In Mary Jones's debut short story collection, narrator Suzanne Freeman embraces her vocal task simply, her careful diction allowing each story to shine. Each brief work deals with the universal experiences of separation, departure, loss, or abandonment. The wide variety of stories varies in length--with some just a few minutes long, some many minutes more--and each is instantly absorbing. The title story, the last in the collection, is a beautiful rendering of a final goodbye. This is a broad selection for those who like stories. Jones is an author to watch, and Freeman a narrator to seek out as well.
Pub Date: July 30, 2024
Duration: 7 hrs, 15 mins
DD ISBN: 9781958506653
Publisher: Zibby Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
The best ghost stories are meant to be read aloud. Here, the author and eight top-flight voice talents deliver the tense, devastating, chilling, and often brutal tones expressed in these 21 contemporary horror tales. Soneela Nankani nonchalantly tells of beaten corpses in "Ffuns." The terror in Lynette Freeman's voice when an old boyfriend keeps reappearing in "He Used to Scare Me by Accident" is nothing less than unsettling. The building dread in André Santana's reactions to the grotesque imagery in "I Caught a Ghost in My Eye" will floor listeners. And Dion Graham's easy homespun delivery in "Dead Bastard Revival Services" presents religious worship gone horribly wrong. Turn out the lights, listen closely, and try not to scream.
Pub Date: Feb. 7, 2026
Duration: 9 hrs, 45 mins
DD ISBN: 9798228364882
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Angco is a fitting narrator to capture the duality of agency and vulnerability, ambition and absurdity.
Rende's collection of 11 stories centers on the complexity and absurdity of fame, relationships, and the image we seek to adopt for ourselves and project to the world. The audiobook is by turns refreshingly unvarnished and ridiculous. Narrator Rachel Angco's youthful voice belies a sardonic, dry wit. She emotes where appropriate but delivers the farcical situations in a straightforward confessional manner, making the humor resonate. Threaded throughout the stories is famous actor Arlo Banks and his life, work, and alleged sexual predilections, fodder for the paparazzi. Other stories focus on young women and their friendships, relationships, work in the film industry, and struggles to achieve their goals.
Angco is a fitting narrator to capture the duality of agency and vulnerability, ambition and absurdity.Pub Date: Jan. 13, 2026
Duration: 7 hrs, 15 mins
DD ISBN: 9781639735884
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: Feb. 10, 2026
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