FICTION
but these picks are the most imaginative, inventive stories.
WINNER: The Vanishing Half
Performed by Shayna Small
When it comes to choosing the best novels to listen to there are three key factors: authenticity, timelessness, and entertainment value. The Vanishing Half hits all three marks and sets the bar for this year's top fiction picks. All showcase solo narrators whose performances truly elevate the sweeping, moving storytelling of five writers at the top of their craft. From the Deep South to Brooklyn to Philly to Maine to the Amalfi Coast, these stories celebrate setting with true-to-life characters and powerhouse productions that break barriers and create connections as they explore the human experience.
Best of Fiction: Four More
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Deacon King Kong
- A Novel
- By: James McBride
- Narrated by: Dominic Hoffman
- Length: 14 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 6,246
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 5,436
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 5,395
In September 1969, a fumbling, cranky old church deacon known as Sportcoat shuffles into the courtyard of the Cause Houses housing project in south Brooklyn, pulls a .38 from his pocket, and, in front of everybody, shoots the project's drug dealer at point-blank range. The reasons for this desperate burst of violence and the consequences that spring from it lie at the heart of Deacon King Kong, James McBride's funny, moving novel and his first since his National Book Award-winning The Good Lord Bird.
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5 out of 5 stars
-
Masterpiece
- By Linda G McDonough on 05-17-20
-
The Gentleman from Peru
- By: André Aciman
- Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini
- Length: 2 hrs and 39 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 4,057
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,707
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,691
It’s been 10 years since a group of college friends made a vow: that the first to get rich would rent a boat and invite the others on a cruise. Now, the friends find themselves marooned at a luxurious hotel on the Amalfi Coast in Italy. While their boat is being repaired, they can’t help but observe the daily routine of a fellow hotel guest - a mysterious, white-bearded stranger who sits on the veranda each night and smokes one cigarette, sometimes two.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A beautiful escape . . .
- By Michele on 09-02-20
-
My Dark Vanessa
- A Novel
- By: Kate Elizabeth Russell
- Narrated by: Grace Gummer
- Length: 16 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,713
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,097
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,089
2000. Bright, ambitious, and yearning for adulthood, 15-year-old Vanessa Wye becomes entangled in an affair with Jacob Strane, her magnetic and guileful 42-year-old English teacher. 2017. Amid the rising wave of allegations against powerful men, a reckoning is coming due. Strane has been accused of sexual abuse by a former student, who reaches out to Vanessa, and now Vanessa suddenly finds herself facing an impossible choice: Remain silent, firm in the belief that her teenage self willingly engaged in this relationship, or redefine herself and the events of her past.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
I apologize
- By Judy George on 03-13-20
-
Such a Fun Age
- Reese's Book Club (A Novel)
- By: Kiley Reid
- Narrated by: Nicole Lewis
- Length: 9 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 13,533
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 11,798
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 11,754
Alix Chamberlain is a woman who gets what she wants and has made a living, with her confidence-driven brand, showing other women how to do the same. So she is shocked when her babysitter, Emira Tucker, is confronted while watching the Chamberlains' toddler one night, walking the aisles of their local high-end supermarket. The store's security guard, seeing a young Black woman out late with a White child, accuses Emira of kidnapping two-year-old Briar. A small crowd gathers, a bystander films everything, and Emira is furious and humiliated. Alix resolves to make things right.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
This is embarrassing!
- By Anonymous User on 01-31-20
-
Deacon King Kong
- A Novel
- By: James McBride
- Narrated by: Dominic Hoffman
- Length: 14 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 6,246
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 5,436
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 5,395
In September 1969, a fumbling, cranky old church deacon known as Sportcoat shuffles into the courtyard of the Cause Houses housing project in south Brooklyn, pulls a .38 from his pocket, and, in front of everybody, shoots the project's drug dealer at point-blank range. The reasons for this desperate burst of violence and the consequences that spring from it lie at the heart of Deacon King Kong, James McBride's funny, moving novel and his first since his National Book Award-winning The Good Lord Bird.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Masterpiece
- By Linda G McDonough on 05-17-20
-
The Gentleman from Peru
- By: André Aciman
- Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini
- Length: 2 hrs and 39 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 4,057
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,707
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,691
It’s been 10 years since a group of college friends made a vow: that the first to get rich would rent a boat and invite the others on a cruise. Now, the friends find themselves marooned at a luxurious hotel on the Amalfi Coast in Italy. While their boat is being repaired, they can’t help but observe the daily routine of a fellow hotel guest - a mysterious, white-bearded stranger who sits on the veranda each night and smokes one cigarette, sometimes two.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A beautiful escape . . .
- By Michele on 09-02-20
-
My Dark Vanessa
- A Novel
- By: Kate Elizabeth Russell
- Narrated by: Grace Gummer
- Length: 16 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,713
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,097
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,089
2000. Bright, ambitious, and yearning for adulthood, 15-year-old Vanessa Wye becomes entangled in an affair with Jacob Strane, her magnetic and guileful 42-year-old English teacher. 2017. Amid the rising wave of allegations against powerful men, a reckoning is coming due. Strane has been accused of sexual abuse by a former student, who reaches out to Vanessa, and now Vanessa suddenly finds herself facing an impossible choice: Remain silent, firm in the belief that her teenage self willingly engaged in this relationship, or redefine herself and the events of her past.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
I apologize
- By Judy George on 03-13-20
-
Such a Fun Age
- Reese's Book Club (A Novel)
- By: Kiley Reid
- Narrated by: Nicole Lewis
- Length: 9 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 13,533
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 11,798
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 11,754
Alix Chamberlain is a woman who gets what she wants and has made a living, with her confidence-driven brand, showing other women how to do the same. So she is shocked when her babysitter, Emira Tucker, is confronted while watching the Chamberlains' toddler one night, walking the aisles of their local high-end supermarket. The store's security guard, seeing a young Black woman out late with a White child, accuses Emira of kidnapping two-year-old Briar. A small crowd gathers, a bystander films everything, and Emira is furious and humiliated. Alix resolves to make things right.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
This is embarrassing!
- By Anonymous User on 01-31-20