Fiction & Literature Audiobooks

Nghi Vo's Hugo Award-winning Singing Hills Cycle returns with a stand-alone gothic mystery that unfolds in the empire of Ahn. 'A remarkable accomplishment of storytelling.' -NPR on The Empress of Salt and Fortune 'Nghi Vo is one of the most original writers we have today.' -Taylor Jenkins Reid on Siren Queen The Cleric Chih accompanies a beautiful young bride to her wedding to the aging ruler of a crumbling estate situated at the crossroads of dead empires. The bride's party is welcomed with elaborate courtesies and extravagant banquets, but between the frightened servants and the cryptic warnings of the lord's mad son, they quickly realize that something is haunting the shadowed halls. As Chih and the bride-to-be explore empty rooms and desolate courtyards, they are drawn into the mystery of what became of Lord Guo's previous wives and the dark history of Do Cao itself. But as the wedding night draws to its close, Chih will learn at their peril that not all monsters are to be found in the shadows; some monsters hide in plain sight.

Nghi Vo (Author), Cindy Kay (Narrator)

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Elusive: an electrifying retelling of the Scarlet Pimpernel packed with magic and vampires!

Revolutionary France is full of blood and bite as vampires plot for power. Eleanor, once a lowly English maid, is now a member of the League of the Scarlet Pimpernel, know for their daring deeds and recusing aristocrat vampires from the guillotine. This time, Eleanor and the League are investigating the disappearance of Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand, the notorious French statesman and diplomat. But they soon uncover two vampire parties feuding for power and learn Talleyrand's disppearance is part of a bigger, more dangerous scheme that will throw France into bloody chaos. Elusive is the second book in the Scarlet Revolution trilogy, set during the turbulent French Revolution, and featuring all of Genevieve Cogman's trademark wit and fast-paced plotting. It's perfect for fans of The Invisible Library series, Kim Newman and Gail Carriger. 'Utterly stunning. The intrigue and adventure keep you turning the page in this exciting tale of revolution, vampires and the guillotine.' - T. L. Huchu, author of Library of the Dead on Scarlet

Genevieve Cogman (Author), Georgia Maguire, TBD (Narrator)

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Ace in the Hole

The Witcher meets The Dresden Files in this weird Western series by the Audible #1 bestselling duo behind Dead Acre. Bestselling authors Bruno and Castle continue the Black Badge series, sending James Crowley on his next daring mission with heart stopping turns that keep you on the edge of your seat.

Jaime Castle, Rhett C. Bruno (Author), TBD (Narrator)

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Freeset

Sequel to the #1 bestseller Reset, Freeset is an intricate sci-fi story about found family, building hope, and learning to trust your inner voice. Can true love break you free? When calamity destroyed most of humanity, the Four Cities survived by carefully predicting and meticulously controlling everything in the survivors’ lives—even love. As part of this new normal, every four years the citizens face down Tabula Rasa, a process that wipes away their memories of each other. But nothing can be controlled completely, and love will always strive to be free. A brave handful of Dreamers, aided by Eleanor the Crone, have repeatedly managed to find each other again after Tabula Rasa, proving that the desire to connect is eternal. Scientist Aris and musician Metis, star-crossed lovers, have found each other again … along with a clue to a hidden library that could contain the memories erased by Tabula Rasa. At long last, there is a chance for a brave, free, new world—if they can escape before the next reset.

Sarina Dahlan (Author), Shiromi Arserio (Narrator)

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The Z Word

“Sexy, scathing, delightful, and intimately devastating.”—Gretchen Felker-Martin, author of Manhunt and Cuckoo Packed with action, humor, sex, and big gay feelings, The Z Word is the queer Zombieland you didn’t know you needed. Chaotic bisexual Wendy is trying to find her place in the queer community of San Lazaro, Arizona, after a bad breakup—which is particularly difficult because her ex is hooking up with some of her friends. And when the people around them start turning into violent, terrifying mindless husks, well, that makes things harder. Especially since the infection seems to be spreading. Now, Wendy and her friends and frenemies—drag queen Logan, silver fox Beau, sword lesbian Aurelia and her wife Sam, mysterious pizza delivery stoner Sunshine, and, oh yeah, Wendy’s ex-girlfriend Leah—have to team up to stay alive, save Pride, and track the zombie outbreak to its shocking source. Hopefully without killing each other first. The Z Word is a propulsive, funny, emotional horror debut about a found family coming together to fight corporate greed, political corruption, gay drama, and zombies.

Lindsay King-Miller (Author), Mara Wilson, TBD (Narrator)

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The Theatre of Glass and Shadows

'Marvellous' Bridget Collins, The Sunday Times bestselling author of The Binding Sometimes the greatest spectacle hides the darkest secrets . . . In an alternate London, the city's Theatre District is a walled area south of the river where an immersive production - the Show - has been running for centuries, growing ever bigger, more sprawling and lavish. The Show is open to anyone who can afford a ticket but the District itself is a closed world; even the police have no jurisdiction within its walls. Juliet's mother died when she was a baby. Brought up by her emotionally distant father and even more distant stepmother, she has never felt wanted. It's only when her father passes away that Juliet - now nineteen - learns her birth was registered in the District. Desperate to belong somewhere at last, she travels to London where she hopes to unearth the truth about her identity, her mother's death and her father's years of silence - and claim her birthright. But in the District, there is only one central truth: the Show must go on. And in a world where illusions abound, and powerful men control the narrative, Juliet has no idea of just how far some will go to ensure certain stories are never told . . . For fans of The Miniaturist and The Doll Factory, The Theatre of Glass and Shadows is a place where nothing is as it seems. 'Original and captivating' Karen Coles, author of The Asylum

Anne Corlett (Author), Unknown (Narrator)

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Bite by Bite: Nourishments and Jamborees

From the New York Times bestselling author of World of Wonders, a lyrical book of short essays about food, offering a banquet of tastes, smells, memories, associations, and marvelous curiosities from nature In Bite by Bite, poet and essayist Aimee Nezhukumatathil explores the way food and drink evoke our associations and remembrances—a subtext or layering, a flavor tinged with joy, shame, exuberance, grief, desire, or nostalgia. Nezhukmatathil restores our astonishment and wonder about food through her encounters with a range of foods and food traditions. From shave ice to lumpia, mangoes to pecans, rambutan to vanilla, she investigates how food marks our experiences and identities, the boundaries between heritage and memory, and the ethics and environmental pressures around gathering and consuming food. Bite by Bite offers a rich and textured kaleidoscope of vignettes and visions into the world of food and nature, drawn together by intimate and funny personal reflections, with Fumi Nakamura’s gorgeous imagery and illustration.

Aimee Nezhukumatathil (Author), Aimee Nezhukumatathil, TBD (Narrator)

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Like Love: Essays and Conversations

Brought to you by Penguin. Like Love is a momentous, raucous collection of essays drawn from twenty years of Maggie Nelson's brilliant work. These profiles, reviews, remembrances, tributes and critical essays, as well as several conversations with friends and idols, bring to life Nelson's passion for dialogue and dissent. The range of subjects is wide - from Prince to Carolee Schneemann to Matthew Barney to Lhasa de Sela to Kara Walker - but certain themes recur: intergenerational exchange; love and friendship; feminist and queer issues, especially as they shift over time; subversion, transgression and perversity; the roles of the critic and language in relation to visual and performance arts; forces that feed or impede certain bodies and creators; and the fruits and follies of a life spent devoted to making. Arranged chronologically, Like Love shows the writing, thinking, feeling, reading, looking and conversing that occupied Nelson while writing iconic books such as Bluets and The Argonauts. As such, it is a portrait of a time, an anarchic party rich with wild guests, a window into Nelson's own development and a testament to the profound sustenance offered by art and artists. ©2024 Maggie Nelson (P)2024 Penguin Audio

Maggie Nelson (Author), Senn Annis, TBD (Narrator)

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Lolita at Leonard's of Great Neck and Other Stories from the Before Times

Rich with authentic detail and insight, these compelling stories sweep the reader along on an intimate, uniquely Jewish journey from 1974 through the first decade of the new millennium as the characters wrestle with identity, independence, ambition, sexuality, faith, and love. The five compelling tales comprising Lolita at Leonard’s of Great Neck and Other Stories from the Before Times will take you on an immersive journey from 1974 to the 2000s. Eighteen-year-old Anna, a Jewish college student, meets a German businessman at a Greek diner on Queens Boulevard. Claire Seltzer of Great Neck has the honeymoon from hell in Paris. Rebecca, a spunky eighth grader, is in love with Mr. Miller, her math teacher. Sarah Reinhardt, the wife of a celebrity doctor living in Central Park West, finds herself in a complicated love triangle. Rachel Rosensweig awakens one morning to find that her husband of thirty years, a Columbia professor, has become a dangerous radical. The characters of this unforgettable collection inhabit the golden era of the postwar, pre-pandemic world. Age-old power struggles—between lovers, between friends, between parents and children—are illuminated and analyzed. Heartbreaking and sometimes hilarious, their stories disclose and document what it meant to be American, Jewish, and female. Rich with cultural touchstones and reference points, they are suffused with self-awareness, longing, and sensual awareness. Will Anna accept the invitation of the German businessman? Can Claire’s honeymoon be saved? Will Rebecca’s love for Mr. Miller remain secret? How will Sarah fix the mess she has made? And how will Rachel protect herself from the threat that has suddenly become very personal? You are invited to fall in love with these characters and their long-gone world.

Shira Dicker (Author), Rachel Botchan (Narrator)

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The Write Stuff: 40 Episodes from the Panel Game of Literary Correctness

Highlights from the light-hearted literary quiz chaired by James Walton The Write Stuff is the book-based panel show that takes a witty and whimsical look at well-known authors and their work. Host James Walton challenges the erudite contestants with tricky literary teasers, which they endeavour to answer using a combination of knowledge and guesswork. Each episode is themed around an ‘Author of the Week’, who is the subject of the introductory rounds in which the panellists read out favourite quotations from their writing and field questions about their life. Among the intervening rounds are ‘Connections’, ‘Odd One Out’, a music round, an archive round and a fast-paced, fingers-on-buzzers round of general literary knowledge. And for the rib-tickling finale, the contestants are tasked with penning parodies in the style of the chosen author, resulting in comic gems such as Jerome K Jerome’s ‘Three Men on a Club 18-30 Holiday’, a hardboiled crime novel in the style of Virginia Woolf, and a Twitter thread by Jane Eyre. Collected here are 40 of the finest episodes from the show’s 17 series, featuring iconic writers from Jane Austen and Charles Dickens to James Joyce, Anton Chekhov, William Wordsworth and John Milton. Pitting their wits against each other are the fiercely competitive team captains Sebastian Faulks and John Walsh, aided by celebrity guests including Stephen Fry, Miles Kington, Philippa Gregory, Sue Limb, Simon Brett, Lynne Truss, John O’Farrell, Natalie Haynes and Mark Billingham. Also included is a Christmas special, filled with festive quizzing and seasonally themed pastiches. Clever, funny and decidedly unstuffy, this knockabout show is a must for bookworms, bibliophiles and anyone who enjoys mixing some laughter with their literature. Production credits Compiled, written and presented by James Walton Produced by John Rolph, Katie Marsden, Dawn Ellis, Alexandra Smith and Sam Michell Readers: Rachel Atkins, Beth Chalmers and Becky Hindley First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on the following dates: Jane Austen 31 July 1998 DH Lawrence 28 August 1998 Charles Dickens 4 September 1998 Arthur Conan Doyle 14 July 1999 The Brontë Sisters 21 July 1999 James Joyce 28 July 1999 Oscar Wilde 11 August 1999 William Wordsworth 11 April 2001 Samuel Taylor Coleridge 10 April 2002 Virginia Woolf 17 April 2002 George Orwell 2 April 2003 Dylan Thomas 12 May 2004 Rudyard Kipling 26 May 2004 Alexander Pope 9 June 2004 Samuel Pepys 16 June 2004 The Write Stuff at Christmas 29 December 2004 Lord Byron 25 May 2005 John Milton 22 June 2005 Charles Dickens 29 June 2005 Henry James 19 June 2006 Thomas Hardy 17 July 2006 F Scott Fitzgerald 9 April 2007 John Keats 16 April 2007 Jonathan Swift 7 April 2008 Hans Christian Andersen 14 April 2008 George Eliot 28 April 2004 DH Lawrence 3 November 2008 Marcel Proust 19 October 2010 Daniel Defoe 27 January 2012 Gustav Flaubert 3 February 2012 HG Wells 24 February 2012 The Brontës 12 May 2013 Mark Twain 19 May 2013 Greek Tragedy 26 May 2013 William Blake 9 June 2013 Gerald Manley Hopkins 19 October 2014 Jerome K Jerome 26 October 2014 Henry Fielding 2 November 2014 Virginia Woolf 9 November 2014 © 2024 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2024 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd.

James Walton (Author), James Walton, John O’farrell, Lynne Truss, Mark Billingham, Natalie Haynes, Nigel Williams, Sebastian Faulks, Simon Brett, Stephen Fry, Sue Limb, Various (Narrator)

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Self-Portrait: Collected Unpublished Writings

A collection of previously unpublished writing culled from the Kerouac archive Jack Kerouac's archive is vast. Throughout his life he was constantly writing, and he meticulously saved and catalogued his material. The result is that beyond the work published in his lifetime there has been a rich stream of posthumous writing that is far from tapped, adding depth to his lifework--the Duluoz Legend--and our understanding of Kerouac the man. Far from being the adrenalized thrill-seeker that he depicted in On the Road's Dean Moriarty, Jack himself was deeply spiritual, shy, and reclusive. He sought adventures for the sake of experience, needing them to fuel his writing, which according to him was his sole reason for living. Few people sacrificed more for their art. This collection of previously unpublished writing culled from the Kerouac archive, and as a companion to Paul Maher Jr.'s Becoming Kerouac, spans Jack's adult life, from a journal written at age seventeen to autobiographical reflections a few years before his death. Self-Portrait is a blend of fictional and nonfictional pieces, a few abandoned starts but most complete in themselves and all of them chosen for the revelations they contain. In The Moon and Sixpence, Somerset Maugham wrote, 'A man's work reveals him... No one can produce the most casual work without disclosing the innermost secrets of his soul.' There are more than two dozen Kerouac biographies, but Self-Portrait reveals the artist in his own words, from his early ambition to the deep self-examination of his 'Self-Ultimacy' period, his three-year struggle to write On the Road, musings about himself and America in the half-dozen years before the novel was published and then in the aftermath amid his public withdrawal, suffering from alcoholism and hounded by fame. Through it all there are tortuous feelings about his family--love, guilt, duty, and betrayal. As fans of Kerouac have come to learn, reading his work is a visceral probe.

Jack Kerouac (Author), T. Ryder Smith (Narrator)

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The Bard of Castaguard

Jane Welch (Author), To Be Announced (Narrator)

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