Audiobooks narrated by Nancy Pearl

The Writer's Library: he Authors You Love on the Books That Changed Their Lives

Performed by Nancy Pearl, Jeff Schwager and a multi-cast that includes book contributors Luis Alberto Urrea, Siri Hustvedt, Laurie Frankel, Vendela Vida, and Richard Ford. The Writer’s Library audiobook also features real conversations with Michael Chabon, Ayelet Waldman, and Laila Lalami. With a Foreword by Susan Orlean, twenty-three of today's living literary legends, including Donna Tartt, Viet Thanh Nguyen, Andrew Sean Greer, Laila Lalami, and Michael Chabon, reveal the books that made them think, brought them joy, and changed their lives in this intimate, moving, and insightful collection from 'American's Librarian' Nancy Pearl and noted playwright Jeff Schwager that celebrates the power of literature and reading to connect us all. Before Jennifer Egan, Louise Erdrich, Luis Alberto Urrea, and Jonathan Lethem became revered authors, they were readers. In this ebullient book, America’s favorite librarian Nancy Pearl and noted-playwright Jeff Schwager interview a diverse range of America's most notable and influential writers about the books that shaped them and inspired them to leave their own literary mark. The Writer’s Library is a revelatory exploration of the studies, libraries, and bookstores of today’s favorite authors—the creative artists whose imagination and sublime talent make America's literary scene the wonderful, dynamic world it is. A love letter to books and a celebration of wordsmiths, The Writer’s Library is a treasure for anyone who has been moved by the written word. The authors in The Writer’s Library are: - Russell Banks - TC Boyle - Michael Chabon - Susan Choi - Jennifer Egan - Dave Eggers - Louise Erdrich - Richard Ford - Laurie Frankel - Andrew Sean Greer - Jane Hirshfield - Siri Hustvedt - Charles Johnson - Laila Lalami - Jonathan Lethem - Donna Tartt - Madeline Miller - Viet Thanh Nguyen - Luis Alberto Urrea - Vendela Vida - Ayelet Waldman - Maaza Mengiste - Amor Towles

Jeff Schwager, Nancy Pearl (Author), Andrew Eiden, Dominic Hoffman, Eileen Stevens, Emily Woo Zeller, Jd Jackson, Jeff Schwager, Lameece Issaq, Laurie Frankel, Luis A. Urrea, Nancy Pearl, Piper Goodeve, Richard Ford, Rick Adamson, Ryan Do, Siri Hustvedt, Tim Andres Pabon, Timothy Andrés Pabon, Vendela Vida, Xe Sands (Narrator)

Audiobook

George and Lizzie: A Novel

From "America's librarian" and NPR books commentator Nancy Pearl comes an emotionally riveting debut novel about an unlikely marriage at a crossroads. George and Lizzie have radically different understandings of what love and marriage should be. George grew up in a warm and loving family-his father an orthodontist, his mother a stay-at-home mom-while Lizzie grew up as the only child of two famous psychologists, who viewed her more as an in-house experiment than a child to love. Over the course of their marriage, nothing has changed-George is happy; Lizzie remains...unfulfilled. When a shameful secret from Lizzie's past resurfaces, she'll need to face her fears in order to accept the true nature of the relationship she and George have built over a decade together. With pitch-perfect prose and compassion and humor to spare, George and Lizzie is an intimate story of new and past loves, the scars of childhood, and an imperfect marriage at its defining moments

Nancy Pearl (Author), Nancy Pearl (Narrator)

Audiobook

Plum & Jaggers

For the McWilliams children, life is forever altered the day a terrorist bomb blast rips through the train carrying them across Italy, instantly killing their parents. Dazed and frightened, Charlotte, Oliver, and baby Julia cling to oldest brother Sam, who—only seven at the time—is haunted by every detail. After he and his siblings are taken in by their kindly but peculiar grandparents, Sam becomes consumed with protecting them at all costs. His compulsive behavior—which includes shoplifting materials to make a bomb shelter for the quartet—leads to his placement in “the Cage,” a juvenile detention center on the outskirts of Washington, DC. It is there that Sam, inspired by letters exchanged between his deceased parents, dreams up Plum & Jaggers, a darkly bizarre comedy troupe. Made up of him and his brother and sisters, the group pokes fun at life’s tragedies and will eventually carry them into adulthood. But even once grown, Sam McWilliams finds he cannot always stop things from blowing apart. Book Lust Rediscoveries is a series devoted to reprinting some of the best (and now out of print) novels originally published from 1960 to 2000. Each book is personally selected by NPR commentator and Book Lust author Nancy Pearl and includes an introduction by her, as well as discussion questions for book groups and a list of recommended further reading.

Susan Richards Shreve (Author), Christopher Lane, Nancy Pearl (Narrator)

Audiobook

One Sweet Quarrel

"“Marvelous prose…McNamer’s book is full of it, and full too of an unwavering commitment to, and wonder at, humanity. Add to those its grand story, its fine sense of irony and humor, its emotional accuracy, and One Sweet Quarrel becomes one sweet — and unforgettable — novel.” — New York Times Book Review Leaving behind their provincial Midwestern upbringing, the Malone siblings go their separate ways to test their mettle in the big, beckoning world of America’s dawning Jazz Age. While Jerry heads west to claim a homestead and join the great oil rush, Daisy sets her sights on the glamorous life of a big city singer in Manhattan. But fate and failing fortunes reunite them in tiny Shelby, Montana — and draw them into the 1923 Dempsey-Gibbons World Heavyweight Championship, the faltering town’s grand scheme to save itself from economic ruin. With the help of a Noah’s Ark–sized arena, an underground hero, heavyweight champ Jack Dempsey, and a mountain of money at stake, boxing history — and legendary memories — will be made. And for a moment as fleeting and spectacular as Halley’s Comet, these American dreamers will savor the sweet taste of an extraordinary life. Book Lust Rediscoveries is a series devoted to reprinting some of the best (and now out of print) novels originally published from 1960 to 2000. Each book is personally selected by NPR commentator and Book Lust author Nancy Pearl and includes an introduction by her, as well as discussion questions for book groups and a list of recommended further reading."

Deirdre McNamer (Author), Joyce Bean, Nancy Pearl (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Lion in the Lei Shop

Marty Langsmith is only five years old when a strange thunder rolls across the Hawaiian sky and life as she knows it explodes into flames. With her mother, April, and hundreds of other women and children, Marty is evacuated from the ruins of Pearl Harbor and sent into a brave new world overshadowed by uncertainty and grief. Feeling abandoned by her deployed Army officer father in the wake of the attack, Marty is haunted by nightmares of the lion in the lei shop, a creature that's said to devour happy children. But as the years pass, mother and daughter slowly begin to embrace their new life and make peace with the pain of the past. Spanning the tumultuous war years, The Lion in the Lei Shop deftly recaptures a dramatic chapter of American history. Originally published in 1970 and reissued for a new generation as part of renowned librarian Nancy Pearl's Book Lust Rediscoveries series, this lyrical novel gives a rarely heard voice to the women and children of Pearl Harbor.

Kaye Starbird (Author), Kate Rudd, Nancy Pearl, Tanya Eby (Narrator)

Audiobook

Audiobooks Narrated by Nancy Pearl