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Hola Audiophiles! Welcome to February and the land of books aplenty. It is getting harder and harder to pick just a few audiobooks to highlight each week, which is, of course, a good problem to have. I might start including a bulleted list of titles in addition to the ones I blurb in detail – what do you think of that plan?
For now, let’s dive into some of the listens out this week.
Ready? Let’s audio.
New Releases – February 4
Upright Women Wanted by Sarah Gailey, narrated by Romy Nordlinger – Esther is a stowaway who’s just been found in the book wagon of the Librarians. She’s running away from home to escape (deep breath, here I go!) an arranged marriage set up by her influential father to a man who used to be engaged to her best friend Beatriz, the best friend whom Esther was in love with and who was just hung for possession of resistance propaganda. This queer, near-future, post-apocalyptic take on the pulp Western about lesbian librarians on horseback is just so good!
Narrator note: This book is also my latest listen! More on that in a bit.
18 Tiny Deaths: The Untold Story of Frances Glessner Lee and the Invention of Modern Forensics by Bruce Goldfarb, narrated by Nan McNamara – Did you know that a woman is responsible for advancing modern forensics? I didn’t! She was a grandmother with no college degree who was so respected for her intelligence and skill as a researcher that she was able to break down barriers in women’s education. She sounds like a Miss Marple type, a woman whose keen observations of everyday life made her a force to be reckoned with—she helped change the face of science!
Narrator Note: Nan McNamara is an actress you may recognize from her work on TV series like Hawaii Five-O and Criminal Minds
Black Sunday by Tola Rotimi Abraham, narrated by Ron Butler and Liz Femi – It’s 1996 and twins sisters Bibike and Ariyike are living a comfortable life in Lagos, Nigeria. Then their mother loses her job and the family turns to a local church whose lead pastor isn’t shy about worshipping material wealth. Things go from iffy to terrible when the girls’ father puts the family home up on a “sure bet” and loses it. The twins and their siblings are forced to move in with their reluctant grandmother and soon find themselves drifting further and further from one another.
Narrator Note: Liz Femi is an actress and casting director who’s newer to audiobooks; Ron Butler has narrated the work of James Patterson, N.K. Jemisin, and James Baldwin, and more
The Lost Book of Adana Moreau by Michael Zapata, narrated by Coral Peña – In 1929 in New Orleans, Adana Moreau writes a work of science fiction about a young Dominican immigrant not unlike herself in search of a lost city. The book does well and Adana begins to write a sequel, then destroys it with the help of her son when she suddenly becomes ill. Decades later in Chicago, Saul is cleaning out the home of his recently deceased grandfather when he finds a manuscript of—whaddya know—that allegedly destroyed sequel. How does this manuscript exist? Why does his grandfather have it? Saul will find himself in New Orleans in the thick of Katrina to get to the truth.
Narrator Note: Coral Peña is the voice behind Angie Cruz’ Dominicana, a book I’ve had on my TBR since it came out last year! From the samples I’ve listened to, she reminds me of the mellow but effective style of Almarie Guerra, the voice behind Ann Davila Cardinal’s Five Midnights.
Latest Listens
I went on a hike through Portland’s Forest Park over the weekend (after first getting super lost and wandering through some uphill a$$ neighborhoods), allowing me to finish Upright Women Wanted in one listen. I knew this would be good because Sarah Gailey always comes through, but it was even better than expected!
If you don’t already know, horseback librarians were a real thing! Much like with River of Teeth (did ya know the U.S. once tried to make hippos our primary meat source??), Gailey took a real moment from history with Upright Women Wanted, put their unique flavor on it, and packaged it in a page-turner novella. This was my first audiobook by Romy Nordlinger and I am an immediate fan! You all know how quickly exaggerated, gimmicky accent work turns me off, and I was rull worried when I realized the accents here were… hmm, what to call them: Western, maybe, or “cowboy” twang? Nordlinger was spot-on though and built a nice level of suspense, not to mention the excellent job she did of conveying conflict and desire. So fun!
From the Internets
I know you all like audiobooks, but maybe you know someone who has yet to dip their toe in these waters. If you know a podcast fan who’s audiobook curious, have them start with these short stories.
Eight audiobooks about queer women to add to your queue
Over at the Riot
Ya girl (it’s me, I’m the girl) talked about audiobook speed on YouTube last week. Weigh in: do you adjust your audiobook speed?
Curious about Libro.fm? Tirzah answers some FAQs about my favorite audiobook platform, one that supports indie bookstores!
Five of the best audiobooks by narrator Soneela Nankani as picked by Rioter Kendra. I’m glad it wasn’t my job to narrow it down to just five because Soneela is so fantastic! Some of my most recent faves include Internment by Samira Ahmed and Sonali Dev’s Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors.
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 Tuesday and Friday too!
Stay bad & bookish, my friends.
Vanessa