Audiobooks 11/12/20

Here’s how I know 2020 did a number on me: I didn’t know that Anthony Horowitz was releasing a follow-up to Magpie Murders! Susan Ryeland has retired from the publishing game and is living that Mamma Mia life running a boutique hotel in Crete—but all that rest and relaxation is starting to bore her. Then the Trehernes come to the hotel and ask Susan for help them solve a murder case and find their daughter Cecily. During Cecily’s disastrous wedding weekend, a guest was murdered at her parents’ Suffolk hotel. The handyman was swiftly convicted, and Cecily went missing days after telling her parents she thought he was innocent. So where does Susan come in? It so happens that late author Alan Conway knew the murder victim, and he based the third book in his Atticus Pund detective series on this very crime. This is another book within a book situation (gimme!) where Susan will have to read between the lines (heyyoooo!) to solve the case.

Read by Lesley Manville (The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman), Allan Corduner (Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz, The Book Thief by Markus Zusak)

Latina + tea + England!?! You already know I’m obsessed. Lila Reyes has a three-step post-graduation plan: 1) take over for her abuela as head baker at their panadería, 2) move in with her bestie, and 3) live happily ever after with her boo. Then it all falls apart! Concerned for her mental health, her parents send her to England for the summer to stay with friends. Dreary England is a far cry from sun-drenched Miami though, and Lila isn’t sure it’s her cup of tea (you were warned!). Then she meets Orion, a teashop clerk who appoints himself her personal tour guide and shows her all that she’s been missing. Tap this book right into my veins!

Read by Frankie Corzo (Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Next Year in Havana by Chanel Cleeton, Incendiary by Zoraida Cordova—like I keep saying: Frankie Corzo is out here working!!)

1969 was a year for the whole world and Harvard specifically: it was the height of counterculture; campuses everywhere were trying to “curb the unruly spectacle of student protest;” Harvard began the very un-smooth process of merging with Radcliffe, its all-female sister school; and it was the year that 23-year-old graduate student Jane Britton, daughter of Radcliffe Vice President J. Boyd Britton, was found bludgeoned to death in her Cambridge apartment.

Then 40 years later, curious grad student Becky Cooper first heard whispers of this story. It’s one she would ultimately follow for 10 years, uncovering “a tale of gender inequality in academia, a ‘cowboy culture’ among empowered male elites, the silencing effect of institutions, and our compulsion to rewrite the stories of female victims.” I think I may be ready to dive back into books like this again, the story sounds so compelling!

Read by the author.

This book isn’t a new release, but the audiobook version specifically is… and it’s read by the one and only Blue Ivy Carter! Given how much the internet bullies of the world have had to say about this little girl’s hair all her life, this makes me really happy. Use your voice, little Blue!

For reasons, I did almost zero reading last week. What I did instead was watch a bunch of TV, including the documentary The Vow on HBO. Have you all seen this?! After episode one, I thought NXIVM sounded a little like that episode of The Golden Girls where Rose joins that positive thinking group—a little corny, a little cheesy, but harmless, and maybe even kind of nice if it helped folks find a sense of purpose and community. Pero ay, dios mio! It got WILD from there. Am I the only one who didn’t know the blonde from Smallville was in a sex cult that branded women’s pelvic regions with her and her “master’s” initials and that she’s been sentenced to 120 years in prison for sex trafficking??

It was hard not to draw comparisons between some the structures and schemes of this cult to good ol’ Scientology. That reminded me how much I enjoyed the audiobook of Troublemaker by Leah Remini, which she narrates herself. If you’re in the mood for a juicy read, have ever wondered that the deal is with Scientology and Tom Cruise, or enjoy pretending that Stacy Carosi (who gets that reference??) is spilling tea to you personally, this audiobook delivers.