Books
9 Short Audiobooks You Can Finish In A Single Day
Readers may not all like the same novels, appreciate the same authors, or enjoy the same genres, but if there is one thing they can agree on it is that there are too many books and not enough time to read them all. That is why short audiobooks you can finish in a single day are so wonderful. No matter what you're doing or where you're going, chances are, an audiobook can come along for the ride.
I don't know about you, but no matter how many books I finish every week, my To Be Read pile never seems to get any smaller. There are plenty of rules I follow to help me reach my reading goals, and plenty of tricks I use when the bookish tasks at hand seem impossible, but I still find myself struggling to get to every title on my list. That is why, now more than every, audiobooks have become my favorite way to read. Whether I am busy running errands all day, trapped inside cleaning, or stuck in the car on a long trip, I can count on an audiobook to not only keep me happy and entertained while I do it, but to help me check another title off of my never-ending reading list.
Whether you'll be in the car for one last road trip this summer, or spending the weekend getting a jump-start on fall cleaning, here are nine short audiobooks to keep you company and help you reach your personal reading goals at the same time.
'Sadie' by Courtney Summers, read by Rebecca Soler, Fred Berman, Dan Bittner, Gabra Zackman, and a full cast
Listening Time: 7 hours, 57 minutes
What story could make a better audiobook than one about a girl determined to find justice for her sister's death, and the Serial-like podcast that follows her journey? In this electrifying thriller, a young woman will stop at nothing to bring her sister's killer to justice, and a radio personality will do anything to tell her story.
'JELL-O Girls: A Family History' by Allie Rowbottom, read by the author
Listening Time: 7 hours, 43 minutes
To many Americans, Jell-O is nothing more than a fun and delicious dessert. For writer Allie Rowbottom and her family, though, it is not only the source for their vast fortune and privilege, but the possible cause of a curse that lead to generations of suicides, alcoholism, and disease. Or at least, that is what Allie's mother Mary, who died of the same incurable cancer that claimed her own mother's life, believed, and it is the story she wanted her daughter to tell. A fascinating narrative about family, motherhood, feminism, and trauma, The Jell-O Girls is Allie's attempt to carry out her mother's wish, an attempt listeners won't want to pause.
'Meet Me at the Museum' by Anne Youngson, read by Helen Lloyd and Lars Knudsen
Listening Time: 6 hours, 29 minutes
In this moving and emotional audiobook, two people who have given up on romance are brought together over their shared fascination of art and poetry. A beautiful, moving, and utterly mesmerizing tale about life, love, and starting over, Meet Me at the Museum will make even the most cynical listeners believe in second chances.
'Small Animals: Parenthood in the Age of Fear' by Kim Brooks, read by the author
Listening Time: 8 hours, 14 minutes
Whether you have children or not, this new book about parenthood in our current culture of fear, anxiety, and competition is worth a listen. Drawing from her own experiences as a mother, author Kim Brooks examines what it is like to care for kids in a world that constantly judges parents for their every move. Often funny and always observant, Small Animals is a poignant look at what it means to raise children in modern America.
'A Double Life' by Flynn Berry, read by Fiona Hardingham
Listening Time: 7 hours, 3 minutes
While she and her brother slept upstairs, a hideous murder was committed in Claire's family home, murder that her powerful, privileged father was accused of after he disappeared following the crime. For 30 years, Claire has worked hard to put the darkness of her past and the uncertainty of her father's guilt behind her, but when the police inform her they've found him, she is forced to confront the truth about that night and the possibility that she is the daughter of either a murderer or a wronged man.
'The Incendiaries' by R.O. Kwon, read by Keong Sim
Listening Time: 5 hours, 12 minutes
In this national bestseller, debut author R.O. Kwon weaves a darkly intoxicating story about religion, faith, violence, and first love that listeners won't be able to stop thinking about. Two new students at the prestigious Edwards University — Phoebe Lin and Will Kendall —can't help but fall for one another. But when Phoebe is drawn into a secretive cult that commits a startling act of violent, Will finds himself struggling to deal with a new kind of the fanaticism he worked tirelessly to escape.
'French Exit' by Patrick deWitt, read by Lorna Raver
Listening Time: 6 hours, 53 minutes
In the wake of scandal and financial ruin, bitter widow and possessive mother Frances Price flees the Upper East Side for Paris with her adult son Malcom, and her aging cat, Small Frank, in tow. There, in the City of Light, she hopes to find a fresh start, or at the very least, and escape from her ruined reputation and the unsavory legacy her late husband's gruesome tabloid death left behind. Instead, she encounters a fresh batch of opportunities for self destruction and financial problems, not to mention a whole cast of bizarre characters who make her new life anything but easy. A riotous dark comedy of manners, French Exit will have listeners in stitches.
'Josh and Hazel's Guide to Not Dating' by Christina Lauren, read by Todd Haberkorn and Jayme Mattler
Listening Time: 7 hours, 16 minutes
Zany, outspoken, and playful, Hazel Camille Bradford could not be any different from the calm, cool, and restrained Josh Im, a man she has known since college. That is why the two are not together, but rather, setting each other up on double blind dates. Just because they have more fun with one another than they do the people they are supposed to be dating doesn't mean there is anything between them.... or does it? Sweet, funny, and sexy, Josh and Hazel's Guide to Not Dating is the perfect listen for rom-com fans who enjoy swooning as much as they do laughing out loud.
'White Fragility: Why It's so Hard for White People to Talk About Racism' by Robin DiAngelo, read by Amy Landon
Listening Time: 6 hours, 21 minutes
In this bestselling book, antiracist educator Robin DiAngelo explores white fragility, the phenomenon in which white people become not only uncomfortable but defensive when confronted with the truth about racial inequality and injustice. By examining what characterizes white fragility — including fear, indignation, anger, and silence — and how it develops, DiAngelo shows how its counterproductive reactions work to maintain and protect racial inequality.
