Sponsored by OrangeSky Audio and The Alex Vane series by A.C. Fuller
It’s one year after the 9/11 attacks and court reporter Alex Vane is fighting to break into the flashy world of TV news. But when he uncovers the scoop of a lifetime, his tightly-controlled world is rocked: his editor buries his story, a source turns up dead, and Alex finds himself at the center of a violent media conspiracy. Listen to this high-stakes series, narrated by Joe Hempel, today!
Hola Audiophiles! Welcome back and Happy Thursday! I woke up with more sun in my city’s forecast and exciting life things on the horizon so I’m feeling all kinds of gratitude. I’m reminded that so many people are still going through it right now, so before I get to the audiobooks today, I want to drop a couple of important links for anyone looking to help communities in need.
- If you’re looking for ways to help Texas relief efforts, here are some ways to help classrooms and libraries.
- Several communities in Mississippi were also devastated by recent weather events and Jackson is going on three weeks (weeks!) without water. Here’s a roundup of ways and places to donate to if you can.
Ready? Let’s audio.
New Releases – Week of March 9, 2021
(publisher descriptions in quotes)
Women and Other Monsters: Building a New Mythology by Jess Zimmerman
You can hear me gush about it on this week’s All the Books episode. Jess Zimmerman is the editor in chief at Electric Lit, and this is her cultural analysis of female monsters from Greek mythology. She discusses 11 female monsters, including Medusa, the Harpies, and the Sphinx, breaking down how women have been labeled as monsters for daring to be everything from sexual to angry (ya know: human). This is a wonderful work of feminist cultural critique and a sweet sweet hit of dopamine for all my mythology nerds. (essays, nonfiction)
This one was read by the author and it’s great! On the podcast, I said I might have preferred this one in print. But! The only reason I personally felt that way is because mythology books *always* send me on a Google rabbit hole and I like to be able to go back and reference earlier parts of the book. It is still a fantastic audiobook!
Act Your Age, Eve Brown by Talia Hibbert
The third book in the Brown Sisters series is finally here! Eve is trying to get her act together and her parents are about to cut her off I she doesn’t. She goes for a long drive that ends with her stumbling across a charming bed & breakfast and ends up in a (very)spontaneous!) job interview for a head chef position. It does not go well though, especially the part where Eve goes to leave and—accidentally? mostly?—hits the B&B owner with her car. Whoopsie! Guess she’ll have to stick around to help while he recovers for his injuries. Awkward! But also: steamy. See my full review below under Latest Listen! (contemporary romance, rom-com)
We Shall Sing a Song into the Deep by Andrew Kelly Stewart
Leviathan is an aging nuclear submarine with a sacred and secret mission: to trigger the Second Coming when the time is right. Remy, who was taken from the surface world and raised to sing in a choir of young boys board the ship, is part of a strange crew who controls the Leviathan. Remy also has a secret: she’s a girl, and the ship’s old chaplain gave her the missile launch key just before he died. She promised to keep it safe, but the new chaplain has priorities of his own and safety doesn’t seem to be among them. Remy will have to decide for herself how to handle the fate of the world. (science fiction)
Read by Mia Ellis; I knew I wanted to talk about this book as soon as I heard a sample. Mia is new to me but her pace, clarity, and tone are exactly what I love in a tight sci-fi novel.
Latest Listens
New life mantra after reading this book: find you a partner who looks at you like you’ve disinfected and restocked every bathroom in the building.
In Act Your Age, Eve Brown, our favorite purple-haired free spirit who mixes up words and whose AirPods practically live in her ears is trying to figure out the adulting thing. She had a pretty good run as an event planner, but then she freed some doves at a wedding when she wasn’t supposed to and that was a wrap on that.
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Her parents sit her down and give her the “enough is enough” talk: Eve needs to get an keep a job or she’ll officially be cut off. Hurt by their lack of faith in her, she takes off on a long, meandering drive that ends at a charming B&B a ways from home. I can’t recall why she goes inside (probs to use the loo), but she’s almost immediately asked if she’s there to interview for the head chef position. She’s all “Yeah yeah yeah, sure sure!” Buuuuuut the very bottled-up, likes-things-just-so owner of the B&B, Jacob, takes one look at Eve with her purple braids, graphic tee, and all that hope/youth/positivity and shuts that sh*t down quick. Eve goes on her merry way, but then… she hits the dude with her car.
Now Jacob’s arm is broken, his B&B is understaffed, so he kind of has no choice but to accept that his business partner has hired Eve to stay on and help run the place.These two are polar opposites in so many ways, so obviously hilarity ensues! But also… sexy times. I’m bringing back the body roll, y’all.
Talia Hibbert has shared how challenging it was to write this book in a pandemic, but she knocked it out of the park. This might just be my favorite book in the series! She just has the lock down on fun, realistic, contemporary romance that’s as heartwarming as it is steamy (so steamy) and actual laugh-out-loud hilarious! The entire scene where she tries to set up a cute “friend date” for her and Jacob and then the guy finds a certain purple toy of hers in the couch cushions took me all the way out (that toy’s name is M’Baku, in case you were wondering). I also really appreciated the thoughtful conversations around the autism spectrum (I’m not saying more about that to avoid spoiler stuff). I just loved this book so much.
I loved it extra hard because of Ione Butler, who also reads Take a Hint, Dani Brown. She nails Eve’s youthful, bubbly persona and indefatigable sense of humor with such ease and then just as smoothly transitions into Jacob’s prim, proper, and prickly demeanor without a hitch. She does sex scenes really well, which as I’ve said, is a skill! She gives us all the heat and lusy tension and does it so naturally. I sadly didn’t get to shock the hell out of a family in a Subaru with this audiobook since I don’t really drive a lot in these pandemmy days, but I enjoyed it just the same.
From the Internets
at Audible: Why Nnedi Okorafor Keeps Coming Back to Coming-of-Age Stories
at AudioFile: 5 Audiobooks & 5 Recipes
at Libro.fm: Quiz: Reads for Women’s History Month
Over at the Riot
7 of the Best Audiobooks by Australian Women Writers
Where to Find Audio Dramas and Audiobooks with Sound Effects
Thanks for hanging with me today! Shoot me an email at vanessa@riotnewmedia.com with with all things audiobook or find me on Twitter and the gram @buenosdiazsd. Sign up for the In The Club newsletter and catch me once a month on the All the Books podcast.
Stay bad & bookish, my friends.
Vanessa
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Thanks again to our sponsor for today’s newsletter, OrangeSky Audio and The Alex Vane series by A.C. Fuller! It’s one year after the 9/11 attacks and court reporter Alex Vane is fighting to break into the flashy world of TV news. But when he uncovers the scoop of a lifetime, his tightly-controlled world is rocked: his editor buries his story, a source turns up dead, and Alex finds himself at the center of a violent media conspiracy.