Kylie’s favorite reads are usually horror/thrillers, which matches her taste in films as well. When she’s not cracking bad jokes she can often be found curled up with a cup of coffee and her cat, Gideon.
It’s that time again! Our Book Clubbin’ feature is back to bring you some conversation sparking questions for your next book club meeting. Whether you and your friends have planned a full night to chat this month’s pick through, or you’ve got a virtual meeting in your calendar, these questions will keep the conversation going!
This time around we’ve chosen It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover. If you haven’t heard of Colleen Hoover yet, then chances are, you’re not as deep into #BookTok as we are over here (guilty!). Hoover’s titles have been blowing up on TikTok over the last year, and have also seen some time climbing the New York Times bestsellers list.
InIt Ends With Us, we follow Lily, who didn’t have the easiest time growing up, but now she has moved out on her own and started her own business. Then, she meets the handsome neurosurgeon, Ryle, who seems too good to be true. Ryle’s fear of commitment worries Lily more and more as she continues to fall for him and in the meantime, she’s started reminiscing about Atlas—her first love and a link to her past.
If your book club has decided to see what all the hype is about and have chosen It Ends With Us for your next read, then you’re in luck! Keep reading for our discussion questions below. Beware— SPOILERS ahead.
—————CONTAINS SPOILERS!—————
1) What did you think about the format of Lily reading her letters to Ellen DeGeneres?
2) Lily grew up witnessing an abusive relationship, how do you think this affected her relationships in the future?
3) Why do you think Lily continued to help Atlas when they were kids despite the judgement from her family and friends?
4) How did Lily’s relationship with Atlas differ than her relationship with Ryle? How did each help her grow as a person?
5) After reconnecting with Atlas, why do you think Lily agrees to marry Ryle despite the anger he’s displayed?
6) Did Hoover portray Ryle in a way that made you empathize with him despite his actions?
7) What would you have done if you were in Lily’s situation? Do you agree with the decision she made?
8) Why do you think Hoover titled this book, It Ends With Us?
• Looking to share your love of books? Our handy Book Clubbin’ questions make it super easy to start a book club. Or, Netflix n’ buddy-read with this year’s book-to-screen adaptations (just be prepared for the perennial debate: is the book better than the movie/show?).
• If you’re looking for something extra, we’ve got author and narrator interviews to give you a gleam inside their worlds.
New to Audiobooks.com? Get your first book free, PLUS a bonus book from our VIP selection when you sign up for our one-month free trial. Digital audiobooks make audible stories come to life when you’re commuting, working out, cleaning, cooking, and more! Listening is easy with our top-rated free audiobook apps for iOS and Android, which let you download & listen to bestselling audiobooks on the go, wherever you are. Click here to get your free audiobooks!
Audiobooks.com members (including free trial members) enjoy the benefits of our VIP Rewards program, which allows you to make a selection from a specially curated list of free audiobooks every month.
To browse the current month’s selection and choose your free audiobook, simply tap into the VIP Rewards section in the Audiobooks.com app or after logging into the Audiobooks.com website.
All new VIP Rewards will become available on the first day of each month. But don’t feel rushed to listen to your free audiobook every month—you can download today and listen whenever, for as long as you’re a member.
If you’re an Audiobooks.com member and are looking to make your free selection for October, we’ve got you covered! Check out this month’s top three VIP downloads below or click here to see the full list.
A funny and bittersweet story of a woman who returns to her hometown after a decade’s absence hoping to resuscitate her relationship with her family, only to discover that her homecoming is not as welcome as she had imagined.
It’s been over a decade since Nora left her hometown of Scupper Island, Maine, and very seldom looked back. She’s carved out a successful life in Boston where no one knows her as the awkward girl with the delinquent sister and the dad who left, but a not-as-dramatic-as-it-sounds brush with death has her taking stock of her life. Inspired to reconnect with her prickly mother and snarky teenage niece, Nora returns home for the summer, where she’s forced to face the people she’s spent the last ten years trying to avoid, and where some revelations about her family could either heal her, or send her scrambling back to Boston on the next ferry.
The bodies are found in towns and cities around Puget Sound. The young women who are the victims had nothing in common-except the agony of their final moments. But somebody carefully chose them to stalk, capture, and torture . . . a depraved killer whose cunning is matched only by the depth of his bloodlust. But the dying has only just begun. And the next victim will be the most shocking of all…
The astonishing, never-before-told story of the greatest rescue mission of World War II-when the OSS set out to recover more than 500 airmen trapped behind enemy lines…
During a bombing campaign, hundreds of American airmen were shot down in Nazi-occupied Yugoslavia. Local Serbian villagers risked their own lives to give refuge to the soldiers, and for months the airmen lived in hiding, waiting for rescue.
In 1944, Operation Halyard was born. The risks were incredible. The starving Americans in Yugoslavia had to construct a landing strip-without tools, without alerting the Germans, and without endangering the villagers. And the rescue planes had to make it through enemy airspace and back-without getting shot down themselves.
Classified for over half a century for political reasons, the full account of this unforgettable story of loyalty, self-sacrifice, and bravery is now being told for the first time. The Forgotten 500 is the breathtaking, behind-the-scenes look at the greatest escape of World War II.
• Looking to share your love of books? Our handy Book Clubbin’ questions make it super easy to start a book club. Or, Netflix n’ buddy-read with this year’s book-to-screen adaptations (just be prepared for the perennial debate: is the book better than the movie/show?).
• If you’re looking for something extra, we’ve got author and narrator interviews to give you a gleam inside their worlds.
New to Audiobooks.com? Get your first book free, PLUS a bonus book from our VIP selection when you sign up for our one-month free trial. Digital audiobooks make audible stories come to life when you’re commuting, working out, cleaning, cooking, and more! Listening is easy with our top-rated free audiobook apps for iOS and Android, which let you download & listen to bestselling audiobooks on the go, wherever you are. Click here to get your free audiobooks!
It’s all about the reviews! We love when our members leave reviews on our site to let us know what they thought about the audiobooks they’ve listened to. This allows other users to get a feel for what others thought about the listen before committing to spending their credit and jumping into the story.
We’ve rounded up our top ten audiobooks with the most five-star reviews and we’ve also picked out some of our favorite user reviews, so you don’t have to take our word for it — hear how great they are directly from our listeners!
The author uses such beautiful words to describe the landscape of the North Carolina coast. Often I felt like I was there in the shed with Kya. The ending was a complete surprise and I actually hated for the book to be over. Great read!
– Tara M.
Publisher Summary:
For years, rumors of the ‘Marsh Girl’ have haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet town on the North Carolina coast. So in late 1969, when handsome Chase Andrews is found dead, the locals immediately suspect Kya Clark, the so-called Marsh Girl. But Kya is not what they say. Sensitive and intelligent, she has survived for years alone in the marsh that she calls home, finding friends in the gulls and lessons in the sand. Then the time comes when she yearns to be touched and loved. When two young men from town become intrigued by her wild beauty, Kya opens herself to a new life–until the unthinkable happens.
Where the Crawdads Sing is at once an exquisite ode to the natural world, a heartbreaking coming-of-age story, and a surprising tale of possible murder. Owens reminds us that we are forever shaped by the children we once were, and that we are all subject to the beautiful and violent secrets that nature keeps.
Brilliantly written, brilliantly narrated, by a brilliant woman. I am an avid reader and I found this to be one of the most profound historical works I have ever encountered. Exceptional, moving, honest. triumphant.
– Dr. Barbara B.
Publisher Summary:
In a life filled with meaning and accomplishment, Michelle Obama has emerged as one of the most iconic and compelling women of our era. As First Lady of the United States of America—the first African American to serve in that role—she helped create the most welcoming and inclusive White House in history, while also establishing herself as a powerful advocate for women and girls in the U.S. and around the world, dramatically changing the ways that families pursue healthier and more active lives, and standing with her husband as he led America through some of its most harrowing moments. Along the way, she showed us a few dance moves, crushed Carpool Karaoke, and raised two down-to-earth daughters under an unforgiving media glare.
In her memoir, a work of deep reflection and mesmerizing storytelling, Michelle Obama invites readers into her world, chronicling the experiences that have shaped her—from her childhood on the South Side of Chicago to her years as an executive balancing the demands of motherhood and work, to her time spent at the world’s most famous address. With unerring honesty and lively wit, she describes her triumphs and her disappointments, both public and private, telling her full story as she has lived it—in her own words and on her own terms. Warm, wise, and revelatory, Becoming is the deeply personal reckoning of a woman of soul and substance who has steadily defied expectations—and whose story inspires us to do the same..
What a refreshing read. This book cuts to the chase and says exactly what people need to hear.
– Lana E.
Publisher Summary:
In this generation-defining self-help guide, a superstar blogger cuts through the crap to show us how to stop trying to be ‘positive’ all the time so that we can truly become better, happier people.
For decades, we’ve been told that positive thinking is the key to a happy, rich life. ‘F**k positivity,’ Mark Manson says. ‘Let’s be honest, shit is f**ked and we have to live with it.’ In his wildly popular Internet blog, Manson doesn’t sugarcoat or equivocate. He tells it like it is—a dose of raw, refreshing, honest truth that is sorely lacking today. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F**k is his antidote to the coddling, let’s-all-feel-good mindset that has infected modern society and spoiled a generation, rewarding them with gold medals just for showing up.
Manson makes the argument, backed both by academic research and well-timed poop jokes, that improving our lives hinges not on our ability to turn lemons into lemonade, but on learning to stomach lemons better. Human beings are flawed and limited— ‘not everybody can be extraordinary, there are winners and losers in society, and some of it is not fair or your fault.’ Manson advises us to get to know our limitations and accept them. Once we embrace our fears, faults, and uncertainties, once we stop running and avoiding and start confronting painful truths, we can begin to find the courage, perseverance, honesty, responsibility, curiosity, and forgiveness we seek.
There are only so many things we can give a f**k about so we need to figure out which ones really matter, Manson makes clear. While money is nice, caring about what you do with your life is better, because true wealth is about experience. A much-needed grab-you-by-the-shoulders-and-look-you-in-the-eye moment of real-talk, filled with entertaining stories and profane, ruthless humor, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F**k is a refreshing slap for a generation to help them lead contented, grounded lives.
This book was a joy to read. My 7th grade son was reading it in English class and his teacher invited the parents to read it as well….I am glad that I did. What I took away from it will be much different than my 13 year old son, but it is truly a treasure. A beautiful, simple story that tells of life’s mysteries without very much pomp or circumstance…the narrator brings the story of a boy in search of his Personal Legend in a mesmerizing way. His voice is calming yet personifies each character as he reads. I’ve recruited other moms to read it and I can’t wait to meet for coffee and discover their own Personal Legends…..ha! Read it, you won’t regret it!
– Angie G.
Publisher Summary:
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho continues to change the lives of its readers forever. With more than two million copies sold around the world, The Alchemist has established itself as a modern classic, universally admired.
Paulo Coelho’s masterpiece tells the magical story of Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy who yearns to travel in search of a worldly treasure as extravagant as any ever found.
The story of the treasures Santiago finds along the way teaches us, as only a few stories can, about the essential wisdom of listening to our hearts, learning to read the omens strewn along life’s path, and, above all, following our dreams.
The most enjoyable romantic adventure I have ever read.
– Bobby G.
Publisher Summary:
Outlander, Diana Gabaldon’s landmark novel of Scottish lore has captured the hearts of millions of readers around the world and catapulted her to the top of the New York Times bestseller list. Intrigue, danger and desire merge in this lush novel of loyalty and time travel.
In 1945, Claire Randall, a former combat nurse, is back from the war and reunited with her husband on a second honeymoon. Their blissful reunion is shattered when she touches a boulder in one of the ancient stone ruins and is instantly transported to a Scotland torn by war and raiding border clans . in 1743. Will Claire find her way back to her own time, or is her destiny forever linked with Clan MacKenzie and the gallant James Fraser? Davina Porter‘s lyrical narration will launch listeners into an exhilarating world of heroism, pulse-pounding adventure, and breathtaking romance as one woman is torn between past and present, passion and love.
As others have said, the narrator is astoundingly good. I’ve never heard a book narrated so well, so distinctly for each voice, so pitch perfect for every scene. Of course it’s a great story, King being an evil-genius and all, but the narration made this books so good it’s almost painful to end.
– Peg I.
Publisher Summary:
Welcome to Derry, Maine. It’s a small city, a place as hauntingly familiar as your own hometown. Only in Derry the haunting is real.
They were seven teenagers when they first stumbled upon the horror. Now they are grown-up men and women who have gone out into the big world to gain success and happiness. But the promise they made twenty-eight years ago calls them reunite in the same place where, as teenagers, they battled an evil creature that preyed on the city’s children. Now, children are being murdered again and their repressed memories of that terrifying summer return as they prepare to once again battle the monster lurking in Derry’s sewers.
Readers of Stephen King know that Derry, Maine, is a place with a deep, dark hold on the author. It reappears in many of his books, including Bag of Bones, Hearts in Atlantis, and 11/22/63. But it all starts with It.
This classic describes coming of age in the Deep South amidst serious life events, the awareness raised by being the children of Atticus, a local attorney. Both children became aware of the damage done by severe racial prejudice and joined their father in the courageous but tragic counter cultural activities, raising awareness of the pain and suffering of African Americans, and the bravery required to be a minority in the Deep South. Loved this book and have listened several times.
– Elizabeth C.
Publisher Summary:
Harper Lee’s Pulitzer Prize-winning masterwork of honor and injustice in the deep South—and the heroism of one man in the face of blind and violent hatred
One of the most cherished stories of all time, To Kill a Mockingbird has been translated into more than forty languages, sold more than forty million copies worldwide, served as the basis for an enormously popular motion picture, and was voted one of the best novels of the twentieth century by librarians across the country. A gripping, heart-wrenching, and wholly remarkable tale of coming-of-age in a South poisoned by virulent prejudice, it views a world of great beauty and savage inequities through the eyes of a young girl, as her father—a crusading local lawyer—risks everything to defend a black man unjustly accused of a terrible crime.
Love it… The law of attraction is strong and if you us It to you full potential then you will have everything you want..
– J. D.
Publisher Summary:
The worldwide bestselling phenomenon that has helped millions tap the power of the law that governs all our lives to create—intentionally and effortlessly—a joyful life.
Fragments of a Great Secret have been found in the oral traditions, in literature, in religions, and philosophies throughout the centuries. For the first time, all the pieces of The Secret come together in an incredible revelation that will be life-transforming for all who experience it.
In this book, you’ll learn how to use The Secret in every aspect of your life—money, health, relationships, happiness, and in every interaction you have in the world. You’ll begin to understand the hidden, untapped power that’s within you, and this revelation can bring joy to every aspect of your life.
The Secret contains wisdom from modern-day teachers—men and women who have used it to achieve health, wealth, and happiness. By applying the knowledge of The Secret, they bring to light compelling stories of eradicating disease, acquiring massive wealth, overcoming obstacles, and achieving what many would regard as impossible..
My first journey into fantasy novels as a kid, and still one of the best. Tolkien has that rare gift of immersing his readers into his world and leaving them wanting more. I never tire of this series and listen to it once or twice a year.
– Charles S.
Publisher Summary:
Inspired by The Hobbit, and begun in 1937, The Lord of the Rings is a trilogy that Tolkien created to provide “the necessary background of history for Elvish tongues.” From these academic aspirations was born one of the most popular and imaginative works in English literature.
The Fellowship of the Ring, the first volume in the trilogy, tells of the fateful power of the One Ring. It begins a magnificent tale of adventure that will plunge the members of the Fellowship of the Ring into a perilous quest and set the stage for the ultimate clash between powers of good and evil. In this splendid, unabridged audio production of Tolkien’s great work, all the inhabitants of a magical universe-hobbits, elves, and wizards-step colorfully forth from the pages. Rob Inglis’ narration has been praised as a masterpiece of audio. “Suffice it to say that this unabridged recorded version … is marvelous in all respects. The narration is clear and delivered in a smooth English accent of a master storyteller.” -Kliat
What an excellent book on love, marriage, and relationships. Absolutely essential for married couples, and dare I say parents as well. I honestly believe that if more couples tried what is written & recommended in the book, that it would have a significant, positive affect on the rate of divorce. The subject material is simple to understand, built on decades of research, and validated by many real life examples. This ‘book’ is easy to read, easy to understand, and easy to put into practice right away, with near minimal effort. The audio version is fantastic. I highly recommend. The author has a buttery smooth southern drawl, which is very pleasing to listen to…
– Justin A.
Publisher Summary:
Between busy schedules and long days, expressing love can fall by the wayside. We forget to compliment, to give gifts “just because,” to linger in an embrace. The things that say “I love you” seem to either not get said or not get through. This is an audio book about saying it — and hearing it — clearly. No gimmicks. No psychoanalyzing. Just learning to express love in your spouse’s language.
With over 10 million copies sold, The 5 Love Languages® has transformed countless relationships. Its ideas are simple and conveyed with clarity and humor, making this audio book as practical as it is personable. You’ll be inspired by real-life stories and encouraged by its commonsense approach. Listening to this audio feels like taking a walk with a wise friend. Applying it will forever change your relationship — starting today.
• Looking to share your love of books? Our handy Book Clubbin’ questions make it super easy to start a book club. Or, Netflix n’ buddy-read with this year’s book-to-screen adaptations (just be prepared for the perennial debate: is the book better than the movie/show?).
• If you’re looking for something extra, we’ve got author and narrator interviews to give you a gleam inside their worlds.
New to Audiobooks.com? Get your first book free, PLUS a bonus book from our VIP selection when you sign up for our one-month free trial. Digital audiobooks make audible stories come to life when you’re commuting, working out, cleaning, cooking, and more! Listening is easy with our top-rated free audiobook apps for iOS and Android, which let you download & listen to bestselling audiobooks on the go, wherever you are. Click here to get your free audiobooks!
We’re back with our Book Clubbin’ blog feature where we provide you with some questions that you can take to your next book club meeting and spark some great conversations. Whether your book club is meeting virtually or in-person, these discussion questions are sure to get the conversation going!
Today’s pick is the latest release from Liane Moriarty, author of Big Little Lies and Nine Perfect Strangers. Since both of those titles were widely popular and were adapted into completely addictive TV series (I would know, I’ve binge-watched them both), we just had to jump into Apples Never Fall.
In Apples Never Fall, Stan and Joy Delaney have just sold their tennis academy, all of their children are grown and moved out, and Stan and Joy are ready to start the next chapter of their lives. Then, one night, a stranger shows up on their doorstep covered in blood. The Delaney’s offer her their assistance. Shortly after this, both the stranger and Joy go missing and are presumed to have been killed. Stan is the main suspect. The Delaney’s four children are divided on what they believe happened—but as the two sides square off against each other in perhaps their biggest match ever, all of the Delaneys will start to reexamine their shared family history in a very new light.
If your book club is picking up Apples Never Fall this month and you’re in need of some discussion questions, we’ve got you covered! Keep reading for our discussion questions below. Beware— SPOILERS ahead.
—————CONTAINS SPOILERS!—————
1) Would you have offered shelter to Savannah as Joy and Stan did when she showed up on their doorstep?
2) Do you think Stan and the four kids appreciated Joy before she went missing?
3) Why do you think there was such a divide between the kids who believed their father’s innocence and those that did not?
4)Moriarty has said that the mystery part of this book was inspired by the true crime podcasts she’d been listening to. Do you think Joy’s disappearance felt more real because of this?
5) The timeline in the past is told from the perspectives of different family members. Which family member’s point of view did you enjoy listening to the most?
6) According to Stan, none of his kids had what it took to go all the way in tennis. How do you think tennis played a part in the relationship between the Delaney family?
7) Do you wish that Moriarty had spent more time on the mystery aspect of this listen rather than the family dynamics?
8) If Apples Never Fall is made into a TV series like Moriarty’s other books, who do you think each family member would be cast as?
• Looking to share your love of books? Our handy Book Clubbin’ questions make it super easy to start a book club. Or, Netflix n’ buddy-read with this year’s book-to-screen adaptations (just be prepared for the perennial debate: is the book better than the movie/show?).
• If you’re looking for something extra, we’ve got author and narrator interviews to give you a gleam inside their worlds.
New to Audiobooks.com? Get your first book free, PLUS a bonus book from our VIP selection when you sign up for our one-month free trial. Digital audiobooks make audible stories come to life when you’re commuting, working out, cleaning, cooking, and more! Listening is easy with our top-rated free audiobook apps for iOS and Android, which let you download & listen to bestselling audiobooks on the go, wherever you are. Click here to get your free audiobooks!
Audiobooks.com members (including free trial members) enjoy the benefits of our VIP Rewards program, which allows you to make a selection from a specially curated list of free audiobooks every month.
To browse the current month’s selection and choose your free audiobook, simply tap into the VIP Rewards section in the Audiobooks.com app or after logging into the Audiobooks.com website.
All new VIP Rewards will become available on the first day of each month. But don’t feel rushed to listen to your free audiobook every month—you can download today and listen whenever, for as long as you’re a member.
If you’re an Audiobooks.com member and are looking to make your free selection for September, we’ve got you covered! Check out this month’s top three VIP downloads below or click here to see the full list.
After an elite criminal profiling unit is shut down amid a storm of scandal and mismanagement, only one person emerges unscathed. Forensic psychiatrist Doctor Alexander Gregory has a reputation for being able to step inside the darkest minds to uncover whatever secrets lie hidden there and, soon enough, he finds himself drawn into the murky world of murder investigation.
In the beautiful hills of County Mayo, Ireland, a killer is on the loose. Panic has a stranglehold on its rural community and the Garda are running out of time. Gregory has sworn to follow a quiet life but, when the call comes, can he refuse to help their desperate search for justice? Murder and mystery are peppered with dark humor in this fast-paced thriller set amidst the spectacular Irish landscape.
Four murders. Two detectives. One mystifying crime.
On Christmas Eve, DCI Mackenzie Jones is called to a shooting at a remote farmhouse. Ralph Mallender believes his father lies dead inside. When three more bodies are discovered, it’s clear a festive family gathering has turned into a gruesome tragedy.
At first it seems like an open and shut case: a murder-suicide committed by Ralph’s volatile brother Cameron. Then new evidence makes Mack suspect the man who reported the crime is in fact the perpetrator.
But Mack isn’t the only one with a stake in the case. Private investigator Atticus Priest has been hired to get Ralph acquitted. That means unearthing any weaknesses in Mack’s evidence.
Irascible, impatient, and unpredictable, Atticus has weaknesses of his own. Mack knows all about them because they share a past-both professionally and personally. This time round, however, they aren’t on the same side. And as Atticus picks at the loose ends of the case, everything starts to unravel in a way neither of them could ever have predicted…
Nicole Cutty and Megan McDonald are both high school seniors in the small town of Emerson Bay, North Carolina. When they disappear from a beach party one warm summer night, police launch a massive search. No clues are found, and hope is almost lost until Megan miraculously surfaces after escaping from a bunker deep in the woods.
A year later, the bestselling account of her ordeal has turned Megan from local hero to national celebrity. It’s a triumphant, inspiring story, except for one inconvenient detail: Nicole is still missing. Nicole’s older sister Livia, a fellow in forensic pathology, expects that one day soon Nicole’s body will be found, and it will be up to someone like Livia to analyze the evidence and finally determine her sister’s fate. Instead, the first clue to Nicole’s disappearance comes from another body that shows up in Livia’s morgue that of a young man connected to Nicole’s past. Livia reaches out to Megan for help, hoping to learn more about the night the two were taken. Other girls have gone missing too, and Livia is increasingly certain the cases are connected.
But Megan knows more than she revealed in her blockbuster book. Flashes of memory are coming together, pointing to something darker and more monstrous than her chilling memoir describes. And the deeper she and Livia dig, the more they realize that sometimes true terror lies in finding exactly what you’ve been looking for.
• Looking to share your love of books? Our handy Book Clubbin’ questions make it super easy to start a book club. Or, Netflix n’ buddy-read with this year’s book-to-screen adaptations (just be prepared for the perennial debate: is the book better than the movie/show?).
• If you’re looking for something extra, we’ve got author and narrator interviews to give you a gleam inside their worlds.
New to Audiobooks.com? Get your first book free, PLUS a bonus book from our VIP selection when you sign up for our one-month free trial. Digital audiobooks make audible stories come to life when you’re commuting, working out, cleaning, cooking, and more! Listening is easy with our top-rated free audiobook apps for iOS and Android, which let you download & listen to bestselling audiobooks on the go, wherever you are. Click here to get your free audiobooks!
The world looks a little different for children now than it did when a lot of us were growing up. Now, kids encounter screens every day at home, at school, and everywhere in between. While so many things have been revolutionized by the integration of technology, it’s still super important that children still get the opportunity for screen-free time so they can develop the skills that will help them later in life, plus it will allow them to explore and develop their interests.
Thinking of new ways to keep your kids entertained without a screen can be tough, but if you haven’t given audiobooks a try, then now is the time! According to the Audio Publishers Association, listening to audiobooks triggers the same language processing in the brain as it does when physically reading.
Audiobooks also allow readers of different levels access and enjoyment of the same books, which could open up a whole world of reading opportunities to so many children and people in general.
Now that schools are back in session in many places, the need to “unplug” and enjoy some screen-free entertainment is at an all-time high, so we’ve put together a small list of essential audiobooks as a starting point for you to press play on for your kids (and they’re such great stories that you may just want to listen too).
Willy Wonka’s famous chocolate factory is opening at last!
But only five lucky children will be allowed inside. And the winners are: Augustus Gloop, an enormously fat boy whose hobby is eating; Veruca Salt, a spoiled-rotten brat whose parents are wrapped around her little finger; Violet Beauregarde, a dim-witted gum-chewer with the fastest jaws around; Mike Teavee, a toy pistol-toting gangster-in-training who is obsessed with television; and Charlie Bucket, Our Hero, a boy who is honest and kind, brave and true, and good and ready for the wildest time of his life!
From bestselling and award-winning author Sara Pennypacker comes the long-awaited sequel to Pax; this is a gorgeously crafted, utterly compelling novel about chosen families and the healing power of love.
It’s been a year since Peter and his pet fox, Pax, have seen each other. Once inseparable, they now lead very different lives.
Pax and his mate, Bristle, have welcomed a litter of kits they must protect in a dangerous world. Meanwhile Peter—newly orphaned after the war, racked with guilt and loneliness—leaves his adopted home with Vola to join the Water Warriors, a group of people determined to heal the land from the scars of the war.
When one of Pax’s kits falls desperately ill, he turns to the one human he knows he can trust. And no matter how hard Peter tries to harden his broken heart, love keeps finding a way in. Now both boy and fox find themselves on journeys toward home, healing—and each other, once again.
A young readers edition of the New York Times bestseller The Disappearing Spoon, chronicling the extraordinary stories behind one of the greatest scientific tools in existence: the periodic table.
Why did Gandhi hate iodine (I, 53)? How did radium (Ra, 88) nearly ruin Marie Curie’s reputation? And why did tellurium (Te, 52) lead to the most bizarre gold rush in history?
The periodic table is a crowning scientific achievement, but it’s also a treasure trove of adventure, greed, betrayal, and obsession. The fascinating tales in The Disappearing Spoon follow elements on the table as they play out their parts in human history, finance, mythology, conflict, the arts, medicine, and the lives of the (frequently) mad scientists who discovered them.
Adapted for a middle grade audience, the young readers edition of The Disappearing Spoon offers the material in a simple, easy-to-follow format, with approximately 20 line drawings and sidebars throughout. Students, teachers, and burgeoning science buffs will love learning about the history behind the chemistry.
Eighteen-year-old Daunis Fontaine has never quite fit in, both in her hometown and on the nearby Ojibwe reservation. She dreams of a fresh start at college, but when family tragedy strikes, Daunis puts her future on hold to look after her fragile mother. The only bright spot is meeting Jamie, the charming new recruit on her brother Levi’s hockey team.
Yet even as Daunis falls for Jamie, she senses the dashing hockey star is hiding something. Everything comes to light when Daunis witnesses a shocking murder, thrusting her into an FBI investigation of a lethal new drug.
Reluctantly, Daunis agrees to go undercover, drawing on her knowledge of chemistry and Ojibwe traditional medicine to track down the source. But the search for truth is more complicated than Daunis imagined, exposing secrets and old scars. At the same time, she grows concerned with an investigation that seems more focused on punishing the offenders than protecting the victims.
Now, as the deceptions—and deaths—keep growing, Daunis must learn what it means to be a strong Anishinaabe kwe (Ojibwe woman) and how far she’ll go for her community, even if it tears apart the only world she’s ever known.
ARE YOU A GIFTED CHILD Looking for special opportunities?
When this peculiar ad appears in the newspaper, dozens of children enroll to take a series of mysterious, mind-bending tests. (And you, dear listener, can test your wits right alongside them.) But in the end just four very special children will succeed. Their challenge: to go on a secret mission that only the most intelligent and resourceful children could complete. To accomplish it they will have to go undercover at the Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened, where the only rule is that there are no rules. As our heroes face physical and mental trials beyond their wildest imaginations, they have no choice but to turn to each other for support. But with their newfound friendship at stake, will they be able to pass the most important test of all? Welcome to the mysterious benedict society.
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