Sponsored by Blackstone Publishing.
Out of the embers, a lawless new empire will rise…
The first book in New York Times bestselling author Nicholas Sansbury Smith’s gritty new series following the Moretti Neapolitan crime family’s rise to power in a postapocalyptic Los Angeles, and the brave few that risk everything to stop them from destroying what little remains of the city.
“Nicholas Sansbury Smith’s captivating new postapocalyptic mobster series starts with a daringly original, high-octane bang. An engaging cast of characters you will root for—even when you shouldn’t.” — Don Winslow
Hola Audiophiles! How we holding up? Some days are better than others on my end and I imagine the same goes for you. I’ve recently started working on a puzzle every night with an audiobook in the background and a glass of wine on hand. It’s so calming and lovely, hope you’re finding a routine to keep your spirits up!
Enough ‘rona feels. Let’s audio.
New Releases – April 21 (publisher descriptions in quotes)
Administrations of Lunacy: Racism and the Haunting of American Psychiatry at the Milledgeville Asylum by Mag Segrest, narrated by Hillary Huber (nonfiction) – In December 1841, the Georgia State Lunatic, Idiot, and Epileptic Asylum was founded. A hundred years later, it was the largest insane asylum in the world, housing over 10,000 patients and setting the stage for the intensely flawed and racist ideology of eugenics. Mab Segrest examines how modern psychiatry is still plagued by trickle-down effects of those practices.
Narrator Note: Hillary Huber has a pretty deep bench of audiobook work; notable performances include Furious Hours by Casey Cep, Final Girls by Riley Sager, and Elena Ferrante’s Neopolitan novels
The House of Deep Water by Jeni McFarland, narrated by Allyson Johnson, Adenrele Ojo, Jonathan McClain, and Andrew Eiden – Three women who couldn’t wait to get out of River Bend, Michigan each find themselves back in town when life doesn’t go as planned. Linda left her husband and needs a place to stay; her mother Paula hopes to secure a divorce from her long estranged husband; and Beth DeWitt, who grew up one of the only black girls in town, returns newly single and jobless with two children. Their paths collide under Beth’s father’s roof, and I do mean collide. Lots of love affairs, secrets, and scandal to go around as old, buried traumas are brought to the surface.
Narrator Note: Love an ensemble cast! While I’m sure all of these narrators are great, I have to shout out Andrew Eiden for the breadth of his catalog. It takes a certain talent to read everything from Disney’s Frozen to Bromance Book Club.
If I Had Your Face by Frances Cha, narrated by Frances Cha, Sue Jean Kim, Ruthie Ann Miles, Jeena Yi (fiction) – This story set in contemporary Seoul centers on the lives of four women: one whose many cosmetic procedures have landed her a job at one of Seoul’s “room salons” where wealthy men seek drink and the entertainment of women; her roommate went to art school in New York before returning to Seoul and now has a very, very wealthy Korean boyfriend; a hair stylist whose two preoccupations are K-pop and a best friend saving up for the extreme cosmetic procedure she hopes will change her life; and a newlywed trying to conceive in spite of not knowing if she and her husband can even afford to raise a child. Their narratives are connected in this examination of class, patriarchy, inequality, and crippling beauty standards.
Narrator Note: I’m not familiar with any of these narrators’ work but I love what I heard in the sample, and again: love an ensemble cast. I do know that Ruthie Ann Kim is also a part of the ensemble cast of Lisa See’s The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane.
Pretty Things by Janelle Brown, narrated by Julia Whelan, Lauren Fortgang, Hillary Huber (mystery/thriller) – When Nina’s fancy liberal arts degree doesn’t result in the career of her dreams, she and her boyfriend Lachlan turn to the hustle she learned from her mother: stealing from rich kids in L.A. When her mom gets sick, Nina comes up with her riskiest scam yet. Vanessa is a privileged young heiress who set out to do some in the world, but ended up an Instagram influencer instead. But behind the façade of exotic travel and luxury is a life marked by tragedy. Vanessa retreats to Stonehaven, her family’s giant estate in Lake Tahoe. The mansion holds dark secrets not just from Vanessa’s past, but from that of troubled girl named… you guessed it, Nina.
Narrator Note: Hillary Huber makes a second appearance! Also, Julia Whelan is another narrator I think I’ll be adding to my faves list; I loved her performance of Tara Westover’s Educated; other recent credits include The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Read, Kristin Hannah’s The Great Alone, and Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn.
Shorefall by Robert Jackson Bennett, narrated by Tara Sands (fantasy) – Sancia Grado and her allies set out to ignite a magical-industrial revolution. The goal: to make scriving—the art of imbuing everyday objects with sentience—accessible to all citizens and not just the robber-baron elite. One of Sancia’s enemies has other plans: to resurrect a legendary immortal who’ll stop at nothing to remake the world in his horrifying image. If Sancia can’t stop this ancient power from wreaking havoc, she’ll be force to fight this god with one of her own.
Narrator Note: Tara Sands is another narrator with some range; one minute she’s a squeaky kid in a Meg Cabot book and then she’s an adult fighting robots in a James Patterson title.
Latest Listens – Homie by Danez Smith
I read an interview with Danez Smith at Them around the time of Homie’s publication calling it a love letter to Black queer friendship, “a book hellbent on envisioning a world where queer Black joy exists not as a release but as a constant reality, while still recognizing the current state of affairs.” I love that description of this collection; the joy is infectious and wonderful to observe.
The poem “saw a video of a gang of bees swarming a hornet who killed their bee-homie so i called to say i love you” is perhaps my favorite. It embodies the vibe of the whole collection for me: a certain playful delight in the power of love and connection plus a full-throated proclamation of truths both beautiful and terrible. One moment he’s deep in the exhaustion that comes with existing in a Black and queer body in this country, or the exquisite pain of losing the people you love. Then suddenly you hear “Dogs!” or “Friends!” signaling the start of a new poem with an excitement I generally reserve for talk of soft cheeses. These pivots made me smile every time.
Experiencing the poems on audio is almost essential, if you ask me; Danez Smith is after all a slam poet. His use of power and restraint in the moments that call for them got me thinking about his poems in a way that my poetry novice self might have missed in print. I “got it” without having to dissect too much; with that kind of delivery, who wouldn’t?
From the Internets
Join Libro.fm’s Virtual Bookstore Day Party! The big national Indie Bookstore Day has been postponed because of the pandemic, but Libro is keeping the party going online. You can even get two free audiobooks on April 25th!
Also, Libro.fm has apparently tripled its membership volume since February. Awesome!
Over at the Riot
5 Audiobooks Memoirs and Essay Collections by Bi+ Women of Color
3 Under 3: Audiobooks Under 3 Hours For Your One-Sitting Listening Pleasure (like Homie!)
New Poetry Audiobooks to Listen to During National Poetry Month
Thanks for hanging with me today! Shoot me an email at vanessa@riotnewmedia.com with your burning book club questions or find me on Twitter and the gram @buenosdiazsd. Sign up for the Audiobooks newsletter, catch me once a month on the All the Books podcast, and watch me ramble about even more new books every Tuesday on our YouTube channel.
Stay bad & bookish, my friends.
Vanessa