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A departure ... and an arrival home
As a superfan of Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore and Sourdough, I have been counting the days to the release of Robin Sloan's newest book, Moonbound. While it's been described as part of the "Penumbra-verse," fans of Sloan's earlier works should be prepared for a totally different listening experience, both in tone (we've got a unique mashup of first and third person) and scope (we are now 11,000 years into the future!). And yet there is something familiar here, plus some amazing Easter eggs. What is most definitely consistent is the wildly inventive creativity and whimsy on display. You will meet a multicellular AI, talking beavers with advanced debate skills, salamander wizards, and sentient swords. In all its complexity, Moonbound feels like Sloan's ultimate labor of love, and it may actually be the connective tissue of his very imagination. Prepare to be amazed. —Emily C.
A humorous and wholly original story about single-motherhood
Per the title, Margo’s got, well, money troubles. A single mom at 20, Margo’s fired from her waitressing job when she can’t find childcare. Now struggling with rent and the cost of living in California on unemployment, she moves in with her father, Jinx, an ex-pro wrestler, and launches an OnlyFans account using his advice on how to craft a character. I’m a mama to four boys and my living room often resembles a WWE ring, so Margo speared her way into my heart. Despite the premise, humor infuses the narrative, and author Rufi Thorpe plays with point of view in a wholly original way that kept me both entertained and on my toes. Narrated by actress Elle Fanning, who has been tapped to star in the TV adaptation alongside Nicole Kidman, I can already envision the mannerisms she’ll bring to Margo via the nuance she delivers in this performance. —Katie O.
The catfishing memoir to end all catfishing memoirs
OMG! Anna Akbari took me on a JOURNEY with her stranger-than-fiction memoir about how a stranger can be ... fiction. A feisty young sociologist in the early days of online dating, Akbari began chatting with a witty New Yorker named Ethan. Ethan’s lofty job meant lots of travel, long hours, and an Irish phone that made email and text his sole methods of communication. Anna fell hard for his clever, sexy messages—irresistibly voiced by Justin Price, the perfect complement to Akbari’s own narration. But as their intimacy deepened, Ethan’s excuses to avoid meeting raised major red flags. Emotionally invested yet professionally fascinated, Akbari investigated and found other victims (whose solidarity will warm your heart amid the otherwise chilling tale) and uncovered jaw-dropping revelations about the “real” Ethan Schuman. The catfishing memoir to end all catfishing memoirs, There Is No Ethan will have you talking (and listening) compulsively—just don’t google the case until you finish, for maximum effect. —Kat J.
I have a confession: Swan Song is the first Elin Hilderbrand novel I’ve ever listened to. It certainly won’t be my last—but it is the author’s last book (“for now,” she says in her author’s note). I thoroughly enjoyed this glittery, gossipy, and glamorous story with its delightful setting and intriguing cast of characters. The premise for Swan Song couldn’t be more fitting for Hilderbrand’s final novel. Nantucket’s police chief is just days away from sailing off into retirement when, on the same night, one of the island’s most luxurious homes burns down under suspicious circumstances and a young woman goes missing. The investigation moves forward in parallel with riveting stories of family, friendship, and love among the island’s swanky residents, and you won’t want to hit pause until the end (the final chapter is performed by the author herself). As Hilderbrand’s long-time narrator, Erin Bennett knows just how to transport you straight to the heart of Nantucket to bring these characters and storylines to life. I’m pretty sure this won’t be the last we hear from the “Queen of beach reads,” but in the meantime, I’ll be happily digging into her backlist of summertime staples. —Margaret H.
An essential new voice in dark feminist fiction
In honor of Indigenous History Month in Canada, I want to highlight an incredible debut from an alumnus of Audible's Indigenous Writers' Circle, an annual mentorship and workshop program for emerging First Nations, Inuit and Métis writers. Gin Sexsmith's In the Hands of Men is an urgent and razor-sharp literary thriller that follows Delilah, a Mohawk woman who inflicts bloody retribution in the name of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls in North America. As a virus that increases men's propensity for violence sweeps Earth, Delilah has to reckon with her choices and decide if she's righting wrongs in an unjust world, or becoming a monster like the men around her. If you enjoy horror and thriller stories from Indigenous authors (and there's been so many standouts in recent years from authors like Stephen Graham Jones and Jessica Johns!), I'm excited for you to discover an essential new voice in one of my favorite fiction subgenres. —Sarah U.
Eight decades later, the voices of D-Day live on
It’s June 6, 1944, and along the beaches of Normandy, one of the most significant operations in military history is underway: Operation Overlord, the Allied invasion of Nazi-occupied France, and the beginning of the milestone campaign that would propel the Allies to victory in World War II. In When the Sea Came Alive, journalist Garrett M. Graff ventures to craft a comprehensive, compassionate portrait of the momentous event now known simply as “D-Day.” Graff curated the accounts of hundreds of folks intimately involved, from those who planned the assault, to those whose boots tread through the sand, to the French civilians who watched it all unfold. I’m really looking forward to hearing this one—like Graff’s Audie-winning The Only Plane in the Sky, this oral history is performed by a full cast including the author and decorated narrator Edoardo Ballerini, promising a chronicle that truly shines in audio. —Alanna M.
The good, the bad, and Colman Domingo
Have you ever noticed how life’s highs and lows always tend to go hand-in-hand? Colman Domingo’s Wild with Happy explores that very concept through the bizarre comedy, love, and heartfelt moments of humanity found amid grief and healing. Starring Tyler James Williams (Abbott Elementary), Alex Newell (Glee), Sharon Washington (Feeding the Dragon), and the one and only Oprah, alongside Domingo himself, the casting alone makes this a can’t-miss listening experience. It’s a hard-hitting comedy about family, our own expectations, and love, but it’s also a moving reminder that good things often come out of horrible situations, and that fairy tale endings always seem to happen when we’re least expecting them. —Michael C.
What if you just realized you grew up in a cult?
At Audible, we’ve long known Natalie Naudus as a beloved narrator. Now, she’s written and performed her own novel that’s heavily inspired by her own childhood in a religious cult. To write it, she imagined what her life might have been like if she’d discovered her favorite narrated novels as a teen. Listening to Gay the Pray Away, I was struck not by the darkness of Valerie’s complicated family situation and the prejudice of her community, but by how the story was shot through with hope and discovery, and how it only takes one person to pull you out of a difficult path. It’s a YA story for those who are looking for the bright side to the darkness in our world. —Melissa B.
My guppies’ new favorite audiobook!
As a proud fish tank owner, I have never doubted that my guppies enjoy a good audiobook. In fact, I love to watch them swim around excitedly as I turn up the volume on whatever I am listening to. And while Remarkably Bright Creatures remains their fiction fave, Sing Like Fish has swiftly become their most beloved work of nonfiction. While I once assumed that their perky reactions to hearing the human voice must stem from their understanding that the hand that feeds them is somewhere nearby, Amorina Kingdon’s brilliant new audiobook has taught me that there is so much more to the significance of sound in the lives of aquatic animals. With lyrical prose that immerses listeners in the soothing soundscapes of the sea, this refreshing work of scientific journalism illuminates an entirely enchanting aspect of the underwater world. —Haley H.
Laura Benanti has otherworldly energy and out-of-this-world humor with a very healthy side of guts. There is no part of the stage at the Minetta Lane Theatre that she leaves untouched with her struttin’ and groovin’ to a great band and backup singers (she calls them her inner demons; they could be angels too). A great storyteller, Benanti confesses to being a people pleaser. If this “condition” has been an obstacle, she has surely kicked it straight out of her life. And apparently it all worked out, because without that, could she have been the talented star that she is? Unfortunately, the show doesn’t deliver on its title, “Nobody Cares,” because at the end—everybody cares, Laura. Brava! —Yvonne D.
While I can’t tell you if it’s the mix of one-liners, the swoony romance, or the beautiful HEA that keeps me coming back to Katherine Center’s novels, I can tell you that her latest, The Rom-commers, has all of that—and more. When Emma Wheeler gets the opportunity to rewrite a script for Charlie Yates, the screenwriter she has idolized for years, she knows she cannot pass on the opportunity. When they start working together, she quickly learns that the man working on a rom-com doesn't believe in love or love stories, and what ensues is a delightful grumpy/sunshine romance story filled with humor, heart, and undeniable chemistry. Center's long-time narrator, Patti Murin, has yet again graced us with her excellent narration, solidifying this author/ narrator pairing as an all-time favorite. —Patty R.
A candid and funny memoir about body image
As a former plus-sized kid who grew up absorbing peak ’90s and ’00s diet culture, I can’t wait to dive into this memoir from siblings Ian Karmel, a comedian, and Dr. Alisa Karmel, a nutritionist and psychiatrist. Literally told in their own voices, T-Shirt Swim Club is a candid exploration of Ian and Alisa’s fraught relationships with their bodies and health. Together, the two recount their experiences being overweight in a world that prizes thinness—from fighting over snack cakes and fat jokes as kids, to combating major health risks as adults through meaningful lifestyle changes. With summer just around the corner, T-Shirt Swim Club is the relatable, cringey, laugh-out-loud funny listen I didn’t know I needed to heal my inner child. Discover more listens like T-Shirt Swim Club on our body positivity list. —Rachael X.
I was a little late to the Rachel Cusk game—and by “a little” I mean that I just checked out her Outline trilogy a few months ago. It didn’t take long for me to realize why everyone in my grad school program was talking about it back in 2018. Her writing is so precise and insightful that I wasn’t even ashamed of being jealous of her skill because, of course. Parade sees Cusk once again challenging any notion of what a novel can be in this nonlinear narrative about art, motherhood, and the very concept of reality. If you’re already a card-carrying Cusk-er, none of what I’ve said is probably a surprise. But for the uninitiated, Parade is a killer place to start. —Aaron S.
