Audiobooks offer travel options all summer long

Starting out this month with some adventurous nonfiction. Any of these would be great as audiobooks if you are taking a road trip or sitting in an airport!
 
“Riding With Evil” by Ken Croke. This book scared the bejeezus out of me. Croke is an ATF agent who infiltrated, and became a reigning officer in, an outlaw motorcycle gang in order to take them down on federal charges. His descriptions of the violence that is a routine occurrence in these organizations was chilling. The members all live and work in our communities making it truly terrifying.
 
“The Third Pole” by Mark Synnot. My fascination with Everest knows no bounds, so Synnot’s book about climbing the peak, ostensibly to find the remains of Sandy Irvine who was George Mallory’s climbing partner in a 1924 attempt at the summit was an easy choice for me. Did they succeed? No one knows. But the author makes his climb in 2019, labeled “the year that Everest broke.” His telling of the storms, lives lost, lives saved (barely), and the massive commercialization of climbing Everest is compelling reading. Excellent photos are included in the book.
 
“The Devil Never Sleeps” by Juliette Kayyem. The author is a disaster expert and this reads more like a really interesting college lecture. Not a checklist for disaster preparedness, more a dissection of what went wrong before and after various disasters – natural and man-made – with the Boeing 737 MAX and how critical thinking can prepare us and guide better responses. This book pairs well with “Flying Blind” by Peter Robison, a detailed account of the MAX disaster and which I consider to be a must read.
 
Fiction is heavy on murder this month!
 
“Nine Lives’’ by Peter Swanson. People are being murdered. Seemingly at random. Swanson is the author of multiple great murder myteries and his latest delivers. The story moves along and has a clever, plausible twist.
 
“My Evil Mother” by Margaret Atwood. This is a short story exclusively digital as an e-book or audiobook but I thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s Margaret Atwood. It is brilliant.
 
“Joan Is Okay” by Weike Wang. A bittersweet portrait of an intense girl who is happy in her own skin in spite of what her friends and family think would be better for her. A valuable reminder that we don’t all need to choose the same path.
 
“A Narrow Door” by Joanne Harris. Murder and mytery in an elite boarding school in England. The psychological motivations are deep and complicated. Excellent pacing and writing will keep you reading past bedtime.
 
“I Am Not Who You Think I Am” by Eric Rickstad. Childhood tragedy, and a long-held secret note lead to a boy’s obsession with finding the truth. Tangled deceits and bizarre conceits in a small town.
 
“Do I Know You” by Sarah Strohmeyer. There is a category of people called “super recognisers” who almost never forget a face even after a brief glimpse. The lead character here is one and it can be a blessing and a curse. You may know the face, but do you really know the person?
 
“True Biz” by Sara Novic. Teen angst set in a school for the deaf. I found this interesting on several levels, including, the politics surrounding acceptance of sign language, cochlear implants, the history of discrimination against the deaf, the community of deaf and CODA (children of deaf adults). The setting is a fictional school near Cincinnati where we had the outstanding St. Rita’s School for the Deaf (it is referred to in the book).
 
“City on Fire” by Don Winslow. One of my absolute favorite writers. Winslow researches his books in excruciating detail before writing and it makes his stories electrifying and authentic. This is the first of a trilogy about a crime family from Providence, Rhode Island. A legit, engrossing read.
 

Daniel Island Publishing

225 Seven Farms Drive
Unit 108
Daniel Island, SC 29492 

Office Number: 843-856-1999
Fax Number: 843-856-8555

 

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