Sponsored by Blackstone Publishing.
This May, Blackstone Publishing celebrates the centenary of Richard Adams’ birth.
Watch the daughter of Richard Adams, Juliet Johnson, and actor and narrator of Watership Down, Peter Capaldi, discuss one of the most beloved novels of our time. Watership Down is an exciting adventure story and an engaging allegory about freedom, ethics, and human nature. A stirring epic of courage and survival against the odds, the bestselling classic continues to be discovered by readers of all ages. Watership Down from Blackstone Publishing is available wherever you get your audiobooks.
Hola Audiophiles! It’s that time again, time to check out the week’s latest releases and audiobook news. I have so many books on my TBL right now, it’s not even funny. I’ve been going for extra long walks (and accidental runs in the rain) just to get more listening in!
Ready? Let’s audio.
New Releases – May 19 (publisher descriptions in quotes)
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins, read by Santino Fontana (YA dystopian fiction) – I’m mainly mentioning this in case you’re a Hunger Games fan who just lost track of this release date. It is of course the long awaited prequel to the Hunger Games trilogy told from the perspective of an eighteen-year-old Coriolanus Snow. Jerkhead McEvilface Snow can pound sand as far as I’m concerned, but I’m still pretty curious about this book.
Narrator note: The preview for this audiobook is super short but rull dramatic: lots of dark, theatrical sounds swelling in the background. As for Santino Fontana, you may know him from books like Stephen king’s The Institute, Caroline Kepnes’ You, or Alice Hoffman’s The Marriage of Opposites.
Real Men Knit by Kwana Jackson, read by Keylor Leigh (romance) – Four brothers who’ve recently lost their beloved foster-turned-adoptive mother are left to figure out what to do with Strong Knits, the family’s Harlem knitting shop. Jesse wants to keep the shop alive, but his three brothers want to get rid of it and move on. Part time shop employee Kerry has spent over a decade at Strong Knits and knows the (wait for it) knitty-gritty details of running the business, so she agrees to help Jesse with his cause. She has a giant crush on him but also knows his reputation for breaking hearts. Still, the pair are growing closer the more time they spend together… could they possibly make it work?
Narrator Note: The lovely Keylor Leigh is an actress known for work on shows like Station 19 and Brooklyn Nine-Nine.
A Taste of Sage by Yaffa S. Santos, read by Inés del Castillo, Jonathan Todd Ross (romance) – Lumi Santana has the gift of synesthesia: she can perceive people’s emotions through their food. She opens up her very own Dominican fusion restaurant but that dream sadly fails, forcing her to take a sous chef job at a traditional French restaurant. The executive chef is an absolute jerk, so Lumi vows never to taste his food. Mr. Fancy Chef Man can really throw down in the kitchen though and Lumi finally gives in. One bite is all it takes to change everything.
Narrator note: Inés del Castillo also narrates another recent release, Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas. I’m into the samples I’ve heard so far and could listen to her say “sancocho” all day. My kingdom for some Dominican food!
We Are Not From Here by Jenny Torres Sanchez, read by Marisa Blake (YA fiction) – Three teens flee their hometown in Guatemala in a fight for their lives, embarking on a harrowing journey through Mexico called La Bestia that will hopefully lead them to a better life in the United States. I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that this journey will be harrowing in just about all of the ways. It’s been hard for me to read these kinds of stories lately, but I love that we’re seeing more YA perspectives on the topic that handle it with sensitivity and care.
Narrator note: I’m unfamiliar with Marisa Blake but absolutely love her voice! It’s sort of baritone and almost sorta nasal but I really dig it! Plus she’s bilingual so the Spanish is on point.
Latest Listens
I’ve been sticking to shorter listens in these pandemic days, but I finally picked up a slightly longer one this week: Ghosts of Harvard by Francesca Serritella. Cady is reeling from her brother Eric’s recent death by suicide when she begins her freshman year at Harvard. Eric himself attended Harvard and was diagnosed with schizophrenia in his final, and now Cady is beginning to think she hears voices too. Does she share her brother’s mental illness, or are the voices she hears ghosts from Harvard’s unsavory past? I’m only a quarter of the way in so far but I’m way sucked in- stay tuned for a full review next week!
From the Internets
You might be feeling some “XX books to read during the pandemic” fatigue and I don’t blame you, but this roundup of listens for these quarantine days is actually a really solid mix. That reminds me: I need to get to Sabrina & Corina by Kali Fajardo-Anstine.
SYFY recommends eight SFF audiobooks to get lost in this weekend.
Over at the Riot
They’re great and they’re under eight!
And listening’s heaven with these seven (I know, I’m sorry. I need sleep!)
Fantastic nonfiction audiobooks by Asian American women
Full cast audiobooks are great, but these audio pros get it all done (and do it well!) by themselves.
I’m so glad this list of audiobooks for Mental Health Awareness Month includes The Collected Schizophrenias. It’s such a candid portrayal of a life dealing with a widely misunderstood mental illness and one of my favorite reads of 2019.
Thanks for hanging with me today! Shoot me an email at vanessa@riotnewmedia.com with your burning book club questions or find me on Twitter and the gram @buenosdiazsd. Sign up for the Audiobooks newsletter, catch me once a month on the All the Books podcast, and watch me ramble about even more new books every Tuesday on our YouTube channel.
Stay bad & bookish, my friends.
Vanessa