HarperCollins BIPOC Audiobooks

Performed by Kara Young

A haunting novel about a black woman who returns to her hometown for a plantation wedding and the horror that ensues as she reconnects with the blood-soaked history of the land and the best friends she left behind.

More than a decade ago, Mira fled her small, segregated hometown in the south to forget. With every mile she traveled, she distanced herself from her past: from her best friend Celine, mocked by their town as the only white girl with black friends; from her old neighborhood; from the eerie Woodsman plantation rumored to be haunted by the spirits of slaves; from the terrifying memory of a ghost she saw that terrible day when a dare-gone-wrong almost got Jesse—the boy she secretly loved—arrested for murder.

But now Mira is back in Kipsen to attend Celine’s wedding at the plantation, which has been transformed into a lush vacation resort. Mira hopes to reconnect with her friends, and especially, Jesse, to finally tell him the truth about her feelings and the events of that devastating long-ago day.

But for all its fancy renovations, the Woodsman remains a monument to its oppressive racist history. The bar serves antebellum drinks, entertainments include horrifying reenactments, and the service staff is nearly all black. Yet the darkest elements of the plantation’s past have been carefully erased—rumors that slaves were tortured mercilessly and that ghosts roam the lands, seeking vengeance on the descendants of those who tormented them, which includes most of the wedding guests. 

As the weekend unfolds, Mira, Jesse, and Celine are forced to acknowledge their history together, and to save themselves from what is to come.

WHEN THE RECKONING COMES by LaTanya McQueen

Welcome back to The Anatomy of Desire Podcast - A seven-episode series of highlights from the immersive full cast audio recording of L. R. Dorn’s crime novel THE ANATOMY OF DESIRE. We have reached the final episode, Girl Lost. In this installment, Cleo Ray learns that the jury has reached a verdict and that her fate is about to be decided. The jury files into a packed courtroom as spectators inside and the social media world outside holds its breath awaiting the moment of truth.

'The Anatomy of Desire' audiobook by L. R. Dorn is available now. Purchase it here: bit.ly/3vkBhJY

Episode Seven: Girl Lost

Answers to the most common questions and misconceptions about the Bible

Seven Things I Wish Christians Knew About the Bible is a short and accessible introduction to the Bible - its origins, interpretation, truthfulness, and authority.

Bible scholar, prolific author, and Anglican minister Michael Bird helps Christians understand seven important "things" about this unique book:

How the Bible was put together;
What "inspiration" means;
How the Bible is true;
Why the Bible needs to be rooted in history;
Why literal interpretation is not always the best interpretation;
How the Bible gives us knowledge, faith, love, and hope; 
How Jesus Christ is the center of the Bible.
Seven Things presents clear and understandable evangelical account of the Bible's inspiration, canonization, significance, and relevance in a way that is irenic and compelling. It is a must for any serious Bible reader who desires an informed and mature view of the Bible that will enrich their faith.

Buy Audiobook

SEVEN THINGS I WISH CHRISTIANS KNEW ABOUT THE BIBLE by Michael F. Bird | Chapter 1

Three-time Olympian Lolo Jones delivers a tough yet inspiring look into the strategies she has used to overcome immense obstacles on her way to becoming the number one women's hurdler in the world.

Lolo Jones' path to becoming a world champion and an Olympian began in childhood with a single mother who worked multiple jobs to support a family of six and a father who was serving time in prison. These early years instilled in Lolo an overcomer's mindset that gave her the strength she needed to rise above an unstable and impoverished background, to earn an economics degree at LSU, and then to establish herself as the best women's hurdler in the world.

In Over It, Lolo delivers a high-octane dose of no-BS encouragement, storytelling, humor, and practicality and exposes the obstacles that too often hold us back. With the same pluck and boldness that defines her life and career, Lolo teaches people how to face their challenges head-on and keep working to overcome them with strength. 

Even when the obstacles are large and we feel frustrated, overwhelmed, and ready to quit, we’ve got to keep fighting - full force, full speed. We've got to get over it.

OVER IT by Lolo Jones | Chapter 1

After hearing the words no one wants to hear--"you have cancer"--Jim Burns set out to articulate the most important principles for a life well lived and now shares them with you as a collection of essential truths for a healthy, balanced, and successful life. 

What's truly important for leading a life well lived? After being diagnosed with cancer and facing his mortality, prolific author and family-life expert Jim Burns learned what it really means to live a meaningful life from the perspective and practical wisdom only gained from facing death. Now cancer free, those same life-changing lessons continue to guide and enrich Jim's faith, work, and relationships in immeasurable ways. With his conversational style and heartwarming and entertaining stories, Jim brilliantly distills that hard-earned wisdom into 13 simple yet powerful life principles you can put into practice today. 

Jim will help you learn how to:

- Break the cycle of being overcommitted and underconnected once and for all
- Make family the priority you want it to be with an action plan that will nurture your closest relationships
- Embrace the discomfort of discipline and avoid the pain of regret
- Incorporate the vital element of fun in your life for connection and relief in even the toughest times
- Train your mind in reflexive gratitude to rise above negative circumstances. 

Don't wait any longer. Let these principles guide you into deeper joy, more purpose, and better connection--and start truly living today.

HAVE SERIOUS FUN by Jim Burns | Lesson One

Dr. Jeremy DeSilva joined us for an interview on SoS 128. This week, in addition to a replay of his original interview, we hear audio excerpted from First Steps: How upright walking made us human by Jeremy DeSilva, read by Kaleo Griffith. Copyright 2021 by Jeremy DeSilva. Production Copyright 2021, HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved. You can find First Steps here: https://www.harpercollins.com/products/first-steps-jeremy-desilva
You can find out more about Dr. DeSilva, his lab, and his work here: anthropology.dartmouth.edu/people/jeremy-desilva and on Twitter @desilva_jerry

Contact the Sausage of Science Podcast and Human Biology Association:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/groups/humanbiologyassociation
Website:humbio.org/, Twitter: @HumBioAssoc

Cara Ocobock, Website: sites.nd.edu/cara-ocobock/, Email:cocobock@nd.edu, Twitter:@CaraOcobock

Chris Lynn, HBA Public Relations Committee Chair, Website: cdlynn.people.ua.edu/, Email: cdlynn@ua.edu, Twitter:@Chris_Ly

Delaney Glass, Website: dglass.netlify.app/, Email: dglass1@uw.edu, Twitter: @GlassDelaney

Alexandra Niclou, Email: aniclou@nd.edu, Twitter: @fiat_Luxandra

SoS 135- How Upright Walking Made Us Human with Dr. Jeremy DeSilva

On this episode, Andrew Kaberline, Senior Audio Marketing Associate, returns to the pod to tell the library team about some exciting new audiobooks that are perfect for any library collection. You'll hear newly discovered audio of Jim Morrison reading poetry, Jennifer Jason Leigh inhabit the characters of Leonardo DiCaprio and Al Pacino from ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD, and much more!

Find a list of the titles presented and show notes here: bit.ly/LLFaudiobooks

For more information, go to librarylovefest.com.
You can find us on Facebook (@librarylovefest), Twitter (@librarylovefest), and Instagram (@harperlibrary). We also have a voicemail! Give us a call at 212-207-7773.

Show Notes

Audiobook Update! (Featuring Andrew Kaberline, Senior Audio Marketing Associate)

On this episode, we feature an interview with Lisa Harding, author of BRIGHT BURNING THINGS—on sale December 7, 2021—from a previous Door to Door Facebook Live.

Watch the full interview here: https://www.facebook.com/librarylovefest/videos/285190386412089

For more information, go to librarylovefest.com.
You can find us on Facebook (@librarylovefest), Twitter (@librarylovefest), and Instagram (@harperlibrary). We also have a voicemail! Give us a call at 212-207-7773.

Full interview!

An Interview with Lisa Harding, Author of BRIGHT BURNING THINGS

These favorite Brother and Sister Bear stories are wrapped up in this six-in-one Berenstain Bears audiobook collection!

These stories will remind young listeners of important biblical values and offers essential life lessons. From being kind to others to gossip to having a bad day, and forgiveness to helping others to doing your best, Brother and Sister Bear’s relatable adventures and everyday opportunities to learn will inspire listeners young and old.

This collection includes:

The Berenstain Bears and the Forgiving Tree: When Cousin Fred accidentally damages Brother’s brand-new bike, Brother Bear is angry. Can Sister Bear help him see that forgiving his friend is the right thing to do?

The Berenstain Bears Get Involved: A storm hits Bear Country, and it might flood! It’s up to the Bear family and the rest of the rescue team from the Chapel in the Woods to come together and save their community.

The Berenstain Bears and a Job Well Done: Brother, Sister, and Honey Bear need to clean their playhouse, but they’d rather play outside.

The Berenstain Bears and the Golden Rule: Should Sister Bear ignore the new girl at school just because her friends do? Choosing to be kind may not always be the easy choice, but it is always the right one.

The Berenstain Bears' Gossip Gang: Talking about others makes Sister feel like she is special, even if what is said might not be true. But when rumors are spread about her, Sister begins to understand just how hurtful gossip can be.

The Berenstain Bears Why Do Good Bears Have Bad Days?: Sister and Brother Bear go on a bike ride and fishing trip in the countryside, and things go very wrong. Brother falls into the pond, Sister’s fishing rod breaks, and they get caught in the rain on the way home. Why did this bad stuff happen to them?

The Berenstain Bears Brother and Sister Bear Favorites:

Includes all the Berenstain Bears family and friends who have been beloved by parents, grandparents, children, and grandchildren for decades
Features kid-friendly, easy-to-remember Scripture verses
Teaches valuable life lessons
Is a fun, new collection in the popular Zonderkidz Living Lights: A Faith Story series, which has sold over eight million copies since 2008

Read by Elizabeth Acevedo, Sixta Morel, Danyeli Rodriguez del Orbe

A Most Anticipated Book of 2023 from: Today.com * Time * Electric Literature * Seattle Times * Telemundo * Washington Post * HipLatina * Harper's Bazaar * Elle * AARP * Shondaland * New York Times * The Millions * LitHub

From the bestselling, National Book Award–winning author Elizabeth Acevedo comes her first novel for adults, the story of one Dominican-American family told through the voices of its women as they await a gathering that will forever change their lives.

Flor has a gift: she can predict, to the day, when someone will die. So when she decides she wants a living wake—a party to bring her family and community together to celebrate the long life she’s led—her sisters are surprised. Has Flor foreseen her own death, or someone else’s? Does she have other motives? She refuses to tell her sisters, Matilde, Pastora, and Camila.

But Flor isn’t the only person with secrets: her sisters are hiding things, too. And the next generation, cousins Ona and Yadi, face tumult of their own.

Spanning the three days prior to the wake, Family Lore traces the lives of each of the Marte women, weaving together past and present, Santo Domingo and New York City. Told with Elizabeth Acevedo’s inimitable and incandescent voice, this is an indelible portrait of sisters and cousins, aunts and nieces—one family’s journey through their history, helping them better navigate all that is to come.

An Excerpt From FAMILY LORE By Elizabeth Acevedo

Read by Bakari Sellers

Part memoir, part historical and cultural analysis, My Vanishing Country is an eye-opening journey through the South's past, present, and future.

Anchored in in Bakari Seller’s hometown of Denmark, South Carolina, Country illuminates the pride and pain that continues to fertilize the soil of one of the poorest states in the nation. He traces his father’s rise to become, friend of Stokely Carmichael and Martin Luther King, a civil rights hero, and member of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) , to explore the plight of the South's dwindling rural, black working class—many of whom can trace their ancestry back for seven generations.

In his poetic personal history, we are awakened to the crisis affecting the other “Forgotten Men & Women,” who the media seldom acknowledges. For Sellers, these are his family members, neighbors, and friends. He humanizes the struggles that shape their lives: to gain access to healthcare as rural hospitals disappear; to make ends meet as the factories they have relied on shut down and move overseas; to hold on to precious traditions as their towns erode; to forge a path forward without succumbing to despair. 

My Vanishing Country is also a love letter to fatherhood—to Sellers' father, his lodestar, whose life lessons have shaped him, and to his newborn twins, who he hopes will embrace the Sellers family name and honor its legacy.

Buy Here!

MY VANISHING COUNTRY by Bakari Sellers

Read by Symone D. Sanders

Many people—most notably white older men—may try to stop Symone Sanders from speaking up and out. But Symone will NOT shut up. And neither should you. In this inspiring call-to-action, Symone tells stories from her own life of not-shutting-up alongside loud young revolutionaries who came before her to help you find your authentic voice and use it to your advantage; to fight ideological battles more effectively; and to resist those who try to silence you.

We are all gurus, masterminds, artists, entrepreneurs—we are the change agents we have been waiting for. IT IS US. And the time is RIGHT NOW. I know you’re wondering, “But HOW?” And we don’t have all the answers! Symone is the first to admit we’re all winging it in one way or another. But the point is we’re out there doing it. So get started. Open your mouth and start talking. Loudly. 

No You Shut Up goes beyond the surplus of “Vote-Or-Die” books we’ve seen before. Because change doesn’t just happen at the ballot box. We need people fighting oppression, injustice, and inequality—in the workplace, on the cultural battlefield, in government, in every corner of the world. With spirited storytelling filtered through a voice that cannot and will not be ignored, Symone inspires you to start now. You don’t need to have all the answers, or wait your turn to help create the change you want to see. All you need is a new toolbox, an unshakeable commitment, and the confidence and guidance to wield those tools effectively.

NO, YOU SHUT UP by Symone D. Sanders

Read by Natasha Trethewey

A chillingly personal and exquisitely wrought memoir of a daughter reckoning with the brutal murder of her mother at the hands of her former stepfather, and the moving, intimate story of a poet coming into her own in the wake of a tragedy

At age nineteen, Natasha Trethewey had her world turned upside down when her former stepfather shot and killed her mother. Grieving and still new to adulthood, she confronted the twin pulls of life and death in the aftermath of unimaginable trauma and now explores the way this experience lastingly shaped the artist she became.

With penetrating insight and a searing voice that moves from the wrenching to the elegiac, Pulitzer Prize–winning poet Natasha Trethewey explores this profound experience of pain, loss, and grief as an entry point into understanding the tragic course of her mother’s life and the way her own life has been shaped by a legacy of fierce love and resilience. Moving through her mother’s history in the deeply segregated South and through her own girlhood as a “child of miscegenation” in Mississippi, Trethewey plumbs her sense of dislocation and displacement in the lead-up to the harrowing crime that took place on Memorial Drive in Atlanta in 1985.

Memorial Drive

is a compelling and searching look at a shared human experience of sudden loss and absence but also a piercing glimpse at the enduring ripple effects of white racism and domestic abuse. Animated by unforgettable prose and inflected by a poet’s attention to language, this is a luminous, urgent, and visceral memoir from one of our most important contemporary writers and thinkers.

MEMORIAL DRIVE by Natasha Trethewey

Performed by Nancy Pelosi, Laurence Fishburne, and Maya Rockeymoore Cummings

About the book:
The audiobook contains beautiful memories of Representative Elijah Cummings narrated by Laurence Fishburne and Maya Rockeymoore Cummings, with a foreword written and read by Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Included are the eulogies from his funeral delivered by Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, Secretary Hillary Clinton, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Harry Spikes, Kweisi Mfume, Bishop Walter Scott Thomas, Maya Rockeymoore Cummings, Jennifer Cummings, Adia Cummings, and James Cummings.

Baltimore Congressman Elijah Cummings was known for saying “We’re better than this.”

He said it in Baltimore, a city on the verge of explosion over police treatment of citizens.  He said it in Congress when microphones were shut down, barring free speech.  He said it when the President flaunted his power and ignored the Constitution.  He said it when the President resorted to bullying, name-calling and feeding racial divisions. We are better than this. He continued to say it until his final days last October.  He said it because he believed we must call out what is wrong and call on our better selves to make things right.

In We’re Better Than This, Cummings details the formative moments in his life that prepared him to hold President Donald Trump accountable for his actions while in office. Cummings powerfully weaves together the urgent drama of modern-day politics and the defining stories from his past. He offers a unique perspective on how his upbringing as the son of sharecroppers in a South Baltimore neighborhood, rampant with racism and poverty, laid the foundation of a life spent fighting for justice. 

Cummings was known for his ability to referee contentious members of Congress and reach across the aisle for the sake of justice. Since his early days in politics, Cummings proved his abilities as a leader and legal mind who could operate at the highest levels of democracy, always working with – and for – the underserved.

Part memoir, part call-to-action, the book goes behind the scenes with the House Democratic leadership, offering an eye-opening account of the relentless and unprecedented obstructionism by both the President and GOP. Cummings’ final words present a vital defense of how government oversight defines our collective trust and makes the case that, even in the face of our nation’s most challenging times, we must remain rooted in the politics of optimism.

WE'RE BETTER THAN THIS by Elijah Cummings

Performed by Adenrele Ojo and Korey Jackson

For fifteen years August Sitwell has worked for the Barclays, a well-to-do white family who plucked him from an orphan asylum and gave him a job. The groundskeeper is part of the household’s all-black staff, along with “Miss Mamie,” the talented cook, pretty new maid Jennie Williams, and three young kitchen apprentices—the latest orphan boys Mr. Barclay has taken in to "civilize" boys like August.

But the Barclays fortunes have fallen, and their money is almost gone. When a prospective business associate proposes selling Miss Mamie’s delicious rib sauce to local markets under the brand name “The Rib King”—using a caricature of a wildly grinning August on the label—Mr. Barclay, desperate for cash, agrees. Yet neither Miss Mamie nor August will see a dime. Humiliated, August grows increasingly distraught, his anger building to a rage that explodes in shocking tragedy. 

Elegantly written and exhaustively researched, The Rib King is an unsparing examination of America’s fascination with black iconography and exploitation that redefines African American stereotypes in literature. In this powerful, disturbing, and timely novel, Ladee Hubbard reveals who people actually are, and most importantly, who and what they are not.

THE RIB KING by Ladee Hubbard

Performed by Shayna Small

Named Most Anticipated of 2021 by Marie Claire and PopSugar!

“The Kindest Lie is a deep dive into how we define family, what it means to be a mother, what secrets we owe to those we love, and what it means to grow up Black. This beautifully crafted debut will keep you asking these questions and more.” —Jodi Picoult 

A masterful, eye-opening novel about the profound racial injustices and class inequalities roiling society in America.

A promise could betray you.

It’s 2008, and the inauguration of President Barack Obama ushers in a new kind of hope. In Chicago, Ruth Tuttle, an Ivy-League educated Black engineer, is married to a kind and successful man. He’s eager to start a family, but Ruth is uncertain. She has never gotten over the baby she gave birth to—and was forced to leave behind—when she was a teenager. She had promised her family she’d never look back, but Ruth knows that to move forward, she must make peace with the past.

Returning home, Ruth discovers the Indiana factory town of her youth is plagued by unemployment, racism, and despair. As she begins digging into the past, she unexpectedly befriends Midnight, a young white boy who is also adrift and looking for connection. Just as Ruth is about to uncover a burning secret her family desperately wants to keep hidden, a traumatic incident strains the town’s already searing racial tensions, sending Ruth and Midnight on a collision course that could upend both their lives.

Powerful and revealing, The Kindest Lie captures the heartbreaking divide between Black and white communities and offers both an unflinching view of motherhood in contemporary America and the never-ending quest to achieve the American Dream.

THE KINDEST LIE by Nancy Johnson

Harper Audio proudly traces its roots back to 1952, when Dylan Thomas first recorded for our Caedmon label. For more than five decades, HarperAudio/Caedmon has been synonymous not only with distinguished poets reading their works, but also with equally distinguished authors and readers performing classic and contemporary texts.

THE KINDEST LIE by Nancy Johnson

HarperAudio US

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