Audiobooks have long been known for, as Audio Publishers Association president Michele Cobb puts it, their “great multitasking properties.” As we bid farewell to summer and look to fall, PW has rounded up some of the best new audiobooks for the autumnal activities.
As options for purchasing and listening to audiobooks continue to grow, the format is listened to during ever more daily activities. “We constantly hear from people who listen while they cook, while they’re in the garden, or out for a run,”says Amanda D’Acierno, publisher at Penguin Random House Audio. “An exciting thriller can keep your heart rate up and encourage you to go a few more miles on the treadmill, and a great novel or fascinating nonfiction title can make chopping a mountain of vegetables in the kitchen or weeding in the garden much more interesting.”
Raking the Leaves
Virtue Falls by Christina Dodd (Macmillan Audio). The fact that Dodd’s protagonist, Elizabeth Banner, is a geologist may conjure initial thoughts of a fall landscape, but it’s her investigation of her mother’s murder, and her romantic reconnection with her former husband (an FBI agent), that will have those leaves piled up in no time. Another good listen while wielding the rake: One Kick by Chelsea Cain (S&S), the first release in a new dark thriller series.
Staying in Summer Shape
It’s maybe best for warming up or cooling down, but Food: A Love Story by comedian Jim Gaffigan (Random House) packs plenty of laughs. For those looking to get their heart rates up on the treadmill, the season is full of thrilling offerings, including One of Us by Tawni O’Dell (Brilliance), a novel that stars a forensic psychologist who gets caught up in a murder mystery, and Murder 101 by Faye Kellerman (HarperAudio), in which former LAPD detective Peter Decker and his wife, Rena Lazarus, are drawn into the world of murder and art forgery.
Cooking on a Chilly Evening
Even if you’re not a seafood fan, Miereille Guiliano’s Meet Paris Oyster: A Love Affair with the Perfect Food (Blackstone Audio), an introduction to a famous Paris oyster bar and its passionate patrons, is a treat. For a second course, try Burnt Toast Makes You Sing Good by Kathleen Flinn, read by Cassandra Campbell (Blackstone Audio), which serves up family stories—several generations’ full—and the down-home recipes (Uncle Clarence’s cornflake-crusted, oven-fried chicken, anyone?) that are inextricably entwined with them.
Hitting the Road for a Family Leaf-Peeping Getaway
Frank Einstein and the Antimatter Motor by Jon Scieszka (Listening Library). Scieszka’s new high-energy series will captivate listeners in the front and backseats. Rain Reign by Ann M. Martin (Brilliance), the dramatic story of 12-year-old Rose; her beloved dog, Rain; and her often impatient dad, pulls at the heartstrings while also offering hopeful notes and is a solid choice for the elementary crowd. In Crocodile Encounters! And More True Stories of Adventures with Animals by Brady Barr and Kathleen Zoehfeld (Recorded Books), the explorer and croc expert’s tales are entertaining for all ages of animal, science, and adrenaline lovers.
Knitting Holiday Gifts
Among the fall titles that may inspire cozy thoughts are Somewhere Safe with Somebody Good by Jan Karon (Penguin), the 10th book in the author’s beloved series following characters living in the small North Carolina town of Mitford; This Is How I’d Love You by Hazel Woods (Tantor), a debut that depicts a romance that blossoms via a correspondence between Charles, a young medic serving in WWI, and 18-year-old Hensley; and Winter Street by Elin Hilderbrand (Hachette), a Christmas novel about the holiday gathering of the dysfunctional Quinn clan at the family’s inn on the island of Nantucket in Massachusetts.
Helping the Kids Get Back-to-School
Complex works by Shakespeare and Homer come to life in new ways via audio on new full-cast dramatizations from the Folger Shakespeare Library Presents series: the Bard’s Hamlet, Macbeth, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Othello, and Romeo and Juliet (S&S Audio), as well as The Iliad and The Odyssey by Homer, trans. by Robert Fitzgerald (Macmillan), read by Dan Stevens, Downton Abbey’s Cousin Matthew.
Clare Swanson contributed reporting for this article.
