Ballast Book Co Staff Favorites

With the Fire on High

“This was a great listen. Emoni, a single teen mom, has so much on her plate and has maturity beyond her years. She’s realistic and responsible and navigates high school, parenting, college decisions and a budding love interest. She’s becoming a talented chef and her feelings are expressed in her food. The author narrates and she had me hooked from the first sentence.”

Audrey, Belmont Books

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Salt to the Sea and Between Shades of Gray comes a gripping, extraordinary portrait of love, silence, and secrets under a Spanish dictatorship.

Madrid, 1957. Under the fascist dictatorship of General Francisco Franco, Spain is hiding a dark secret. Meanwhile, tourists and foreign businessmen flood... Read more »

The Jane Austen Society

“I loved this book so much that I bought the hardcover for myself right after I finished listening to the book on Libro.fm - and I bought 3 more copies to give to friends. You don't have to like Jane Austen to love this book. It's so refreshing!”

Myrna, Content

Migrations

“Imagine a world where almost all the animals have disappeared. Imagine a love strong enough to believe it can make a difference. In a fragile, near-future world, author Charlotte McConaghy gives us Franny Stone, a character as wild and broken as the few remaining Arctic terns she is determined to follow on what will most likely be their last migration. Franny’s quest is as epic as Captain Ahab’s, and while it leaves much destruction in its wake, it is ultimately a quest toward life. Migrations is a book so beautiful it will leave you breathless. Breathless with cold despair, and breathless with pulsating life and hope. This is a truly stunning debut.”

Lisa Swayze, Buffalo Street Books

Axiom's End

“Ampersand the alien comes to Earth looking for his pals in this interesting story of a relationship that develops between a human and an alien. Enjoyed the audiobook particularly because of the alien voice!”

Todd, Leaves Book and Tea Shop

Don't Ask Me Where I'm From

“Liliana, or Lilly as she is known at her new HS, is such an engaging teenager. Tough, smart, her willingness to learn. You'll love her just as I did reading about her attempts at bridging the gaps between Latinx, White, Black and Asian cultures here in an American High School. Ines del Castillo has the perfect voice. ”

Suzanne, Ballast Book Co.

If you enjoyed The Escape Room, then you’ll love The Night Swim.

“An amazing thriller that's perfect for lovers of podcasts and true crime! Goldin's previous book, "The Escape Room," set my expectations high, and she does not disappoint with The Night Swim. Rachel hosts a popular true crime podcast, which brings her to small town Neapolis to cover a rape case. High school golden boy and Olympic swimmer hopeful stands accused of raping the granddaughter of the former town sheriff. While Rachel is busy covering a town divided by opposing views, she comes across an older case. Hannah is reaching out to the podcaster to get justice for her murdered sister, Jenny, whose death was swept under the town's proverbial rug twenty five years ago. This is pretty much the perfect book for listening to! Narrators Bailey Carr, January LaVoy, and Samantha Desz draw you in, keep you trapped and tense and riveted until the thrilling end. Another Goldin book worthy of the top ten of 2020! ”

Kate, Fountain Bookstore

The New York Times and USA Today bestselling series

They dive so humanity survives …

More than two centuries after World War III poisoned the planet, the final bastion of humanity lives on massive airships circling the globe in search of a habitable area to call home. Aging and outdated, most of the ships plummeted back to earth long ago. The only...

A Closed and Common Orbit

“Becky Chambers has built a dazzling and expansive science fiction universe and seems determined to introduce readers to every corner. The AI Sidra and young Jane provide swapping viewpoints between a bustling, multi-species city sprawling over a moon and a sterile factory among miles and miles of junkyard on a planet with extremely skewed priorities. Sidra's journey to understand who and what she really only becomes more poignant as you follow Jane struggle to escape the only home, the only planet, she has ever known. In the end, despite the fantastic setting and characters, Chambers manages to deliver a striking message about consciousness, survival, and family.”

Sam, The Cupboard Maker Books

This Is How You Lose The Time War

“How to begin a letter? How to begin a letter to your best enemy? This story takes place through the ages, between two-time traveling agents who must braid and unbraid the fabric of time in an effort to usher in their opposing futures. I read this twice before finishing it. This book is a book to savor.”

Lafe, Oblong Books

"Tender and illuminating. A beautiful debut." --Rebecca Stead, Newbery Medal-winning author of When You Reach Me

A heartrending and hopeful debut novel about a nonverbal girl and her passion for space exploration, for fans of See You in the Cosmos, Mockingbird, and The Thing About Jellyfish.

Twelve-year-old Nova is eagerly awaiting the launch of... Read more »

Gideon the Ninth

“This is everything I wanted in a book and more. Gideon is likable but flawed, Harrow is horrible and unforgettable, and the prose occasionally turns hauntingly beautiful. The narration helps make a complex world become real and the characters friends you may or may not want to invite over to dinner. It depends on whether your folks are there.”

Jenny, Page 158 Books

In this Hugo nominated science fiction thriller by Mur Lafferty, a crew of clones awakens aboard a space ship to find they're being hunted-and any one of them could be the killer.

Maria Arena awakens in a cloning vat streaked with drying blood. She has no memory of how she died. This is new; before, when she had awakened as a new clone, her first... Read more »

Once Upon a River

“Time to settle down for a story. It begins, as good stories should, with the rescue of a pair of strangers on a winter night. Though all is not as it seems in Diane Setterfield’s latest, as Once Upon a River quickly delves into a mystery. The young girl was dead when she was pulled from the river, but hours later she begins to breathe. As the story of her revival spreads, more than one member of the village feels mysteriously drawn to her. Could she be their missing child, estranged granddaughter, long-lost sister? Setterfield’s work is the closest an adult can come to settling down for story time, and Once Upon a River has the same magic, timeless, and cozy charm of a tale that has been told through the ages. Simply lovely.”

Molly Gillespie, Joseph-Beth Booksellers

"The first in an unmissable series, Priest of Bones is a fresh and compelling take on grimdark fantasy. Mashing together soldiers, gangsters, magic and war into a heady mix that is a hulking big brother to The Lies of Locke Lamora."--Anna Stephens, author of Godblind

The war is over, and army priest Tomas Piety heads home with Sergeant Bloody... Read more »

Talking to Strangers

“I have always considered myself to be a very open-minded person. But Malcolm Gladwell's "Talking to Strangers" is a revelation in the mistakes we humans make in interpreting each other's motives and intentions. The common assumptions that we make in order to navigate daily life often lead us to grossly err in our decisions and judgments concerning others. When we seek to determine whether someone is lying, whether they've committed a crime, or if we can trust a stranger--we use faulty tools. Gladwell helps us to see and understand this phenomenon using stories from recent events such as the trials of Bernie Madoff, Amanda Knox, and the rape case of Brock Turner and Emily Doe. I can't wait to share and discuss this book with my friends and family.”

Tracey, Commonplace Reader

Mythos

“I'm really enjoying listening to Stephen Fry's narration of his book Mythos. Told with a wink and a nod, he brings the classical mythologies alive with great zest. Weaving the many personalities and stories into a whole tapestry of delight. Wonderful fun for making that walk longer.”

Liesl, Boulder Book Store

Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You

“The history of Black Americans from two people who get it. But this isn't just a history book: it's a recount of why America is the way that it is today, why we have people who think they way they do, and why we have a racist in the White House. Jason Reynolds melodic voice comes through in audio and on the pages. You are guaranteed to learn something new (no matter how learned or woke you are), and it's a good one.”

Lauren, M. Judson Booksellers

Where the Crawdads Sing

“Everyone that Kya has ever known has abandoned her. From the time that she was a young child she is left behind. After the student truancy officers track her down and get her to school the children laugh at her so she retreats to the only place that she feels normal - the marshland of North Carolina. She perseveres when she has every strike against her. She fends for herself and studies the natural surroundings of the marsh carefully. She paints and catalogs her collections, studies animal biology carefully, and becomes more in tune with nature than with the townspeople who call her "The Marsh Girl." Then one day the town's "golden boy" Chase Andrews ends up dead and Kya is the one that is suspected of killing him. The story that unfolds will draw you in - I was consumed with the story to the point where I could think about little else during the day because I had to know what happened next in the book. I laughed, I cried, I did fist pumps when things go well for Kya... this book infected me and I'm still having a tough time with the idea that the book is over. I'll carry these characters and this story with me for a long time.”

Jennifer, The Bookstore at Fitger's

The Good Neighbor

“A wonderful biography of an American icon who seemed too good to be true. And yet, believe it or not, he was an even better, more caring man than he portrayed on television. If you are a fan of Fred Rogers and want to understand what drove him to create Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood, this is an essential read. Learning more about Rogers’ life through the words of his family and friends in this well-researched and comprehensive biography will give you even more reason to admire the man. And when’s the last time a biography made you cry tears of joy?”

James Wilson, Octavia Books