Previously Audiobook of the Month, we would like to introduce Audiobooks of the Month! Each month a theme will guide our list of suggested audiobooks to suit a variety tastes and interests. We look forward to sharing this broader monthly list and accompanying themes with you.
For August, our theme is: Summer Reading Picks. Everyone these days is talking about their favorite summertime reads, so we’ve compiled selections from celebrity book clubs, our own partner stores, and our first Summer Listening Challenge finishers. What is Oprah Winfrey reading? How about Andrew Luck? What are Ann Patchett and Emma Straub talking up at their bookstores? What are customers of Vroman’s listening to? Whether you prefer the sun or the shade, there’s a summer read here for you.
Oprah Winfrey says Imbolo Mbue’s highly acclaimed debut novel Behold the Dreamers has “…got everything that’s grabbing the headlines in America right now.”
Emma Straub, author and owner of the bookstore Books Are Magic, picked Hannah Tinti’s The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley, deemed by the New York Times a “strikingly symphonic novel.”
Customer and supporter of Wild Geese Bookshop, Jerry H., recommends Light Between the Oceans by M.L. Stedman which accompanied him through work and travel.
For his book club, Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck chose the New York Times bestseller Undaunted Courage, Stephen E. Ambrose’s definitive book on Lewis and Clark’s exploration of the Louisiana Purchase.
Jeff Kinney, author and owner of the An Unlikely Story bookshop, suggests Kim Scott’s Radical Candor, which explores how to be a “…Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity.”
The inaugural pick of actor Sarah Jessica Parker’s book club, No One Is Coming to Save Us by Stephanie Powell Watts reimagines The Great Gatsby through a contemporary African-American family in a small North Carolina town.
Bookseller and supporter of Vroman’s Bookstore, Jen P. recommends You Can’t Touch My Hair by Phoebe Robinson and Jessica Williams which she listened to while gardening, painting with watercolor, and commuting.
Bestselling author and bookstore owner Judy Blume chose Sarah Gerard’s acclaimed book of essays Sunshine State, which uses the author’s experiences growing up along Florida’s gulf coast to illuminate the struggles of modern human survival.
Actor Whoopi Goldberg’s summer pick is the New England mystery Since We Fell, written by Dennis Lehane, who was recently dubbed by the New York Times “one of the great, diabolical thriller kings.”
Ann Patchett, bestselling author and owner of Parnassus Books, says the novel Chemistry by Weike Wang “starts as a charming confection and then proceeds to add on layers of emotional depth and complexity with every page.”
Finally, actor Reese Witherspoon recommended to her book club, The Alice Network by Kate Quinn, which NPR called “…a crackling tale of spies and suspense.” Della A., a customer of Hudson Booksellers also recommends this audiobook which she listened to while commuting.