Audiobooks narrated by Gilli Messer

The Girl Bandits of the Warsaw Ghetto: The True Story of Five Courageous Young Women Who Sparked an

"A Holocaust historian, archivist, and history blogger adds a new dimension to the story of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising during World War II, shining a long overdue spotlight on five young, Polish Jewish women—champions who helped lead the resistance, sabotage the Nazis, and aid Jews in hiding across occupied Poland and Eastern Europe. The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising is one of the most storied events of the Holocaust, yet previous accounts of have almost entirely focused on its male participants. In The Girl Bandits of the Warsaw Ghetto, Holocaust historian Elizabeth Hyman introduces five young, courageous Polish Jewish women—known as “the girls” by the leadership of the resistance and “bandits” by their Nazi oppressors—who were central to the Jewish resistance as fighters, commanders, couriers, and smugglers. They include: Zivia Lubetkin, the most senior female member of the Jewish Fighting Organization Command Staff in Warsaw and a reluctant legend in her own time, who was immortalized by her code name, ''Celina'' Vladka Meed, who smuggled dynamite into and illegal literature out of the Warsaw Ghetto in preparation for the uprising Dr. Idina “Inka” Blady-Schweiger, a young medical student who became a reluctant angel of mercy Tema Schneiderman, a tall, beautiful and fearless young woman who volunteered for smuggling and rescue missions across Nazi-occupied Eastern Europe Tossia Altman, a heroic courier with a poetic soul, who helped bring arms into the Warsaw Ghetto, fought in the Uprising, and ferried communiques to the outside world Interspersed with the stories of other Jewish women who resisted, The Girl Bandits of the Warsaw Ghetto rescues these women from the shadows of time, bringing to light their resilience, bravery, and cunning in the face of unspeakable hardship—inspiring stories of courage, daring, and resistance that must never be forgotten. Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook."

Elizabeth R. Hyman (Author), Gilli Messer (Narrator)

Audiobook

For the Rest of Us: 13 Festive Holiday Stories to Celebrate All Seasons

"Fourteen acclaimed authors showcase the beautiful and diverse ways holidays are observed in this festive anthology. Keep the celebrations going all year long with this captivating and joyful read! From Lunar New Year to Solstice, Día de Los Muertos to Juneteenth, and all the incredible days in between, it’s clear that Americans don’t just have one holiday. Edited by the esteemed Dahlia Adler and authored by creators who have lived these festive experiences firsthand, this joyful collection of stories shows that there isn’t one way to experience a holiday. With stories by: Dahlia Adler, Sydney Taylor Honor winner of Going Bicoastal Candace Buford, author of Good as Gold A. R. Capetta and Cory McCarthy, authors of the Once & Future series Preeti Chhibber, author of Payal Mehta’s Romance Revenge Plot Natasha Díaz, award-winning author of Color Me In Kelly Loy Gilbert, Stonewall Book Award winning author of Picture Us in the Light Kosoko Jackson, USA Today bestselling author of The Forest Demands Its Due Aditi Khorana, award-winning author of Mirror in the Sky Katherine Locke, award-winning author of This Rebel Heart Abdi Nazemian, Stonewall Book Award–winning author of Only This Beautiful Moment Laura Pohl, New York Times bestselling author of The Grimrose Girls Sonora Reyes, Pura Belpré Honor winner of The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School Karuna Riazi, contributor to The Grimoire of Grim Fates "

A. R. Capetta, Abdi Nazemian, Aditi Khorana, Candace Buford, Cory McCarthy, Dahlia Adler, Karuna Riazi, Katherine Locke, Kelly Loy Gilbert, Kosoko Jackson, Laura Pohl, Natasha Diaz, Preeti Chhibber, Sonora Reyes (Author), Abby Manning, Dana Wing Lau, Gilli Messer, Karen Malina White, Mark Sanderlin, Natasha Chandel, Nile Bullock, Rebecca Mozo, Sean Rohani (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Night Sparrow: A Novel

"For fans of Kate Quinn and The Nightingale, a gripping story of a young Jewish girl who joins an elite Russian sniper unit and embarks on a mission targeting the highest prize of World War II: Adolph Hitler. With the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union, Elena Bruskina’s world collapses. The ambitious university student and her Jewish family are quickly forced into the Minsk ghetto where thousands are immediately murdered, including her father and brother. Then her younger sister is publicly executed on false charges and her mother is shot. Alone with her grief, Elena escapes the ghetto, determined to avenge her family’s deaths. Heading to Moscow, she enrolls in the Red Army’s newly created Central Women’s Sniper Training School. After rigorous training, she becomes a member of an all-female sniper platoon, a community of brave young women willing to give their lives to defend their country. Then Elena is chosen for a secret mission—a daring and highly dangerous plan to capture the face of evil itself: Hitler. Inspired by the real-life female snipers and interpreters in the Red Army during World War II, The Night Sparrow is a portrait of friendship, resilience, courage, and sacrifice under extraordinary circumstances. "

Shelly Sanders (Author), Gilli Messer (Narrator)

Audiobook

Spent: A Comic Novel

"Brought to you by Penguin. From her pygmy goat farm in Vermont, a cartoonist named Alison Bechdel wonders: Can she pull humanity out of its death spiral by writing a scathing memoir about her own greed and privilege? But how can she just sit around writing a book when the world is hanging on a thread? In this hilariously skewering comic novel, Alison is existentially pained by a climate-challenged world and a country on the brink of civil war. Her first graphic memoir about growing up with her taxidermist father has been adapted into a highly successful TV series, Death and Taxidermy. It’s a phenomenon that makes Alison, formerly on the cultural margins, the envy of her friend group. As the TV show racks up Emmy after Emmy, Alison’s own envy spirals. Surely writing her own wildly popular reality TV series wouldn’t be that hard? One that shows people how to free themselves from consumer capitalism and live a more ethical life?! In Spent, the celebrated, bestselling author of the modern classic Fun Home presents a laugh-out-loud and passionately political work of autofiction, and once again proves that “nobody does it better” (New York Times) than the real Alison Bechdel. 'The funniest, most satirical cartoon she has ever written – as well as, perhaps, the most prescient' OBSERVER © Alison Bechdel 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025"

Alison Bechdel (Author), Adenrele Ojo, Ali Liebegott, Alison Bechdel, Bill McKibben, Christina Delaine, Dan Bittner, Gilli Messer, Hayden Bishop, Holly Rae Taylor, Jenn Colella, Joe Barrett, Keylor Leight, Kimberly Farr, Maggie-Meg Reed, Naomi Liv Joseffy, Renata Friedman (Narrator)

Audiobook

In the Family Way

"'This warm tale of friendship has a wonderful cast of characters that you will root for. An uplifting read.' Platinum Book of the Month A warm, uplifting and empowering novel following a group of suburban housewives and the pregnant teenager they welcome into their fold as they find their place on the cusp of liberation. For fans of Lessons in Chemistry or The Help. ***** Ohio, 1965. Every week a group of suburban housewives meet for their Tuesday card game, sharing gossip, advice and confidences. Lily Berg has the perfect life. She’s married to a doctor, with an infant daughter and another on the way. She can’t let her husband know she’s struggling but she knows she can trust her friends. Becca, Lily’s best friend and next-door neighbour, is everything Lily isn’t. She’s messy and brash and never on time for anything. When she falls pregnant with a fourth child she desperately can’t afford, she turns to Lily. Although Lily’s little sister, Rose, got married last year, she’s not ready to give up her independence. Her modern marriage appears to be perfect, but behind closed doors things are very different. And Betsy is fifteen, pregnant and frightened. When Lily takes her in, from the local home for unwed mothers, she has no idea how much it will shake up all of their lives. Over six months, the group will be put to the test by secrets, forced to make impossible decisions and face up to a society that isn’t ready for women to have their own dreams and ambitions. Set against the backdrop of 1960s America, In the Family Way is a timely novel that captures the experiences of women on the cusp of liberation as they grapple with timeless questions of womanhood and the role we play as wives, mothers, and people in our own right. ***** 'Bursts with complexity, drama and warmth… A timely, timeless novel' Catherine Newman, author of Sandwich 'A powerful tale, well told… [with] a delightful cast of characters that you can't help but fall in love with' Fiona Davis, author of The Stolen Queen 'A poignant, rich, deeply textured tale of women, friendship and struggles amid 1960s suburbia on the precipice of change' Lisa Barr, author of Woman on Fire 'Delightful and inspiring' Meg Waite Clayton, author of The Postmistress of Paris 'The women in these pages – feisty, fierce, and fragile – offer a peek behind the curtain of the precariousness of women's rights and womanhood itself' Christine Pride, co-author of We Are Not Like Them"

Laney Katz Becker (Author), Gilli Messer, Laci Morgan, Laura Horowitz (Narrator)

Audiobook

Misophonia: A Novel

"In the vein of Fleishman is in Trouble and Elif Batuman—an insightful, heartfelt, and hilarious debut exploring cultural diaspora through one teenager’s summer across Berlin, Jerusalem, and Chicago It’s another scorching summer in Chicago, and fifteen-year-old Margarita is spending her vacation as usual, under the not-so-watchful eyes of her aging maternal grandparents. All told, the plucky teen would much rather be at home in Germany, exploring Berlin with her best friend, Anna, or with Avi, her doting Israeli father, a cantor at their local synagogue with whom she has shared a special bond ever since her mother, Marsha, abandoned the family. Instead, she’s stuck halfway around the world, homesick and tortured by the sound of her grandparents’ chewing. But when arrangements are made behind her back for her to meet Marsha in Israel before returning to Germany, Margarita is blindsided. She wants no part of this overdue reconciliation with a mother she hardly knows/ When her mother fails to show, however, things go awry. Meanwhile, in Germany, Avi tries to fill the hole left by Margarita’s absence with a trip of his own, embarking on a personal journey, both hope-inducing and despairing.Expertly straddling the two narratives of daughter and father, Misophonia is a graceful exploration of imperfect family relationships and larger cultural displacement. Translated from the German by Adrian Nathan West"

Dana Vowinckel (Author), Gilli Messer (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Rock 'N' Roll Haggadah: Your Guide to a Seder That Rocks!

"A rock-and-roll infused Haggadah that brings the intertwined history of Judaism and music to your Seder table. Passover is one of the most celebrated Jewish holidays. Families all over the world gather around the dining table to recite the story of the Exodus from Egypt, honor the freedom of the Jewish people, and look toward the future. The Rock 'N' Roll Haggadah shares the traditional biblical stories and rituals of a standard Haggadah, but it also includes a rich tapestry of anecdotes that speak to the influence of Judaism on artists and their music, and its culinary, historical, and anthropological impact. Throughout the book, which features English, Hebrew, and transliterations, you'll find vibrant illustrations and little-known rock and roll references that lightheartedly tie into the narratives of the "Ten Plagues," "Forty Years in the Desert," "Elijah's Cup," and more. It also includes fun DIY projects such as making a rock-and-roll Egyptian centerpiece and a record album Seder plate, as well as suggestions for a Passover playlist that will enhance any Seder. Whether you're hosting or attending a Seder, the book's wide range of musicians and songs will spark conversations among all generations at the table and provide a fantastic soundtrack for any Passover celebration."

Kay Miller, Meredith Ochs (Author), Fred Sanders, Gilli Messer, Kay Miller, Meredith Ochs (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Anatomy of Exile: A Novel

"The Abadi Family saga begins when a modern-day Romeo and Juliet story between a Palestinian and a Jew ends in predictable tragedy. The family flees to America to mend, but encounters only more turmoil that threatens to tear the family apart. In the wake of the 1967 Six Day War, Tamar Abadi's world collapses when her sister-in-law is killed in what appears to be a terror attack but what is really the result of a secret relationship with a Palestinian poet. Tamar's husband, Salim, is an Arab and a Jew. Torn between the two identities, and mourning his sister's death, he uproots the family and moves them to the US. As Tamar struggles to maintain the integrity of the family's Jewish Israeli identity against the backdrop of the American 'melting pot' culture, a Palestinian family moves into the apartment upstairs and she is forced to reckon with her narrow thinking as her daughter falls in love with the Palestinian son. Fearing history will repeat itself, Tamar's determination to separate the two sets into motion a series of events that have the power to destroy her relationship with her daughter, her marriage, and the family she has worked so hard to protect. This powerful debut novel explores Tamar's struggle to keep her family intact, to accept love that is taboo, and grapples with how exile forces us to reshape our identity in ways we could not imagine."

Zeeva Bukai (Author), Gilli Messer (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Lodge: A Novel

"USA TODAY BESTSELLER From the author of The Reunion, a cozy rom-com about a writer who decamps to a Vermont lodge for work but finds herself distracted by the charming ski instructor next door. Alix Morgan just got her big break as the ghostwriter of a memoir by Sebastian Green, a former member of the boy band True North. And when he offers her a penthouse at a luxurious resort in Vermont, she jumps at the chance to work far away from her noisy, cramped apartment. Her career as an entertainment journalist has been building toward this dream job—after all, she used to cover True North and was one of the last people to interview former front man Jett Beckett before he disappeared. As she combs through her client's voice memos, the specter of the missing lead singer remains, and fans are desperate to know the full story. But Alix also has time for some fun at this glamorous resort, where she begins ski lessons with a handsome instructor named Tyler. As Alix and Tyler fall in love on the slopes, Alix's work takes a complicated turn—and the mystery of True North's downfall may be hers to solve."

Kayla Olson (Author), Andi Arndt, Gilli Messer, Graham Halstead (Narrator)

Audiobook

A Traitorous Heart

"A noblewoman in the scandalous French court finds herself under the dangerous and watchful eye of the Parisian royalty when she falls in love with the handsome king who is betrothed to her former lover in this bisexual The Three Musketeers by way of Bridgerton and F.T. Lukens. Paris, 1572. Seventeen-year-old Jacqueline "Jac" d'Argenson-Aunis is lady-in-waiting to her best friend and former lover, the French Princess Marguerite "Margot" de Valois, but she dreams of more. If Jac plays her cards right, one day, she'll become a full member of the Societas Solis, a secret society of spies—just like her uncle and guardian, Viscount Gabriel d'Argenson-Aunis. But it's hard to think about her own ambitions while France is on the brink of war, and the only thing that might save the country is an alliance—a marriage between the Catholic Princess Margot and Henry, the awful son of the Huguenot queen. Who would be the perfect person to play matchmaker? Jac, of course. Jac resents lying to her best friend almost as much as she resents the brazen and arrogant King Henry, but it's her one chance to prove to the Societas Solis that she belongs among their ranks before her uncle can marry her off or worse. The more time Jac spends in the French Court's clandestine corners, though, the more she starts to wonder if Henry is…not as terrible as she once believed. And the Societas Solis may not be what they seem. Politics. Spies. Chaos in the French court. Perhaps even witchcraft? Everything's more dangerous when love is involved."

Erin Cotter (Author), Gilli Messer (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Nightmarchers

"From the award-winning author of Dead Souls and Poe comes a bone-chilling novel where a mysterious island holds the terrifying answers to a woman's past and future. In 1939, on a remote Pacific island, botanical researcher Irene Greer plunges off a waterfall to her death, convinced the spirits of her dead husband and daughter had joined the nightmarchers—ghosts of ancient warriors that rise from their burial sites on moonless nights. But was it suicide, or did a strange young missionary girl, Agnes, play a role in Irene's deteriorating state of mind? It all seems like ancient family history to Julia Greer, who has enough problems of her own. A struggling journalist, she's recovering from a divorce and is barely able to make rent, let alone appeal the court's decision to give sole custody of their daughter to her ex-husband. When her elderly great-aunt offers her an outrageously large sum to travel to this remote island and collect samples of a very peculiar flower, as well as find out what really happened to her sister Irene all those years ago, Julia thinks her life might finally be on an upward swing. She's also tasked to connect with the island's Church of Eternal Light, which her great-aunt suspects knows more about Irene's tragic death than they've said. But Julia finds this place isn't so quick to give up its secrets. The Church is tight-lipped about the deaths that have contributed to its oddly large cemetery, as well as Irene's final fate. The only person who seems to know more is a fellow traveler, Noah Cooper, who thinks that Julia's not the only one on a mission to find the rare flower...which, if the rumors are true, could have world-changing properties. What Julia does know is that the longer she stays on the island, the more the thin line begins to blur between truth and lies, reality and the fantastical...until she finds herself face to face with the real reason why the island is taboo..."

J. Lincoln Fenn (Author), Gilli Messer (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Last Fashion House in Paris

"In the heart of occupied WWII Paris, an elegant fashion house is the unlikely headquarters of a daring resistance network. Behind closed doors, courageous women vie to save loved ones and strangers alike from the Nazis in this powerful story of survival, friendship and second chances. France, 1942 Once, Paulette Leblanc spent her days flirting, shopping and drawing elegant dresses in her sketch pad. Then German tanks rolled into France, and a reckless romance turned into deep betrayal. Blaming herself for her mother's arrest by the Gestapo, Paulette is sent away to begin a new life in Paris, working as apprentice to fashion designer Sabine Ballard. But Maison de Ballard is no ordinary fashion house. While seamstresses create the perfect couture gowns, clandestine deals and secrets take place out of sight. Mademoiselle Ballard is head of a vast network of resistance fighters-including Paulette's coworker and friend Nicolle Cadieux-who help escort downed military men and Jewish families to safety. Soon Paulette is recruited as a spy. Working as a seamstress by day, gathering information at glamorous parties by night, Paulette at last has a chance to earn the redemption she craves. But as the SS closes in, and Nicolle goes missing, Paulette must make life-and-death decisions about who to trust, who to love and who to leave behind…"

Renee Ryan (Author), Gilli Messer, Hope Newhouse, Jane Oppenheimer (Narrator)

Audiobook

Audiobooks Narrated by Gilli Messer

Join Our Community