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ID: 548785

Title: In the Shadow of the Gods: The Emperor in World History

Author: Dominic Lieven

Narrator: John Lee

Format: Unabridged

Length: 19:19:17

Language: English

Release date: 06-07-22

Publisher: Penguin Audio

Genres: History, Non-Fiction, World, Social Science

Summary:

A dazzling account of the men (and occasional woman) who led the world’s empires, a book that probes the essence of leadership and power through the centuries and around the world.

From the rise of Sargon of Akkad, who in the third millennium BCE ruled what is now Iraq and Syria, to the collapse of the great European empires in the twentieth century, the empire has been the dominant form of power in history. Dominic Lieven’s expansive book explores strengths and failings of the human beings who held those empires together (or let them crumble). He projects the power, terror, magnificence, and confidence of imperial monarchy, tracking what they had in common as well as what made some rise to glory and others fail spectacularly, and at what price each destiny was reached.

Lieven’s characters—Constantine, Chinggis Khan, Trajan, Suleyman, Hadrian, Louis XIV, Maria Theresa, Peter the Great, Queen Victoria, and dozens more—come alive with color, energy, and detail: their upbringings, their loves, their crucial spouses, their dreadful children. They illustrate how politics and government are a gruelling business: a ruler needed stamina, mental and physical toughness, and self-confidence. He or she needed the sound judgement of problems and people which is partly innate but also the product of education and experience. A good brain was essential for setting priorities, weighing conflicting advice, and matching ends to needs. A diplomatically astute marriage was often even more essential. 

 

Emperors (and the rare empresses) could be sacred symbols, warrior kings, political leaders, chief executive officers of the government machine, heads of a family, and impresarios directing the many elements of 'soft power' essential to any regime’s survival. What was it like to live and work in such an extraordinary role? What qualities did it take to perform this role successfully? Lieven traces the shifting balance among these elements across eras  that encompass a staggering array of events from the rise of the world’s great religions to the scientific revolution, the expansion of European empires across oceans, the great twentieth century conflicts, and the triumph of nationalism over imperialism.

The rule of the emperor may be over, but Lieven shows us how we live with its poltical and cultural legacies today. 

Contact: [email protected]

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ID: 554981

Title: Wretched Waterpark

Author: Kiersten White

Narrator: Keylor Leigh

Format: Unabridged

Length: 4:26:25

Language: English

Release date: 06-07-22

Publisher: Listening Library (Audio)

Genres: Kids, Mystery & Fantasy, Humor

Summary:

A middle-grade mystery series that's spooky, creepy, and filled with gothic twists! Meet the Sinister-Winterbottom twins, who solve mysteries at increasingly bizarre summer vacation destinations in the hopes of being reunited with their parents—or at the very least finally finding a good churro.

“An absolute delight. If I have to die in a waterpark, I want to die in this one.”—Holly Black, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Cruel Prince

'Wickedly weird. . . . Will appeal to anyone who loved A Series of Unfortunate Events.' —The New York Times

Meet the Sinister-Winterbottoms: brave Theo, her timid twin, Alexander, and their older sister, Wil. They’re stuck for the summer with their Aunt Saffronia, who doesn’t know how often children need to eat and can’t use a smartphone, and whose feet never quite seem to touch the floor when she glides—er—walks.

When Aunt Saffronia suggests a week pass to the Fathoms of Fun Waterpark, they hastily agree. But the park is even stranger than Aunt Saffronia. The waterslides look like gray gargoyle tongues. The employees wear creepy black dresses and deliver ominous messages. An impossible figure is at the top of the slide tower, people are disappearing, and suspicious goo is seeping into the wave pool.

Something mysterious is happening at Fathoms of Fun, and it’s up to the twins to get to the bottom of it. The mystery, that is. NOT the wave pool. Definitely NOT the wave pool. But are Theo and Alexander out of their depth?

Contact: [email protected]

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ID: 538759

Title: New Puppy

Author: Benjamin Hart, Kristen Bell

Narrator: Kristen Bell

Format: Unabridged

Length: 0:03:42

Language: English

Release date: 06-07-22

Publisher: Listening Library (Audio)

Genres: Kids, Health & Family, Humor

Summary:

#1 New York Times bestselling authors Kristen Bell (Frozen) and Benjamin Hart are bringing their beloved characters from The World Needs More Purple People to Step into Reading! Get ready to adopt a dog in this Step 2 leveled reader!

Penny's friend Mateo is adopting a dog! Mateo is determined to be a good dog owner. Luckily, he can use his purple skills! He asks questions about the puppy’s food, works hard to take care of the puppy, and uses his voice to make sure the puppy feels safe. Best of all, Mateo, Penny, and the new puppy get to be themselves and have fun together! 

 

Kristen Bell and Benjamin Hart are bringing their inclusive purple world to Step into Reading with a joyous message of embracing the things that bring us together as humans, while celebrating what makes you uniquely YOU! 

 

Step 2 readers use basic vocabulary and short sentences to tell simple stories. They are perfect for children who recognize familiar words and can sound out new words with help.

 

Contact: [email protected]

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ID: 500904

Title: Before Takeoff

Author: Adi Alsaid

Narrator: Jade Wheeler

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9:02:33

Language: English

Release date: 06-07-22

Publisher: Listening Library (Audio)

Genres: Teen, General, Romance

Summary:

The Sun Is Also a Star meets Jumanji when two teens meet and fall in love during a layover-gone-wrong at the Atlanta airport in this thrilling new novel from the author of Let's Get Lost!

James and Michelle find themselves in the Atlanta airport on a layover. They couldn't be more different, but seemingly interminable delays draw them both to a mysterious flashing green light--and each other.

Where James is passive, Michelle is anything but. And she quickly discovers that the flashing green light is actually... a button. Which she presses. Which may or may not unwittingly break the rules of the universe--at least as those rules apply to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta.

Before they can figure up from down, strange, impossible things start happening: snowstorms form inside the B terminal; jungles sprout up in the C terminal; and earthquakes split the ground apart in between. And no matter how hard they try, it seems no one can find a way in or out of the airport. James and Michelle team up to find their families and either escape the airport, or put an end to its chaos--before it's too late.

Contact: [email protected]

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ID: 540082

Title: Wastelands: The True Story of Farm Country on Trial

Author: Corban Addison

Narrator: Rob Shapiro

Format: Unabridged

Length: 16:16:21

Language: English

Release date: 06-07-22

Publisher: Random House (Audio)

Genres: Non-Fiction, Social Science

Summary:

'Beautifully written, impeccably researched, and told with the air of suspense that few writers can handle, Wastelands is a story I wish I had written.' —From the Foreword by John Grisham

 

The once idyllic coastal plain of North Carolina is home to a close-knit, rural community that for more than a generation has battled the polluting practices of large-scale farming taking place in its own backyard. After years of frustration and futility, an impassioned cadre of local residents, led by a team of intrepid and dedicated lawyers, filed a lawsuit against one of the world’s most powerful companies—and, miraculously, they won.

As vivid and fast-paced as a thriller, Wastelands takes us into the heart of a legal battle over the future of America’s farmland and into the lives of the people who found the courage to fight.

There is Elsie Herring, the most outspoken of the neighbors, who has endured racial slurs and the threat of a restraining order to tell the story of the waste raining down on her rooftop from the hog operation next door. There is Don Webb, a larger-than-life hog farmer turned grassroots crusader, and Rick Dove, a riverkeeper and erstwhile military judge who has pioneered the use of aerial photography to document the scale of the pollution. There is Woodell McGowan, a quiet man whose quest to redeem his family’s ancestral land encourages him to become a better neighbor, and Dr. Steve Wing, a groundbreaking epidemiologist whose work on the health effects of hog waste exposure translates the neighbors’ stories into the argot of science. And there is Tom Butler, an environmental savant and hog industry insider whose whistleblowing testimony electrifies the jury.

Fighting alongside them in the courtroom is Mona Lisa Wallace, who broke the gender barrier in her small southern town and built a storied legal career out of vanquishing corporate giants, and Mike Kaeske, whose trial skills are second to none.

With journalistic rigor and a novelist’s instinct for story, Corban Addison's Wastelands captures the inspiring struggle to bring a modern-day monopoly to its knees, to force a once-invincible corporation to change, and to preserve the rights—and restore the heritage—of a long-suffering community.

Contact: [email protected]

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ID: 555229

Title: Fireworks

Author: Alice Lin

Narrator: Yu-Li Alice Shen

Format: Unabridged

Length: 6:48:29

Language: English

Release date: 06-07-22

Publisher: Listening Library (Audio)

Genres: Fiction, Teen, Romance

Summary:

A pitch-perfect K-pop rom com! Fame and friendship can get complicated, especially when there are more than platonic feelings at play.

Seventeen-year-old Lulu Li has her last summer before college all planned out. But her plans go awry when she learns that Kite Xu, her old next-door neighbor and childhood friend, will be returning home from South Korea.

 

Lulu hasn’t seen Kite since eighth grade, after he left the country to pursue a career in K-pop, eventually debuting in the boy group Karnival. When Karnival announces that Kite will be taking a break from K-pop activities for mysterious reasons, the opportunity to rekindle their friendship arises.

 

Star-struck and nostalgic, Lulu tries to reconnect with Kite. As they continue to bond and reminisce over the past, Kite’s sister, Connie, warns Lulu not to get too close to her brother. The harder Lulu tries to deny her feelings, the stronger they get. But how could a K-pop star ever fall for a nobody from home? And even if he did, is there any way for their relationship to end but badly?

Contact: [email protected]

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ID: 552802

Title: Good Arguments: How Debate Teaches Us to Listen and Be Heard

Author: Bo Seo

Narrator: Bo Seo

Format: Unabridged

Length: 10:06:28

Language: English

Release date: 06-07-22

Publisher: Penguin Audio

Genres: Biography & Memoir, Self Development, Health & Wellness, History & Culture

Summary:

“The rare book that has the potential to make you smarter—and everyone around you wiser.” —Adam Grant

Two-time world champion debater and former coach of the Harvard debate team, Bo Seo tells the inspiring story of his life in competitive debating and reveals the timeless secrets of effective communication and persuasion

When Bo Seo was 8 years old, he and his family migrated from Korea to Australia. At the time, he did not speak English, and, unsurprisingly, struggled at school. But, then, in fifth grade, something happened to change his life: he discovered competitive debate. Immediately, he was hooked. It turned out, perhaps counterintuitively, that debating was the perfect activity for someone shy and unsure of himself. It became a way for Bo not only to find his voice, but to excel socially and academically. And he’s not the only one. Far from it: presidents, Supreme Court justices, and CEOs are all disproportionally debaters. This is hardly a coincidence. By tracing his own journey from immigrant kid to world champion, Seo shows how the skills of debating—information gathering, truth finding, lucidity, organization, and persuasion—are often the cornerstone of successful careers and happy lives.

Drawing insights from its strategies, structure, and history, Seo teaches readers the skills of competitive debate, and in doing so shows how they can improve their communication with friends, family, and colleagues alike. He takes readers on a thrilling intellectual adventure into the eccentric and brilliant subculture of competitive debate, touching on everything from the radical politics of Malcom X to Artificial Intelligence. Seo proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that, far from being a source of conflict, good-faith debate can enrich our daily lives. Indeed, these good arguments are essential to a flourishing democracy, and are more important than ever at time when bad faith is all around, and our democracy seems so imperiled.

Contact: [email protected]

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ID: 577170

Title: Smoke

Author: Darcy Woods

Narrator: Darcy Woods, Kristen Sieh

Format: Unabridged

Length: 10:47:03

Language: English

Release date: 06-07-22

Publisher: Listening Library (Audio)

Genres: Teen, Mystery & Thriller, Tough Topics

Summary:

What lines would you cross to save someone you love? Filled with the kinds of impossible choices that made the TV show Weeds such a hit, this compelling drama asks to what lengths an avid rule-follower will go in order to save her family--and the answer involves 'growing' in surprising directions.

Sixteen-year-old Honor Augustine never set out to become a felon. As an academic all-star, avid recycler, and dedicated daughter to her PTSD-afflicted father, she's always been the literal embodiment of her name. Coloring inside the lines is what keeps Honor's chaotic existence orderly.

 

But when she discovers her father's VA benefits drying up, coupled with a terrifying bank letter threatening the family's greenhouse business--Honor vows to find a solution. She just doesn't expect to spot it on the dry erase board of English lit--'Nature's first green is gold.'

The quote by Frost becomes the seed of an idea. An idea that--with patience and care--could germinate into a means of survival. Maybe marijuana could be more than the medicinal plant that helps quiet her father's demons. Maybe, it could save them all.

Contact: [email protected]

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ID: 548799

Title: Musical Revolutions: How the Sounds of the Western World Changed

Author: Stuart Isacoff

Narrator: Jamie Rennell

Format: Unabridged

Length: 8:51:15

Language: English

Release date: 06-07-22

Publisher: Random House (Audio)

Genres: History, Non-Fiction, World, Art & Music

Summary:

From the critically acclaimed author of Temperament, a narrative account of the most defining moments in musical history—classical and jazz—all of which forever altered Western culture

 

'A fascinating journey that begins with the origins of musical notation and travels through the centuries reaching all the way to our time.”—Semyon Bychkov, chief conductor and music director of the Czech Philharmonic

The invention of music notation by a skittish Italian monk in the eleventh century. The introduction of multilayered hymns in the Middle Ages. The birth of opera in a Venice rebelling against the church’s pious restraints. Baroque, Romantic, and atonal music; bebop and cool jazz; Bach and Liszt; Miles Davis and John Coltrane. In telling the exciting story of Western music’s evolution, Stuart Isacoff explains how music became entangled in politics, culture, and economics, giving rise to new eruptions at every turn, from the early church’s attempts to bind its followers by teaching them to sing in unison to the global spread of American jazz through the Black platoons of the First World War.

 

The author investigates questions like: When does noise become music? How do musical tones reflect the natural laws of the universe? Why did discord become the primary sound of modernity? Musical Revolutions is a book replete with the stories of our most renowned musical artists, including notable achievements of people of color and women, whose paths to success were the most difficult.

Contact: [email protected]

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ID: 548818

Title: Seen, Heard, and Paid: The New Work Rules for the Marginalized

Author: Alan Henry

Narrator: Landon Woodson

Format: Unabridged

Length: 7:22:50

Language: English

Release date: 06-07-22

Publisher: Random House (Audio)

Genres: Business & Economics, Non-Fiction, Career Development, Social Science, HR & Office Administration

Summary:

The real tools for career success and work satisfaction for anyone feeling undermined or marginalized at their job, from a productivity expert and editor at Wired.

“Alan Henry doesn’t just illuminate the invisible barriers that often stand in the way of success—he shines a light on what you can do to break through them.”—Adam Grant, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Think Again and host of the TED podcast WorkLife

For over twenty years, Alan Henry has written about using technology and productivity techniques to work and live better for publications such as Lifehacker, The New York Times, and Wired. But he found that as a Black man he didn’t have access to some of the more powerful ways to hack your job—like only checking email once a day or blocking out time on your calendar to do deep work. In fact, he found that even when he landed a prestigious title at the Times, there were moments when he was still overlooked and excluded from the most interesting and career-boosting work. 

This led him to first explore these struggles in a Times piece titled “Productivity Without Privilege.” Now he goes even deeper, interviewing experts across multiple fields to come up with powerful tools to overcome the forces of marginalization. In Seen, Heard, and Paid, Henry shares the new work rules that may finally allow people of color, women, and LGBTQ+ folks to have the same access to career advancement and rewarding work as those with more privilege, including: 

 

How to Be Seen: Only spend time on work that gets you attention.

How to Be Heard: Figure out your unique contribution.

How to Get Paid: Data is power and power is money.

 

Whether you’re dealing with microaggressions, trying to get the glamour work instead of the office housework, weighing the pluses and minuses of working remotely, or deciding it’s time to look for a new opportunity, Seen, Heard, and Paid will help you feel informed, supported, and empowered.

Contact: [email protected]