Sarah's Picks

An original and scientifically rigorous exploration of the darkest recesses of the human mind.

What is it about evil that we find so compelling? From our obsession with serial killers to violence in pop culture, we seem inescapably drawn to the stories of monstrous acts and the aberrant people who commit them.

But evil, Dr. Julia Shaw argues, is... Read more »

The Book of M

“Imagine a zombie apocalypse where instead of becoming undead, people lose their shadows and, along with it, gradually lose their memories. This intense, heartbreaking, and beautifully-written book follows multiple characters on their search for hope in a hopeless world. I love what they did with the narration of this book. It fits perfectly with the story and creates more of an emotional pull for the listener. An amazing, amazing book!”

Colleen, An Unlikely Story

Fox 8

“Another charming, inventive, and bizarre short story from a master of the form, Fox 8 will pinch your heart and make you cackle with laughter. With gorgeous illustrations by Chelsea Cardinal, this is an Aesop’s fable for the modern era. As with all of George Saunders’s other work, Fox 8 will leave you feeling like you’ve ridden a roller coaster through the entire range of human emotions—and isn’t that what literature is for?”

Jessica, Bookshop Santa Cruz

SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2018 MAN BOOKER PRIZE

An eerie, watery reimagining of the Oedipus myth set on the canals of Oxford, from the author of Fen

The dictionary doesn’t contain every word. Gretel, a lexicographer by trade, knows this better than most. She grew up on a houseboat with her mother, wandering the canals of Oxford and speaking a private...

Daisy Jones & The Six

“Some books just have to be listened to for the ultimate experience! This audiobook is just so much fun. Follow rock band Daisy Jones and the Six through their meteoric rise to fame in the 1970s. This book has all the drugs and drama you’d expect, but also complex, human characters whose loves and losses you can’t help but be moved by. The audiobook is full cast and full production and truly blew me away. I can’t wait to see Reese Witherspoon adapt this for a limited series and for this book to get even bigger. All the praise is well deserved!”

Megan, Underground Books

“Stretch[es] the boundaries of the genre...It’s horrifying, but there’s beauty.” —The New York Times
“One of the field’s most accomplished short story writers.” —The Washington Post

A gripping collection of six stories of terror—including the novella “The Visible Filth,” the basis for the upcoming major motion picture—by Shirley Jackson... Read more »

Lanny

“The genius of Max Porter is that he can write a village in its entirety—a mother’s love for her son, a brilliant artist’s loneliness, a young boy’s whimsical adventures, a mythological creature’s inner monologue, a whole village worth of secrets and wishes and terrible thoughts—and make it into a bizarre but highly enjoyable little novel. You’ll find yourself thrilled by the dark humor Porter captures in his story of one village and its characters, both real and mythologized, as Lanny follows the eponymous young boy and the lives he impacts around him.”

Erin Mazza, BookBar

The Need

“I firmly believe I will be hard-pressed to pick up a book in 2019 I love more than The Need, a genre-bending novel that explores motherhood and identity. Molly is the most authentic character I’ve had the pleasure of reading in quite some time, accompanied by baby Ben and lively Viv, the most fully realized fictional four-year-old ever. Is The Need a fever dream, a psychological thriller, a cosmic twist of fate unveiling a parallel world? The author leaves her readers to wonder while highlighting the dualities of domestic life. In gorgeous prose, Phillips shows how the mundane is often revealed to be just that, but sometimes that mundanity is sacred. A deeply immersive human story.”

Hanna Yost, Northshire Bookstore

The Farm

“The Farm was eerily haunting and a bit too real at times while being a captivating page turner. Ramos describes women from different backgrounds all with the the need or desire for a better life, all subjecting themselves to be "Hosts" for mysterious clients who would rather pay top dollar than go through with pregnancy themselves. Providing a chilling view into the possibilities of farming humans, Ramos explores the commodification of women's wombs... is this luxury resort and large paycheck worth the costs of maintaining the facade. If you liked The Handmaid's Tale, you will like this book.”

Emma, Content

Convenience Store Woman

“Keiko loves rules. Having worked a part-time job in a Japanese convenience store for 18 years, she loves having a corporate script to recite, sales goals to reach, and a list of tasks to complete. What she doesn't love - or even understand - are the more complicated rules of society at large. She doesn't want a husband, or children, or a real job. What she does want is a satisfactory answer to the endless personal questions that will allow her to be left alone. Convenience Store Woman is a quirky and hilarious look at society and its misfits, and what happens when we try to bend ourselves to the needs of others.”

Rachel, The Book Table

Little Weirds

“Little lovely weirds from the big, lovely, weirdness of Jenny Slate's brain. I am recommending that you get both a physical copy to beautify your shelves and the audiobook so that Slate can croon her little weirds into your ears and that way your hands are free for snacking or petting the dog or arranging acorns on your mantle. You will laugh and sigh and wish her words could bring things to life because she is, after all, a magical person so it should be a thing she can do. And who knows? Maybe she will. ”

Kate, Fountain Bookstore

In the small town of Ealing, Iowa, Austin and his best friend Robby have accidentally unleashed an unstoppable army. An army of horny, hungry, six-foot-tall praying mantises that only want to do two things.

This is the truth. This is history.
It’s the end of the world. And nobody knows anything about it.
You know what I mean.

 
Funny, intense,...

Bunny

“Mona Awad tells a harrowing story of a writer trying to overcome her writer’s block while simultaneously refusing to look deeper into herself or acknowledge her own needs or desires. This lack of self-knowledge leads her to a friendship with a group of young MFA students who are always ‘workshopping’…with disastrous consequences. The writing feels cinematic at times, moody and illustrative. Home, identity, love (both romantic and platonic), inner (and outer) demons, and academic elitism all play a part in this spectacle of creation and destruction. Awad creates a kind of magic that changes with the wind, a contemporary Prometheus tale.”

Katrina Feraco, The Toadstool Bookshop - Keene

While on vacation on an idyllic island called Miden, a seemingly aimless woman meets an attractive man and leaves her country to be with him. A few months later, newly pregnant and just beginning to feel comfortable in her lover's space, her life is upended when a girl arrives at the door.

Slight and pretty, the girl discloses a drawn out and... Read more »

Mexican Gothic

“Delightfully creepy. Dread builds steadily throughout the book. As a listener, you know that something is wrong but it’s hard to put your finger on it. Like the main character, you will doubt everything: the characters, their motivations and even your own deductive abilities. This book keeps you on your toes, flitting from one theory to the next. Mexican Gothic takes all the best of traditions of gothic house horror and infuses it with something new: the evils of colonialism. Listen carefully and consider keeping the lights on!”

Samantha, Rediscovered Books

A New York Times Notable Books of 2020

"Narrator Adam Lazarre-White's voice exudes confidence and depth; his performance is an example of how the best audiobooks deliver pure storytelling." -- AudioFile Magazine, Earphones Award winner

A husband, a father, a son, a business owner…And the best getaway driver east of the Mississippi.

This...

The Only Good Indians

“I loved this book. Jones has a unique narrative voice, allowing ‘the entity’ to step in and take over unexpectedly, amping up the horror. Also, each character has a distinct voice that brings them to life. Jones combines the culture and traditions of the Blackfeet and Crow people with the social truths of their contemporary life. It is refreshingly different from any other horror novel I’ve read. This book is gruesome and honestly scary. I couldn’t put it down.”

Kristine Jelstrom-Hamill, Buttonwood Books and Toys

The Travelers

“Spanning over 50 years and the intersection of two centuries, The Travelers weaves together the stories of two families and in the process gives an incisive portrait of a country and society in the midst of massive social change. The author artfully moves back and forth in time as the stories emerge and converge, probing the dynamics of love and family and the bounds and conflicts inherent in both. This novel is the story of two families but universal in the America it portrays.”

Bill Cusumano , Square Books

My Year of Rest and Relaxation

“At first, My Year of Rest and Relaxation feels like the end of something, like a novel about the end of someone’s life. But Moshfegh has a way of affirming life unlike any other author. Repercussions of grief, emotional exhaustion, and the general anchors of life hurl a young woman into the warm embrace of the idea of hibernating for a year. Of course, this cannot be so simply done. In true Moshfegh fashion, this journey is brimming with laconic humor, her brand of ne’er-do-wells, and ample substance intake, which all lead to one of the most existentially satisfying reads in recent memory.  ”

Gregory Day, BookPeople

Nothing to See Here

“One of my favorite audiobooks this year! I loved the narration nearly as much as I loved each of the characters and their journey. You can't help but root for the children, and appreciate how the weirdness actually accentuates the trials and tribulations of found family versus those we're related to in a very real way. Delightful.”

Jane, Rediscovered Books