Audiobooks are June picks

#Middlebury #Library

Looking for a book recommendation? Audiobooks are great for listeners of all ages, and June is Audiobook Month. Celebrate by giving one of these wonderful titles a listen.

If you are looking for an audiobook that will captivate you through its story and performer, try “The Dutch House” by Ann Patchett. The narrator is Academy Award winning actor, Tom Hanks. The novel follows a brother and sister, Danny and Maeve.

It begins when their father purchases an extravagant house in the suburbs of Philadelphia for their mother, that in turn becomes the destruction of the family. The Dutch House overwhelms her and she leaves to tend the poor in India. Their father remarries and the siblings grow up in the mansion.

After their father dies, their stepmother inherits the house and pushes the two children out into the world on their own with no family wealth. Over the next few decades, Danny and Maeve remain close but cannot overcome their past and are fixated on the Dutch House.

“Becoming Duchess Goldblatt: A Memoir” by Anonymous is a 2020 Audie Award finalist in Memoir. Born out of loss and grief Duchess Goldblatt rebuilt her life to one worth living through Twitter. “Becoming Duchess Goldblatt” is a memoir not only of the real-life author, Anonymous, but also of the character she created, Duchess Goldblatt. Since 2012, the Duchess has created and fostered a community on Twitter through her wit, love of humanity, and friendship. She has become a beacon of hope in the murky waters of social media.

Courtney Summers’ “Sadie” is a dark and intense teen mystery. Growing up with an absent mother, Sadie raised her younger sister Mattie on her own. When Mattie is murdered, Sadie’s world falls apart and she is determined to find her sister’s killer and get revenge. Radio personality, West McCray, hears Sadie’s story and begins a serialized podcast to track her journey and disappearance.

The story alternates between Sadie’s perspective and the podcast, which is a few months behind Sadie in her search for the killer. The audiobook for this novel features a full cast that brings to life the powerful emotions Sadie experiences and the podcast created to find her. “Sadie” was the winner of the 2019 Audie Award for Young Adult Audiobook and is a 2022 Nutmeg Book Award Nominee.

“The Wild Robot” by Peter Brown is an action-packed story for ages 8 to 12. When Roz, a robot, opens her eyes for the first time she realizes she is alone on a strange island. What is a robot to do? Roz knows she must survive and after she battles a violent storm and escapes a bear attack, she realizes her only hope is to learn from the island’s animals how to adapt to her surroundings. After some time, Roz becomes friends with the animals on the island and starts to feel at home. After a long hard winter Roz meets more robots and she begins to learns about her past. “The Wild Robot,” a 2019 Nutmeg Book Award Nominee, is not only is a great read, but also a fun and entertaining audiobook to listen to.