Susan Orlean has a thing about animals, particularly those that might be kept as pets. In this entertaining book, which she narrates herself, Orlean investigates our intense love of the domesticated animals who steal our hearts, be they chickens, dogs, donkeys, or lions. Orlean has a flattened, nasal voice that is nonetheless engaging. She reads clearly at an unrushed pace with a downbeat delivery that suits the book's funny situations and quirky, occasionally bizarre, characters. The woman with tigers in rural New Jersey is definitely bizarre, while the owners of the show dog are a tad quirky. As for Orlean herself, she is thrilled when the post office calls to say, "You have a package here, and it's clucking."
Pub Date: Oct. 12, 2021
Duration: 10 hrs
DD ISBN: 9781797130323
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Bhutto narrates her memoir with delicate sincerity that invites the listener to be the person their dog believes they are.
Writer and columnist Bhutto explores a lifetime of grief, love, and self-doubt. Using a soft, intimately conversational tone, Bhutto contends with the murder of her father when she was very young, her estrangement from her controlling stepmother, and her decades-long entanglement with a man who took advantage of her understandable terror of losing people. Against these difficult circumstances, she sets the transformative love of her terrier, and her voice warms whenever Coco is her subject. Bhutto intersperses her own experiences with research on how humans first domesticated wolves as well as how dogs fit into worldwide religious traditions.
Bhutto narrates her memoir with delicate sincerity that invites the listener to be the person their dog believes they are.Pub Date: Jan. 27, 2026
Duration: 4 hrs, 15 mins
DD ISBN: 9781668118405
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
Review Posted Online: Feb. 17, 2026
This genre-bending, propulsive story offers a persuasive argument.
Narrator Melinda Sewak maintains a clear, entertaining voice as Montgomery explores the secrets of trees. Montgomery, a plant biologist, traverses the sun-dappled American South, recollecting her youth and considering trees through a Black botanical lens. Sewak’s consistent narration is a delight, whether the topic is scientific (patterns of oxidation in high-fat tree nuts; how trees maintain intergenerational conversations through epigenetic markers) or personal (lyrical nostalgia for Montgomery’s tree-climbing youth). Sewak’s performance doesn’t falter even when Montgomery’s striking central question arises: Do trees remember their powerful, painful roles in Black American history?
This genre-bending, propulsive story offers a persuasive argument.Pub Date: Jan. 20, 2026
Duration: 8 hrs
DD ISBN: 9781250433473
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Review Posted Online: March 17, 2026
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