Hey audiophiles,
I’m so glad so many of you liked the animal audiobooks! And several of you emailed to add to the list. I’m passing on a few recommendations and saving the non-animal recs you sent for the next Reader Roundup newsletter. So keep those coming if you want to want to share what you’re listening to (and hopefully loving).
We’re giving away 15 of the best mysteries and thrillers of the year so far. Click here to enter, or click the image below:
Elizabeth says, “My favorite animal audiobooks are the ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ series by Cressida Cowell and narrated by David Tennant.” (I have also heard that this is an excellent choice for long car trips with kids.)
Karen says, “I wanted to tell you about 2 fantastic listens. Both books are by Sy Montgomery: The Soul of an Octopus (narrated by Sy) and The Good Good Pig (narrated by Xe Sands). The Soul of an Octopus details Sy’s work studying octopuses at the New England Aquarium and you can feel her love and joy for these creatures in her voice and words. The Good Good Pig is the true story of a little sickly runt pig that Sy and her husband adopted and named Christopher Hogwood. He thrives under their care and becomes quite a celebrity in their little New Hampshire town.” Both of these sound excellent, in my humble opinion, and it sounds like someone needs to make a movie of The Good Good Pig ASAP.
Don’t forget to enter to win 15 of the year’s most exciting mystery/thrillers! Only two weeks left! Enter here.
May Releases
May is just around the corner and the audiobook gods have lots of exciting new releases in store. So many new releases, in fact, that I’m going to make this a two-parter. Audiobooks coming out in the first half of the month will be in this newsletter and audiobooks coming out in the second half will be in next week’s newsletter. As always, publisher’s description in quotes.
Love and Ruin by Paula McLain; narrated by January LaVoy; Release date: 05-01-18
The author of The Paris Wife is back with another fictionalized account of one of Ernest Hemingway’s wives–in this case his third wife, Martha Gellhorn. As with The Paris Wife, McLain bases the fictionalized account on what we know of Gellhorn, who died in 1998.
Gellhorn was a war reporter and “In the shadow of the impending Second World War, and set against the turbulent backdrops of Madrid and Cuba, Martha and Ernest’s relationship and their professional careers ignite. But when Ernest publishes the biggest literary success of his career, For Whom the Bell Tolls, they are no longer equals, and Martha must make a choice: surrender to the confining demands of being a famous man’s wife or risk losing Ernest by forging a path as her own woman and writer. It is a dilemma that could force her to break his heart, and hers.”
Fun fact: For Whom the Bell Tolls is one of my all time favorite audiobooks!
Miss Subways by David Duchovny; narrated by David Duchovny, Téa Leoni; Release date: 05-01-18
“Taking inspiration from the myth of Emer and Cuchulain and featuring an all-star cast of mythical figures from all over the world, David Duchovny’s darkly funny fantasy audiobook Miss Subways is one woman’s trippy, mystical journey down parallel tracks of time and love. On the way, Emer will battle natural and supernatural forces to find her true voice, power, and destiny.
While recording this audiobook, Duchovny had the idea of bringing his ex-wife, Téa Leoni in to voice the female characters in the book. I love Tea Leoni and what I love most about Téa Leoni is her voice. I know this is a weird thing to say, but I feel like if any people can understand what I’m talking about, it’s my audiobook pals. After watching the first season of Madam Secretary, in which Leoni is the titular character, I “watched” it again, letting it play in the background while I worked from home, just because I like her voice so much. Weird, right? But maybe you also understand? Anyway, having her as a narrator is a huge selling point for me. Also, Leoni and Duchovney got their two kids, West and Miller, to read the chapter openings and other sections. Pretty cute, right?
The Mars Room written & read by Rachel Kushner; Release date: 05-01-18
The author of the critically acclaimed Flamethrowers is back with another California-centric novel. “It’s 2003 and Romy Hall is at the start of two consecutive life sentences at Stanville Women’s Correctional Facility, deep in California’s Central Valley. Outside is the world from which she has been severed: the San Francisco of her youth and her young son, Jackson. Inside is a new reality: thousands of women hustling for the bare essentials needed to survive; the bluffing and pageantry and casual acts of violence by guards and prisoners alike; and the deadpan absurdities of institutional living.”
I’m Just Happy to Be Here: A Memoir of Renegade Mothering written and read by Janelle Hanchett; Release date: 05-01-18
Y’all know I love me a good getting sober memoir–-especially one that deviates from the traditional “I got sober, now everything is perfect” formula, and Hanchett definitely does that. “Hers is a story we rarely hear – of the addict mother not redeemed by her children; who longs for normalcy but cannot maintain it; and who, having traveled to seemingly irreversible depths, makes it back, only to discover she is still an outsider…Hanchett’s memoir calls out the rhetoric surrounding ‘the sanctity of motherhood’ as tired and empty, boldly recounting instead how she grew to accept an imperfect self within an imperfect life.”
That Kind of Mother by Rumaan Alam; narrated by Vanessa Johansson Release date 5-8-18
When Rebecca Stone has her first child, she’s overwhelmed. She loves her newborn boy, of course, but she’s also lost and overwhelmed. When Priscilla Johnson agrees to take a position as a nanny for the new mom, Rebecca is grateful. And she soon learns that Priscilla, who is black, has a lot to teach Rebecca, who is white, about privilege.
“When Priscilla dies unexpectedly in childbirth, Rebecca steps forward to adopt the baby. But she is unprepared for what it means to be a white mother with a black son. As she soon learns, navigating motherhood for her is a matter of learning how to raise two children whom she loves with equal ferocity, but whom the world is determined to treat differently.” Release date: 05-08-18
Alright, that’s all for this week, but I have a TON of new releases ready for next week. Say hello anytime at katie@riotnewmedia.org and/or on twitter at msmacb.
Until next week,
~Katie