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Audiobooks

A Must-listen Young Adult Novel and New Releases!

Hello, Audiophiles! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday with friends and family!

I’ve long accepted that I’m the kind of person that shamelessly enjoys the holidays, decorating everything from my front door to my bookshelves. When friends walk into my house, my Corgi, Dylan, greets them at the door decked out in his red and green collar complete with a bowtie. But for whatever reason, this year the holidays have snuck up on me, and today while staring at a display of Christmas cookies, I realized that the year had slipped by and I was NOT prepared.

Of course, I can’t wait for Gwen to experience her first perfect Christmas, complete with her own brand new stocking and “My First Christmas” ornament. My Christmas tree is not as enthusiastic about our new addition. I foresee fencing the tree into a corner so curious floofs can’t decide to embrace their inner wild Corgi and shred my long-suffering tree.

Gwen keeps finding ways to sneak into the library where I keep all of the things she’s not allowed to destroy. I noticed she had snuck off and ran to the library only to find her lounging like a queen in front of her stacks of books. Well played, Gwen.

Gwen, a black and white Cardigan Welsh Corgi, sits on a giant dog bed in front of stacks and stacks of books.
Princess Gwenllian on her Throne

Favorite Listen

A graphic of the cover of A Nobleman's Guide to Scandal and Shipwrecks

A Nobleman’s Guide to Scandal and Shipwrecks by Mackenzi Lee

There are few series that I highly anticipated where I will literally drop everything and immediately start reading. But Lee’s last book in the Montague Siblings series definitely qualifies. I really enjoyed A Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue and A Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy, but I didn’t think I’d become that attached to the characters. Then the pandemic hit and the third book was delayed a couple of times. I found myself revisiting the first two books, finding peace in their comforting familiarity.

By the time A Nobleman’s Guide to Scandal and Shipwrecks hit the shelves, I knew I needed a copy ASAP. I downloaded the audiobook and started on one last adventure with the Mantague’s. So back I fell into 1700s England, complete with fantastical plot twists and the siblings’ neverending shenanigans. 

I don’t want to go into too many details as to avoid *spoilers*, but I will say I’ve really appreciated the disability representation in the series. Adrian, the focus of the last book in the series, experiences what we would now call generalized anxiety disorder and OCD. We listen to Adrian describe his spiraling thoughts, which always seem on the edge of being out of control. His mind repeats the same thoughts over and over again. While this might seem too repetitive to some listeners, I found that it effectively communicated what it’s like to live with those conditions.

Of course, narrator Christian Coulson brilliantly performs the audio edition. Coulson narrated the first book as well, and I loved hearing his familiar voice telling the Montagues’ story again. He manages to capture the perfect amount of refined mischief that embodies the siblings’ collective brand of adventures.

Narrated by Christian Coulson (Dark Rise by C. S. Pacat and To Hold the Bridge by Garth Nix)

Don’t forget you can get three free audiobooks at Audiobooks.com with a free trial!

Recent Releases

A graphic of the cover of Jade Legacy

Jade Legacy by Fonda Lee

It all started with Jade City, the Nebula nominated novel about a crime family desperate to control Jade, which gives certain people incredible power. The story continued with Jade War, and now, the third book in the series, Jade Legacy. This much-anticipated conclusion to the Green Bone Saga ties together the complex storylines of characters readers have spent thousands of pages with over the course of the series.

Narrated by Andrew Kishino (We Are Not Free by Traci Chee and Wildwood Whispers by Willa Reece)

A graphic of the cover of These Precious Days

These Precious Days by Ann Patchett

There’s nothing like a master at work, and Ann Patchett’s writing is a gift. This collection of essays cover a wide range of topics, including Patchett’s friendship with a woman named Sooki who ended up social distancing with Patchett and her husband due to the pandemic. Patchett reads her essays, making this audio edition quite the treat.

Narrated by Ann Patchett (This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage by Ann Patchett)

A graphic of the cover of Go Tell the Bees That I'm Gone

Go Tell the Bees That I’m Gone by Diana Gabaldon

Daina Gabaldon fans rejoiced as the next installment of her Outlander series hit bookshelves just in time for the holiday season. This novel continues the time-traveling saga of a woman from the 1940s stumbling upon a gate into the past, sending her back to Scotland in the 1700s. In the first novel, love, political machinations, and war loom constantly on the horizon for Claire, but her new love interest, Jamie, immediately catches her eye. Complications abound, though, because in her own modern time, she’s already married.

Narrated by Davina Porter (The Miniaturist by Jess Burton and The Cater Street Hangman by Anne Perry)

A graphic of the cover of a snake falls to earth

A Snake Falls to Earth by Darcie Little Badger

Award-winning author Darcie Little Badger returns with her latest novel, A Snake Falls to Earth. Nina, a Lipan Apache girl, has always believed there was more out there than she’s always been told. As the world around her is wracked by a catastrophe, she must figure out how to help her family and her community to survive.

Narrated by Shaun Taylor-Corbett and Kinsale Hueston (The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones and Race to the Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse)

Over on Book Riot

6 Memoirs on Audio Read by Their Authors

8 Audiobooks Read by Natalie Naudus

Around the Web

Quiz: Your 2021 Audiobook Gift Guide” (Libro.fm)

Indigenous Audiobook Narrators You Should Be Listening To” (Libro.fm)

Nonfiction Audiobooks to Download This Winter” (The New York Times)


That’s it for this week! Feel free to drop me a line at kendra.d.winchester@gmail.com or say hi over on Instagram @kdwinchester. For even MORE audiobook content, you can find my articles over on Book Riot.

Happy listening, bookish friends!

~ Kendra