I thought I would do a quick list of some audiobooks I’ve listened to recently that were really good. I got all these titles through my Libby app linked to my local public library–it’s a great resource for free audiobooks, even if sometimes you have to wait for someone to turn the book you want back in (just like a real library!)
- Tomi Adeyemi, Children of Blood and Bone–YA African speculative fiction. Good stuff, but the reading by Bahni Turpin is the real reason to listen to this–she’s sensational.
- Naomi Novik, Spinning Silver and Uprooted. She re-tells Russian fairy tales with a more modern focus on women’s experiences.
- Yu Miri, Tokyo Ueno Station. A short listen but not a light one. I highly recommend it, though.
- Rachel Hartman, Seraphina. A fun, touching, and well-plotted alternative-history-with-dragons. The reading by Mandy Williams is very good.
- Haruki Murakami, Killing Commendatore. I’m not totally sure why I’m recommending this one; it’s not my favorite of Murakami’s by a longshot (that’s 1Q84). But I guess it came along at the right time of my life, and the reading by Kirby Heyborne is very good; his voice is soothing and suspenseful at the same time, which is a tough trick to pull off.
- Naomi Alderman, The Power. Fantastic all the way around–both the story and the reading of it by Rhonda Byrne. Unmissable. What would happen to world politics if women were physically stronger and more dangerous than men? Alderman has really thought this question through, and her answers are chilling–and likely spot-on.
- Margaret Atwood, Oryx and Crake. While we’re on the topic of feminist dystopic fiction…. I can’t recommend the whole MaddAddam trilogy necessarily, but this first installment is required listening.
- Jesmyn Ward, Sing, Unburied, Sing. Really worth listening to; I think that’s all I want to say about it.
- Stephen King, Dark Tower series (seven books). There are two narrators for the series, both excellent, but Frank Muller was King’s original choice and unfortunately passed away during the years-long recording of the series, to be replaced by George Guidall. You will see why King loved Muller.
The Rookery 