2017 and 1950. It’s a haunting story and LaVoy’s voice is up to the task of telling it with plenty of atmosphere.
The Violin Conspiracy, with the music added is stunning!
The Invisible Hour by Alice Hoffman was narrated by Jessie Mueller and she did a magnificent job. I’m not sure I would have enjoyed this book as much if I had just read it, but Mueller’s narration really made the book come alive! Her inflections and tone were spot on!
oh goodie…glad to know to listen to this one. Definitely at the top of my TBR stack. Thanks for your accolade Kay Lyn
I enjoyed this in print and am glad to hear the narration is great!
Monsters was so thought -provoking! I would add Remarkably Bright Creatures to this list. The person who did the voice for Marcellus was spot on: a snooty Sherlock Holmes type. I loved it!
I’m also a big fan of audiobooks for kids. We listen to these if I need a minute to get dinner prepped and everyone is a little hangry…: https://brittanydahl.com/blog/kids-audiobooks-peaceful-lunchtime/
I couldn’t agree more about Remarkably Bright Creatures and the voice for Marcellus – so perfect!
I just finished this book & loved it! The audio was so fun to listen to
I wasn’t sure what to think of Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt at first. It has truly grown on me over time. I listened to it because it takes place primarily in the Pacific Northwest (place of my birth), one of the main characters is an older woman, and who can pass up a story about an octopus? I think both of the narrators, Marin Ireland (Tova and Cameron) and Michael Urie (Marcellus) were very good.
If you loved Marcellus in Remarkably Bright Creatures and haven’t seen the 2020 Academy Award winning documentary My Octopus Teacher yet, I wholeheartedly recommend the movie to you.
I listen to CD audiobooks in my car and via Hoopla on my computer. In my car, I just finished Helen Simonson’s novel “The Summer Before the War” and have started Jane Austen’s “Persuasion.” My next CD audiobook after that will be Ann Hood’s memoir “Morningstar.”
I loved the audiobook of “Remarkably Bright Creatures” too!
I enjoy so many books on audio, but the listen that really stood out for me this summer is a middle-grade book, The Eyes and the Impossible, by Dave Eggars, narrated by Ethan Hawke. The voices of each character (all animals) are differentiated and animated. The story is humorous and sweet. As I was listening, I realized that it takes place in a real location that is near me, even though the story never states the location. The story is all from a dogs point of view, and is charmingly mistaken in some things (like estimates of amounts). I loved this book, and have re-checked-out the audio from the library more than once so I could play portions for friends and family. I also bought hard copies for my niece and myself (the special wooden cover), and read some of it in print. It has beautiful art reproductions of real paintings, but with a dog added in. I was so enamored with both the print and audio, that the first time through, I sat down and listened to the end of the story while following along in the book.
Thanks for the recommendation!
Meryl Streep did such a phenomenal job narrating Tom Lake. All the warmth of the familiarity of her voice, but she was never distracting. I want to listen to more from her!
Totally agree with you Jenna about Meryl Streep’s narration on Tom Lake.
Really added to the reading experience. A real treat!
Absolutely agree her narration made the book. Tom Hanks narrated her previous book, The Dutch House and it was equally good.
I loved The Dutch House and Tom Hanks narration was perfection!
I loved her narration of Nora Ephron’s Heartburn!
I loved The Secret Book of Flora Lea on audio!
Yes! I was captivated by the story! And the narrator, Cynthia Erivo, brought so much magic with her gorgeous voice that it was an absolute joy to listen along. The book kept me company for part of one leg and most of the return flight to/from England last week — especially fitting since the story is set there.
All authors are not successful readers but Dr. Abraham Verghese does a masterful job of reading The Covenant of Water. 30 hours seemed daunting but I was sorry when it ended.
Agree! I loved this one.
I also highly recommend listening to this book, though reading would be much faster. Dr. Verghese’s Scottish and Swedish accents may be a bit iffy but of course his Malayalam is flawless, and such an integral part of the book. I understand some Malayalam and it was really lovely to hear the diction of it, even the “Aaaaaah” used as a filler by many characters. If you read it, it would just not be the same.
I thoroughly enjoyed The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi on audio. Lameece Issaq and Amin El Gamal were awesome narrators adding so much to the magical pirate adventure.
Agree…He did an amazing job narrating this tomb. Loved it so much!
Currently finishing up Stories I Only Tell My Friends by Rob Lowe (and also read by him). I really love listening to celebrity memoirs in particular because there is something so moving about hearing them in their own voice. Jewel’s Never Broken was another excellent one that I recently finished.
I LOVED Rob Lowe’s book on audio! I’m glad to hear you enjoyed Jewel’s as well.
I loved this one too! As well as Martin Short’s I Must Say!
I enjoyed listening to the Rob Lowe memoir. Another good one, in the same style, is A Life in Parts by Bryan Cranston.
I listened to Mariana Enriquez’s “Our Share of Night” based on an NYT review. Wow, what an unexpected book for me, I am not typically a reader of either fantasy or horror. This was a mind-bending book, that you do need a strong stomach for, as it has a lot of extremely disturbing content. Beautifully written though, and remarkably original (as I have admitted, I don’t consume much fantasy).
Nevertheless, I liked listening to the Argentinian place names and Spanish words spoken by a narrator who was clearly proficient in both English and Spanish. It is a lot of listening – 29 hours? I had to return it on Libby with about an hour left, and ended up reading the last few pages on a physical book, it felt flat somehow.
I was sad when The Museum of Ordinary People by Mike Gayle ended on audiobook. I greatly enjoyed his prior novel, All The Lonely People, on audiobook and I’m so glad I bought TMoOP as well! Beautifully written and narrated. Gayle has a way of writing about the most ordinary things we all experience at some point or another in a way that makes you feel less alone.
This isn’t a new book but Julia Whelan’s narration of The Invisible Life of Addie Larue was such a great “read/listen” – recommend!
If you want to laugh, Is This Anything, written and narrated by Jerry Seinfeld, is a great way to do it.
Happy listening!
I just finished None of This Is True by Lisa Jewell. It’s narrated by Nicola Walker, Louise Brealey and an ensemble cast. Phew! What a roller-coaster ride!
Love Lisa Jewell books and Nicola Walker is one of my favorite actors and narrator!
This is the exact book that came to mind for me too. I loved the style of the production. Felt like listening to real life unfold. I just don’t think the physical book would have had the same impact. Loved it!
This is my second recommendation here today: “Solito”, a memoir read by the author, Javier Zamora. A true story of his journey from El Salvador as a nine year old immigrant to the US to meet his parents in California, told from his perspective as a child traveling with “coyotes” and strangers, but no family. An amazing true story, and a wonderful voice. It may be YA.
This one has been on my list! Thanks for the reminder. I hadn’t thought to consider the audio version!
Agreed. So good. I didn’t listen to it, but the book has not left me.
I will have to check out the audio version of Tom Lake! I really enjoyed the audiobook of The Making of Major Motion Picture Masterpiece; Tom Hanks is a fabulous narrator! I also liked the audiobook The Late Mrs Willoughby, however the audiobook of The Paris Daughter by Kristin Harmel just did not work for me. The french accented dialogue just sounded so contrived and it was very annoying after a while…
I’m looking forward to starting the audio version of Remarkably Bright Creatures. I read the print book months ago but my IRL book club is discussing this book next week, so this is a re-read for me.
I’m listening to Nora Ephron’s Heartburn read by Meryl Streep and it is fantastic!!
I just finished the audio edition of The Collected Regrets of Clover by Mikki Brammer, and loved it. Jennifer Pickens was a new narrator for me, but her voice seemed perfect for Clover.
I’m currently listening to “Better Living Through Birding: Notes from a Black Man in the Natural World” by Christian Cooper and really enjoying it! The author narrates it and he has led such an interesting life. Bird sounds are interspersed throughout, which has been a very fun feature.
Two outstanding books
The Lottery Winners Greatest Ride by Skip Johnson
And
the Mystics Gift. by Skip Johnson
Excellent, thought provoking, with substance and depth
I read and listened to this. If you buy The Eyes and the Impossible be sure to buy it at an indie, the stunning wooden cover is only sold at indies. Eaggers did this on purpose. It is reasonable and a work of art that I personally enjoy he did just for indies.
For fans of The Great Transition be sure to check out the author’s website. If you give a donation (any amount) to Pine Tree Power then he will send you free merchandise related to the book. All details on his website, so if you like the book why not support a cause that the author considers a major win for the environment.
https://www.nickfg.com/merch-swag