Author: Vanessa Diaz

Hola Audiophiles!

The good news is I don’t have swine flu. The bad news: I did have some sort of head cold situation for a few days. I’m mostly better, but I’m left with that awful tickle cough that makes your eyes water. I had to rewind my audiobook three times in the last hour because I couldn’t hear it over my cough! The worst.

Enough of the plague though. Let me down this hot toddy and get back to the audio.

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New Releases – October 15 (publishers descriptions in quotes)

Dear Girls by Ali Wong, narrated by the author – If you haven’t seen any of Ali Wong’s unapologetic, no-holds-barred Netflix comedy specials (both of which she is super pregnant in, btw), do yourself a favor and do that. Then give a listen to this heartfelt, honest, and cry-laugh-inducing collection of letters from the comedian and writer to her two young daughters, (with explicit instructions not to read them until they’re 21 for… well, reasons!). The intro alone, yo: the Salman Rushdie shade!

• Narrator Note: Yep, you know what I’m about to say: author narration for the win! I could not imagine anyone else narrating this book. It’s so natural, so vulgar, so hilarious.

Fireborne by Rosaria Munda, narrated by Christian Coulson, Candice Moll, and Steve West – A brutal revolution has claimed the lives of both Annie’s lowborn and Lee’s aristocratic families. Raised together in an orphanage, they’ve spent seven years training to become dragonriders, rivaling for the top position in this governing class. Everything changes when war erupts as the old regime surfaces to take back the city. Pitched as Game of Thrones meets Red Rising, which is very much my sh*t.

• Narrator Note: This narrator team has credits in work by Michael Ondaatje, Mackenzi Lee, Erin Gough and more. I can’t wait to give this one a listen. I’m ready for accents and dragons and impossible choices!

Me: Elton John by Elton John, narrated by Taron Egerton and Elton John – Storytime! I was raised primarily on music in Spanish, so much so that I get clowned to this day for not knowing a lot of the classic songs I’m “supposed to.” Elton John though? I was singing Bennie and the Jets, Your Song, and The Bitch is Back before I was allowed to say bad words and cannot wait to listen to the Rocketman’s story. If my weepy reaction to this commercial is any indication of what I’m in for, I’m very in and hope you will be too!

• Narrator Note: I almost forgot that this is narrated by Eggsy from the Kingsman movies, which makes sense since the guy played Sir Elton in Rocketman. I love that Welshman’s accent (and may have a teeny crush on him… and Richard Madden… but I digress). Bonus: here’s an awesome vid of Taron and Elton singing together at Cannes.

The Body: A Guide for Occupants by Bill Bryson, narrated by the author – I’ve been a fan of Bill Bryson since Notes from a Small Island, though I confess I haven’t read his more recent work. If you’re a fan of A Short History of Nearly Everything, his latest sounds like a mix of that same “big sweeping view of a complicated thing” plus some deeper dive into the human body.

• Narrator Note: I looooove his narration. He’s American born but has lived in England pretty consistently since the 70s. His charming accent is then exactly what you’d expect of a native Iowan who’s lived among Brits for decades now and I love it.

Latest Listens

I mentioned last week that I started The Witches by Stacy Schiff and… I dunno, I’m unsure about this one! I love the subject matter and the author, but three hours in, I’m nowhere near as hooked as I thought I would be. There’s nothing really wrong with the narration, but there is a certain theatrical quality to this performance that I think isn’t quite jiving with the subject matter for me. It’s not even over-the-top or anything, but it sometimes feels a touch dramatized in moments when there is no drama?! Argh. Stay tuned. I’m going to keep going for a wee bit longer because I heart me some Stacy Schiff.

Listens on Deck

I’m thinking of taking a small break from The Witches to listen to God Save the Queens, a history of women in hip hop for which I have all the muppet arms. It’s narrated by Bahni Turpin (you already know!) and is a look at the influential women who changed the game long before the Barbs and Bardigang were feuding in these streets. This one isn’t out for a couple of weeks, I’ll report back!

From the Internets

Julia Louis-Dreyfus Selina Meyer reflects on her audiobook grammy nomination. 

Apparently BBC Radio 4 has done an abridged audio reading of Margaret Atwood’s The Testaments. And by “abridged,” I mean it’s 3.5 hours long in total when the unabridged version is over 13. Que?!?!

Audiobooks for Star Wars fans – I tried so hard to come up with a Star Wars pun and failed. Maybe, “Get your Audiyoda on?” I know, I tried.

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That’s all I got today! Shoot me an email at vanessa@riotnewmedia.com with audiobook feedback & questions or find me on Twitter and the gram @buenosdiazsd. Sign up for the In The Club newsletter, peep the Read Harder podcast, and watch me booktube every Friday too!

Stay bad & bookish, my friends.
Vanessa

Hola Audiophiles! Happy October! I’m back in PDX and enjoying every bit of this cozy sweater weather. The sun in San Diego was pretty glorious, as was all of the Mexican food! But I’m ready to see some leaves change color, to curl up with hot cider, and take down a couple of witchy listens.

Ready? Let’s audio.

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New Releases – October 8 (publisher’s description in quotes)

Grand Union by Zadie Smith, narrated by Doc Brown and Zadie Smith – She’s back! Zadie Smith returns with a collection of short fiction, “about time and place, identity and rebirth, the persistent legacies that haunt our present selves and the uncanny futures that rush up to meet us.” If you loved Feel Free, Swing Time, or my personal fave White Teeth, pick up this quick six-hour listen.

• Narrator Note: I don’t know how much of this Smith narrates, but I am excited to hear Doc Brown’s performance. He’s a musician and hilarious comedian with the best voice and OH YEAH he’s Zadie Smith’s little brother.

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo, narrated by Lauren Fortgang and Michael David Axtell – Welp, guess what? Leigh Bardugo’s debut adult novel is every bit as good as the hype. Alex Stern’s life has been ruined by drug use, a habit she turned to in order to stop seeing ghosts. When she hits rock bottom, a mysterious benefactor appears with an unrefusable offer: he’ll give Alex the clean slate she’s looking for, and at Yale, no less; all she has to do is help reign in the occult activities of Yale’s secret societies. Fair warning: this is not a work of YA. It’s got violence, drug use, sexual assault, and all kinds of occult shenanigans.

• Narrator Note: Lauren Fortgang is a Leigh Bardugo book clum, voicing Shadow and Bone and Six of Crows.

Unfollow: A Memoir of Loving and Leaving the Westboro Baptist Church by Megan Phelps-Roper, narrated by the author – Megan Phelps-Roper is the granddaughter of the man who founded the Westboro Baptist Church. She was once a devotee but has since left the institution; this memoir chronicles her “moral awakening, her departure from the church, and how she exchanged the absolutes she grew up with for new forms of warmth and community.”

• Narrator Note: I know I always go on about loving when authors narrate their own stuff, but this is one story I’m particularly interested to hear the author tell. Growing up in that environment must have been… well, a lot. I can’t imagine this one was easy to write.

How We Fight for Our Lives by Saeed Jones, narrated by the author – Writer, poet, and Twitter presence extraordinaire Saeed Jones’ website opens with the following: “Saeed Jones is that bitch. He has published two books — both of which are excellent. You should read them.” So, you know, read them. This one is a “coming-of-age memoir written at the crossroads of sex, race, and power.”

• Narrator Note: If Saeed Jones’ narration is anything like his presence on Twitter, you’re in for a treat. He is unflinching, unapologetic, and absolutely hilarious.

Latest Listens

The Witches: Suspicion, Betrayal, and Hysteria in 1692 Salem by Stacy Schiff, narrated by Eliza Foss – I’ve been a fan of Stacy Schiff since reading Cleopatra: A Life. I love her deep dives into major historical moments and figures, the care she takes to tell their complete stories and not just the versions of them with which we’re familiar. In the spirit of October and all things witchy, I’m finally giving this a listen.

This exploration of the Salem witch trials chronicles the panic that began in 1692 and hysteria that led to countless accusations. I’m only about a quarter of the way in, but so far it’s what I expected: a thorough investigation with the pacing of a psychological thriller. As for the narration, it’s a little soon to give my full review, especially since I’m a little salty that Robin Miles isn’t narrating Schiff’s work this time around. That’s no disrespect to Eliza Foss – I just need to give her a little more time.

From the Internets

A Pew Research study shows that one in five Americans now listens to audiobooks. We’re a pretty cool crowd, I think.

Here’s a thing you didn’t know you needed: professional audiobook narrator Saskia Maarleveld, whose most recent credits include The Golden Hour by Beatriz Williams and Kate Quinn’s The Huntress, reads the whistleblower complaint.

For all you Apple Watch people: here’s how to listen to audiobooks with WatchOS 6.

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That’s all I got today! Shoot me an email at vanessa@riotnewmedia.com with audiobook feedback & questions or find me on Twitter and the gram @buenosdiazsd. Sign up for the In The Club newsletter, peep the Read Harder podcast, and watch me booktube every Friday too!

Stay bad & bookish, my friends.
Vanessa

Hola Audiophiles!

I’m back in San Diego this week for some Maid of Honor duties and went from dressing for rain to sweating through my sundress. It’s all good though, because Mexican food has fed my soul and now I get to talk about ze audiobooks. And because I’m blasting Lizzy while I write, I have to share this related funny. I DIED.

Ready? Let’s audio.

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Don’t forget: you could win the best mysteries/thrillers of the year so far! You have until 9/30 to enter. Go!

New Releases – October 1 (publisher’s description in quotes): I absolutely chose all witchy/magical/monstery things because I am greeting autumn with open and eager arms.

The Sinister Mystery of the Mesmerizing Girl by Theodora Goss, narrated by Kate Reading – This is the third and final book in the trilogy that began with The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter which I’ve had on my TBR forever. At least now I can begin reading knowing I won’t have to wait to keep going! Mary Jekyll and the Athena Club race to save their kidnapped friend Alice, and foil a plot to unseat Queen Victoria.

• Narrator Note: Kate Reading has narrated the rest of the books in this series, and also V.E. Schwab’s Shades of Magic series. *insert heart-eyed emoji here*

Toil & Trouble: A Memoir by Augusten Burroughs, narrated by Anne Bobby, Augusten Burroughs, Gabra Zackman, and Robin Miles – When you brace yourself to tell your mother you’re a witch, the response you’re probs not expecting is, “Oh yeah yeah yeah, me too. Been a witch forevs. Welcome!” That’s what happened to Augusten Burroughs though, a story he recounts for us in this touching memoir. The hook: “Ghosts are real, trees can want to kill you, beavers are the spawn of satan, houses are alive, and in the end, love is the most powerful magic of all.”

• Narrator Note: I was already excited about this given that it’s pretty much October and I wants all of the witchy reads. Then I saw Robin Miles is one of the narrators… check please.

Frankissstein: A Love Story by Jeanette Winterson, narrated by John Sackville, Perdita Weeks – Eek! I’ve only ever read one tiny book by Jeannette Winterson. Time for that to change! This is billed as “an audacious love story that weaves together disparate lives into an exploration of transhumanism, artificial intelligence, and queer love.” It contains discussions of Mary Shelley, a trans doctor in Brexit Britain falling in love with an expert in AI, a cryogenic facility in Phoenix, and a divorcee launching a new line of sex dolls. WHAT? How? Que? Gimme.

• Narrator note: Perdita Weeks narrated CIRCE and that was all it took for me to download.

There are just sooooo many more books coming out this fall. If you want more of those to add to your TBR, don’t forget that Liberty puts together an awesome New Release Index (I consult it almost daily), available for all Book Riot Insiders!

Latest Listens

Five Midnights by Ann Davila Cardinal, narrated by Almarie Guerra – I finally got to this book and I looooove. This novel set in Puerto Rico is inspired by a Latinx boogeyman myth: in Mexico it was el cucuy, in Puerto Rico it’s el cuco. No matter what your gente call it, many a brown kid is trembling with fear at the mere mention of the monster that will kidnap them for not cleaning their rooms satisfactorily.

The story: a string of very suspicious deaths among a group of friends rocks the island. Lupe Dávila, visiting PR for the summer from Vermont, and Javier Utierre, longtime friend to the boys who’ve been killed, will have to get over their aversion to one another in order to figure out who—or what—is killing these young men. The clues start to lead away from the human and towards the supernatural – could el cuco be real, and is it responsible?

I don’t love using the term “sassy Latina” because it’s often a lazy stereotype, but Lupe and numerous other characters are indeed sassy AF and the narrator gets their attitudes, accents, and inflections so, so right. I also love that there’s a rapper in the story named “Papi Gringo,” a clear play on Daddy Yankee for all my reggaeton fans. Dame mas gasolina! was the anthem of my college years, and yes: it means “give me more gasoline!” Shrug.

From the Internets

Have you heard of Unseen? It’s the first audio comic aimed at readers who see with their mind. 

Meryl Streep will narrate a new Charlotte’s Web audiobook Production

Audible ain’t done arguing over these captions.

Over at the Riot

Nonfiction was my first audiobook love;here are some recs if you’r looking for great true-story listens. 

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That’s all I got today! Shoot me an email at vanessa@riotnewmedia.com with audiobook feedback & questions or find me on Twitter and the gram @buenosdiazsd. Sign up for the In The Club newsletter, peep the Read Harder podcast, and watch me booktube every Friday too!

Stay bad & bookish, my friends.
Vanessa

Hola Audiophiles!

It’s Hispanic Heritage Month! I’m going through my TBR to pick out some great listens for the month by Hispanic (and Latinx) authors to recommend to you later in the month! For now I’ve got some more new releases (with some briefer descriptions) so I can rave a little more about my latest listen.

Ready? Let’s audio.

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New Releases – September 24 (publishers descriptions in quotes)

High School by Tegan Quin and Sara Quin, narrated by the authors – “From the iconic musicians Tegan and Sara comes a memoir about high school, detailing their first loves and first songs in a compelling look back at their humble beginnings.”

• Narrator note: this one is narrated by… Tegan and Sara! So cool.

Make it Scream, Make it Burn: Essays by Leslie Jamison, narrated by the author – “Leslie Jamison offers us 14 new essays that are by turns ecstatic, searching, staggering, and wise… Among Jamison’s subjects are 52 Blue, deemed ‘the loneliest whale in the world’; the eerie past-life memories of children; the devoted citizens of an online world called Second Life; the haunted landscape of the Sri Lankan Civil War; and an entire museum dedicated to the relics of broken relationships.”

• Narrator note: Hey hey, another author narrating their own work! Excited for this one, I really enjoyed The Recovering, Jamison’s narration was evocative and reminded me of slam poetry.

Motherhood So White: A Memoir of Race, Gender, and Parenting in America by Nefertiti Austin, narrated by Allyson Johnson – “Motherhood So White is the story of Nefertiti’s fight to create the family she always knew she was meant to have and the story of motherhood that all American families need now. In this unflinching account of her parenting journey, Nefertiti examines the history of adoption in the African American community, faces off against stereotypes of single, black motherhood, and confronts the reality of raising children of color in racially charged, modern-day America. ”

• Narrator note: I’m unfamiliar with this narrator but had to talk about them because the samples I heard from some of their other work almost sounded automated! Not a dig, it’s just so crisp and, as I’ve said before, sounds like someone who could have recorded the Walgreens automated messaging.

The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates, narrated by Joe Morton – “Young Hiram Walker was born into bondage. When his mother was sold away, Hiram was robbed of all memory of her – but was gifted with a mysterious power. Years later, when Hiram almost drowns in a river, that same power saves his life. This brush with death births an urgency in Hiram and a daring scheme: to escape from the only home he’s ever known.”

• Narrator note: Joe Morton’s narration of Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man

Latest Listens

Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow, narrated by January LaVoy – I did that thing that I love to do with this book where I went in knowing almost nothing about the plot. I knew there’d be doors and magic, and that the cover is pretty. That’s all it takes sometimes.

January Scaller is a young girl living in a giant mansion where she’s the ward of Mr. Locke, an eccentric fellow and collector of peculiar treasures. Her life changes irrevocably when she finds an old, shabby looking book that turns out to be a tale of adventures in other worlds and the secret doors that lead to them. The further she gets into the book, the more she learns that her own history might be linked to the one in the pages, and that she might possess a unique ability to open magical doors.

I was bewitched from the first buttery words uttered by January LaVoy, a voice I spent time with most recently in my listen of The Paragon Hotel. She’s able to switch seamlessly from that gorgeous I’m-telling-you-a-story-that-you-definitely-want-to-hear tone to the timid innocence of a young January (why am I JUST realizing the narrator and main character have the same name???!); the rather pompous Mr. Locke; the sassy, don’t-take-no-ish protagonist of the strange book; and a whole other cast of interesting characters from all parts of this wide and wild world.

BRB, going off in search of magic doors.

From the Internets

Here’s the current top ten list over at Audible.

Audible and The Great Courses have teamed up to create new audio-only nonfiction titles.

Mental illness can make it hard to read; audiobooks can help.

4 audiobooks for when you need that “get-your-sh*t together” talk.

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That’s all I got today! Shoot me an email at vanessa@riotnewmedia.com with audiobook feedback & questions or find me on Twitter and the gram @buenosdiazsd. Sign up for the In The Club newsletter, peep the Read Harder podcast, and watch me booktube every Friday too!

Stay bad & bookish, my friends.
Vanessa

Hola Audiophiles! It’s starting to look like sweater weather here in the city of roses and I am pleased as pumpkin spice! I can’t wait to make soups and curl up with a hot cup of tea. I’m sure you seasoned Pacific Northwesterners are laughing at my excitement for cooler temps. It’s ok, I don’t mind being basic. Give me all of the chunky knits.

Before we get to all things audio, I have a giveaway for you! Enter to win the year’s 10 best mystery/thrillers so far, including American Spy by Lauren Wilkinson and The Lost Man by Jane Harper.

Ready? Let’s audio.

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New Releases – September 17 (publisher’s descriptions in quotes)

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir, narrated by Moira Quirk – WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH ME?? I forgot to include this one last week!! I feel like I owe a giant apology to Liberty who has so convincingly sold all of the bookish internet on this title. Here’s all you need to know: lesbian necromancers… in space. Get thee to a book retailer!

• Narrator Note: Kinda wish Tasmyn herself was narrating because I love listening to her speak! (and you can do that now on the latest episode of Recommended, btw). Moira Quirk is amazing though; you might recognize her from Pierce Brown’s Red Rising series and Mackenzi Lee’s The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy.

Chilling Effect by Valerie Valdes, narrated by Almarie Guerra – I can’t do better than this IG post from our very own Amanda Nelson: “A sci-fi romp with lots of cursing in Spanish and inter-species love and psychic cats and sometimes, there is coffee in that nebula. Found family AND heists AND murderous space baddies AND political intrigue AND a grumpy heroine who kicks ass first, asks questions later (again, in Spanish, she doesn’t care if you understand because she doesn’t care about the answer really).” I need this now.

• Narrator Note: Almarie Guerra has narrated great reads like Fruit of the Drunken Tree, but she’s also the voice behind the What to Expect When You’re Expecting books. Something about that when juxtaposed to sweary Cubanas in space just makes me so, so happy.

Heaven, My Home by Attica Locke, narrated by JD Jackson – If you loved Bluebird, Bluebird, get ready to spend some more time with Texas Ranger Darren Matthews. This time we follow along as Matthews goes on the hunt for a missing boy, but that boy’s family are a bunch of white supremacists, so… this may not be smooth sailing based on what we know about our dude Darren. Locke just does mystery and flawed protagonists so well!

• Narrator Note: JD Jackson reprises his role as narrator after tackling Bluebird, Bluebird as well. Most recently, he narrated Colson Whitehead’s The Nickel Boys.

Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson, narrated by a full cast** – It’s 2001 and 16-year-old Melody is making her grand entrance at her coming-of-age ceremony; she has on a custom gown, one that was intended for her mother sixteen years earlier for a similar ceremony that never took place. As the history of Melody’s parents and grandparents is revealed, the book explores “sexual desire and identity, ambition, gentrification, education, class, and status, and the life-altering facts of parenthood.”

• Narrator Note: **That full cast? It includes Jacqueline Woodson AND Bahni Turpin. You added it to your cart, right?

Space Between: Explorations of Love, Sex, and Fluidity by Nico Tortorella, narrated by the author – Hey, so… I may have picked this one just because I have a lil’ crush on this Younger star and LBGTQ advocate. I have always been so impressed by their very candid discussion of sexuality and gender fluidity along the journey to discovering themselves fully. This memoir explores their childhood, downward spiral into drugs brought about by fame, and eventual arrival to a place of complete, unabashed authenticity.

• Narrator Note: “read by the author” is one of my favorite phrases.

The Vanderbeekers to the Rescue by Karina Yan Glaser, narrated by Robin Miles – Full disclosure: Karina Yan Glaser is one of Book Riot’s own Contributing Editors, but I’d recommend this one even if she weren’t! This is the third in her beloved Vanderbeekers series and follows the titular children in a race to save their mother’s baking business from closure.

• Narrator Note: So many narrator heavyweights in this newsletter! Robin Miles is another super fave, lending her voice to works by N.K. Jemisin, Nnedi Okorafor, Jacqueline Woodson, Roxane Gay, Stacy Schiff, Tananarive Due… how much time do you got?

Latest Listens (CW: sexual assault, though non-graphic)

I finally finished Speaking of Summer last week which I really enjoyed! When Summer Spencer mysteriously goes missing from the Harlem brownstone she shared with her twin sister Autumn, it appears that Autumn is just about the only person concerned with finding her. As she spins further into an obsession for facts that won’t reveal themselves, the reveal is one that I probably should have seen coming but didn’t. I love slow-burn psychological stuff like this, especially when it manages to weave in discussions of mental illness and current events.

Kudos to Karen Chilton for the weight she lends to the stories she performs. Every word is so powerful.

From the Internets

Why Malcolm Gladwell’s latest Talking to Strangers is an audiobook for the podcast generation.

Parade suggests these audiobooks for fall listening. The list is a teeny bit predictable but still contains some solid recs (Erin Morgenstern, we’re looking at you!)

For now, Audible will put the kibosh on the whole full caption rollout thing.

Over at the Riot

September means it’s officially back to school season! Here are some audiobooks for that school commute.

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That’s all I got today! Shoot me an email at vanessa@riotnewmedia.com with audiobook feedback & questions or find me on Twitter and the gram @buenosdiazsd. Sign up for the In The Club newsletter, peep the Read Harder podcast, and watch me booktube every Friday too!

Stay bad & bookish, my friends.
Vanessa