Rosh > Books: audiobook‎ (328)

Forty-something Lula Dean has always lived in the shadow of her arch-rival Beverly Underwood in the small (fictional) town of Troy, Georgia. Lula has finally hit celebrity status, thanks to her latest campaign: ridding the local libraries of inappropriate books. To set the right example and provide the townspeople with quality reading material, Lula sets up a Little Free Library outside her home and fills it with “wholesome” books. Unknown to Lula, Beverly’s daughter Lindsay sneakily changes the composition of the free library, by replacing Lula’s books with the banned books but retaining the original “wholesome” dust jackets. As the neighbours borrow books from Lula’s library, they realise that the content isn’t exactly what the cover promises, and see how the right book can change their lives. A secret revolution is brewing in Troy, and Lula doesn’t even know that she has caused it.
The novel comes to us as interconnected stories from various townspeople, with each chapter coming from one specific character.

2010. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Eighteen-year-old Alice is a rebel, fighting the patriarchal society and the female oppression in Brazil. When a relative passes a family heirloom – a lace veil – over to her, she discovers some secrets sewn into it. The secrets come from seven generations ago, in 1918, when a group of women discovered lace-making, and used it to change their lives. They would gather at the Flores house and work, even though the Flores women were shunned by many townspeople for being cursed to be “always unlucky in love.” As Alice learns more about the past, she discovers the strength and the struggles of the women who came before her.
The story comes to us in two timelines, with Alice’s contemporary timeline in her third person perspective, and the historical timeline in the first person pov of Inês, one of the Flores women.

As Emma Wheeler is the sole caretaker for her dad, she has willingly put aside her dreams of becoming a screenwriter for more than a decade. But when her friend and agent calls her with the opportunity of a lifetime, and a chance to work with her idol, acclaimed screenwriter Charlie Yates, Emma cannot resist. With her younger sister Sylvie stepping into the carer’s role, Emma flies to Los Angeles, hoping for the chance of a lifetime to convert into a memorable work experience. What she didn’t expect is that Charlie Yates didn’t even know about her arrival, and is adamant that he doesn’t work with amateurs. Never mind that the romcom script he wrote was garbage. After all, that script is just a filler to get another pet project greenlit, a project far more important than romcoms. Emma, of course, can’t accept this. Die-hard fan or not, she will not allow anyone to tell her that romcoms are useless, or to mess with the only career-transforming opportunity she has received in ages.
The story comes to us in Emma’s first-person perspective.

1940. Jody is excited when her father is transferred to a small naval base in Pearl Harbor. She always creates a “top ten” list for every new home her military family moves to, but this time, the excitement is greater as it is the first time she will have her wonderful pet, an ex-military sentry dog named Happy, by her side. When Jody learns that Happy is slowing down, she resolves to do as many fun things as she can in the time she has left with him. However, this plan is affected when her mother has some ominous feelings about the island. When her worst fears come true, Jody’s father needs to stay behind but the rest of the family (Jody, her mom and her elder sister Peggy) is evacuated to San Francisco, which will bring new challenges in their lives.
The story comes to us in Jody’s first person perspective, with some chapters from Happy’s third person pov.

Olivetti has stayed with the Brindle family for years. Each of the Brindles – the parents and the four kids – are busy doing their own thing, and the fights are about who gets to use the new laptop while Olivetti lies ignored. He remembers the good old days when Beatrice Brindle, the mother, used to type her feelings out on him regularly. But now she has gone missing. And no one has any idea of where she could have gone, except perhaps Olivetti.
As twelve-year-old Ernest, the third of the Brindle children, is the only one who seems accessible despite always having his nose in the dictionary, Olivetti decides to break the typewriter code of conduct and communicate with Ernest, divulging Beatrice’s memories in hopes of finding some clue about her whereabouts.
The story comes to us in the alternating first person perspectives of Olivetti and Ernest.

After having suddenly lost what he had assumed to be a secure corporate job, Jack is back home, which is a wild place at the edge of the woods. His aged father Gerry is teetering at the brink of sanity because of his memory issues, and Jack’s younger sister Charlotte is frustrated with everyone and everything. His mother Hazel is missing, and no one has any clue about where she has disappeared.
Jack and Gerry have always been the opposite of each other, but they now seem to have one thing in common – they both can speak to animals. And to Jack’s disbelief, one fox actually talks back.
These five characters (four humans and a fox) guide us through this literary narrative in their third person perspectives.

Five years ago, Lucy had been suspected of murdering Savannah, but after there was no evidence to confirm the same, Lucy wasn’t arrested. However, as she doesn’t have any memories of that night, even she isn’t sure if she actually killed her best friend.
Now, the hit crime podcast “Listen for the Lie” has chosen to investigate Savannah’s murder for its new season, and all the old accusations are back. Lucy is divorced, jobless, and has to return to her hometown for her grandmother’s 80th birthday. Will podcast host Ben Owens be able to clear Lucy’s name, or will he confirm her worst suspicion about that night?
Lucy's first person updates us about what's happening in the small town after her return to celebrate her grandmother's eightieth birthday. The podcast interludes update us, through the third person interviews and through the podcaster's speculation, of what might have happened on the night of the murder. We also have another timeline of Lucy’s past with Savannah.

Frank is a curmudgeon who lives alone in his house, estranged from family and friends after the death of his wife Marcie two years back. He is a recluse and can’t stand anyone or anything tampering with his routine. Little does he know that his peaceful life is soon to be turned upside down by a new neighbour.
After his parents’ separation, six-year-old Red, along with his mother, has moved into the house next to Frank’s. He isn’t happy with the house nor with his new school. The only good thing about the house is that his mother has bought a new trampoline for the back garden.
Being a curious chatterbox, Red is eager to make friends. And who better than the old man next door who seems sad and lonely? As Red trampolines his way into Frank’s life, the old man tries his best to avoid the nuisance. But can a determined six-year-old be stopped?
The story comes to us in the alternate third-person perspectives of Frank and Red.

Kristen is a workaholic oncologist who gives her all to her patients, even if it comes at a cost to her personal life with husband Daniel. But when her elder sister Sherri is diagnosed with stage-IV ovarian cancer, Kristen is ready to put everything on hold to ensure that her sister gets the best chances of recovery. Yet again, Daniel feels ignored.
Sherri is a happy kindergarten teacher who has always lived her life making healthy choices. A divorcee, she loves her kids and grandkids. With the cancer diagnosis, she feels the pressure of having a limited time with her loved ones and the pain of giving up the job that means so much to her.
Post the cancer verdict, Kristen and Sherri are determined to make the best of the time Sherri has left and to prolong her good health as much as they can.
The story comes to us in the first person perspectives of Kristen, Sherri, and Daniel.

1972. Sixty-two-year-old Nub Taylor is known for all the wrong things in his small rural hometown in southern Alabama. He does menial blue-collar jobs, drinks and smokes too much, doesn’t go to church, and lives his life without any sense of responsibility, and is close only to his cousin Benny. To be fair, he does feel remorse about being estranged from his daughter Emily, but it seems too late to salvage that relationship.
When fifteen-year-old Waffle House waitress Minnie enters Nub’s life in an unexpected manner, he finally feels like he has a purpose. But unknown to them both, this new bond will soon be in danger from an unexpected source.
The story comes to us from the third person points of view of Nub, Minnie, and Emily.

Buffalo, New York. 1924. It has been many years since the Campbell and Bradshaw families feuded, split their joint shoe business, and stopped speaking with each other. No one knows the reasons behind their fight, not even the heirs of the families.
Laura Bradshaw, 21, loves books and animals. However, after the death of her mother, her father has been focussed only on his shoe company, and wants Laura to marry a new business partner to expand the company. The only source of joy in Laura’s life, other than her pet parrot and her loving housekeeper, is her mysterious pen pal, with whom she has been exchanging letters since seven years by using a hollow in the maple tree at the local zoo as a ‘letter box’.
Isaac Campbell, 23, wants to be more involves in Campbell Shoes, but his father is reluctant to give him a greater role. His overprotective mother is only concerned about him getting married to the right girl. Isaac finds respite only in words of his secret friend who, through her letters, has provided the comfort and friendship he needs.
Do Laura and Isaac know that they are corresponding with the “enemy”? What will happen when their families learn about the letters?
The story comes to us in the limited third person perspectives of Laura and Isaac.

In 1975, while summoned to a domestic dispute, constable Jo Hamilton mistakenly started a fire at the location. The two little girls at the house, Holly and Daisy, are saved, but their parents are killed. The girls are sent to the local children’s home named Morgate House, an old Victorian residence at the edge of a cliff. Jo tries to keep tabs over the girls, but Daisy is soon adopted. In a few years more, Holly goes missing, the mystery of which has stayed unsolved all this while.
Now, forty years later, some bones have been discovered at a digging site, and Jo, now a superintendent just a few days away from retirement, knows in her guts that they belong to Holly. Can the investigation finally come to a close with this new information?
The story comes to us from multiple timelines (1945, 1975, 1985, 2015) and the third person perspective of multiple female characters.

Eden, Kentucky is a dying town that’s been ravaged by pollution, thanks to the Gravely Power company. The only positive thing springing from Eden has been the legacy of author E. Starling, a reclusive nineteenth century author who left behind a children’s book titled ‘The Underland’ and a sprawling mansion rumoured to be haunted. Today, the only resident of Starling House is the equally mysterious Arthur Starling, whom no one knows anything about but everyone agrees that it is best to stay away from him.
When Opal gets a job offer from Arthur to housekeep Starling House, the salary is good enough for her to fulfil her dreams of sending her intelligent younger brother Jasper away from Eden. But as she cleans up the mysterious mansion, she unearths dangerous secrets from the past and the present. Now it is up to Opal and Arthur to ensure that Starling House doesn’t result in the end of Eden.
The story comes to us in the perspectives of Opal (first person) and Arthur (third person).

Susana Prather’s family legacy involves a generational curse that ensures that every first-born daughter loses her mind and kills herself within a few months of her eighteenth birthday. Now that Susana has turned eighteen, she feels like the countdown to the end has begun. Can she do anything to stop this horrid familial endowment?
The story comes to us in two timelines, with the contemporary time containing Susana’s arc in first person, and a historical timeline detailing in third person the life story of the person with whom the curse began.

Wellington, sometime in the future. Thirty-seven-year-old Alice, who has an IQ of 159 (missing the ‘genius’ mark by just 1 point), is stuck in a dead-end job and frustrated of the change wrought about by the climate change. The situation is worsened by the wealthy immigrants – ‘wealthugees’ – who are flocking to New Zealand and affecting the local economy by purchasing land and driving up prices, making the situation worse for residents. But Alice is a slacker, and does nothing to change the situation except complain.
When one hot wealthugee asks Alice to take care of his fifteen-year-old daughter Erika for a few days in exchange for a large sum, Alice readily quits her job. But she doesn’t realise that Erika is a fellow genius, and carries many more secrets. Alice’s life isn’t going to be the same anymore.
The story comes to us in the first person perspective of Alice.

Forty-year-old single mom Kate Baker is on a two-week beach vacation with her nine-year-old daughter Olivia. However, on the very first day of the trip, Olivia is caught in a riptide and she goes under the waves – a moment that sets Kate’s heart thudding.
Now the story splits in two timelines.
In Timeline I, Olivia resurfaces almost immediately and the vacation continues as a typical vacation would. However, with Olivia’s increasing tantrums, Kate’s ex-husband’s intentions to return in their lives for a second start, and Kate’s best friend Jason suddenly discovering feelings for her, Kate’s life is full of tough choices.
In Timeline II, Olivia drowns, and Kate grapples with the loss of her only child. In the days following the funeral, Kate struggles to come to terms with her new reality. In a bid to get away from everything that reminds her of Olivia, she takes up an apprenticeship at a farm in idyllic Serenbe. Can grief be left behind easily with new distractions?
The story comes to us in Kate’s first person perspective, alternating between the two parallel timelines.

After an argument with her abusive fiancé Ethan, twenty-two-year-old Rowan runs away. Having no family escape for her estranged sister Celia, Rowan takes shelter in an old friend’s empty house in a small New England town. Here she meets eleven-year-old Gabriel, the son of her new neighbour Lee. While Lee is friendly and welcoming, Gabriel is more of a mystery, appearing to Rowan only from the basement of his house, often withdrawn and bruised.
When Rowan discovers that Gabriel has been imprisoned in the basement by his own father for almost three years, she makes a daring plan: she will abduct Gabriel and flee to her childhood home in rural Oklahoma. Will their bond be enough to protect them?
The story comes to us in a limited third-person narration.

When twenty-seven year old Ohio resident Ava receives a mysterious letter advertising the position of a caretaker for a cantankerous old man and his cat, she decides to take a risk for the first time in her life, travelling all the way to Driftwood, Alabama.
Thirty-eight-year-old Maggie has run Magpie's, a little shop of coffee and curiosities since a long time. She keeps herself overly busy to forget her increasingly strained relationship with her father Desmond and also her health issues. When Ava arrives in response to her advert, the two women become good friends, and without knowing it, begin a journey of healing in each other’s lives.
The story comes to us in the first person perspectives of Ava and Maggie.

A mysterious little free library appears overnight in the small town of Martinville. Fifth-grader Evan is mystified, but he takes two books from its shelves. He soon realises that there's something odd about the two titles, and he ropes in his best friend Rafe to help him in his "investigation".
The two boys soon discover that the books are connected to an event that took place two decades ago, but no adult is willing to talk to them about it. What's everybody hiding?
The story comes to us in the third person perspectives of Evan and Mortimer the kind-hearted cat who monitors the little free library among other things, and in the first person perspective of Al the ghost librarian.