Staff Picks: Great New Audiobooks of 2024
by eapearce
Audiobooks continue to increase in popularity! The ability to multitask while also listening to a book—cleaning, working out, commuting, etc.—makes this format tempting to many. Talented audiobook readers have also given the format more appeal; it’s not uncommon now for listeners to have favorite readers or to see a famous actor’s name in the reader credits. You can browse tons of e-audiobook selections through the Midwest Collective for Library Services to listen to via Libby and AADL still has a large book on CD collection. Check out one of these popular audiobooks from this year to get you started.
By Any Other Name by Jodi Picoult, read by a full cast | Request Now
This book comes out on audio on October 8, but it’s already highly anticipated. Picoult is an enduringly popular author and the reading of this title by a full cast is sure to keep listeners riveted. The premise of the story is pretty interesting, too: it centers on two women living centuries apart who are both forced to hide their true identities and live under false names. One, living in 1581, is the true author of Shakespeare’s plays and the other, living in the present day, is struggling to make her own voice heard in the modern theatre world after years of setbacks and being taken advantage of. Picoult bridges the gap between the two timelines, showing the striking similarities between women trying to make their voices heard five hundred years apart. This engaging story is a great one to listen to on audio.
Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa, read by Catherine Ho | Request Now
This international bestseller is also a hit Japanese movie and now American readers and listeners can be charmed by the story, too! Twenty-five year old Takako has lead a pretty easy life: she has good friends, a job she enjoys, and she’s excited to get married soon to her long-time boyfriend Hideaki. When Hideaki casually announces one day that he’s been cheating on her and is going to marry the other woman, Takako’s life goes into freefall. Shocked and depressed, she loses her job, many of her and Hideaki’s shared friends, and her vision of her future. In the depths of her despair, she receives a call from her distant uncle Satoru, an unusual man who has always marched to the beat of his own drum. He runs a small, second-hand bookshop in Tokyo’s famous book district and needs a bit of help now that he’s getting older. Desperate, Takako reluctantly agrees to work in the shop in exchange for renting the small apartment above it. Unexpected joy, new friends, a surprise passion for Japanese literature and a potential new beau all ensue… until things take a turn again. Listeners will be charmed by this one. Bonus: there’s a sequel!
Slow Dance by Rainbow Rowell, read by Rebecca Lowell | Request Now
Rainbow Rowell is the New York Times best-selling author of Eleanor & Park and Attachments, along with several other popular novels. She hasn’t graced readers with a book in a few years, so there’s been a lot of buzz about her latest, Slow Dance! The book stars Shiloh and Cary, high school best friends who everyone always thought would end up together. They both followed their intended paths after high school: Shiloh went to college and Cary joined the Navy… but after that everything fell apart. When the book opens, it has been almost fifteen years since the two have spoken. Shiloh has been married and divorced, has two kids, and is living back in the same house she grew up in, which wasn’t exactly what she had had in mind for herself. When she’s invited to an old friend’s wedding, her first thought is if Cary will be there and if he’ll want to talk to her again. Perhaps the publisher sums up the story best: “Slow Dance is the story of two kids who fell in love before they knew enough about love to recognize it. Two friends who lost everything. Two adults who just feel lost. It’s the story of Shiloh and Cary…trying to find their way back to the start.”
Swift River by Essie Chambers, read by Shayna Small | Request Now
In the summer of 1987 Diamond Newberry is learning how to drive in her small town of Swift River. She hasn’t had an easy time since her Pop disappeared seven years ago. For starters, he was the only other Black person in the whole town and with his departure, now Diamond is the sole proprietor of that title. She’s also teased relentlessly about her weight and, since neither she nor her mother could drive (until now), they’ve spent the last seven years hitchhiking everywhere. Suffice to say, Diamond is pretty unhappy. But when she receives a letter from a relative she has never met, truths about her father are uncovered and she is introduced to generations of women in her family spanning the 20th century. As Diamond’s history becomes clearer and she feels more centered in her place in the world, she starts looking towards the future. How can she use what she’s learned to shape the life she wants? This is a great listen from a debut author about how history both known and unknown shapes who we are.
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