“I love Kazuo Ishiguro because he’s a literary writer who is not afraid to venture into genre fiction—in fact, he embraces it, elevates it, and shows just how meaningful and insightful it can be. His latest novel takes on the very sci-fi themes of AI consciousness and free will (I’ll admit, sold. Anything to do with robots, sold). But these Big Ideas are ultimately couched within the story of a girl who just happens to be a robot named Klara—and her self-determined mission to save the girl who chose her as an AF, or “artificial friend.” Ishiguro unfolds the layers of his stories organically in a way that somehow satisfies even as it rips your heart out (in the best way). And narrator Sura Siu only adds to the experience with her vibrant performance. I didn’t realize how much I’d been searching for that feeling his sci-fi novel Never Let Me Go gave me years ago, but I think I’ve found it once again." —Sam D.

"I'd always dreamed about writing this book because, although I grew up learning English in library books, I never found a book that depicted characters who looked like me and lived in the way my parents and I did. Even so, I figured it was impossible, because I lived under messaging that I was to hide my past and remain ashamed of it. It wasn’t until the discourse of the 2016 election, which took place just six months after I became a naturalized US citizen, that I discovered I had a newfound power and thus a responsibility to share my story, that at that juncture of my life, I was making an actual decision to stay quiet—a privilege that millions of undocumented immigrants did not have. And while I cannot speak for the entire community—we are not a monolith; each immigrant story is varied and diverse—I did write this book to allow readers to walk around in my childhood shoes and experience things as I did, in hopes of showing that, documented or not, there are universal human threads that run through all of our wants, fears, and dreams." —Qian Julie Wang

“Sometimes you need something delightfully soapy for the beach—but that doesn't mean it can't be a, quote-unquote, Important Book. In Torrey Peters's groundbreaking debut, a trans woman named Reese receives a curious proposal from her ex, Ames: to help raise a baby he's fathered with his new partner, a cis woman named Katrina. Ames, who was born male but lived as a woman for years before detransitioning, speculates that Reese can help him come to terms with the fraught prospect of fatherhood. With an epic beach scene at its explosive finale, this time-hopping journey through gender and identity lets you luxuriate in both a juicy premise and well-deserved literary accolades." —Kat J.

“Jojo Moyes excels at complicated and bittersweet love stories, crediting Jane Austen and Jonathan Tropper as major influences on her work. But with stories that tug at the heartstrings and offer an optimistic perspective on seemingly hopeless situations, it’s easy to make the comparison to Nicholas Sparks as well. Me Before You revolves around the challenging relationship between Louisa Clark, a small-town girl craving adventure, and Will Traynor, the acerbic, newly wheelchair-bound ex-Master of the Universe who hires her to take care of him. The audiobook is narrated by a swoon-worthy full cast.” —Mysia H.

“I grew up on The Simpsons. Every night after dinner, my brother and I would gather around our bulbous TV to take in the antics of America’s favorite dysfunctional family. We did more than just laugh along with each joke—we identified with Bart and Lisa. I was the older, more responsible, sensitive, straight-A student. My brother was the funny troublemaker who struggled in his classes, rode around on a skateboard, and occasionally fell into the wrong crowds. While Nancy Cartwright doesn’t perform as Lisa Simpson (that would be Yeardley Smith), she does perform many of Springfield’s residents: Bart Simpson, Nelson Muntz, Todd Flanders, and Ralph Wiggum, just to name a few. If I had to select a narrator to tell my life’s story, I’d choose her, as I can’t imagine someone more capable of capturing the many dynamic voices present in my life.“ —Rachael X.

"I want to make this mandatory listening for anyone who wonders if kids are too young to be exposed to the concept of death. Author Caitlin Doughty shows how healthy and natural it is for young people to be curious about death, and that it doesn’t have to be sad or scary. As one of the world’s most renowned funeral directors, she gets asked a lot of questions on the topic, and it’s always the kids who ask the weirdest and most wonderful ones. In Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs?, she sets out to answer some of them—from "Can I keep my parents’ skulls after they die?" to "What would happen if you swallowed a bag of popcorn before you died and were cremated?" Dressed up as an entertaining romp through an offbeat subculture—and yes, Doughty’s pitch-perfect narration is hugely entertaining!—it’s secretly a guide for how to become more comfortable with something we’ll all inevitably have to face one day 💀." —Rachel S.

“When I heard that 2022 would be the year Jennifer Egan was coming out with a companion to her mind-expanding, Pulitzer Prize-winning A Visit from the Goon Squad, I felt an immediate need to revisit the book, which I first read way back in 2010. I downloaded and listened and realized, wow—I missed a lot the first time around, or maybe it’s me that’s changed over the past 10-plus years? And then it was time to take in The Candy House. I didn’t have to go through this preparation—both novels stand on their own—but it was a very satisfying experiment. The Candy House is so much fun! It’s all so seemingly unimaginable yet inevitable at the same time. I’m still a little dizzy.“ —Tricia F.

“If you're an aspiring musician like me, you'll find yourself wanting to pick up your instrument and start practicing while listening to The Violin Conspiracy. Author Brendan Slocumb, a musician and a Nobel Educator of Distinction for his more than two decades of work in K-12 music education, has a deep understanding of music’s ability to guide us toward the truest version of ourselves. In this unpauseable listen, Ray, an up-and-coming Black violinist, discovers what defines prestige in the world of classical music—which has long represented the pinnacle (as well as exclusivity) of Western taste—and what’s so personal about performance. Brought to life by JD Jackson's fine-tuned narration, Slocumb's debut novel is at a discount today, and then you can segue straight to his latest release, Symphony of Secrets." —Haley H.

"We chose Largo Pétalo de Mar, the Spanish version of this book, as the best Spanish language title of 2019. I cannot accurately express how much I love this book. I could not stop listening from the moment I started, and as soon as I finished, I began to recommend it to any friend or family member with even a rudimentary grasp of Spanish. The release of the English translation restarted my fervent evangelism of Allende’s novel, with double the audience pool. A Long Petal of the Sea tells the story of the Dalmau family. Forced to flee home as a result of the Spanish Civil War, they find refuge on a ship of migrants headed to Chile, organized by the poet Pablo Neruda. It is a beautiful, expansive story of resilience, hope, assimilation, and love during a tumultuous period. If that's not enough to intrigue you, know that every person who has accepted my recommendation has unequivocally loved it." —Mariana P.