A sample reading from "My Year of Rest and Relaxation" by Ottessa Moshfegh

My Year Of Rest And Relaxation

Bunny on a mathematical adventure with Crazy Fruitz Nursery Rhymes & Kids Songs! Learn counting, math, and more in this fun and educational video perfect for young learners.

Crazy Fruitz Nursery Rhymes

Bunny's Math Song - Crazy Fruitz Nursery Rhymes

Bunny's Math Song - Nursery Rhymes For Kids

Poet, novelist, and avid reader George Murray drops by to talk about what he's been reading, which gets us into discussing genre boundaries, literary fiction, sci-fi, fantasy, artificial intelligence, what it means to be human, and why we shouldn't (yet) fear the rise of the robots. For the full list of books we discussed, check out the show notes at https://shelfesteem2017.wordpress.com/

Episode 59 We Do Not Fear the Robot Overlords (Yet)

At the height of the Cold War, Roy Chisolm arrives at the edge of the free world.

An idealist in less-than-ideal times, Chisolm’s military orders have taken him to the Bunker, an underground fortress in West Germany where intelligence and war footing operations convene. Within the impenetrable concrete walls, he finds a complete lack of military protocol, a total disregard for the stakes of the game, and a life of soul-crushing absurdity.

Under constant threat of Russian annihilation, those assigned to the Bunker grapple with the inescapable futility of their posting. Chisolm struggles to maintain his moral compass in the face of disturbing apathy and chaos. But even as he plots his escape, he begins to form enigmatic bonds with his fellow warriors—and a romance outside the Bunker walls—unearthing a new understanding of trust, conviction, and love.

Inspired by true events, Bunker Mentality is Joseph Heller’s Catch-22 meets David Graeber’s Bullshit Jobs, exploring the meaning of war, morality, madness, honor, and courage in a world of utter insanity.

Bunker Mentality

Bunker Mentality audiobook sample

The Swim is not one of my usual mysteries featuring former police detective Michael McLaren. It's a prequel novella giving a picture of his life from teenager to the strong man he is today. He's real to me, and I want you to understand him. I want you to understand a man whose need to help others find justice became his incitement in a world like today. He's been through a lot from his ordeal beginning with the "swim", his move from the Force, and his cold cases. He's made enemies, friends, and he has loved and lost. Like many of us.

Sample of THE SWIM

Episode 60: We Descend to the Level of the Sentence and We Come Back Up for Air

By Oscar Hijuelos
Foreword by Arturo O’Farrill
Read by Fabio Tassone

From Pulitzer Prize-winning author Oscar Hijuelos comes a “massively engaging…masterpiece of history, music, wonder, and sorrow” about a composer returning to his beloved homeland after WWII (Kirkus, starred review).

The year is 1947. Israel Levis, a Cuban composer whose life once revolved around music and love, is finally returning home. En route to Habana, Cuba from Spain, he is a shadow of his former self, disillusioned after he was mistakenly sent to a camp during the Nazi occupation of France.In Habana, he escapes his anguish by reminiscing about his happiest moments before the war, when he lived a life of pleasure and excitement—and had a loving, if unrequited romance with Rita Valladares, the alluring singer who inspired Levis’ most famous composition, “Rosas Puras.”A tender homage to music, art, and a vibrant country at the edge of modernity, "A Simple Habana Melody" is a melodic, virtuoso performance from one of America’s most talented writers.

A Simple Habana Melody By Oscar Hijuelos, Read By Fabio Tassone (Audiobook Excerpt)

A mother and son, estranged for years, must grapple with the shared secret that drove their lives apart in this enthralling story about family, forgiveness, and how a fleeting act of violence can change a life forever, by "one of the country's most talented writers" (Wall Street Journal)

At forty, Peter, an asylum lawyer in New York City, is overworked and isolated. He spends his days immersed in the struggles of immigrants only to return to an empty apartment and occasional hook-ups with a man who wants more than Peter can give. But when the asylum case of a young gay man pierces Peter's numbness, the event that he has avoided for twenty years returns to haunt him.

Ann, his mother, who runs a women's retreat center she founded after leaving his father, is hurt by the estrangement from Peter but cherishes the world she has built. She long ago put behind her the decision that divided her from her son. But as Peter’s case plunges him further into the fraught memory of his first love and the night of violence that changed his life, he and his mother must confront the secret that tore them apart.

With unsurpassed emotional depth, Mothers and Sons reveals all that is lost by looking away from the past and the love that might be restored by facing it. In his spellbinding new novel, Adam Haslett demonstrates yet again his mastery of “a rich assortment of literary gifts” (New York Times).

Mothers and Sons By Adam Haslett Read By Andrew Gibson and Janet Metzger (Audio Excerpt)

On sale January 28th, 2025

From the author of Hollow Kingdom, a fantastically funny story featuring a cast of colorful characters in a dying Italian village and a giant truffle that changes their fate forever in this “deliciously absurd tale….I savored every page of this book.” (Shelby Van Pelt, author of Remarkably Bright Creatures)

After nearly losing the election to a geriatric donkey, newly installed Mayor Delizia Miccuci can’t help but feel like the sun has finally set on the rural Italian village of Lazzarini Boscarino. Tourists only stop by to ask for directions, Nonna Amara’s cherished ristorante is long shuttered, and the town hall is disgustingly overrun with glis glis poo—even Postman Duccio has been disgraced. All that’s left is Bar Celebrità, a rustic establishment where weary locals gather to quibble over decades-long disputes, submit their poor stomachs to bartender Giuseppina’s volcanic espresso, and wonder what will become of the place where together they’ve spent their entire lives.  

Little do the villagers know that local truffle hunter Giovanni Scarpazza has just happened upon something that could change everything. A truffle—un tartufo, that is—sits beneath the soil with the power to either be the greatest gift or the foulest curse the village has ever seen.

Written in the same enchanting style and raucous humor that defines Hollow Kingdom and Feral Creatures, Tartufo is a reflection on the interconnectedness of life in all its manifestations—and how holding on to harmony in the face of hardship can grow something beautiful and rare beneath the surface.

Tartufo By Kira Jane Buxton, Read By Caroline Hewitt (Audiobook Excerpt)

On sale February 18th, 2025

In this beautiful, urgent, and ultimately uplifting novel by a rising Irish literary star comes a heart-pounding, life-affirming story about one woman trying to leave her marriage and start over.
 
On a bright spring afternoon, Ciara Fay makes a split-second decision that will change everything. Grabbing an armful of clothes off the clothesline, she straps her two young daughters into her car and drives away. Head spinning, all she knows for certain is that home is no longer safe—and that this time, when she leaves, she must stay away.
 
On the surface, she has a perfect life: her husband, Ryan, is a good provider, sometimes even kind and attentive, from a nice Irish family, and they have another baby on the way. But he also monitors Ciara's every move, flies into unpredictable rages where he convinces her she can do nothing right, and has isolated her from work, friends, and her beloved family.

Was fleeing the right thing to do? With no job and no support, Ciara struggles to provide a sense of normalcy for her little girls. Facing a broken housing system, they move into a hotel room on a floor reserved for women like her, eating takeout, washing their clothes in the bathroom sink, and building a community with the other residents. Ryan, meanwhile, wages a relentless campaign to win her back, and Ciara wavers. He never hit her, after all, and don't the girls need a stable home? 
 
For fans of Claire Keegan and Louise Kennedy, Roisín O'Donnell’s extraordinary debut creates a devastating and suspenseful portrait of gaslighting and emotional abuse—and even better, a triumphant story about family, love, and finding a new place to nest.

Nesting By Roisín O’Donnell, Read By Louisa Harland (Audiobook Excerpt)

Welcome to Crazy Fruitz - Nursery Rhymes! 🌟 Dive into a world of fun and music with our delightful nursery rhymes and catchy songs for kids.

Copernicus Paul was assigned to Strategic Air Command and later to the US Air Forces in Europe during the Cold War. A Southern California native, he holds a healthy measure of contempt toward those who deny true liberty and freedom to anyone, especially through means of fear or force. Copernicus is a cancer survivor and lives in gratitude for every day on this earth.

The Bunker Mentality audiobook is available on Audible and your favorite audiobook retailers.

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

I'm a reader, a writer, and a talker. On Shelf Esteem I talk to people about what they're reading and the books they love.

New tracks tagged #literary fiction