Audio Book

Audiobook: The Library of Unruly Treasures

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by Jeanne Birdsall
Read by Sorcha Groundsell
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Content: There is talk of neglectful parenting and some mildly harrowing moments. It’s in the Middle Grade (grades 3-5) section of the bookstore.

When Gwen MacKinnon is sent to live with her great-Uncle Matthew (whom she has never met) because her mother is off to Costa Rica with her boyfriend and her father got kicked out of the house of his third (soon-to-be-ex) wife, she doesn’t know what to expect. Probably nothing good, since nothing good ever happens. But what she finds when she gets there is a delightful human being in Matthew, a boon companion of a dog named Pumpkin, and the Lahdukan – who are NOT faeries, don’t even think that. The Lahdukan are convinced that Gwen is their new kalba (Matthew’s grown-up daughter Nora is their current one) and that Gwen is destined to help the MacKinnon clan and the Stewart clan (which is helpfully housed in the Isabella Stewart Gardner museum in Boston) join together. Gwen, however, has her doubts: she’s never succeeded at much of anything. How can she succeed at leading not one, but TWO Lahdukan clans?

Oh, this was charming. I probably would have enjoyed it had I read it – I do love Birdsall’s writing (especially the way she writes dogs!) – but I adored it on audio. Groundsell is a delightful narrator, and she captures everything – from charming Uncle Matthew to Gwen’s anxieties, to Julia, the 6-year-old who lives upstairs, to the myriad personalities of the Lahdukan. It was one of those books that made me happy every time I turned it on, and one I didn’t want to stop listening to.

I think, too, that Birdsall did just the right amount of fantasy to make it work. She didn’t create new huge worlds, just added a fantastical element (but they could be real!) to this one. It came across just as charming and just as perfect as the Penderwicks books did. Which means, honestly, I’ll read pretty much anything Birdsall writes.

Highly recommended for kids of all ages (this one would make a great read-aloud!).

Audiobook: Graciela in the Abyss

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by Meg Medina
Read by Elena Rey
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Content: There are some pretty intense and scary moments, as well as emotional abuse by parents. It’s in the Middle Grade (grades 3-5) section of the bookstore.

Graciela accidentally died in the sea a long time ago, and woke up to be a ghost. She’s pretty content living her life until a series of things happen: her spirit guide, Amina, gets called to be a part of the ocean’s governing body; a spirit-killing harpoon gets unleashed (by accident) by a boy named Jorge; and then Graciela and Jorge have to destory the harpoon and save the sea.

Kind of. I think? The plot for this one kind of is immaterial – it’s all about Graciela’s growth. She starts the book selfish and annoying, and by the end she’s a decent human being. (At least, by the end I didn’t want to smack her as much.) Jorge was an abused child who just wanted to make things right. It’s a lot for a middle grade book.

And I had to move the narration up to 1.3x becuase it was sooooo slow at a slower speed. Like mind-numbingly slow.

I wish I had better things to say. I respect Medina and I’ve liked her books up to this point, but this one just didn’t do it for me.

Audiobook: Problematic Summer Romance

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by Ali Hazelwood
Read by Elizabeth Lamont & Eric Nolan
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Content: There is a lot of swearing, including multiple f-bombs, as well as some pretty detailed on-page sex. It’s in the Romance section of the bookstore.

Maya’s brother Eli and his fiance Rue are getting married in Italy, and everything about this is perfect. Except that Eli’s best friend, Connor, is going to be there. The Connor that Maya has been in love with for three years, and who Connor has very gently, but very firmly, discouraged. See: Connor is 38, and Maya is 23. Connor can’t get over the age difference, so even though they spent years talking daily, and they’re pretty perfectly matched, he won’t give in. Much to Maya’s dismay. She wants nothing more than to be with Connor, his imperfections and all.

First off: the book is, in fact, problematic. I’ve been thinking about it since I finished, and I’m not sure why I couldn’t get over the age gap. It’s the same as in Emma, why is that 21-to-37 age gap okay (I mean, Mr. Knightly literally saw Emma grow up!) and this one is not okay? I was talking to another friend about it, and she pointed out that if we switched the roles – Maya was older, and Connor was the younger one pining and not letting her “no” be final – then it would be really problematic. I don’t know. It could just be the way Hazelwood wrote Maya and Connor – she’s very flirty and aggressive and he is very reserved and protective. Maybe I’m not comfortable with that? (Which, yes, says more about me than the book. Maybe all of this says more about me than the book.)

That said, I adored the narrators on this one. Lamont was fantastic as Maya/the general narrator and though I don’t usually like a duet narration, I liked the way Nolan did the men. Maybe I’m just a sucker for an Irish brogue. So, even with the whole problematic part of it, I did end up enjoying the book. If only because the narrators were just amazing.

Audiobook: All-Star Superman

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by Grant Morrison & Frank Quitely
Read by a full cast
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Content: There is comic-book violence. It’s in the Graphic Novel section of the bookstore.

In this series of collected comics, Superman deals with the madness on the backwards Bizarro planet. There is a bottled city that proves you can never go home again. A living sun hell-bent on destroying humanity. A world without the Man of Steel. Twelve impossible labors and mere moments to save the Earth. (Yes, I copied the back copy, because honestly, I’m not sure what really happened.)

I’m going to get this out of the way first: graphic novels/comics really are a visual medium, and don’t work in audio. That said, it’s kind of a fascinating experience. The narrators not only read the dialogue, they describe what is going on in the picture. It makes me wonder if they’re reading the script the writers write before the artists take it on? Or if they wrote a whole new script for the audiobook? I don’t know. It was hard for me to imagine scenes (my brain doesn’t really work that way – when I think of the word apple, I don’t see a picture of an apple in my head), which is why I don’t think the audiobook worked for me.

That said, I liked the stories. I’m glad we listened to this before going to see the movie, because there were parallels from this collection and what James Gunn did. And I can see the value of having audio versions of graphic novels, even if they are not for me.

Audiobook: System Collapse

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by Martha Wells
Read by Kevin R. Free
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Others in the series: All Systems Red, Artificial Condition, Rogue Protocol, Exit Strategy, Network Effect
Content: Like all Murderbot books, there is a lot of violence and swearing (Wells is a master of the artfully placed f-bomb). It will be in the Science Fiction/Fantasy section of the bookstore.

I don’t have much to say about this that I didn’t already say two years ago. I finally convinced my husband to read this series (thanks to the TV show on Apple+) and this was the last one he had to read, so we listened to it on audio on a recent long drive. I didn’t mind revisiting Murderbot and its world, and I had heard that the audio was really good.

The audio is really good. Free does a fantastic job with the narration, with capturing Murderbot’s personality, with the book in general. He kept my interest, and it’s one of those books you don’t want to turn off and get out of the car.

And an additional bonus: K, who was in the car with us, ended up listening as well, and she’s plowed through half of the series since we got back.

I call that a win.

Audiobook: America’s Best Idea

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The Separation of Church and State
by Randall Balmer
Read by the author
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Content: It’s a bit wonky at times. It will be in the History section of the bookstore.

This is a short, impassioned history and defense of the First Amendment’s freedom of religion. The idea of not having a state religion, as Balmer asserts, has led to the freedom to have a plethora of religions, a freedom from state-mandated religious requirements, and a true freedom to worship how citizens would like. It’s that, which led to the separation of church and state, that has, in many ways shaped America.

And Balmer passionately asserts that the shift to Christian nationalism, the laws imposing religion on society, are not only unconstitutional, they are anti-American.

While Balmer isn’t a great narrator – his pace was uneven, and it was just odd at times – the subject matter was interesting enough, and it was short enough that it really didn’t matter too much. It’s an important little book, a reminder to those who would say that America is a Christian nation first, that it’s the separation of government and religion that our country was founded upon, and has allowed for so many religions to thrive. And it needs to stay that way.

Audiobook: Lady’s Knight

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by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner
Read by Helen Keeley & Barbara Rosenblat
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Content: There is some violence – jousting and dragon-killing and the like; and two f-bombs. It’s in the YA Fantasy section of the bookstore.

Gwen has dreams. She is the blacksmith’s daughter, and is running the forge herself pretty much these days, but she has designed her own armor, and wants to try her hand at jousting. And one day, she earns enough money and enters the qualifying rounds of the tournament… and wins. She thinks it’s a one-off, but then Lady Isobelle finds her and convinces her to continue. It seems that Lady Isobelle is the prize for winning the tournament, and she doesn’t really want to marry any of the other knights. She convinces Gwen to be her champion in the tournament.

Gwen reluctantly agrees, follows Isobelle to the castle, where she pretends to be “Sir Gawain’s” sister, and… well, falls in love with Isobelle. There’s more to the plot – including terribly chauvinistic knights and a lady’s maid who might be an assassin – but that’s the basic premise.

Oh, this one was a delight. The back blurb (do audiobooks have a back blurb?) mentioned The Knight’s Tale as a comp, and I think that’s spot on. It’s Knight’s Tale but with lesbian girls, and I couldn’t have enjoyed myself more. It’s laugh-aloud funny at parts (LOVE the narrator who breaks the fourth wall), and yet had me ugly crying and the show of unity among women at the end. It’s fierce, it’s sweet, it’s a joy to read (and to listen to!). I can’t recommend this silly, sweet, fun book enough.

Audiobook: Wild and Wrangled

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by Lyla Sage
Read by Connor Crais, Savannah Peachwood, and Stella Hunter
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Others in the series: Done and Dusted, Swift and Saddled, Lost and Lassoed
Content: There’s a lot of swearing, including multiple f-bombs, and (while it takes a while to get there) a lot of on-page sexytimes. It’s in the Romance section of the bookstore.

All Camille has wanted to do is get married to get her (rich) parents off her back and to secure the future for her daughter. Except things don’t go according to plan: her fiancé never shows up for their wedding, sending a note calling it off. And, to make things worse, as Cam tries to rebuild her life, her first love, her high school boyfriend, Dusty Tucker, shows up back in her life. It didn’t work out – though they tried – the first time around, and Cam’s not sure if she wants to see if it can work out a second time. But Dusty is persistent, and being in a relationship with him feels… right. Can she buck her parents and her expectations and her fears, and make it work with him again?

I liked this one better than I have the past couple Rebel Blue books, though I still think I might be over cowboy romances. That said, I really enjoyed Cam and Dusty together, and I liked the hopefulness of two people who fell in love young, finding their way back to each other. Sage does know how to write characters, and maybe I liked this one more because they were just adoptive members of the Rider family, which meant no overbearing brothers to get in the way. This one had a weight to it – with the class issues and the tension of lost loves – that I think the others missed.

I still like Done and Dusted best (the first time is always the best, no?) but this one is a solid read.

Audiobook: The Knight and the Moth

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by Rachel Gillig
Read by Samantha Hydeson
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Content: There’s violence, including violence towards women; swearing, including multiple f-bombs; and some on-page sex scenes. It’s in the Romance section of the bookstore.

Six is a diviner for the Abbess of Ashling in the country of Traum. Which means, people come to her, paying her in blood and the Abbess in money, and she drowns in the spring water and divines their futures for them. It’s all she’s ever known, and while she doesn’t love doing it (um, I would wonder if she did), she is very good. What she and her sister diviners (creatively: one through five) really want is for their ten year term to be up and for them to move on with their lives.

Except, over the course of a few nights, Six’s sister diviners go missing. Thankfully, the king and his knights are passing through, and Six escapes with them (well, with the one devilishly handsome, and yet not very nice – the use of the word “ignoble” happened more than once) to go visit each of the omens and to find out what happened to the only things (okay, they’re not “things”) she cared about.

I wanted to like this one much more than I actually did. I had issues with the world (why would you get six diviners at once, and have them all leave at the same time? Why would you NOT stagger their times of service?) and eventually, with the romance. Sure, the knight was all considerate and whatever, but when I finally got to the first sex scene, it was kind of… silly. There was absolutely no chemistry there, and I kept rolling my eyes at it all. And then the twist at the end? I’m not sure it made me mad because it was out of left field (there were clues, but not great ones), or because it was just stupid.

I finished the book (it was a book group book), but I didn’t love it, and I have no intention of reading the sequel.

Audiobook: Great Black Hope

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by Rob Franklin
Read by Justice Smith
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Content: There is drug use and lots of drinking (by adults). There is also a lot of swearing, including many f-bombs. It’s in the Fiction section of the bookstore.

When he’s arrested on drug possession in a small Long Island town, Smith – a queer Black Stanford graduate, trying to make his way in the city- finds himself in an interesting position. He comes from a wealthy Black family, one with power and prestige, so he has the money for bail and treatment, but he is Black, with all that entails, and he finds that his race complicates things.

Which is only partially what this book is about. Smith lost his best friend, Elle, to a drug overdose – another Black life taken – and because of who Elle was, her death was fodder for tabloids. His other friend, Caroline (a white woman), finds herself trying to get sober, but spiraling out of control with an affair with a married French chef. On top of all this, Smith loses his job – not because of the drugs (everyone does drugs!), but just because of downsizing – and is dragged home to Atlanta to face his parents with his less-than-successes.

Much like many adult fiction books, this is less about the plot and more about the journey, which I found interesting. Not much has changed in the past 30 years, when Gen X was in their early-to-mid-20s and having the same crises and doing the same drugs, and experiencing the same ennui. It’s good to know that nothing really changes. That said, Franklin is a good writer, exploring class and race (though I wish he had done more exploring of both) and what it means to be Black and wealthy in a city that respects money more than anything. I think the most telling scene was the confrontation between Smith’s sister (a third-year law student, planning on going into public defense) and their grandmother, whose wealth was built on being a landlord of underserved people (or, as it is lobbed at her, a slum lord). It helped, too, that Justice Smith was a good narrator, and kept me engaged in the story.

Not exactly one that I would have picked up normally (it’s one everyone at the store is talking about), but I’m glad I did.