Welcome to Brian’s Book Blog’s weekly New and Notable Audiobooks Post for the Week of June 18th.
Comment below on any I missed or what you’re excited about!
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I’d Like to Play Alone, Please by Tom Segura
Narrated by Tom Segura
Grand Central Publishing
From Tom Segura, the massively successful stand-up comedian and cohost of chart-topping podcasts 2 Bears 1 Cave and Your Mom’s House, hilarious real-life stories of parenting, celebrity encounters, youthful mistakes, misanthropy, and so much more.
Tom Segura is known for his twisted takes and irreverent comedic voice. But after a few years of crazy tours and churning out podcasts weekly, all while parenting two young children, he desperately needs a second to himself. It’s not that he hates his friends and family—he’s not a monster—he’s just beat, which is why his son’s (ruthless) first full sentence, “I’d like to play alone, please”, has since become his mantra.
In this collection of stories, Tom combines his signature curmudgeonly humor with a revealing look at some of the ridiculous situations that shaped him and the ludicrous characters who always seem to seek him out. The stories feature hilarious anecdotes about Tom’s time on the road, including some surreal encounters with celebrities at airports; his unfiltered South American family; the trials and tribulations of parenting young children with bizarrely morbid interests; and, perhaps most memorably, experiences with his dad who, like any good Baby Boomer father, loves to talk about his bowel movements and share graphic Vietnam stories at inappropriate moments. All of this is enough to make anyone want some peace and quiet.
I’d Like to Play Alone, Please will have listeners laughing out loud and nodding in agreement with Segura’s message: In a world where everyone is increasingly insane, sometimes you just need to be alone.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
The Houses of the Curious by John Bowie
Narrated by Alexandra Hunter
Self Published
Gripping from the first page and the intensity never lets up. The intriguing world painted is imaginative and original.” (Indies Today)
Finalist for the 2019 Book Excellence Awards Science Fiction Category.
Decades ago, a band of neurally augmented rebels, the Seventy-Seven, and their leader, Arthur Lannius, helped liberate a remote mountain town from the Perpetual Corporation in a great machine war. Eventually defeated, the Seventy-Seven scattered, and Lannius went into exile without a trace…except for a child.
When memories of a stranger burst into her mind, Aurora learns she is not an ordinary orphan of the war, but that she is augmented and that her past is more than it seems. In discovering her hidden augmentations, she accidentally awakens an old surveillance drone and reignites the dormant war.
Following the signal, Perpetual’s mercenaries attack, forcing Aurora and her friends flee into the futuristic world beyond. There they discover a world where augmentations are the norm and imagination flows between people like magic. The future is full of wonder.
But, the safety of their world is short lived. Pursued by Perpetual for the memories that she holds, Aurora must choose a side in a secret war fought by machine armies and a pantheon of fantastic digital beings. Questioning both friend and foe, she wrestles with the memories buried in her mind as the key to a war fought across time.
From award-winning author John Bowie comes a new sci-fi adventure that will forever change the way you look at time and imagination. Book one in the Parallel series.
Island Time by Georgia Clark
Narrated by Mae Martin, Mirai, Corinne Davies, Cat Gould, David Linski, Katherine Littrell, Allyson Ryan
Simon & Schuster
Love is in the salty sea air in this smart and steamy ensemble romantic comedy set in a tropical paradise, from the author of the “sparkly and entertaining” (Oprah Daily) It Had to Be You. This is one island you won’t want to be rescued from.
The Kellys are messy, loud, loving Australians. The Lees are sophisticated, aloof, buttoned-up Americans. They have nothing in common…except for the fact that their daughters are married. When a nearby volcano erupts during their short vacation to a remote tropical island off the coast of Queensland, the two families find themselves stranded together for six weeks.
With only two island employees making up the rest of their party, everyone is forced to question what—or who—they really want. Island Time is a sumptuous summer story that dives deep into queer romance, family secrets, ambition, parenthood, and a bird-chasing bromance. This sexy sun-soaked paradise of white sandy beaches, crystal-clear waters, and lush rainforest will show you it’s never too late to change your destiny.
Two of a Kind by T.B. Markinson, Miranda MacLeod
Narrated by Abby Craden
Self Published
$7.47 Whispersync Deal with Kindle Purchase
Check out my reviews of other titles Narrated by Abby Craden
Could something you can’t remember be the best decision of your life?
Maisie Sullivan is a hard-working marketing assistant from Milwaukee who wants nothing more than to earn a promotion and finally finish her college degree. But when she’s swept off her feet by a charming cowgirl while on a business trip to Las Vegas, she decides there’s no harm in having a little fun.
Drew Campbell is a no-nonsense Wyoming rancher with a talent for horse training. Her only goal in traveling to Las Vegas for a riding competition is to win enough money to pay off her family’s debts. But when a beautiful stranger catches her eye and then some, she figures she might as well let loose for a night on the town.
What takes place after that, neither can recall. But months after parting ways, when both their fortunes have fallen, they discover what happened in Vegas has followed them home. A quickie divorce will solve the problem, but each woman has something the other needs, and neither will budge until she gets her way.
They just want to get on with their lives, but will they end up falling in love with their wives?
If you enjoy a smoking hot clash between a city girl and a ranch girl with a one night to forever romance, don’t miss the latest collaboration of Miranda MacLeod and TB Markinson.
The Primal Hunter 2 by Zogarth
Narrated by Travis Baldree
Aethon Audio
$7.49 Whispersync Deal with Kindle Purchase
Check out my reviews of other titles Narrated by Travis Baldree
The Tutorial has progressed in unexpected ways as Jake is soon forced to confront reality….
Jake has finally found a personal goal of his own as he gains a quest to defeat three more Beast Lords before he can face the final opponent of the Tutorial: The King of the Forest. Something he happily does, fully immersing himself in grasping power and gaining levels as he hunts through Dungeons to kill stronger and stronger foes.
In another region of the Tutorial, turmoil amongst the humans quickly died down after a disastrous battle leaves nearly everyone except the Metal Mage William dead.
Will Jake be able to hunt down the King of the Forest before the Tutorial ends? Does William wake up in time to create even more chaos and fulfill his goal of killing everyone? Who will survive till the end and return to Earth once more?
Oh, and will Jake ever get a shirt that doesn’t get ripped apart in every single fight?
Book two of the hit Primal Hunter LitRPG series by Zogarth. Grab your copy today and continue the adventure!
About the series: Experience an apocalypse LitRPG with levels, classes, professions, skills, dungeon, loot, and all of the great traits of progression fantasies and LitRPG that you have come to expect. Follow Jake as he explores this new vast multiverse filled with challenges and opportunities as he grows in power and slowly transforms from a bored office worker to a true apex hunter.
Vacationland by Meg Mitchell Moore
Narrated by Stacey Glemboski
HarperAudio
Check out my reviews of other titles Narrated by Stacey Glemboski
From the USA Today best-selling author of Two Truths and a Lie and The Islanders, a delicious summer listen set in midcoast Maine, tackling family secrets, marriage, motherhood, and privilege.
Louisa has come to her parents’ house in Maine this summer with all three of her kids, a barely-written book, and a trunkful of resentment. Left behind in Brooklyn is her husband, who has promised that after this final round of fundraising at his startup he will once again pick up his share of the household responsibilities. Louisa is hoping that the crisp breeze off Penobscot Bay will blow away the irritation she is feeling with her life choices and replace it with enthusiasm for both her family and her work.
But all isn’t well in Maine. Louisa’s father, a retired judge and pillar of the community, is suffering from Alzheimer’s. Louisa’s mother is alternately pretending everything is fine and not pretending at all. And one of Louisa’s children happens upon a very confusing and heartfelt letter referring to something Louisa doesn’t think her father could possibly have done.
Louisa’s not the only one searching for something in Maine this summer. Kristie took the Greyhound bus from Pennsylvania with one small suitcase, $761, and a lot of baggage. She’s got a past she’s trying to outrun, a secret she’s trying to unpack, and a new boyfriend who’s so impossibly kind she can’t figure out what she did to deserve him. But she can’t keep her various lives from colliding forever.
As June turns to July turns to August, secrets will be unearthed, betrayals will come to light, and both Louisa and Kristie will ask themselves what they are owed and what they owe others. A delicious summer listen and an exploration of family, responsibility, ambition and loss, Vacationland is Meg Mitchell Moore at her best.
Flying Solo by Linda Holmes
Narrated by Julia Whelan
Random House Audio
Check out my reviews of other titles Narrated by Julia Whelan
A woman returns to her small Maine hometown, uncovering family secrets that take her on a journey of self-discovery and new love, in this warm and charming novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Evvie Drake Starts Over.
Smarting from her recently canceled wedding and about to turn forty, Laurie Sassalyn returns to her Maine hometown of Calcasset to handle the estate of her great-aunt Dot, a spirited adventurer who lived to be ninety-three. Alongside boxes of Polaroids and pottery, a mysterious wooden duck shows up at the bottom of a cedar chest. Laurie’s curiosity is piqued, especially after she finds a love letter to the never-married Dot that ends with the line “And anyway, if you’re ever desperate, there are always ducks, darling.”
Laurie is told that the duck has no financial value. But after it disappears under suspicious circumstances, she feels compelled to figure out why anyone would steal a wooden duck—and why Dot kept it hidden away in the first place. Suddenly Laurie finds herself swept up in a righteous caper that has her negotiating with antiques dealers and con artists, going on after-hours dates at the local library, and reconnecting with her oldest friend and her first love. Desperate to uncover her great-aunt’s secrets, Laurie must reckon with her own past and her future—and ultimately embrace her own vision of flying solo.
With a cast of unforgettable characters and a heroine you will root for from page one, Flying Solo is a wonderfully original story about growing up, coming home, and learning to make a life for yourself on your own terms.
Local Gone Missing by Fiona Barton
Narrated by Gabrielle Glaister, Jayne Entwistle, Nicholas Guy Smith
Penguin Audio
Detective Elise King investigates a man’s disappearance in a seaside town where the locals and weekenders are at odds in this rich and captivating new novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Widow.
Elise King is a successful and ambitious detective—or she was before a medical leave left her unsure if she’d ever return to work. She now spends most days watching the growing tensions in her small seaside town of Ebbing—the weekenders renovating old bungalows into luxury homes, and the locals resentful of the changes.
Elise can only guess what really happens behind closed doors. But Dee Eastwood, her house cleaner, often knows. She’s an invisible presence in many of the houses in town, but she sees and hears everything.
The conflicts boil over when a newcomer wants to put the town on the map with a weekend music festival, and two teenagers overdose on drugs. When a man disappears the first night of the festival, Elise starts digging for answers. Ebbing is a small town, but it’s full of secrets and hidden connections that run deeper and darker than Elise could have ever imagined.
How to Fake It in Hollywood by Ava Wilder
Narrated by Therese Plummer, Andrew Eiden
Random House Audio
Check out my reviews of other titles written by Ava Wilder
Check out my reviews of other titles Narrated by Therese Plummer, Andrew Eiden
A talented Hollywood starlet and a reclusive A-lister enter into a fake relationship…and discover that their feelings might be more than a PR stunt in this sexy debut for fans of Beach Read and The Unhoneymooners.
“A raw, character-driven, and heart-touching read . . . I absolutely loved it.”—Elena Armas, New York Times bestselling author of The Spanish Love Deception
Grey Brooks is on a mission to keep her career afloat now that the end of her long-running teen TV show has her (unsuccessfully) pounding the pavement again. With a life-changing role on the line, she’s finally desperate enough to agree to her publicist’s scheme: Fake a love affair with a disgraced Hollywood heartthrob who needs the publicity, but for very different reasons.
Ethan Atkins just wants to be left alone. Between his high-profile divorce, struggles with drinking, and grief over the death of his longtime creative partner and best friend, Ethan has slowly let himself fade into the background. But if he ever wants to produce the last movie he and his partner wrote together, Ethan needs to clean up his reputation and step back into the spotlight. A gossip-inducing affair with a gorgeous actress might be just the ticket, even if it’s the last thing he wants to do.
Though their juicy public relationship is less than perfect behind the scenes, it doesn’t take long before Grey and Ethan’s sizzling chemistry starts to feel like more than just an act. But after decades in a ruthless industry that requires bulletproof emotional armor to survive, are they too used to faking it to open themselves up to the real thing?
Dragon Song by Kristie Clark
Narrated by Stephanie Dillard
Self Published
$7.49 Whispersync Deal with Kindle Purchase
In the Pacific, a sleeping dragon awakes.
Dr. Eva Paz wants only a peaceful life on Roatán for herself and her dolphins, continuing their research in dolphin communication and educating children on the importance of caring for the reef.
But when Eva discovers that the Caribbean’s wild dolphin pod has been captured, she must go back into action to find them. Her pursuit returns her to the Pacific, where she finds her newest nemesis has engineered yet more sea dragons, and this time she finds herself embroiled in an international struggle that could end in a World War.
Thankfully, Eva has her friends and family—including ex-Navy SEAL Dr. Thomas Sternberg—on her side. Even the ocean itself yields a new ally in a very unexpected form: a mermaid with a siren’s song. And this time, a teenaged Soledad accompanies her parents on their adventures.
Join Eva as she works with Thomas and her dolphins to save the planet from a disaster that could destroy us all.
Dragon Song is the fourth book in Kristie Clark’s Order of the Dolphin series. Dragon Song may be listened to as a standalone, but it is best enjoyed with the other Order of the Dolphin series books: Killing Dragons, Dragon Gold, and Dragon Clan. Book club questions are included.
Join Eva and her dolphins on their adventures today!
Chew ‘Em Up by S.C. Jensen
Narrated by Jennifer Blom
Self Published
$7.49 Whispersync Deal with Kindle Purchase
Blade Runner meets The Fifth Element in this eccentric cyber-noir thriller series about a bleak world ravaged by corrupt leaders, mega-corporations, and crime lords…and the washed-up detective who might be the only one crazy enough to take them on.
Rich and famous? She’d rather be dead.
Bubbles Marlowe, the infamous cyborg detective, prefers to stick to the shadows. But when one of her cases blows up in the media, the private eye is thrust into the public eye.
An army of unhinged fans is stalking Bubbles and her best friend is on the run from corporate headhunters—not the kind that want to give her a job. Worst of all, the only people who can help them have started to mysteriously disappear.
The friends must do anything it takes to get out of HoloCity alive. But fame has a way of sinking its teeth in.
And someone will bleed before it lets go…
Bubbles Marlowe IS BACK in an all-new installment of the cyber-noir technothriller series, Bubbles in Space. Delve into the secrets of this gritty future world, and buckle up for an adventure full of unusual characters, dark humor, and nonstop action.
James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
Narrated by James Acaster
Listening Library
From the World’s No. 1 Storyteller, James and the Giant Peach is a children’s classic that has captured young readers’ imaginations for generations.
One of TIME MAGAZINE’s 100 Best Fantasy Books of All Time
After James Henry Trotter’s parents are tragically eaten by a rhinoceros, he goes to live with his two horrible aunts, Spiker and Sponge. Life there is no fun, until James accidentally drops some magic crystals by the old peach tree and strange things start to happen. The peach at the top of the tree begins to grow, and before long it’s as big as a house. Inside, James meets a bunch of oversized friends—Grasshopper, Centipede, Ladybug, and more. With a snip of the stem, the peach starts rolling away, and the great adventure begins!
Roald Dahl is the author of numerous classic children’s stories including Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda, The BFG, and many more!
“James and the Giant Peach remains a favorite among kids and parents alike nearly 60 years after it was first published, thanks to its vivid imagery, vibrant characters and forthright exploration of mature themes like death and hope.”—TIME Magazine
Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree
Narrated by Travis Baldree
Macmillan Audio
$7.49 Whispersync Deal with Kindle Purchase
Check out my reviews of other titles Narrated by Travis Baldree
The much-beloved BookTok sensation, Travis Baldree’s novel of high fantasy and low stakes.
Come take a load off at Viv’s cafe, the first & only coffee shop in Thune. Grand opening!
Worn out after decades of packing steel and raising hell, Viv, the orc barbarian, cashes out of the warrior’s life with one final score. A forgotten legend, a fabled artifact, and an unreasonable amount of hope lead her to the streets of Thune, where she plans to open the first coffee shop the city has ever seen.
However, her dreams of a fresh start filling mugs instead of swinging swords are hardly a sure bet. Old frenemies and Thune’s shady underbelly may just upset her plans. To finally build something that will last, Viv will need some new partners, and a different kind of resolve.
A hot cup of fantasy, slice-of-life with a dollop of romantic froth.
A Macmillan Audio production from Tor Books.
