Somehow another year has gone by and you know what that means…back-to-school season is upon us! Whether you’re in an area where school are open and kids are going back in, or they’re still at home learning remotely, we’ve got you hooked up for the perfect back-to-school gift for them (or yourself)!
By gifting one of our Audiobooks.com gift subscriptions, you’re giving that special someone access to over 250,000 titles. PLUS, when sending one of our gift subscriptions, you can include a book recommendation for them, so that way they have an idea of what audiobook they might put their first credit toward.
From the Academy Award®–winning actor, an unconventional memoir filled with raucous stories, outlaw wisdom, and lessons learned the hard way about living with greater satisfaction.
Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed.
Soon afterward, his death is a national headline. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Protesters are taking to the streets in Khalil’s name. Some cops and the local drug lord try to intimidate Starr and her family. What everyone wants to know is: what really went down that night? And the only person alive who can answer that is Starr.
But what Starr does—or does not—say could upend her community. It could also endanger her life.
In the year 2045, reality is an ugly place. The only time Wade Watts really feels alive is when he’s jacked into the OASIS, a vast virtual world where most of humanity spends their days.
When the eccentric creator of the OASIS dies, he leaves behind a series of fiendish puzzles, based on his obsession with the pop culture of decades past. Whoever is first to solve them will inherit his vast fortune—and control of the OASIS itself.
Then Wade cracks the first clue. Suddenly he’s beset by rivals who’ll kill to take this prize. The race is on—and the only way to survive is to win.
A gripping novel about the whirlwind rise of an iconic 1970s rock group and their beautiful lead singer, revealing the mystery behind their infamous breakup.
The rise and fall of this legendary group is chronicled in this riveting and unforgettable audiobook, written as an oral history of one of the biggest bands of the seventies. Taylor Jenkins Reid is a talented writer who takes her work to a new level withDaisy Jones & The Six, brilliantly capturing a place and time in an utterly distinctive voice.
On an island off the coast of Ireland, guests gather to celebrate two people joining their lives together as one. It’s a wedding for a magazine, or for a celebrity. The cell phone service may be spotty and the waves may be rough, but every detail has been expertly planned and will be expertly executed.
But perfection is for plans, and people are all too human. As the champagne is popped and the festivities begin, resentments and petty jealousies begin to mingle with the reminiscences and well wishes.
And then someone turns up dead. Who didn’t wish the happy couple well? And perhaps more important, why?
• 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!
Welcome back to our Book Clubbin’ feature where we set you up with some book discussion questions to either ponder on your own or to take to your next book club. As certain areas begin to open up and you can visit with friends again, now is the perfect time to plan your next book club. If not, Zoom book clubs are still all the rage. Plus, then your long distance friends can join in on the conversation.
Before Owen Michaels disappears, he leaves a note for his wife, Hannah, that simply says: Protect her. Hannah knows exactly to whom the note refers—Owen’s sixteen-year-old daughter, Bailey. As Hannah’s confusion and panic rise, the FBI arrests Owen’s boss, and a US marshal and federal agents arrive at her Sausalito home unannounced, Hannah quickly realizes her husband isn’t who he said he was. And that Bailey just may hold the key to figuring out Owen’s true identity—and why he really disappeared.
If you’ve recently read or listened to The Last Thing He Told Me and could not put it down (trust us, we couldn’t either), then we’ve got some book club questions to spark some great discussions! Keep reading for our discussion questions below. Beware— SPOILERS ahead.
—————CONTAINS SPOILERS!————
1) Why do you think Owen hid his past from Hannah and Bailey?
2) Owen could have left any message for Hannah, why do you think he chose, “Protect her?”
3) We find out that Hannah’s mother left her when she was a child. How does her relationship with her mother compare to Bailey’s?
4) Did you have any suspicions for why Owen disappeared? Were you surprised by the reveal?
5) Owen left some clues about his past, do you think that he wanted Hannah and Bailey to investigate and uncover why he had to disappear?
6) What did you think of Hannah and Bailey’s relationship? Was it an authentic depiction of a step-mom and step-daughter relationship?
7) Considering Owen and his disappearance are both a huge part of this book, did you feel satisfied only getting glimpses of what he was like through flashbacks?
8) Do you believe it was fair of Owen to leave Hannah to care for his daughter by herself without ever discussing this with her?
9) Do you think Hannah made the right decision when she chose for her and Bailey to not to go into witness protection with Owen?
10)Do you think there will every be an opportunity for Owen to reunite with Hannah and Bailey?
• 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!
As life slowly returns to normal and we start daydreaming about travelling again, I’m willing to bet France will be high on a lot of people’s bucket lists—and who can blame them? From dreamy architecture to the country’s storied history, there’s something worth exploring for every type of traveller. For those who simply can’t wait to hop on a plane, let these audiobooks set in France tide you over and satisfy the wanderlust in you!
The heiress . . . The Resistance fighter . . . The widow . . . Three women whose fates are joined by one splendid hotel
France, 1914. As war breaks out, Aurelie becomes trapped on the wrong side of the front with her father, Comte Sigismund de Courcelles. When the Germans move into their family’s ancestral estate, using it as their headquarters, Aurelie discovers she knows the German Major’s aide de camp, Maximilian Von Sternburg. She and the dashing young officer first met during Aurelie’s debutante days in Paris. Despite their conflicting loyalties, Aurelie and Max’s friendship soon deepens into love, but betrayal will shatter them both, driving Aurelie back to Paris and the Ritz- the home of her estranged American heiress mother, with unexpected consequences.
France, 1942. Raised by her indomitable, free-spirited American grandmother in the glamorous Hotel Ritz, Marguerite “Daisy” Villon remains in Paris with her daughter and husband, a Nazi collaborator, after France falls to Hitler. At first reluctant to put herself and her family at risk to assist her grandmother’s Resistance efforts, Daisy agrees to act as a courier for a skilled English forger known only as Legrand, who creates identity papers for Resistance members and Jewish refugees. But as Daisy is drawn ever deeper into Legrand’s underground network, committing increasingly audacious acts of resistance for the sake of the country-and the man-she holds dear, she uncovers a devastating secret . . . one that will force her to commit the ultimate betrayal, and to confront at last the shocking circumstances of her own family history.
France, 1964. For Barbara “Babs” Langford, her husband, Kit, was the love of her life. Yet their marriage was haunted by a mysterious woman known only as La Fleur. On Kit’s death, American lawyer Andrew “Drew” Bowdoin appears at her door. Hired to find a Resistance fighter turned traitor known as “La Fleur,” the investigation has led to Kit Langford. Curious to know more about the enigmatic La Fleur, Babs joins Drew in his search, a journey of discovery that that takes them to Paris and the Ritz-and to unexpected places of the heart.
Les Misérables meets Six of Crows in this page-turning adventure as a young thief finds herself going head to head with leaders of Paris’s criminal underground in the wake of the French Revolution.
In the violent urban jungle of an alternate 1828 Paris, the French Revolution has failed and the city is divided between merciless royalty and nine underworld criminal guilds, known as the Court of Miracles. Eponine (Nina) Thénardier is a talented cat burglar and member of the Thieves Guild. Nina’s life is midnight robberies, avoiding her father’s fists, and watching over her naïve adopted sister, Cosette (Ettie). When Ettie attracts the eye of the Tiger—the ruthless lord of the Guild of Flesh—Nina is caught in a desperate race to keep the younger girl safe. Her vow takes her from the city’s dark underbelly to the glittering court of Louis XVII. And it also forces Nina to make a terrible choice—protect Ettie and set off a brutal war between the guilds, or forever lose her sister to the Tiger.
As sweet as a macaron from Laduree, with writing as crisp as a freshly baked baguette, this romantic novel set in Paris about an American ballerina and a charming French boy is parfait for fans of American Royals and Netflix’s To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before.
Mia Jenrow has always known she’s destined to be a professional ballerina. In fact, it’s in her blood—according to family legend, her too-many-greats-to-count-grandmother once danced for the Paris Opera and was painted by Degas himself! Her parents say it’s just a fantasy, but to Mia it’s so much more than that. It’s her fate.
Mia is planning to spend a magical summer in France pursuing her dream, but as she pirou-ettes into Paris, she soon realizes it may be a bit more complicated than she hoped. For starters, there’s her rival, Audrey, who will stop at nothing to show her up. There’s her ballet instructor, whose impossibly high standards push her to the breaking point. And then . . . there’s Louis. Devastatingly, distractingly charming Louis. He’s eager to show Mia his city—and Mia is more than happy to hop on his Vespa and wrap her arms around him as they pass the gleaming lights of the Eiffel Tower.
Mia’s summer was supposed to be about ballet—but there’s a reason Paris is called the City of Love.
In June of 1940, when Paris fell to the Nazis, Hitler spent a total of three hours in the City of Light—abruptly leaving, never to return. To this day, no one knows why.
The New York Times bestselling author of the Aimée Leduc investigations reimagines history in her masterful, pulse-pounding spy thriller, Three Hours in Paris.
Kate Rees, a young American markswoman, has been recruited by British intelligence to drop into Paris with a dangerous assignment: assassinate the Führer. Wrecked by grief after a Luftwaffe bombing killed her husband and infant daughter, she is armed with a rifle, a vendetta, and a fierce resolve. But other than rushed and rudimentary instruction, she has no formal spy training. Thrust into the red-hot center of the war, a country girl from rural Oregon finds herself holding the fate of the world in her hands. When Kate misses her mark and the plan unravels, Kate is on the run for her life—all the time wrestling with the suspicion that the whole operation was a set-up.
Cara Black, doyenne of the Parisian crime novel, is at her best as she brings Occupation-era France to vivid life in this gripping story about one young woman with the temerity—and drive—to take on Hitler himself.
A thirty-year-old woman retraces her gap year through Ireland, France, and Italy to find love—and herself—in this hilarious and heartfelt novel.
It’s been seven years since Chelsea Martin embarked on her yearlong postcollege European adventure. Since then, she’s lost her mother to cancer and watched her sister marry twice, while Chelsea’s thrown herself into work, becoming one of the most talented fundraisers for the American Cancer Coalition, and with the exception of one annoyingly competent coworker, Jason Knightley, her status as most successful moneymaker is unquestioned.
When her introverted mathematician father announces he’s getting remarried, Chelsea is forced to acknowledge that her life stopped after her mother died and that the last time she can remember being happy, in love, or enjoying her life was on her year abroad. Inspired to retrace her steps—to find Colin in Ireland, Jean Claude in France, and Marcelino in Italy—Chelsea hopes that one of these three men who stole her heart so many years ago can help her find it again.
From the start of her journey nothing goes as planned, but as Chelsea reconnects with her old self, she also finds love in the very last place she expected.
A luxuriously magical retelling of Beauty and the Beast set in seventeenth-century France—and told from the point of view of the Beast himself.
I am neither monster nor man—yet I am both. I am the Beast.
He is a broken, wild thing, his heart’s nature exposed by his beastly form. Long ago cursed with a wretched existence, the Beast prowls the dusty hallways of his ruined château with only magical, unseen servants to keep him company—until a weary traveler disturbs his isolation.
Bewitched by the man’s dreams of his beautiful daughter, the Beast devises a plan to lure her to the château. There, Isabeau courageously exchanges her father’s life for her own and agrees to remain with the Beast for a year. But even as their time together weaves its own spell, the Beast finds winning Isabeau’s love is only the first impossible step in breaking free from the curse…
• 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!
After an epilepsy-related accident tragically ended Adam Prashaw’s young life, he left a legacy of changed lives and a trove of social media posts documenting his life as a transgender man, his relationships, and his everyday ups and downs. In Soar, Adam, Soar, his father, Rick Prashaw, retells Adam’s story alongside his son’s own words. And in the audiobook edition, John Dickhout brings the book to life with an emotional intensity only possible thanks to his incredible connection to the family: John was the recipient of Adam’s heart via organ donation after Adam’s untimely death.
*This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. Listen in full to the complete interview by playing the video above!*
Audiobooks.com: Rick, you say early on in your book that you always knew you would write a book about your son. Where did that conviction come from?
Rick: I was a journalist, I was a Catholic priest, and a storyteller. I had this kid named Adam that doctors identified at birth as a girl and yet intuitively, especially the mother, but also me definitely saw at least a tomboy and certainly a boy in progress. So I knew I had a fascinating story. I wanted to tell that story, the pride of being dad to this kid late in life, given my priesthood part of my my life. And I just knew that this was a story, given his personality, his his joy, and the journey that he was on. It was something that I wanted to tell them.
Audiobooks.com:And you described writing annual birthday letters to Adam that provided a bit of the basis for your book. But then, when did you finally properly sit down to write his story? And what was that process like?
Rick: I retired and… I was so keen to write for myself. And so I did have those letters. I had probably more significant, as it turned out, Adam’s social media and Facebook posts to tell. Both in the years identifying as Rebecca and then later in terms of his huge coming out with his post, “I am Adam.” And so I had all of that material to draw on and also, of course, the family trips and all the adventures that everyone knows about in their in their family life.
[But it was] what happened in 2016 that completely, dramatically shifted the tone of the book. I was in California on a holiday[…] And I got the worst call of my life when we learned that Adam, who had a lifetime of dealing with epilepsy […] had been found face down in a hot tub. Friends had been with him, but they had left to retrieve some clothes in his apartment. He was resuscitated and I had to fly home for this weekend vigil to see if we would get the miracle that we were hoping and praying for. And that was not to be. And yet there was to be some life coming out of that tragedy as Adam was a registered organ donor and he was able to save four lives. So as tragic as it was and as much of grieving, the story started to bubble up inside of me. That lifeline for me was to tell again his entire story, including the gender story, the epilepsy story, but also now a remarkable organ donor part to the book.
“And yet there was to be some life coming out of that tragedy as Adam was a registered organ donor and he was able to save four lives. So, as tragic as it was and as much of grieving, the story started to bubble up inside of me.”
RICK PRASHAW
Audiobooks.com: And that’s where John, the narrator, comes into the conversation. How did you two become connected and and what was that like?
John:Being a transplant recipient is unlike anything else. And I was pretty obsessed with wanting to find out whatever I could, if I could, about my donor, this person that gave me my life back. […] I had this immense need or desire to share my gratitude somehow, if I could. Soon found out that that wasn’t really promoted. In fact, I remember my post transplant coordinator […] said, “John, you’ll never know who your donor was.” You can send an anonymous letter, which I did, of course. But I remember in my head thinking, “Oh, yeah, well, we’ll see about that.”
So I sent an anonymous letter just to somehow try to put into words the immense gratitude I was feeling toward my my donor and, of course, my donor’s family, who made the decision in a very trying time to grant their wishes of their loved one to be an organ donor. And I wasn’t necessarily expecting, certainly hoping, but not expecting to get a letter in return. But I did. And in that letter, which was just full of love and…sorry, and overwhelming gratitude toward me for having reached out and I was pretty stunned.
“…I was pretty obsessed with wanting to find out whatever I could, if I could, about my donor, this person that gave me my life back.”
JOHN DICHOUT
But also there were a lot of clues which I think the Trillium Gift of Life Network maybe and Adam had a hand in letting slip through. But there were a lot of clues about this wonderful young man who was my organ donor. So, I just went to the Google machine and plugged in a few keywords from this marvelous letter that I received. And the first thing that popped up was a an obituary. And I could tell immediately that it was written by the same hand as the person who’d sent me this wonderful letter. So, I contrived a plan. I wanted to respect their anonymity and privacy. So, I did remain anonymous for as long as I could until it was absolutely certain that my organ donor[‘s family], which turned out to be Rick, wanted to connect. […] Short story, I created a fake Facebook page called Heart Recipient and sent him an anonymous note and went from there.
Audiobooks.com: So, once you two got connected and Rick, you understood John’s background, did you always have him in mind to narrate the book?
Rick: I think for about five seconds I said, “Oh, I really want to do this myself. You know, this would be such a good experience for me. I’ve never done this.” That thought left me when John popped into my head and I said, “He’d be the perfect choice.” I mean, we were now friends. We knew each other, [and our] families. I was very aware of his golden attitude. I knew he was a community theater actor. I knew he had seized on his desire to be a professional actor. So, I knew he had the skills and I can joke on the good days that he had his “heart” in it for sure. And and I said, “He’s just so perfect.” And of course, then being a professional product, he had to go out and and earn it and do the audition and everything.
“I knew he had the skills and I can joke on the good days that he had his ‘heart’ in it for sure.”
RICK PRASHAW
Audiobooks.com: What was it like recording it? Were you surprised by anything during the recording process?
John: I got hold of some cubicle walls and built this little makeshift studio. And one thing that surprised me is how bloody hot it got after six hour, eight hour days. The process itself was very interesting to me. You know, you’re live basically with the engineer who’s putting it together as you go. And I guess the one thing I found surprising is how difficult it is to say an entire sentence without stopping and how many times you stop and start and start again. In fact, I hear it when I when I listen to the book now that the first couple of chapters I might be finding my rhythm a little bit.
But that was that was an interesting part of the process. The the most nerve wracking part is thinking about what all those people to whom the book means so much and so many different things, how they would accept it and how I could possibly do justice to their memories, particularly those people that know Rick and [Adamn’s mother] Suzanne and all of his family and, of course, Adam. To try to put a voice to what they already have in their heads was a little bit daunting.
Audiobooks.com: And so, Rick, for you, what was it like to hear John bring the book to life?
Rick: I rely on Adam’s family and friends, and they just rave about John and the voice and the telling of the story. So, he certainly has no worries. He shouldn’t have any worries. The people that really know the story, know my boy, are just thrilled with the with the audiobook.
Audiobooks.com: And certainly, John, your narration brings an extraordinarily personal element to the audiobook. What do you think really elevates the audio experience, perhaps not above print, but certainly as a wonderful companion?
John: Yeah. So, I mean, really, for me, knowing that I feel, anyway for the for the listener, that just knowing that story or maybe discovering the story as it unfolds on its own lifts the senses, I suppose. That’s another interesting thing. The engineer who recorded the audiobook with me wasn’t aware. He knew that Rick and I had a connection, but he didn’t know what it was until we got to those chapters in the book. So, it was pretty neat to experience that with someone who’s hearing it for the first time. So, yeah, that I think that it’s going to mean different things and it’s going to touch different people in different ways. But I certainly think if you’ve got a heart, it’ll probably mean something to you.
“…It’s going to touch different people in different ways. But I certainly think if you’ve got a heart, it’ll probably mean something to you.”
JOHN DICKHOUT
Rick: Jemma, I get notes. One of the great surprises as an author that I had is to get notes from strangers and they tell you what the story does, what this boy does. So, sometimes when you’re a publisher, they all want to know what section of the bookstore, what’s the hashtag to use here? And for sure, there’s a gender story. He was this tomboy that was like Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird or Tatum O’Neal played that picture in the Paper Moon. Very much looked like those two characters. So this is a gender story. There’s the epilepsy story. There’s the organ donor story, but there’s the family acceptance of this kid.
And then somebody finally, one of the podcasters said, it’s a love story. And that’s what I like the best to hear, that it’s a love story not just of people like family and parents and friends for Adam, but it’s Adam’s love for himself, where he had the courage and the resiliency to be who he was and to love who he wanted to love. […]
There’s just so many angles and so many audiences out there for the story.
“…It’s a love story not just of people like family and parents and friends for Adam, but it’s Adam’s love for himself, where he had the courage and the resiliency to be who he was and to love who he wanted to love.”
RICK PRASHAW
Audiobooks.com: I wonder what lessons you might draw for us from his life as the world moves collectively through this time of hardship. What would Adam have to say about this right now?
Rick: I just chuckle in the good days about Adam getting the biggest kick out of a book written about him, an audiobook that John is the voice. I, just as a dad, I think that’s where I go to to enjoy thinking about Adam watching all of this from his place now. He would enjoy the celebrity and the attention of it. It would be always from the fun perspective, because no matter how many times life knocked them down, it was always get back up and and like, “What’s next? Let’s go to a sunny place.” He’d whine for a day on Facebook and then he’d be back in his happy place. […] I take enormous comfort in thinking of Adam being so happy in terms of his story being out there.
Publisher Summary:
Coming out. Coming in. Coming home.
Adam Prashaw’s life was full of surprises from the moment he was born. Assigned female at birth, and with parents who had been expecting a boy, he spent years living as ‘Rebecca Danielle Adam Prashaw’ before coming to terms with being a transgender man. Adam captured hearts with his humor, compassion, and intensity. After a tragic accident cut his life short, he left a legacy of changed lives and a trove of social media posts documenting his life, relationships, transition, and struggles with epilepsy, all with remarkable transparency and directness.
In Soar, Adam, Soar, his father, a former priest, retells Adam’s story alongside his son’s own words. 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, it chronicles Adam’s drive to define himself, his joyful spirit, and his love of life, which continues to conquer all.
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!
Spring has arrived and I don’t know about you, but I am more than ready to embrace all things spring! Warm and sunny weather, busting out the spring/summer wardrobe, and even spring cleaning.
If you know you need to jump into a deep clean of your house or even just need to go through your belongings to start the decluttering process, but you’re not sure where to start and need a little inspiration, hello, we are here for you.
Click here to view our full list of spring cleaning audiobooks or keep reading for some specific recommendations for great listens that will put a pep in your step and get you stoked to get cleaning.
Welcome to The Easy Life, where your kitchen always sparkles, your closet is organized, and your to-do list has an end. It sounds almost too good to be true, but TV’s Queen of Clean, Lynsey Crombie—mother of three, pet owner, Instagrammer, This Morning cleaning expert, and head of her own cleaning business—has all the tips, tricks, and routines you need to create a happy and healthy home environment.
In her latest book, Lynsey expands on her eco-friendly, tried-and-tested tips for cleaning, while also providing a series of interactive to-do lists, quick cleaning challenges, and hacks to take the stress out of managing your home. Whether you’re finding that you now have time to finally get to all those deep cleaning tasks or that having all your family at home means you need every trick to keep life organized, Lynsey has you covered.
From journalist, fashionista, and clothing resale expert Elizabeth L. Cline, “the Michael Pollan of fashion,” comes the definitive guide to building an ethical, sustainable wardrobe you’ll love.
Whether your goal is to build an effortless capsule wardrobe, keep up with trends without harming the environment, buy better quality, seek out ethical brands, or all of the above, The Conscious Closet is packed with the vital tools you need. Elizabeth delves into fresh research on fashion’s impacts and shows how we can leverage our everyday fashion choices to change the world through style. Inspired by her own revelatory journey getting off the fast-fashion treadmill, Elizabeth shares exactly how to build a more ethical wardrobe, starting with a mindful closet clean-out and donating, swapping, or selling the clothes you don’t love to make way for the closet of your dreams.
Practical and inspiring, The Art of Discarding (the book that originally inspired a young Marie Kondo to start cleaning up her closets) offers hands-on advice and easy-to-follow guidelines to help readers learn how to finally let go of stuff that is holding them back—as well as sage advice on acquiring less in the first place. Author Nagisa Tatsumi urges us to reflect on our attitude to possessing things and to have the courage and conviction to get rid of all the stuff we really don’t need, offering advice on how to tackle the things that pile up at home and take back control. By learning the art of discarding you will gain space, free yourself from ‘accumulation syndrome,’ and find new joy and purpose in your clutter-free life.
In Clean Mama’s Guide to a Healthy Home, Becky Rapinchuk, author of Simply Clean and creator of the popular cleaning website Clean Mama, provides a step-by-step guide to take charge of your home’s wellness with a comprehensive, all-natural cleaning system.
Cleanliness is about detoxing, embracing organic, all-natural methods and products, and protecting the environment. Moms look to Becky to guide them in the best cleaning practices for their home, and will welcome Clean Mama’s Guide to a Healthy Home, which shows that going natural isn’t just a better way to a cleaner home-it’s vital to the health of our bodies, our families, and our planet.
Mrs Hinch has taken the nation by storm with her infectiously addictive charm, her clever cleaning hacks and her passionate belief in the life-changing magic of tidying. Now she’s here to show us that cleaning – aka hinching – doesn’t have to be that job you dread, not when Mrs Hinch is here to show you her sparkly ways.
In Hinch Yourself Happy, Mrs Hinch invites you into her home where you’ll find everything from tips for easing stress and anxiety through cleaning to Mrs Hinch must-haves and step-by-step hinching guides. You’ll even hear the story of Mr and Mrs Hinch and their ‘dorgeous’ boy, Henry.
Are you suffering from CHAOS, otherwise known as Can’t Have Anyone Over Syndrome? If your house is a jumble of dirty dishes, piles of paper, and never-ending laundry, you are probably afflicted. But don’t give up hope, because now there’s an antidote: The CHAOS Cure.
In her eagerly anticipated new book, Marla Cilley—aka ‘The FlyLady’ to the hundreds of thousands who visit her website for daily domestic inspiration—reaches into our homes to help make housecleaning more meaningful and life less messy. With a little bit of armchair therapy and plenty of practical, tactical tips—such as ‘On the Fly!’ quick fixes and genius uses for sticky notes—she’ll help us get our houses in shipshape order before we can break a sweat. Along the way, the FlyLady teaches us to embrace household maintenance as an act of self-care, and to enjoy the soothing satisfaction of an orderly habitat.
Before you know it, you’ll be on the fast-track to living CHAOS-free, surrounded by sparkling serenity
Having less stuff is the key to happiness: Do you ever feel overwhelmed, instead of overjoyed, by all your possessions? Do you secretly wish a gale force wind would blow the clutter from your home? If so, it’s time to simplify your life!
The Joy of Less is a fun, lighthearted guide to minimalist living: Part One provides an inspirational pep talk on the joys and rewards of paring down. Part Two presents the STREAMLINE method: ten easy steps to rid your house of clutter. Part Three goes room by room, outlining specific ways to tackle each one. Part Four helps you get your family on board and live more lightly and gracefully on the earth.
Francine has helped hundreds of thousands of people declutter their homes and simplify their lives with her bestselling book, The Joy of Less.
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Welcome back to our monthly blog feature, Book Clubbin’!
Is one of your resolutions for this year to read more books or start a book club? If you’re reading this, this is your sign to take the plunge! We know that it can be a little tough with stay-at-home orders, lockdowns, and social distancing, but don’t let it stop you! Start up a virtual book club with a couple friends where you can chat all about your latest read/listen via Zoom, FaceTime, or whatever you choose!
This month’s Book Clubbin’ pick is Delia Owen’s Where the Crawdad’s Sing. Chances are, you’ve heard of this book a lot over the past few years. Where the Crawdads Singwas Owens’ debut novel and it held its ground on the New York Times Fiction Bestsellers list for 25 weeks in total. So, you know it’s worth a listen!
Where the Crawdads Sing takes us to Barkley Cove, North Carolina in 1969, where rumors have circulated of the ‘Marsh Girl’ for years. When the handsome Chase Andrews is found dead, all fingers point to Kya Clark, the so-called ‘Marsh Girl.’ But there is more to Kya than meets the eye. After surviving alone in the marsh for so long, she yearns to be loved and when two men in town become intrigued by her, Kya is opened up to a new life…until the unthinkable happens.
Ready to start chatting about Where the CrawdadsSing with your bookclub, then get started with the discussion questions below. Beware— SPOILERS ahead.
—————MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS!————
1) Jumpin’ and Mabel know that Kya is living on her own as a 10 year-old, and while they do offer support through clothing and other transactions, they never contact anyone to come remove her from the marsh. Why do you think this is?
2) Kya decides not to return to school after she was bullied. How do you think this affected her life?
3) Chase and Tate are both drawn to Kya, how do their relationships with her differ?
4) How did the fireflies that Kya observed one night influence her outlook on relationships and contribute to her actions later in the book?
5)Delia Owens is not only an author, but also a zoologist and has studied animals in remote parts of the world. Do you think her experience seeped into Where the Crawdads Sing? What similarities do you see with both Kya and wild animals?
6) Let’s discuss Kya’s trial. Do you think that the local’s presumptions and opinions about her colored the case and its outcome?
7) Did you suspect that Kya actually did kill Chase? Were you surprised when Tate found Kya’s secret stash/confession after her death?
8) Thinking of the title, why do you think Delia Owen titled her novel, Where the Crawdads Sing?
9) Reese Witherspoon’s production company is planning to adapt this novel into a movie. Which actors do you picture for the characters in the book?
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!
