by Heather Fawcett Read by Ell Potter & Michael Dodds Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there! Or listen at Libro.fm Others in the series: Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries Content: There are some dangerous moments and an off-screen sex scene. For some reason, it’s in the Romance section of the bookstore, which I disagree with. (While it has a romance, it’s not Romance!) Spoilers for the first one, obviously. It’s a little while after the events of the last book, and Emily and Wendell have settled back into teaching (such as it is, for Wendell) at Cambridge. But, soon ..read more

by Maggie Thrash Read by Hope Newhouse Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there! Or listen at Libro.fm Content: There is a lot of swearing, including multiple f-bombs, frank talk of sex, and descriptions of a murder scene. It’s in the Mystery section of the bookstore (for a lack of a better place to put it.) Lacey Bond had an idyllic childhood, out in the New Hampshire woods with her hippie parents who ran a daycare. But then, when she was 13, her parents were arrested on 30 counts of pedophilia, with the townspeople – and more importantly, therapists and prosecutors – accusing ..read more

by Nicola Baker Read by Kristin Atherton Listen at Libro.fm (I think it’s only in e-book and audio) Content: There are some intense moments. It would be in the Middle Grade (grades 3-5) section of the bookstore if it were a print book. Ava is stuck at Whistledown Farm for two whole weeks while her parents make an important trip to America. She’s a city girl, and during the only visits she’s ever made to the sheep farm she’s mostly kept to the house. She’s not sure she wants to spend two whole weeks with her aunt, uncle, and cousin (especially since her cousin is less than thrlled to see her ..read more

by George M. Johnson Read by the author Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there! Or listen at Libro.fm Content: There is some swearing, including a few f-bombs. There is also a graphic depiction of sexual assault and some on-page sex. It’s in the Teen Issues section of the bookstore. In the wake of Nex Benedict’s death, and at the end of Black History month, I decided it was time to listen to this one, which I’ve had on my TBR pile since it came out in 2020. Nominally, Johnson’s memoir of a childhood growing up in a loving Black family while questioning his sexuality and gender ..read more

by Nic Stone Read by the author and Dion Graham Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there! Or listen at Libro.fm Content: There is some mild swearing (I don’t remember any f-bombs); teenage drinking; talk of mental health, self-harm, and a parental affair. It’s in the Teen (grades 9+) section of the bookstore. Ever since Shelbi moved to Georgia, she has one rule: don’t get close to anyone. A former “friend” hurt her badly at her last school, and her mental health can’t handle it. What she doesn’t count on is Andy, who she passes one night, sitting in the back of a cop car, having ..read more

by Heather Fawcett Read by Ell Potter & Michael Dodds Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there! Or listen at Libro.fm Content: There are some intense moments, and it’s a bit slow at times. It’s in the Science Fiction/ Fantasy section of the bookstore. Emily Wilde has been working on her Encyclopedia of Faeries, documenting as many as she can, for years. And she’s finally gotten funding to go do a field study of the Hidden Ones in Hrafnsvik. She arrives just as winter’s beginning, and because she’s not a terribly personable person, she gets off on the wrong foot. Enter Wendel ..read more

by Leslie Jones Read by the author Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there! Or listen at Libro.fm Content: This is sweary. SO very sweary. Like, I don’t know how many sentences didn’t have the f-bomb. (Plus 10 uses of the n-word, but that’s her prerogative.) It’s in the humor section of the bookstore. I tell so many people that the best way to read a celebrity memoir is to listen to it on audio. I’ve even gone as far as to say that I actively won’t read a memoir if the author doesn’t read it. (Case in point: I have yet to read Elton John’s memoir, even though I have a copy of i ..read more

by Lisa Yee Read by Cindy Kay Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there! Or listen at Libro.fm Content: It’s a fast-paced novel, and there are illustrations in the print version. Some intense moments may be scary to sensitive readers. It’s in the Middle Grade (grades 3-5) section of the bookstore. Olvie Coben Zang has been an outcast her entire life. Her parents are too busy to pay her much attention, she doesn’t really fit in at school, she has no friends… the works. The only person who really saw her was her grandmother, Mimi, but she has passed on. And then, out of the blue, h ..read more

by Lex Croucher Read by: Alex Singh & Sarah Ovens Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there! Or listen at Libro.fm Content: There is swearing, including multiple f-bombs, and talking about an older teenager getting drunk. It’s in the Teen section (grades 9+) of the bookstore. Gwen is a princess in Camelot (not that Gwen, though), and the only thing she does NOT want to do is marry her betrothed, Arthur. She’d much rather spend her days in her routine, and pine after Lady Bridget Leclair, the first lady knight. It’s a good thing she discovers that Arthur feels much t ..read more

by Travis Baldree Read by the author Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there! Or listen at Libro.fm Others in the series: Legends & Lattes Content: There is swearing, including many f-bombs, and some violence. It’s in the Science Fiction/Fantasy section of the bookstore. In this prequel to Legends & Lattes, Viv finds herself injured and unexpectedly laid up due to an injury in the seaside town of Murk. She’s accustomed to being active, so having to convalesce is not something she wants to do. In her wandering around the down, she discovers a run-down bookshop ..read more