Release date: July 12, 2022 What it’s about: I love when memoirs are read by the author, and Erika narrates her humorous, heartfelt memoir beautifully. Erika explores what it was like growing up as the daughter of Mexican immigrants in Chicago during the ’90s and throughout adulthood. She reflects on aspects of her life with unflinching honesty and raunchy humor, focusing on sex and unknown vagina pain (always a pleasant surprise to find a book that explores vagina problems!), love and divorce, feminism and colorism, and depression and mental health. Listen to this audiobook via Libro.fm. Release date: August 9, 2022 What it’s about: There’s a good chance you’ve heard people raving about Jennette’s memoir within the last month, and if you haven’t read it, I highly recommend the audio version that Jennette narrates. In short but profound chapters, Jennette tells her story with unflinching honesty. As a child actor who began going on auditions at the age of 6, Jennette recalls that it was her mother’s dream for her to become a star. Craving peace and harmony within her family, she wanted to keep her mother happy, especially after her mother was diagnosed with cancer. Jennette reveals the dark secrets she harbored on her rise to fame, including struggling with eating disorders, addiction, and unhealthy relationships. It’s an unforgettable, heartbreaking personal journey that showcases her resilience. Listen to this audiobook via Libro.fm. Release date: September 24, 2019 What it’s about: Twin sisters Tegan and Sara, who formed a band by the same name, co-wrote a memoir about growing up in Alberta, Canada and their journey toward falling in love with songwriting, all while navigating relationships and slowly discovering their sexual identity. While the physical book includes photos of their adolescence, the audiobook is narrated by the sisters and also includes snippets of recordings from their younger years — which is a treat to hear alongside their story. Recalling their separate experiences of high school in alternating chapters, they don’t shy away from discussing big feelings and angst, drug use, sexual explorations, identifying as queer, and the intimate struggles of sisterhood. Bonus: The book was recently adapted into a TV show by the same name, which debuts on Peacock on October 14. Listen to this audiobook via Libro.fm. Release date: October 26, 2021 What it’s about: If there’s one book I’ve recommended to friends and acquaintances this year — that they have then immediately bought and read — it’s this one. I don’t know how this book managed to sneak under my radar last year, but I’m so glad I had a chance to listen to the audio version several months ago. I highly recommend to any music lover, especially fans of punk, pop-punk, and emo. Rock critic Dan Ozzi does a brilliant job of recalling the history of several different bands, including Green Day, Jawbreaker, Jimmy Eat World, Blink-182, My Chemical Romance, and many more — not only noting their rise to major label success, but capturing why some bands didn’t go on to achieve as much notoriety as others. It’s fascinating and compelling, and Chris Abell does a brilliant job narrating. Listen to this audiobook via Libro.fm. Release date: August 2, 2022 What it’s about: I love Julia Whelan’s audiobook narration so much. It’s always perfect, stunning, no notes. So, when I learned she narrated her latest novel about an audiobook narrator, I knew I had to immediately listen to it. Whelan’s contemporary romance has the perfect balance of swooniness and heart. Sewanee Chester has made a career being an audiobook narrator, which allows her to take care of her ailing grandmother. The one genre Sewanee doesn’t touch? Romance. So, when news arrives in Sewanee’s inbox that the late June French, a world renowned romance writer, wants her and Brock McKnight, the romance industry’s beloved mystery voice, to team up on her final novel, it’s an offer Sewanee can’t refuse. Mainly because it pays a lot. Enough for her to drudge up her old pseudonym. And from behind their screens, Sewanee and Brock begin to forge an emotional connection. But when reality comes crashing down, Sewanee must decide if she’s really ready to go after what she wants. Listen to this audiobook via Libro.fm. Release date: September 2, 2021 What it’s about: The Heart Principle is one of the best romance books I read last year, and Brian Nishii and Natalie Naudus do a wonderful job bringing Hoang’s characters to life. Anna Sun is a talented violinist who achieved viral YouTube fame that left her anxious, burnt out, and chasing an impossible standard of perfectionism. Then, to her surprise, her boyfriend announces he’d prefer an open relationship. This leads Anna to seeking out a one night stand with Quan Diep — except it doesn’t go according to plan. And the more they attempt to hook up, the more Anna begins to believe that Quan sees a version of herself that she hasn’t allowed anyone to see. But when a complicated family matter becomes more dire than ever, Anna begins taking on too much and suppressing what she truly wants. And as her relationship with Quan suffers, she’ll have to finally be honest with herself. Listen to this audiobook via Libro.fm. Release date: June 7, 2022 What it’s about: Adler’s sapphic YA romance is stunningly narrated by Natalie Naudus and Lori Prince, who do a wonderful job bringing Jack and Amber to life. This novel is a sweet treat layered with the thoughtful complexity of embracing your sexual identity and will have you rooting for both of these ambitious teens. Set in the small town of Atherton, Florida, Amber McCloud dreams of making cheer captain next year. Jack (short for Jaclyn) is new to Atherton and is set on being the best quarterback she can be, but her misogynistic classmates and teammates don’t make things easy for her — especially since she’s replaced Robbie, the QB who was tragically killed in a car accident. But as we get inside the heads of these two characters from dual POVs, we slowly find them falling for each other. Listen to this audiobook via Libro.fm. Release date: May 5, 2009 (Audio release: May 3, 2022) Listen to this audiobook via Libro.fm. Release date: October 6, 2020 What it’s about: This immersive, compelling story is told stunningly by none other than Julia Whelan, and it’s certainly worth a listen. In the narrative, told between multiple time periods, beginning in France in 1714, we’re introduced to Addie, who makes an unfortunate deal with the dark and is therefore cursed to walk through life as someone forgotten. Then, one day in 2014, she meets a boy who does not forget her as soon as she departs, and she must figure out why. Listen to this audiobook via Libro.fm. Release date: March 6, 2012 What it’s about: If you’re ready to be read a story that feels like a gut punch, listen to Frazer Douglas’ performance of The Song of Achilles. Patroclus (who, in Greek mythology, is the close friend and presumed lover of Achilles) has been exiled to the kingdom of Phthia, where he befriends Achilles, a son of a goddess who is destined to become the greatest warrior of his generation. The two become close, eventually falling in love, but when Helen of Sparta is kidnapped and war begins, emotional tensions rise between Patroclus and Achilles as feelings of heroism and empathy slowly begin to tug them apart. Listen to this audiobook via Libro.fm. Release date: October 20, 2020 What it’s about: I don’t know if I’ve ever laughed out loud so much while listening to an audiobook, but this is exactly what my soul needed. If you’re on the hunt for an audiobook that feels like a pop-culture podcast, look no further. New York Times opinion writer and bestselling author Lindy West is an absolute gem, and her takes on these culturally iconic movies are absolutely hilarious, sharp, and closely examined in a way that is true to West’s unique voice and opinions. Listen to this audiobook via Libro.fm. Release date: November 26, 2019 What it’s about: On the complete opposite end of the spectrum, if you want an audiobook that will make you cry real emotional tears, then Backman’s A Man Called Ove is the one for you. I love Backman’s work because he does such a wonderful job exploring all the complex ways humans exist in this world and how one person’s presence can easily, and maybe unknowingly, impact another’s. In A Man Called Ove, we meet an old, bitter curmudgeon named Ove (think Carl from Up) who is very grumpy at the idea of having young, peppy, and enthusiastic young neighbors who seem to — like him? As the story progresses, we learn what’s hardened Ove throughout his life and how his new neighbors begin to form a real friendship with him. Listen to this audiobook via Libro.fm. Release date: September 7, 2021 What it’s about: Frankie Corzo does an incredible job narrating Córdova’s stunning magical realism novel about family and the secrets they keep. Orquídea Divina is the matriarch of her family, but when her loved ones return to her home for her funeral, and to collect their inheritance, they find she’s transformed into a ceiba tree. Gifted with powers, Marimar, Rey, and Rhiannon must uncover the very thing that threatens to destroy Orquídea’s line — as well as the truth of the life she once lived. Listen to this audiobook via Libro.fm. Release date: June 1, 2021 What it’s about: Ford’s unflinching, impactful memoir explores growing up with an incarcerated father and her rocky relationship with her mother, poverty and unwanted male attention, working toward success and a career, complex relationships and friendships, and more. Ford beautifully narrates her story, and it’s absolutely worth a listen. Listen to this audiobook via Libro.fm. Release date: March 5, 2019 What it’s about: Daisy Jones & the Six tells a story of the rise of a fictional iconic rock band in the 1970s and is formatted almost documentary-style with character dialogue at the forefront, as if you’re watching an episode of VH1’s Behind the Music. It’s sex, drugs, and rock ’n’ roll with the kind of drama and tension between characters that is utterly addicting and beautifully complex. There are a plethora of amazing narrators within this audiobook, and they do a spectacular job juggling so many different voices, breathing life into each of them. Listen to this audiobook via Libro.fm. Release date: April 12, 2022 What it’s about: If you haven’t read JVN’s debut memoir, Over the Top: My Story, I highly suggest starting there. Van Ness deep dives into his life before Queer Eye: growing up in a small Midwestern town, struggling with addiction and his HIV diagnosis, sexual abuse, and being ridiculed for the things that he felt made him, him. It’s a vulnerable, raw, and honest exploration of his roots. In Love That Story, his most recent book, we get more of that genuine honesty, humor, and heart in a uniquely Van Ness way: with exceptional wit and voice. He’s honest with readers about his feelings after the release of his debut memoir while also exploring topics of body neutrality, the complex and unjust history of cannabis legalization, grief, and so much more. Plus, it’s an absolute treat to listen to JVN narrate. Listen to this audiobook via Libro.fm.
