As recommended by NPR

The Fraud

A Novel

By: Zadie Smith
Narrated by: Zadie Smith
Length: 12 hours 24 minutes

“Hearing Zadie Smith narrate The Fraud only enhances the experience of this already great novel. The characters are unique and easily distinguishable, and her considerable skill with accents is astounding. A thoroughly unique and enjoyable experience, just like everything Smith writes. Listen, and let her words transport you. You won't regret it. Read more

Dearborn

By: Ghassan Zeineddine
Narrated by: Sarab Kamoo & Qarie Marshall
Length: 7 hours 34 minutes

Spanning several decades, Ghassan Zeineddine’s debut collection examines the diverse range and complexities of the Arab-American community in Dearborn, Michigan. In ten tragicomic stories, Zeineddine explores themes of identity, generational conflicts, war trauma, migration, sexuality, queerness, home and belonging, and more. In Dearborn, a... Read more

The Vaster Wilds

A Novel

By: Lauren Groff
Narrated by: January LaVoy
Length: 7 hours 5 minutes

“Lauren Groff is at the height of her power as a writer. The Vaster Wilds explores how one young woman’s experience of survival defines her. Rich in nuance, gorgeous, and full of the mystery of spirit, this novel meditates on life itself. Read more

Just Because

By: Matthew McConaughey
Narrated by: Matthew McConaughey
Length: 4 minutes

The debut picture book by Academy Award-winning actor and #1 New York Times bestselling author Matthew McConaughey—adapted for audio

Just because I’m in the race,
doesn’t mean I’m fully ready.
Just because I’m shaking,
doesn’t mean that I’m not steady.

Have you ever felt worried and excited at the same time?

Have you ever had your feelings hurt but... Read more

The Enchanters

A novel

By: James Ellroy
Narrated by: Craig Wasson
Length: 19 hours 7 minutes

James Ellroy—Demon Dog of American Letters—goes straight to the tragic heart of 1962 Hollywood with a wild riff on the Marilyn Monroe death myth in an astonishing, behind-the-headlines crime epic.

Los Angeles, August 4, 1962. The city broils through a midsummer heat wave. Marilyn Monroe ODs. A B-movie starlet is kidnapped. The overhyped LAPD... Read more

The Exceptions

Nancy Hopkins, MIT, and the Fight for Women in Science

By: Kate Zernike
Narrated by: Kathe Mazur
Length: 14 hours 30 minutes

As late as 1999, women who succeeded in science were called “exceptional” as if it were unusual for them to be so bright. They were exceptional, not because they could succeed at science but because of all they accomplished despite the hurdles.

“Gripping…one puts down the book inspired by the women’s grit, tenacity, and brilliance.” —Science
... Read more

Unearthing

A Story of Tangled Love and Family Secrets

By: Kyo Maclear
Narrated by: Kyo Maclear
Length: 9 hours 42 minutes

An unforgettable memoir about a family secret revealed by a DNA test, the lessons learned in its aftermath, and the indelible power of love—for readers of Dani Shapiro’s Inheritance and Katherine May’s Wintering.

“Magnificent...I will never forget it.” —Dani Shapiro, author of Inheritance

“A mind-altering and supremely generous exploration of... Read more

Necessary Trouble

Growing Up at Midcentury

By: Drew Gilpin Faust
Narrated by: Drew Gilpin Faust
Length: 10 hours 16 minutes

To grow up in the 1950s was to enter a world of polarized national alliances, nuclear threat, and destabilized social hierarchies. Two world wars and the depression that connected them had unleashed a torrent of expectations and dissatisfactions―not only in global affairs but in American society and Americans’ lives. To be a privileged white... Read more

Trail of the Lost

The Relentless Search to Bring Home the Missing Hikers of the Pacific Crest Trail

By: Andrea Lankford
Narrated by: Kristi Burns
Length: 10 hours 3 minutes

From an award-winning former law enforcement park ranger and investigator, this female-driven true crime adventure follows the author’s quest to find missing hikers along the Pacific Crest Trail by pairing up with an eclectic group of unlikely allies.
 
As a park ranger with the National Park Service's law enforcement team, Andrea Lankford led... Read more

Praying with Jane Eyre

Reflections on Reading as a Sacred Practice

By: Vanessa Zoltan
Narrated by: Vanessa Zoltan & Cassandra Campbell
Length: 7 hours 21 minutes

“In these soaring, open-hearted essays, Vanessa Zoltan writes with fierce brilliance about suffering, survival, and the kind of meaning in life that can withstand real scrutiny.”—John Green, bestselling author of The Fault in Our Stars and The Anthropocene Reviewed
 
 
A deeply felt celebration of a classic novel--and a reflection on the ways our... Read more

EVERYTHING/NOTHING/SOMEONE

A Memoir

By: Alice Carrière
Narrated by: Alice Carrière
Length: 10 hours 42 minutes

A powerful literary debut that tells of a young woman’s coming-of-age in the bohemian ’90s, as her adolescence gives way to a struggle with dissociative disorder. *New York Times Editor’s Choice*Alice Carrière tells the story of her unconventional upbringing in Greenwich Village as the daughter of a remote mother, the renowned artist Jennifer... Read more

Once More with Feeling

A Novel

By: Elissa Sussman
Narrated by: Jaime Lamchick
Length: 9 hours 12 minutes

“As fun and frothy as a Britney concert mashed up with a musical comedy . . . warm, engrossing, and satisfying in every way.”—Entertainment Weekly (One of the Best Romance Novels of Spring 2023)

From the bestselling author of Funny You Should Ask comes “a pitch-perfect second chance romance with off-the-charts tension and chemistry” (Carley... Read more

Evergreen

Japantown Mysteries: Book #2

By: Naomi Hirahara
Narrated by: Allison Hiroto
Length: 8 hours 32 minutes

Los Angeles, 1946: It’s been two years since Aki Ito and her family were released from Manzanar detention center and resettled in Chicago with other Japanese Americans. Now the Itos have finally been allowed to return home to California—but nothing is as they left it. The entire Japanese
American community is starting from scratch, with... Read more

Tom Lake

A Novel

By: Ann Patchett
Narrated by: Meryl Streep
Length: 11 hours 22 minutes

“Once again, Patchett does her thing. Expertly read. Read more

Congratulations, The Best Is Over!

Essays

By: R. Eric Thomas
Narrated by: R. Eric Thomas
Length: 6 hours 39 minutes

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • The beloved author of Here for It returns with an all-new collection of heartening, deeply relatable, and laugh-out-loud essays about what happens after happily ever after.

“Funny, insightful, and hopeful . . . a profound meditation on what it means to come home, and on finding your way again after the chaos of life takes... Read more

The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store

A Novel

By: James McBride
Narrated by: Dominic Hoffman
Length: 12 hours 21 minutes

“This is a humorous, compassionate and insightful novel, and my favorite of 2023 so far! A skeleton found at the bottom of a well, clutching a mezuzah. This is the mystery that McBride puts at the outset of his fabulous new novel, The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store. From this opening, McBride populates the world of 1930s Pottstown,... Read more

Ancient Night

By: David Álvarez & David Bowles
Narrated by: David Bowles
Length: 9 minutes

"At the start of things, the elders say,
the universe was hushed and still.
The moon alone shone bright and round
in the star-speckled dark of the sky.
David Álvarez is one of the most extraordinary artists working today. His black-and-white illustrations have gained fame in his home country of Mexico and around the world.
Here, in Noche antigua... Read more

Vampires of El Norte

By: Isabel Cañas
Narrated by: Jose Nateras & Krysta Gonzales
Length: 12 hours 1 minute

“Vampires of El Norte is a thrilling supernatural gothic Western set during the Mexican-American War that is a perfect follow-up to The Hacienda. It is just the perfect blend of adventure, horror, and romance to keep you turning the pages well after lights-out. Read more

A Pocketful of Happiness

By: Richard E. Grant
Narrated by: Richard E. Grant
Length: 8 hours 13 minutes

"Genuine and compelling." —The New York Times

“One of the bravest, strongest, funniest memoirs I’ve ever read.” —Bonnie Garmus, New York Times bestselling author of Lessons in Chemistry

“A moving and entertaining celebration of life and love." —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Academy Award–nominated actor Richard E. Grant’s memoir about... Read more

Good Fortune

A Novel

By: C.K. Chau
Narrated by: Catherine Ho
Length: 12 hours 28 minutes

“The best modern day Pride and Prejudice retelling I’ve ever read! Subbing in good jobs for advantageous marriages feels natural, and all the beats of the original story I wanted were there with enough in between to make it feel fresh. Read more