Audio Book

Audiobook: All In

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by Billie Jean King, Johnette Howard, and Maryanne Vollers
Read by Billie Jean King
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Content: King talks about difficult subjects including sexism, discrimination, her affair, and eating disorders. It’s in the Sports section of the bookstore.

In this memoir, King writes of how she got into tennis, her struggles for equal treatment in the sport for women, her winning championships and being number one in the world, as well as her winning the infamous “Battle of the Sexes”. She talks about coming to terms with her sexuality as well as broadening her activism. It covers her life up to the present, including her marriage to her long-time partner Ilana Kloss.

I picked this one up not because I had any real affection for King, but because I was looking for something different to listen to and was in the mood for a sports book. I found it interesting – it’s not just a history of King’s life, it’s a history of women in professional sports, of the evolution of tennis in America, of the history of Women’s, Civil, and LGBTQ+ Rights. If I can say anything, it’s this: King has been around for a long time (she was born in 1943) and has seen and done and been involved in a lot. She wasn’t particularly fantastic as a narrator; I sped it up so she’d read at a speed that I could tolerate, but I did appreciate hearing the emotion in her voice when she talked about certain subjects. She was very frank about her life, her mistakes, her evolution, and her path to a very fulfilling life. I did like hearing about the other players on the tennis tour, especially when she got to ones I recognized (say around the 1980s), and I did enjoy hearing her view on her personal and professional battles.

It’s not my usual read, but I liked it well enough.

Audiobook: The Dead Romantics

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by Ashley Poston
Read by Eileen Stevens
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Content: There is death, swearing (including multiple f-bombs), and on-screen sex. It’s in the Romance section of the bookstore.

Florence Day has two secrets: she is the ghostwriter for popular romance author Anne Nichols, and she can see ghosts. She also ended a long-term relationship (when he stole her ghost memories and turned them into a best-selling novel) and her father suddenly dies, so she finds herself in her hometown for the first time in 10 years.

So, imagine her surprise when her editor – who she was pretty sure was alive in New York when she left – turns up as a ghost on the doorsteps of her family’s funeral home.

I’ve had this one on my radar since it came out, and a couple of co-workers loved it, but it became more urgent that I read it once I finished The Seven-Year Slip. And, while I don’t think it was as good as that one, I still thoroughly enjoyed it.

I like how Poston weaves in deeper themes than the meet-cute and falling-in-love you get in a typical romance. (She does have that, though. It’s just a bonus!) Florence is dealing with the betrayal by her ex, and the feelings of failure and inability to finish the romance she’s supposed to be writing. She’s dealing with the grief of losing her father, and coming to terms with her siblings who are angry that she abandoned the family. She is also falling in love with a ghost, which ha the potential to be really weird, but actually works, and works well.

The best thing about this one, though, is the narrator. She is fabulous. It kept me entertained and pulled into the story, and I loved listening to it. I think The Seven-Year Slip is the better book, but this one is a lot of fun as well.

Audiobook: Remarkably Bright Creatures

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by Shelby Van Pelt
Read by Marin Ireland & Michael Urie
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Content: There are some swear words, including a few f-bombs, and talk of suicide. It’s in the Fiction section of the bookstore.

Soon after her husband’s death, Tova Sullivan takes a night job cleaning at an aquarium on Puget Sound. The same body of water where her son, Erik, mysteriously disappeared 30 years ago. She’s a kind, quiet woman, who talks to the animals, and soon makes a connection with Marcellus, a rescued Giant Pacific Octopus.

Cameron is a bit of a dead-beat 30-year-old, one who is not able to keep a steady job and who still has dreams of “making it” as the lead guitarist in a band. When his girlfriend finally gets fed up and kicks him out and his aunt finds a bag of his mother’s stuff (a mother who abandoned him at age 9), Cameron heads up to the same small Puget Sound town, looking for the person he believes to be his father.

What he finds, and what Tova comes to realize, is a community that supports one another, and that sometimes, there are remarkably bright creatures in your midst.

This one was remarkable, particularly on audio. Urie, who voices the Marcellus chapters – yes, there are chapters written from an octopus’s point of view and they are incredible – is an absolute delight as a narrator. I adored the world-weariness that he infused in Marcellus’ narration; it often made me laugh aloud. And Ireland, who voiced the rest of the book, was also incredible. It was a book that I didn’t want to stop listening to, one of the those that you sit listening to in the car, even after you arrive at your destination. But even more than the narration, I liked how Van Pelt wove the stories together. I cared about the characters (even the ocotpus!) and the way their lives wove together. I wanted them all to be happy, to find resolution. And I was supremely satisfied, in the end.

A truly excellent little novel, defintely worth the hype it got.

Audiobook: One Italian Summer

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by Rebecca Serle
Read by Lauren Graham
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Content: There is an off-screen(ish) sex scene and some swearing, including some f-bombs. It’s in the Romance section of the bookstore, though I disagree with that.

Katy’s mother has just died of cancer, and her life is spinning out of control. She feels unmoored (she’s an only child), and she is not sure she wants to stay in the life she (well, honestly: her mother) has built for herself. She and her mom had planned to go spend a couple of weeks in Positano, Italy and so Katy is encouraged by her dad and her husband to go take the trip anyway. It might help with the grief. What she finds, when she gets there is something magical: her mother, age 30, in the summer she spent in Italy. (There’s also a hot American guy she hooks up with, but that’s not really the point.) Over the course of the weeks, Katy finds herself unwinding, and when the Big Reveal comes, she is in a better place to accept it and move on. 

I’ve had this on my TBR (or actually, it was the audiobook to-listen to list) for ages since it first came out. But it seemed like this summer was the time. It’s good on the Italy detail – I got that Katy was having a gorgeous time in a gorgeous place, eating so much yummy food. But, I was annoyed with her relationship with her mother: she let her mother do everything.  She was married! She was an adult! It can’t be healthy. I guess that’s part of her growth arc? I don’t know I didn’t hate it; I loved Graham as the narrator, and I thought it dealt with grief and death extremely well. I guess I was just expecting something, well, fluffier than I got. In the end, though, I was charmed by the Italian landscape. And I liked Katy’s growth. So it wasn’t half-bad.

Audiobook: Kiss Her Once for Me

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by Alison Cochrun
Read by: Natalie Naudus
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Content: It’s a romance, so there are sexytimes. And lots and lots of kissing. Plus swearing, including f-bombs. It’s in the romance section of the bookstore.

Ellie Oliver had one perfect day. It was Christmas Eve, and she was sad that her mother (again) wouldn’t visit her in Portland. She was about to start her dream job. Then, during a snowstorm, she met the perfect woman and spent the perfect day. A year later, though, Ellie’s life is a mess: she was fired from the perfect job, she’s working as a barista in a dive of a coffee shop, and worst of all: she had her heart broken by the perfect woman. So when the landlord of the coffee shop suggests a fake engagement so he can inherit $2 million (and give her 10%) she jumps at the chance. The catch? His sister is said perfect woman who broke Ellie’s heart. In a crazy, event-filled week at the family’s winter cabin, Ellie has to make a choice: the safe, fake marriage and money for true love.

(You can guess which one she chooses.)

The thing about romance books is that it’s the characters that pull you in and keep you interested. Readers basically know how the plot is going to go. And this one, my friends, has some excellent characters. From Ellie herself to the fantastic love interest, Jack, to the high and/or stoned grandmothers. It’s all a lot of fun. And the narrator is just sublime. So, even though I read a Christmas book in July, it was totally worth it. Such fun, such delight, such adorableness.

Audiobook: The Art Thief

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by Michael Finkle
Read by Edoardo Ballerini & Michael Finkel
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Content: There might have been some mild swearing (and maybe an f-bomb or two? I don’t remember, honestly). It’s about art thieves, so if that causes any problems… It’s in the True Crime section of the bookstore.

This is the story of one of the greatest art thieves in history: Stéphane Breitwieser. He didn’t just steal one painting, he stole more than $1 billion of art, from a lot of regional museums, in the middle of the day. He never harmed anyone, and he never sold the art. Instead, he kept it in his attic rooms in his mother’s house where he and his girlfriend lived. And he just kept it because… he was in love with the art. He wanted to be surrounded by beauty. He called himself an art liberator, and maybe that was part of it. Part of it, though, was also the thrill he got from stealing, and in the end, it was an act of hubris that brought him down.

This was an absolutely wild story. It takes a bit to get used to Ballerini as a narrator, but once you settle into his rhythm, the story is absolutely captivating. Finkle – who sat down with Breitwieser for a series of interviews – depicts how Breitwieser and his girlfriends stole billions of dollars in art, and how they got caught (and what happened to the art afterward; let me just say that Breitwieser’s mother is probably involved, and it’s not pretty). It’s a fascinating tale, and it’s hard to believe the Breitwieser’s cohones. Seriously. But it’s a story that was ultimately gripping and wild to listen to.

Audiobook: Unnecessary Drama

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by Nina Kenwood
Read by: Maddy Withington
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Content: There is some swearing, including a few f-bombs, teenage drinking (though it’s legal in Australia), and some off-screen sex. It’s in the Teen section (grades 9+) of the bookstore.

Brooke is off to her first year of uni, and she just wants a fresh start. Sure, she’s overly anxious and prone to making lists and cleaning when she’s stressed, but now that she’s in Melbourne and away from everything, she’s going to be a New Person. That all falls apart when she discovers that one of the roommates in her shared house is Jesse, the boy from high school who completely dumped on her when she was 14 and has been her nemisis ever since.

You know where this is going, right?

Not only is it a very cute, solid, enemies-to-lovers trope – of course Jesse and Brooke start out hating each other, but slowly become friends. BUT there’s ALSO fake dating! When out at a bar to celebrate their other roommate, Harper’s, birthday, they run into Brooke’s ex-boyfriend, and because she doesn’t want to look like a pathetic fool, she ropes Jesse into being her boyfriend for the night. Except that lights a fire….

There’s also the “no dating roommates” rule at the house…

It’s a lot of cute, silly, fun. Fun that made me laugh out loud and shake my head at the pure anxiousness and need-to-be-in-control that Brooke has. Jesse is a good foil for everything, and he turns out to be really sweet. I love that it’s set during the first year of uni, and talks about the transition from high school to college. And the narrator with her Australian accent was a delight too.

So, yeah, I really liked this one.

Audiobook: Family Lore

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by Elizabeth Acevedo
Read by the author, Sixta Morel & Danyeli Rodriguez del Orbe
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Release date: August 1, 2023
Content: There was a lot of swearing, including multiple f-bombs, talk of sex and p0rn, and abuse by adults towards children. It will be in the Fiction section of the bookstore.

I have a tumultuous history with magic realism. A lot of the time, it doesn’t sit well; if there’s going to be magic, my brain reasons, then why don’t we have it be magic. Give me someone pulling cars out of their dreams, if you want to set it in the real world. But the idea that someone’s “magic” can predict death, or tell if you were lying, or – heaven help me – have a magical vagina, you lose me. 

On the one hand: I have really loved Acevedo’s books in the past. I think she’s a brilliant writer and I’ve really enjoyed the tales she’s had to tell. I was excited by this one: the stories of sisters who have immigrated from the Dominican Republic, and their reflections on their lives and loves as they lead up to the living wake of the oldest sister. Sounds good, right? 

But, the narrator is Ona, an anthropologist, and the book’s framework is her collecting and telling these stories. I was fine when it was the stories, but Ona? Ona – she of the magic vagina – I intensely disliked. That’s an understatement. I loathed it when she was around when she interrupted the story with her own observations and her own narrative. I wished I could have skipped it – I was listening to it on audio; I suppose I could have, but it’s not the same as skipping pages in a book – and moved on with the part of the story I was interested in. 

I finished it. But, in the end, my dislike of Ona and magical realism trumped whatever good the book had.

Audiobook: Same Time Next Summer

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by Annabel Monaghan
Read by Brittany Pressley and Dan Bittner
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Content: There is some mild swearing, and a couple of f-bombs. There is also some sexy times, but mostly off-screen. It’s in the romance section of the bookstore.

Sam has always felt most alive on the beach at her family’s Long Island summer home. With the waves, the freedom, the long days, and with Wyatt, the boy next door. They even had one spectacular summer where they spent every day together, falling in love. But at the end of that summer, they had a falling out, and now it’s been fourteen years since they’ve seen each other. Sam is back at the beach house with her fiance, Jack, for a week as she is dealing with a misstep at her job and they’re trying to figure out where to get married that October. And guess who’s back next-door? Wyatt, of course, fresh in from LA to help out with a music festival in their beach town.

What does that mean for Sam? Has she gotten over him? Is closure what she needs? Or maybe a whole new lease on life?

This one was really sweet. I liked Sam as a character, and I liked that she learned to come back into herself over the course of the book. It wasn’t as steamy as some of the other ones I’ve read lately, but it went hard for the summertime, hippy living, beach town vibe and it absolutely nailed that. I loved the narrators, and the way they made the characters come alive. It was thoroughly delightful, especially on audio.

Audiobook: Big Gay Wedding

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by Byron Lane
Read by Noah Galvin
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Content: There is swearing, including multiple f-bombs, some tasteful on-screen foreplay, and a giant, graphic, naked gay wedding cake. There is also homophobia, including the use of the other f-word. It’s in the fiction section of the bookstore.

There is a farm in rural Louisiana called the Polite Society Farm. It’s run by Chrissie (I’m not sure if that’s spelled right) Durang, whose husband passed away a couple years back. She’s made do, but she’s hoping that her son Barnett, who is coming home for a visit, will take over so she can retire. The problem is that Barnett isn’t coming home to help his mother out. He’s coming home to get married. To his future husband, Ezra. And his mother doesn’t know yet.

It seems trite to say “hilarity ensues” but hilarity really does ensue. From Chrissy spite-eating all of Ezra’s mushroom-laced chocolate and getting high as a kite to the side characters (Ezra’s family! Pawpaw!) to just the hugeness and over-the-top-ness of the wedding, this one had me guffawing (seriously) while listening. But there’s some depth to it. Chrissy’s not happy with her son being gay, living in Los Angeles, or marrying a man. She’s a homophobe (as was her dead husband), and she learns and grows to accept both her son and his lover. It’s quite lovely to see. The town’s pretty homophobic as well, but there are some bright spots and learning lessons. And, if the sheep death at the end (spoiler, but not much of one) didn’t have me tearing up.

The audiobook is spectacular. Galvin does a fantastic job with the characters and keeping the book flowing and embracing the crazy. I’m not sure I would have laughed half as much if it weren’t for the audiobook.

So, yeah, highly highly recommended. So much fun.