Your Favorite Stories, Now in Your Ears - Full Audiobook

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ID: 715862

Title: Playing with Reality: How Games Have Shaped Our World

Author: Kelly Clancy

Narrator: Patty Nieman

Format: Unabridged

Length: 11:39:38

Language: English

Release date: 06-18-24

Publisher: Penguin Audio

Genres: Science & Technology, History, Biology & Chemistry, Mathematics

Summary:

“Absorbing. . . . A revealing look at the hidden role that games have played in human development for centuries.” —Kirkus

“By turns philosophical and polemical, this is a provocative and fascinating book.” —The Economist

A wide-ranging intellectual history that reveals how important games have been to human progress, and what’s at stake when we forget what games we’re really playing.

We play games to learn about the world, to understand our minds and the minds of others, and to make predictions about the future. Games are an essential aspect of humanity and a powerful tool for modeling reality. They’re also a lot of fun. But games can be dangerous, especially when we mistake the model worlds of games for reality itself and let gamification co-opt human decision making.

Playing with Reality explores the riveting history of games since the Enlightenment, weaving an unexpected path through military theory, political science, evolutionary biology, the development of computers and AI, cutting-edge neuroscience, and cognitive psychology. Neuroscientist and physicist Kelly Clancy shows how intertwined games have been with the arc of history. War games shaped the outcomes of real wars in nineteenth and twentieth century Europe. Game theory warped our understanding of human behavior and brought us to the brink of annihilation—yet still underlies basic assumptions in economics, politics, and technology design. We used games to teach computers how to learn for themselves, and now we are designing games that will determine the shape of society and future of democracy.

In this revelatory work, Clancy makes the bold argument that the human fascination with games is the key to understanding our nature and our actions.

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ID: 715864

Title: One-Star Romance

Author: Laura Hankin

Narrator: Laura Hankin

Format: Unabridged

Length: 10:57:33

Language: English

Release date: 06-18-24

Publisher: Penguin Audio

Genres: Romance, Fiction & Literature, Rom-Com, Contemporary Women

Summary:

A struggling writer is forced to walk down the aisle at her best friend’s wedding with the man who gave her book a very public one-star rating in this fresh romantic comedy from Laura Hankin.

Natalie and Rob couldn’t have less in common. Nat’s a messy artist, and Rob’s a rigid academic. The only thing they share is their devotion to their respective best friends—who just got engaged. Still, unexpected chemistry has Natalie cautiously optimistic about being maid of honor to Rob’s best man.

Until, minutes before the ceremony, Nat learns that Rob wrote a one-star review of her new novel, which has them both reeling: Nat from imposter syndrome, and Rob over the reason he needed to write it.

When the reception ends, these two opposites hope they’ll never meet again. But, as they slip from their twenties into their thirties, they’re forced together whenever their fast-track best friends celebrate another milestone. Through housewarmings and christenings, life-changing triumphs and failures, Natalie and Rob grapple with their own choices—and how your harshest critic can become your perfectly imperfect match.

After all, even the truest love stories sometimes need a bit of rewriting.

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ID: 715883

Title: We Were Illegal: Uncovering a Texas Family's Mythmaking and Migration

Author: Jessica Goudeau

Narrator: Jessica Goudeau

Format: Unabridged

Length: 12:37:25

Language: English

Release date: 06-18-24

Publisher: Penguin Audio

Genres: Biography & Memoir, World, North America, History & Culture

Summary:

An award-winning author's deep exploration of pivotal moments in Texas history through multiple generations of her own family, and a ruthless reexamination of our national and personal myths

Seven generations of Jessica Goudeau’s family have lived in Texas, and her family’s legacy—a word she heard often growing up—was rooted in faith, right-living, and the hard work that built their great state. It wasn’t until her aunt mentioned a stowaway ancestor and she began to dig more deeply into the story of the land she lives on today in suburban Austin, that Goudeau discovered her family’s far more complicated role in Texas history: from a swindling land grant agent in the earliest days of Anglo settlement that brought slavery to Mexican land, up through her Texas Ranger great-uncle, who helped a sociopathic sheriff cover up mass murder. 

Tracking her ancestors’ involvement in pivotal moments from before the Texas Revolution through today, We Were Illegal is at once an intimate and character-driven narrative and an insider’s look at a state that prides itself on its history. It is an act of reckoning and recovery on a personal scale, as well as a reflection of the work we all must do to dismantle the whitewashed narratives that are passed down through families, communities, and textbooks. And it is a story filled with hope—by facing these hypocrisies and long-buried histories, Goudeau explores with us how to move past this fractured time, take accountability for our legacy, and learn to be better, more honest ancestors.

* This audiobook edition includes a downloadable PDF with a family tree.

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ID: 722347

Title: Winter Lost

Author: Patricia Briggs

Narrator: Lorelei King

Format: Unabridged

Length: 11:15:31

Language: English

Release date: 06-18-24

Publisher: Penguin Audio

Genres: Science Fiction & Fantasy, Romance, Fiction & Literature, Action & Adventure, Paranormal

Summary:

THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!

Mercy Thompson, car mechanic and shapeshifter, must stop a disaster of world-shattering proportions in this exhilarating entry in the #1 New York Times bestselling series.

In the supernatural realms, there are creatures who belong to winter. I am not one of them. But like the coyote I can become at will, I am adaptable.

My name is Mercy Thompson Hauptman, and my mate, Adam, is the werewolf who leads the Columbia Basin Pack, the pack charged with keeping the people who live and work in the Tri-Cities of Washington State safe. It’s a hard job, and it doesn’t leave much room for side quests. Which is why when I needed to travel to Montana to help my brother, I intended to go by myself.

But I’m not alone anymore.

Together, Adam and I find ourselves trapped with strangers in a lodge in the heart of the wilderness, in the teeth of a storm of legendary power, only to discover my brother’s issues are a tiny part of a problem much bigger than we could have imagined. Arcane and ancient magics are at work that could, unless we are very careful, bring about the end of the world. . . .

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ID: 715828

Title: Not Too Late: The Power of Pushing Limits at Any Age

Author: Gwendolyn Bounds

Narrator: Gwendolyn Bounds

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9:58:22

Language: English

Release date: 06-18-24

Publisher: Random House (Audio)

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

Summary:

An award-winning journalist tells the inspiring story of her unlikely midlife journey to master the daunting sport of obstacle course racing—a powerful, science-based account of the change possible at any age when we push limits.

“This story of personal transformation is thrilling.”—Gretchen Rubin, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Happiness Project and Life in Five Senses

In her midforties, Gwendolyn Bounds attended a dinner party where someone asked a little girl: “What do you want to be when you grow up?”

It struck Bounds: In middle age, no one asks you that anymore. So she put the question to herself. The answer set her on an unexpected five-year path of transformation from an unathletic office executive glued to her screens to an age-group medalist and world championship competitor in obstacle course racing—a demanding military-style sport requiring speed, endurance, mobility, and strength. 

In Not Too Late, Bounds explores how tackling something new and hard upended her expectations for middle age—while also helping her reconcile regrets of her youth. Her story takes us from playgrounds and gyms, where Bounds relearns childhood movements (swinging from monkey bars, climbing a rope); to far-flung Spartan Race courses, where she strives to master running in difficult terrain and to conquer challenges such as scaling tall walls, crawling under barbed wire, and carrying heavy loads of rocks up mountains. 

Bounds’s journey offers inspiration and a road map for anyone craving more out of life. Woven through Not Too Late are insights from scientists, longevity doctors, philosophers, elite athletes, and performance experts on how to reimagine our limits and who we think we are. Through Bounds’s story, as she changes her body and mindset, we learn about humans’ capacity to tap inner reserves, face fears, locate intrinsic motivation, and push boundaries at any life stage.

Ultimately, one message prevails: When unleashing our full potential, age can be a secret weapon.

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ID: 715792

Title: Neighbor, Love Yourself: Discover Your Value, Live Your Worth

Author: Bryan Crum

Narrator: Bob Goff, Bryan Crum

Format: Unabridged

Length: 6:07:47

Language: English

Release date: 06-18-24

Publisher: Random House (Audio)

Genres: Religion & Spirituality, Self Development, Health & Wellness, Christianity, Counseling & Inspirational

Summary:

God loves us, but do we love ourselves? Having listened to hundreds of life stories, Bryan Crum realized too many people carry regret. With a foreword by New York Times bestselling author Bob Goff, Neighbor, Love Yourself reminds us all that we are worthy.

“This book, a guide to self-love, is filled with wisdom, humor, and invaluable insights that will empower you to live life with newfound confidence and authenticity.”—Mark Batterson, author of The Circle Maker

God gave us divinely sophisticated tools, so we could live the powerful life he intended. The problem is most of us don’t know they exist . . . or how to use them. The result is an inner worth we aren’t aware of and a life unknowingly lived at half capacity.

Neighbor, Love Yourself launches an internal expedition to uncover the hidden features installed within us bearing our Maker’s fingerprints. Though we’ve forgotten how to use these custom parts, they still work. They’re not rusty, just dusty.

Bryan Crum spent a decade as a hospice chaplain. His time at the bedside of dying people gave him a front-row view into how God designed us. He discovered that most people felt they never reached their full potential. Their longings and regrets led to incredible insights about what’s most often missed—the power of love.

Filled with memorable stories and timeless takeaways, Neighbor, Love Yourself reveals how understanding our inner value changes the way we live on the outside. Before we can truly love our neighbors—or anyone else—we must learn to love ourselves as God intended.

If you’ve doubted your design, felt unfulfilled, or are unaware of the divine features inside you, this book is like finding a lost owner’s manual to your inner workings—one that invites you to take joy in your pricelessness instead of wondering about your worth.

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ID: 715863

Title: Four Squares

Author: Bobby Finger

Narrator: David Pittu

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9:21:00

Language: English

Release date: 06-18-24

Publisher: Penguin Audio

Genres: Fiction & Literature, Literary Fiction, LGBTQ+

Summary:

From the beloved author of The Old Place comes a tender, funny, and fresh novel about a gay writer in New York City whose life is irrevocably altered, and then again thirty years later.

In 1992, on his thirtieth birthday, Artie Anderson meets the man who will change his life. Artie spends his days at a tedious advertising job, finding relief in the corner of New York City he can call his own, even as the queer community is still being ravaged by HIV. But when his birthday celebration brings Artie and his friends to his favorite bar, a chance encounter with Abe, an uptight lawyer and Artie’s opposite in almost every way, pushes Artie to want, and to ask for, more for himself.

Thirty years later, Artie is stunned when Halle and Vanessa, Abe’s daughter and ex-wife, announce they are moving across the country. Artie has built a lovely, if small, life, but their departure makes Artie realize that he might be lonelier than he previously thought. When a surprising injury pushes Artie into the hands of GALS, the local center for queer seniors, a rambunctious group of elders insist on taking him under their wing.

Alternating between both timelines, Four Squares is an intimate look at what it means to find community at any age. With humor and compassion, it honors the enduring power of queer friendship, its history, and how essential it is to keep those stories alive.

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ID: 735830

Title: Of Jade and Dragons

Author: Amber Chen

Narrator: Jen Zhao

Format: Unabridged

Length: 12:03:59

Language: English

Release date: 06-18-24

Publisher: Listening Library (Audio)

Genres: Fiction, Teen, Romance

Summary:

Mulan meets Iron Widow in this thrilling silkpunk fantasy about a girl who must disguise herself as a boy and enter the famed and dangerous Engineer’s Guild trials to unravel the mystery of her father’s murder.

Eighteen-year-old Aihui Ying dreams of becoming a world-class engineer like her father, but after his sudden murder, her life falls apart. Left with only a journal of her father’s engineering secrets and a jade pendant snatched from the assassin, a heartbroken Ying follows the trail to the capital and the prestigious Engineers Guild—a place that harbors her father’s hidden past—determined to discover why anyone would threaten a man who ultimately chose a quiet life over fame and fortune. 

Disguised as her brother, Ying manages to infiltrate the guild’s male-only apprenticeship trial with the help of an unlikely ally—Aogiya Ye-yang, the taciturn eighth prince of the High Command. With her father’s renown placing a target firmly on her back, Ying must stay one step ahead of her fellow competitors, the jealous guild masters, and the killer still hunting for her father’s journal. Complicating everything is her increasingly tangled relationship with the prince, who may have mysterious plans of his own. 

The secrets concealed within the guild can be as deadly as the weapons they build—and with her life and the future of her homeland at stake, Ying doesn’t know who to trust. Can she avenge her father even if it means going against everything he stood for, or will she be next in the mastermind’s line of fire?

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ID: 712567

Title: All Roads Lead to Rome

Author: Sabrina Fedel

Narrator: Teralyn Davis

Format: Unabridged

Length: 8:56:02

Language: English

Release date: 06-18-24

Publisher: Listening Library (Audio)

Genres: Fiction, Teen, Tough Topics

Summary:

When the daughter of a diplomat fake dates a Scottish celebrity in Italy, she soon finds herself living her own Roman Holiday until the feelings get real and the paparazzi's knives come out.

Introverted, slightly anxious Astoria “Story” Herriot knows everything about Rome—her mom’s an attorney here and the two of them are living la dolce vita… at least until Story’s off to college in the fall.

But when Story is in the wrong gelato shop at the right time, she’s swept up in a fake dating scheme with Scottish heartthrob, Luca Kinnaird, to protect his relationship with a pop princess. There’s something in it for her, too—Luca promises to help fund a scholarship in her dad’s memory. Soon she’s showing Luca the best cafés, sightseeing at the Mouth of Truth, and picnicking at the ruins of the Abbey of Santa Maria del Piano. Story’s travel guide skills are 10/10, but what she knows about being a celebrity—or having feelings for one? Zero.

Pretending to be Luca’s guide—then his girlfriend—gets the paparazzi’s attention . . . and what’s true and what’s fake gets blurry as their different worlds crash together. Sophisticated, hot, rich, and with the most charming accent ever, Luca is full of surprises. And maybe, too, is Story’s perfectly planned future.

It’s a fairy-tale romance in the Eternal City…will it have a fairy tale ending?

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ID: 715826

Title: Rooted: The American Legacy of Land Theft and the Modern Movement for Black Land Ownership

Author: Brea Baker

Narrator: Brea Baker

Format: Unabridged

Length: 8:21:00

Language: English

Release date: 06-18-24

Publisher: Random House (Audio)

Genres: History, Politics, North America

Summary:

Why is less than 1% of rural land in the U.S. owned by Black people? An acclaimed writer and activist explores the impact of land theft and violent displacement on racial wealth gaps, arguing that justice stems from the literal roots of the earth.

“With heartfelt prose and unyielding honesty, Baker explores the depths of her roots and invites readers to reflect on our own.”—Donovan X. Ramsey, author of the National Book Award for Nonfiction semi-finalist When Crack Was King

To understand the contemporary racial wealth gap, we must first unpack the historic attacks on Indigenous and Black land ownership. From the moment that colonizers set foot on Virginian soil, a centuries-long war was waged, resulting in an existential dilemma: Who owns what on stolen land? Who owns what with stolen labor? To answer these questions, we must confront one of this nation’s first sins: stealing, hoarding, and commodifying the land.

Research suggests that between 1910 and 1997, Black Americans lost about 90% of their farmland. Land theft widened the racial wealth gap, privatized natural resources, and created a permanent barrier to access that should be a birthright for Black and Indigenous communities. Rooted traces the experiences of Brea Baker’s family history of devastating land loss in Kentucky and North Carolina, identifying such violence as the root of persistent inequality in this country. Ultimately, her grandparents’ commitment to Black land ownership resulted in the Bakers Acres—a haven for the family where they are sustained by the land, surrounded by love, and wholly free.

A testament to the Black farmers who dreamed of feeding, housing, and tending to their communities, Rooted bears witness to their commitment to freedom and reciprocal care for the land. By returning equity to a dispossessed people, we can heal both the land and our nation’s soul.

*This audiobook includes a PDF containing a family tree, photographs, and other visuals from the book.

Contact: [email protected]