Earl Grey Books

It’s time for my bi-monthly post telling you all about the audiobooks I picked out as part of Libro.fm’s ACL program. If you’re interested, you can see what I picked out in March and April and I’ll be updating you all on my TBR and what I’ve listened to in July. But for now, let’s get into it.

On Juneteenth by Annette Gordon-Reed

My favourite thing about the ACL program is the fact that it introduces me to books I hadn’t heard of beforehand and gives me the chance to read things that might not ever make it into bookstores here. On Juneteenth is one of those books for me. I honestly don’t know too much about the history of Juneteenth beyond the very, very basics but it’s important to me that I learn about it. This is the first book I’ve seen that talks solely about the day, its history and its importance so after I listen to this I’ll go and search for others and continue learning from there. This is one that is a little on the shorter side, with it being just under four hours long.

One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston

I may have died slightly when I saw this one on the list for May. Like so many others, One Last Stop is one of my most anticipated reads of the year and I had already preordered a physical copy but I had to have this anyway. I think I’ll probably end up doing a mix of listening and physically reading this one. I’ve never listened to a romance book as an audiobook before so I’m not quite sure how that’ll go, but this seems like a good one to try that with. If it doesn’t work for me, at least I still have the physical book to go along with! This is also Angel and I’s buddy read for this month, so you’ll definitely be seeing us talk about this one soon.

The Wreckage of My Presence by Casey Wilson

This is another one of those ones I hadn’t heard of before, but I’m a sucker for a good title. Seriously, this is how I end up getting sucked into so many essay collections. I have literally no idea what this is about, whether I should know who Casey Wilson is or what to expect but like I said, I’m a sucker for a good title. This seems like it might be a good one to sort of dip in and out of, possibly while on the train for work. I have a pretty short commute (once/if we get back out of lockdown here) so I think essay or poetry collections might be the way to go for that. If you have any recommendations, or if you know anything about this one, please let me know in a comment!

The Maidens by Alex Michaelides

I honestly have no idea what this one is about. The cover is really what grabbed me—I mean, it’s gorgeous. I also just love things with statues on at the moment. Is this just an art history student thing or do other people agree with this? I don’t know what it is, it just looks cool, right? Anyway, the title also grabbed me. Again, don’t know what this is about but it makes me think Artemis. Okay, I just looked up the synopsis and it sounds a little The Secret History but more crime. I guess we’ll see how I end up going with that. I’m a little nervous about it now, but I have it so I’m at least going to give it a chance at some point.

Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Here’s a confession I’m a bit scared to make—I’ve never read any Taylor Jenkins Reid before. I know she’s kind of a booktube darling, like Daisy Jones and Evelyn Hugo both have like cult status by now. I was really interested in both when people started talking about them but I lost a little bit of interest and I still haven’t picked them up. So why did I choose this one? I honestly don’t know, but the cover is surprisingly gorgeous and I am now reconsidering picking up some of her things to try them out. I’m not sure when I’ll actually get around to doing that, or to reading this but hey!

Sweethand by N.G Peltier

I was tossing up whether I actually wanted to get this one or not, but I figured I might as well. I actually bought myself a physical copy of Sweethand a few weeks ago so it wasn’t a question of whether I was going to read it or not, but rather if I wanted the audiobook as well or not. I figured this sounds like a fun one to listen to as well, just like One Last Stop, and if I don’t listen to it well I didn’t spend extra money on the audio at least. I will be honest and admit to you all that part of the reason I was interested in this one at all originally is because of the cat on the cover. What can I say? I’m a sucker for a cat.

An Emotion of Great Delight by Tahereh Mafi

It’s been a really long time since I’ve dipped my toes into anything by Tahereh Mafi, but she’s honestly been blessed with her covers. I read the first three books of the Shatter Me series when they were originally released and loved them, but I haven’t really been that interested in picking up anything sense. I don’t really know what made me decide to pick this one up other than the fact that the cover really caught my eye. I guess I’m ready to get back into the world of Tahereh Mafi and see what kind of journey she takes me on as a contemporary author.

So that’s my list for April and May. Did you pick up any titles from Libro? What other audiobooks are you listening to?