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Algonquin Books (Audiobook Excerpts)

Listen to an excerpt from THAT FRIEND by Sabrina Brier, read by the author and a full cast.

THAT FRIEND Audiobook Excerpt

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Audible: https://www.audible.de/pd/B0DLPH6R64/?source_code=EKAORWS0223189009-BK-ACX0-421099&ref=acx_bty_BK_ACX0_421099_rh_de 
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/5zQf7ba1SZhAZobE3T56GS
Google Books: https://play.google.com/store/audiobooks/details/?id=AQAAAECyHy1fjM&c=books&hl=de&pli=1
Deezer: https://www.deezer.com/en/album/653899971

Mein Mann ist tot. Eine Fremde steht vor meiner Tür. Sie sagt, mein Haus gehört ihr ...

Nur wenige Tage nach dem plötzlichen Tod meines Mannes klingelt es an der Tür. Vor mir steht eine fremde Frau. Sie hat einen kleinen Jungen auf dem Arm und trägt genau das gleiche Diamantenarmband am Handgelenk wie ich.

Als ich sie hereinbitte, bemerke ich, wie beim Anblick unseres geräumigem, liebevoll eingerichteten Zuhauses ihre Augen groß werden. Sie wirft einen Blick auf die silbergerahmten Familienfotos und meine kleine Tochter, die sich hinter mir versteckt. Sie sieht mich mit ernsten blauen Augen an. »Es tut mir leid«, sagt sie. »Ich weiß, das ist ein Schock für Sie. Aber ich bin die Geliebte Ihres Mannes. Und das ist sein Sohn.«

Meine Welt bricht zusammen. Und dann teilt sie mir mit, dass ihr mein Haus gehört – und sie nicht die geringste Absicht hat, wieder zu gehen ...


Seine andere Frau by K.L. Slater, narrated by Viola Gabor

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Audible: https://www.audible.de/pd/B0DLL9YNGV/?source_code=EKAORWS0223189009-BK-ACX0-421077&ref=acx_bty_BK_ACX0_421077_rh_de 
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/3CWLRNSnVkhQWqQspmnHET
Google Books: https://play.google.com/store/audiobooks/details/?id=AQAAAECyHyhfiM&c=books&hl=de 
Deezer: https://deezer.com/album/653900051

Mein Mann war kein Monster. Ganz gleich, was die Leute sagen ...

Bis vor ein paar Wochen war mein Leben perfekt. Michael war ein hingebungsvoller Ehemann und ein liebevoller Vater. Unsere Familie war der Traum, den ich mir immer gewünscht hatte. Doch plötzlich wurde er zum Albtraum. Mein Mannwurde beschuldigt, etwas mit dem Verschwinden einer jungen Mutter aus unserem Dorf zu tun zu haben. Nachdem er von der Polizei befragt worden war, stürzte er sich vor einen Lastwagen.

Er war mein Leben – und jetzt stehe ich auf seiner Beerdigung und halte die kleine Hand unserer sechsjährigen Tochter Tansy. Ich versichere allen, dass Michael unschuldig war, aber ich sehe in ihren Augen, dass sie mir nicht glauben.

Meine Tochter wird ihren Vater nicht als Monster in Erinnerung behalten, dafür werde ich sorgen. Ich werde jede Spur eines Verbrechens vernichten, koste es, was es wolle. Denn auch ich habe Geheimnisse. Und ich kann nicht riskieren, dass die Leute anfangen, mich zu beobachten ...

Die Witwe by K.L. Slater, narrated by Patrizia Grawe

The School for Wicked Witches #2: 
Wicked Never Waits
Written by Will Taylor
Narrated by Mia Hutchinson-Shaw	

After making her escape from The School for Wicked Witches, Ava has realized that it might be the right place for her, after all.  But her return isn't triumphant -- if anything, she's more behind than ever. When things start to go very wrong at the school, Ava discovers she may be able to save the day... but only if she pairs up with Tinabella, her friend-turned-enemy. What's a young witch to do?

Print edition published by Scholastic Inc.  Text copyright 2025 by Will Taylor.  Production copyright 2025 by Scholastic Inc.  All rights reserved. 

Formats Available:
Digital Trade		978-1-5461-5155-5		$20.99
Digital Library	978-1-5461-5156-2		$62.99


The School for Wicked Witches #2: Wicked Never Waits - Audiobook Clip

Squad, The
Written by Christina Soontornvat
Narrated by Grace Li, Vaneh Assadourian, Ashley Austin Morris, and a full cast	

"Raw, candid, moving, and full of heart." - Betty C. Tang, creator of the award-winning bestseller Parachute Kids
"Gorgeous, heartfelt, and hilarious." - Sarah Mlynowski, New York Times bestselling author of the Whatever After series
STEP UP. COMMIT. FOLLOW THROUGH.
It's eighth grade and Christina and her besties, Megan and Leanne, are once again going through the brutal trials of cheerleading tryouts. This year, Christina feels more confident: She dresses in her own style and has amazing friends, even her first crush. But what if the girls don't all make the squad? Worse than that, Christina learns her parents' marriage is collapsing. Suddenly, her family, her future, and her identity seem in total freefall. Can she keep it together and still make her cheerleading dreams come true?

Print edition published by Scholastic Inc. Text Copyright 2024 by Christina Soontornvat. Production Copyright 2024 by Scholastic Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Formats Available:
Digital Trade		978-1-5461-3718-4		$24.99
Digital Library		978-1-5461-3719-1		$74.99




The Squad - Audiobook Clip

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Audible UK: https://zpr.io/waaNMvP9rmiv
Audible US: https://zpr.io/25ibN486hJZA

I’m Rylan Flynn. I hunt for ghosts and restless spirits, and solve the mysteries that make them haunt the living.

As I drive across an isolated bridge way out in the woods, a bright light blinds me. But it isn’t a car approaching. It’s a ghost, with a deadly secret to reveal.

I follow the spirit down to the river. There, below the water, I find the body of a young woman. A small square of skin is missing from her hip, and I’m certain she was murdered.

Detective Ford Pierce rushes to join me. Our friendship is turning into something deeper, and there’s nobody I would rather have by my side.

But when Ford sees the body his face turns pale. The girl in the water is his cousin, Kenzie Cross.

As a family member, Ford is forbidden from investigating. But he’s determined to find the killer, and he wants my help. Even if that means working outside the rules.

When the police discover that Kenzie had a secret boyfriend from a strict religious family, they’re certain this is a simple case. But I find evidence that links Kenzie to another mysterious death—years ago, beneath the very same bridge.

I’ve never worked so closely with Ford before, and the danger of the case puts a strain on our new relationship. Can we learn to work together, before another innocent life is taken?

Packed with mysteries, hauntings, shocking twists, and slow-burn romance, the Rylan Flynn series is a paranormal adventure perfect for fans of Noelle W. Ihli, Heather Graham, and Wendy Wang.

The River Ghost by Dawn Merriman, narrated by Stephanie Cannon

Brought to you by Penguin.

I know what I saw...

'The ghosts of today live not in castles or stately homes, but in ordinary houses and offices, and they're witnessed by ordinary people like you and me. We just need to figure out what the hell they are - the dead returning from the "undiscovered country" of death? Or the product of that equally mysterious and ancient location, the human mind?

This book is the story of these ordinary people who have experienced extraordinary things and want to make sense of them. Each one is a brand-new case I have never shared before; modern day ghost stories that make my blood run cold as effectively as anything that Charles Dickens could rustle up. And they are all entirely true.

It's also a story of my own personal journey of discovery because I've realised something while reading all these incredible stories that come my way. I've realised how much I want to believe. I'm asking you to join me, to keep an open mind and to prepare to have your very concept of reality challenged. Are you ready?'

Into the Uncanny, written and read by Danny Robins

Brought to you by Penguin.

From the Sunday Times bestselling author of the international phenomenon Surrounded by Idiots.

Studies suggest two people who have never met before will tell three lies within the first five minutes. Astounding. But why?

Why do we choose to lie even when we know it's wrong? To protect the people we love? To paint ourselves in a better light? To win short-lived praise? Or, are there simply far more obscure reasons behind why we lie?

In Surrounded by Liars, international bestselling author and behavioural expert Thomas Erikson unpacks the psychological reasons behind why we lie, and reveals the impact lying has on our relationships.

With the help of the behavioural model made famous in Surrounded by Idiots, discover how to detect the liars in your life and shatter their deception for good!

Surrounded by Liars, written by Thomas Erikson and read by David John

Brought to you by Penguin.

**Soon to be a major Netflix TV series, starring Gong Yoo and Seo Hyun-jin**

Listen to the captivating Korean feminist thriller for fans of KIM JIYOUNG BORN 1982, CONVENIENCE STORE WOMAN and YELLOWFACE.

‘So this is the world we live in, where even spouses can be rented’

Meet Noh Inji: thirty years old, five wedding rings so far, and she’s never once been in love.

When Inji takes a job at Wedding & Life, the popular matchmaking service, she never imagines her role will be with NM, their secretive marriage division that rents out ‘field spouses’ for a fixed period to their elite clientele. Just like a real marriage, Inji’s assignments involve a wedding, some sex and a spot of housework. It’s all tailored exactly to the client’s desires - no legal battles, no fights, no emotional baggage.

In no way is Inji interested in finding real love, because accidents happen when you mistakenly assume that you are somehow special. At NM, love is temporary, which is just how Inji likes it.
When one of Inji’s old husbands, a mysterious high-profile music producer, requests her back for another year of marriage, Inji’s own dark past will begin to unravel – as well as the sinister underbelly of the NM management, who will stop at nothing to preserve their reputation - and that of their wealthiest clients …


The Trunk, written by Kim Ryeo-Ryeong and read by Greta Jung

Babysitters Little Sister #16: 
Karen's Goldfish
Written by Ann M. Martin
Narrated by Stephanie Drake	

Karen and her little brother Andrew are getting new pet - goldfish! Karen names hers Crystal Light. Andrew's is called Goldfishie. Karen and Andrew love to watch their fish swim around and around.
 
Then something happens to Crystal Light, and Karen is so sad. Nothing can make her feel better...until Karen's witchy neighbor saves the day!


Print edition published by Scholastic Inc.  Text copyright 1991 by Ann M. Martin.  Production copyright 2025 by Scholastic Inc.  All rights reserved.

Formats Available:
Digital Trade		978-1-5461-5119-7		$18.99
Digital Library		978-1-5461-5120-3	$56.99

Babysitters Little Sister #16: Karen's Goldfish - Audiobook Clip

On sale March 11th, 2025

The Marriage Plot meets The Idiot in this brilliant debut, which tells the story of a young Muslim scholar stuck in the mire of adjunct professorship in Los Angeles who decides to give up her career in academia and marry rich, committing herself to 100 dates in the course of a single summer. By midsummer reality hits, taking her—and her project—to Tehran.

The unnamed Iranian-Indian American narrator of Liquid has always believed herself to be the smartest person in the room. And from an early age, she and her best friend—a poet-turned-marketer named Adam—have turned their noses up at other peoples’ riches. But two years after earning a PhD from UCLA, the narrator is no closer to the middle-class comfort promised to her by the prestige of her fancy, scholarship-funded education and the successes of her immigrant parents. Jokingly, Adam suggests she just "marry rich."

But our protagonist, whose PhD thesis compared Eastern and Western views of marriage in film and literature, takes the idea seriously. She makes a spreadsheet and outlines a goal: 100 dates with people of all genders and a marriage proposal in hand by the official start of the fall semester. What follows is a whirlwind summer packed with dating: martinis sans vermouth with the lazy scion of an Eastside construction empire; board games with a butch producer who owns a house in the hills and a newly dented Porsche; a Venmo request from a “socialist” trust fund babe; and an evening spent dodging the halitosis of a maxillofacial surgeon from Orange County.

Only a tragedy in Tehran and an overdue familial reckoning can alter the narrator’s increasingly manic trajectory and force her to confront the contradictions of her life in Los Angeles. And as doubts begin to creep in about her marriage project, it suddenly seems possible that the eligible prospect she’s been looking for has been beneath her nose the entire time.

For fans of Kaveh Akbar and Elif Batuman, Liquid delivers a modern tale of romance, loss, and belonging like no other. Mariam Rahmani’s gorgeous high-wire satire explodes off the page with verve and originality in this riveting spin on the classic romantic comedy.

Liquid By Mariam Rahmani (Audiobook Excerpt)

On sale April 15th, 2025

For readers of Also a Poet, Orwell’s Roses, and My Autobiography Of Carson McCullers—as well as the legions of Virginia Woolf fanatics—the acclaimed poet and author of The Crying Book crafts a deeply moving, immersive, and lyrical hybrid memoir about her mother, Woolf, and the transformative power of writing.

When Heather Christle realizes that she, her mother, and Virginia Woolf share a traumatic history, she begins to rewrite and intertwine each of their stories, in search of a more hopeful narrative and a future she can live with.
 
On a recent visit to London's Kew Gardens, Christle’s mother revealed details of a painful story from her past that took place there, under circumstances that strangely paralleled Heather's own sexual assault during a visit to London as a teenager.
 
Her private, British mother’s revelation—a rare burst of vulnerability in their strained relationship—propels Christle down a deep and destabilizing rabbit hole of investigation, as she both reads and wanders the streets of her mother's past, peeling back the layers of family mythologies, England’s sanctioned historical narratives, and her own buried memories. Over the course of several trips to London, with and without her mother, she visits her family's "birthday hill" in Kew Gardens, the now-public homes of the Bloomsbury set, the archives of the British Library, and the backyard garden where Woolf wrote her final sentence. All the while, she finds that Woolf and her writings not only constantly seem to connect and overlap with her mother’s story, but also that the author becomes a kind of vital intermediary: a sometimes confidante, sometimes mentor, sometimes distancing lens through which Christle can safely observe her mother and their experiences.
 
Wide-ranging and prismatic, the fruit of an insatiably curious, delightfully brilliant mind, In the Rhododendrons is part memoir, part biography of Virginia Woolf, part reckoning with the things we cannot change and the ways we can completely transform, if we dare. This utterly original book will stir readers into new ways of seeing their own lives.

In the Rhododendrons By Heather Christle, Read By Mia Hutchinson Shaw and Heather Christle (Audiobook Excerpt)

On sale April 22nd, 2025

From the bestselling author of Why We Swim comes a mind-expanding exploration of muscle—from our ancient obsession with the ideal human form to the modern science of this amazing and adaptable tissue—that will change the way you think about what moves us through the world.
 
“Remarkable . . .  A singular book about the true meanings of strength and flexibility, about our ability to define who we are and who we might be.”
—Ed Yong, New York Times bestselling author of An Immense World and I Contain Multitudes
 
In On Muscle, Bonnie Tsui brings her signature blend of science, culture, immersive reporting, and personal narrative to examine not just what muscles are but what they mean to us. Cardiac, smooth, skeletal—these three different types of muscle in our bodies make our hearts beat; push food through our intestines, blood through our vessels, babies out the uterus; attach to our bones and allow for motion. Tsui also traces how muscles have defined beauty—and how they have distorted it—through the ages, and how they play an essential role in our physical and mental health.
 
Tsui introduces us to the first female weightlifter to pick up the famed Scottish Dinnie Stones, then takes us on a 50-mile run through the Nevada desert that follows the path of escape from a Native boarding school—and gives the concept of endurance new meaning. She travels to Oslo, where cutting-edge research reveals how muscles help us bounce back after injury and illness, an important aspect of longevity. She jumps into the action with a historic Double Dutch club in Washington, D.C., to explain anew what Charles Darwin meant by the brain-body connection. Woven throughout are stories of Tsui’s childhood with her Chinese immigrant artist dad—a black belt in karate—who schools her from a young age in a kind of quirky, in-house Muscle Academy. 
 
On Muscle shows us the poetry in the physical, and the surprising ways muscle can reveal what we’re capable of.

Listen Here

On Muscle By Bonnie Tsui (Audiobook Excerpt)

On sale May 6th, 2025

In the tradition of Three Women and Hidden Valley Road, international reporter and radio producer Abigail Leonard's page-turning work blends reporting, research and history as it follows four women—Anna from Finland, Tsukasa from Japan, Sarah from the U.S., and Chelsea from Kenya—through the first year of motherhood.

Tsukasa in Japan grapples with memories of a difficult childhood as she tries to chart a new, healthier path for her own daughter while balancing onerous cultural expectations. Chelsea in Kenya endures a devastating loss just before she gives birth and finds that without the traditional support of previous generations, motherhood can be grueling – but it can also provide emotional healing. Anna in Finland navigates a complicated relationship with her child’s father, but the country’s robust family policies allow her to still pursue the kind of parenthood that she envisioned. Sarah in the US leaves the religious community that raised her in order to create a less traditional family of her own only to find she’s largely confronting motherhood alone.
 
Utterly moving and propulsively readable from page one, Leonard interweaves these stories with a critically researched exploration of how parental support programs evolved in each country—and why some provide more help than others. As nations around the world debate programs like paid leave, universal daycare, reproductive healthcare, and family tax incentives, Four Mothers offers a uniquely intimate, moving portrait of what those policies mean for parents on the ground—and considers what modern families really want.

Four Mothers By Abigail Leonard, Read By Eleanor Caudill (Audiobook Excerpt)

On sale May 13th, 2025

From the acclaimed novelist, a first-of-its-kind, deeply personal, and moving oral history of a generation of trans and gender nonconforming elders of color—from leading activists to artists to ordinary citizens—who tell their own stories of breathtaking courage, cultural innovations, and acts of resistance.

So Many Stars knits together the voices of trans, nonbinary, genderqueer, and two-spirit elders of color as they share authentic, intimate accounts of how they created space for themselves and their communities in the world. This singular project collects the testimonies of twenty elders, each a glimmering thread in a luminous tapestry, preserving their words for future generations—who can more fully exist in the world today because of these very trailblazers.

De Robertis creates a collective coming-of-age story based on hundreds of hours of interviews, offering rare snapshots of ordinary life: kids growing up, navigating family issues and finding community, coming out and changing how they identify over the years, building movements and weathering the AIDS crisis, and sharing wisdom for future generations. Often narrating experiences that took place before they had the array of language that exists today to self-identify beyond the gender binary, this generation lived through remarkable changes in American culture, shaped American culture, and yet rarely takes center stage in the history books. Their stories feel particularly urgent in the current political moment, but also remind readers that their experiences are not new, and that young trans and nonbinary people today belong to a long lineage.

The anecdotes in these pages are riveting, joyful, heartbreaking, full of personality and wisdom, and artfully woven together into one immersive narrative. In De Robertis’s words, So Many Stars shares “behind-the-scenes tales of what it meant—and still means—to create an authentic life, against the odds.”

So Many Stars By Caro De Robertis (Audiobook Excerpt)

On sale June 3rd, 2025

Read by Mike Curato, Nicky Endres, Earl T Kim, Dustin Vuong Nguyen, Shawn K. Jain, Telly Leung, Greg D. Barnett, Katrina Reese Curato, Dara Brown, and Susan Moon

From the acclaimed author of the young adult graphic novel Flamer comes a heartwarming story following four gay Asians navigating love, identity, and friendship—a celebration of queer chosen family.​

When AJ moves to Seattle in the early aughts, he’s ready to reinvent himself as a gay Asian man—but his dreams hit reality fast with no friends, no job, and an apartment so far out, “not even lesbians live there.” Then a spilled drink at a bar introduces him to K, a glamorous drag queen; John, a shy gamer; and Steven, a reckless flirt. AJ’s “Boy Luck Club” helps him find love, pride, and belonging—until a brutal attack tests everything they know about friendship and family. 

Meticulously observed and gorgeously illustrated, Gaysians is a fierce, funny, and tender story of queer resilience and self-discovery.

“I’ve been hunting for books like this my whole life; this story broke my heart and healed it.”—Maia Kobabe, author of Gender Queer

Gaysians By Michael Curato (Audiobook Excerpt)

Grammy-winning audiobook publisher. Authors include James Patterson, David Baldacci, and Michael Connelly. Earbuds encouraged. Follow us on Twitter at @HachetteAudio.

Liquid By Mariam Rahmani (Audiobook Excerpt)

HachetteAudio

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