If you’ve spent any time on Bookstagram over the last couple weeks, you’ve probably seen posts inspired by the #OnceYouGoBlackOut Challenge. Started by Reggie (@reggiereads), Traci (@thestackspod), Renée (@book_girl_magic), Marlowe (@lowelowexxoo), Leah (@exlibrislls), Anna (@never_withouta_book), and Jaime (@asborbedinpages). #OnceYouGoBlackOut is focused on celebrating little-known titles by black authors.
For many, it has become a holiday tradition to gather around whatever audio output device everyone now uses and listen to writer and humorist David Sedaris read the essay that made him famous: SantaLand Diaries. First read by Sedaris on NPR in 1992, SantaLand Diaries recalls Sedaris’ experiences the two years he was employed by Macy’s as a Christmas elf. With grim humor and dead-on observations, SantaLand Diaries set Sedaris on a trajectory of becoming one of America’s foremost humor writers.
In 2004, Gourmet magazine commissioned writer David Foster Wallace to write a review of the Maine Lobster Festival. I’m not quite sure what the editors of Gourmet were expecting, but I doubt they were looking to stuff their glossy with an essay north of 10,000 words with the thrust of the piece being a meditation on whether or not lobsters feel pain while being boiled alive. But that’s just what they got.
Kate Atkinson’s first novel, Behind the Scenes at the Museum, was named England’s Whitbread Book of the Year in 1996. Since then, she has written nine more ground-breaking, bestselling books. Her latest novel, Transcription, a dramatic story of WWII espionage, betrayal, and loyalty, was heralded by the Seattle Times as “mesmerizing, from every angle.”
We are excited to share Behind the Mic from AudioFile Magazine. This podcast highlights favorite audiobooks in short daily episodes, along with extended feature conversations with narrators and authors—like this bonus episode with LeVar Burton!
Jason Reynolds is a New York Times bestselling author, a Newbery Award Honoree, a Printz Award Honoree, National Book Award Honoree, a Kirkus Award winner, a two time Walter Dean Myers Award winner, an NAACP Image Award Winner, and the recipient of multiple Coretta Scott King honors. He is also a champion of local, independent bookstores as the American Booksellers Association’s spokesperson for Indies First.
Called by Marie Claire, “an exhilarating tale of the formation of Liberia,” Wayétu Moore’s powerful debut novel, She Would Be King, reimagines the dramatic story of Liberia’s early years through three unforgettable characters who share an uncommon bond.
Mackenzi Lee is the author of The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue, a New York Times bestseller and #1 Indie Next pick, and upcoming sequel The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy.
Called “absolutely gorgeous” by the Washington Post and a “miracle of a book” by NPR, Fatima Farheen Mirza’s debut novel A Place For Us is a deeply moving and resonant story of love, identity and belonging that follows an Indian American Muslim family in Northern California. The novel is the first title in Sarah Jessica Parker’s new imprint, Hogarth, and is narrated by Audie Award nominees Deepti Gupta and Sunil Malhotra.
New York Times bestselling author Roshani Chokshi’s new Middle Grade novel, Aru Shah and the End of Time, is the first installment in a four-part series following the adventures twelve-year-old Aru Shah.
Ann Seaton, a bookseller at Libro.fm partner store Hicklebee’s in San Jose, California, loves listening to audiobooks while traveling, whether by car or plane! Her advice to someone who hasn’t listened to audiobooks? “Give it a try…it’s just another way to experience a great story.”
Ann Seaton, a bookseller at Libro.fm partner store Hicklebee’s in San Jose, California, loves listening to audiobooks while traveling, whether by car or plane! Her advice to someone who hasn’t listened to audiobooks? “Give it a try…it’s just another way to experience a great story.”