Audiobooks, B&N Reads, New Releases, We Recommend

15 Great New Audiobooks to Listen to This Month 

It’s a new year, which brings 365 days of book discovery to our hands, minds, eyes, and ears! If you’re like us, you already have some reading goals set and are ready to dive right in. Fantasy, mystery, poetry, memoir, and much more, here is a wide selection of new fiction and nonfiction recommendations to kick off your year of audiobook listening.  

Fiction

The Three Lives of Cate Kay (Reese's Book Club)

Audiobook $25.99

The Three Lives of Cate Kay (Reese's Book Club)

The Three Lives of Cate Kay (Reese's Book Club)

By Kate Fagan
Narrated by Marin Ireland , Tessa Albertson , Genevieve Kingston , Imani Jade Powers , Corey Brill , Kevin R. Free , Daniel Henning , Hillary Huber , Helen Laser , Fred Sanders , Jackie Sanders , Emily Woo Zeller

In Stock Online

Audiobook $25.99

In honor of the new year, let’s start with an intricately crafted debut. This voices-driven novel is our top January audiobook pick. Cate Kay is a reclusive bestselling author who is haunted by, running from, and confronting her past. Set up as fictional memoir, the story’s 10+ believable narrators add helpful pieces to the puzzle across different timelines as they flesh out chapters from Kay’s real life. The unique documentary-style storytelling is captivating as it interweaves themes about identity, ambition, friendship, and the chance for redemption. 

In honor of the new year, let’s start with an intricately crafted debut. This voices-driven novel is our top January audiobook pick. Cate Kay is a reclusive bestselling author who is haunted by, running from, and confronting her past. Set up as fictional memoir, the story’s 10+ believable narrators add helpful pieces to the puzzle across different timelines as they flesh out chapters from Kay’s real life. The unique documentary-style storytelling is captivating as it interweaves themes about identity, ambition, friendship, and the chance for redemption. 

Onyx Storm

Audiobook $26.99 $29.99

Onyx Storm

Onyx Storm

By Rebecca Yarros
Narrated by Rebecca Soler , Teddy Hamilton , Jasmin Walker , Justis Bolding

In Stock Online

Audiobook $26.99 $29.99

This is the perfect New Year’s gift for the legions of fans waiting to learn what happens next to dragon rider Violet at Basgiath War College! Phenom author Rebecca Yarros and narrator Rebecca Soler once again merge their talents for the audiobook version of Book 3 in the Empyrean series. If you’re new to this bestselling saga, start with the first two installments of this addictive fantasy, Fourth Wing and Iron Flame, both past Barnes & Noble Books of the Year. 

This is the perfect New Year’s gift for the legions of fans waiting to learn what happens next to dragon rider Violet at Basgiath War College! Phenom author Rebecca Yarros and narrator Rebecca Soler once again merge their talents for the audiobook version of Book 3 in the Empyrean series. If you’re new to this bestselling saga, start with the first two installments of this addictive fantasy, Fourth Wing and Iron Flame, both past Barnes & Noble Books of the Year. 

Beautiful Ugly: A Novel

Audiobook $25.10 $26.99

Beautiful Ugly: A Novel

Beautiful Ugly: A Novel

By Alice Feeney
Narrated by Richard Armitage , Tuppence Middleton

In Stock Online

Audiobook $25.10 $26.99

Every new reading list needs a twisty dark thriller with a marriage at the center, and this is it. Is struggling author Grady Green’s missing wife dead or alive? Follow him to a small Scottish island to find out. (We know all small Scottish islands have secrets, right?) The audiobook includes realistic background sounds and is narrated with flair by Richard Armitage, best known for his role in The Hobbit film trilogy, and Tuppence Middleton, best known for Downton Abbey

Every new reading list needs a twisty dark thriller with a marriage at the center, and this is it. Is struggling author Grady Green’s missing wife dead or alive? Follow him to a small Scottish island to find out. (We know all small Scottish islands have secrets, right?) The audiobook includes realistic background sounds and is narrated with flair by Richard Armitage, best known for his role in The Hobbit film trilogy, and Tuppence Middleton, best known for Downton Abbey

Death of the Author

Audiobook $29.11 $31.99

Death of the Author

Death of the Author

By Nnedi Okorafor
Narrated by Liz Femi , Anthony Oseyemi , Jason Culp , Chris Djuma

In Stock Online

Audiobook $29.11 $31.99

New York Times bestselling and award-winning author Nnedi Okorafor brings us a book- within-a-book tale starring Zelu, a disabled Nigerian American woman who pens a wildly successful science fiction novel, which includes robots and AI. But as her fame rises, she loses control of her own narrative. Fans of R.F. Kuang’s Yellowface will notice similar themes, but they are played out in very different ways. Multiple fully-invested narrators help keep the increasingly blurred lines between fact and fiction clear.  

New York Times bestselling and award-winning author Nnedi Okorafor brings us a book- within-a-book tale starring Zelu, a disabled Nigerian American woman who pens a wildly successful science fiction novel, which includes robots and AI. But as her fame rises, she loses control of her own narrative. Fans of R.F. Kuang’s Yellowface will notice similar themes, but they are played out in very different ways. Multiple fully-invested narrators help keep the increasingly blurred lines between fact and fiction clear.  

Witchcraft for Wayward Girls

Audiobook $23.00 $25.00

Witchcraft for Wayward Girls

Witchcraft for Wayward Girls

By Grady Hendrix
Narrated by Leslie Howard , Hillary Huber , Sara Morsey

In Stock Online

Audiobook $23.00 $25.00

Popular author Grady Hendrix is back with his latest suspenseful read. Hendrix sets the scene in 1970, where fifteen-year-old Fern is part of a group of teens at a home for pregnant girls, where they endure adversity, shame and ostracization until a book of witchcraft puts the power back in their hands. Known for horror, Hendrix leans into creepiness more than standard horror here, but it’s the horrific way these vulnerable girls are treated by people they know, as well as the larger society, that will terrify and enrage you. There is a big cast of characters, which the experienced narrators handle flawlessly. 

Popular author Grady Hendrix is back with his latest suspenseful read. Hendrix sets the scene in 1970, where fifteen-year-old Fern is part of a group of teens at a home for pregnant girls, where they endure adversity, shame and ostracization until a book of witchcraft puts the power back in their hands. Known for horror, Hendrix leans into creepiness more than standard horror here, but it’s the horrific way these vulnerable girls are treated by people they know, as well as the larger society, that will terrify and enrage you. There is a big cast of characters, which the experienced narrators handle flawlessly. 

Presumed Guilty

Audiobook $31.49 $44.99

Presumed Guilty

Presumed Guilty

By Scott Turow
Narrated by Grover Gardner

In Stock Online

Audiobook $31.49 $44.99

Scott Turow fans will get exactly what they want in this “third act” in Turow’s mega-selling Presumed Innocent legal thriller series (now also a television series starring Jake Gyllenhaal). Read by Golden Voice and multi-award-winning narrator Grover Gardener, this story finds now-retired judge Rusty Sabich defending his wife’s troubled son, who’s on trial for murder (of course). Gardener is a perfect match for Rusty at this stage in his life, conveying his extreme sense of doubt that the legal system, to which he has dedicated his life and career, can ever provide true justice. 

Scott Turow fans will get exactly what they want in this “third act” in Turow’s mega-selling Presumed Innocent legal thriller series (now also a television series starring Jake Gyllenhaal). Read by Golden Voice and multi-award-winning narrator Grover Gardener, this story finds now-retired judge Rusty Sabich defending his wife’s troubled son, who’s on trial for murder (of course). Gardener is a perfect match for Rusty at this stage in his life, conveying his extreme sense of doubt that the legal system, to which he has dedicated his life and career, can ever provide true justice. 

Beg, Borrow, or Steal: A Novel

Audiobook $22.50

Beg, Borrow, or Steal: A Novel

Beg, Borrow, or Steal: A Novel

By Sarah Adams
Narrated by Nelson Hobbs , Brittany Pressley

In Stock Online

Audiobook $22.50

If the dark and cold January evenings get you down, brighten and warm them up with this fun contemporary romance. Part of Sarah Adams’s When in Rome series (as in Rome, Kentucky), this plot features two schoolteachers, who are both also secret authors, who form an unlikely alliance. Narrator Brittany Pressley has been an Audie Award finalist, and it shows—she is delightful in this role, and romance pro Nelson Hobbs is a worthy sparring partner. 

If the dark and cold January evenings get you down, brighten and warm them up with this fun contemporary romance. Part of Sarah Adams’s When in Rome series (as in Rome, Kentucky), this plot features two schoolteachers, who are both also secret authors, who form an unlikely alliance. Narrator Brittany Pressley has been an Audie Award finalist, and it shows—she is delightful in this role, and romance pro Nelson Hobbs is a worthy sparring partner. 

The Business Trip: A Novel

Audiobook $19.99

The Business Trip: A Novel

The Business Trip: A Novel

By Jessie Garcia
Narrated by Andrew Eiden , Dylan Reilly Fitzpatrick , Fred Berman , Gail Shalan , Hillary Huber , Jennifer Pickens , John Pirhalla , Kimberly M. Wetherell , Kirby Heyborne , Tim Campbell

In Stock Online

Audiobook $19.99

Two strangers board the same plane to the same destination, sit in the same row, text their friends the same messages about the same man, and then they both disappear. Isn’t that enough to make you want to put this on your TBL list? And here’s another enticement: ten excellent narrators who bring to life all the personalities involved in this very satisfying cat-and-mouse psychological thriller. 

Two strangers board the same plane to the same destination, sit in the same row, text their friends the same messages about the same man, and then they both disappear. Isn’t that enough to make you want to put this on your TBL list? And here’s another enticement: ten excellent narrators who bring to life all the personalities involved in this very satisfying cat-and-mouse psychological thriller. 

Nonfiction 

Beyond Anxiety: Curiosity, Creativity, and Finding Your Life's Purpose

Audiobook $23.00 $25.00

Beyond Anxiety: Curiosity, Creativity, and Finding Your Life's Purpose

Beyond Anxiety: Curiosity, Creativity, and Finding Your Life's Purpose

By Martha Beck
Narrated by Martha Beck , Maria Shriver

In Stock Online

Audiobook $23.00 $25.00

Most of us begin every year with resolutions and good intentions about how to improve ourselves in one or more ways in the twelve months ahead. This book can help you achieve some success with those goals by explaining how to rid our minds and bodies of haunting anxiety. Dr. Martha Beck, a sociologist who authored a Barnes & Noble Best Book of 2021, The Way of Integrity, reads her advice as a mix of college professor and personal therapist. You’ll gain scientific knowledge as well as practical tips that could be life-changing. 

Most of us begin every year with resolutions and good intentions about how to improve ourselves in one or more ways in the twelve months ahead. This book can help you achieve some success with those goals by explaining how to rid our minds and bodies of haunting anxiety. Dr. Martha Beck, a sociologist who authored a Barnes & Noble Best Book of 2021, The Way of Integrity, reads her advice as a mix of college professor and personal therapist. You’ll gain scientific knowledge as well as practical tips that could be life-changing. 

People Pleaser: Breaking Free from the Burden of Imaginary Expectations

Audiobook $20.01 $21.99

People Pleaser: Breaking Free from the Burden of Imaginary Expectations

People Pleaser: Breaking Free from the Burden of Imaginary Expectations

By Jinger Vuolo , Julie Lyles Carr
Narrated by Jinger Vuolo

In Stock Online

Audiobook $20.01 $21.99

Jinger Duggar Vuolo continues to seek understanding about a childhood she calls “controlling, man-centered, and legalistic” in this follow-up to her soul-searching memoir, Becoming Free Indeed. She reads her own words, which makes her core message about self-discovery with the help of God much more relatable and inspiring. 

Jinger Duggar Vuolo continues to seek understanding about a childhood she calls “controlling, man-centered, and legalistic” in this follow-up to her soul-searching memoir, Becoming Free Indeed. She reads her own words, which makes her core message about self-discovery with the help of God much more relatable and inspiring. 

The JFK Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill Kennedy-and Why It Failed

Audiobook $13.99 $19.99

The JFK Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill Kennedy-and Why It Failed

The JFK Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill Kennedy-and Why It Failed

By Brad Meltzer , Josh Mensch
Narrated by Scott Brick

In Stock Online

Audiobook $13.99 $19.99

Over 60 years later, the presidency of John F. Kennedy continues to be the subject of research, books, films, and even present-day political campaign ads. This true, little-known story about the first assassination attempt on JFK, right before his inauguration, reads like a fictional thriller, especially as voiced by Audie winner, Scott Brick. Brick is dramatic, brisk, authoritative, and un-put-downable. 

Over 60 years later, the presidency of John F. Kennedy continues to be the subject of research, books, films, and even present-day political campaign ads. This true, little-known story about the first assassination attempt on JFK, right before his inauguration, reads like a fictional thriller, especially as voiced by Audie winner, Scott Brick. Brick is dramatic, brisk, authoritative, and un-put-downable. 

Brooke Shields Is Not Allowed to Get Old: Thoughts on Aging as a Woman

Audiobook $15.99 $19.99

Brooke Shields Is Not Allowed to Get Old: Thoughts on Aging as a Woman

Brooke Shields Is Not Allowed to Get Old: Thoughts on Aging as a Woman

By Brooke Shields , Rachel Bertsche
Narrated by Brooke Shields

In Stock Online

Audiobook $15.99 $19.99

After a lifetime as a public figure, Brooke Shields shines a spotlight on growing older, especially as a “woman of a certain age.” We already know aging is hard for most people, but it’s often more difficult for women, due to society’s unrealistic expectations and gender bias. Shields is committed to trying to alter all this entrenched reality, starting a new conversation about the possibilities of women’s power and promise in mid-life and beyond. Her narration is fabulous—down to earth, conversational, funny, serious, optimistic. I think this has a good chance of remaining on my “favorites” list all year long. 

After a lifetime as a public figure, Brooke Shields shines a spotlight on growing older, especially as a “woman of a certain age.” We already know aging is hard for most people, but it’s often more difficult for women, due to society’s unrealistic expectations and gender bias. Shields is committed to trying to alter all this entrenched reality, starting a new conversation about the possibilities of women’s power and promise in mid-life and beyond. Her narration is fabulous—down to earth, conversational, funny, serious, optimistic. I think this has a good chance of remaining on my “favorites” list all year long. 

Dare I Say It: Everything I Wish I'd Known About Menopause

Audiobook $18.00 $20.00

Dare I Say It: Everything I Wish I'd Known About Menopause

Dare I Say It: Everything I Wish I'd Known About Menopause

By Naomi Watts , Mary Claire Haver MD
Narrated by Naomi Watts , Allyson Ryan

In Stock Online

Audiobook $18.00 $20.00

This is a good pairing with Brooke Shields Is Not Allowed to Get Old. It’s a frank, humorous, and informative guide to menopause and aging by actress Naomi Watts. Watts presents it as a guide to this little-talked-about but pivotal stage in a woman’s life, offering personal anecdotes and tips as well as accessible science. This book is revelatory, even though it shouldn’t be, which makes it a much-needed addition to books on women’s health and well-being. 

This is a good pairing with Brooke Shields Is Not Allowed to Get Old. It’s a frank, humorous, and informative guide to menopause and aging by actress Naomi Watts. Watts presents it as a guide to this little-talked-about but pivotal stage in a woman’s life, offering personal anecdotes and tips as well as accessible science. This book is revelatory, even though it shouldn’t be, which makes it a much-needed addition to books on women’s health and well-being. 

Girls on the Rise

Audiobook $4.50 $5.00

Girls on the Rise

Girls on the Rise

By Amanda Gorman
Narrated by Amanda Gorman

In Stock Online

Audiobook $4.50 $5.00

“Who are we? We are a billion voices, bright and brave; we are light, standing together in the fight.” For all ages of girls, for anyone who has a young girl in their life, and for anyone/everyone who needs a mood boost, this is a powerful poem, composed and read by presidential inaugural poet Amanda Gorman. No matter what month of the year, week of the month, or day of the week it may be, this is sure to transform your mindset to positivity and motivate you to dream big, and it’s only four minutes long!  

“Who are we? We are a billion voices, bright and brave; we are light, standing together in the fight.” For all ages of girls, for anyone who has a young girl in their life, and for anyone/everyone who needs a mood boost, this is a powerful poem, composed and read by presidential inaugural poet Amanda Gorman. No matter what month of the year, week of the month, or day of the week it may be, this is sure to transform your mindset to positivity and motivate you to dream big, and it’s only four minutes long!  

Catching Whimsy: 365 Days of Possibility

Audiobook $31.99

Catching Whimsy: 365 Days of Possibility

Catching Whimsy: 365 Days of Possibility

By Bob Goff
Narrated by Bob Goff

In Stock Online

Audiobook $31.99

Author/Narrator Bob Goff hosts a podcast, which aims to “help you discover, declare, and realize your ambitions so that you can have a fulfilling life and impact the world for good.” Catching Whimsy builds on that in the form of a 365-day devotional. Goff mixes Bible verses with stories to show (vs. tell) how to add truth, hope, and whimsy into every day. If this method of motivation is appealing to you, January is the obvious time to start listening. 

Author/Narrator Bob Goff hosts a podcast, which aims to “help you discover, declare, and realize your ambitions so that you can have a fulfilling life and impact the world for good.” Catching Whimsy builds on that in the form of a 365-day devotional. Goff mixes Bible verses with stories to show (vs. tell) how to add truth, hope, and whimsy into every day. If this method of motivation is appealing to you, January is the obvious time to start listening.