I've been listening to a lot of YA and Adult crossover audiobooks these days. Here are a few of my recent and upcoming listens that I'm excited about.
Circe : a novel
Madeline Miller
eAUDIO
Fiction, Literary Fiction, Fantasy
Follows Circe, the banished witch daughter of Helios, as she hones her powers and interacts with famous mythological beings before a conflict with one of the most vengeful Olympians forces her to choose between the worlds of the gods and mortals.
Frankly in love
David Yoon
eAUDIO
Young Adult, Literary Fiction
"High school senior Frank Li takes a risk to go after a girl his parents would never approve of, but his plans will leave him wondering if he ever really understood love--or himself--at all"--
During his senior year, Frank Li takes a risk and disobeys his parents in a way he never anticipated. I loved all of the ways Frank grows and learns about life and love throughout this title.
- Casey
Spinning silver
Naomi Novik
eAUDIO
Fantasy
"A fresh and imaginative retelling of the Rumpelstiltskin fairytale from the bestselling author of Uprooted, called "a very enjoyable fantasy with the air of a modern classic" by The New York Times Book Review. Miryem is the daughter and granddaughter of moneylenders, but her father is not a very good one. Free to lend and reluctant to collect, he has left his family on the edge of poverty--until Miryem intercedes. Hardening her heart, she sets out to retrieve what is owed, and soon gains a reputation for being able to turn silver into gold. But when an ill-advised boast brings her to the attention of the cold creatures who haunt the wood, nothing will be the same again. For words have power, and the fate of a kingdom will be forever altered by the challenge she is issued"--
I really enjoyed Naomi Novik's "Uprooted" and am looking forward to digging into this one soon.
- Casey
A gentleman in Moscow
Amor Towles
eAUDIO
Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction
""In all ways a great novel, a nonstop pleasure brimming with charm, personal wisdom, and philosophic insight.this book more than fulfills the promise of Towles' stylish debut, Rules of Civility." - Kirkus Reviews (starred) From the New York Times bestselling author of Rules of Civility--a transporting novel about a man who is ordered to spend the rest of his life inside a luxury hotel With his breakout debut novel, Rules of Civility, Amor Towles established himself as a master of absorbing, sophisticated fiction, bringing late 1930s Manhattan to life with splendid atmosphere and a flawless command of style. Readers and critics were enchanted; as NPR commented, "Towles writes with grace and verve about the mores and manners of a society on the cusp of radical change." A Gentleman in Moscow immerses us in another elegantly drawn era with the story of Count Alexander Rostov. When, in 1922, he is deemed an unrepentant aristocrat by a Bolshevik tribunal, the count is sentenced to house arrest in the Metropol, a grand hotel across the street from the Kremlin. Rostov, an indomitable man of erudition and wit, has never worked a day in his life, and must now live in an attic room while some of the most tumultuous decades in Russian history are unfolding outside the hotel's doors. Unexpectedly, his reduced circumstances provide him a doorway into a much larger world of emotional discovery. Brimming with humor, a glittering cast of characters, and one beautifully rendered scene after another, this singular novel casts a spell as it relates the count's endeavor to gain a deeper understanding of what it means to be a man of purpose"--
Another one that I continue to hear nothing but wonderful things about. I'm looking forward to getting to know Count Rostov soon.
- Casey
Written in the stars
Aisha Saeed
eAUDIO
Young Adult, Literary Fiction
"Naila's vacation to visit relatives in Pakistan turns into a nightmare when she discovers her parents want to force her to marry a man she's never met"--
Naila's family takes an impromptu vacation to visit relatives in Pakistan and her world is turned upside down. This was an enlightening and occasionally tough listen, but more than worth the time and emotive effort. The author's note at the end is a gem, don't skip it.
- Casey
All the light we cannot see : a novel
Anthony Doerr
eAUDIO
Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction
"From the highly acclaimed, multiple award-winning Anthony Doerr, a stunningly ambitious and beautiful novel about a blind French girl and a German boy whose paths collide in occupied France as both try to survive the devastation of World War II. Marie Laure lives with her father in Paris within walking distance of the Museum of Natural History where he works as the master of the locks (there are thousands of locks in the museum). When she is six, she goes blind, and her father builds her a model of their neighborhood, every house, every manhole, so she can memorize it with her fingers and navigate the real streets with her feet and cane. When the Germans occupy Paris, father and daughter flee to Saint-Malo on the Brittany coast, where Marie-Laure's agoraphobic great uncle lives in a tall, narrow house by the sea wall. In another world in Germany, an orphan boy, Werner, grows up with his younger sister, Jutta, both enchanted by a crude radio Werner finds. He becomes a master at building and fixing radios, a talent that wins him a place at an elite and brutal military academy and, ultimately, makes him a highly specialized tracker of the Resistance. Werner travels through the heart of Hitler Youth to the far-flung outskirts of Russia, and finally into Saint-Malo, where his path converges with Marie-Laure. Doerr's gorgeous combination of soaring imagination with observation is electric. Deftly interweaving the lives of Marie-Laure and Werner, Doerr illuminates the ways, against all odds, people try to be good to one another. Ten years in the writing, All the Light We Cannot See is his most ambitious and dazzling work"--
I know, I know, I'm years behind on this one. In fact it's been on my list since it was nominated for an Alex award when it first came out. Now's the time!
- Casey
One of us is next
Karen M. McManus
eAUDIO
Young Adult, Mystery, Suspense
"A year after the Bayview four were cleared of Simon Kelleher's death, a new mystery has cropped up--a game with dangerous consequences that's targeting students at Bayview again. And if the creator isn't found soon, dangerous could prove deadly"--
"Everyone's learned by now how to win this game. Always take the dare." I dare you to put this fun and fast-paced follow up to "One of us is Lying" down.
- Casey
House of salt and sorrows
Erin A. Craig
On a remote island estate, Annaleigh Thaumas, the sixth-born of twelve sisters, enlists the aid of an alluring stranger to unravel the family curse before it claims her life.
The Twelve Dancing Princesses is one of my favorite fairy tales. I'm beyond excited about reading this dark retelling.
- Casey
I'm so glad I took the time to listen to Circe. Madeline Miller's writing is lofty yet accessible and her characters highly realized, I loved everything about this title. Look for Circeon my rereads shelf soon!
- Casey