AUGUST 2, 2019
Please excuse my dear aunt—wait, what?
Around here we’re unabashed word geeks first, and number sleuths a distant…eighth, maybe? But this week our group chat lit up with excitement and differing opinions about how to solve a seemingly basic algebraic equation: 8 ÷ 2(2+2). Apparently—according to the internet, at least—the answer depends on how you were taught math (team PEMDAS, btw), which blew our wait-isn’t-math-the-universal-language minds. BRB, listening to A Mind for Numbers: How to Excel at Math and Science (Even If You Flunked Algebra).A 16-year-old videogamer is now a millionaire (let that sink in).
Esports have been a phenomenon for years, but the teenager who won the first official global Fortnite competition has earned the biggest cash prize yet: a cool $3 million. But it’s not all fun and games for the new champion, who treats gaming like a day job, regularly “working” 40+ hours a week to grind his way to the top all while being a junior in high school. If that seems controversial, it’s only the beginning: from Fortnite’s most prominent streamer refusing to play with women to legally questionable loot boxes, it’s unclear when (or if) esports will earn widespread cultural legitimacy. But one thing seems certain: esports are here to stay.Breakups are for the birds.
Not since “Cat Person” have we seen a literary piece on relationships go so viral. CJ Hauser’s “The Crane Wife,” a heart-exploding essay about breaking off an engagement before a whooping-crane expedition, made us think about so many things: need versus desire, giving ourselves permission to want more from a partner, Squirrel Nutkin 🐿️. If you loved the essay then you’re definitely going to want to check out Hauser’s new novel, Family of Origin, about a family coping with the loss of their biologist father, whose obsessive research focused on a rare sea duck called the “undowny bufflehead.” Zoomorphic literary tales seem to be a hot trend of late, and we know just who would approve…Herman Melville may be 200, but he’s never been hotter.
If you saw more splashy hot takes about Moby-Dick than usual this week, it’s because the classic is celebrating a very special milestone. Author Herman Melville would have turned 200 this week. As fellow Moby-Dick fans, we agree that the author was centuries ahead of his time in his thinking about conservation, same-sex love, and the evils of slavery. And he also just wrote damn good scenes about clam chowder, cursed doubloons, and the art of the gam! If you need help picking a version to listen to, Editor Rachel (whose Moby-Dick tattoo gives her a smidge of cred) says you can’t go wrong with William Hootkins’s hugely entertaining narration.Also hot: trees.
Editor Christina tipped us off to a new Twitter follow: a century-old redwood that’s tweeting about climate change from the Harvard forest. (Follow back? Audio doesn’t use paper!) But more to the point, says Christina: “Trees are the new black; see The Nature Cure and all the forest-bathing listens. The best forest I, personally, ever visited was the untouched birch forest in Belarus: it was silent at first (unless you were still and then the animals started to rustle again), and the duff was a foot thick or more. When I first listened to The World Without Us, its opening description of the primeval forest between Belarus and Ukraine totally captured how I felt. I guess I’m a tree-hugger, after all…but if loving trees is wrong, I don’t want to be right!” We think the truck driver behind one of our favorite listener reviews of all time would agree.And a few more pieces of news:
- Madeleine Miller’s Circe—our Best Fiction pick of 2018—is getting a shiny TV adaptation at HBO. GET EXCITED.
- Speaking of in-house favorites, Where the Crawdads Sing is majorly beloved around here. We’re newly fascinated after reading Slate’s detailed story on author Delia Owens’s time in Zambia and the murder of a poacher that happened there.
- Whistleblower Edward Snowden is releasing a memoir about his role spilling secrets on mass surveillance, Permanent Record, due Sept. 17. Something tells us this is going to be a big one.
—the audible editors
Audiobooks in This Edition
-
Semicolon
- The Past, Present, and Future of a Misunderstood Mark
- By: Cecelia Watson
- Narrated by: Pam Ward
- Length: 3 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 59
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 50
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 48
A pause-resisting, existential romp through the life and times of the world’s most polarizing punctuation mark. Through her rollicking biography of the semicolon, Watson writes a guide to grammar that explains why we don’t need guides at all and refocuses our attention on the deepest, most primary value of language: true communication.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Silly me; I thought it was about semicolons
- By Jeffrey D on 08-15-19
-
Clash at Fatal Fields
- Trapped in Battle Royale, Book 1
- By: Devin Hunter
- Narrated by: Ramon de Ocampo
- Length: 2 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 296
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 252
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 251
Grey logs into Battle Royale for the first time, but unlike before, he passes out and wakes up in the virtual lobby, and everything is as real as can be. Four others stand there with him as an admin tells them they are the "new meat" and that their game has been hacked. Their consciousness will be trapped in this version of Fortnite until they can become the top five players for a season. Grey struggles to figure out the tools as people come to kill him. He is eliminated quickly, much to his disappointment. Maybe this won't be as easy as he thought.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
For Gamers, but a fun diversion regardless
- By H.L.C. on 02-02-21
-
"Cat Person" and Other Stories
- By: Kristen Roupenian
- Narrated by: Aubrey Plaza, Jayme Mattler, Molly Pope, and others
- Length: 7 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 301
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 266
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 266
This collection brilliantly explores the ways in which women are horrifying, as much as it captures the horrors that are done to them. Spanning a range of genres and topics - from the mundane to the murderous and supernatural - these are stories about sex and punishment, guilt and anger, the pleasure and terror of inflicting and experiencing pain. These stories fascinate and repel, revolt and arouse, scare and delight in equal measure. And, as a collection, they point a finger at you, daring you to feel uncomfortable.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
I definitely don’t want this.
- By K. Clay on 01-16-19
-
The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin
- By: Beatrix Potter
- Narrated by: Emma Messenger
- Length: 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 14
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 11
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 11
The story of Nutkin and his narrow escape from an owl called Old Brown. This book followed The Tale of Peter Rabbit, and was an instant hit.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
On repeat in this house
- By Elana on 12-19-16
-
Family of Origin
- A Novel
- By: CJ Hauser
- Narrated by: Kristen Sieh
- Length: 8 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 44
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 40
-
Story3.5 out of 5 stars 40
When Nolan Grey receives news that his father, a once-prominent biologist, has drowned off Leap's Island, he calls on Elsa, his estranged, older half-sister, to help pick up the pieces. This, despite the fact that it was he and Elsa who broke the family in the first place. The Greys have been avoiding each other for a dozen years. Elsa and Nolan travel to their father's field station, a wild and isolated spot off the Gulf Coast.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
I hate giving bad reviews
- By kiwords on 08-05-19
-
Good Luck Have Fun
- The Rise of eSports
- By: Roland Li
- Narrated by: Alexander Cendese
- Length: 6 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 71
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 61
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 60
Esports is one of the fastest growing - and most cutthroat - industries in the world. A confluence of technology, culture, and determination has made this possible. Players around the world compete for millions of dollars in prize money, and companies like Amazon, Coca-Cola, and Intel have invested billions. Esports events have sold out Los Angeles' Staples Center, Seoul's World Cup Stadium, and Seattle's KeyArena. Hundreds of people have dedicated their lives to gaming, sacrificing their education, their relationships, and even their bodies to compete.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Pronunciation errors are frequent
- By Amazon Customer on 09-30-16
-
Semicolon
- The Past, Present, and Future of a Misunderstood Mark
- By: Cecelia Watson
- Narrated by: Pam Ward
- Length: 3 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 59
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 50
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 48
A pause-resisting, existential romp through the life and times of the world’s most polarizing punctuation mark. Through her rollicking biography of the semicolon, Watson writes a guide to grammar that explains why we don’t need guides at all and refocuses our attention on the deepest, most primary value of language: true communication.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Silly me; I thought it was about semicolons
- By Jeffrey D on 08-15-19
-
Clash at Fatal Fields
- Trapped in Battle Royale, Book 1
- By: Devin Hunter
- Narrated by: Ramon de Ocampo
- Length: 2 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 296
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 252
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 251
Grey logs into Battle Royale for the first time, but unlike before, he passes out and wakes up in the virtual lobby, and everything is as real as can be. Four others stand there with him as an admin tells them they are the "new meat" and that their game has been hacked. Their consciousness will be trapped in this version of Fortnite until they can become the top five players for a season. Grey struggles to figure out the tools as people come to kill him. He is eliminated quickly, much to his disappointment. Maybe this won't be as easy as he thought.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
For Gamers, but a fun diversion regardless
- By H.L.C. on 02-02-21
-
"Cat Person" and Other Stories
- By: Kristen Roupenian
- Narrated by: Aubrey Plaza, Jayme Mattler, Molly Pope, and others
- Length: 7 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 301
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 266
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 266
This collection brilliantly explores the ways in which women are horrifying, as much as it captures the horrors that are done to them. Spanning a range of genres and topics - from the mundane to the murderous and supernatural - these are stories about sex and punishment, guilt and anger, the pleasure and terror of inflicting and experiencing pain. These stories fascinate and repel, revolt and arouse, scare and delight in equal measure. And, as a collection, they point a finger at you, daring you to feel uncomfortable.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
I definitely don’t want this.
- By K. Clay on 01-16-19
-
The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin
- By: Beatrix Potter
- Narrated by: Emma Messenger
- Length: 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 14
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 11
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 11
The story of Nutkin and his narrow escape from an owl called Old Brown. This book followed The Tale of Peter Rabbit, and was an instant hit.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
On repeat in this house
- By Elana on 12-19-16
-
Family of Origin
- A Novel
- By: CJ Hauser
- Narrated by: Kristen Sieh
- Length: 8 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 44
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 40
-
Story3.5 out of 5 stars 40
When Nolan Grey receives news that his father, a once-prominent biologist, has drowned off Leap's Island, he calls on Elsa, his estranged, older half-sister, to help pick up the pieces. This, despite the fact that it was he and Elsa who broke the family in the first place. The Greys have been avoiding each other for a dozen years. Elsa and Nolan travel to their father's field station, a wild and isolated spot off the Gulf Coast.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
I hate giving bad reviews
- By kiwords on 08-05-19
-
Good Luck Have Fun
- The Rise of eSports
- By: Roland Li
- Narrated by: Alexander Cendese
- Length: 6 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 71
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 61
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 60
Esports is one of the fastest growing - and most cutthroat - industries in the world. A confluence of technology, culture, and determination has made this possible. Players around the world compete for millions of dollars in prize money, and companies like Amazon, Coca-Cola, and Intel have invested billions. Esports events have sold out Los Angeles' Staples Center, Seoul's World Cup Stadium, and Seattle's KeyArena. Hundreds of people have dedicated their lives to gaming, sacrificing their education, their relationships, and even their bodies to compete.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Pronunciation errors are frequent
- By Amazon Customer on 09-30-16