Arts & Entertainment
20 Audiobooks To Download Before Labor Day Weekend
In need of some entertainment during your holiday weekend travels? These audiobooks are currently topping the charts.
Whether you're flying, driving or taking the train to your Labor Day weekend destination, you're going to want something to listen to during your travels — especially when you find yourself stuck in traffic or taxiing on the runway.
If you're sick of your usual road trip playlist or are in the mood for something more substantial than Taylor Swift's latest album, a good audiobook is sure to keep you enthralled for at least a few hours. These are the 20 top fiction and non-fiction audiobooks that have been flying off Audible's digital shelves, as reported by the Associated Press.
So find one that interests you, press the download button and hit the road (or sky). Happy travels!
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Top Fiction Audiobooks
#1. Game of Thrones: A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin
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"From a master of contemporary fantasy comes the first novel of a landmark series unlike any you’ve ever read before. With A Game of Thrones, George R. R. Martin has launched a genuine masterpiece, bringing together the best the genre has to offer. Mystery, intrigue, romance, and adventure fill the pages of this magnificent saga, the first volume in an epic series sure to delight fantasy fans everywhere."
#2. Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote
"Breakfast at Tiffany's, Truman Capote's most beloved work of fiction, introduced an independent and complex character who challenged audiences, revived Audrey Hepburn's flagging career in the 1961 film version, and whose name and style has remained in the national idiom since publication. Narrator Michael C. Hall uses his diligent attention to character to bring our unnamed narrator's emotional vulnerability to the forefront of this American classic."
#3. All These Worlds: Bobiverse by Dennis E. Taylor
"Being a sentient spaceship really should be more fun. But after spreading out through space for almost a century, Bob and his clones just can't stay out of trouble. They've created enough colonies so humanity shouldn't go extinct. But political squabbles have a bad habit of dying hard, and the Brazilian probes are still trying to take out the competition."
#4. The Next Always: Inn BoonsBoro Trilogy, Book 1 by Nora Roberts
"The historic hotel in Boonsboro has endured war and peace, the changing of hands, and even rumored hauntings. Now it's getting a major face-lift from the Montgomery brothers and their eccentric mother. As the architect in the family, Beckett's social life consists mostly of talking shop over pizza and beer. But there's another project he's got his eye on: the girl he's been waiting to kiss since he was sixteen."
#5. True Grit by Charles Portis
"True Grit tells the story of Mattie Ross, who is just fourteen years of age when a coward going by the name of Tom Chaney shoots her father down in Fort Smith, Arkansas, and robs him of his life, his horse, and $150 in cash. Mattie leaves home to avenge her father’s blood. With the one-eyed Rooster Cogburn, the meanest available U.S. Marshal, by her side, Mattie pursues the homicide into Indian Territory."
#6. Will Save the Galaxy for Food by Yahtzee Croshaw
"Space travel just isn't what it used to be. With the invention of Quantum Teleportation, space heroes aren't needed anymore. When one particularly unlucky ex-adventurer masquerades as famous pilot and hate figure Jacques McKeown, he's sucked into an ever-deepening corporate and political intrigue. Between space pirates, adorable deadly creatures, and a missing fortune in royalties, saving the universe was never this difficult!"
#7. Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate
"Based on one of America's most notorious real-life scandals - in which Georgia Tann, director of a Memphis-based adoption organization, kidnapped and sold poor children to wealthy families all over the country - Lisa Wingate's riveting, wrenching, and ultimately uplifting tale reminds us how, even though the paths we take can lead to many places, the heart never forgets where we belong."
#8. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
"At once wildly original and stuffed with irresistible nostalgia, Ready Player One is a spectacularly genre-busting, ambitious, and charming debut - part quest novel, part love story, and part virtual space opera set in a universe where spell-slinging mages battle giant Japanese robots, entire planets are inspired by Blade Runner, and flying DeLoreans achieve light speed."
#9. What the Night Knows by Dean Koontz
"Here is a ghost story like no other you have read. In the Calvinos, Dean Koontz brings to life a family that might be your own, in a war for their survival against an adversary more malevolent than any he has yet created, with their own home the battleground. Of all his acclaimed novels, none exceeds What the Night Knows in power, in chilling suspense, and in sheer mesmerizing storytelling."
#10. The Good Daughter by Karin Slaughter
"Two girls are forced into the woods at gunpoint. One runs for her life. One is left behind... Twenty-eight years ago, Charlotte and Samantha Quinn's happy small-town family life was torn apart by a terrifying attack on their family home. It left their mother dead. It left their father — Pikeville's notorious defense attorney — devastated. And it left the family fractured beyond repair, consumed by secrets from that terrible night."
Watch: 10 Audiobooks To Download Before Labor Day Weekend
Top Nonfiction Audiobooks
#1. The Butterfly Effect with Jon Ronson
"From best-selling writer Jon Ronson and the executive producer behind the TED Radio Hour and Invisibilia, Audible Originals presents a new seven-episode series, The Butterfly Effect with Jon Ronson.
Hear the story of what happened when the tech industry gave the world what it wanted: free porn. Lives were mangled. Fortunes were made. All for your pleasure. Follow writer and narrator Jon Ronson as he uncovers our web of desire."
#2. My Favorite Universe by The Great Courses
"In an era when science journalism is perhaps more thorough and ambitious than ever before, fascinating explorations of questions like these seem available to us almost every day - provided we have a working understanding of the scientific theories on which they're based. Discover the answers to these and other startling questions about the cosmos with My Favorite Universe, a spirited and intellectually engaging journey through the cosmos and its history, from before the big bang to the likely ways in which Earth, and perhaps the entire universe, might end.
Explore how black holes are formed, how asteroids move through space, why the odds seem overwhelmingly in favor of extraterrestrial life, and much more."
#3. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life by Mark Manson
"There are only so many things we can give a f*ck about, so we need to figure out which ones really matter, Manson makes clear. While money is nice, caring about what you do with your life is better, because true wealth is about experience. A much-needed grab-you-by-the-shoulders-and-look-you-in-the-eye moment of real talk, filled with entertaining stories and profane, ruthless humor, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck is a refreshing slap for a generation to help them lead contented, grounded lives."
#4. 10% Happier: How I Tamed the Voice in My Head, Reduced Stress Without Losing My Edge, and Found a Self-Help That Actually Works by Dan Harris
"After having a nationally televised panic attack on Good Morning America, Dan Harris knew he had to make some changes. A lifelong nonbeliever, he found himself on a bizarre adventure, involving a disgraced pastor, a mysterious self-help guru, and a gaggle of brain scientists. Eventually, Harris realized that the source of his problems was the very thing he always thought was his greatest asset: the incessant, insatiable voice in his head, which had both propelled him through the ranks of a hyper-competitive business and also led him to make the profoundly stupid decisions that provoked his on-air freak-out.
10% Happier takes listeners on a ride from the outer reaches of neuroscience to the inner sanctum of network news to the bizarre fringes of America's spiritual scene, and leaves them with a takeaway that could actually change their lives."
#5. I Can't Make This Up: Life Lessons by Kevin Hart
"Superstar comedian and Hollywood box-office star Kevin Hart turns his immense talent to the written word by writing some words. Some of those words include: the, a, for, above, and even even. Put them together and you have the funniest, most heartfelt, and most inspirational memoir on survival, success, and the importance of believing in yourself since Old Yeller."
#6. Sell or Be Sold: How to Get Your Way in Business and in Life by Grant Cardone
"Whether it's selling your company's product in the boardroom or selling yourself on eating healthy, everything in life can and should be treated as a sale. And as sales expert Grant Cardone explains, knowing the principles of selling is a prerequisite for success of any kind.
In Sell or Be Sold, Cardone breaks down the techniques and approaches necessary to master the art of selling in any avenue. You will learn how to handle rejection, turn around negative situations, shorten sales cycles, and guarantee yourself greatness."
#7. The 5 Second Rule: Transform Your Life, Work, and Confidence with Everyday Courage by Mel Robbins
"Throughout your life, you've had parents, coaches, teachers, friends, and mentors who have pushed you to be better than your excuses and bigger than your fears. What if the secret to having the confidence and courage to enrich your life and work is simply knowing how to push yourself?
Using the science of habits, riveting stories, and surprising facts from some of the most famous moments in history, art, and business, Mel Robbins will explain the power of a "push moment". Then, she'll give you one simple tool you can use to become your greatest self."
#8. The Glass Castle: A Memoir by Jeannette Walls
"As the dysfunction of her family escalated, Jeannette and her brother and sisters had to fend for themselves, supporting one another as they weathered their parents' betrayals and, finally, found the resources and will to leave home.
What is so astonishing about Jeannette Walls is not just that she had the guts and tenacity and intelligence to get out, but that she describes her parents with such deep affection and generosity. Hers is a story of triumph against all odds, but also a tender, moving tale of unconditional love in a family that despite its profound flaws gave her the fiery determination to carve out a successful life on her own terms."
#9. Cesar Millan's Guide to Audiobooks for Dogs by Cesar Millan
"You know him as the star of TV's Dog Whisperer and Cesar 911. Now, America's best-loved dog expert takes listeners inside the canine mind and explains how audiobooks can help dogs overcome the stress, boredom and depression they can experience when their human companions leave the home.
By turns practical and illuminating, Cesar Millan's Guide to Audiobooks for Dogs is packed with fascinating insights into dog behavior and inspirational tips for creating a happier and healthier relationship for you and your four-legged friend."
#10. Al Franken, Giant of the Senate by Al Franken
"This is a book about an unlikely campaign that had an even more improbable ending: the closest outcome in history and an unprecedented eight-month recount saga, which is pretty funny in retrospect. It's a book about what happens when the nation's foremost progressive satirist gets a chance to serve in the United States Senate and, defying the low expectations of the pundit class, actually turns out to be good at it. It's a book about our deeply polarized, frequently depressing, occasionally inspiring political culture, written from inside the belly of the beast. In this candid personal memoir, the honorable gentleman from Minnesota takes his army of loyal fans along with him from Saturday Night Live to the campaign trail, inside the halls of Congress, and behind the scenes of some of the most dramatic and/or hilarious moments of his new career in politics."
First photo credit: Dino Reichmuth/Unsplash
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