Sponsored by Dreamscape Media.
“In range alone, Richard Thomas is boundless. He is Lovecraft. He is Bradbury. He is Gaiman.” —Chuck Palahniuk. This collection of fourteen stories by Richard Thomas pushes the boundaries of dark fiction in an intoxicating, piercing blend of fantasy, science fiction, and horror. Start listening to the audiobook of Spontaneous Human Combustion!
Hello Audiophiles! After a winter of cold, rainy weather, the corgis were clamoring for adventure, so my spouse and I ventured out into the beautiful early spring weather here in South Carolina. We wandered around the historic parts of our little town, stopped to get coffee, and visited the waterfront. Gwen’s still learning how to greet new people without jumping on them, but, thankfully, we found many volunteers to help her practice.
Corgis are herding dogs and need a ridiculous amount of exercise, so I listen to a lot of audiobooks while walking them. But it was nice to unplug and take them on adventures into the wider world.
I’ve also been cleaning out several closets in my house. While marathoning through A House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas, I reorganized my entire pantry. That’s one of my favorite parts of being an audiobook listener; I’ve developed an intense ability to multitask.
I’ve also been listening to A LOT of articles, which bring me to today’s main feature—the next audiobook app that I can’t live without!
 |
Make sure to get your own Read Harder Book Journal from Book Riot to track your reading for the year!
An Audiobooks App I Can’t Live Without
Audm
For this series, I’ve shared my top five favorite audiobooks apps—Overdrive, hoopla, Libro.fm, Audible, and Scribd—all of which I’ve used and loved for several years. But I have to tell you about my latest audio app, Audm ($4.99/month).
For many audiobook lovers, they listen to audiobooks because they love them, but can always pick up the print copy of a book if they can’t get their hands on the audiobook edition. But for disabled people like me, print isn’t an option. Audiobook apps make reading full-length books possible for me. But what about literary journals, short stories, or news articles?
While my screenreader CAN read these shorter pieces, I don’t enjoy the listening experience. At this point, my screenreader still very much sounds like a robot. So when I learned about Audm, I knew I had to try it out.
Audm is a subscription service that allows people to listen to a selection of articles from over two dozen publications, including The Atlantic, The Bitter Southerner, The New York Times, the Republic, The Millions, and Rolling Stone, just to name a few. Today I listened to “Profiles: Late Harvest” by Dorothy Wickenden in The New Yorker, a beautifully written profile on Wendall Berry, the Appalachian writer and environmentalist. Holly Palance narrated the article, which comes in at over an hour.
Since I subscribed a few months ago, I’ve listened to dozens of incredible pieces by today’s top writers, reveling in this whole new world that’s been opened up to me. The app is incredibly easy to navigate, allowing users to filter what publications they want to see articles from. Then, simply add the article to your playlist and use their wide range of listening speeds to choose how quickly you want the article to playback for you.
Authors often narrate their articles, and when professionals perform them, the talent is top notch, including Emily Woo Zeller, Janina Edwards, Julia Whelan, and Prentice Onayemi.
Do you subscribe to Audm? What do you think of it? Let me know at kendra.d.winchester@gmail.com.
New Releases
Delilah Green Doesn’t Care by Ashley Herring Blake
When Delilah Green returns to her hometown to photograph her stepsister’s wedding, she runs into Claire Sutherland, who becomes a welcome distraction. But what starts out as a fling during all of the wedding hoopla might turn into something more.
Narrated by Kristen DiMercurio
I’m So (Not) Over You by Kosoko Jackson
Kian Andrews gets a call from his ex-boyfriend, Hudson Rivers, so he agrees to meet up and chat. But instead of wanting to get back together, Hudson wants to pretend to be together for his parents. Kian agrees, though reluctantly. Of course, this being a romance novel, what starts as pretend might rekindle the love they thought they had lost.
Narrated by Timothy Bell Reese
The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea by Axie Oh
Each year, Mina’s community throws a maiden into the ocean to appease the Sea God. With so many storms and floods, the ritual has never been more important to the community. To save the girl her brother loves, Mina throws herself into the water to become the bride of the Sea God herself.
Narrated by Rosa Escoda
The Verifiers by Jane Pek
Claudia Lin’s parents think she has a traditional career. But in reality, Claudia works as an investigator for clients wanting to check their love interests’ identities on an exclusive dating app. But when a client goes missing, Claudia must solve the mystery to save her career, all while keeping her real life secret from her parents.
Narrated by Eunice Wong
When I’m Gone, Look for Me in the East by Quan Barry
The author of We Ride Upon Sticks is back with latest novel When I’m Gone, Look for Me in the East, which follows Chuluun, a young monk tasked with finding the reincarnation of a great lama. Along with his twin Mun, Chuluun must traverse the vast Mongolian landscape while working out his strained relationship with his brother.
Narrated by David Lee Huynh
Don’t forget you can get three free audiobooks at Audiobooks.com with a free trial!
New Merch!
Don’t forget to check out our new line of bookish, Wordle-inspired merch! There are mugs, t-shirts, hoodies, and more. The campaign is temporary, so order yours now!
Over on Book Riot
“Wintering with Audiobooks: Learning How to Slow Down” – In this essay, I share how I’ve been using audiobooks to help me recover from burnout.
Around the Web
“Audiobooks Account for a Third of Books ‘Read’ in Iceland” (Iceland Review)
That’s it for this week! You can find me over on my substack Winchester Ave or over on Instagram @kdwinchester. As always, feel free to drop me a line at kendra.d.winchester@gmail.com. For even MORE audiobook content, you can find my articles over on Book Riot.
Happy listening, bookish friends!
~ Kendra