We have so many summer visitors in Maine, and I often hear how much they enjoy browsing our independent bookstores. Here in Portland, Sherman’s Maine Coast Book Shops and Longfellow Books are two of my favorites, along with our newest, Print: A Bookstore. Listeners can also get digital audiobooks from these Indie stores through their partnership with Libro.fm Audiobooks.
AudioFile is working with Libro.fm to help tell more listeners about the program and support the independent bookstores we love. You don’t have to visit Maine—you can find an indie near you: Libro.fm/indies.
Here’s the AudioFile spin on Libro.fm Bestsellers—first some fiction, followed by nonfiction picks:
LESS
by Andrew Sean Greer, read by Robert Petkoff
Robert Petkoff provides a steady narration of a story for word lovers. And what’s better than hearing it! In this audiobook, a clear delivery with thoughtful pauses means even more than the portrayal of worldly accents. 2018 Pulitzer Prize
THERE THERE
by Tommy Orange, read by Darrell Dennis, Shaun Taylor-Corbett, Alma Cuervo, Kyla Garcia
An ensemble cast is an effective vehicle for a novel about contemporary Native Americans living in Oakland, California. The emotions that Alma Cuervo and Kyla Garcia bring to the characters of Jacquie Red Feather and her sister, Opal, are particularly memorable.
THE DEATH OF MRS. WESTAWAY
by Ruth Ware, read by Imogen Church
Imogen Church is a lively and versatile narrator. She captures the vulnerable but determined Hal beautifully. An AudioFile Earphones winner.
ELEANOR OLIPHANT IS COMPLETELY FINE
by Gail Honeyman, read by Cathleen McCarron
The quintessential square peg, Eleanor Oliphant is intelligent and efficient in her daily work at an office in Scotland—but at a loss when it comes to human relationships. In addition to making the listening rich with accents, Cathleen McCarron’s great strength is nailing the novel’s emotional tone. AudioFile Earphones and 2018 Audie Winner for Best Fiction.
A GENTLEMAN IN MOSCOW
by Amor Towles, read by Nicholas Guy Smith
A personal favorite. Audiobook praise seldom gets higher than, as reviewer David Walton writes,” A gifted narrator, Nicholas Guy Smith captures scene and character with expressive shadings of voice and tone—a master performance that engages the listener from the start and illuminates.”
LINCOLN IN THE BARDO
by George Saunders, read by Nick Offerman, David Sedaris, George Saunders, and a Full Cast
This audiobook experience brings an entirely new dimension to this unique novel that has been celebrated with the Man Booker Prize, and the Audiobook of the Year. The multiple voices are brought to life by the record-setting cast of 166 voices.
MAGPIE MURDERS
by Anthony Horowitz, read by Allan Corduner, Samantha Bond
Horowitz’s mystery-within-a-mystery is a listener’s delight. If you are a British mystery fan, this should be your summer listening pick. Allan Corduner and Samantha Bond are storytelling pros who totally engage us. An AudioFile Earphones winner.
CIRCE
by Madeline Miller, read by Perdita Weeks
Another of my personal favorites this summer. I was entranced with Madeline Miller’s spin on this Greek myth—so fresh and contemporary. Perdita Weeks’s finely tuned performance caps it all off. An AudioFile Earphones winner.
CALYPSO
by David Sedaris, read by the Author
David Sedaris is one of the best author/narrators, and his newest essay collection, a meditation on aging, doesn’t disappoint.
EDUCATED
by Tara Westover, read by Julia Whelan
This riveting memoir recounts the author’s childhood in a fundamentalist and isolationist family. Julia Whelan gets an Earphones Award for this performance, and as our reviewer said, “Whelan conducts a master class in the fear, dread, and self-doubt wrought by domestic violence.”
THE SOUL OF AMERICA
by Jon Meacham, read by Fred Sanders, Jon Meacham [Fore.]
For history buffs or if you know Meacham’s previous biography of Thomas Jefferson. Fred Sanders brings these foundational American stories to life with admirable poise. An audiobook to listen to, absorb, and contemplate.
FASCISM: A WARNING
by Madeleine Albright, Bill Woodward, read by the Author
Former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright knows fascism when she sees it. Her experiences as a diplomat serve her well as a narrator—she is confident, steady, and engaging.
I’LL BE GONE IN THE DARK
by Michelle McNamara, read by Gabra Zackman, Gillian Flynn [Intro.], Patton Oswalt [Afterword]
Journalist Michelle McNamara’s obsessive search for the the Golden State Killer has been in the headlines. Gabra Zackman electrifies her terrifying account in audiobook form.
KITCHEN CONFIDENTIAL
by Anthony Bourdain, read by the Author
Listening to his own narration of his 2001 memoir is a great way to remember Anthony Bourdain.
KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI
by David Grann, read by Will Patton, Ann Marie Lee, Danny Campbell
Grann’s disturbing and revelatory 1920s history of Oklahoma oil, the settlement of the West, and our nation’s treatment of Native Americans has spent more than a year on bestseller lists. Three narrators deliver Grann’s work—this listening is not for the faint of heart.
Be sure to pop into your favorite Indie bookstore and ask about the Libro.fm digital audiobooks program, or learn more from their website.
