Literature Audiobooks

Enchantments: A novel of Rasputin's daughter and the Romanovs

"A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK From Kathryn Harrison, one of America's most admired literary voices, comes a gorgeously written, enthralling novel set in the final days of Russia's Romanov Empire. St. Petersburg, 1917. After Rasputin's body is pulled from the icy waters of the Neva River, his eighteen-year-old daughter, Masha, is sent to live at the imperial palace with Tsar Nikolay and his family-including the headstrong Prince Alyosha. Desperately hoping that Masha has inherited Rasputin's miraculous healing powers, Tsarina Alexandra asks her to tend to Aloysha, who suffers from hemophilia, a blood disease that keeps the boy confined to his sickbed, lest a simple scrape or bump prove fatal. Two months after Masha arrives at the palace, the tsar is forced to abdicate, and Bolsheviks place the royal family under house arrest. As Russia descends into civil war, Masha and Alyosha grieve the loss of their former lives, finding solace in each other's company. To escape the confinement of the palace, they tell stories-some embellished and some entirely imagined-about Nikolay and Alexandra's courtship, Rasputin's many exploits, and the wild and wonderful country on the brink of an irrevocable transformation. In the worlds of their imagination, the weak become strong, legend becomes fact, and a future that will never come to pass feels close at hand. Mesmerizing, haunting, and told in Kathryn Harrison's signature crystalline prose, Enchantments is a love story about two people who come together as everything around them is falling apart."

Kathryn Harrison (Author), Julia Emelin, Rustam Kasymov (Narrator)

Audiobook

Crome Yellow

"Denis Stone, a self-conscious young poet, is invited to Crome, renowned for its gatherings of intellectuals. Hosted by Henry and Priscilla Wimbush, the house party has much to offer the naïve Denis. The guests include the self-contained Anne, whom Denis adores; the handsome artist Gombauld, his rival for Anne’s affections; and the cynical Mr. Scogan. All have their stories and ideas to unfold but, as Denis comes to realize, ideas cannot compensate for reality."

Aldous Huxley (Author), Michael Maloney (Narrator)

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Great Classic Mysteries II

"Fourteen mysteries to test your inner sleuth! This collection includes 'The Stolen White Elephant' by Mark Twain, narrated by Mauro Hantman; 'The Fenchurch Street Mystery' by Baroness Orczy, narrated by Davina Porter; 'Problem of the Superfluous Finger' by Jacques Futrelle, narrated by Stephen R. Thorne; 'The Blue Sequin' by R. Austin Freeman, narrated by Simon Vance; 'An Intangible Clue' by Anna Katharine Green, narrated by Angela Brazil; and 'The Oblong Box' by Edgar Allan Poe, narrated by Mauro Hantman, among others. Newly recorded by premier narrators for this original anthology, the crimes, criminals, and sleuths depicted here set the standard for decades to come, and remain as entertaining today as they were when first published!"

Various Authors (Author), various narrators (Narrator)

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The Russian Debutante's Handbook

"Best-selling author Gary Shteyngart's exquisite fiction is met with a level of critical acclaim reserved for the very best in the field. In this startlingly provocative work, Russian immigrant Vladimir Girshkin searches for love and self-identity while interacting with a quirky set of acquaintances. 'No novelist thinks more globally than Gary Shteyngart . [He] has figured out how to be funny and appalling at the same time, often in the same sentence.'-Baltimore Sun"

Gary Shteyngart (Author), Adam Grupper (Narrator)

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The Gilly Salt Sisters

"The author of the New York Times bestselling The Little Giant of Aberdeen County returns with a magic-tinged tale of dreams, family secrets, and betrayals on a New England salt farm. In the isolated Cape Cod village of Prospect, the Gilly sisters are as different as can be. Jo, a fierce and quiet loner, is devoted to the mysteries of her family's salt farm, while Claire is popular, pretty, and yearns to flee the salt at any cost. But the Gilly land hides a dark legacy that proves impossible to escape. Although the community half-suspects the Gilly sisters might be witches, it doesn't stop Whit Turner, the town's wealthiest bachelor, from forcing his way into their lives. It's Jo who first steals Whit's heart, but it is Claire--heartbroken over her high school sweetheart--who marries him. Years later, estranged from her family, Claire finds herself thrust back onto the farm with the last person she would have chosen: her husband's pregnant mistress. Suddenly, alliances change, old loves return, and new battle lines are drawn. What the Gilly sisters learn about each other, the land around them, and the power of the salt, will not only change each of their lives forever, it will also alter Gilly history for good."

Tiffany Baker (Author), Angela Brazil (Narrator)

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Arcadia

"A staggering portrait of a crumbling utopia, this “timeless and vast” novel filled with the “raw beauty” beautifully depicts an idyllic commune in New York State—and charts its eventual yet inevitable downfall (Janet Maslin, The New York Times). NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “Timeless and vast … The raw beauty of Ms. Groff’s prose is one of the best things about Arcadia. But it is by no means this book’s only kind of splendor.”—Janet Maslin, The New York Times “Even the most incidental details vibrate with life Arcadia wends a harrowing path back to a fragile, lovely place you can believe in.”—Ron Charles, The Washington Post In the fields of western New York State in the 1970s, a few dozen idealists set out to live off the land, founding a commune centered on the grounds of a decaying mansion called Arcadia House. Arcadia follows this romantic utopian dream from its hopeful start through its heyday. Arcadia’s inhabitants include Handy, the charismatic leader; his wife, Astrid, a midwife; Abe, a master carpenter; Hannah, a baker and historian; and Abe and Hannah’s only child, Bit. While Arcadia rises and falls, Bit, too, ages and changes. He falls in love with Helle, Handy’s lovely, troubled daughter. And eventually he must face the world beyond Arcadia. In Arcadia, Groff displays her literary gifts to stunning effect."

Lauren Groff (Author), Andrew Garman (Narrator)

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The Custom of the Country

"The first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for literature, Edith Wharton stands among the finest writers of early 20th-century America. In The Custom of the Country, Wharton' s scathing social commentary is on full display through the beautiful and manipulative Undine Spragg. When Undine convinces her nouveau riche parents to move to New York, she quickly injects herself into high society. But even a well-to-do husband isn' t enough for Undine, whose overwhelming lust for wealth proves to be her undoing."

Edith Wharton (Author), Barbara Caruso (Narrator)

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Smarty Girl: Dublin Savage

Honor Molloy (Author), Aedin Moloney, Honor Molloy, Kevin Holohan, Susan Mckeown (Narrator)

Audiobook

Saint Patrick, The Banner, The Hat, and the FBI

"Just in time for Saint Patrick's Day! Alphie McCourt, author of the convivial memoir A Long Stone's Throw and youngest brother of Frank McCourt (Angela's Ashes), releases his reminiscences of the beloved holiday. This story, written and read by the author, strings together retellings of a few of the expatriate Irishman's most memorable Saint Patrick's days here in the USA. In his cordial brogue, Alphie relates the history of the Catholic feast day, and moves candidly, with great warmth and self-deprecation, onward through the past few decades to relate his personal, hilarious highlights of the day when everyone loves to become Irish in the wearing o' the green."

Alphie McCourt (Author), Alphie McCourt (Narrator)

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Perla

"A coming-of-age story, based on a recent shocking chapter of Argentine history, about a young woman who makes a devastating discovery about her origins with the help of an enigmatic houseguest. Perla Correa grew up a privileged only child in Buenos Aires, with a cold, polished mother and a straitlaced naval officer father, whose profession she learned early on not to disclose in a country still reeling from the abuses perpetrated by the deposed military dictatorship. Perla understands that her parents were on the wrong side of the conflict, but her love for her papá is unconditional. But when Perla is startled by an uninvited visitor, she begins a journey that will force her to confront the unease she has suppressed all her life, and to make a wrenching decision about who she is, and who she will become."

Carolina De Robertis (Author), Carolina De Robertis (Narrator)

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The Sugar Frosted Nutsack: A Novel

"From the bestselling and wildly imaginative novelist Mark Leyner, a romp through the excesses and exploits of gods and mortals. High above the bustling streets of Dubai, in the world's tallest and most luxurious skyscraper, reside the gods and goddesses of the modern world. Since they emerged 14 billion years ago from a bus blaring a tune remarkably similar to the Mister Softee jingle, they've wreaked mischief and havoc on mankind. Unable to control their jealousies, the gods have splintered into several factions, led by the immortal enemies XOXO, Shanice, La Felina, Fast-Cooking Ali, and Mogul Magoo. Ike Karton, an unemployed butcher from New Jersey, is their current obsession. Ritualistically recited by a cast of drug-addled bards, The Sugar Frosted Nutsack is Ike's epic story. A raucous tale of gods and men confronting lust, ambition, death, and the eternal verities, it is a wildly fun, wickedly fast gambol through the unmapped corridors of the imagination."

Mark Leyner (Author), Mark Leyner (Narrator)

Audiobook

The New Stories of Old-Time Radio: Volume One, Set One

""THE NEW STORIES OF OLD TIME RADIO Volume One, Set One, produced, directed and voiced by Joe Bevilacqua, with Lorie Kellogg. The first anthology of NEW fiction based on the beloved OTR characters and shows we know and love. Old Time Radio fans have something new to listen to! Includes: Our Miss Brooks - ""One Principal Too Many, One Principal Too Meanie"" by Clair Schulz Tom Mix - ""Tom Mix And The Mystery Of The Bodiless Horseman"" by Jim Harmon Candy Matson YUkon 2-8209 - ""The Japanese Sandman"" by Jack French The Clyde Beatty Show - ""Perils of the Tiger Barn"" by Roger Smith The Green Lama - ""The Case Of The Bashful Spider"" by Bob Martin Sgt. Preston of the Yukon - ""A Call From the Storm"" by Jim Nixon ""These are not old time radio shows, but incredible simulations!"" beams veteran award winning radio producer Joe Bevilacqua, who voiced most of the audio book, including dead-on impressions of Paul Frees as The Green Lama, Gale Gordon as Mr. Conklin, Richard Crenna as Walter Denton, Paul Sutton as Sgt. Preston, and even essays some of the woman roles including the voice of Candy Matson! For the woman roles Bevilacqua could not voice, he turned to his talented wife and creative partner, Lorie Kellogg, who has acted in many of his radio theater productions in the past. Kellogg is the voice of Eve Arden's Connie Brooks in the new ""Our Miss Brooks"" story, as well as voicing her landlady Mrs. Davis, Clyde Beatty's wife and other roles. ""OTR fans tired of listening to the same old recordings over and over will love these new audio stories!"" concludes Bevilacqua. ""Joe Bev."" (as he also known) is a veteran radio drama producer, whose past credits include XM Radio's The Comedy-O-Rama hour, The Misadventures of Sherlock Holmes, and Old-time Radio Parodies."

Joe Bevilacqua, Robert Cirasa (Author), Joe Bevilacqua, Lorie Kellogg (Narrator)

Audiobook