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BIG CHIEF

BIG CHIEF

Earphones Award Winner

by Jon Hickey | Read by Shaun Taylor-Corbett

Simon & Schuster Audio
Fiction

Loss haunts this powerful story of politics, corruption, and loyalty. Narrator Shaun Taylor-Corbett continues his fine work with Indigenous authors. He performs this debut novel with just the right tone, style, and tempo. He voices the angsty Mitch Caddo with a sure sense of his conflicted life as a “fixer” for the fictional Passage Rouge Nation. An outsider with an Ivy League... Read More

BROKEN COUNTRY

BROKEN COUNTRY

by Clare Leslie Hall | Read by Hattie Morahan

Simon & Schuster Audio
Fiction

English actor Hattie Morahan narrates this novel of a secret past, grief mixed with guilt, and the dangerous consequences that result. Beth is a quiet farmer's wife who is living a peaceful existence, but her happiness comes at the cost of keeping silent about her past. When a chance encounter brings wealthy Gabriel Wolfe back into the picture, Beth has to determine whether to... Read More

CHANGE THE RECIPE

CHANGE THE RECIPE Because You Can't Build a Better World Without Breaking Some Eggs

by José Andrés, Richard Wolffe | Read by José Andrés

Harper Audio
Contemporary Culture

Part memoir, part manifesto--the heroic chef and founder of World Central Kitchen José Andrés's brief audiobook would have greatly benefited from a professional narrator. This is truly unfortunate as the story of Andrés's rise to celebrity chef and food philanthropist is fascinating. He trained at great places and learned his innovative style at the world-famous Spanish... Read More

CITY SUMMER, COUNTRY SUMMER

CITY SUMMER, COUNTRY SUMMER

by Kiese Laymon | Read by Samuel Eubanks

Listening Library
Children

Newcomer Samuel Eubanks brings an unstudied earnestness to his narration of this story of Black boys and bygone Mississippi summers. This is the first children's book by MacArthur Fellow Kiese Laymon. The unnamed protagonist spends summers with his grandmother; right next door is a boy who is visiting the country from New York. Eubanks sounds just a few years older than these... Read More

DEAR WRITER

DEAR WRITER Pep Talks & Practical Advice for the Creative Life

by Maggie Smith | Read by Maggie Smith

Simon & Schuster Audio
Personal Growth

Poet Maggie Smith's newest audiobook expands her purview to offer all kinds of artists helpful advice about what she sees as the 10 essential elements of creativity: attention, wonder, vision, play, surprise, vulnerability, restlessness, tenacity, connection, and hope. Her light, sweet-sounding voice often assumes a poet's studied rhythmic cadence as she narrates with... Read More

FABLE FOR THE END OF THE WORLD

FABLE FOR THE END OF THE WORLD

by Ava Reid | Read by Gail Shalan, Emily Lawrence

Harper Audio
Young Adult

This audiobook is set in a dystopian future in which a powerful megacorporation enforces debt repayment through a brutal death match known as the Lamb's Gauntlet. The story revolves around Inesa, who is unwillingly offered as a sacrifice by her mother, and Melinoë, a cybernetically altered assassin who is sent to kill Inesa. As the two journey across a wasteland, something... Read More

FAN SERVICE

FAN SERVICE

by Rosie Danan | Read by Aaron Shedlock, Brittany Pressley

Penguin Audio
Romantic Fiction

Brittany Pressley and Aaron Shedlock charm listeners in this contemporary paranormal romance. Alex Lawson was once the outsider of her small town. Now she's Internet famous as the expert on the online fan forum she built for a long-running werewolf detective show. But she still can't stand the show's star, Devin Ashwood, whose career plummeted when the show ended. Waking up... Read More

THE GREAT GATSBY

THE GREAT GATSBY

by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jesmyn Ward [Intro.] | Read by Seth Numrich, Eleanor Lanahan, James L. W. West III

Simon & Schuster Audio
Classics

Seth Numrich narrates this classic Jazz Age novel with an introduction by Jesmyn Ward, foreword by Eleanor Lanahan, and afterword by James L.W. West III. The story follows the mysterious Jay Gatsby through the eyes of Nick Carraway, and Nick's cousin, Daisy. Numrich captures Nick's optimism and Daisy's softness with his lively narration. Excelling at long passages full of... Read More

THE HYMN TO DIONYSUS

THE HYMN TO DIONYSUS

Earphones Award Winner

by Natasha Pulley | Read by Sid Sagar

Bloomsbury Publishing
Fantasy

Sid Sagar immediately draws listeners into this riveting novel, set in ancient Thebes. Phaidros is a soldier who was raised to fight. Now he's in his 30s, lonely and grieving the loss of his sworn companion even as he trains a new generation. He's immensely likable, and the first-person perspective and colloquial language mean that Sagar is able to bring listeners intimately... Read More

I AM MARIA

I AM MARIA My Reflections and Poems on Heartbreak, Healing, and Finding Your Way Home

by Maria Shriver | Read by Maria Shriver

Penguin Audio
Biography & Memoir

Author, broadcast journalist, and JFK's niece, Maria Shriver also served as California's first lady. Here she offers a heartfelt "sort of memoir,'' which is supplemented by her personal, occasionally cryptic, poetry. Shriver's performance is polished, varied in pace and tone, easy on the ears, and moving. Poems reflect a life of major accomplishments and wealth advantages but... Read More

THE JACKAL'S MISTRESS

THE JACKAL'S MISTRESS

by Chris Bohjalian | Read by Marni Penning, Chris Bohjalian

Random House Audio
Historical Fiction

Narrator Marni Penning performs this story of unlikely friendship and divided loyalty during the chaos of the American Civil War. Southerner Libby Steadman does all she can to keep the family gristmill going while her husband is away fighting. When she discovers a horribly injured Union soldier, she has to weigh the dangers and benefits of keeping him alive behind enemy lines.... Read More

LIGHTS ON

LIGHTS ON How Understanding Consciousness Helps Us Understand the Universe

by Annaka Harris | Read by Annaka Harris

Macmillan Audio
Contemporary Culture

In this audio original, a follow-up to her 2019 book, CONSCIOUS, Annaka Harris continues her exploration of consciousness through recorded interviews with 20 experts in philosophy and a variety of sciences. As a listening experience, the interviews are often pleasantly chatty, and the author's command of her subject allows listeners to stay connected to the core ideas in her... Read More

MURDER BY MEMORY

MURDER BY MEMORY Dorothy Gentleman, Book 1

by Olivia Waite | Read by Blair Baker

Macmillan Audio
Science Fiction

Blair Baker narrates this sci-fi mystery. Dorothy Gentleman is a detective aboard the HMS FAIRWEATHER, an interstellar passenger ship--spaceship, that is. To her surprise, she wakes up in an unfamiliar body just as a murder victim is found, a situation that leads to several more terrible developments. Baker's depiction of Dorothy's initial confusion over her predicament quickly... Read More

MY DOCUMENTS

MY DOCUMENTS

by Kevin Nguyen | Read by Kelly Marie Tran

Random House Audio
Fiction

Kelly Marie Tran is an excellent choice of narrator for a novel that follows four Vietnamese American cousins whose lives are drastically altered when a wave of violence leads to their community's internment. While Ursula and Alvin remain free, Jen and Duncan are sent to a detention camp, where they struggle with isolation and the harsh conditions. When Jen secretly finds a way... Read More

MY NEXT BREATH

MY NEXT BREATH A Memoir

by Jeremy Renner | Read by Jeremy Renner

Macmillan Audio
Biography & Memoir

Actor Jeremy Renner narrates his memoir about the horrendous injuries he suffered on New Year's Day 2023. In a freak accident, he was run over by his 14,000-pound Sno-Cat, a vehicle used to groom snowy and icy surfaces. Neither his prose nor his narration is stellar; he uses street language, occasionally pauses mid-sentence, and runs words together at ends of sentences.... Read More

ORRIS AND TIMBLE: LOST AND FOUND

ORRIS AND TIMBLE: LOST AND FOUND Orris and Timble, Book 2

by Kate DiCamillo | Read by Mark Bramhall

Listening Library
Children

Mark Bramhall narrates an adventure about unlikely friends: Orris, a rat, and Timble, an owl. Bramhall's deep voice, distinct enunciations, and gentle rhythms are a perfect match. Bramhall's portraits are well defined for the young, enthusiastic Timble and the older, grumbly Orris. Bramhall deepens his characterizations of the friends' developing relationship, which faces a... Read More

OVERKILL

OVERKILL Ali Reynolds, Book 18

by J.A. Jance | Read by Karen Ziemba

Simon & Schuster Audio
Mystery & Suspense

Ali Reynolds takes a call from Clarice, her husband's ex-wife. Clarice's husband is dead, and she is accused of his murder, but she doesn't remember doing it. Narrator Karen Ziemba ably performs this whodunit. Ali uses her artificial intelligence bot, Frigg, for the investigation. Ziemba gives the bot an upbeat, eager-to-please voice that fits Frigg's persona. She sometimes... Read More

THE PARIS EXPRESS

THE PARIS EXPRESS

by Emma Donoghue | Read by Justin Avoth

Simon & Schuster Audio
Historical Fiction

This thrill ride of an audiobook tells the many stories of those onboard Train 721, which crashes in Montparnasse station in October 1895. British narrator Justin Avoth narrates the drama at a good pace and keeps the story moving. Donoghue brings her plotting skills, eloquent style, and eye for social mores to the cast of fictional people who are on the train. To the group she... Read More

RABBIT MOON

RABBIT MOON

by Jennifer Haigh | Read by Katharine Chin, Yu-Li Alice Shen

Hachette Audio
Fiction

Narrators Katharine Chin and Yu-Li Alice Shen transport listeners with their portrayals of complex characters in this literary audiobook. American Lindsey Litvak, age 22, is fighting for her life in a Shanghai hospital after a hit-and-run accident. Her divorced parents rush to China to be by her side, but they don't speak the language and struggle to navigate their new... Read More

SAY YOU'LL REMEMBER ME

SAY YOU'LL REMEMBER ME

by Abby Jimenez | Read by Christine Lakin, Matt Lanter

Hachette Audio
Romantic Fiction

Narrators Christine Lakin and Matt Lanter deliver a heartbreaking and uplifting duet narration featuring a geographically challenged couple. Samantha, a marketing rep of mustard, and Xavier, a surly veterinarian, spend their first date locked overnight in an escape room. Shortly after, Samantha goes to California to care for her mother, who has dementia. Lakin communicates a... Read More

UNLIKELY NEIGHBORS

UNLIKELY NEIGHBORS

by Renee Daniel Flagler | Read by Keisa Parrish, Jamal West

Harlequin Audio
Romantic Fiction

Listeners are in for a treat with this sexy Black romance loaded with substance and charm, wonderfully narrated in alternating chapters by Jamal West and Keisa Parrish. Sparks fly when Holland and Noble meet in contemporary Brooklyn. After a health scare, Holland, whose natural warmth and sincerity are invitingly conveyed by Parrish, longs to leave small-town South Carolina for... Read More

ZEAL

ZEAL

by Morgan Jerkins | Read by January LaVoy, Shayna Small

Harper Audio
Fiction

Narrators January LaVoy and Shayna Small deliver vivid, highly animated, and thoughtfully developed performances in this audiobook. The saga begins in 1865 with a couple separated by slavery and war and makes its way to the present day and a new couple. Thanks to the skilled narrators, the wide array of characters come to life whether they're speaking in 1865, the 21st century,... Read More

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