Audiobooks narrated by Sue Jean Kim

"INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Inspired by true stories from the authors' grandparents' lives during one of the darkest periods in Korean history, The Last Tiger is a debut young adult fantasy novel about the power of love to give voice to a broken people. In a colonized land where tigers are being hunted to extinction and ancient magic stirs, two star-crossed teens-Lee Seung, a servant yearning for freedom, and Choi Eunji, a noble girl defying tradition-join forces to try and reshape their respective fates. But their relationship evolves from begrudging accomplices to bitter adversaries as they soon find themselves on opposite sides of a battle over the last tiger, a symbol of their people's lost freedom and key to the liberation of their country. As the ties between Seung and Eunji are complicated by their conflicting loyalties, tensions rise-especially when a charming princeling of the empire begins to rival for Eunji's affection. In this friends-to-enemies-to-lovers story of forbidden romance, antagonists turned allies, oppression and liberation, neither Seung nor Eunji can abandon their mission-or each other. And as they embark on separate quests to find the elusive creature, each must also find the power within themselves to make their own destiny."

Brad Riew, Julia Riew (Author), Brad Riew, Intae Kim, Joshua Hyunho Lee, Julia Riew, Sue Jean Kim (Narrator)

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Clay Walls

"A landmark modern classic about the Korean American immigrant experience and the dawn of Los Angeles's Koreatown A Penguin Classic Kim Ronyoung (Gloria Hahn, 1926-1987) tells the story of Haesu and Chun, immigrants who fled Japanese-occupied Korea for Los Angeles in the decade prior to World War II, and their American-born children. First published in 1986, Clay Walls offers a portrait of what being Korean in California meant in the first half of the twentieth century and how these immigrants' nationalist spirit helped them withstand racism and poverty. Kim explores the tensions within a family of immigrants and new Americans and brings to the forefront the themes of Korean immigration, U.S. racism, generational trauma, and the early decades of Los Angeles's Koreatown from a Korean American woman's point of view. Through three sections representing the perspectives of mother, father, and daughter, what resonates the most is the voice of a woman and her self-determination, through national identity, marriage, and motherhood. * This audiobook edition includes a downloadable PDF that contains select Suggestions for Further Exploration from the book."

Kim Ronyoung (Author), Ami Park, Greg Chun, Sue Jean Kim (Narrator)

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The Stone Home: A Novel

"“It is a privilege to read Crystal Hana Kim’s fiction, which both edifies and enlightens.” —Min Jin Lee A hauntingly poetic family drama and coming-of-age story that reveals a dark corner of South Korean history through the eyes of a small community living in a reformatory center—a stunning work of great emotional power from the critically acclaimed author of If You Leave Me. In 2011, Eunju Oh opens her door to greet a stranger: a young Korean American woman holding a familiar-looking knife—a knife Eunju hasn’t seen in thirty years, and that connects her to a place she’d desperately hoped to leave behind forever. In South Korea in the 1980s, young Eunju and her mother are homeless on the street. After being captured by the police, they’re sent to live within the walls of a state-sanctioned reformatory center that claims to rehabilitate the nation’s citizens but hides a darker, more violent reality. While Eunju and her mother form a tight-knit community with the other women in the kitchen, two teenage brothers, Sangchul and Youngchul, are compelled to labor in the workshops and make increasingly desperate decisions—and all are forced down a path of survival, the repercussions of which will echo for decades to come. Inspired by real events, told through alternating timelines and two intimate perspectives, The Stone Home is a deeply affecting story of a mother and daughter’s love and a pair of brothers whose bond is put to an unfathomably difficult test. Capturing a shameful period of history with breathtaking restraint and tenderness, Crystal Hana Kim weaves a lyrical exploration of the legacy of violence and the complicated psychology of power, while showcasing the extraordinary acts of devotion and friendship that can arise in the darkness."

Crystal Hana Kim (Author), Greta Jung, Intae Kim, Jennifer Sun Bell, Sue Jean Kim (Narrator)

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Green Frog

"Here are fifteen pitch-perfect stories about women trying to make their own way: featuring daughters, divorcees, fox demons, a praying mantis, and . . . green frogs. A young girl reconnects with her Korean grandmother; an artist considers her connection to the Korean folktale of the green frog; a praying mantis living in a beautiful home overlooking the park finds the New York dating scene leaves her hungering for more; a fox demon seeks revenge for her murdered sister, only for her loyalties to be torn; AI brings a grieving mother's daughter back to life; at a spa in the mountains, a recently divorced woman has a ghostly encounter; and a recipe book instructs the reader on 'how to eat your own heart'. From Gina Chung, the author of Sea Change, this collection of fifteen offbeat, scintillating stories influenced by Korean fairy tales and contemporary ennui, shines a light on womanhood in all of its human (and other) forms."

Gina Chung (Author), Hannah Choi, Jeena Yi, Sue Jean Kim (Narrator)

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The Best American Mystery and Suspense 2023

"A collection of the year’s best mystery and suspense short fiction selected by New York Times bestselling author Lisa Unger and series editor Steph Cha. “This form has a special kind of magic, the ability to transport you quickly, intensely, to capture character, time, place, and story with immediacy,” writes guest editor Lisa Unger in her introduction. The transporting stories in this year’s The Best American Mystery and Suspense are populated by those who exist on the fringe of our society and want more than what life has dealt them: A haunted veteran turned career criminal is on the run. An injured fighter turned bouncer seeks vengeance for his lost love. An assassin on his last job finds himself questioning his life choices and breaks all the rules to understand his final victim. By turns thrilling and enlightening, each story, according to Unger, “will have you holding your breath, flipping the pages, will leave you thinking about people and why they do the dark, dangerous, frightening things that they do.” The Best American Mystery and Suspense 2023 includes Ashley-Ruth M. Bernier • William Boyle • S. A. Cosby • Jacqueline Freimor • James A. Hearn • Ladee Hubbard • A. J. Jacono • Adam Meyer • Silvia Moreno-Garcia • Walter Mosley • Leigh Newman • Joyce Carol Oates • Margaret Randall • Annie Reed • Anthony Neil Smith • Faye Snowden • Jervey Tervalon • Joseph S. Walker • Thaai Walker • Jess Walter"

Lisa Unger, Steph Cha (Author), Aida Reluzco, Chanté Mccormick, Ewan Chung, Jacob Patalive, Laura Copland, Pun Bandhu, Sue Jean Kim, Terrence Kidd (Narrator)

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The End of August: A Novel

"From the National Book Award winning author, an extraordinary, ground-breaking, epic multi-generational novel about a Korean family living under Japanese occupation. In 1930s Japanese-occupied Korea, Lee Woo-cheol was a running prodigy and a contender for the upcoming Tokyo Olympics. But he would have had to run under the Japanese flag. Nearly a century later, his granddaughter is living in Japan and training to run a marathon herself. She summons Korean shamans to hold an intense, transcendent ritual to connect with Lee Woo-cheol. When his ghost appears, alongside those of his brother Lee Woo-Gun, and their young neighbor, who was forced to become a comfort woman to Japanese soldiers stationed in China during World War II, she must uncover their stories to free their souls. What she discovers is at the heart of this sweeping, majestic novel about a family that endured death, love, betrayal, war, political upheaval, and ghosts, both vengeful and wistful. A poetic masterpiece that is a feat of historical fiction, epic family saga, and mind-bending story-telling acrobatics, The End of August is a marathon of literature."

Yu Miri (Author), Sue Jean Kim (Narrator)

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Excavations: A Novel

"A former journalist turned stay-at-home mother must find her missing husband and protect her children in Excavations, a "sharp, impressive debut about corruption among South Korea's elite" (The Boston Globe). A PHENOMENAL BOOK CLUB PICK • A PUBLISHERS WEEKLY AND CRIMEREADS BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR Sae is waiting with two clingy toddlers for her husband to come home from work when she learns of a horrific disaster, the collapse of a massive skyscraper where Jae is an engineer. Minutes, then hours, and then days pass. Speculations of North Korean terrorism and structural instability circulate as possible causes of the Tower's collapse. No one has seen Jae, but things aren't adding up. Jae had told Sae he was working on a swimming pool on the top floor, but reports showed he was in the basement, on a different project. The government was involved, but the contractors were missing. Sae-who met Jae when they were students at an anti-government protest and has relied on him as her guiding and steadying hand-is troubled and suspicious. Leaving the children with her estranged mother, Sae sets out to uncover the truth of what happened to her husband. Her investigation takes her to an upscale club where the proprietor, Myonghee, is not merely supplying booze and girls but also seeking information, for her own purposes, from every drunken businessman who lets corporate secrets slip. As Sae begins to find what she sought, she must ask herself: How well can you truly know the one you love and how is truth shaped by power?"

Hannah Michell (Author), Intae Kim, Sue Jean Kim (Narrator)

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The Forest of Stolen Girls

"Suspenseful and richly atmospheric, June Hur's The Forest of Stolen Girls is a haunting historical mystery sure to keep readers guessing until the last page. 1426, Joseon (Korea). Hwani's family has never been the same since she and her younger sister went missing and were later found unconscious in the forest near a gruesome crime scene. Years later, Detective Min-Hwani's father-learns that thirteen girls have recently disappeared from the same forest that nearly stole his daughters. He travels to their hometown on the island of Jeju to investigate… only to vanish as well. Determined to find her father and solve the case that tore their family apart, Hwani returns home to pick up the trail. As she digs into the secrets of the small village-and collides with her now estranged sister, Maewol-Hwani comes to realize that the answer could lie within her own buried memories of what happened in the forest all those years ago. Praise for The Forest of Stolen Girls: Junior Library Guild Selection 'The Forest of Stolen Girls is a haunting, breathtaking tale that will have readers on the edge of their seats. With its lush and atmospheric prose, complex character dynamics, and an immersive mystery I was ravenous to uncover, I could not turn the pages fast enough! Hur is an absolute master of mystery, and I will be reading her gorgeous books for years to come.' -Adalyn Grace, New York Times-bestselling author of All the Stars and Teeth 'Haunting and lyrical. Beware, this tale will draw you deeper into the forest than you want to go.' -Stacey Lee, award-winning author of The Downstairs Girl 'A brilliant historical fiction mystery that is suspenseful, gorgeous and absolutely riveting! Hur brings Jeju Island during the early Joseon period completely to life in a rich, evocative manner that reminds me of watching my favorite historical Kdrama. ... I adored this book from start to finish!" -Ellen Oh, author of the Prophecy series"

June Hur (Author), Sue Jean Kim (Narrator)

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If I Had Your Face

"Brought to you by Penguin. 'Gripping' Curtis Sittenfeld * 'Electrifying' Taylor Jenkins Reid * 'Remarkable' Kevin Kwan * 'Stunning' Sunday Times * 'Brilliant' Pandora Sykes In South Korea, where impossible beauty standards and ruthless social hierarchies dictate your every move, four women are balancing on a razor's edge: Kyuri, a beautiful 'room salon' girl paid to entertain wealthy businessmen after hours. Miho, an artist whose life becomes enmeshed with the offspring of the super-wealthy elite. Ara, a hairstylist whose obsession with a K-pop star leads her to violent extremes. Wonna, their neighbour, pregnant with a child that she can't afford. Set in the drinking dens and beauty salons of Seoul, If I Had Your Face is an electrifying debut novel about female strength, resilience and the solace that friendship can provide. 'Cha's writing always crackles . . . Touching, compelling and icily cool' Observer 'Fascinating, eye-opening, compelling - like the film Parasite, If I Had Your Face is also an exposé of the class system in South Korea' Independent 'Absolutely stunning. . . Assured, bold, and electrifying' Taylor Jenkins Reid, Sunday Times bestselling author of DAISY JONES & THE SIX 'One of the buzziest debuts of the year, If I Had Your Face transports readers to glittering, futuristic Seoul... Essential reading' Vogue 'Culturally fascinating, emotionally layered, gripping and smart' Curtis Sittenfeld, bestselling author of PREP and AMERICAN WIFE 'Glittering, engrossing' Helen Oyeyemi, author of GINGERBREAD 'Remarkable, brilliantly crafted and devastatingly exquisite' Kevin Kwan, bestselling author of CRAZY RICH ASIANS LONGLISTED FOR THE DYLAN THOMAS PRIZE 2021 © Frances Cha 2020 (P) Penguin Audio 2020"

Frances Cha (Author), Frances Cha, Jeena Yi, Ruthie Ann Miles, Sue Jean Kim (Narrator)

Audiobook

Outside Beauty

"There's only one way Shelby and her sisters can describe their mother: she's a sexpot. She collects men (and loans, spending money, and gifts of all kinds) from all over the country. Sure, she's atypical, but she's also more than a pretty face and nail polish -- she's confident and brave and lives lifeon her own terms. And her daughters adore her, and work together to keep the family grounded in a way their mother can't. Then a late-night car crash shatters everything, including their mother's arm and face. Suddenly, the family is scattered across the country, each girl being sent to live with her respective father. While Helen undergoes surgery and post-surgery, the sisters try to adjust to a life without each other. The trouble is, they're NOT adjusting, and the youngest, Maddie, is so terrified of her father that she's withdrawing...from her sisters, and from herself. That's when Shelby realizes something must be done -- something drastic -- to reclaim her family. At turns wickedly funny and unflinchingly haunting, Outside Beauty showcases Cynthia Kadohata's unerring ability to explore the bonds that bind."

Cynthia Kadohata (Author), Sue Jean Kim (Narrator)

Audiobook

Audiobooks Narrated by Sue Jean Kim