JUNE 7, 2019
This is our new pet cause.
For anyone who’s given up on the dream of bipartisanship, we present Animal Advocacy Day, an annual event where New York lawmakers from both sides of the aisle fawn over each other’s pets and vote on animal-related legislation. This past Tuesday, Republican Senator James Tedisco brought his pet Corgi, Grace, with him to the Capitol, and the state senate had a very productive day passing nine animal-related bills, including one that will ban cat declawing if signed by the governor. Cheers for our furry little citizens (and bipartisan politics!).How many steps to greatness?
We’ve long been perplexed by our culture’s obsession with multiples of 10 (why is your 40th birthday more meaningful than your 43rd?). It turns out the side-eye was warranted in the case of the 10,000 stepsrequirementfor health: the supposedly magic number was really just part of a marketing campaign for a 1960s step counter. Manufactured by Yamasa Clock and Instrument Company, the pedometer was branded as
Manpo-kei,which translates to
10,000 steps meter.The arbitrary number is now debunked; still, we can’t help feeling that our preoccupation with steps has had some benefits—it’s certainly made us better listeners. We recommend the satisfying meta-ness of hearing David Sedaris wax obsessive about his Fitbit while getting your steps in—and getting fitter, too. 💥 💪😅
Please say they didn’t do it for the ‘gram.
Three men were busted for stealing $600,000 worth of prized succulents to sell on the international black market. It seems thatfat plants,and particularly the Dudleya species so popular on Instagram, are fetching high prices as domestic status symbols in Asia. While we enjoy fascinating true tales of stealing beauty—Susan Orlean’s The Orchid Thief being the most famous in the botanical vein—this real-life trend is extremely concerning, especially considering that poaching could bring these desert beauties to the brink of extinction. We’re grateful to the wildlife detectives (the Billy Jensens of our national parks?) on the case.
Getting ready for some TV turn-on.
We’ve got a big night of TV on Sunday (shout-out to our DVRs! 🙌). Big Little Lies returns to the small screen, and we cannot wait to see what type of dramz Meryl Streep brings to the Monterey Five. Also on Sunday, we’ll be cheering on one of our all-time favorite narrators, Santino Fontana to bring home the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical for his role in Tootsie. Good luck, Santino—we’ll be rooting for You! (See what we did there? #hadto)We saved the bestie for last.
Tomorrow is Best Friends Day, and we are ready with a brand-new June #TBLT (that’s our year-long To Be Listened To challenge, BTW). This month, we’re all about listening to a recommendation from a friend—and to put our money where our mouths are, nine of our editors had the pleasure of—the audible editors
Audiobooks in This Edition
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You Do You
- Proud to Be Fabulous
- By: Tan France, Nikki Levy, Janine Brito, and others
- Narrated by: Tan France, Nikki Levy, full cast
- Length: 1 hr and 47 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jump into Pride with Tan France (Queer Eye), Nikki Levy, and seven fabulous storytellers as they share true tales of exploring, embracing, and celebrating queer identity. You Do You, produced especially for Pride Month, brings Audible Members a collection of uplifting, raw, and hilarious stories from queer actors, comedians, and personalities. Co-hosted by French-tuck aficionado and super-stylist Tan France, and storytelling maven Nikki Levy, You Do You is a fierce, unfiltered celebration of LGBTQIA+ realness.
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Funny Collection of LGBTQ+ Stories
- By Catherine Puma on 06-10-19
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Citizen Canine
- Our Evolving Relationship with Cats and Dogs
- By: David Grimm
- Narrated by: Graham Hamilton
- Length: 12 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this fascinating exploration of the changing status of dogs and cats in society, pet lover and award-winning journalist David Grimm explores the rich and surprising history of our favorite companion animals. He treks the long and often torturous path from their wild origins to their dark days in the middle ages to their current standing as the most valued animals on Earth. For pet lovers or anyone interested in how we decide who gets to be a “person” in today’s world, Citizen Canine is a must-have. It is a pet tale like no other.
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Cats and Dogs Unite!
- By Gillian on 03-03-15
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Calypso
- By: David Sedaris
- Narrated by: David Sedaris
- Length: 6 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
If you've ever laughed your way through David Sedaris's cheerfully misanthropic stories, you might think you know what you're getting with Calypso. You'd be wrong. When he buys a beach house on the Carolina coast, Sedaris envisions long, relaxing vacations spent playing board games and lounging in the sun with those he loves most. And it's as idyllic as he imagined, except for one tiny, vexing realization: it's impossible to take a vacation from yourself. With Calypso, Sedaris sets his formidable powers of observation - and dark humor - toward middle age and mortality.
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Excellent, as always
- By Ruthie on 05-31-18
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Provenance
- How a Con Man and a Forger Rewrote the History of Modern Art
- By: Laney Salisbury, Aly Sujo
- Narrated by: Marty Peterson
- Length: 8 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Here is a tautly paced investigation of one the 20th century's most audacious art frauds, which generated hundreds of forgeries - many of them still hanging in prominent museums and private collections today. Provenance is the extraordinary narrative of one of the most far-reaching and elaborate deceptions in art history.
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reads like a thriller
- By Andy on 04-26-10
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The Orchid Thief
- A True Story of Beauty and Obsession
- By: Susan Orlean
- Narrated by: Jennifer Meyers
- Length: 8 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Susan Orlean's mesmerizing true story of beauty and obsession is John Laroche, a renegade plant dealer and sharply handsome guy, in spite of the fact that he is missing his front teeth and has the posture of al dente spaghetti. In 1994, Laroche and three Seminole Indians were arrested with rare orchids they had stolen from a wild swamp in south Florida that is filled with some of the world's most extraordinary plants and trees. Laroche had planned to clone the orchids and then sell them for a small fortune to impassioned collectors.
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Orchids are just the vehicle.
- By Amazon Customer on 02-09-03
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Alien III
- An Audible Original Drama
- By: William Gibson
- Narrated by: Tom Alexander, Barbara Barnes, Michael Biehn, and others
- Length: 2 hrs and 16 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Father of cyberpunk William Gibson’s original script for Alien III, written in 1987 as a sequel to Aliens, never made it to our screens, although it went on to achieve cult status among fans as the third instalment that might have been after being leaked online. This terrifying, cinematic multicast dramatisation - directed by the multi-award-winning Dirk Maggs - is the chance to experience William Gibson’s untold story and its terrifying, claustrophobic and dark encounters between humans and aliens, as a completely immersive audio experience.
-
-
Audio Dramatization of the Movie that never was
- By Alan on 05-31-19
-
You Do You
- Proud to Be Fabulous
- By: Tan France, Nikki Levy, Janine Brito, and others
- Narrated by: Tan France, Nikki Levy, full cast
- Length: 1 hr and 47 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jump into Pride with Tan France (Queer Eye), Nikki Levy, and seven fabulous storytellers as they share true tales of exploring, embracing, and celebrating queer identity. You Do You, produced especially for Pride Month, brings Audible Members a collection of uplifting, raw, and hilarious stories from queer actors, comedians, and personalities. Co-hosted by French-tuck aficionado and super-stylist Tan France, and storytelling maven Nikki Levy, You Do You is a fierce, unfiltered celebration of LGBTQIA+ realness.
-
-
Funny Collection of LGBTQ+ Stories
- By Catherine Puma on 06-10-19
-
Citizen Canine
- Our Evolving Relationship with Cats and Dogs
- By: David Grimm
- Narrated by: Graham Hamilton
- Length: 12 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this fascinating exploration of the changing status of dogs and cats in society, pet lover and award-winning journalist David Grimm explores the rich and surprising history of our favorite companion animals. He treks the long and often torturous path from their wild origins to their dark days in the middle ages to their current standing as the most valued animals on Earth. For pet lovers or anyone interested in how we decide who gets to be a “person” in today’s world, Citizen Canine is a must-have. It is a pet tale like no other.
-
-
Cats and Dogs Unite!
- By Gillian on 03-03-15
-
Calypso
- By: David Sedaris
- Narrated by: David Sedaris
- Length: 6 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
If you've ever laughed your way through David Sedaris's cheerfully misanthropic stories, you might think you know what you're getting with Calypso. You'd be wrong. When he buys a beach house on the Carolina coast, Sedaris envisions long, relaxing vacations spent playing board games and lounging in the sun with those he loves most. And it's as idyllic as he imagined, except for one tiny, vexing realization: it's impossible to take a vacation from yourself. With Calypso, Sedaris sets his formidable powers of observation - and dark humor - toward middle age and mortality.
-
-
Excellent, as always
- By Ruthie on 05-31-18
-
Provenance
- How a Con Man and a Forger Rewrote the History of Modern Art
- By: Laney Salisbury, Aly Sujo
- Narrated by: Marty Peterson
- Length: 8 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Here is a tautly paced investigation of one the 20th century's most audacious art frauds, which generated hundreds of forgeries - many of them still hanging in prominent museums and private collections today. Provenance is the extraordinary narrative of one of the most far-reaching and elaborate deceptions in art history.
-
-
reads like a thriller
- By Andy on 04-26-10
-
The Orchid Thief
- A True Story of Beauty and Obsession
- By: Susan Orlean
- Narrated by: Jennifer Meyers
- Length: 8 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Susan Orlean's mesmerizing true story of beauty and obsession is John Laroche, a renegade plant dealer and sharply handsome guy, in spite of the fact that he is missing his front teeth and has the posture of al dente spaghetti. In 1994, Laroche and three Seminole Indians were arrested with rare orchids they had stolen from a wild swamp in south Florida that is filled with some of the world's most extraordinary plants and trees. Laroche had planned to clone the orchids and then sell them for a small fortune to impassioned collectors.
-
-
Orchids are just the vehicle.
- By Amazon Customer on 02-09-03
-
Alien III
- An Audible Original Drama
- By: William Gibson
- Narrated by: Tom Alexander, Barbara Barnes, Michael Biehn, and others
- Length: 2 hrs and 16 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Father of cyberpunk William Gibson’s original script for Alien III, written in 1987 as a sequel to Aliens, never made it to our screens, although it went on to achieve cult status among fans as the third instalment that might have been after being leaked online. This terrifying, cinematic multicast dramatisation - directed by the multi-award-winning Dirk Maggs - is the chance to experience William Gibson’s untold story and its terrifying, claustrophobic and dark encounters between humans and aliens, as a completely immersive audio experience.
-
-
Audio Dramatization of the Movie that never was
- By Alan on 05-31-19
-
Chase Darkness with Me
- How One True Crime Writer Started Solving Murders
- By: Billy Jensen, Karen Kilgariff - foreword
- Narrated by: Karen Kilgariff, Billy Jensen
- Length: 8 hrs and 19 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Chase Darkness with Me, you’ll ride shotgun as journalist Billy Jensen identifies the Halloween Mask Murderer, finds a missing girl in the California Redwoods, and investigates the only other murder in New York City on 9/11. You’ll hear intimate details of the hunts for two of the most terrifying serial killers in history: his friend Michelle’s pursuit of the Golden State Killer which is chronicled in I’ll Be Gone In The Dark which Billy helped finish after Michelle’s passing, and his own quest to find the murderer of the Allenstown 4 family.
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COULD NOT STOP
- By KK on 04-14-19
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You
- By: Caroline Kepnes
- Narrated by: Santino Fontana
- Length: 11 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
-
Story
Beck is everything Joe has ever wanted: she's gorgeous, tough, razor-smart, and sexy beyond his wildest dreams. Joe needs to have her, and he'll stop at nothing to do so. As he begins to insinuate himself into her life - her friendships, her email, her phone - she can’t resist her feelings for a guy who seems custom-made for her. So when her boyfriend, Benji, mysteriously disappears, Beck and Joe fall into a tumultuous affair. But there's more to Beck than her oh-so-perfect façade.
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Wow. This. Book.
- By Em on 07-17-15
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Andrea Vernon and the Corporation for UltraHuman Protection
- By: Alexander C. Kane
- Narrated by: Bahni Turpin
- Length: 8 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
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Performance
-
Story
Andrea Vernon always thought she would spend her life living in Paris writing thought-provoking historical novels all day and sipping wine on the Seine all night. But the reality is she's drowning in debt, has no prospects, and is forced to move back to Queens, where her parents remind her daily that they are very interested in grandchildren. Then, one morning, she is kidnapped, interviewed, and hired as an administrative assistant by the Corporation for UltraHuman Protection. Superheroes for hire, using their powers for good. What could possibly go wrong?
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A Normal Life in an Abnormal World
- By Arthur D. Rich on 08-26-17
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Stoner
- By: John Williams
- Narrated by: Robin Field
- Length: 9 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
William Stoner is born at the end of the 19th century into a dirt-poor Missouri farming family. Sent to the state university to study agronomy, he instead falls in love with English literature and embraces a scholar's life, far different from the hardscrabble existence he has known. And yet as the years pass, Stoner encounters a succession of disappointments.
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A story of sadness and serenity
- By Anton on 10-13-12
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I Capture the Castle
- By: Dodie Smith
- Narrated by: Jenny Agutter
- Length: 12 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
In this coming of age story, Dodie Smith introduces the visionary and eccentric character of seventeen-year-old Cassandra Mortmain. The youngest daughter in a family of impoverished artists, it is her imagination and writing that takes us away from the ramshackle old English castle where they live, and towards an intriguing tale of husband-hunting and light-hearted sibling rivalry.
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Well, that was a surprise
- By Matthew on 12-16-13
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Big Little Lies
- By: Liane Moriarty
- Narrated by: Caroline Lee
- Length: 15 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
-
Story
Madeline is a force to be reckoned with. She’s funny, biting, and passionate; she remembers everything and forgives no one. Celeste is the kind of beautiful woman who makes the world stop and stare, but she is paying a price for the illusion of perfection. New to town, single mom Jane is so young that another mother mistakes her for a nanny. She comes with a mysterious past and a sadness beyond her years. These three women are at different crossroads, but they will all wind up in the same shocking place.
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Great story. Genius writing
- By David Shear on 08-01-14