Newtonville Books
Local bookseller recommendations
Find audiobooks personally recommended by our booksellers.


Penitence
By: Kristin Koval
Narrated by: Thérèse Plummer
Length: 12 hours 13 minutes
Abridged: No
For readers of Ann Patchett and Celeste Ng, Penitence is a poignant exploration of love and forgiveness. It’s a suspenseful, addictive audiobook filled with literary insight that compels listeners to consider whether the worst thing we’ve ever done is all that defines us.
“Plummer is a joy to listen to. She brings insight and emotional depth to... Read more


Real Americans
By: Rachel Khong
Narrated by: Louisa Zhu, Eric Yang & Eunice Wong
Length: 14 hours 40 minutes
Abridged: No
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • READ WITH JENNA’S MAY BOOK CLUB PICK • From the award-winning author of Goodbye, Vitamin: How far would you go to shape your own destiny? An exhilarating novel of American identity that spans three generations in one family and asks: What makes us who we are? And how inevitable are our futures?
"Mesmerizing"—Brit... Read more


We Do Not Part
By: Han Kang
Narrated by: Greta Jung
Length: 7 hours 40 minutes
Abridged: No
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • THE NEW NOVEL FROM HAN KANG, WINNER OF THE 2024 NOBEL PRIZE IN LITERATURE
“[Han Kang’s] intense poetic prose . . . confronts historical traumas and exposes the fragility of human life.”—The Nobel Committee for Literature, in the citation for the Nobel Prize
“[A] masterpiece.”—The Boston Globe
“A novel that is both... Read more


Now Is Not the Time to Panic
By: Kevin Wilson
Narrated by: Ginnifer Goodwin & Kevin Wilson
Length: 6 hours 12 minutes
Abridged: No
An exuberant, bighearted novel about two teenage misfits who spectacularly collide one fateful summer, and the art they make that changes their lives foreverSixteen-year-old Frankie Budge—aspiring writer, indifferent student, offbeat loner—is determined to make it through yet another summer in Coalfield, Tennessee, when she meets Zeke, a... Read more
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How to Say Babylon
By: Safiya Sinclair
Narrated by: Safiya Sinclair
Length: 16 hours 46 minutes
Abridged: No
National Book Critics Circle Award Winner
A New York Times Notable Book
Best Book of the Year for The Washington Post* The New Yorker * Time * The Atlantic * Los Angeles Times * NPR * Harper’s Bazaar * Vulture * Town & Country * San Francisco Chronicle * Christian Science Monitor * Mother Jones * Barack Obama
A Read with Jenna Today Show... Read more


Behind You Is the Sea
By: Susan Muaddi Darraj
Narrated by: Rasha Zamamiri & Ali Nasser
Length: 6 hours 30 minutes
Abridged: No
LONGLISTED FOR THE 2025 PEN/FAULKNER AWARD""A beautiful portrait of a family reaching for their dreams while holding on to their roots.""—Publishers Weekly""Each chapter reads like a small masterpiece.""—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)An exciting debut novel that gives voice to the diverse residents of a Palestinian American community in... Read more
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How to Protect Bookstores and Why
By: Danny Caine
Narrated by: Danny Caine
Length: 6 hours 47 minutes
Abridged: No
Why bookstores matter, and how we can help Can bookstores save the world? As bastions of culture, anchors of local retail districts, community gathering places, and sources of new ideas, inspiration, and delight, maybe they can. But only if we protect them and the critical roles they fill in our communities. Danny Caine, author of the... Read more
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The Fraud
By: Zadie Smith
Narrated by: Zadie Smith
Length: 12 hours 24 minutes
Abridged: No
The New York Times bestseller • One of the New York Times 10 Best Books of the Year • One of NPR's Best Books of the Year • Named a Best Book of the Year by Publishers Weekly
“[A] brilliant new entry in Smith’s catalog . . . The Fraud is not a change for Smith, but a demonstration of how expansive her talents are.” —Los Angeles Times
From... Read more


Anita de Monte Laughs Last
By: Xochitl Gonzalez
Narrated by: Jessica Pimentel, Jonathan Gregg & Stacy Gonzalez
Length: 13 hours 36 minutes
Abridged: No
This program is read by a full cast of Stacy Gonzalez, Jonathan Gregg, and Jessica Pimentel, best known for her role on Orange Is the New Black.
"The book is clever and original, but what’s more, Jessica Pimentel, a star of Orange Is the New Black, reads Anita as if she’s in a fever dream. There’s a vibrant wickedness to her performance that no... Read more


From Here to the Great Unknown: Oprah's Book Club
By: Lisa Marie Presley & Riley Keough
Narrated by: Riley Keough & Julia Roberts
Length: 5 hours 42 minutes
Abridged: No
#1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER • NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • OPRAH’S BOOK CLUB PICK • Born to an American myth and raised in the wilds of Graceland, Lisa Marie Presley tells her whole story for the first time in this raw, riveting, one-of-a-kind memoir faithfully completed by her daughter, Riley Keough.
A PEOPLE BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
In 2022, Lisa Marie... Read more


Pandora
By: Susan Stokes-Chapman
Narrated by: Olivia Vinall
Length: 11 hours 29 minutes
Abridged: No
#1 Sunday Times BestsellerA Library Journal Best Book of 2023“Lush, evocative and utterly irresistible.”—Jennifer Saint, author of AriadnePrepare to lift the lid on a lush reimagination of the mythological Pandora….Susan Stokes-Chapman’s atmospheric debut, PANDORA, immerses the reader in the dangerous, mysterious world of ancient antiquities... Read more
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Our Missing Hearts: Reese's Book Club
By: Celeste Ng
Narrated by: Lucy Liu & Celeste Ng
Length: 9 hours 51 minutes
Abridged: No
An instant New York Times bestseller • A New York Times Notable Book • Named a Best Book of 2022 by People, TIME Magazine, The Washington Post, USA Today, NPR, Los Angeles Times, and Oprah Daily, and more • A Reese's Book Club Pick • New York Times Paperback Row Selection
From the #1 bestselling author of Little Fires Everywhere, comes the... Read more


The Great Transition
By: Nick Fuller Googins
Narrated by: Stacy Carolan & Stacy Gonzalez
Length: 11 hours 31 minutes
Abridged: No
This richly imaginative, immersive, and “electrifyingly relevant” (William Kent Krueger, New York Times bestselling author) debut novel follows a shocking disappearance amid the climate crisis of our near future—perfect for fans of Station Eleven and The Last Thing He Told Me.
Emi Vargas, whose parents helped save the world, is tired of being... Read more


After Annie
By: Anna Quindlen
Narrated by: Gilli Messer
Length: 7 hours 49 minutes
Abridged: No
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “Part of Quindlen’s gift is that you don’t just read about these characters, you inhabit them. . . . Luminous with life, hope and the power of love.”—People (A Book of the Week Pick)
“[A] quietly revelatory and gently gleaming gem of a book.”—The New York Times Book Review (Editors’ Choice)
Anna Quindlen’s trademark... Read more


Maame
By: Jessica George
Narrated by: Heather Agyepong
Length: 10 hours 10 minutes
Abridged: No
A Today Show #ReadWithJenna Book Club Pick
One of BookPage's Best Audiobooks of 2023
"The patchwork elements cooperate with one another both on the page and in the audiobook, thanks to Heather Agyepong’s elegant narration." —New York Times
"Maame is a deeply funny yet emotional novel that comes alive with narration. A great pick for the... Read more


The History of Sound
By: Ben Shattuck
Narrated by: Ben Shattuck, Zachary Chastain, Paul Mescal, Di...
Length: 9 hours 29 minutes
Abridged: No
WINNER OF THE STORY PRIZE SPOTLIGHT AWARD
LONGLISTED FOR THE PEN/FAULKNER AWARD FOR FICTION & THE ANDREW CARNEGIE MEDAL FOR EXCELLENCE IN FICTION
AN ALA NOTABLE BOOK • ONE OF NPR’s “BOOKS WE LOVE” • ONE OF THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE’S 10 BEST BOOKS OF 2024 • BEST SHORT FICTION, KIRKUS REVIEWS
“Polyphonic fiction. . . . A reminder of the short story’s... Read more


The Heart in Winter
By: Kevin Barry
Narrated by: Kevin Barry
Length: 5 hours 54 minutes
Abridged: No
A BEST BOOK OF 2024 FROM THE ECONOMIST AND THE MINNESOTA STAR TRIBUNE
Award-winning writer Kevin Barry’s first novel set in America, a savagely funny and achingly romantic tale of young lovers on the lam in 1890s Montana.
"A wedding of Cormac McCarthy with Flann O’Brien; a western but also the most Irish of novels; a tragedy written as farce . . .... Read more


How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water
By: Angie Cruz
Narrated by: Kimberly M. Wetherell & Rossmery Almonte
Length: 6 hours 16 minutes
Abridged: No
This program features original sound design.
"Together, [narrators] Almonte and Wetherell are the key to this exceptional novel. A brilliantly narrated immigrant story, spiked with heart and flair, that will have patrons rooting for Cara’s success." - Library Journal
"Rossmery Almonte's pitch-perfect narration of Angie Cruz's inventive new novel... Read more


The Daughter of Doctor Moreau
By: Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Narrated by: Gisela Chípe
Length: 11 hours 39 minutes
Abridged: No
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the bestselling author of Mexican Gothic and Velvet Was the Night comes a lavish historical drama reimagining of The Island of Doctor Moreau set against the backdrop of nineteenth-century Mexico.
“This is historical science fiction at its best: a dreamy reimagining of a classic story with vivid descriptions of... Read more


Waiting on the Moon
By: Peter Wolf
Narrated by: Peter Wolf
Length: 11 hours 19 minutes
Abridged: No
In the tradition of classic collections of observations and musings such as Christopher Isherwood’s I Am a Camera and Truman Capote’s The Dogs Bark, Waiting on the Moon is a treasure trove of vignettes from a legendary musical figure whose career spans more than six decades and is still going strong.
Peter Wolf grew up in the Bronx, a child of... Read more


That Librarian
By: Amanda Jones
Narrated by: Amanda Jones
Length: 9 hours 56 minutes
Abridged: No
Bloomsbury presents That Librarian written and read by Amanda Jones.
“Amanda Jones started getting death threats, all for standing up for our right to read . . . but she’s not stopped fighting against book bans, or stopped advocating for access to diverse stories.”—Oprah Winfrey, in a speech at the 2023 National Book Awards
"Amanda Jones clearly... Read more


Waiting for the Long Night Moon
By: Amanda Peters
Narrated by: Ussani Taylor & Megan Tooley
Length: 5 hours 23 minutes
Abridged: No
From the bestselling author of The Berry Pickers In her debut collection of short fiction, Amanda Peters describes the Indigenous experience from an astonishingly wide spectrum in time and place—from contact with the first European settlers, to the forced removal of Indigenous children, to the present-day fight for the right to clean water In... Read more
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The Postcard
By: Anne Berest
Narrated by: Barrie Kealoha
Length: 13 hours 5 minutes
Abridged: No
A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
TIME Magazine・NPR・Library Journal・The Globe and Mail・Lilith・Forward Magazine・Toronto Star・The New Yorker
Winner of the Choix Goncourt Prize, Anne Berest’s The Postcard is a vivid portrait of twentieth-century Parisian intellectual and artistic life, an enthralling investigation into family secrets, and poignant tale of a... Read more


The Storm We Made
By: Vanessa Chan
Narrated by: Samantha Tan
Length: 10 hours 52 minutes
Abridged: No
NATIONAL BESTSELLER * A GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK * LONGLISTED FOR THE CENTER FOR FICTION 2024 FIRST NOVEL PRIZE
In this “espionage-laden family epic” (Vanity Fair), an ordinary housewife becomes an unlikely spy—and her dark secrets will test even the most unbreakable ties.
Malaya, 1945. Cecily Alcantara’s family is in terrible danger:... Read more