Heather Hoag

The Brave Tin Soldier and Other Fairy Tales

• UNABRIDGED (59 mins)
• By Hans Christian Andersen
• Narrated By David Tennant, Anne-Marie Duff, Sir Derek Jacobi, and others

Here are four of Hans Christian Andersen’s best-loved short stories, specially adapted for young children and read by some of Britain’s most well-known actors. The Brave Tin Soldier: A one-legged toy soldier falls in love with a paper ballerina. Thumbelina: A tiny but beautiful girl grows from a barleycorn which has been enchanted by a witch. The Nightingale: An emperor prefers a sparkling mechanical bird to the song of a real nightingale. The Ugly Duckling: A little bird is called ugly by others until he matures into a swan.

The Casual Vacancy

• UNABRIDGED (17 hrs and 55 mins)
• By J. K. Rowling
• Narrated By Tom Hollander
• Whispersync for Voice-ready

When Barry Fairweather dies unexpectedly in his early 40s, the little town of Pagford is left in shock. Pagford is, seemingly, an English idyll, with a cobbled market square and an ancient abbey, but what lies behind the pretty façade is a town at war. Rich at war with poor, teenagers at war with their parents, wives at war with their husbands, teachers at war with their pupils.... Pagford is not what it at first seems. And the empty seat left by Barry on the town's council soon becomes the catalyst for the biggest war the town has yet seen.

The 7th Month: A Detective D. D. Warren Story

• UNABRIDGED (1 hr and 47 mins)
• By Lisa Gardner
• Narrated By Kirsten Potter

In Lisa Gardner’s first-ever short story following thirteen bestselling novels, The 7th Month takes listeners between the books and into a day in the life of Boston Detective D. D. Warren. In her seventh month of pregnancy, D.D. should be taking it easy. Instead, she accepts a small consulting role on the set of a serial killer film shooting in Boston.

Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore: A Novel

• UNABRIDGED (7 hrs and 41 mins)
• By Robin Sloan
• Narrated By Ari Fliakos
• Whispersync for Voice-ready

The Great Recession has shuffled Clay Jannon out of his life as a San Francisco Web-design drone - and serendipity, sheer curiosity, and the ability to climb a ladder like a monkey has landed him a new gig working the night shift at Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore. But after just a few days on the job, Clay begins to realize that this store is even more curious than the name suggests. There are only a few customers, but they come in repeatedly and never seem to actually buy anything....

Where'd You Go, Bernadette: A Novel

• UNABRIDGED (9 hrs and 39 mins)
• By Maria Semple
• Narrated By Kathleen Wilhoite
• Whispersync for Voice-ready

Bernadette Fox is notorious. To her Microsoft-guru husband, she's a fearlessly opinionated partner; to fellow private-school mothers in Seattle, she's a disgrace; to design mavens, she's a revolutionary architect, and to 15-year-old Bee, she is a best friend and, simply, Mom.

Then Bernadette disappears. It began when Bee aced her report card and claimed her promised reward: a family trip to Antarctica. But Bernadette's intensifying allergy to Seattle - and people in general - has made her so agoraphobic that a virtual assistant in India now runs her most basic errands.

A Discovery of Witches

• UNABRIDGED (24 hrs and 2 mins)
• By Deborah Harkness
• Narrated By Jennifer Ikeda
• Whispersync for Voice-ready

Deep in the stacks of Oxford's Bodleian Library, young scholar Diana Bishop unwittingly calls up a bewitched alchemical manuscript in the course of her research. Descended from an old and distinguished line of witches, Diana wants nothing to do with sorcery; so after a furtive glance and a few notes, she banishes the book to the stacks. But her discovery sets a fantastical underworld stirring, and a horde of daemons, witches, and vampires soon descends upon the library.

The Importance of Being Earnest: Free Performance

• UNABRIDGED (1 hr and 58 mins)
• By Oscar Wilde
• Narrated By James Marsters, Charles Busch, Emily Bergl, and others

This final play from the pen of Oscar Wilde is a stylish send-up of Victorian courtship and manners, complete with assumed names, mistaken lovers, and a lost handbag. Jack and Algernon are best friends, both wooing ladies who think their names are Ernest, "that name which inspires absolute confidence." Wilde's effervescent wit, scathing social satire, and high farce make this one of the most cherished plays in the English language.

The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: Book I: The Mysterious Howling

• UNABRIDGED (5 hrs and 28 mins)
• By Maryrose Wood
• Narrated By Katherine Kellgren
• Whispersync for Voice-ready

Of especially naughty children, it is sometimes said: “They must have been raised by wolves.” The Incorrigible children actually were. Discovered in the forests of Ashton Place, the Incorrigibles are no ordinary children: Alexander keeps his siblings in line with gentle nips; Cassiopeia has a bark that is (usually) worse than her bite; and Beowulf is alarmingly adept at chasing squirrels.