Staff Picks of 2024

Curvy Girl Summer

Curve: Book #1

By: Danielle Allen
Narrated by: Wesleigh Siobhan
Length: 12 hours 42 minutes

“AHMAD IS SUCH A HOT MMC OMFG!!! This book started off with a bang (literally) and had some of the funniest banter I’ve read between love interests. I listened to the audio book of this one and LOVED the narrator, she made this such a fun book to listen to! Aaliyah is determined to find a boyfriend before her 30th birthday, leading to a string of... Read more

Before I Let Go

Skyland: Book #1

By: Kennedy Ryan
Narrated by: Wesleigh Siobhan & Jakobi Diem
Length: 13 hours 45 minutes

“Sexy and packed with hurt and forgiveness, Before I Let Go has just made it to my top-tier books! Read more

Anita de Monte Laughs Last

Reese's Book Club Pick (A Novel)

By: Xochitl Gonzalez
Narrated by: Jessica Pimentel, Jonathan Gregg & Stacy Gonzalez
Length: 13 hours 36 minutes

“This was a super fun listen. I enjoyed Olga Dies Dreaming, but I like this one even better. Told from multiple character’s viewpoints and moving back and forth through time, the story comes together so well. I loved the late 90’s setting for the modern portion of the novel and the supernatural, haunting in the last third of the book. Great... Read more

Where There Was Fire

A Novel

By: John Manuel Arias
Narrated by: Adriana Sananes
Length: 10 hours 25 minutes

"Bilingual Spanish/English audiobook narrator Sananes enlivens Costa Rican American poet/writer Arias’ multigenerational saga." —Booklist

A lush and lyrical debut novel about a Costa Rican family wrestling with a deadly secret, from rising literary star John Manuel Arias

Costa Rica, 1968. When a lethal fire erupts at the American Fruit Company’s... Read more

The Making of Yolanda la Bruja

By: Lorraine Avila
Narrated by: Lorraine Avila
Length: 10 hours 37 minutes

Elizabeth Acevedo has said that reading Lorraine Avila feels like an “UPPERCUT to the senses.” We couldn’t agree more. We have never encountered an author with prose of this sensitivity and fire.

Yolanda Alvarez is having a good year. She’s starting to feel at home at Julia De Burgos High, her school in the Bronx. She has her best friend Victory,... Read more

A Love Song for Ricki Wilde

By: Tia Williams
Narrated by: Mela Lee & Preston Butler
Length: 11 hours 42 minutes

“Tia Williams you genius. Page one and Ricki feels like home - at least to me, a Black woman with ADHD who also dreams of operating a small business, so maybe she was narrow casting a bit. But the parental relationship, the banter with her sisters, the Blackness (this book is Black as hell, i mean just gorgeous, earnest, unforced Blackness all... Read more

A Song to Drown Rivers

A Novel

By: Ann Liang
Narrated by: Natalie Naudus
Length: 10 hours 22 minutes

“A perfect study in longing, as devastating as it is lovely in the end. Xishi is a gorgeously complex character, deeply committed to the path she’s been set on. As she pursues her goals though, what was once so clear becomes more and more muddled. By love, by longing, by the true knowing of a person and their contradictions. By questions about... Read more

Sister Snake

A Novel

By: Amanda Lee Koe
Narrated by: Zoë Chao
Length: 8 hours 27 minutes

“A spectacular take on the intricacies of sibling relationships! The imagery in this book is so vibrant and lush it will make you want to take a bite out of it. Read more

The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina

A Novel

By: Zoraida Córdova
Narrated by: Frankie Corzo
Length: 10 hours 57 minutes

“This multigenerational novel is so beautifully written and full of magical realism. Dreamlike in its imagery and captivating in its storytelling, it is perfect for fans of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, by V. E. Schwab and The House of the Spirits, by Isabel Allende. Read more

Blackouts

A Novel

By: Justin Torres
Narrated by: Ozzie Rodriguez & Torian Brackett
Length: 6 hours 54 minutes

“This stunning novel explores the intimacies of queer life across generations through storytelling. Torres weaves in and out of linear time to express the rippling effects of redacting personal histories. Even though it is written as if you are hearing an old story, it feels like poetry. I felt like I was in a haze while reading and had trouble... Read more

How We Named the Stars

By: Andrés N. Ordorica
Narrated by: Christian Barillas
Length: 10 hours 16 minutes

When Daniel de La Luna arrives as a scholarship student at an elite East Coast university, he bears the weight of his family’s hopes and dreams—and the burden of sharing his late uncle’s name. Daniel flounders at first, but then Sam, his roommate, changes everything. As their relationship evolves from brotherly banter to something more intimate,... Read more

Sky Full of Elephants

By: Cebo Campbell
Narrated by: Leon Nixon, Erin Ruth Walker & Janina Edwards
Length: 10 hours 24 minutes

“In this debut novel, a tragedy is a new beginning. All the white people are gone, and the black people are gathering to create community and thrive. Campbell beautifully describes this new world and invites us to imagine a world without whiteness. Read more