Great-on-audio books that have previously been featured on MMD this season

Remember Us

by Jacqueline Woodson

I picked up this novel from Jacqueline Woodson the minute I heard about it, because of my love for her 2020 MG release Before the Ever After. The story takes place the summer before Sage enters seventh grade, in Brooklyn's Bushwick neighborhood, called "The Matchbox" because buildings keep going up in flames. Her mother wants to move them to a safer neighborhood—especially because Sage's father died fighting one of those fires—but she's reluctant to leave the place that holds so many family memories. Woodson drew heavily on her own experience growing up in Bushwick in the 70s and 80s to pen this novel, and beautifully captures the dreams and pain of the tween years and the particular poignancy of Sage's struggles. This lyrical story of grief, change, and healing is especially good on audio, narrated by the author.

The Foundling

by Ann Leary

The story is set in 1927 at the (fictional) Nettleton State Village for Feebleminded Women of Childbearing Age, a public institution that removes "unfit" women from society during their childbearing years to prevent them from birthing similarly "unfit" children. (Leary was inspired by her grandmother, who worked at such an institution for a time.) Our narrator is 18-year-old Mary Engle, who takes a job at Nettleton and quickly grows to idolize her boss, a physician, suffragist, community pillar, and unapologetic advocate of eugenics. Engle believes in Nettleton's mission, until she encounters a childhood friend who Mary knows to be bright and kind, and who claims she was wrongly institutionalized simply because her husband wanted to be rid of her. This realization ultimately prompts a crisis of conscience for Mary, but how can she question her powerful boss and the institution she's built? Stirring, timely, and highly listenable, as narrated by Laura Benanti.

Florence Adler Swims Forever

by Rachel Beanland

I've had Beanland's historical debut novel waiting for me in Libro.fm since its 2020 release; I bumped it to the top of my queue after enjoying her April 2023 release The House Is on Fire. This book is NOT what I expected: it's no spoiler to say that on page 14 the vivacious 20-year-old swimmer Florence drowns on a training swim in the Atlantic Ocean, and the book is truly about her Jewish family's elaborate attempt to conceal the truth from Florence's hospitalized sister, who they fear will go into premature labor if she learns of the tragedy. Beanland explains in her author's note that much of the story is based on her own Jewish family's history in 1930s Atlantic City, and teases out what is fact and what is fiction for her readers. I loved this on audio, narrated by a full cast including Jesse Vilinsky and Gabra Zackman.

The Cloisters

by Katy Hays

Our recent team and MMD Book Club discussions about Dark Academia inspired me to listen to this 2022 novel about a recent college graduate with a tragic past who travels from Washington state to New York City to take a summer job at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. When she arrives, she finds she is no longer needed—but is rescued by a curator at The Cloisters who has an opening. This outsider quickly falls in with the enigmatic group of curators and support staff at the museum, and becomes absorbed in their dangerous extracurricular pursuits involving rare artifacts and tarot cards. When those pursuits turn deadly, they all face terrible decisions in the aftermath. If you need characters you can root for this isn't the book for you, but I loved it for its intriguing setting, strong sense of place, and moody fall vibes. (If this sounds good, don't miss Ginger's post featuring 20 Dark Academia novels for moody fall reading.)

The Rachel Incident

by Caroline O'Donoghue

This is the book I can't stop recommending! I picked this up on a whim and am so glad I did: the novel reads like a warmer, wittier Sally Rooney, perfect for fans of introspective first-person literary fiction. When the novel begins, Rachel is living in London, happily married and pregnant, when she hears the news that one of her old long-ago college professors is in a coma. (This beginning reminds me of one of my favorite novels, This Must Be the Place.) This discovery prompts her to recall a pivotal year in her early twenties, when she met her best friend James working at the bookstore and their lives soon became enmeshed with those of the professor and his wife. A provocative novel with an enticing plot that thoughtfully interrogates themes of power, class, art, and the queer experience; I adored the Irish accents in Tara Flynn's excellent narration.

Chemistry

by Weike Wang

I loved listening to Joan Is Okay in August and wanted to dig deeper into Weike Wang’s backlist. In her 2017 debut novel our narrator is a chemistry PhD student who, feeling crushed by her demanding program and exacting Chinese parents, takes a leave of absence. She hopes to use this time to figure out what she really wants to do with her life, and to examine why she can’t just say “yes” when her committed boyfriend keeps pushing the idea of marriage. This literary novel is smartly written, with tight prose and a fascinating structure that serves the story well and makes it feel memoir-esque. I thought the ending was one part abrupt and one part pure brilliance, and would LOVE to unpack it in a book club setting. (I do want to flag a quick comment about gun violence for the sensitive reader: it caught me off guard, and made me wonder if now, six years later, that topic would have been handled differently.)

Great-on-audio books that have previously been featured on MMD this season

Remember Us

The Foundling

Florence Adler Swims Forever

The Cloisters

The Rachel Incident

Chemistry

Find your next read with:

100 Book recommendations
for every mood

Great-on-audio books that have previously been featured on MMD this season

Remember Us

The Foundling

Florence Adler Swims Forever

The Cloisters

The Rachel Incident

Chemistry

Find your next read with:

100 Book recommendations for every mood

100 Book recommendations
for every mood