New-to-the-blog audiobook listens

The Bee Sting

by Paul Murray

The publisher's descriptions of this Booker-shortlisted book are quite misleading, as they made the book sound considerably warmer than I found it to be. (And "funny," what?) Instead expect a multi-generational family saga about the unrelenting and unending troubles and ultimate demise of the ill-fated Barnes family. I listened to the full cast audiobook narration, and while audio isn’t my best reading format for discerning style and structure, it’s still easy to see that character development, structure, and symbolism are brilliantly done. If you can believe it, the book's 700 pages felt like a page-turner closer to half that long, all the way up to the jaw-dropping ending. This is a book that would well reward a re-read, if you can bear it. Please note countless content warnings.

Dear Edward

by Ann Napolitano

From the publisher: "One summer morning, twelve-year-old Edward Adler, his beloved older brother, his parents, and 183 other passengers board a flight in Newark headed for Los Angeles. Among them are a Wall Street wunderkind, a young woman coming to terms with an unexpected pregnancy, an injured veteran returning from Afghanistan, a business tycoon, and a free-spirited woman running away from her controlling husband. Halfway across the country, the plane crashes. Edward is the sole survivor. Edward’s story captures the attention of the nation, but he struggles to find a place in a world without his family. He continues to feel that a part of himself has been left in the sky, forever tied to the plane and all of his fellow passengers. But then he makes an unexpected discovery—one that will lead him to the answers of some of life’s most profound questions: When you’ve lost everything, how do you find the strength to put one foot in front of the other? How do you learn to feel safe again? How do you find meaning in your life?"

The Personal Librarian

by Marie Benedict, Victoria Christopher Murray

Confession: I haven't been to New York City's renowned Morgan Library (yet), and before this book's publicity campaign I knew nothing of the woman crucial to its existence and current collection. Belle da Costa Greene was born Belle Marion Greener to a prominent African American family; her father was Harvard's first Black graduate and a noted attorney and activist. When her parents separated, Belle's mother Genevieve moved Belle and her siblings to New York City, where the family decided to pass as white and changed their last name to Greene. (Belle added “de Costa” to her professional name, to substantiate the family's claim that they were of Portuguese ancestry.) This was the backdrop for Morgan's hiring Belle as his "personal librarian," where she enjoyed great and nearly unprecedented power as curator of his precious personal art collection, which became the public Pierpont Morgan Library in 1924. (Belle served as Director until 1948.) This is gripping, fast-paced biographical fiction, narrated by Robin Miles (which definitely influenced my opting for the audiobook). This is our February 2024 selection for MMD Book Club; its flight pick is Belle Greene by Alexandra Lapierre.

A Woman Is No Man

by Etaf Rum

BOTM described this story as an emotional, inspirational family drama: "Three generations of women weigh family duty and desire in a conservative Palestinian community in Brooklyn. Between navigating the conservative forces swirling within their households and upholding the family's honor, Isra and Deya struggle to stay true to themselves—and Rum's portrayal of their feats and flaws is masterful. This is one of those family sagas you'll read in one sitting without coming up for air."

Queen Hereafter: A Novel of Lady Macbeth

by Isabelle Schuler

From the publisher: "A stunning literary reclamation of an iconic character, Queen Hereafter is a gripping story of female ambition, power, history, desire, hate, and vengeance set against the backdrop of early medieval Scotland."

Mrs. Nash’s Ashes

by Sarah Adler

After a bad breakup, twenty-something, once-upon-a-time child actor Millie found solace in spending time alone in her apartment, and soon became best friends with her elderly neighbor Mrs. Nash. When Mrs. Nash died, she left Millie with a story and a last wish: that Millie travel to Key West with her ashes to reunite her with the true love she hasn't seen in decades. When a cancelled flight wrecks Millie's plans, she hitches a ride south with a handsome grump she once met at a reading for her horrible ex's MFA program. Cue all the romance tropes: grumpy-meets-sunshine, peculiar airbnb with Only One Bed, and more. The sapphic 1940s love story unspooled in alternating chapters lent meaning and perspective to events in the present day timeline. Mara Wilson's cheeky narration of this road trip romance made for fun and easy listening. (Open door.)

The Pole

by J. M. Coetzee

I own books by the Nobel- and twice-Booker winner Coetzee on my shelf (largely because I collect these orange Penguin editions) but this short novel is first I've read from the South African author. Listening to this book felt like an intellectual exercise: the Pole of the title is an aging pianist who visits Barcelona to perform works by Chopin. While there he meets Beatriz, a middle-aged socialite who volunteers with the Concert Circle, the organization that hosts the Pole. (They call him "the Pole" because the Spaniards of the Concert Circle don't even try to correctly pronounce all the consonants in the man's Polish name.) Beatriz and the Pole converse only briefly, and in English—which neither of them speaks fluently—so Beatriz is stunned when, months after his departure, she receives a flirtatious message from the man. And as a reader I was likewise stunned to see the two enter into an affair—though that isn't really what the story is about. I feel like a literature seminar could spend a semester unpacking everything this book has to say about place, language, translation, and love—and Dante and his Beatrice. Narrated by Colin Mace.

Acts of Violet

by Margarita Montimore

Shelf Awareness calls this a “twisty, genre-defying family drama…Reminiscent of Taylor Jenkins Reid's Daisy Jones & the Six." From the publisher: "Nearly a decade ago, iconic magician Violet Volk performed her greatest trick yet: vanishing mid-act. While Violet sought out the spotlight, her sister Sasha, had to be the responsible one. But Sasha can never seem to escape her sister’s tumultuous orbit. Then there’s Cameron Frank, determined to finally get his big break hosting a podcast devoted to all things Violet—though keeping his job hinges on an exclusive interview with Sasha, the last person who wants to talk to him. As the ten-year anniversary approaches, the podcast picks up steam, and Cameron’s pursuit of Sasha becomes increasingly intrusive. Meanwhile, Sasha begins to experience an unsettling series of sleepwalking episodes and coincidences, which all lead back to Violet. Pushed to her emotional limits, Sasha must finally confront the most painful truths about her sister, and herself, even at the risk of losing everything. Alternating between Sasha’s narration and Cameron’s podcast transcripts, interspersed with documents that offer a tantalizing peek at Violet herself, Acts of Violet is an utterly original, propulsive story of fame, deception, and forgiveness that will make you believe in magic."

Unreasonable Hospitality: The Remarkable Power of Giving People More Than They Expect

by Will Guidara

I do love a good behind-the-scenes. Will Guidara worked in hospitality at some of the best restaurants in New York City for many years. For fans of Ruth Reichl's Garlic and Sapphires. From the publisher: "Will Guidara was twenty-six when he took the helm of Eleven Madison Park, a struggling two-star brasserie that had never quite lived up to its majestic room. Eleven years later, EMP was named the best restaurant in the world. How did Guidara pull off this unprecedented transformation? Radical reinvention, a true partnership between the kitchen and the dining room—and memorable, over-the-top, bespoke hospitality. Guidara’s team surprised a family who had never seen snow with a magical sledding trip to Central Park after their dinner; they filled a private dining room with sand, complete with mai-tais and beach chairs, to console a couple with a cancelled vacation. And his hospitality extended beyond those dining at the restaurant to his own team, who learned to deliver praise and criticism with intention; why the answer to some of the most pernicious business dilemmas is to give more—not less; and the magic that can happen when a busser starts thinking like an owner. Today, every business can choose to be a hospitality business—and we can all transform ordinary transactions into extraordinary experiences."

The Blonde Identity

by Ally Carter

Ally Carter is a bestselling YA author; this is her action-packed adult debut featuring a spy with amnesia, a gruff and handsome co-conspirator, a variety of European settings, and banter galore. The story opens when our spy protagonist wakes up in Paris and realizes she’s in big, big trouble because it seems a whole lot of people want her dead, which is confusing, because she is NOT a spy. She quickly realizes this is an unfortunate case of mistaken identity: the bad guys are confusing her for her identical twin, a spy who's seemingly gone rogue and is certainly nowhere to be found. To stay safe, she has to disappear—and for that she needs the help of a very grumpy, very handsome secret agent.

River Sing Me Home

by Eleanor Shearer

From the publisher: "The master of the Providence plantation in Barbados gathers his slaves and announces the king has decreed an end to slavery. As of the following day, the Emancipation Act of 1834 will come into effect. The cries of joy fall silent when he announces that they are no longer his slaves; they are now his apprentices. No one can leave. They must work for him for another six years. Freedom is just another name for the life they have always lived. So Rachel runs. Away from Providence, she begins a desperate search to find her children—the five who survived birth and were sold. Are any of them still alive? Rachel has to know. The grueling, dangerous journey takes her from Barbados then, by river, deep into the forest of British Guiana and finally across the sea to Trinidad. She is driven on by the certainty that a mother cannot be truly free without knowing what has become of her children, even if the answer is more than she can bear. These are the stories of Mary Grace, Micah, Thomas Augustus, Cherry Jane and Mercy. But above all this is the story of Rachel and the extraordinary lengths to which a mother will go to find her children...and her freedom."

Land of Milk and Honey

by C Pam Zhang

I devoured this dystopian follow-up to Zhang's debut How Much of These Hills Is Gold; I happened to get my hands on Eunice Wong's narration early and LOVED it in that format. In this urgent and moody tale, the end of the world arrives in the form of encroaching smog that begins in Iowa and slowly spreads to choke out the sun, so that humanity—or at least most of us—are forced to subsist on a bland and gritty flour for our nutrients. Our protagonist in this dour world is a chef—so when she is offered a position that will allow her to prepare meals for the über-wealthy at a hidden bunker for the elite using choice ingredients like strawberries, crème fraîche, and chicken, how can she refuse? She doesn't even try, and soon becomes thoroughly entangled in the lives of her wealthy employer, his beautiful daughter, and their morally dubious quest to preserve the life we once knew—at a cost. Scintillating and sensual, especially (but not only) when it comes to descriptions of the food.

New-to-the-blog audiobook listens

a gateway

to reliable joy this summer

Buckle Up!

summer reading starts May 16th