Pack your bathing suit, sunscreen, and these listens for a fun, relaxing summer beach day!
Performed by Matthew Lloyd Davies and Esther Wane
Melanie Summers welcomes you back to Paradise Bay for a ridiculously romantic, laugh-out-loud tale of reluctant homecomings, lost loves, and second chances . . .
Tags; #romcom #romance #royalty #contemporary
Performed by Helen Langford
Something sinister is happening at a care home in a British seaside town—and Aubrey the cat is perfect at sniffing out trouble . . .
Tags; #cozymystery #detective
Performed by Alison Larkin
From Jenny Colgan comes an irresistible novel—moving and funny, soulful and sweet—about happiness, heartache, and hope.
Tags; #romance #contemporary #literaryfiction
Performed by Amy McFadden
Though Audrey wasn’t the first girl to disappear in Clearwater Ridge, she left behind more lies than clues. Now, one summer later, her case has gone cold, and nobody, least of all Paige, can make sense of what happened.
Queer women have been written out of history since, well, forever. A Short History of Queer Women sets the record straight on women who have loved other women through the ages.
Performed by Ben Allen
Bad Gays is a passionate argument for rethinking gay politics beyond questions of identity and the search for solidarity across boundaries.
Performed by Patrick Lawlor
From the author of the groundbreaking bestseller Queer in America, a myth-shattering look at the present and future of gay rights.
Performed by Graham Halstead
In 1978, Harvey Milk asked Gilbert Baker to create a unifying symbol for the growing gay rights movement, and on June 25 of that year, Baker’s Rainbow Flag debuted at San Francisco’s Gay Liberation Day parade. Baker had no idea his creation would become an international emblem of freedom, forever cementing his place and importance in helping to define the modern LGBTQ+ movement.
Guidebooks
Performed by Amy Deuchler
This easy-to-use dictionary introduces the most essential vocabulary surrounding LGBTQ+ identities. Whether you’re questioning your own identity or simply interested in learning more, this useful guide will help you navigate the world with knowledge, understanding, and kindness.
Performed by Sarah Beth Pfeifer
Fully revised and updated guide with frank, sensitive information for LGBTQ teens, their families, and their allies.
Performed by Christopher Solimene
Lesbian. Bisexual. Queer. Transgender. Straight. Curious. This book is for everyone, regardless of gender or sexual preference. This book is for anyone who’s ever dared to wonder. This book is for you.
Memoirs
Performed by the author
A personal and culture-driven exploration of the most pressing questions facing the transgender community today, from leading activist, musician, and academic CN Lester.
Performed by Nicky Endres
In this searingly honest LGBTQ+ memoir, Maeve DuVally tells the story of coming out transgender in one of the most high-profile financial institutions in America, Goldman Sachs.
Performed by the author
Leg is an extraordinarily funny and insightful memoir from a daring new voice. Packed with outrageous stories of a singular childhood, it is also a unique examination of what it means to transform when there are parts of yourself you can’t change, a moving portrait of a family in crisis, and a tale of resilience of spirit.
Performed by the author
This witty memoir traces a touching and often hilarious spiralic path to embracing a gay, Latinx identity against a culture of machismo—from a cockfighting ring in Nicaragua to cities across the U.S.—and the bath houses, night clubs, and drag queens who help redefine pride.
Performed by John Dickhout
From early childhood, through coming out first as a lesbian and then as a man, and his battles with epilepsy and refusal to give in, Soar, Adam, Soar chronicles Adam Prashaw’s drive to define himself, his joyful spirit, and his love of life, which continues to conquer all.
Collections
Performed by Robin Eller
In this charged collection of fifteen essays and speeches, influential poet and feminist writer Audre Lorde takes on sexism, racism, ageism, homophobia, and class, and propounds social difference as a vehicle for action and change.
Performed by Sarah Beth Pfeifer
What happens when your gender doesn’t fit neatly into the categories of male or female? In this groundbreaking book, thirty authors highlight how our experiences are shaped by a deeply entrenched gender binary.
Performed by Lee Osorio
A Great Gay Book: Stories of Growth, Belonging and Other Queer Possibilities is a gorgeously designed collection of essays, short fiction, poetry, interviews, profiles, as well as new material from many of today’s biggest LGBTQ+ creatives.
Need tips this gardening season? Look no further than these listens!
Performed by Stephen R. Thorne
In a friendly, straightforward style, professional horticulturist Steven A. Frowine distills fifty years of gardening experience to show you how to start growing your expertise—from planning out your own mini-Eden and planting your first annuals, bulbs, and perennials through to laying the perfect lawn, raising tasty crops, and even introducing fish to your landscape.
Performed by Tanya Enby
Whether your thumb is a fertile green or you’ve never put plant-to-pot before, this book will bring out your inner farmer: you’ll find everything required to transform your garden into a self-renewing larder—and complement every meal with a crisp, healthy, home-grown treat.
Performed by Chelsea Stephens
Melissa K. Norris, fifth generation homesteader and host of the popular Pioneering Today podcast, explains how to plant a garden that will yield healthy, wholesome food throughout the year.
Performed by April Doty
Make healthier life choices to heal yourself and the environment through self-sufficiency. Holistic Homesteading by Roxanne Ahern provides the tools for living slowly, intentionally, and better through permaculture, edible gardening, and organic farming.
Performed by Amanda Ronconi
In Getting Baked, sustainable living expert Barb Webb takes you on an in-depth journey through everything you ever wanted to know about CBD, including the science, side effects, dosages, and benefits. You’ll also take a deep dive into herbs and botanicals that complement CBD and complete your medicinal garden.
Fall in love with this captivating Regency romance! Perfect for fans of Georgette Heyer, Mary Balogh, Jane Aiken Hodge, and Jane Austen. From author Dorothy Mack. Performed by Sasha Higgins.
What is the reason for Giles’s haughtiness? Can Angelica thaw his frosty exterior? Or are both condemned to a life without love?Can headstrong Marianne find her place in respectable society?Can a feckless rake become the ideal husband?
Tina Gabrielle presents her Daring Ladies series. Book 3 coming in audiobook June 11, 2024!Contains mature themes.
Oliver is not one to give up when he finds something he wants. He must persuade her to trust him—and to believe that one passionate night can turn into forever.Adeline and her faux beau must convince the ton and their families that they’re an item. It doesn’t matter if they can barely tolerate each other. It doesn’t matter that scandal is only a touch away. Because if this charade doesn’t work, Adeline will find herself in dangerous hands . . .
Emily Rath presents the Second Sons series. Performed by Dan Calley and Allie Rose.Contains mature themes.
Marriage is a trap and Rosalie will not be easily snared . . . but that doesn’t mean she can’t enjoy the chase while it lasts.For love of Rosalie, the gentlemen must prove willing to try anything, risk anything, and be anything she needs.The Lady has an offer. The Vicar has a Confession.
Jessica Jefferson presents the Regency Blooms series. Performed by Beverley A. Crick. Contains mature themes.
With scandal, extortion, treachery, and even love itself threatening to keep him from his goal, will Duncan succeed or find himself compromised by Miss Ambrosia Tisdale?When ghosts from both their pasts threaten to unravel the intimacy they’ve come to cherish, will either of them set their fears aside long enough to embrace love? Or will Miss Tasmin Tisdale’s stubbornness divide them?When Will is invited to the Tisdale estate for an extended holiday, he never expects to become friends with the forgettable Lillian. But when a family secret comes to light, he must choose between leaving London and protecting the honor of one woman or staying and risking the reputation of another.
Although I have written, spoken, and produced audiobooks for years, I’m excited that Johnny Heller is reading my words for Tantor Media, Inc.’s release of the audiobook of Say Hello to My Little Friend: A Century of Scarface.
The print edition of my exhaustive history of both Howard Hawks’s 1932 Scarface and Brian DePalma’s brilliant 1983 remake is available in print from Kensington Publishers. This spoken counterpart from Tantor brings both films to life for fans who want to enjoy it on the go or just hanging in the crib remembering what it was like the first time they saw Tony Montana do his thing.
Scarface was a phenomenon. The saga of Cuban refugee Tony Montana (Al Pacino) and his friend Manny Ribera (Steven Bauer) rising through the cocaine trade in South Florida in the 1980s was always a great movie, but it took years for it to find its most appreciative audience. When it did, it exploded: Scarface clothes, posters, do-dads, video games, and even a hip-hop artist who changed his name in homage.
Why does Scarface continue to resonate forty years after its release?
For starters, it’s not about drugs. Well, okay, it is about drugs, but it also isn’t; it’s really about American capitalism, supply and demand, enforcement, chicanery, and, especially, competition. Some people even say it’s really about Hollywood.
At its base, it’s the story of a smart man who does dumb things, a man whose exploits are a mixture of desperation and ambition. It just happens that what he does is illegal. Oliver Stone caught that irony in his script (which he wrote while waiting for Platoon to get financed), and everyone involved with the film shared a commitment to excellence.
I lost count of how many interviews I did about the book when it came out and am still doing. The one thing I constantly heard from everyone I spoke to is how much they loved Scarface because it was so over-the-top. And it’s true. Its characters are larger than life, the violence is beyond description, and the language—well, I’m looking forward to hearing how Johnny deals with it, since Tantor is producing it un-censored.
Going back nearly a hundred years to its source, the 1932 Scarface, which starred Paul Muni, was an original film, but not an original story. Based on the novel by Armitage Trail, it was more or less about the life and sordid career of Al Capone, the Chicago gang boss who ran the Windy City in the 1920s. King of the bootleg booze trade, Capone had his gangland rivals wiped out and bribed enough city officials to keep control of the illegal liquor trade. In the end, he was undone, not by a rival, but by failure to pay his income taxes.
In fictionalizing Capone’s seamy story, Trail added a family conflict, a backstory in World War I, and a brother who was on the right side of the law. When Ben Hecht wrote the script for Howard Hawks to direct for producer Howard Hughes, he stripped the story to its bare essentials, threw in the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, and created a sensation.
Al Pacino happened to see a revival of the 1932 film when he was in Hollywood in the early 1980s and decided he wanted to star in a remake. Pacino being Pacino, he called his manager/producer Martin Bregman, and Bregman called Universal Pictures (who happened to have just acquired the rights to the 1932 movie), and within hours they had a deal.
It turned out that that was the easy part. As I tell in my book, getting the film made after that was an adventure in Hollywood politics. The result, as we all know, was worth it.
Say Hello to My Little Friend: A Century of Scarface answers just about every question for people who already know a lot about the movie but want to hear more. It was a privilege to be able to write it and to speak to some of the people who worked on the film, and that’s what listeners will hear when they embark on the audio book of the story behind the story of Scarface.
Nat Segaloff is a writer, producer, journalist, and Hugo and Locus Award–nominated author of more than two dozen books about filmmakers and film history, including Hurricane Billy: The Stormy Life and Films of William Friedkin. He covered the film industry for the Boston Herald and worked on A&E’s flagship Biography series as well as programming for The Learning Channel, New World, Disney, Turner Classic Movies, and USA Network. As one of the original publicists on The Exorcist, he closes a haunting chapter in his life with The Exorcist Legacy. Segaloff lives in Los Angeles and can be found online at natsegaloff.com.
It’s February 9, are you celebrating National Pizza Day?
Why not add a little pizza knowledge (or fun) while you chow down on your favorite slice.
Fun facts:
In the US, we consume approximately 3 billion pizzas a year. That is the equivalent to 350 slices per second.
17% of all restaurants in the USA are pizza shops
The top 10 US states that eat the most pizza in order are: Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Iowa, Delaware, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Ohio, West Virginia
And if you are craving more, here are a few pizza related titles for your dining pleasure.
We don’t know about you, but we can’t wait to listen to all of the new audiobooks releasing this month!
We understand that at times it could be a challenge narrowing down your next listen, so we had our acquirers narrow down a few of their top picks for you. Roadtrips, poolside, or beachside? We’ve got you covered!
S. M. Boyce presents Book 2 in the Wraithblade series. Outlaw. Assassin. Aspiring warlord. Connor Magnuson’s been called many names, but which of them are true?
Note: The Wraithblade saga continues! Return to the story of Connor as he struggles with god-like powers, even as new adversaries loom. – Greg
A must-listen contemporary romance from #1 New York Times bestselling author Natasha Preston.
Note: Natasha Preston is known as the queen of YA thrillers, however, her contemporary romances are just as good as her thrillers! And you don’t want to miss this new to audio new adult romance. In this story, Savannah and Kent meet for the first time and can’t stand each other. One hates liars and the other is holding nothing but secrets…- Jordan
We don’t know about you, but we can’t wait to listen to all of the new audiobooks releasing this month!
We understand that at times it could be a challenge narrowing down your next listen, so we had our acquirers narrow down a few of their top picks for you. Roadtrips, poolside, or beachside? We’ve got you covered!
How to stay in charge in a world populated by algorithms that beat us in chess, find us romantic partners, and tell us to “turn right in 500 yards.”
Note: Is AI really coming after your job? After your way of life? In How to Stay Smart in a Smart World, Gerg Gigerenzer explores the areas that AI succeeds in and where it still falls short and will likely continue to. The author removes the panic and technology jargon from the conversation, leaving a level-headed book that all of us can look to for an idea of what the future holds for Human-AI interactions. – Jenn Eschrich
By Man Asian Literary Prize winner Kyung-Sook Shin, “a moving delve into a lonely psyche” that follows a neglected young woman’s search for human connection in contemporary Seoul (YZ Chin).
Note: An isolated young woman confronts her own loneliness and personal desires as she navigates a bustling city, a new job in a flower shop, and unwanted social pressures. Atmospheric in its prose, Kyung-Sook Shin’s Violets examines the perspective of a marginalized woman and the society that ignores her, in 1990s Seoul. – Sonia Brand-Fisher
Bruce Lee revolutionized martial arts by combining influences drawn from around the world. Uncommonly determined, physically gifted, and artistically brilliant, Lee rose to fame as part of a wave of transpacific globalization that bridged the nearly seven thousand miles between Hong Kong and California. Like Water unpacks Lee’s global impact, linking his legendary status as a martial artist, actor, and director to his continual traversals across the newly interconnected Asia and America.
Note: A detailed look at the cultural impact of Bruce Lee, both in Asia and throughout the rest of the world. A unique blend of cultural history and biography, Like Water, unearths the cultural strands that Lee intertwined in his rise to a new kind of global stardom. A wonderful retelling of the legacy of the first Asian-American superstar.- Scott Smith
We don’t know about you, but we can’t wait to listen to all of the new audiobooks releasing this month!
We understand that at times it could be a challenge narrowing down your next listen, so we had our acquirers narrow down a few of their top picks for you. Roadtrips, poolside, or beachside? We’ve got you covered!
Logan Ryles presents Book 1 in the Wolfgang Pierce series.
Note: For fans of the Jack Ryan series and Gray Man series, Wolfgang Pierce is a multi-city espionage series that will keep you on your toes. All 6 books will be releasing from Tantor in 2022, so get ready to binge! – Jenn Eschrich
Melinda Di Lorenzo presents Book 1 in the Trinity Calhoun Mystery series. Contains mature themes.
Written by: Melinda Di Lorenzo
Read by: Nikki Zakocs
Publishing Date: 7/19/22
Note: The first book in a new mystery series by Melinda Di Lorenzo and you do not want to miss this one! Trinity rushes back to her hometown when she finds out there was disappearance that is awfully similar to one from 20 years ago. Will Trinity be able to keep a clear head and figure it out or will she let her judgment get in the way? –Jordan Spellman
American Urbanist: How William H. Whyte’s Unconventional Wisdom Reshaped Public Life
This biography offers a rare glimpse into the mind of William H. Whyte, an iconoclast whose healthy skepticism of the status quo can help guide our efforts to create the kinds of places we want to live in today.
Note: Touted by The New York Times as “A marvelous new biography” American Urbanist tells the story of the work and genius of William Whyte, the urbanist and author who was an early leader in the environmental conservation and urban preservation movements. Author Richard Rein offers the listener a comprehensive biography that fully explains the influence Whyte’s ideas and writing had on American’s everyday life. From his advocacy against groupthink in corporate America to his push to preserve farmland to his ideas about public spaces in urban centers Whyte managed to shape the discourse of today’s economy, contemporary city management, and occupational innovation and creativity. This audiobook is a must-have for those seeking insight into urban planning, social issues, and the actual working order of the modern world. – Nick Pouliot
Exploring an insect whose sensory experiences rival those of humans, The Mind of a Bee reveals the singular abilities of some of the world’s most incredible creatures.
Note: A groundbreaking look into the intelligence of bees, leading biologist and bee expert Lars Chittka takes listeners on a journey into the world of bees, showing beyond any reasonable doubt that bees have awareness, memories, basic emotions, intelligence, and personalities. This book is a game-changer on how one perceives the actual intelligence of one of the most important insects in the animal world.- Scott Smith
We don’t know about you, but we can’t wait to listen to all of the new audiobooks releasing this month!
We understand that at times it could be a challenge narrowing down your next listen, so we had our acquirers narrow down a few of their top picks for you. Roadtrips, poolside, or beachside? We’ve got you covered!
A groundbreaking work that offers deep insights and astrological techniques for bringing the future to light.
Note: The new edition of this groundbreaking guide is perfect for those curious about parsing the future and interpreting their destiny. Bernadette Brady draws on her decades of expertise to invite new and experienced practitioners alike into the world of predictive astrology. – Sonia Brand-Fisher
One hot summer night, best friends Lourdes, Fernanda, Ana, Perla, and Pauline hold a séance. It’s all fun and games at first, but their tipsy laughter turns to terror when the flames burn straight through their prayer candles. As Father Moreno’s obsession with Fernanda grows, Lourdes enlists the help of her “bruja Craft crew” and a professor, Dr. Camacho, to understand what is happening to her friend in this unholy tale of possession-gone-right. Contains mature themes.
Note: Castro delivers a gorgeously crafted horror story and a powerful coming-of-age tale that explores female sexuality, the bonds of friendship, and spiritual self-discovery. Fans of Mexican Gothic will love Goddess of Filth. – Kim Budnick
In this timely intervention, Ali Wyne offers the first detailed critique of great-power competition as a foreign policy framework, warning that it could render the United States defensive and reactive.
Note: Since 1945, America has exerted great power and influence across the world. But over the last two decades, China and Russia have increasingly challenged that influence. How should the United States respond? Ali Wyne argues that rather than seeing this as an insurmountable challenge, it is in fact an opportunity to revitalize the nation’s global power and stature. – Aaron Piccirillo
A sweeping, lavish one-volume history of the rise of American naval power during World War II.
Written by: Paul Kennedy
Read by: James Cameron Stewart
Publishing Date: 4/12/2022
Note: Perfect for World War II buffs as well as those interested in international relations. Kennedy looks at the rise (America) and falls (German, Japanese, French, Italian) of the navies involved in World War II. Through this lens, he shines a light on the power balance in the world coming out of the war and through the years following it.- Dan Totten
In Mobfather, George Anastasia exposes what it really means to be married to the mob—and fathered by it. Based on years of reporting, thousands of pages of court testimony, and extensive interviews, Mobfather takes the listener deep into the heart of corruption. Contains mature themes.
Written by: George Anastasia
Read by: Tom Beyer
Publishing Date: 7/12/2022
Note: Summer is truly the perfect time for a new true crimes audiobook to sink into. Oftentimes though, you don’t learn about the family behind the mafia man; here, George Anastasia shares the story of a doomed marriage and a family life that fell apart as Tommy Del rose in the mafia. – Lindsey Wood
Tantor Media 