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By chance, or with intent?
What’s better than a December mystery that transports you to a luxurious lakeside villa in Italy? Katie’s instant connection with Richard during a long flight initially feels like destiny. Richard is magnetic in every sense. The issue? He’s married, though he claims it’s open. After Katie accepts his invitation to work as his son’s au pair, village whispers spread about ghosts, drownings, and missing women at his estate. As Katie uncovers what happened to the women who came before her, romance turns to dread. Chance brought her there, but the consequences will leave you questioning every coincidence.
I’ll be in the library
Imagine a place that shows you exactly who you are and who you could become. Enter author Margot Harrison’s The Library of Fates. For Eleanor, it's a world where everything makes sense. She’s spent most of her life there as an apprentice, showing other people how to find the meaning of their lives in stories. But when her mentor mysteriously dies and the precious Book of Dark Nights vanishes, she's thrust into a globe-spanning adventure with Daniel, her mentor's estranged son and her former love. The chemistry! The mystery! Narrator Caroline Hewitt's performance is sparkling yet comforting, making this magical book-about-a-book the perfect holiday-season listening escape.
Let him eat his cake!
To be told you’re no fun when you’re sober would feel like a gut punch. However, Bravo’s Summer House star Carl Radke is proving the naysayers wrong. In his new memoir, Radke gives the raw, honest backstory of his life lived away from the camera. He’s showing up and showing out to prove that his journey toward sober living will not be in vain. I really enjoyed learning more about the man, but also better understanding what I’ve seen on the show. From the impactful moments and relationships he’s experienced, often to his own detriment, to his ongoing journey of self-discovery and improvement, Carl is offering fans honesty like never before.
A poetic take on history
The latest audiobook from historian and etymologist Mark Forsyth, Rhyme and Reason is a look at British history through the lens of poetry and the people who enjoy it. Whether you’re well-versed in poetry or a little more averse to verse, there’s plenty to appreciate and learn in this accessible journey through the history of poetics. Plus, Forsyth’s deep appreciation for words and language is apparent, offering fascinating insight into the evolution of English poetry and how cultural and technological advancements have changed how we interact with and consume it. It’s a blend of history, poetry, and language that strives to make verse just a little more enjoyable for all. Paired with Simon Shepherd’s performance, it definitely succeeds.
Absolute gold
Theo of Golden has been making quiet but ever-swelling waves among readers since it was self-published two years ago. A fable of friendship with kindness at its core, this story follows an octogenarian who arrives, rather mysteriously, in a small town in Georgia and discovers a trove of drawings in a local coffee shop. As Theo reconnects pictures with their true owners, he sprinkles inspiration, revelation, and hope on the listener like gold dust. Emmy-nominated actor and narrator David Morse brings the exact right amount of gentle gravitas to the thoughtful, ever-curious Theo.
Oh, Mary!
It is a truth universally acknowledged that Mary Bennet is among Jane Austen’s most dour characters—but all she needed was a proper storyline. She gets one in this audio adaptation of a hit regional play by Lauren Gunderson (The Half-Life of Marie Curie) and theatre director Margot Melcon. We meet the pianoforte-pounding book-nerd Mary as she arrives at Pemberley to spend the holidays with Lizzie and Mr. Darcy. Glum about her dull life at Longbourn, Mary perks up after meeting the map-mad Mr. de Bourgh. Soon, a bevy of Bennet sisters, along with brothers-in-law Darcy and Bingley, conspire to give Mary her happier ending. It’s a plummy confection arriving just in time to celebrate the 250th anniversary of Austen’s birth on 16 December.
A year without new clothes?
I’ll admit it: I have a wardrobe issue. My clothes are everywhere—closets, drawers, under-bed storage containers, laundry baskets, piles next to the laundry baskets... I even have clothes stashed at my parents’ house. And yet, each morning, I still struggle to find something to wear. So when I first stumbled on The Wardrobe Project by founder of The Broke Generation media platform Emma Edwards, I jumped at the chance to finally get my outfits under control—and maybe even save some money, too. Framed through Edwards’s own experience of a “no-buy” year, this guide is the key to shutting down impulse buying, finding your inner strength, and rediscovering who you are without that brand-new sweater. This new year, I’ll be stopping the cycle of overconsumption in favour of wearing my confidence instead.
Small-town secrets and second chances
A workplace romance, childhood friends to (almost) lovers, enemies to lovers, and a fake marriage. Cue Julie Andrews: "These are a few of my favourite things..." What a special treat to end a fantastic year of listening with Lucy Eden's The Love Audit. When childhood friends-turned-corporate rivals Jasmine and Derek are forced to fake marry for a business project in charming Miller's Cove, the tension is electric. Eden masterfully weaves Black history and community legacy into this delightful romance, and the duet narration by Wesleigh Siobhan and Leon Nixon is perfection. The banter crackles, the chemistry sizzles, plus there's an adorable dog! If you're also looking to end your year on a high note, I can't recommend The Love Audit enough. It's smart, sexy, and oh so satisfying.
Some good in the world is worth fighting for
As a literature major at uni, I recall the embarrassment of being ridiculed for my enthusiasm for many of the books I cherished in my teenage years—especially genre novels. While I’m not as rabid a fan of Middle-earth lore these days, I welcome author and scholar Michael D.C. Drout’s defence of J.R.R. Tolkien’s ability to capture our imaginations. Not only does this erudite English professor give me permission to wallow in my appreciation of hobbits, goblins, orcs, and the rest of the pantheon of mythical creatures, he’s such an engaging narrator of Old Norse and Finnish myths—as well as Elvish tongues—that he inspires neophytes and diehard Tolkienists alike.
It happened one night in Harlem
In her new Harriet Stone Mystery series, the novelist and master of twists and turns Valerie Wilson Wesley takes us on a stroll along Striver’s Row, the storied Harlem block known for its late-19th-century stately homes originally designed for wealthy white owners. Stone and her biracial foster child, 12-year-old Lovey, have endured great loss back home in Connecticut with the Spanish flu raging. At the invitation of Stone’s cousin, Junetta Plum (don’t you love that name?), they arrive in New York where Plum’s brownstone, now a boarding house, will be their home, a safe haven. Tragedy strikes the first morning of their stay. Someone has killed Junetta. Did a boarder do it? What was Junetta’s real business? Diana Blue, not new to Wilson’s work, narrates. I can’t wait to hear how this story unfolds in those rooms on Striver’s Row.
An ending for the ages
The final book of The Eye of the Goddess series is here, and I can’t believe that we are finally about to get the HEA that we (ok, ok, that I) have been waiting for with these characters that I’ve grown to love so much. A Curse of Ashes picks up right after the events in A Vow of Embers, with Lia and Xander working to figure out how they can escape the goddess’s command and navigate the VERY complicated feelings that they now have for each other. This is a romantasy, so we’re getting the happily ever after; the real journey is how we're getting there, because at the start it seemed almost impossible, and boy does Sariah Wilson deliver one last big adventure. Thérèse Plummer, who has excellently narrated the entire series, returns to perform, which is the icing on this delicious last slice of cake.
