This is a preview of the digital audiobook of How Beautiful We Were by Imbolo Mbue, available on Libro.fm at https://libro.fm/audiobooks/9780593209943. 

Libro.fm is the first audiobook company to directly support independent bookstores. Libro.fm's bookstore partners come in all shapes and sizes but do have one thing in common: being fiercely independent. Your purchases will directly support your chosen bookstore. 


How Beautiful We Were
A Novel
By: Imbolo Mbue
Narrated by: Lisa Renee Pitts, Prentice Onayemi, Janina Edwards, Dion Graham, JD Jackson & Allyson Johnson
Length: 14 hours 7 minutes
Description
From the celebrated author of the New York Times bestseller Behold the Dreamers comes a sweeping, wrenching story about the collision of a small African village and an American oil company.

“A novel with the richness and power of a great contemporary fable, and a heroine for our time.”—Sigrid Nunez, author of The Friend, winner of the National Book Award

We should have known the end was near. So begins Imbolo Mbue’s powerful second novel, How Beautiful We Were. Set in the fictional African village of Kosawa, it tells of a people living in fear amid environmental degradation wrought by an American oil company. Pipeline spills have rendered farmlands infertile. Children are dying from drinking toxic water. Promises of cleanup and financial reparations to the villagers are made—and ignored. The country’s government, led by a brazen dictator, exists to serve its own interests. Left with few choices, the people of Kosawa decide to fight back. Their struggle will last for decades and come at a steep price.

Told from the perspective of a generation of children and the family of a girl named Thula who grows up to become a revolutionary, How Beautiful We Were is a masterful exploration of what happens when the reckless drive for profit, coupled with the ghost of colonialism, comes up against one community’s determination to hold on to its ancestral land and a young woman’s willingness to sacrifice everything for the sake of her people’s freedom.

How Beautiful We Were By Imbolo Mbue (Audiobook Excerpt)

This is a preview of the digital audiobook of 2034—A Novel of the Next World War by Ackerman & Stavridis, available on Libro.fm at https://libro.fm/audiobooks/9780593394748. 

Libro.fm is the first audiobook company to directly support independent bookstores. Libro.fm's bookstore partners come in all shapes and sizes but do have one thing in common: being fiercely independent. Your purchases will directly support your chosen bookstore. 


2034
A Novel of the Next World War
By: Elliot Ackerman & Admiral James Stavridis, USN
Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller, P.J. Ochlan, Vikas Adam, Dion Graham & Feodor Chin
Length: 10 hours 49 minutes

“Consider this another vaccine against disaster. Fortunately, this dose won't cause a temporary fever—and it happens to be a rippingly good read. Turns out that even cautionary tales can be exciting, when the future we’re most excited about is the one where they never come true.” —Wired

“War with China is the most dangerous scenario facing us and the world. Absent a strategic method to manage our differences, Jim Stavridis and Elliot Ackerman’s chilling novel presents a realistic series of miscalculations leading to the worst consequences. A sobering, cautionary tale for our time.” —Jim Mattis, General, U.S. Marines (Ret.) and 26th Secretary of Defense

From two former military officers and award-winning authors, a chillingly authentic geopolitical thriller that imagines a naval clash between the US and China in the South China Sea in 2034--and the path from there to a nightmarish global conflagration.

On March 12, 2034, US Navy Commodore Sarah Hunt is on the bridge of her flagship, the guided missile destroyer USS John Paul Jones, conducting a routine freedom of navigation patrol in the South China Sea when her ship detects an unflagged trawler in clear distress, smoke billowing from its bridge. On that same day, US Marine aviator Major Chris "Wedge" Mitchell is flying an F35E Lightning over the Strait of Hormuz, testing a new stealth technology as he flirts with Iranian airspace. By the end of that day, Wedge will be an Iranian prisoner, and Sarah Hunt's destroyer will lie at the bottom of the sea, sunk by the Chinese Navy. Iran and China have clearly coordinated their moves, which involve the use of powerful new forms of cyber weaponry that render US ships and planes defenseless. In a single day, America's faith in its military's strategic pre-eminence is in tatters. A new, terrifying era is at hand.

So begins a disturbingly plausible work of speculative fiction, co-authored by an award-winning novelist and decorated Marine veteran and the former commander of NATO, a legendary admiral who has spent much of his career strategically outmaneuvering America's most tenacious adversaries. Written with a powerful blend of geopolitical sophistication and human empathy, 2034 takes us inside the minds of a global cast of characters--Americans, Chinese, Iranians, Russians, Indians--as a series of arrogant miscalculations on all sides leads the world into an intensifying international storm. In the end, China and the United States will have paid a staggering cost, one that forever alters the global balance of power. 

Everything in 2034 is an imaginative extrapolation from present-day facts on the ground combined with the authors' years working at the highest and most classified levels of national security. Sometimes it takes a brilliant work of fiction to illuminate the most dire of warnings: 2034 is all too close at hand, and this cautionary tale presents the reader a dark yet possible future that we must do all we can to avoid.

* This audiobook edition includes an exclusive interview with co-author Admiral James Stavridis.

2034—A Novel Of The Next World War By Ackerman &  Stavridis (Audiobook Excerpt)

This is a preview of the digital audiobook of The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner (Indie Next Pick), available on Libro.fm at https://libro.fm/audiobooks/9781488210761. 

Libro.fm is the first audiobook company to directly support independent bookstores. Libro.fm's bookstore partners come in all shapes and sizes but do have one thing in common: being fiercely independent. Your purchases will directly support your chosen bookstore. 


The Lost Apothecary
A Novel
By: Sarah Penner
Narrated by: Lorna Bennett, Lauren Anthony & Lauren Irwin
Length: 10 hours 17 minutes

Bookseller Recommendation: “This book was a wonderful escape and was absolutely lovely to listen to. It switches back and forth between the point of view of two women in London in the 1790s and an American woman visiting London in present day. The story unfolds quickly. I was pleasantly surprised by the twists that I hadn't anticipated and the emotions that welled up within me. The ending was wholly satisfying and I will definitely be recommending it when it releases!”—Lauren, Schuler Books

“A bold, edgy, accomplished debut!” —Kate Quinn, New York Times bestselling author of The Alice Network and The Huntress

A forgotten history. A secret network of women. A legacy of poison and revenge. Welcome to The Lost Apothecary…

Hidden in the depths of eighteenth-century London, a secret apothecary shop caters to an unusual kind of clientele. Women across the city whisper of a mysterious figure named Nella who sells well-disguised poisons to use against the oppressive men in their lives. But the apothecary’s fate is jeopardized when her newest patron, a precocious twelve-year-old, makes a fatal mistake, sparking a string of consequences that echo through the centuries.

Meanwhile in present-day London, aspiring historian Caroline Parcewell spends her tenth wedding anniversary alone, running from her own demons. When she stumbles upon a clue to the unsolved apothecary murders that haunted London two hundred years ago, her life collides with the apothecary’s in a stunning twist of fate—and not everyone will survive.

With crackling suspense, unforgettable characters and searing insight, The Lost Apothecary is a subversive and intoxicating debut novel of secrets, vengeance and the remarkable ways women can save each other despite the barrier of time.

The Lost Apothecary By Sarah Penner (Indie Next Pick) (Audiobook Excerpt)

This is a preview of the digital audiobook of Amari and the Night Brothers—Supernatural Investigations: Book #1 by B. B. Alston (Kids' Indie Next Pick), available on Libro.fm at https://libro.fm/audiobooks/9780063057968?cmp=librosoundcloud_2021. 

Libro.fm is the first audiobook company to directly support independent bookstores. Libro.fm's bookstore partners come in all shapes and sizes but do have one thing in common: being fiercely independent. Your purchases will directly support your chosen bookstore. 

Amari and the Night Brothers
Supernatural Investigations: Book #1
By: B. B. Alston
Narrated by: Imani Parks
Length: 11 hours 11 minutes

Artemis Fowl meets Men in Black in this exhilarating debut middle grade fantasy, the first in a trilogy filled with #blackgirlmagic. Perfect for fans of Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky, the Percy Jackson series, and Nevermoor.

Bookseller Recommendation
“This book was fun! As a reference point, I would say it's a Spy Kids/Men in Black/Percy Jackson/Harry Potter hybrid but honestly, it's in a class all of it's own. Amari was a wonderful main character. She is super smart and caring and despite the absolute terribleness of her peers, prevails by learning to trust herself and use her talents to stand out. There was lots of blatant and unpunished racism, classism, and and brutal meanness coming from the majority of Amari's classmates, both in the non-supernatural world and in the Bureau. On their first day, all trainees have to touch a magical orb and one of their already present abilities gets magnified and becomes a special ability (ie general luckiness becomes unnatural/always happens luckiness). When Amari is bestowed with an illegal ability, she becomes the target of both racism and a form of intense otherism in the supernatural world. I also loved her friendship with Elsie, who was the last of weredragons (like werewolves but for dragons!) and suffered her own share of bullies and otherism for being a bit dorky and for not having shifted to her dragon form yet. The audiobook edition of this novel was well done. Imani Parks gives a perfect voice to Amari and the other young main characters. This is a great read for juvenile readers (anywhere from advanced an advance 8/9 years to teens) and is fun and exciting for adults as well so would also be a great read-aloud book for guardians with younger readers. I would recommend for avid Percy Jackson and Harry Potter fans, those that enjoy spy or adventure books, and even those who enjoy fairy tale epics.” — Kimi, Buttonwood Books and Toys

Description
Amari Peters has never stopped believing her missing brother, Quinton, is alive. Not even when the police told her otherwise, or when she got in trouble for standing up to bullies who said he was gone for good.

So when she finds a ticking briefcase in his closet, containing a nomination for a summer tryout at the Bureau of Supernatural Affairs, she’s certain the secretive organization holds the key to locating Quinton—if only she can wrap her head around the idea of magicians, fairies, aliens, and other supernatural creatures all being real.

Now she must compete for a spot against kids who’ve known about magic their whole lives. No matter how hard she tries, Amari can’t seem to escape their intense doubt and scrutiny—especially once her supernaturally enhanced talent is deemed “illegal.” With an evil magician threatening the supernatural world, and her own classmates thinking she’s an enemy, Amari has never felt more alone. But if she doesn’t stick it out and pass the tryouts, she may never find out what happened to Quinton.

Amari And The Night Brothers By B. B. Alston (Kids' Indie Next Pick) (Audiobook Excerpt)

This is a preview of the digital audiobook of The Bomber Mafia by Malcolm Gladwell, available on Libro.fm at https://libro.fm/audiobooks/9781735803227?cmp=librosoundcloud_2021. 

Libro.fm is the first audiobook company to directly support independent bookstores. Libro.fm's bookstore partners come in all shapes and sizes but do have one thing in common: being fiercely independent. Your purchases will directly support your chosen bookstore. 

The Bomber Mafia
A Dream, a Temptation, and the Longest Night of the Second World War
By: Malcolm Gladwell
Narrated by: Malcolm Gladwell
Length: 5 hours 14 minutes
“A thought-provoking, accessible account of how people respond to difficult choices in difficult times... Gladwell’s easy conversational style works well… and his admiration for the Bomber Mafia shines through. His portraits of individuals are compelling."—Diana Preston, Washington Post

“Truly compelling… written in New York Times bestseller Malcolm Gladwell's characteristic approachable, story-telling style.”—Zibby Owens, Good Morning America

"A riveting tale of persistence, obsession, innovation, and the incalculable wages of war... The Bomber Mafia looks at one of the greatest moral challenges of the Second World War."—Michael Lewis, Against the Rules

In The Bomber Mafia: A Dream, a Temptation, and the Longest Night of the Second World War, Malcolm Gladwell, author of New York Times bestsellers including Talking to Strangers and host of the podcast Revisionist History, uses original interviews, archival footage and his trademark insight to weave together the stories of a Dutch genius and his homemade computer, a band of brothers in central Alabama, a British psychopath, and pyromaniacal chemists at Harvard. As listeners hear these stories unfurl, Gladwell examines one of the greatest moral challenges in modern American history.

Description
Most military thinkers in the years leading up to World War II saw the airplane as an afterthought. But a small band of idealistic strategists had a different view. This “Bomber Mafia” asked: What if precision bombing could, just by taking out critical choke points—industrial or transportation hubs—cripple the enemy and make war far less lethal?

In Revisionist History, Gladwell re-examines moments from the past and asks whether we got it right the first time. In The Bomber Mafia, he employs all the production techniques that make Revisionist History so engaging, stepping back from the bombing of Tokyo, the deadliest night of the war, and asking, “Was it worth it?” The attack was the brainchild of General Curtis LeMay, whose brutal pragmatism and scorched-earth tactics in Japan cost thousands of civilian lives but may have spared more by averting a planned US invasion.

Things might have gone differently had LeMay’s predecessor, General Haywood Hansell, remained in charge. As a key member of the Bomber Mafia, Hansell’s theories of precision bombing had been foiled by bad weather and human error. When he and Curtis LeMay squared off for a leadership handover in the jungles of Guam, LeMay emerged victorious, leading to the darkest night of World War II.

The Bomber Mafia is a riveting tale of persistence, innovation, and the incalculable wages of war.

The Bomber Mafia By Malcolm Gladwell (Audiobook Excerpt)

This is a preview of the digital audiobook of Crying in H-Mart—A Memoir by Michelle Zauner (Indie Next Pick), available on Libro.fm at https://libro.fm/audiobooks/9780593153895?cmp=librosoundcloud_2021. 

Libro.fm is the first audiobook company to directly support independent bookstores. Libro.fm's bookstore partners come in all shapes and sizes but do have one thing in common: being fiercely independent. Your purchases will directly support your chosen bookstore. 

Crying in H Mart
A Memoir
By: Michelle Zauner
Narrated by: Michelle Zauner
Length: 7 hours 22 minutes

From the indie rockstar of Japanese Breakfast fame, and author of the viral 2018 New Yorker essay that shares the title of this book, an unflinching, powerful memoir about growing up Korean American, losing her mother, and forging her own identity.

Bookseller Recommendation:
“I was struck by just how much I loved this book for how it walks through grief not as a way to leave it behind, but as a way to remember its exact shape. I’m grateful for its funny, self-deprecating, and wise observations, and for its difficult beauty.” — Steve Haruch, Parnassus Books

Description:
In this exquisite story of family, food, grief, and endurance, Michelle Zauner proves herself far more than a dazzling singer, songwriter, and guitarist. With humor and heart, she tells of growing up one of the few Asian American kids at her school in Eugene, Oregon; of struggling with her mother's particular, high expectations of her; of a painful adolescence; of treasured months spent in her grandmother's tiny apartment in Seoul, where she and her mother would bond, late at night, over heaping plates of food. As she grew up, moving to the East Coast for college, finding work in the restaurant industry, and performing gigs with her fledgling band--and meeting the man who would become her husband—her Koreanness began to feel ever more distant, even as she found the life she wanted to live. It was her mother's diagnosis of terminal cancer, when Michelle was twenty-five, that forced a reckoning with her identity and brought her to reclaim the gifts of taste, language, and history her mother had given her.

Vivacious and plainspoken, lyrical and honest, Zauner's voice is as radiantly alive on the page as it is onstage. Rich with intimate anecdotes that will resonate widely, Crying in H Mart is a book to cherish, share, and reread.

Crying In H-Mart By Michelle Zauner (Indie Next Pick) (Audiobook Excerpt)

This is a preview of the digital audiobook of Happy Hour by Marlowe Granados, available on Libro.fm at https://libro.fm/audiobooks/9781773058696?cmp=librosoundcloud_2021. 

Libro.fm is the first audiobook company to directly support independent bookstores. Libro.fm's bookstore partners come in all shapes and sizes but do have one thing in common: being fiercely independent. Your purchases will directly support your chosen bookstore. 

Happy Hour
By: Marlowe Granados
Narrated by: Bronwyn Szabo
Length: 8 hours 6 minutes

With the verve and bite of My Year of Rest and Relaxation and the whip-smart, wisecracking sensibility of a golden-age Hollywood heroine, Marlowe Granados’s stunning début brilliantly captures a summer of striving in New York City.

“A wild ride with a brilliantly cocky young protagonist who’s got the world wrapped around her finger. So propulsive you'll feel like you've been hypnotized.” — Zoe Whittall, author of The Spectacular

“[Happy Hour] perfectly sums up a new age of innocence.” — Publishers Weekly, starred review

Description:
Refreshing and wry in equal measure, Happy Hour is an intoxicating novel of youth well spent. Isa Epley is all of twenty-one years old and already wise enough to understand that the purpose of life is the pursuit of pleasure. She arrives in New York City for a summer of adventure with her best friend, one newly blond Gala Novak. They have little money, but that’s hardly going to stop them from having a good time.

In her diary, Isa describes a sweltering summer in the glittering city. By day, the girls sell clothes in a market stall, pinching pennies for their Bed-Stuy sublet and bodega lunches. By night, they weave from Brooklyn to the Upper East Side to the Hamptons among a rotating cast of celebrities, artists, tech entrepreneurs, stuffy intellectuals, and bad-mannered grifters. Money runs ever tighter and the strain tests their friendship as they try to convert their social capital into something more lasting than precarious gigs as au pairs, nightclub hostesses, paid audience members, and aspiring foot-fetish models. Through it all, Isa’s bold, beguiling voice captures the precise thrill of cultivating a life of glamour and intrigue as she juggles paying her dues with skipping out on the bill.

Happy Hour announces a dazzling new talent in Marlowe Granados, whose exquisite wit recalls Anita Loos’s 1925 classic, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, updated to evoke a recent, golden period of hope and transformation — the summer of 2013. A cri de cœur for party girls and anyone who has ever felt entitled to an adventure of their own, Happy Hour is an effervescent tonic for the ails of contemporary life.

Bespeak Audio Editions brings Canadian voices to the world with audiobook editions of some of the country’s greatest works of literature, performed by Canadian actors.

Happy Hour by Marlowe Granados (Audiobook Excerpt)

This is a preview of the digital audiobook of Woke Up This Morning: The Definitive Oral History of the Sopranos by Michael Imperioli & Steve Schirripa, available on Libro.fm at https://libro.fm/audiobooks/9780063090040?cmp=librosoundcloud_2021. 

Libro.fm is the first audiobook company to directly support independent bookstores. Libro.fm's bookstore partners come in all shapes and sizes but do have one thing in common: being fiercely independent. Your purchases will directly support your chosen bookstore. 

Woke Up This Morning
The Definitive Oral History of The Sopranos
By: Michael Imperioli & Steve Schirripa
Narrated by: Michael Imperioli, Steve Schirripa & Full Cast
Length: 13 hours 42 minutes

The definitive oral history of the landmark television series and streaming hit The Sopranos, packed with untold stories from behind the scenes and on the set. Stars Michael Imperioli and Steve Schirripa—whose Talking Sopranos podcast has become a sensational fan favorite—talk intimately with virtually everyone who has been involved with the show. And they're ready to spill it all.

Description:
Who made the phone call that got HBO to launch The Sopranos? What’s the significance of all those eggs? And, what the hell ever happened to the Russian? Michael Imperioli, Steve Schirripa, and the entire cast and crew of The Sopranos have all the answers—and they’re revealing where all the bodies are buried. 

Inspired by the incredibly successful Talking Sopranos podcast, The Sopranos stars Michael Imperioli (Christopher Moltisanti) and Steve Schirripa (Bobby Baccalieri) will finally reveal all the Soprano family secrets in a surprising, funny, and honest new book. Woke Up This Morning will be the definitive behind-the-scenes history of the groundbreaking HBO series that became a worldwide cultural phenomenon, ushered in a new Golden Age of Television, and to this day continues to be one of the most binged shows of all time.

Expanding on the podcast with exclusive interviews with the cast, crew, producers, writers, directors, and, of course, the series creator David Chase, Michael and Steve will tell all the incredible stories that The Sopranos fans have been waiting to hear for over twenty years. The book will cover the entire history of The Sopranos series from the original concept pitch and casting to the infamous cut to black—and answer many of the thousands of fan questions sent to the podcast, as well as dispel some widely propagated myths and reveal things no one outside the show would even know to ask.

Woke Up This Morning by Michael Imperioli & Steve Schirripa (Audiobook Excerpt)

This is a preview of the digital audiobook of People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry, available on Libro.fm at https://www.libro.fm/audiobooks/9780593346808?cmp=librosoundcloud_2021. 

Libro.fm is the first audiobook company to directly support independent bookstores. Libro.fm's bookstore partners come in all shapes and sizes but do have one thing in common: being fiercely independent. Your purchases will directly support your chosen bookstore. 

People We Meet on Vacation
By: Emily Henry
Narrated by: Julia Whelan
Length: 10 hours 46 minutes

THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER! 
A TONIGHT SHOW STARRING JIMMY FALLON SUMMER READS NOMINEE!

Named a Most Anticipated Book of 2021 by Newsweek ∙ Oprah Magazine ∙ The Skimm ∙ Marie Claire ∙ Parade ∙ The Wall Street Journal ∙ Chicago Tribune ∙ PopSugar ∙ BookPage ∙ BookBub ∙ Betches ∙ SheReads ∙ Good Housekeeping ∙ BuzzFeed ∙ Business Insider ∙ Real Simple ∙ Frolic ∙ and more!

From the New York Times bestselling author of Beach Read comes a sparkling new novel that will leave you with the warm, hazy afterglow usually reserved for the best vacations. 

Bookseller Recommendation:
“What fun! This delightful book should be in every beach bag this summer. A hilariously comedic rom-com with memorable characters, set in varied vacation spots in various years. I enjoyed the changing timeline and seeing the relationship as it grew through the years.” — Shelley Lowe, Monkey and Dog Books

Description:
Two best friends. Ten summer trips. One last chance to fall in love. 

Poppy and Alex. Alex and Poppy. They have nothing in common. She’s a wild child; he wears khakis. She has insatiable wanderlust; he prefers to stay home with a book. And somehow, ever since a fateful car share home from college many years ago, they are the very best of friends. For most of the year they live far apart—she’s in New York City, and he’s in their small hometown—but every summer, for a decade, they have taken one glorious week of vacation together.

Until two years ago, when they ruined everything. They haven't spoken since.

Poppy has everything she should want, but she’s stuck in a rut. When someone asks when she was last truly happy, she knows, without a doubt, it was on that ill-fated, final trip with Alex. And so, she decides to convince her best friend to take one more vacation together—lay everything on the table, make it all right. Miraculously, he agrees.

Now she has a week to fix everything. If only she can get around the one big truth that has always stood quietly in the middle of their seemingly perfect relationship. What could possibly go wrong?

People We Meet On Vacation by Emily Henry (Indie Next Pick) (Audiobook Excerpt)

This is a preview of the digital audiobook of Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro (Indie Next Pick), available on Libro.fm at https://www.libro.fm/audiobooks/9780593349298?cmp=librosoundcloud_2021. 

Libro.fm is the first audiobook company to directly support independent bookstores. Libro.fm's bookstore partners come in all shapes and sizes but do have one thing in common: being fiercely independent. Your purchases will directly support your chosen bookstore. 

Klara and the Sun
A Novel
By: Kazuo Ishiguro
Narrated by: Sura Siu
Length: 10 hours 16 minutes

NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER • Once in a great while, a book comes along that changes our view of the world. This magnificent novel from the Nobel laureate and author of Never Let Me Go is “an intriguing take on how artificial intelligence might play a role in our futures ... a poignant meditation on love and loneliness” (The Associated Press).

BOOKER PRIZE LONGLIST Nominee • GOOD MORNING AMERICA Book Club Pick • On PRESIDENT OBAMA’S SUMMER 2021 READING LIST

“What stays with you in ‘Klara and the Sun’ is the haunting narrative voice—a genuinely innocent, egoless perspective on the strange behavior of humans obsessed and wounded by power, status and fear.” —Booker Prize committee

Bookseller Recommendations:
“Told from the first person perspective of a very perceptive "Artificial Friend", Klara and the Sun, brings up questions of what it means to be human and the depths of the human heart. In a future where teenagers are all doing school online (future or present?) and they have required socialization parties and AI who are there to be their friends, Klara is the AF to a very spunky but sickly girl named Josie. Soon she finds our why Josie is sick and goes on a mission to seek help from the Sun. Creative and heartfelt this was another amazing novel from a master!” — Danica, Townie Books

“When I read Ishiguo's work, I feel as if a veil has been lifted, and suddenly the world—or range—of humanness, and all it's uncomfortable possibilities, are clear. I'm so grateful for his extraordinary talents and ability to manifest new understandings inside the mind this reader. Whether it's the source of human emotion, the impact of memory, the grappling of regret, or simply the purpose of human life, I finish his books with greater insight into the scope of the living. Klara is no different—an inhuman character who in one almost childlike voice, reveals the boundaries between human and inhuman, between a future and obsolescence, between the bonds and boundaries of love. Thank you Mr. Ishiguro ~ again.” — Cassie, Roundabout Books

Description:
Here is the story of Klara, an Artificial Friend with outstanding observational qualities, who, from her place in the store, watches carefully the behavior of those who come in to browse, and of those who pass on the street outside. She remains hopeful that a customer will soon choose her. Klara and the Sun is a thrilling book that offers a look at our changing world through the eyes of an unforgettable narrator, and one that explores the fundamental question: what does it mean to love?

Klara And The Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro (Indie Next Pick)  (Audiobook Excerpt)

This is a preview of the digital audiobook of The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green, available on Libro.fm at https://www.libro.fm/audiobooks/9780593408537?cmp=librosoundcloud_2021. 

Libro.fm is the first audiobook company to directly support independent bookstores. Libro.fm's bookstore partners come in all shapes and sizes but do have one thing in common: being fiercely independent. Your purchases will directly support your chosen bookstore. 

The Anthropocene Reviewed
Essays on a Human-Centered Planet
By: John Green
Narrated by: John Green
Length: 10 hours 3 minutes

A deeply moving and insightful collection of personal essays from #1 bestselling author John Green.

Bookseller Recommendations:
“A lovely lovely listen read by the author. This is the perfect book to take on a long walk or drive that will make you look at the world in a fresh way. Drawing on personal anecdotes, history, literature and science, Green embraces both small and big ideas and makes you grateful for things you might have once overlooked. 5/5 stars for this audiobook!” — Katie, Bank Square Books

“Witty and moving essays about everything from air conditioning to Canada geese, Green artfully distills much of the human condition and what it means to be alive. Each essay's subject ends with his rating out of five stars -- I give this book five stars.” — Violet, Second Star to the Right

“A continuation of John Green's podcast of the same name, this audiobook is engaging, intriguing and hard to put down. Read by the author, this book resonated with me on so many levels and left me with food for thought. 5 stars.” — Rebecca, Rediscovered Books

“How do you find the words to describe a book that repeatedly took your breath away? That kept knocking you on your ass? That made you stop multiple times to dutifully type out quotes to text to your friends? I don't know, but I know this is the book I needed right now. It's probably the book you need right now, too. I give THE ANTHROPOCENE REVIEWED five stars.” — Nicole, Oblong Books

Description:
The Anthropocene is the current geologic age, in which humans have profoundly reshaped the planet and its biodiversity. In this remarkable symphony of essays adapted and expanded from his groundbreaking podcast, bestselling author John Green reviews different facets of the human-centered planet on a five-star scale—from the QWERTY keyboard and sunsets to Canada geese and Penguins of Madagascar.

Funny, complex, and rich with detail, the reviews chart the contradictions of contemporary humanity. As a species, we are both far too powerful and not nearly powerful enough, a paradox that came into sharp focus as we faced a global pandemic that both separated us and bound us together.

John Green’s gift for storytelling shines throughout this masterful collection. The Anthropocene Reviewed is a open-hearted exploration of the paths we forge and an unironic celebration of falling in love with the world.

Audio exclusive! Three bonus essays!

The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green (Audiobook Excerpt)

This is a preview of the digital audiobook of How the Word Is Passed by Clint Smith, available on Libro.fm at https://www.libro.fm/audiobooks/9781549123412?cmp=librosoundcloud_2021. 

Libro.fm is the first audiobook company to directly support independent bookstores. Libro.fm's bookstore partners come in all shapes and sizes but do have one thing in common: being fiercely independent. Your purchases will directly support your chosen bookstore. 

How the Word Is Passed
A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America
By: Clint Smith
Narrated by: Clint Smith
Length: 10 hours 7 minutes

“We need this book.” — Ibram X. Kendi, #1 New York Times bestselling author of How to be an Anti-Racist

The Atlantic staff writer and poet Clint Smith's revealing, contemporary portrait of America as a slave-owning nation.

Bookseller Recommendation:
“From plantation to Angola Prison. From Blandford Cemetery in Petersburg, VA to the African Burial Ground in New York City. From Île de Gorée to Whitney Plantation. From the Emancipation Proclamation to Juneteenth. Clint Smith takes us on an unforgettable journey through the history of slavery in the United States, revealing many truths we’ve never been told. Using lyrical prose, he creates a mesmerizing history lesson told through his personal lens. The facts are punctuated by his reactions to the spaces he visits and the stories he hears in each space. Hard truths told in beautiful language make this a book both highly informative and extremely accessible. Every American should listen to or read it; most of us have a great deal to learn and unlearn. And Smith’s poetic prose and personal voice keep it from feeling like the invaluable sociology and history lesson it is. Definitely one of the best books of the year.” — Nancy, Raven Book Store

Description:
Beginning in his hometown of New Orleans, Clint Smith leads the reader on an unforgettable tour of monuments and landmarks—those that are honest about the past and those that are not—that offer an intergenerational story of how slavery has been central in shaping our nation’s collective history, and ourselves.

It is the story of the Monticello Plantation in Virginia, the estate where Thomas Jefferson wrote letters espousing the urgent need for liberty while enslaving more than four hundred people. It is the story of the Whitney Plantation, one of the only former plantations devoted to preserving the experience of the enslaved people whose lives and work sustained it. It is the story of Angola, a former plantation–turned–maximum-security prison in Louisiana that is filled with Black men who work across the 18,000-acre land for virtually no pay. And it is the story of Blandford Cemetery, the final resting place of tens of thousands of Confederate soldiers.

A deeply researched and transporting exploration of the legacy of slavery and its imprint on centuries of American history, How the Word Is Passed illustrates how some of our country’s most essential stories are hidden in plain view—whether in places we might drive by on our way to work, holidays such as Juneteenth, or entire neighborhoods like downtown Manhattan, where the brutal history of the trade in enslaved men, women, and children has been deeply imprinted.

Informed by scholarship and brought to life by the story of people living today, Smith’s debut work of nonfiction is a landmark of reflection and insight that offers a new understanding of the hopeful role that memory and history can play in making sense of our country and how it has come to be.

How The Word Is Passed By Clint Smith (Audiobook Excerpt)

This is a preview of the digital audiobook of Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty, available on Libro.fm at https://www.libro.fm/audiobooks/9781250810700?cmp=librosoundcloud_2021. 

Libro.fm is the first audiobook company to directly support independent bookstores. Libro.fm's bookstore partners come in all shapes and sizes but do have one thing in common: being fiercely independent. Your purchases will directly support your chosen bookstore. 

Apples Never Fall
By: Liane Moriarty
Narrated by: Caroline Lee
Length: 18 hours 3 minutes

"Audiobook narrator Caroline Lee’s voice is an irresistible, visceral joy; like the best audiobook narrators, her delivery is endlessly malleable, shifting nimbly across accent, register and tone to create a sense that one is inside the story rather than peering in from the outside." -- Farhad Manjoo, The New York Times

"Australian narrator Caroline Lee is an amazing performer who digs so deeply into her characters' personas that listeners will become addicted to each witty, insightful, and gutsy one." -- AudioFile Magazine, Earphones Award Winner

From Liane Moriarty, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Big Little Lies and Nine Perfect Strangers, comes Apples Never Fall, an audiobook that looks at marriage, siblings, and how the people we love the most can hurt us the deepest.

Bookseller Recommendation:
“Lee's voice hooked me from the beginning of Apples Never Fall and had me giggling at almost every sentence. Even the most mundane of statements turns into pure comedy with Lee's willowy and wavering Australian accent which gives perfect characterization to Joy and her family throughout this tense tale. Though you will definitely hate (or at least want to slap) every one of these characters at some point, Moriarty wows once again with her newest book. A highly enjoyable listen, I recommend this to anyone who likes thrillers with different angles (touches of humor and sass).” — Kimi, Buttonwood Books and Toys

Description:
The Delaney family love one another dearly—it’s just that sometimes they want to murder each other . . .

If your mother was missing, would you tell the police? Even if the most obvious suspect was your father?

This is the dilemma facing the four grown Delaney siblings.

The Delaneys are fixtures in their community. The parents, Stan and Joy, are the envy of all of their friends. They’re killers on the tennis court, and off it their chemistry is palpable. But after fifty years of marriage, they’ve finally sold their famed tennis academy and are ready to start what should be the golden years of their lives. So why are Stan and Joy so miserable?

The four Delaney children—Amy, Logan, Troy, and Brooke—were tennis stars in their own right, yet as their father will tell you, none of them had what it took to go all the way. But that’s okay, now that they’re all successful grown-ups and there is the wonderful possibility of grandchildren on the horizon.

One night a stranger named Savannah knocks on Stan and Joy’s door, bleeding after a fight with her boyfriend. The Delaneys are more than happy to give her the small kindness she sorely needs. If only that was all she wanted.

Later, when Joy goes missing, and Savannah is nowhere to be found, the police question the one person who remains: Stan. But for someone who claims to be innocent, he, like many spouses, seems to have a lot to hide. Two of the Delaney children think their father is innocent, two are not so sure—but as the two sides square off against each other in perhaps their biggest match ever, all of the Delaneys will start to reexamine their shared family history in a very new light.

Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty (Audiobook Excerpt)

This is a preview of the digital audiobook of The Museum of Rain by Dave Eggers, available on Libro.fm at https://libro.fm/audiobooks/9781952119484?cmp=librosoundcloud_2021. 

Libro.fm is the first audiobook company to directly support independent bookstores. Libro.fm's bookstore partners come in all shapes and sizes but do have one thing in common: being fiercely independent. Your purchases will directly support your chosen bookstore. 

The Museum of Rain
By: Dave Eggers
Narrated by: Jeff Daniels
Length: 34 minutes

Description:
Oisín Mahoney is an American Army vet in his 70s who is asked to lead a group of young grand-nieces and grand-nephews on a walk through the hills of California’s Central Coast. Walking toward a setting sun, their destination is a place called The Museum of Rain, which may or may not still exist, and whose origin and meaning are elusive to all. In one of his most elegiac stories, Eggers gives us a beautiful testament to family, memory, and what we leave behind.

The Museum Of Rain by Dave Eggers (Audiobook Excerpt)

This is a preview of the digital audiobook of The 1619 Project—A New Origin Story by Nikole Hannah-Jones, available on Libro.fm at https://libro.fm/audiobooks/9780593452288?cmp=librosoundcloud_2021. 

Libro.fm is the first audiobook company to directly support independent bookstores. Libro.fm's bookstore partners come in all shapes and sizes but do have one thing in common: being fiercely independent. Your purchases will directly support your chosen bookstore. 

The 1619 Project
A New Origin Story
By: Nikole Hannah-Jones, Caitlin Roper, Ilena Silverman & Jake Silverstein
Narrated by: Nikole Hannah-Jones & Full Cast
Length: 18 hours 56 minutes

A dramatic expansion of a groundbreaking work of journalism, The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story offers a profoundly revealing vision of the American past and present.

“Hannah-Jones and colleagues consider a nation still wrestling with the outcomes of slavery, an incomplete Reconstruction, and a subsequent history of Jim Crow laws and current legal efforts to disenfranchise Black voters . . . Those readers open to fresh and startling interpretations of history will find this book a comprehensive education. A much-needed book that stakes a solid place in a battlefield of ideas over America’s past and present.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Description:
In late August 1619, a ship arrived in the British colony of Virginia bearing a cargo of twenty to thirty enslaved people from Africa. Their arrival led to the barbaric and unprecedented system of American chattel slavery that would last for the next 250 years. This is sometimes referred to as the country’s original sin, but it is more than that: It is the source of so much that still defines the United States.

The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story builds on one of the most consequential journalistic events of recent years: The New York Times Magazine’s award-winning “1619 Project,” which reframed our understanding of American history by placing slavery and its continuing legacy at the center of our national narrative. This new book substantially expands on the original 1619 Project, weaving together eighteen essays that explore the legacy of slavery in present-day America with thirty-six poems and works of fiction that illuminate key moments of oppression, struggle, and resistance. The essays show how the inheritance of 1619 reaches into every part of contemporary American society, from politics, music, diet, traffic, and citizenship to capitalism, religion, and our democracy itself. This legacy can be seen in the way we tell stories, the way we teach our children, and the way we remember. Together, the elements of the book reveal a new origin story for the United States, one that helps explain not only the persistence of anti-Black racism and inequality in American life today, but also the roots of what makes the country unique.

The book also features a significant elaboration of the original project’s Pulitzer Prize–winning lead essay, by Nikole Hannah-Jones, on how the struggles of Black Americans have expanded democracy for all Americans, as well as two original pieces from Hannah-Jones, one of which makes a profound case for reparative solutions to this legacy of injustice.

This is a book that speaks directly to our current moment, contextualizing the systems of race and caste within which we operate today. It reveals long-glossed-over truths around our nation’s founding and construction—and the way that the legacy of slavery did not end with emancipation, but continues to shape contemporary American life.

The 1619 Project by Nikole Hannah-Jones (Audiobook Excerpt)

This is a preview of the digital audiobook of These Precious Days—Essays by Ann Patchett (Indie Next Pick), available on Libro.fm at https://libro.fm/audiobooks/9780063092815-these-precious-days?cmp=librosoundcloud_2021. 

Libro.fm is the first audiobook company to directly support independent bookstores. Libro.fm's bookstore partners come in all shapes and sizes but do have one thing in common: being fiercely independent. Your purchases will directly support your chosen bookstore. 

These Precious Days—Essays
By: Ann Patchett
Narrated by: Ann Patchett
Length: 11 hours 13 minutes

The beloved New York Times bestselling author reflects on home, family, friendships and writing in this deeply personal collection of essays.

Description:
“Any story that starts will also end.” As a writer, Ann Patchett knows what the outcome of her fiction will be. Life, however, often takes turns we do not see coming. Patchett ponders this truth in these wise essays that afford a fresh and intimate look into her mind and heart.

At the center of These Precious Days is the title essay, a surprising and moving meditation on an unexpected friendship that explores “what it means to be seen, to find someone with whom you can be your best and most complete self.” When Patchett chose an early galley of actor and producer Tom Hanks’ short story collection to read one night before bed, she had no idea that this single choice would be life changing. It would introduce her to a remarkable woman—Tom’s brilliant assistant Sooki—with whom she would form a profound bond that held monumental consequences for them both.

A literary alchemist, Patchett plumbs the depths of her experiences to create gold: engaging and moving pieces that are both self-portrait and landscape, each vibrant with emotion and rich in insight. Turning her writer’s eye on her own experiences, she transforms the private into the universal, providing us all a way to look at our own worlds anew, and reminds how fleeting and enigmatic life can be.

From the enchantments of Kate DiCamillo’s children’s books (author of the upcoming The Beatryce Prophecy) to youthful memories of Paris; the cherished life gifts given by her three fathers to the unexpected influence of Charles Schultz’s Snoopy; the expansive vision of Eudora Welty to the importance of knitting, Patchett connects life and art as she illuminates what matters most. Infused with the author’s grace, wit, and warmth, the pieces in These Precious Days resonate deep in the soul, leaving an indelible mark—and demonstrate why Ann Patchett is one of the most celebrated writers of our time.

These Precious Days—Essays by Ann Patchett (Indie Next Pick) (Audiobook Excerpt)

This is a preview of the digital audiobook of Will by Will Smith, available on Libro.fm at https://libro.fm/audiobooks/9780593146231?cmp=librosoundcloud_2021. 

Libro.fm is the first audiobook company to directly support independent bookstores. Libro.fm's bookstore partners come in all shapes and sizes but do have one thing in common: being fiercely independent. Your purchases will directly support your chosen bookstore. 

Will
By: Will Smith
Narrated by: Will Smith
Length: 16 hours 16 minutes

One of the most dynamic and globally recognized entertainment forces of our time opens up fully about his life, in a brave and inspiring book that traces his learning curve to a place where outer success, inner happiness, and human connection are aligned. Along the way, Will tells the story in full of one of the most amazing rides through the worlds of music and film that anyone has ever had.

“It’s easy to maneuver the material world once you have conquered your own mind. I believe that. Once you've learned the terrain of your own mind, every experience, every emotion, every circumstance, whether positive or negative, simply propels you forward, to greater growth and greater experience. That is true will. To move forward in spite of anything. And to move forward in a way that brings others with you, rather than leave them behind.” —Will Smith

Description:
Will Smith’s transformation from a fearful child in a tense West Philadelphia home to one of the biggest rap stars of his era and then one of the biggest movie stars in Hollywood history, with a string of box office successes that will likely never be broken, is an epic tale of inner transformation and outer triumph, and Will tells it astonishingly well. But it's only half the story. 

Will Smith thought, with good reason, that he had won at life: not only was his own success unparalleled, his whole family was at the pinnacle of the entertainment world. Only they didn't see it that way: they felt more like star performers in his circus, a seven-days-a-week job they hadn't signed up for. It turned out Will Smith's education wasn't nearly over. 

This memoir is the product of a profound journey of self-knowledge, a reckoning with all that your will can get you and all that it can leave behind. Written with the help of Mark Manson, author of the multi-million-copy bestseller The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck, Will is the story of how one person mastered his own emotions, written in a way that can help everyone else do the same. Few of us will know the pressure of performing on the world's biggest stages for the highest of stakes, but we can all understand that the fuel that works for one stage of our journey might have to be changed if we want to make it all the way home. The combination of genuine wisdom of universal value and a life story that is preposterously entertaining, even astonishing, puts Will the book, like its author, in a category by itself.

Will by Will Smith (Audiobook Excerpt)

This is a preview of the digital audiobook of My Name's Yours, What's Alaska?—A Memoir by Alaska Thunderfuck 5000, available on Libro.fm at https://libro.fm/audiobooks/9781797215938?cmp=librosoundcloud_2021. 

Libro.fm is the first audiobook company to directly support independent bookstores. Libro.fm's bookstore partners come in all shapes and sizes but do have one thing in common: being fiercely independent. Your purchases will directly support your chosen bookstore. 

My Name's Yours, What's Alaska?
A Memoir
By: Alaska Thunderfuck 5000
Narrated by: Alaska Thunderfuck 5000
Length: 5 hours 43 minutes

Alaska Thunderfuck spills the tea on her meteoric rise from timid Pennsylvania kid to drag superstar in this intimate photographic memoir that will appeal to diehard Alaska admirers and broader drag fans alike.

Description:
Before RuPaul's Drag Race became a worldwide phenomenon, Drag was mostly an underground art form, performed by the daring and the quick-witted, with maximum energy and a minimal budget. This is the story of one of the galaxy's greatest queens, Alaska Thunderfuck 5000, as she transforms from wearing dresses made of trash bags because she has to, to wearing dresses made of trash bags because she wants to. Finally coming clean on her home planet (earth), this dishy, visual memoir tells the stories that shaped Alaska into an All Star: from prom king to the House of Haunt, to the very public breakup that almost destroyed her. Intimate and alluring with exclusive photography throughout, and illustrations by the author, My Name's Yours, What's Alaska? is the ultimate backstage pass.

UNIQUE & PERSONAL: Chronicling Alaska's journey from small-town kid to drag superstar, this memoir stands out for its emotional resonance, distinct humor, and unapologetic realness. Filled with compelling personal stories told in Alaska's unique voice, it gives fans an exclusive look at Justin Honard the person, not just Alaska Thunderfuck the drag queen.

LGBTQIA+ REPRESENTATION: LGBTQIA+ consumers will see their experiences and passions reflected in Alaska's authenticity and openness about her childhood struggles, and will be excited by a drag memoir that celebrates the whole story of queerness, not just the sassy, shady highlights.

GREAT GIFT FOR FANS OF RUPAUL'S DRAG RACE: Behind the scenes stories of Alaska's journey to RuPaul's Drag Race fame, alongside full-color photography of Alaska's iconic trash-glam looks throughout her career, will deliver the exclusive content fans crave.

Perfect for:
• Diehard drag fans
• Fans of Alaska Thunderfuck, RuPaul, Michelle Visage, Trixie Mattel, Bianca del Rio, Sharon Needles, Magnus Hastings, Cherri Baum, Veruca, and more
• RuPaul's Drag Race enthusiasts who want to deep dive into a famous queen's rise to stardom

My Name's Yours, What's Alaska? by Alaska Thunderfuck 5000 (Audiobook Excerpt)

Get the digital audiobook of Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi on Libro.fm at https://libro.fm/audiobooks/9781427295507

“A sprawling fantasy teeming with deep and meaningful magic. One of the things I like most about this debut is that it raises very real and important issues of our time through multiple character’s perspectives. No character is one-dimensional, and every character must learn from failure and introspection to become who they were meant to be.” – Kelly, Mysterious Galaxy Books

Children Of Blood And Bone By Tomi Adeyemi (Audiobook Excerpt) The Match

Get the digital audiobook of Calypso by David Sedaris on Libro.fm at https://libro.fm/audiobooks/9781478964162

“Calypso by David Sedaris is laugh out loud hysterical in true Sedaris fashion. Listening to him read and deliver his stories is like listening to a stand-up comedian. This collection is fairly personal and many stories involve his family and their adventures in his North Carolinian beach house, aptly name the “Sea Section”. Sedaris manages to tackle even difficult issues like suicide and aging with grace and just the right amount of self-deprecation mixed with brutal honesty. Highly recommend!” – Phyllis, Wellesley Books

Calypso By David Sedaris (Audiobook Excerpt) The Fitbit

You are listening to a preview of the digital audiobook Charlotte's Web by E. B. White, available on Libro.fm at https://libro.fm/audiobooks/9781984843265.

Charlotte's Web
By E. B. White & Melissa Sweet
Narrated by Meryl Streep, Full Cast, January LaVoy, Kirby Heyborne, MacLeod Andrews, Emily Rankin, Kimberly Farr, Mark Deakins, Lincoln Hoppe, Tavia Gilbert, Robin Miles, Cassandra Campbell & Danny Campbell / 4 hours 2 minutes
Brought to life by Meryl Streep and a full cast, this beloved book by E. B. White, author of Stuart Little and The Trumpet of the Swan, is a classic of children's literature that is "just about perfect."*

Some Pig. Humble. Radiant. These are the words in Charlotte's Web, high up in Zuckerman's barn. Charlotte's spider web tells of her feelings for a little pig named Wilbur, who simply wants a friend. They also express the love of a girl named Fern, who saved Wilbur's life when he was born the runt of his litter.

E. B. White's Newbery Honor Book is a tender novel of friendship, love, life, and death that will continue to be enjoyed by generations to come.

Includes an appreciation written and read by Caldecott Honor winner Melissa Sweet, the cover artist of this edition and author/illustrator of Some Writer!: The Story of E. B. White.

Narrated by Meryl Streep
featuring:
January LaVoy as CHARLOTTE
Kirby Heyborne as WILBUR
MacLeod Andrews as TEMPLETON

with additional performances by:
Mark Bramhall as LURVY
Scott Brick as THE MINISTER
Cassandra Campbell as EDITH ZUCKERMAN
Danny Campbell as HOMER ZUCKERMAN
Mark Deakins as MR. ARABLE
Kimberly Farr as MRS. ARABLE
Tavia Gilbert as THE GOOSE
Dion Graham as THE GANDER
Almarie Guerra as NELLIE
Johnny Heller as THE FAIR ANNOUNCER
Lincoln Hoppe as AVERY
Raymond Lee as THE BABY SPIDER
Robin Miles as THE OLD SHEEP
Adenrele Ojo as ARANEA
Ray Porter as UNCLE THE PIG
Emily Rankin as FERN
John Rubinstein as DR. DORIAN
Bahni Turpin as THE LAMB
Julia Whelan as JOY

*New York Times

Charlotte's Web by E.B. White (audiobook excerpt No. 2) Wilbur Meets Charlotte

This is a preview of the digital audiobook of My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell, available on Libro.fm at https://libro.fm/audiobooks/9780062941534.

My Dark Vanessa
A Novel
By Kate Elizabeth Russell
Narrated by Grace Gummer / 15 hours 36 minutes

BOOKSELLER RECOMMENDATION
“In this gripping debut novel, a teenage girl falls into an affair with her English teacher, who is 30 years her senior. The voice of Vanessa, the narrator, is unparalleled in its honesty, and her emotions are fiercely conveyed with unrelenting realness. This novel is a timely and important read, sometimes difficult, but ultimately an unforgettable experience. You will be left astonished and transformed. Vanessa is formidable and so is her story; you won’t be able to put down this powerhouse of a novel.”

Luisa Barbano image
Luisa Barbano, Oblong Books & Music
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY’S BREAKOUT AUTHOR TO WATCH IN 2020

“Brilliant and stunning . . . an absolute must read.” – GILLIAN FLYNN

“A well-constructed package of dynamite.” – STEPHEN KING

A most anticipated book by The New York Times • USA Today • Entertainment Weekly • Marie Claire • Elle • Harper's Bazaar • Bustle • Newsweek • New York Post • Esquire •  Real Simple • The Sunday Times • The Guardian 

ONE OF THE MOST BUZZED ABOUT DEBUTS IN YEARS

AN INTERNATIONAL SENSATION SOLD IN 24 TERRITORIES AND COUNTING

Exploring the psychological dynamics of the relationship between a precocious yet naïve teenage girl and her magnetic and manipulative teacher, a brilliant, all-consuming read that marks the explosive debut of an extraordinary new writer.


2000. Bright, ambitious, and yearning for adulthood, fifteen-year-old Vanessa Wye becomes entangled in an affair with Jacob Strane, her magnetic and guileful forty-two-year-old English teacher.

2017. Amid the rising wave of allegations against powerful men, a reckoning is coming due. Strane has been accused of sexual abuse by a former student, who reaches out to Vanessa, and now Vanessa suddenly finds herself facing an impossible choice: remain silent, firm in the belief that her teenage self willingly engaged in this relationship, or redefine herself and the events of her past. But how can Vanessa reject her first love, the man who fundamentally transformed her and has been a persistent presence in her life? Is it possible that the man she loved as a teenager—and who professed to worship only her—may be far different from what she has always believed?

Alternating between Vanessa’s present and her past, My Dark Vanessa juxtaposes memory and trauma with the breathless excitement of a teenage girl discovering the power her own body can wield. Thought-provoking and impossible to put down, this is a masterful portrayal of troubled adolescence and its repercussions that raises vital questions about agency, consent, complicity, and victimhood. Written with the haunting intimacy of The Girls and the creeping intensity of Room, My Dark Vanessa is an era-defining novel that brilliantly captures and reflects the shifting cultural mores transforming our relationships and society itself.

Includes a bonus conversation with Kate Elizabeth Russell, Grace Gummer, and Jessica Williams (editor of My Dark Vanessa).

My Dark Vanessa (audiobook excerpt)

This is a preview of the digital audiobook of The List of Things That WIll Not Change by Rebecca Stead, available on Libro.fm at https://libro.fm/audiobooks/9780593155363.  

The List of Things That Will Not Change
By Rebecca Stead
Narrated by Rachel L. Jacobs
EIGHT STARRED REVIEWS! The reassuring book kids and families need right now. ""An absolute original . . . a story that kids will love."" --R. J. Palacio, bestselling author of Wonder At a time when everything is changing for Bea and her family, the important things will always stay the same. A soon-to-be classic by the Newbery Award-winning author of When You Reach Me.

After her parents' divorce, Bea's life became different in many ways. But she can always look back at the list she keeps in her green notebook to remember the things that will stay the same. The first and most important: Mom and Dad will always love Bea, and each other. When Dad tells Bea that he and his boyfriend, Jesse, are getting married, Bea is thrilled. Bea loves Jesse, and when he and Dad get married, she'll finally (finally!) have what she's always wanted--a sister. Even though she's never met Jesse's daughter, Sonia, Bea is sure that they'll be ""just like sisters anywhere."" As the wedding day approaches, Bea will learn that making a new family brings questions, surprises, and joy, and readers will discover why the New York Times called Rebecca Stead a ""writer of great feeling."" ""Uplifting without sentimentality, timely not trendy, and utterly engaging."" --Kirkus Reviews, starred review ""No author writing today observes young lives with more clarity, tenderness, and grace."" --Newbery Medalist Katherine Applegate, author of The One and Only Ivan ""Stead truly understands the inner life of kids."" --Newbery Medalist Erin Entrada Kelly, author of Hello, Universe and You Go First

The List Of Things That WIll Not Change By Rebecca Stead (audiobook Excerpt)

This is a preview of the digital audiobook of Patron Saints of Nothing by Randy Ribay, available on Libro.fm at https://libro.fm/audiobooks/9781984886026. 
Patron Saints of Nothing
By Randy Ribay
Narrated by Ramón de Ocampo

A NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST

""Brilliant, honest, and equal parts heartbreaking and soul-healing."" --Laurie Halse Anderson, author of SHOUT 

""A singular voice in the world of literature."" --Jason Reynolds, author of Long Way Down

A powerful coming-of-age story about grief, guilt, and the risks a Filipino-American teenager takes to uncover the truth about his cousin's murder.

Jay Reguero plans to spend the last semester of his senior year playing video games before heading to the University of Michigan in the fall. But when he discovers that his Filipino cousin Jun was murdered as part of President Duterte's war on drugs, and no one in the family wants to talk about what happened, Jay travels to the Philippines to find out the real story.

Hoping to uncover more about Jun and the events that led to his death, Jay is forced to reckon with the many sides of his cousin before he can face the whole horrible truth -- and the part he played in it.

As gripping as it is lyrical, Patron Saints of Nothing is a page-turning portrayal of the struggle to reconcile faith, family, and immigrant identity.

Patron Saints Of Nothing By Randy Ribay (Audiobook Excerpt)

This is a preview of the digital audiobook of New Kid by Jerry Craft, available on Libro.fm at https://libro.fm/audiobooks/9780062885326. 

New Kid
By Jerry Craft
Narrated by Jesus Del Orden, Nile Bullock, Robin Miles, Guy Lockard, Peyton Lusk, Rebecca Soler, Dan Bittner, Phoebe Strole, Marc Thompson, Miles Harvey & Ron Butler 

2020 Audie Awards® Finalist - Middle Grade

Winner of the Newbery Medal, Coretta Scott King Author Award, and Kirkus Prize for Young Readers’ Literature, and an Audie Award finalist!

An original full-cast audio adaptation of the graphic novel from award-winning author-illustrator Jerry Craft, performed by the author with Jesus Del Orden, Nile Bullock, Robin Miles, Guy Lockard, Peyton Lusk, Rebecca Soler, Dan Bittner, Phoebe Strole, Marc Thompson, Miles Harvey, and Ron Butler. Named an Audible Best Audiobook of the Year!

Perfect for fans of Raina Telgemeier and Gene Luen Yang, New Kid is a timely, honest novel about starting over at a new school where diversity is low and the struggle to fit in is real.

Seventh grader Jordan Banks loves nothing more than drawing cartoons about his life. But instead of sending him to the art school of his dreams, his parents enroll him in a prestigious private school known for its academics, where Jordan is one of the few kids of color in his entire grade.

As he makes the daily trip from his Washington Heights apartment to the upscale Riverdale Academy Day School, Jordan soon finds himself torn between two worlds—and not really fitting into either one. Can Jordan learn to navigate his new school culture while keeping his neighborhood friends and staying true to himself?

Filled with sound effects and original music, this audio adventure is one the whole family will enjoy.

New Kid By Jerry Craft (Audiobook Excerpt)

This is a preview of the digital audiobook of Me, Earl, and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews, available on Libro.fm at https://libro.fm/audiobooks/9780147520845. 

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (Revised Edition)
By Jesse Andrews
Narrated by Thomas Mann, RJ Cyler, Keith Szarabajka, Hillary Huber, Kirby Heyborne, Abigail Revasch & Adenrele Ojo

THE BOOK THAT INSPIRED THE HIT FILM!

Up until senior year, Greg has maintained total social invisibility. He only has one friend, Earl, and together they spend their time—when not playing video games and avoiding Earl’s terrifying brothers— making movies, their own versions of Coppola and Herzog cult classics. Greg would be the first one to tell you his movies are f*@$ing terrible, but he and Earl don’t make them for other people. Until Rachel.

Rachel has leukemia, and Greg’s mom gets the genius idea that Greg should befriend her. Against his better judgment and despite his extreme awkwardness, he does. When Rachel decides to stop treatment, Greg and Earl must abandon invisibility and make a stand. It’s a hilarious, outrageous, and truthful look at death and high school by a prodigiously talented debut author.

This audiobook is read by the stars of the movie adaptation, Thomas Mann and RJ Cyler, as well as Keith Szarabajka, Hillary Huber, Kirby Heyborne, Abigail Revasch, and Adenrele Ojo.

Me, Earl, And The Dying Girl By Jesse Andrews (audiobook Excerpt)

This is a preview of the digital audiobook of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins available on Libro.fm at https://libro.fm/audiobooks/9781338635201. 

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
Hunger Games
By Suzanne Collins
Narrated by Santino Fontana

It is the morning of the reaping that will kick off the tenth annual Hunger Games. In the Capitol, eighteen-year-old Coriolanus Snow is preparing for his one shot at glory as a mentor in the Games. The once-mighty house of Snow has fallen on hard times, its fate hanging on the slender chance that Coriolanus will be able to out charm, outwit, and outmaneuver his fellow students to mentor the winning tribute.

The odds are against him. He’s been given the humiliating assignment of mentoring the female tribute from District 12, the lowest of the low. Their fates are now completely intertwined — every choice Coriolanus makes could lead to favor or failure, triumph or ruin. Inside the arena, it will be a fight to the death. Outside the arena, Coriolanus starts to feel for his doomed tribute . . . and must weigh his need to follow the rules against his desire to survive no matter what it takes.

The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes By Suzanne Collins (audiobook excerpt)

This is a preview of the digital audiobook of True Grit by Charles Portis, narrated by Donna Tartt, available on Libro.fm at https://libro.fm/audiobooks/9781428193772.

Libro.fm is the first audiobook company to directly support independent bookstores. Libro.fm's bookstore partners come in all shapes and sizes but do have one thing in common: being fiercely independent. Your purchases will directly support your chosen bookstore.

True Grit
By Charles Portis
Narrated by Donna Tartt / 6 hours 17 minutes
Mattie Ross, a fourteen-year-old girl from Dardanelle, Arkansas, sets out to avenge her Daddy who was shot to death by a no-good outlaw. Mattie convinces one-eyed ""Rooster"" Cogburn, the meanest U.S. marshal in the land, to ride along with her. In True Grit, we have a true American classic, as young Mattie -- as vital as she is innocent -- outdickers and outmaneuvers the hard-bitten men of the trail in a legend that will last through the ages.

True Grit by Charles Portis, narrated by Donna Tartt (Audiobook Excerpt)

This is a preview of the digital audiobook of Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson, available on Libro.fm at https://libro.fm/audiobooks/9780553550610. 

Libro.fm is the first audiobook company to directly support independent bookstores. Libro.fm's bookstore partners come in all shapes and sizes but do have one thing in common: being fiercely independent. Your purchases will directly support your chosen bookstore. 


Just Mercy (Movie Tie-In Edition)
A Story of Justice and Redemption
By Bryan Stevenson
Narrated by Bryan Stevenson / 11 hours 10 minutes

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE STARRING MICHAEL B. JORDAN AND JAMIE FOXX • A powerful true story about the potential for mercy to redeem us, and a clarion call to fix our broken system of justice—from one of the most brilliant and influential lawyers of our time.

“[Bryan Stevenson’s] dedication to fighting for justice and equality has inspired me and many others and made a lasting impact on our country.”—John Legend

NAMED ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL BOOKS OF THE DECADE BY CNN • Named One of the Best Books of the Year by The New York Times • The Washington Post • The Boston Globe • The Seattle Times • Esquire • Time

Bryan Stevenson was a young lawyer when he founded the Equal Justice Initiative, a legal practice dedicated to defending those most desperate and in need: the poor, the wrongly condemned, and women and children trapped in the farthest reaches of our criminal justice system. One of his first cases was that of Walter McMillian, a young man who was sentenced to die for a notorious murder he insisted he didn’t commit. The case drew Bryan into a tangle of conspiracy, political machination, and legal brinksmanship—and transformed his understanding of mercy and justice forever.

Just Mercy is at once an unforgettable account of an idealistic, gifted young lawyer’s coming of age, a moving window into the lives of those he has defended, and an inspiring argument for compassion in the pursuit of true justice.

Winner of the Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction • Winner of the NAACP Image Award for Nonfiction • Winner of a Books for a Better Life Award • Finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize • Finalist for the Kirkus Reviews Prize • An American Library Association Notable Book

“Every bit as moving as To Kill a Mockingbird, and in some ways more so . . . a searing indictment of American criminal justice and a stirring testament to the salvation that fighting for the vulnerable sometimes yields.”—David Cole, The New York Review of Books

“Searing, moving . . . Bryan Stevenson may, indeed, be America’s Mandela.”—Nicholas Kristof, The New York Times

“You don’t have to read too long to start cheering for this man. . . . The message of this book . . . is that evil can be overcome, a difference can be made. Just Mercy will make you upset and it will make you hopeful.”—Ted Conover, The New York Times Book Review

“Inspiring . . . a work of style, substance and clarity . . . Stevenson is not only a great lawyer, he’s also a gifted writer and storyteller.”—The Washington Post

“As deeply moving, poignant and powerful a book as has been, and maybe ever can be, written about the death penalty.”—The Financial Times

“Brilliant.”—The Philadelphia Inquirer

Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson (Audiobook Excerpt)

This is a preview of the digital audiobook of Intimations—Six Essays by Zadie Smith, available on Libro.fm at https://libro.fm/audiobooks/9780593346839. 

Libro.fm is the first audiobook company to directly support independent bookstores. Libro.fm's bookstore partners come in all shapes and sizes but do have one thing in common: being fiercely independent. Your purchases will directly support your chosen bookstore. 


Intimations
Six Essays
By Zadie Smith
Narrated by Zadie Smith / 1 hour 50 minutes

“Intimations captures the uneasiness of our modern moment as Smith reflects on the COVID-19 pandemic and relates it to issues of privilege and inequity. Her urgent voice tackles everything from what becomes important during isolation to the global response to George Floyd’s killing. The author asks questions, both timely and timeless, about how we respond to crisis and suffering.” —TIME, Best New Books of July

“These days, I find in [Smith’s] work what I once found in Paley and Baldwin - a clarifying lucidity wedded to big-hearted moral awareness. These virtues shine through her powerful new collection, ‘Intimations: Six Essays,’ which she began at the onset of the pandemic and finished shortly after Floyd's killing. Although only 100 pages, it made me think more than most books five times that length. There's something worth quoting on virtually every page… Smith does more than illuminate what we're going through right now. She offers a model of how to think ourselves through a fraught historical moment without getting hysterical or sanctimonious, without losing our compassion or our appreciation for what's good in other people. She teaches us how to be better at being human.” —John Powers, Fresh Air

“‘Intimations,’ [Smith’s] slender new collection (less than 100 pages) of ultra-timely essays (several written in the past few momentous months), showcases her trademark levelheadedness. This cast of mind doesn’t mean that Smith avoids moral stances. In ‘Intimations,’ she speaks clearly and forcefully about the murder of George Floyd and the legacy of slavery and the systemic sins revealed by Covid-19…But despite these jabs, Smith remains unmistakably noncombative. This spirit appears born not of a fear of confrontation but a genuine perplexity (of a searching, brilliant kind) at the nature of experience and people, including herself….Smith’s gifts as a novelist animate her essays…In Zadie Smith’s universe — meaning, for my money, the one we’re all living in — complexity is king.” —John Williams, The New York Times

Deeply personal and powerfully moving, a short and timely series of reflective essays by one of the most clear-sighted and essential writers of our time

Written during the early months of lockdown, Intimations explores ideas and questions prompted by an unprecedented situation. What does it mean to submit to a new reality--or to resist it? How do we compare relative sufferings? What is the relationship between time and work? In our isolation, what do other people mean to us? How do we think about them? What is the ratio of contempt to compassion in a crisis? When an unfamiliar world arrives, what does it reveal about the world that came before it?

Suffused with a profound intimacy and tenderness in response to these extraordinary times, Intimations is a slim, suggestive volume with a wide scope, in which Zadie Smith clears a generous space for thought, open enough for each reader to reflect on what has happened--and what should come next.

The author will donate her royalties from the sale of Intimations to charity.

Intimations—Six Essays By Zadie Smith (Audiobook Excerpt)

This is a preview of the digital audiobook of Harrow the Ninth—The Locked Tomb Trilogy Book No. 2 by Tamsyn Muir, available on Libro.fm at https://libro.fm/audiobooks/9781980004936. 

Libro.fm is the first audiobook company to directly support independent bookstores. Libro.fm's bookstore partners come in all shapes and sizes but do have one thing in common: being fiercely independent. Your purchases will directly support your chosen bookstore. 


Harrow the Ninth
Locked Tomb: Book #2
By Tamsyn Muir
Narrated by Moira Quirk / 19 hours 50 minutes

Harrow the Ninth, the sequel to the sensational, USA Today best-selling novel Gideon the Ninth, turns a galaxy inside out as one necromancer struggles to survive the wreckage of herself aboard the Emperor's haunted space station.

She answered the Emperor's call.

She arrived with her arts, her wits, and her only friend.

In victory, her world has turned to ash.

After rocking the cosmos with her deathly debut, Tamsyn Muir continues the story of the penumbral Ninth House in Harrow the Ninth, a mind-twisting puzzle box of mystery, murder, magic, and mayhem. Nothing is as it seems in the halls of the Emperor, and the fate of the galaxy rests on one woman's shoulders.

Harrowhark Nonagesimus, last necromancer of the Ninth House, has been drafted by her Emperor to fight an unwinnable war. Side-by-side with a detested rival, Harrow must perfect her skills and become an angel of undeath ― but her health is failing, her sword makes her nauseous, and even her mind is threatening to betray her.

Sealed in the gothic gloom of the Emperor's Mithraeum with three unfriendly teachers, hunted by the mad ghost of a murdered planet, Harrow must confront two unwelcome questions: is somebody trying to kill her? And if they succeeded, would the universe be better off?

Harrow The Ninth—The Locked Tomb Trilogy Book No. 2 By Tamsyn Muir (Audiobook Excerpt)

This is a preview of the digital audiobook of The Poppy War (Book No. 1 in The Poppy War Series) by R. F. Kuang, available on Libro.fm at https://libro.fm/audiobooks/9780062848789. 

Libro.fm is the first audiobook company to directly support independent bookstores. Libro.fm's bookstore partners come in all shapes and sizes but do have one thing in common: being fiercely independent. Your purchases will directly support your chosen bookstore. 


The Poppy War
A Novel
By R. F. Kuang
Narrated by Emily Woo Zeller / 18 hours 57 minutes

An AudioFile Magazine Best Audiobook of 2018!

A Library Journal, Paste Magazine, and ENTROPY Best Books of 2018 pick!

Washington Post "5 Best Science Fiction and Fantasy Novel of 2018" pick!

A Bustle "30 Best Fiction Books of 2018" pick!

“I have no doubt this will end up being the best fantasy debut of the year [...] I have absolutely no doubt that [Kuang’s] name will be up there with the likes of Robin Hobb and N.K. Jemisin.” -- Booknest

A brilliantly imaginative talent makes her exciting debut with this epic historical military fantasy, inspired by the bloody history of China’s twentieth century and filled with treachery and magic, in the tradition of Ken Liu’s Grace of Kings and N.K. Jemisin’s Inheritance Trilogy.

When Rin aced the Keju—the Empire-wide test to find the most talented youth to learn at the Academies—it was a shock to everyone: to the test officials, who couldn’t believe a war orphan from Rooster Province could pass without cheating; to Rin’s guardians, who believed they’d finally be able to marry her off and further their criminal enterprise; and to Rin herself, who realized she was finally free of the servitude and despair that had made up her daily existence. That she got into Sinegard—the most elite military school in Nikan—was even more surprising.

But surprises aren’t always good.

Because being a dark-skinned peasant girl from the south is not an easy thing at Sinegard. Targeted from the outset by rival classmates for her color, poverty, and gender, Rin discovers she possesses a lethal, unearthly power—an aptitude for the nearly-mythical art of shamanism. Exploring the depths of her gift with the help of a seemingly insane teacher and psychoactive substances, Rin learns that gods long thought dead are very much alive—and that mastering control over those powers could mean more than just surviving school.

For while the Nikara Empire is at peace, the Federation of Mugen still lurks across a narrow sea. The militarily advanced Federation occupied Nikan for decades after the First Poppy War, and only barely lost the continent in the Second. And while most of the people are complacent to go about their lives, a few are aware that a Third Poppy War is just a spark away . . .

Rin’s shamanic powers may be the only way to save her people. But as she finds out more about the god that has chosen her, the vengeful Phoenix, she fears that winning the war may cost her humanity . . . and that it may already be too late.

The Poppy War (Book No. 1 In The Poppy War Series) By R. F. Kuang (Audiobook Excerpt)

This is a preview of the digital audiobook of Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey, available on Libro.fm at https://libro.fm/audiobooks/9780593294185. 

Libro.fm is the first audiobook company to directly support independent bookstores. Libro.fm's bookstore partners come in all shapes and sizes but do have one thing in common: being fiercely independent. Your purchases will directly support your chosen bookstore. 


Greenlights
By: Matthew McConaughey
Narrated by: Matthew McConaughey
Length: 6 hours 42 minutes

Description
From the Academy Award®–winning actor, an unconventional memoir filled with raucous stories, outlaw wisdom, and lessons learned the hard way about living with greater satisfaction

“Unflinchingly honest and remarkably candid, Matthew McConaughey’s book invites us to grapple with the lessons of his life as he did—and to see that the point was never to win, but to understand.”—Mark Manson, author of The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck

I’ve been in this life for fifty years, been trying to work out its riddle for forty-two, and been keeping diaries of clues to that riddle for the last thirty-five. Notes about successes and failures, joys and sorrows, things that made me marvel, and things that made me laugh out loud. How to be fair. How to have less stress. How to have fun. How to hurt people less. How to get hurt less. How to be a good man. How to have meaning in life. How to be more me.

Recently, I worked up the courage to sit down with those diaries. I found stories I experienced, lessons I learned and forgot, poems, prayers, prescriptions, beliefs about what matters, some great photographs, and a whole bunch of bumper stickers. I found a reliable theme, an approach to living that gave me more satisfaction, at the time, and still: If you know how, and when, to deal with life’s challenges—how to get relative with the inevitable—you can enjoy a state of success I call “catching greenlights.”

So I took a one-way ticket to the desert and wrote this book: an album, a record, a story of my life so far. This is fifty years of my sights and seens, felts and figured-outs, cools and shamefuls. Graces, truths, and beauties of brutality. Getting away withs, getting caughts, and getting wets while trying to dance between the raindrops.

Hopefully, it’s medicine that tastes good, a couple of aspirin instead of the infirmary, a spaceship to Mars without needing your pilot’s license, going to church without having to be born again, and laughing through the tears.

It’s a love letter. To life.

It’s also a guide to catching more greenlights—and to realizing that the yellows and reds eventually turn green too.

Good luck.

Greenlights By Matthew McConaughey (Audiobook Excerpt)

This is a preview of the digital audiobook of The Stand—The Complete and Uncut Edition by Stephen King, available on Libro.fm at https://libro.fm/audiobooks/9780307987570. 

Libro.fm is the first audiobook company to directly support independent bookstores. Libro.fm's bookstore partners come in all shapes and sizes but do have one thing in common: being fiercely independent. Your purchases will directly support your chosen bookstore. 


The Stand
By: Stephen King
Narrated by: Grover Gardner
Length: 47 hours 43 minutes
This is the way the world ends: with a nanosecond of computer error in a Defense Department laboratory and a million casual contacts that form the links in a chain letter of death.

Description
And here is the bleak new world of the day after: a world stripped of its institutions and emptied of 99 percent of its people. A world in which a handful of panicky survivors choose sides--or are chosen. A world in which good rides on the frail shoulders of the 108-year-old Mother Abagail--and the worst nightmares of evil are embodied in a man with a lethal smile and unspeakable powers: Randall Flagg, the dark man.

In 1978 Stephen King published The Stand, the novel that is now considered to be one of his finest works. But as it was first published, The Stand was incomplete, since more than 150,000 words had been cut from the original manuscript.

Now Stephen King's apocalyptic vision of a world blasted by plague and embroiled in an elemental struggle between good and evil has been restored to its entirety. The Stand : The Complete And Uncut Edition includes more than five hundred pages of material previously deleted, along with new material that King added as he reworked the manuscript for a new generation. It gives us new characters and endows familiar ones with new depths. It has a new beginning and a new ending. What emerges is a gripping work with the scope and moral complexity of a true epic.

For hundreds of thousands of fans who read The Stand in its original version and wanted more, this new edition is Stephen King's gift. And those who are reading The Stand for the first time will discover a triumphant and eerily plausible work of the imagination that takes on the issues that will determine our survival.

The Stand—The Complete And Uncut Edition By Stephen King (Audiobook Excerpt)

This is a preview of the digital audiobook of My Grandmother's Hands—Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies by Resmaa Menakem, available on Libro.fm at https://libro.fm/audiobooks/9781662154300. 

Libro.fm is the first audiobook company to directly support independent bookstores. Libro.fm's bookstore partners come in all shapes and sizes but do have one thing in common: being fiercely independent. Your purchases will directly support your chosen bookstore. 


My Grandmother's Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies
By: Resmaa Menakem, MSW, LICSW & SEP
Narrated by: Cary Hite
Length: 10 hours 18 minutes
In this groundbreaking book, therapist Resmaa Menakem examines the damage caused by racism in America from the perspective of trauma and body-centered psychology.

Description
The body is where our instincts reside and where we fight, flee, or freeze, and it endures the trauma inflicted by the ills that plague society. Menakem argues this destruction will continue until Americans learn to heal the generational anguish of white supremacy, which is deeply embedded in all our bodies. Our collective agony doesn't just affect African Americans. White Americans suffer their own secondary trauma as well. So do blue Americans—our police.

My Grandmother's Hands is a call to action for all of us to recognize that racism is not only about the head, but about the body, and introduces an alternative view of what we can do to grow beyond our entrenched racialized divide. It paves the way for a new, body-centered understanding of white supremacy—how it is literally in our blood and our nervous system. My Grandmother’s Hands is a call to action for all of us to recognize that racism is not about the head, but about the body, and introduces an alternative view of what we can do to grow beyond our entrenched, racialized divide.

My Grandmother's Hands—Racialized Trauma & The Pathway To Mending ... By Resmaa Menakem

This is a preview of the digital audiobook of Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart (Booker Prize Winner), available on Libro.fm at https://libro.fm/audiobooks/9781690564614. 

Libro.fm is the first audiobook company to directly support independent bookstores. Libro.fm's bookstore partners come in all shapes and sizes but do have one thing in common: being fiercely independent. Your purchases will directly support your chosen bookstore. 


Shuggie Bain
By: Douglas Stuart
Narrated by: Angus King
Length: 17 hours 30 minutes

A heartbreaking story of addiction, sexuality, and love, Shuggie Bain is an epic portrayal of a working-class family that is rarely seen in fiction.

Bookseller Recommendation

“Shuggie Bain is sad, but there’s so much more to it than that. Hugh “Shuggie” Bain is different—he’s gentle and polite and lonely, a poor boy growing up in 1980’s Glasgow. His glamorous mother, Agnes, is an alcoholic, but she embodies her dignity when she needs it most. In one notably humorous scene, she drunkenly collects her son from his good-for-nothing father, upon checking herself out of the psych ward, and breaks the windows of his house while neighborhood boys whoop and holler at her boldness. Shuggie runs to his savior and clings to her with unconditional love. Eventually, he and his mother pledge to be “brand new” upon moving back into the city—she’ll stop drinking and Shuggie will be “normal.” But no matter how many football statistics he memorizes, Shuggie will never be like other boys, and his mother will never stop drinking. Their relationship is beautiful and overflowing with love, deeply humanizing those who struggle with substance abuse. I’ll never forget Shuggie Bain.”—Mary, Raven Book Store

1981. Glasgow. The city is dying. Poverty is on the rise. People watch the lives they had hoped for disappear from view. Agnes Bain had always expected more. She dreamed of greater things: a house with its own front door, a life bought and paid for outright (like her perfect – but false – teeth). When her philandering husband leaves, she and her three children find themselves trapped in a mining town decimated by Thatcherism. As Agnes increasingly turns to alcohol for comfort, her children try their best to save her. Yet one by one they have to abandon her in order to save themselves. It is her son Shuggie who holds out hope the longest. But Shuggie has problems of his own: despite all his efforts to pass as a ‘normal boy’, everyone has decided that Shuggie is ‘no right’. Agnes wants to support and protect her son, but her addiction has the power to eclipse everyone close to her, including her beloved Shuggie. Laying bare the ruthlessness of poverty, the limits of love, and the hollowness of pride, Shuggie Bain is a blistering and heartbreaking debut, and an exploration of the unsinkable love that only children can have for their damaged parents.

Shuggie Bain By Douglas Stuart (Booker Prize Winner) (Audiobook Excerpt)

This is a preview of the digital audiobook of The Midnight Library by Matt Haig, available on Libro.fm at https://libro.fm/audiobooks/9780593340233. 

Libro.fm is the first audiobook company to directly support independent bookstores. Libro.fm's bookstore partners come in all shapes and sizes but do have one thing in common: being fiercely independent. Your purchases will directly support your chosen bookstore. 


The Midnight Library
A Novel
By: Matt Haig
Narrated by: Carey Mulligan
Length: 8 hours 50 minutes

A WASHINGTON POST “FEEL-GOOD BOOK GUARANTEED TO LIFT YOUR SPIRITS”

A New York Times bestseller | Winner of the Goodreads Choice Award for Fiction | A Good Morning America Book Club Pick!

"Between life and death there is a library, and within that library, the shelves go on forever. Every book provides a chance to try another life you could have lived. To see how things would be if you had made other choices . . . Would you have done anything different, if you had the chance to undo your regrets?" 

A dazzling novel about all the choices that go into a life well lived, from the internationally bestselling author of Reasons to Stay Alive and How To Stop Time.

Somewhere out beyond the edge of the universe there is a library that contains an infinite number of books, each one the story of another reality. One tells the story of your life as it is, along with another book for the other life you could have lived if you had made a different choice at any point in your life. While we all wonder how our lives might have been, what if you had the chance to go to the library and see for yourself? Would any of these other lives truly be better?

In The Midnight Library, Matt Haig's enchanting new novel, Nora Seed finds herself faced with this decision. Faced with the possibility of changing her life for a new one, following a different career, undoing old breakups, realizing her dreams of becoming a glaciologist; she must search within herself as she travels through the Midnight Library to decide what is truly fulfilling in life, and what makes it worth living in the first place.

The Midnight Library By Matt Haig (Audiobook Excerpt)

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