To kick off, it’s one so many people have been waiting for - the audio drama adaptation of The Sandman by Neil Gaiman.
I know this one has a firm following, so if you’re interested, I know you’ll give it a listen. But, if you haven’t heard about the cast, it is all star. James McAvoy, Michael Sheen, Kat Dennings, Riz Ahmed, Taron Egerton, Reginald D. Hunter, so many other stars and of course Neil Gaiman himself.
Discover more about the star-studded cast for The Sandman here.
Next is Trixie and Katya’s Guide to Modern Womanhood by Trixie Mattel and Katya Zamolodchikova.
I don’t know about you, but RuPaul’s Drag Race has absolutely given me life through lockdown. And, if you haven’t watched queens Trixie and Katya commentating on Glow Up, Tiger King, Too Hot to Handle, and other shows - you are in for some hilarity. I can’t get enough of these two. So, in the hope that you’re the same, or at least that you will be once you’ve given them a Google, I had to recommend this book. It’s a sort of how-to for modern life, advice plus personal stories. But let’s be honest, we’re here for the humour.
Next, we have Michael Caine’s Heist.
This is a podcast about heists presented by Sir Michael Caine, so the title really is pretty self explanatory. It’s here to fill your true crime fix and it includes the largest bank burglary in American history, and the world’s most audacious book heist to name just two. And if you’re wondering what a book heist is, in 2004 a group of four Kentucky students tried to steal the most expensive book in the world. And to find out more about this rollercoaster story of the robbery, you better listen to the podcast. It’s free for Audible members.
Next is Booker Prize winner Bernardine Evaristo and her novel Blonde Roots, which is coming to audio for the first time.
It’s a story set in a reality where the transatlantic slave trade is reversed. Africans are the masters and Europeans their slaves. It was first out in 2008 and was also Evaristo’s first book fully in prose. Her background is as a poet, and so before this novel she’d always written at least part in verse. If you liked Girl, Woman, Other, this is a great chance to hear some more of Evaristo’s writing or to discover it for the first time.
Now time for some theatre turned magically into audio. A play from the comfort of your own home, or on a walk or in your car. It’s My Mum’s a Twat by Anoushka Warden, performed by Susan Wokoma.
The opening lines of the blurb give you a great sense of it, so here they are:
Have you ever tried to sustain a relationship with a twat? It's hard work and you need to be completely not a twat yourself if you want any success in this. Which is really hard when you've just started being a teenager.
Most people will be able to relate. And Susan Wokoma is brilliant in this.
Next, is a non-fiction audiobook: How Do We Know We're Doing It Right by Pandora Sykes.
Pandora is a journalist and one half of The High Low podcast. And honestly, I look at her and think surely she’s doing it right. And presumably she must know that. So, if nothing else, this emphasises how we all have doubts. But mainly, this is a book about the decisions we make and how we can look for our own paths to contentment.
Finally, we have All My Lies Are True by Dorothy Koomson which is the second book in the Ice Cream Girls series.
It’s fiction meets suspense thriller and loads of people really like the first book. This one is based around a group of people caught up in a lot of lies, but whose lies are going to end in tragedy? It’s pacey, it’s got some great narrators and it’s a perfect holiday listen even if that holiday is just a different room of your house.
So there you have some great things to listen to this July. And that’s not to mention a brand new recording by Ell Potter of The Well of Loneliness, the world’s first published novel to depict a lesbian relationship;
Utopia Avenue by David Mitchell, the first book from him in five years that fans have been eagerly awaiting;
a brand new podcast from comedy duo The Pin, in which they try their very best to take America by storm;
and the romance novel from Sareeta Domingo If I Don’t Have You.
Now that you’re well and truly covered in July releases, I will bid you adieu until the next time.
For more recommended listens, check out our top audiobooks and podcasts to listen to during lockdown life.
