I spend a lot of time on my feet, away from a couch, a bed, or a comfy chair these days. One of my favorite hobbies before kids used to be curling up with a good book in the evenings with a blanket and some tea. I often reminisce about fun times spent with friends at our Book Club Night when I lived in New York City in my 20s.
When I became a mother, I realized that there just wasn’t a lot of extra time, and I desperately missed reading. A friend told me that she used to put on audible books while she was working out, and I decided to give it a try! I had long commutes to the news stations I worked for, and I decided that would be a great time to listen. I would start each day listening to an audible book in the car, and I was immediately hooked! It was so hard to turn off the book to go into work, most days.
Now that I am a mom, I have continued my love of listening to authors and narrators bring the books to life through my headphones. Not only do I listen in the car, but also while I’m folding laundry and doing mindless chores around the house.
A few years ago, I decided to share my love for listening to books with my oldest daughter, Lola, and she was hooked. I swear it helped her listening comprehension, too! Now both of my older kids enjoy listening to books. Now, they also offer podcasts that are exclusive to audible! There is some seriously great stuff there, including Sesame Street for my baby!
Here are a few of my favorite audio books to enjoy this summer. Best news? They allow you to try audible FREE for 30 days, and that gives you access to 3 books, so you can test it out and see if you like it!
Happy Reading!
For the tiniest listeners
Where the Wild Things Are
Max is the hero of this beloved children's classic in which he makes mischief, sails away, tames the wild things, and returns home for supper.
A Bear Called Paddington
Paddington Bear had traveled all the way from Darkest Peru when the Brown family first met him on Paddington Station. Since then their lives have never been quite the same...for ordinary things become quite extraordinary when a bear called Paddington is involved.
Llama Llama Red Pajama and 19 Other Favorites
Nineteen favorites from Anna Dewdney's best-selling Llama Llama series, many narrated by the author herself, plus Nelly Gnu and Daddy Too. Look for the animated Llama Llama series on Netflix!
The Sesame Street Podcast with Foley and Friends: Season 1
Meet Sesame Street’s newest furry and friendly monster: Foley! She is the host of her very own podcast, The Sesame Street Podcast with Foley and Friends, and has a very special skill—she can make amazingly realistic SOUNDS with her voice! That comes in handy when Foley and her microphone pal, Mikee, welcome their guests into the sound studio to talk about Superheroes, Animals, Birthdays, and MORE! Join Foley and her Sesame Street friends Elmo, Cookie Monster, Abby, and Grover for music, jokes, and games on the podcast where the learning and fun never ends!
For young kids
The Ramona Quimby Audio Collection
Meet Ramona. She lives on Klickitat Street with her mother, father, and big sister, Beezus. She’s not afraid of anything and is always up to something. And that’s just the beginning….
In this audio collection, join Ramona, one of Beverly Cleary’s most beloved characters, on all her wacky adventures!
Matilda
"The Trunchbull" is no match for Matilda!
Matilda is a sweet, exceptional young girl, but her parents think she's just a nuisance. She expects school to be different, but there she has to face Miss Trunchbull, a kid-hating terror of a headmistress. When Matilda is attacked by the Trunchbull she suddenly discovers she has a remarkable power with which to fight back. It'll take a superhuman genius to give Miss Trunchbull what she deserves, and Matilda may be just the one to do it!
The House at Pooh Corner: A.A. Milne's Pooh Classics, Volume 2
Blackstone Audio presents (from the unabridged collection ''A.A. Milne's Pooh Classics,'') the ten stories of The House At Pooh Corner, performed by Peter Dennis. This is the only reading of these enthralling stories authorized by A.A. Milne's son, Christopher Robin, who wrote, ''Peter Dennis has made himself Pooh's Ambassador Extraordinary and no bear has ever had a more devoted friend. So if you want to meet the real Pooh, the bear I knew, the bear my father wrote about, listen to Peter.''
How to Train Your Dragon
Chronicles the adventures and misadventures of Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III as he tries to pass the important initiation test of his Viking clan, the Tribe of the Hairy Hooligans, by catching and training a dragon.
For older kids
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe: The Chronicles of Narnia
Don't miss one of America's top 100 most-loved novels, selected by PBS's The Great American Read.
Four adventurous siblings - Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy Pevensie - step through a wardrobe door and into the land of Narnia, a land frozen in eternal winter and enslaved by the power of the White Witch. But when almost all hope is lost, the return of the Great Lion, Aslan, signals a great change...and a great sacrifice.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Book 1
Having become classics of our time, the Harry Potter stories never fail to bring comfort and escapism. With their message of hope, belonging and the enduring power of truth and love, the story of the Boy Who Lived continues to delight generations of new listeners.
Kristy's Great Idea: The Baby-Sitters Club, Book 1
Three decades after The Baby-Sitters Club first rocked our world—like scoring your own phone line, in your room!—the beloved franchise is back to binge (and share) like never before!
In the most exciting news since we first learned of Kristy Thomas’s great idea to start the Baby-Sitters Club, the book series is now available only from Audible as an audio experience with special guest narrator Elle Fanning, the multi-talented actress and fan of BSC.
Curse of the Arctic Star: Nancy Drew Diaries, Book 1
Dear Diary...Bess, George, and I are actually in Alaska! Everywhere you look, there are massive mountains and sparkling, deep-blue waters. We're on the maiden voyage of the Arctic Star luxury cruise ship, and my old friend, Becca Wright, the assistant cruise director, needs our help. She received threatening emails before even setting sail; then a bloody body turned up in the swimming pool. And when a chandelier came crashing down in the dining room, we thought the Arctic Star may be cursed! There are so many passengers onboard, I don't know where to begin. But I'd better hurry; if I don't act fast, this might be everyone's final - and fatal - voyage!
For teens:
The Summer I Turned Pretty
Belly measures her life in summers. Everything good, everything magical happens between the months of June and August. Winters are simply a time to count the weeks until the next summer, a place away from the beach house, away from Susannah, and most importantly, away from Jeremiah and Conrad. They are the boys that Belly has known since her very first summer—they have been her brother figures, her crushes, and everything in between. But one summer, one wonderful and terrible summer, the more everything changes, the more it all ends up just the way it should have been all along.
Skyward
"Narrator Suzy Jackson's assured, brassy tones and forceful delivery are an exceptional match for Sanderson's high-stakes, battle-driven space opera.... Jackson's gift for characterizations shines - she brings out the humor and heroism in Spensa's young classmates and friends (and the neurotic spaceship MBOT), along with the pain and perseverance of the generations that came before them. This is a high-octane futuristic narrative of hope, sacrifice, and courage, and a fast pace speaks to the rising urgency as war rages above the planet. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award." (AudioFilemagazine)
The Hunger Games: Special Edition
Emmy Award-winning actress Tatiana Maslany narrates a brand-new special edition recording of the first audiobook in the worldwide best-selling trilogy from Suzanne Collins!
In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by 12 outlying districts. The Capitol keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of 12 and 18 to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV.
Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister's place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to death before - and survival, for her, is second nature. Still, if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that weigh survival against humanity and life against love.
This special edition audiobook includes a bonus track Q&A with Tatiana Maslany!
Empire of Storms
Kingdoms collide in Sarah J. Maas' epic fifth installment in the New York Times best-selling Throne of Glass series.
The long path to the throne has only just begun for Aelin Galathynius. Loyalties have been broken and bought, friends have been lost and gained, and those who possess magic find themselves at odds with those don't.
For mom:
Where the Crawdads Sing
Where the Crawdads Sing is at once an exquisite ode to the natural world, a heartbreaking coming-of-age story, and a surprising tale of possible murder. Owens reminds us that we are forever shaped by the children we once were, and that we are all subject to the beautiful and violent secrets that nature keeps.
Atlas of the Heart: Mapping Meaningful Connection and the Language of Human Experience
In Atlas of the Heart, Brown takes us on a journey through 87 of the emotions and experiences that define what it means to be human. As she maps the necessary skills and an actionable framework for meaningful connection, she gives us the language and tools to access a universe of new choices and second chances - a universe where we can share and steward the stories of our bravest and most heartbreaking moments with one another in a way that builds connection.
Remarkably Bright Creatures: A Novel
For fans of A Man Called Ove, a charming, witty and compulsively enjoyable exploration of friendship, reckoning, and hope that traces a widow's unlikely connection with a giant Pacific octopus
After Tova Sullivan’s husband died, she began working the night shift at the Sowell Bay Aquarium, mopping floors and tidying up. Keeping busy has always helped her cope, which she’s been doing since her eighteen-year-old son, Erik, mysteriously vanished on a boat in Puget Sound over thirty years ago.
One Italian Summer: A Novel
The New York Times bestselling author of In Five Years returns with a powerful novel about the transformational love between mothers and daughters set on the breathtaking Amalfi Coast.
When Katy’s mother dies, she is left reeling. Carol wasn’t just Katy’s mom, but her best friend and first phone call. She had all the answers and now, when Katy needs her the most, she is gone. To make matters worse, their planned mother-daughter trip of a lifetime looms: to Positano, the magical town where Carol spent the summer right before she met Katy’s father. Katy has been waiting years for Carol to take her, and now she is faced with embarking on the adventure alone.
