Save this list and find it anytime by adding to your Library Collections.
Editors Select June 2024 UK
I was a little late to the Rachel Cusk game – and by “a little” I mean that I just checked out her Outline trilogy a few months ago. It didn’t take long for me to realize why everyone in my grad school program was talking about it back in 2018. Her writing is so precise and insightful that I wasn’t even ashamed of being jealous of her skill because, of course. Parade sees Cusk once again challenging any notion of what a novel can be in this non-linear narrative about art, motherhood and the very concept of reality. If you’re already a card-carrying Cusk-er, none of what I’ve said is a surprise. But for the uninitiated, Parade is a killer place to start. —Aaron S.
Eight decades later, the voices of D-Day live on
It’s June 6, 1944, and along the beaches of Normandy, one of the most significant operations in military history is underway: Operation Overlord, the Allied invasion of Nazi-occupied France, and the beginning of the milestone campaign that would propel the Allies to victory in World War II. In D-Day: The Oral History, journalist Garrett M. Graff ventures to craft a comprehensive, compassionate portrait of the momentous event now known simply as “D-Day.” Graff curated the accounts of hundreds of folks intimately involved, from those who planned the assault, to those whose boots tread through the sand, to the French civilians who watched it all unfold. I’m really looking forward to hearing this one – like Graff’s Audie-winning The Only Plane in the Sky, this oral history is performed by a full cast, including the author and decorated narrator Edoardo Ballerini, promising a chronicle that truly shines in audio. —Alanna M.
A humourous and wholly original story about single-motherhood
Per the title, Margo’s got, well, money troubles. A single mom at 20, Margo’s fired from her waitressing job when she can’t find childcare. Now struggling with rent and the cost of living in California on unemployment, she moves in with her father, Jinx, an ex-pro wrestler, and launches an OnlyFans account using his advice on how to craft a character. I’m a mama to four boys and my living room often resembles a WWE ring, so Margo speared her way into my heart. Despite the premise, humour infuses the narrative, and author Rufi Thorpe plays with point of view in a wholly original way that kept me both entertained and on my toes. Narrated by actress Elle Fanning, who has been tapped to star in the TV adaptation alongside Nicole Kidman, I can already envision the mannerisms she’ll bring to Margo via the nuance she delivers in this performance. —Katie O.
The catfishing memoir to end all catfishing memoirs
OMG! Anna Akbari took me on a JOURNEY with her stranger-than-fiction memoir about how a stranger can be ... fiction. A feisty young sociologist in the early days of online dating, Akbari began chatting with a witty New Yorker named Ethan. Ethan’s lofty job meant lots of travel, long hours and an Irish phone that made email and text his sole methods of communication. Anna fell hard for his clever, sexy messages – irresistibly voiced by Justin Price, the perfect complement to Akbari’s own narration. But as their intimacy deepened, Ethan’s excuses to avoid meeting raised major red flags. Emotionally invested yet professionally fascinated, Akbari investigated and found other victims (whose solidarity will warm your heart amid the otherwise chilling tale) and uncovered jaw-dropping revelations about the “real” Ethan Schuman. The catfishing memoir to end all catfishing memoirs, There Is No Ethan will have you talking (and listening) compulsively – just don’t google the case until you finish, for maximum effect. —Kat J.
An essential new voice in dark feminist fiction
In honour of Indigenous History Month in Canada, I want to highlight an incredible debut from an alumnus of Audible's Indigenous Writers' Circle, an annual mentorship and workshop programme for emerging First Nations, Inuit and Métis writers. Gin Sexsmith's In the Hands of Men is an urgent and razor-sharp literary thriller that follows Delilah, a Mohawk woman who inflicts bloody retribution in the name of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls in North America. As a virus that increases men's propensity for violence sweeps Earth, Delilah has to reckon with her choices and decide if she's righting wrongs in an unjust world, or becoming a monster like the men around her. If you enjoy horror and thriller stories from Indigenous authors (and there's been so many standouts in recent years from authors like Stephen Graham Jones!), I'm excited for you to discover an essential new voice in one of my favourite fiction subgenres. —Sarah U.
What if you just realized you grew up in a cult?
At Audible, we’ve long known Natalie Naudus as a beloved narrator. Now, she’s written and performed her own novel that’s heavily inspired by her own childhood in a religious cult. To write it, she imagined what her life might have been like if she’d discovered her favourite narrated novels as a teen. Listening to Gay the Pray Away, I was struck not by the darkness of Valerie’s complicated family situation and the prejudice of her community, but by how the story was shot through with hope and discovery, and how it only takes one person to pull you out of a difficult path. It’s a YA story for those who are looking for the bright side to the darkness in our world. —Melissa B.
The good, the bad and Colman Domingo
Have you ever noticed how life’s highs and lows always tend to go hand-in-hand? Colman Domingo’s Wild with Happy explores that very concept through the bizarre comedy, love and heartfelt moments of humanity found amid grief and healing. Starring Tyler James Williams (Abbott Elementary), Alex Newell (Glee), Sharon Washington (Feeding the Dragon) and the one and only Oprah, alongside Domingo himself, the casting alone makes this a can’t-miss listening experience. It’s a hard-hitting comedy about family, our own expectations and love, but it’s also a moving reminder that good things often come out of horrible situations, and that fairy tale endings always seem to happen when we’re least expecting them. —Michael C.
I have a confession: Swan Song is the first Elin Hilderbrand novel I’ve ever listened to. It certainly won’t be my last – but it is the author’s last book (“for now,” she says in her author’s note). I thoroughly enjoyed this glittery, gossipy and glamorous story with its delightful setting and intriguing cast of characters. The premise couldn’t be more fitting for Hilderbrand’s final novel. Nantucket’s police chief is just days away from sailing off into retirement when, on the same night, one of the island’s most luxurious homes burns down under suspicious circumstances and a young woman goes missing. The investigation moves forward in parallel with riveting stories of family, friendship and love among the island’s swanky residents, and you won’t want to hit pause until the end (the final chapter is performed by the author herself). As Hilderbrand’s long-time narrator, Laurence Bouvard knows just how to transport you straight to the heart of Nantucket to bring these characters and storylines to life. I’m pretty sure this won’t be the last we hear from the “Queen of beach reads,” but in the meantime, I’ll be happily digging into her backlist of summertime staples. —Margaret H.
Laura Benanti has otherworldly energy and out-of-this-world humour with a very healthy side of guts. There is no part of the stage at the Minetta Lane Theatre that she leaves untouched with her struttin’ and groovin’ to a great band and backup singers (she calls them her inner demons; they could be angels too). A great storyteller, Benanti confesses to being a people pleaser. If this “condition” has been an obstacle, she has surely kicked it straight out of her life. And apparently it all worked out, because without that, could she have been the talented star that she is? Unfortunately, the show doesn’t deliver on its title, “Nobody Cares,” because at the end – everybody cares, Laura. Brava! —Yvonne D.
More listens we're looking forward to this month
