Episode 473 || Annie Recommends: Audiobooks
This week on From the Front Porch, we have a new series: Annie Recommends! In this series, Annie curates a stack of books in a certain genre or theme for you – just as if you walked into our brick-and-mortar store, The Bookshelf. Sometimes, you just want a good book list. This month, Annie recommends a short list of her favorite audiobooks.
To purchase the books mentioned in this episode, stop by The Bookshelf in Thomasville, visit our website (type “Episode 473” into the search bar and tap enter to find the books mentioned in this episode), or download and shop on The Bookshelf’s official app:
The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green (Website | Libro.fm)
How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water by Angie Cruz (Website | Libro.fm)
Falling by T.J. Newman (Website | Libro.fm)
Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders (Website | Libro.fm)
Caste by Isabel Wilkerson (Website | Libro.fm)
Taste by Stanley Tucci (Website | Libro.fm)
Going There by Katie Couric (Website | Libro.fm)
The Wreckage of My Presence by Casey Wilson (Website | Libro.fm)
Thank you to this week’s sponsor, the 103rd Annual Rose Show and Festival here in Thomasville, Georgia. Held in historic Downtown Thomasville, the Rose Show & Festival is sponsored by the City of Thomasville and has been a southwest Georgia tradition since 1922. Enjoy rose and flower shows, live music, an artisan market, an antique car show, a parade and fantastic shopping and dining in Downtown Thomasville. This year’s 103rd annual event is April 26-27. Plan your visit at thomasvillega.com.
From the Front Porch is a weekly podcast production of The Bookshelf, an independent bookstore in South Georgia. You can follow The Bookshelf’s daily happenings on Instagram, Tiktok, and Facebook, and all the books from today’s episode can be purchased online through our store website, www.bookshelfthomasville.com.
A full transcript of today’s episode can be found below.
Special thanks to Dylan and his team at Studio D Podcast Production for sound and editing and for our theme music, which sets the perfect warm and friendly tone for our Thursday conversations.
This week, Annie is listening to Honey by Victor Lodato (Website | Libro.fm).
If you liked what you heard in today’s episode, tell us by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts. You can also support us on Patreon, where you can access bonus content, monthly live Porch Visits with Annie, our monthly live Patreon Book Club with Bookshelf staffers, Conquer a Classic episodes with Hunter, and more. Just go to patreon.com/fromthefrontporch.
We’re so grateful for you, and we look forward to meeting back here next week.
Our Executive Producers are...Ashley Ferrell, Cammy Tidwell, Chanta Combs, Chantalle C, Kate O’Connell, Kristin May, Laurie Johnson, Linda Lee Drozt, Martha, Nicole Marsee, Stacy Laue, Stephanie Dean, Susan Hulings, and Wendi Jenkins.
Transcript
[squeaky porch swing]
[00:00:02] Annie Jones: Welcome to From the Front Porch, a conversational podcast about books, small business, and life in the South. [music plays out]
“His mind was freshly inclined toward sorrow; toward the fact that the world was full of sorrow; that everyone labored under some burden of sorrow; that all were suffering; that whatever way one took in this world, one must try to remember that all were suffering (none content; all wronged, neglected, overlooked, misunderstood), and therefore one must do what one could to lighten the load of those with whom one came into contact; that his current state of sorrow was not uniquely his, not at all, but, rather, its like had been felt, would be felt, by scores of others, in all times, in every time, and must not be prolonged or exaggerated, because, in this state, he could be of no help to anyone and, given that his position in the world situated him to be either of great help, or great harm, it would not do to stay low, if he could help it.”
- George Saunders, Lincoln in the Bardo
[as music fades out] I’m Annie Jones, owner of The Bookshelf, an independent bookstore in beautiful downtown Thomasville, Georgia, and this week, we’re back with the second in a new podcast series called Annie Recommends.
Do you love listening to From the Front Porch every week? Spread the word by leaving a review on Apple podcasts. All you have to do is open up the Podcast App on your phone, look for From the Front Porch, scroll down until you see ‘Write a Review’ and tell us what you think.
Here’s a recent review from Joanne:
I have been listening to From the Front Porch for about a year and it is always entertaining and insightful. I enjoy Annie, Hunter, Annie’s mom, and all the ladies that share their reviews. So much fun to listen to. I was recently working through a workbook about chronic pain (chronic back pain sufferer) and one of the questions was about activities that lower my pain volume. My first response was Listening to From the Front Porch! Your podcast takes my mind off of every day challenges and helps me add to my TBR list. Reading gives me so much hope and I appreciate your entertaining book reviews. Thank you for an amazing podcast and providing comfort for those of us that are quietly struggling through this thing called life.
[00:02:32] Well, Joanne, thanks for making me cry. I Fm so grateful for your review and I am so, so honored that From the Front Porch would bring any comfort or peace your way. Thank you to all the other reviewers who have also left kind words and thoughtful reviews for our show. We are so grateful. Any time you share from the front porch with your friends. Thank you for spreading the word about not only our podcast, but also our indie bookstore.
[00:02:58] Now back to the show! Okay, so sometimes you just want a good book list. We know this because customers come in store, or they email Erin all the time asking for recommendations based on a specific genre or criteria. A booksellers favorite task, at least in my experience, is to go around the shop and put together a stack of books for a customer who's on the hunt. Even if they don't buy every book we pick, the fun is in the discovery. So that's what we're trying to mimic on these new episodes of from the Front porch. Every so often, I'll put together a book stack around a certain theme. This month, in honor of Indie Bookstore Day, I have made a short list of my favorite audiobooks for your listening pleasure. Just like I wouldn't overwhelm customers with a towering stack of titles, I'm not going to overwhelm you either. I want to give you five books I think you'd love, whether you're new to audiobooks or a seasoned listener. And if you are new to audiobook listening, it's more than just books on tape. Now, it's as easy as downloading an app on your phone. So many of my friends use Libby to access free audiobooks from their local libraries, and I use Libro.fm, which benefits indie bookstores all over the country. Did you know that Audible actually benefits Amazon? I hate to tell you that, but it is true. So it's a pretty easy switch to Libro if you're already using something like Audible. You can go to Libro.fm/howitworks to find out more. There's a link in our show notes as well.
[00:04:29] Okay, so audiobook listening is something I have changed my opinion on over the last few years. I'm grateful when we change our minds about something. And I think if you've been like a really long time listener of From the Front Porch, like years upon years of listening, you might know that I didn't love audiobooks and maybe even thought, is that really reading? Does that really count as reading? I have learned so much since that initial opinion, especially about people who may be able to read only because of audiobooks and because of the worlds they open up to them. And so my mind has changed about this. I do consider audiobooks reading, and I also still consider them a totally separate art form. I believe that there are books I have read that have not translated to audiobook format, and then there are books that I've absolutely loved in audiobook format that I have enjoyed even more because I listened to them instead of reading them. Instead of reading maybe a physical or electronic copy. So my opinion on audiobooks has changed. And I also think the best audiobooks are kind of a totally separate work of art, almost like a movie or a TV show. I do have some personal rules for audiobook listening. They're not rules or guidelines that you need to abide by in any way, but I do want to tell you them so we can make sure we're all kind of on the same page. So for me personally, because of my attention span and because I am a visual learner-- and I've talked about this on the podcast before-- Jordan is an auditory learner, and so he consumes books almost entirely in audiobook format. And in fact, I think some of my initial audiobook opinions were just because I liked teasing Jordan about the fact that he listens to books instead of reading them. But again, I've learned so much. And Jordan his brain processes differently from me. And so audiobooks are how he consumes most of the literature he reads.
[00:06:29] I am a visual learner, which is why I have to be really selective about what books I listen to in audiobook format. They have to be books that are really going to hold my attention. For a long time that meant primarily nonfiction because it felt like listening to a podcast. Fiction I found my mind wandering, and I'd have to rewind a lot. Now, the books I'm going to recommend today, I hope will hold your attention from start to finish. But for me, it's been a real treasure hunt to figure out which audiobooks work for me and why. So because of my attention span, because of the fact that I'm a visual learner, I try to stick to audiobooks that are 10 hours or fewer. There are some exceptions to this rule, but generally speaking, if I'm scrolling through Libro.fm or if I'm looking up a recommendation from a friend, if a book is fewer than 10 hours, I'm more likely to download it because I'm more likely to finish it. Some of the longer audiobooks that I have started, I've still never finished because they are longer and I don't have a commute. So Jordan drives back and forth to Tallahassee every day. So he has an hour in the car one way every day. I have, I think, the length of a pop song between here and The Bookshelf. And so I don't have a commute. And if a book is 15 hours long, it's just going to take me a long time to read that. And I'm a very fast, physical book reader. I'm just a faster reader than I am a listener. And so that's why, for me, the 10 hours or fewer rule works. I also have lots of friends who listen to audiobooks at fast speeds. We talk about this, we joke about this. We've heard customers tell us about this, and I have opinions that I will mostly keep to myself, except for the people I know in real life.
[00:08:15] But, for me, in my house, I listen to an audiobook at one speed, 1.1, 1.2. Or if an audiobook narrator is just really slow, I have gone up to, I think, 1.4. But that's really as fast as I go because, again, I am not an auditory learner. Any faster than that and I am just not processing it. I'm just not. And if you are listening at a super fast speed and processing it, that is so great. I'm so happy for you. But that is not my story nor my life. And so I typically listen to audiobooks that are 10 hours or fewer, and I listen at about 1.1 or 1.2 speed. Not really any more than that, unless it's just the slowest audiobook narrator I've ever heard. So when I do these episodes, these Annie Recommends episodes, my goal is for you to not be overwhelmed. I never want to just word vomit tons of book recommendations. If you were at The Bookshelf, I would hand you a stack of three to five books. And so that's what I do on these episodes, is I pick five books that I think encapsulate a genre, and that I think you'll find something you like within those five. The goal is not necessarily for the book buyer to buy all five books. The goal is that out of those five, they'll find one or two that work for them. If all five work, that's awesome, but that's pretty rare. So that is kind of what we do in store, and it's what we wanted to mimic on these episodes. This is obviously a little bit different because these are audiobooks. So I'm not physically handing you a book on tape or a CD. I'm telling you what books I think are worth downloading to your phone. And so it's a different kind of stack. But I still wanted to stick to five. And I also wanted to cover a wide genre. So all of these are audiobooks, but they vary in terms of fiction or nonfiction, the types of narration, the types of storytelling. And so I think this is going to be really fun.
[00:10:08] So I'm going to do the five book recommendations first. And then at the end of the episode, I'm also going to just give you a list of my favorite audiobook narrators to look for, and then my favorite celebrity memoirs, because I think that's a genre all its own. And as much as I love celebrity memoirs, Britney Spears is only-- well, she's not even narrating her own. But Michelle Williams is only narrating Britney Spears memoir, and so I wanted to include celebrity memoirs as kind of their own separate thing. So that being said, my very first audiobook recommendation and the audiobook that I think of most fondly when I think of the best audiobook experience, is The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green. Part of the reason I think this really works as an audiobook, and perhaps even better as an audiobook than a physical book, is because John Green is a prolific storyteller. He writes books, he hosts a podcast, he does YouTube videos he tweets, he Instagram stories. He is just really good at telling stories. And The Anthropocene Reviewed is a collection that came out in 2020. It's a collection of essays based on a podcast that John did, and he narrates this audiobook. Not always is an author good at narrating their own audiobook, but John is a voice many of us, I think many millennials, or maybe even Gen Zers, recognize and are super familiar with. And so I think the familiarity of his voice certainly adds to the enjoy ability of this book. That being said, Jordan was not super familiar with John Green before listening to this audiobook. This is a book that we listened to together while we were in California one summer, and we were on the road a lot-- LA traffic, all that jazz. And John was such fun to have in the car with us. Each of these essays is about a different aspect of culture, science, life, art. And then at the end, John rates it.
[00:12:14] So he takes something from the world, and then he gives it a star rating. And the whole thing, he gives a great kind of author's note or introduction at the front of the book, where he talks about the idea of rating things and how he understands it, but how it also feels silly to him. And that's when he started thinking, well, what if I gave star ratings to things like tuberculosis or a child's giggle or something like that? And I think part of the reason I loved this book so much was because of when I read it, I think a lot of us our hearts were in tender places during and after the pandemic-- immediately after the pandemic. And to have somebody remind us of why the world is beautiful was so powerful and important and tender. There are hilariously funny essays in here too, but they're also deeply bittersweet about things like Auld Lang Syne and the history of that song, and why that song is popular and why we sing it every new years. And I think of this essay collection every new year now because of what John wrote and had to say about Auld Lang Syne. I think if you are new to audiobooks, this is where you should start. Partly because it's essay format, so each essay feels like a little miniature podcast episode. A lot of people are podcast listeners, but they don't listen to audiobooks. So if you're already listening to podcasts, to me, The Anthropocene Review almost mimics what it's like to listen to a podcast. You can listen to an essay about one particular subject, and then it's over. And then the next day you can listen to another essay and it's about a different subject, and then it's over. And so if you like listening to podcasts, but you have found yourself reluctant to dive into audiobooks, I think this is where you start.
[00:14:14] I also think this is a great road trip book. This is a great book, I think, for spouses or friends together, because what would often happen for us is that we would listen to an essay, and then we would pause and we would talk about our own star ratings for that particular thing. Or at least for me and Jordan, throughout the rest of our road trip, we would find ourselves talking about things as if John were in the car with us talking about those things too. So the Getty Museum, we had just visited it and so we kind of talked about. We started approaching our trip and our lives with John's lens, which was really fun. So the reason I wanted to list this book first is because I think this is the very best book to start listening to audiobooks with. My mom is not a huge-- I don't think she's ever listened to an audiobook. I don't think she or my dad has. I think they'd really like this book. I think it's quirky, but I think they would really enjoy it. And so this would attract a wide range of readers. I think nonfiction is a great entry point to audiobooks, and that may just be for me and because of my preference for visual learning. But I think nonfiction, because of the podcasts, because of documentaries, because of things that maybe we've already consumed. I think nonfiction is a little bit easier entry point for audiobooks and the audiobook format. So that is my first audiobook recommendation, The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green.
[00:15:43] Next, I want to recommend How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water by Angie Cruz. This book is narrated by Kimberly Wetherell and Rosemerry Almonte. This book is told by Cara Romero. Cara Romero is a very memorable mid-fifties protagonist. This book takes place during a recession of sorts, kind of that 2008, 2010, financial downturn. Cara Romero has lost her job, and she now has to have 12 sessions with a job counselor to help her find work. This immediately sets you up for perfect audiobook listening. Now, I have no doubt that this book was great in print format, but what I loved about it was there's a little bit of production done to this narration. In other words, some audiobooks are just the story and then some audiobooks the publisher plays a little bit with stagecraft or artistry, almost turning it into a radio show-- like an old fashioned radio show. And How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water is one of those productions where they really add sound effects. They add music because the entire book is told from Cara's perspective while she sits metaphorically at the feet of a job counselor. And so she's answering questions on a questionnaire. She's drinking a sip of water, she's turning pages, and they add those sound effects into the book, which certainly aided my attention. The other reason I think I really liked this in audiobook format is because the celebrity memoirs that I mentioned already, I like a memoir, often narrated by the person who wrote the book. And because the book is told in first person through Cara's eyes, I felt like I was actually sitting in a room with Cara Romero. She's a fictional character, but I felt like I was sitting with her, because the narration was so strong and her voice was so memorable.
[00:17:49] I think I would have liked this book in print format, but I think I liked this book even better, and I think it is memorable to me because I literally heard Cara Romero's voice and listened to the rhythm of it. It's even hard for me now to not mimic her voice for you. Because I can hear it so vividly in my memory. We also frequently will get-- and I know I've mentioned this even recently on a podcast episode or two, but we frequently get asked for books with older protagonists, and Cara Romero is the perfect example of why we need books by and about older protagonists. We need their stories. One day their stories will be our stories because, God willing, we're all going to grow up and grow older too. And so I loved getting to know Cara. I appreciated the production of the audiobook and also part of the reason it has two narrators is because you also get the application for jobs that she's filling out. You get a little bit of the job counselor's perspective. I just think if you are worried about your own attention span, I think you will appreciate this book. It will feel like you are listening to a radio show. We have one more book on this list that does that as well. But this is one with one or two narrators, lots of great production value and a really unique story structurally. Like this is a book that I think is perfect for the audiobook format because it's literally being told in interview style. She's sitting in a room telling this story verbally, and so it's really more fun, I think, to listen to it because that's almost how it was originally intended, if that makes sense. So that is How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water by Angie Cruz, narrated by Kimberly Wetherell and Rosemerry Almont.
[00:19:39] Okay, now we're moving to a thriller suspense recommendation. These books are hit or miss for me in audiobook format. And, again, it's often because so much is happening in a suspense thriller book, and I have to like rewind to process what is being said. So that's my own hang up, which is why I only am including one thriller suspense novel on today's list, and the one I am recommending in audiobook format is Falling. This is by T.J. Newman. You've heard us recommend her before. She is a former flight attendant. She wrote Falling first. That was her debut novel, and she most recently published The Book of Drowning. My understanding is she has since quit her flight attendant job because she is now a full time writer, which I really think is such a cool story. So Falling was her first book. Olivia and I fell in love with it. I listened to it. So the audiobook is narrated by Stephen Weber and it is all about a plane hijacking. And I cannot even begin to tell you how tense and intense this book is. And sometimes I think a thriller novel can lose its intensity if it's not on the page, because there's something about literally sitting on the edge of your seat while you're flipping through a physical book. I also just love physical books. But you're flipping through a physical book, literally not being able to contain yourself with how much you want to finish. That is hard to do in audiobook format, because for me I can only listen so fast. I can't go much faster, because I won't be able to process. I'll miss the story. I won't be able to process what's happening. This book, I learned after listening to it that Steven Weber is an actor. And so that is perhaps why he is such a good audiobook narrator. And I've since even, I think, read some other books narrated by him. So I thought he was fantastic. And the way he narrates the story, I remember I was in my car alone, driving back and forth to my friend's house. She lives in or around Atlanta. And so I had four and a half hours there, four and a half hours home, which is a perfect audiobook length, and I did not want to get out of my car.
[00:21:51] Any time I had to stop for gas, I was furious because I saw Don Winslow was quoted-- he may have even blurbed the book. He was quoted as saying that Falling is like Jaws in the sky. And I think that is a great comparison, because what is unfolding is a plane hijacking, and you are getting the perspective of the flight attendants, which, of course, we knew as readers that T.J. Newman herself was a flight attendant. So that added an element of realism to the book and a realistic nature to the book. I have said often that one of my favorite little sub-genres is any book that reminds me of, like, a 1990s Harrison Ford movie. Like The Fugitive is one of my favorite movies of all time. This definitely had that vibe. If you like Blake Crouch, I think you will really like this book. It's not only suspenseful, but it almost adds an element of science because you're really learning something. You're learning about planes and what the hierarchy is on a plane. Those of us who have been fortunate enough to fly without incident might think, oh, flight attendants are here to serve drinks, to help us know how to buckle our seat belts and what to do in case of emergency. But really, they're highly, highly trained to navigate terrifying issues that most of us would never want to have to navigate. It almost felt like I was learning about an aspect of the military or something like that. I loved this book. I think my reading was enhanced by listening to it. I think it is a fantastic summer thriller. I've listened to a lot of thrillers. Jordan and I frequently listen to the newest Riley Sager book on our July 4th trips every year. But I've got to tell you, almost nothing has been able to beat Falling by T.J. Newman, narrated by Steven Weber.
[00:23:38] Okay. Remember how I said How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water felt like a radio production. So every so often an audiobook will release that is told by a full cast. And what that means is it's almost a stage play, a radio show, a book completely told. Like, as many characters as there are, that's as many voices there are. So what typically happens in a fiction audiobook is in the example of Falling by TJ Newman. Steven Weber does all of those voices, and he doesn't really put on-- In fact, my least favorite narrators are those who put on too many voices in too many accents, trying so desperately to put on a one woman show or something-- one man show, one person show. I liked Stephen Weber because he just narrated the book and told it really well, but didn't maybe act it too much. A full cast relies on different people playing each voice in each part. Which brings me to Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders. This is one of my favorite books of the last, I guess 20 years, because I feel like it came out more than 10 years ago. No, but maybe it did come out about ten years ago. Lincoln in the Bardo is a stunning work of literary fiction, and normally I do not like literary fiction in audiobook format. For me, it's too hard to keep up. Meaning character- driven books to me, just for me, don't work as well in audiobook format. It's like my brain would much prefer to read them. It's why I'm often drawn to a rom-com, or a mystery thriller or a nonfiction book. But literary fiction in audiobook format, I think is a difficult sell for me. The exception to that is Lincoln in the Bardo, which I think I wound up preferring.
[00:25:30] I started this book in print format, I think, because maybe Jordan was reading it in his book club, and I had heard a lot about it. It released to a lot of buzz because it was George Saunders first novel, and he was known up until that point for his short stories. And so it had gotten a lot of buzz, and I started reading it. And I was having a hard time because there are so many narrators in the book. The premise is this. The premise is that President Lincoln has just watched his son Willie die, and Willie is buried in a nearby cemetery close to the white House. And this is all true historic record. And Lincoln would frequently go to the crypt and visit Willie. I think my understanding is that he would maybe even hold onto the body or he was in such utter grief. So all of that is historic record. And what George Saunders then did is he created this entire world set at the cemetery, this kind of world of spirits and ghosts. And the book is told from all of their different perspectives. And in reading it, I felt very overwhelmed. I felt like I couldn't keep up. I felt like I couldn't figure out who was who. Maybe that would be different now, but back then it was just so overwhelming that I thought, well, let me try downloading it. I had heard a lot about the audiobook because it's narrated by the likes of David Sedaris, Nick Offerman, Don Cheadle, Megan Mullally, Susan Sarandon. I mean, I could keep going. The cast list is giant because for every new character introduced or new voice introduced, there's a literal voice, instead of one person narrating it all. There are more than a dozen people narrating this audiobook, and I was completely consumed by it. I would walk to work-- this was back when we lived in our other house. But I would walk to work just so I could listen to the audiobook because, again, I do not have a commute, and so I would force myself to have a commute so that I could listen to this book.
[00:27:37] You heard the quote from the top of the episode. That quote is deeply powerful and deeply meaningful and under normal or ordinary circumstances, for me, I would prefer to underline that, to mark that up, to tear that page. But it was just as powerful. Because all of the people narrating this audiobook are actors, professional storytellers, voice actors, and the way they all came together to tell this story-- I know they give awards for audiobooks. The Audie- is I think it's called. This book I should have looked it up before I got on here. Should have won all the awards. It is like the equivalent of watching an Academy Award nominated film. I mean, that's really the truth of it. Now, I don't personally recommend it as the first audiobook you ever read, because it is literary fiction and the wide cast of characters totally makes sense. And once you get the rhythm of it, you will love it. But it does take a minute to understand why they're so many characters-- it's because there are so many ghosts-- and why Lincoln is here and what is happening in his life. It takes you a minute to place yourself in the story. And so that's why I saved it for fourth on the list, because I thought this isn't what I would recommend for audiobook beginners. But if you have never listened to this audiobook, or if you read the physical book but never listened to it, go back and listen to this book. It is excellent. The production value is great, the voice acting is great. It's like watching a play. And it is Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders, a great book in its own right, but an excellent audiobook.
[00:29:16] And then last but not least, I wanted to recommend the nonfiction book Caste by Isabel Wilkerson. The audiobook is narrated by Robin Miles. I wanted to mention this one because for me, heavier nonfiction (which I am desperate to read) journalistic nonfiction, I'm thinking of the book Poverty by America, books like that, (Poverty by America, Caste) I love those books. I love those types of books. It is hard for me to make time for those types of books alongside my fiction reading. So I often have a giant TBR stack going. I try to just keep one book on my nightstand, but I'm often reading more than one book at a time. I try to limit that to like fiction and nonfiction, but anyway I'm frequently dabbling in a lot of different books. And what often happens if I'm reading a physical copy of a nonfiction book is that book gets put by the wayside. Maybe because it's a little more academic or it requires more of my attention, or I want to make sure I have time to sit and underline. And I have found that either supplementing my physical reading with the audiobook or listening to the audiobook is a great way to consume these works that I've always wanted to read, but I've not made time to read. Caste is no exception. So Caste is by Isabel Wilkerson. She's the writer of The Warmth of Other Suns, which is another book I would like to read, but I need to read it because it's too long in audiobook format for me. Caste comes close. Caste I think is about 15 hours. But Robin Miles is a fantastic narrator. She has come up in other audiobooks I have listened to as well. So she's an excellent narrator.
[00:31:00] This book, if you're not familiar, is looking at the American practice of chattel slavery and really looking at the caste systems of India and Nazi Germany, and the role that America's own caste system plays in and with these other caste systems. So it's a work of nonfiction, sociology, history. It's subject matter that I'm very interested in, but I could not seem to make time for it in physical format. And so finally I was driving to North Carolina a couple years ago, and I thought, okay, let me download this audiobook. Here's the thing, this is a tough read. I mean, you heard me describe it. This is tough subject matter, so every so often I would have to pause and process what I was reading, what I was listening to. But much like listening to the daily podcast or the podcast series that came out several years ago about the Clinton impeachment trial, I like nonfiction podcasts. In fact, I've never listened to a fiction podcast. I like nonfiction news worthy podcasts, and Caste is essentially like listening to a longform historical nonfiction or sociological work of nonfiction. So if you listen to news programs or longform storytelling, I think if you like This American Life, you'll like The Anthropocene Reviewed. But if you like podcast series about a particular thing, like the Bill Clinton impeachment, I think you will appreciate Caste in audiobook format.
[00:32:46] And, again, there are other books that could fit in this category. Poverty by America is one Jordan and I read last year. It's a book I'd wanted to read. It had been on the bestseller list. I had heard about Evicted, which is the other book by Matthew Desmond, but I'd never I'd never read Evicted. And I had not made time for Poverty by America, but it was a relatively short audiobook. Jordan and I were traveling, and we had some really great conversations around that book. I didn't mention it here because I like Robin Miles as a narrator better than I liked the narrator of Poverty by America. So, narration matters, everybody. Narration matter. So my audiobook stack for you today is The Anthropocene Reviewed, How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water, Falling, Lincoln in the Bardo, and Caste. If we're talking about audiobook narrators, the name that comes up constantly is Julia Whalen, and I would mostly agree with this. Now, there are a couple of books by her that I have enjoyed a little less, because she's doing so many different voices and so many different accents, and it goes back to that kind of one woman show vibe I was alluding to earlier. But generally speaking, Julia Whalen is extremely popular. Most people really love her. I personally think it depends on the book, but a lot of people she's a narrator they naturally gravitate towards. I actually really like Julia Whalen narration of nonfiction. I don't know that she's done a ton of nonfiction books, but she often narrates like Atlantic articles. If you've ever noticed that Atlantic or New Yorker stories will sometimes have an audio edition, it's a great way to consume some longform journalism. But, anyway, she narrates some of those, and I really like her narration in that format.
[00:34:31] Helen Glaser is an audiobook narrator that I just recently came across. She narrates, Happily Never After, which is a romcom by Lynn Paynter. Rom-coms are hit or miss for me in audiobook format, but I really like Helen Glaser. And then I wound up liking her narration so much in that book that I discovered she narrated a new book out called Worry, and I loved, loved, loved her audiobook narration. So she, to me, is a go to. And, listen, what I did at first was just picked books that I was interested in. But as the years have passed, I have realized I like this voice. And so in most audiobook apps-- maybe all the audiobook apps-- you can tap the narrators name and all of the books they've narrated will come up. And so you could go down a rabbit hole of just all the books narrated by Helen Glaser or January LaVoy. But I think I discovered-- and Julia Whalen is too. But January LaVoy, Julia Whalen, they are former actors and actresses, and so I think that maybe can help with voice acting as well. But those are three kind of go to audiobook narrators. And then as far as favorite celebrity memoirs, I wanted to give you three. The first is Taste by Stanley Tucci, narrated by Stanley Tucci. It is a fantastic audiobook. Now, look, I like the print format too, because it's got recipes, but there's something really soothing about Stanley Tucci just reading a recipe to you. And his story is really fun and funny and really well told by him. So that's one of my very favorite celebrity memoirs.
[00:36:02] Then I loved-- and I don't know if I ever would have read the physical book, but I loved Going There by Katie Couric. She narrates it and there is some audiobook production done where they plug in snippets of the Today Show or past interviews she's done, so that kind of adds to the audiobook quality. But I loved hearing Katie Couric story in her words. So that was another super enjoyable audiobook to me. And then last but not least, The Wreckage of My Presence by Casey Wilson. This is another book that I'm not sure I ever would have picked up. My friend Courtney is a big Casey Wilson fan, and she may have been why I gave this one a try. She may have been who recommended this to me. But Casey Wilson is the-- you would recognize her. She did a lot of things, but I mostly knew her from the show Happy Endings. And she wrote a memoir a few years ago that I listened to on the way to and from the beach and cackled out loud in my car, then teared up. I thought it was so good. And I knew nothing about her, but I felt like I was talking to a good friend. I felt like I was listening to a good friend tell funny stories in my car. I loved that book and I'm for sure Katie Couric I might have read in physical format because because of ladies in journalism. But Casey Wilson, I don't think I ever would have picked up the physical book. And the audiobook was such a pleasant surprise. So much fun. And I do think audiobooks should be fun. And so those are some celebrity memoirs I've really enjoyed over the years. I've also heard great things about Jessica Simpson's memoir, but I've not read it, so I hesitate to recommend it. But it may be one I add to my own list this summer. So those are some audiobook recommendations for you. I hope that they are helpful as you either dip your toe into the world of audiobooks, or as you're trying to find new recommendations, because maybe you've been listening to audiobooks for years. I hope that those recommendations are helpful.
[00:38:01] This week, what I am reading is brought to you by the 103rd annual Rose Show and Festival here in Thomasville, Georgia. Held in historic downtown Thomasville, the Rose Show and Festival is sponsored by the City of Thomasville and has been a Southwest Georgia tradition since 1922 enjoy rose and flower shows, live music, an artisan market, an antique car show, a parade, and fantastic shopping and dining in downtown Thomasville. This year's 103rd annual event is April 26th through 27th. Plan your visit at Thomasvillega.com.
[00:38:40] Okay, I've been highlighting different aspects of the festival as I've been reading these ads and doing these ad spots and kind of telling you what my favorite parts of the festival are. But now, here is where I tell you that the weekend of Rose Show is also the weekend of Indie Bookstore Day. This happens every few years because of how these festivals sometimes fall, so doesn't happen every year. But many years Indie Bookstore and Rose Show have been on the same Saturday. And I've got to tell you, it is so fun because without Rose Show, of course, we would still celebrate Indie Bookstore Day. But the celebratory spirit in the air through the entirety of downtown is because of Rose Show. As much as I would like to think that everybody in Thomasville is celebrating Indie Bookstore Day, that's not necessarily the reality. So when they fall on the same day, it's really fun because the whole town is celebrating and it feels like they're celebrating you. I was talking to my friend Megan, and she was like, oh, my birthday's in May. And so Memorial Day, Mother's Day, I just claim all of those as also my own celebrations. And so that's what having Rose Show and Indie Bookstore Day on the same day reminds me of.
[00:39:45] This year there is another edition of Tallahassee's Word of South Festival, so it's a literary and music festival in downtown Tallahassee at Cascades Park. Now, all three of these events are on the same weekend, which is so fun if you are a long distance customer. I'm telling you, if you are a long distance customer, I'm not sure there would ever be a better weekend than April 26th and 27th to come to Thomasville, because you could do Indie Bookstore Day and Rose Show. We could do Rose Show on Friday night, Indie Bookstore Day and Rose Show on Saturday, including like the Artisan Market and some of the rose tents. And then you could do Word of South on Sunday. And that, my friends, is a pretty great weekend. So I did just want to put in a plug that it's Indie Bookstore Day at The Bookshelf. We've got all kinds of festivities happening, but also it's word of mouth in Tallahassee. So you could come to Thomasville, stay in Thomasville, and then make the jaunt over to Tallahassee on Sunday when things are a little quieter in downtown Thomasville.
[00:40:43] This week I'm listening to Honey by Victor Lodato. Thank you again to our sponsor, the 103rd Annual Rose Show and Festival here in Thomasville, Georgia. You can plan your visit at Thomasvillega.com.
Annie Jones: From the Front Porch is a weekly podcast production of The Bookshelf, an independent bookstore in Thomasville, Georgia. You can follow The Bookshelf’s daily happenings on Instagram at @bookshelftville, and all the books from today’s episode can be purchased online through our store website: bookshelfthomasville.com A full transcript of today’s episode can be found at:
Special thanks to Studio D Podcast Production for production of From the Front Porch and for our theme music, which sets the perfect warm and friendly tone for our Thursday conversations.
Our Executive Producers of today’s episode are…
Cammy Tidwell, Linda Lee Drozt, Martha, Stephanie Dean, Ashley Ferrell, Jennifer Bannerton
Executive Producers (Read Their Own Names): Nicole Marsee, Wendi Jenkins, Susan Hulings
Annie Jones: If you’d like to support From the Front Porch, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Your input helps us make the show even better and reach new listeners. All you have to do is open up the Podcast App on your phone, look for From the Front Porch, scroll down until you see ‘Write a Review’ and tell us what you think. Or, if you’re so inclined, support us over on Patreon, where we have 3 levels of support - Front Porch Friends, Book Club Companions, and Bookshelf Benefactors. Each level has an amazing number of benefits like bonus content, access to live events, discounts, and giveaways. Just go to: patreon.com/fromthefrontporch We’re so grateful for you, and we look forward to meeting back here next week.