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Hola Audiophiles! It’s starting to look like sweater weather here in the city of roses and I am pleased as pumpkin spice! I can’t wait to make soups and curl up with a hot cup of tea. I’m sure you seasoned Pacific Northwesterners are laughing at my excitement for cooler temps. It’s ok, I don’t mind being basic. Give me all of the chunky knits.
Before we get to all things audio, I have a giveaway for you! Enter to win the year’s 10 best mystery/thrillers so far, including American Spy by Lauren Wilkinson and The Lost Man by Jane Harper.
Ready? Let’s audio.
New Releases – September 17 (publisher’s descriptions in quotes)
Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir, narrated by Moira Quirk – WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH ME?? I forgot to include this one last week!! I feel like I owe a giant apology to Liberty who has so convincingly sold all of the bookish internet on this title. Here’s all you need to know: lesbian necromancers… in space. Get thee to a book retailer!
- Narrator Note: Kinda wish Tasmyn herself was narrating because I love listening to her speak! (and you can do that now on the latest episode of Recommended, btw). Moira Quirk is amazing though; you might recognize her from Pierce Brown’s Red Rising series and Mackenzi Lee’s The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy.
Chilling Effect by Valerie Valdes, narrated by Almarie Guerra – I can’t do better than this IG post from our very own Amanda Nelson: “A sci-fi romp with lots of cursing in Spanish and inter-species love and psychic cats and sometimes, there is coffee in that nebula. Found family AND heists AND murderous space baddies AND political intrigue AND a grumpy heroine who kicks ass first, asks questions later (again, in Spanish, she doesn’t care if you understand because she doesn’t care about the answer really).” I need this now.
- Narrator Note: Almarie Guerra has narrated great reads like Fruit of the Drunken Tree, but she’s also the voice behind the What to Expect When You’re Expecting books. Something about that when juxtaposed to sweary Cubanas in space just makes me so, so happy.
Heaven, My Home by Attica Locke, narrated by JD Jackson – If you loved Bluebird, Bluebird, get ready to spend some more time with Texas Ranger Darren Matthews. This time we follow along as Matthews goes on the hunt for a missing boy, but that boy’s family are a bunch of white supremacists, so… this may not be smooth sailing based on what we know about our dude Darren. Locke just does mystery and flawed protagonists so well!
- Narrator Note: JD Jackson reprises his role as narrator after tackling Bluebird, Bluebird as well. Most recently, he narrated Colson Whitehead’s The Nickel Boys.
Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson, narrated by a full cast** – It’s 2001 and 16-year-old Melody is making her grand entrance at her coming-of-age ceremony; she has on a custom gown, one that was intended for her mother sixteen years earlier for a similar ceremony that never took place. As the history of Melody’s parents and grandparents is revealed, the book explores “sexual desire and identity, ambition, gentrification, education, class, and status, and the life-altering facts of parenthood.”
- Narrator Note: **That full cast? It includes Jacqueline Woodson AND Bahni Turpin. You added it to your cart, right?
Space Between: Explorations of Love, Sex, and Fluidity by Nico Tortorella, narrated by the author – Hey, so… I may have picked this one just because I have a lil’ crush on this Younger star and LBGTQ advocate. I have always been so impressed by their very candid discussion of sexuality and gender fluidity along the journey to discovering themselves fully. This memoir explores their childhood, downward spiral into drugs brought about by fame, and eventual arrival to a place of complete, unabashed authenticity.
- Narrator Note: “read by the author” is one of my favorite phrases.
The Vanderbeekers to the Rescue by Karina Yan Glaser, narrated by Robin Miles – Full disclosure: Karina Yan Glaser is one of Book Riot’s own Contributing Editors, but I’d recommend this one even if she weren’t! This is the third in her beloved Vanderbeekers series and follows the titular children in a race to save their mother’s baking business from closure.
- Narrator Note: So many narrator heavyweights in this newsletter! Robin Miles is another super fave, lending her voice to works by N.K. Jemisin, Nnedi Okorafor, Jacqueline Woodson, Roxane Gay, Stacy Schiff, Tananarive Due… how much time do you got?
Latest Listens (CW: sexual assault, though non-graphic)
I finally finished Speaking of Summer last week which I really enjoyed! When Summer Spencer mysteriously goes missing from the Harlem brownstone she shared with her twin sister Autumn, it appears that Autumn is just about the only person concerned with finding her. As she spins further into an obsession for facts that won’t reveal themselves, the reveal is one that I probably should have seen coming but didn’t. I love slow-burn psychological stuff like this, especially when it manages to weave in discussions of mental illness and current events.
Kudos to Karen Chilton for the weight she lends to the stories she performs. Every word is so powerful.
From the Internets
Why Malcolm Gladwell’s latest Talking to Strangers is an audiobook for the podcast generation.
Parade suggests these audiobooks for fall listening. The list is a teeny bit predictable but still contains some solid recs (Erin Morgenstern, we’re looking at you!)
For now, Audible will put the kibosh on the whole full caption rollout thing.
Over at the Riot
September means it’s officially back to school season! Here are some audiobooks for that school commute.
That’s all I got today! Shoot me an email at vanessa@riotnewmedia.com with audiobook feedback & questions or find me on Twitter and the gram @buenosdiazsd. Sign up for the In The Club newsletter, peep the Read Harder podcast, and watch me booktube every Friday too!
Stay bad & bookish, my friends.
Vanessa