Michael Crouch has narrated 174 audiobooks on Listento.it by 172 authors, with an average listener rating of 4.4★ across 3,066 ratings. The most-rated is The Sea in the Sky.
A Registry of My Passage upon the Earth
Summary
"Unique and beguiling... Mason's first short story collection is a treasure trove of lush scene setting in faraway times and places, from the wilds of England to the Malay Archipelago... A perfect and fitting pick for these seemingly endless days when science, our understanding of reality and a faint longing for human connection are so irrevocably intertwined." (Alexis Burling, San Francisco Chronicle) A Library Journal Best Book of 2020 On a fateful flight, a balloonist makes a discovery that changes her life forever. A telegraph operator finds an unexpected companion in the middle of the Amazon. A doctor is beset by seizures, in which he is possessed by a second, perhaps better, version of himself. And in Regency London, a bare-knuckle fighter prepares to face his most fearsome opponent, while a young mother seeks a miraculous cure for her ailing son. At times funny and irreverent, always moving and deeply urgent, these stories - among them a National Magazine Award and a Pushcart Prize winner - cap a 15-year project. From the Nile's depths to the highest reaches of the atmosphere, from volcano-racked islands to an asylum on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, these are tales of ecstasy, epiphany, and what the New York Times Magazine called the "[S]truggle for survival...hand to hand, word to word", by "[O]ne of the finest prose stylists in American fiction".
©2020 Daniel Mason (P)2020 Hachette Audio
Felix Yz
Summary
"If it wasn't for the fused-with-Zyx thing, I suppose I would just be normal - whatever that means." When Felix Yz was three years old, a hyperintelligent fourth-dimensional being became fused inside him after one of his father's science experiments went terribly wrong. The creature is friendly, but Felix - now 13 - won't be able to grow to adulthood while they're still melded together. So a risky Procedure is planned to separate them...but it may end up killing them both instead. This book is Felix's secret blog, a chronicle of the days leading up to the Procedure. Some days it's business as usual - time with his close-knit family, run-ins with a bully at school, anxiety about his crush. But life becomes more out of the ordinary with the arrival of an Estonian chess Grandmaster, the revelation of family secrets, and a train-hopping journey. When it all might be over in a few days, what matters most? Told in an unforgettable voice full of heart and humor, Felix Yz is a groundbreaking story about how we are all separate, but all connected too.
©2017 Lisa Bunker (P)2017 Listening Library
Not So Normal Norbert
Summary
James Patterson's rollicking new middle-grade novel is a hilarious adventure into a futuristic world, where different is dangerous, imagination is insanity, and creativity is crazy! Norbert Riddle lives in the United State of Earth, where normal means following the rules, never standing out, and being exactly the same as everyone else, down to the plain gray jumpsuits he wears everyday. He's been normal his whole life - until a moment of temporary hilarity when he does a funny impression of their dictator, Loving Leader...and gets caught! Now, Norbert's been arrested and banished to planet Zorquat 3 in the Orion Nebula, where kids who defy the rules roam free in the Astronuts camp. Norbert has been taught his whole life that different is wrong, but everyone at Astronuts is crazy, creative, and insane! Norbert wants nothing more than to go back to Earth where things are awful but at least they're familiar. But he soon realizes that being different could be better - and maybe the crazy farm is exactly where he belongs after all.
©2018 James Patterson and Joey Green (P)2018 Hachette Audio
The Expectations
Summary
From "a dazzling new voice in American fiction" (Jennifer Egan), a finely drawn portrait of American privilege and a subtle exploration of class, race, and tradition. St. James is an exclusive New England boarding school known for grooming generations of leaders. Ben Weeks is a true insider - his ancestors helped found St. James, his older brother taught him all the slang, and he's just won a national championship in squash. But after 14 long years of waiting, Ben arrives at school only to find that the reality of St. James doesn't quite match up with his imaginings. At the same time, his new roommate, Ahmed Al-Khaled, the son of a fabulously wealthy Emirati sheik, can't navigate the unspoken rules of New England blue bloods. Even as Ben and Ahmed struggle to prove themselves in the place they have revered for so long, each of them must face losing it forever. Tender, sharp, and evocative, The Expectations is a compelling novel about the pain and treachery of adolescence, and the difficulty - wherever one finds oneself - of truly belonging.
©2019 Alexander Tilney (P)2019 Hachette Audio
Faraway
Summary
Classic fables take on new meaning as five of today’s most original bestselling authors serve up some deliciously modern twists. New reflections on evil queens, charmless princes, and star-crossed lovers branch out in provocative and enchanting directions. Follow the path and see where it leads... THE PRINCE AND THE TROLL by Rainbow Rowell A charming everyman and a mysterious something-under-the-bridge cross paths in a short fairy tale by the number one New York Times bestselling author of Eleanor & Park and the Simon Snow series. HAZEL AND GRAY by Nic Stone Two anxious young lovers lost in the woods. A beckoning mansion in a dark clearing. A short modern-day retelling of Hansel and Gretel by the number one New York Times bestselling author of Dear Martin. THE PRINCESS GAME by Soman Chainani There are no happy endings for the Princesses of Chaminade High in this short, twisty tale of teenage murder games by the New York Times bestselling author of The School for Good and Evil series. THE CLEANERS by Ken Liu Touch the past or wash it away? Two sisters have a choice in this unforgettable short story of everyday magic and the power of memory by the Hugo and Nebula Award–winning author Ken Liu. THE WICKEDS by Gayle Forman The reviled villainesses of Snow White, Cinderella, and Rapunzel team up to set the record straight in a subversively funny short story by the number one New York Times bestselling author of If I Stay. Full list of narrators includes Kate Rudd and Frankie Corzo.
©2020 The Prince and the Troll © 2020 by Rainbow Rowell. Hazel and Gray © 2020 by Logolepsy Media Inc. The Princess Game © 2020 by Soman Chainani. The Cleaners © 2020 by Ken Liu. The Wickeds © 2020 by Gayle Forman Inc. (P)2020 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.
The Great Treehouse War
Summary
Kids vs. parents! An epic treehouse sleepover! An awesome group of friends! An exciting new book from National Book Award finalist Lisa Graff. Winnie’s last day of fourth grade ended with a pretty life-changing surprise. That was the day Winnie’s parents got divorced, the day they decided that Winnie would live three days a week with each of them and spend Wednesdays by herself in a treehouse smack between their houses, to divide her time perfectly evenly between them. It was the day Winnie’s seed of frustration with her parents was planted, a seed that grew and grew until it felt like it was as big as a tree itself. By the end of fifth grade, Winnie decides that the only way to change things is to barricade herself in her treehouse until her parents come to their senses - and her friends decide to join her. It’s kids versus grown-ups, and no one wants to back down first. But with ten kids in one treehouse, all with their own demands, Winnie discovers that things can get pretty complicated pretty fast! Even if they are having the most epic slumber party ever. In the newest novel by beloved National Book Award finalist Lisa Graff, kids have turned the tables on their parents, and all the rules have been tossed out the window. But does Winnie have what it takes to hold her ground and keep everyone happy? This story, with a pitch-perfect middle grade voice and zany yet poignant situation, is perfect for fans of Sharon Creech, Louis Sachar, and Jack Gantos. Featuring Ariana Delawari as Winnie, alongside a full cast of narrators: Michael Crouch, as Lyle Robbie Daymond, as Joey Lauren Fortgang, as Jolee Felicia Leicht, as Tabitha Sunil Malhotra, as Aayush Kathleen McInerney, as Greta Cassandra Morris, as Squizzy Tara Sands, as Brogan and Logan and also featuring an ensemble cast
©2017 Lisa Graff (P)2017 Listening Library
The Disappearing
Summary
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Best Books of 2018 Two-time Edgar Award-winning author Lori Roy spins a twisted, atmospheric tale about a small Southern town where girls disappear and boys run away. When Lane Fielding fled her isolated Florida hometown after high school for the anonymity of New York City, she swore she'd never return. But 20 years later, newly divorced and with two daughters in tow, she finds herself tending bar at the local dive and living with her parents on the historic Fielding Plantation. Here, the past haunts her and the sinister crimes of her father - the former director of an infamous boys' school - make her as unwelcome in town as she was the day she left. Ostracized by the people she was taught to trust, Lane's unsteady truce with the town is rattled when her older daughter suddenly vanishes. Ten days earlier, a college student went missing, and the two disappearances at first ignite fears that a serial killer who once preyed upon the town has returned. But when Lane's younger daughter admits to having made a new and unseemly friend, a desperate Lane attacks her hometown's façade to discover whether her daughter's disappearance is payback for her father's crimes - or for her own. With reporters descending upon the town, police combing through the swamp, and events taking increasingly disturbing turns, Lane fears she faces too many enemies and too little time to bring her daughter safely home. Powerful and heart-pounding, The Disappearing questions the endurance of family bonds, the dangers of dark rumors and small town gossip, and how sometimes home is the scariest place of all.
©2018 Lori Roy (P)2018 Penguin Audio
Let's Get Back to the Party
Summary
Set in the year between the 2015 Supreme Court marriage equality ruling and the 2016 Pulse nightclub massacre, Let’s Get Back to the Party explores the intertwined lives of two gay men named Sebastian Mote and Oscar Burnham: estranged childhood friends who reconnect as adults in Washington, DC. Thirty-somethings who came of age after the AIDS crisis but before the current era where they might have had the comfort of an out adolescence, the two have grown into very different men. Sebastian, a straitlaced suburban high school teacher mourning the end of a long-term relationship, finds his orderly lifestyle threatened by the appearance of Arthur Ayer, a gay student so comfortable in his own skin that Sebastian finds himself dangerously obsessed with the teenager. Oscar, furious and defiant in the face of what he sees as the death of queer culture, begins a confusing relationship - is it friendship or something more? - with once-eminent novelist Sean Stokes, known for graphic stories of pre-AIDS hedonism. Alternating chapters from Sebastian and Oscar’s points of view, Let’s Get Back to the Party recounts their mirrored struggles with generational envy, cultural identity, the traumas of history, and, ultimately, each other.
©2021 Zak Salih (P)2021 Workman Publishing
Santa Cruz Noir
Summary
Akashic Books continues its award-winning series of original noir anthologies, launched in 2004 with Brooklyn Noir. Each book comprises all new stories, each one set in a distinct neighborhood or location within the respective city. Following in the footsteps of Los Angeles Noir, San Francisco Noir, San Diego Noir, Orange County Noir, and Oakland Noir, this new volume further reveals the seedy underbelly of the Left Coast. Brand-new stories by: Tommy Moore, Jessica Breheny, Naomi Hirahara, Calvin McMillin, Liza Monroy, Elizabeth McKenzie, Jill Wolfson, Ariel Gore, Jon Bailiff, Maceo Montoya, Micah Perks, Seana Graham, Vinnie Hansen, Peggy Townsend, Margaret Elysia Garcia, Lou Mathews, Lee Quarnstrom, Dillon Kaiser, Beth Lisick, and Wallace Baine. From the introduction by Susie Bright: Every town has its noir-ville. It's easy to find in Santa Cruz. We live in what’s called "paradise", where you can wake up in a pool of blood with the first pink rays of the sunrise peeking out over our mountain range. The dewy mist lifts from the bay. Don't hate us because we're beautiful - we were made that way, like Venus rising off the foam with a brick in her hand. We can't help it if you fall for it every time.... "If I lived in a place like this," visitors often say, "I'd wake up with a smile every day." Oh, we do, thank you for that. There's no beauty like a merciless beauty - and like every crepuscular predator, she thrives at dawn and dusk. You're just the innocent we've been waiting for, with your big paper cone of sugar-shark cotton, whipped out of pure nothing. We have just the ride for you, the longest tunnel ever. Santa Cruz is everything you ever dreamed, and everything you ever screamed, in one long drop you'll never forget. Full cast of narrators includes: James Patrick Cronin, Richard Ferrone, Susie Bright, Beth Lisick, Liza Monroy, Bailey Carr, Florence Cuddihy, Dan Bittner, P. J. Ochlan, Jon Bailiff, Derek Stephen Prince, Eliza Foss, Almarie Guerra, Therese Plummer, Michael Crouch, Nick Sullivan, Allison Hiroto, and Thom Rivera.
©2018 Akashic Books (P)2018 Audible, Inc.
The Beckoning Fair One
Summary
All teenagers come of age. But in this spellbinding story by the bestselling author of Ill Will, one girl’s awakening requires something special. Something strange. Then it can all work like a charm. Ever since they were orphaned, Tyler has kept close tabs on his sister, Shannon. He has to, considering her weird and risky obsessions. Now she has a new one: an inexplicable crush on an odd-looking stranger. And what Shannon wants from her unwitting “honey boy,” Tyler can’t begin to fathom. Not until he follows his sister into the darkest corners of her desires. The Beckoning Fair One is part of Disorder, a collection of six short stories of living nightmares, chilling visions, and uncanny imagination that explore a world losing its balance in terrifying ways. Each piece can be read or listened to in a single disorienting sitting.
©2019 Dan Chaon (P)2019 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.
Bubblegum
Summary
"Adam Levin is one of our wildest writers and our funniest, and Bubblegum is a dazzling accomplishment of wit and inventiveness." (George Saunders) "Levin's brains may have earned him a cult...but here he swells to a democratic reach. Give him a try sometime. His gate’s wide open." (Garth Risk Hallberg, The New York Times Book Review) The astonishing new novel by the NYPL Young Lions Fiction Award-winning author of The Instructions. Bubblegum is set in an alternate present-day world in which the internet does not exist and has never existed. Rather, a wholly different species of interactive technology - a "flesh-and-bone robot" called the Curio - has dominated both the market and the cultural imagination since the late 1980s. Belt Magnet, who as a boy in greater Chicago became one of the lucky first adopters of a Curio, is now writing his memoir, and through it we follow a singular man out of sync with the harsh realities of a world he feels alien to but must find a way to live in. At age 38, still living at home with his widowed father, Belt insulates himself from the awful and terrifying world outside by spending most of his time with books, his beloved Curio, and the voices in his head, which he isn't entirely sure are in his head. After Belt's father goes on a fishing excursion, a simple trip to the bank escalates into an epic saga that eventually forces Belt to confront the world he fears as well as his estranged childhood friend, Jonboat, the celebrity astronaut and billionaire. In Bubblegum, Adam Levin has crafted a profoundly hilarious, resonant, and monumental narrative about heartbreak, longing, art, and the search for belonging in an incompatible world. Bubblegum is a rare masterwork of provocative social (and self-) awareness and intimate emotional power.
©2020 Adam Levin (P)2020 Random House Audio
Together in a Sudden Strangeness
Summary
In this urgent outpouring of American voices, our poets speak to us as they shelter in place, addressing our collective fear, grief, and hope from eloquent and diverse individual perspectives. Featuring 107 poets, from A to Z - Julia Alvarez to Matthew Zapruder - with work in between by Jericho Brown, Billy Collins, Fanny Howe, Ada Limón, Sharon Olds, Tommy Orange, Claudia Rankine, Vijay Seshadri, and Jeffrey Yang As the novel coronavirus and its devastating effects began to spread in the United States and around the world, Alice Quinn reached out to poets across the country to see if, and what, they were writing under quarantine. Moved and galvanized by the response, the onetime New Yorker poetry editor and recent former director of the Poetry Society of America began collecting the poems arriving in her inbox, assembling this various, intimate, and intricate portrait of our suddenly altered reality. Here, we find poets grieving for relatives they are separated from or recovering from illness themselves, attending to suddenly complicated household tasks or turning to literature for strength, considering the bravery of medical workers or working their own shifts at the hospital, and, as the Black Lives Matter movement has swept the globe, reflecting on the inequities in our society that amplify sorrow and demand our engagement. From fierce and resilient to wistful, darkly humorous, and emblematically reverent about the earth and the vulnerability of human beings in frightening times, the poems in this collection find the words to describe what can feel unspeakably difficult and strange, providing wisdom, companionship, and depths of feeling that enliven our spirits.
©2020 Alice Quinn (P)2020 Random House Audio
Killoe
Summary
Dan Killoe - over six feet of tough, raw, lightning-fast man. He had a trail heard and a mass of settlers to get across unknown territory to a new land. Then he gave shelter to a stranger being hunted by Felipe Soto, scar-faced leader of the renegade Comancheros. This time Killoe was borrowing more trouble than he wanted to handle.
©2016 Louis L'Amour (P)2016 Random House Audio
Middle School: Master of Disaster
Summary
In this blockbuster installment of the best-selling Middle School series, Rafe and the other favorite characters from James Patterson's books for kids join forces for the first time in a hilarious adventure! Rafe and Jimmy, two misunderstood "troublemakers", are finally up to something good. They're in charge of a huge celebration of books and reading - but when a small issue snowballs into a big problem that threatens to derail the whole event, they need to work fast to keep things on track! And the best part? Rafe and Jimmy are joined by the funniest storytellers they know, including Jamie Grimm from I Funny, Jacky Ha-Ha, the Kidd family of Treasure Hunters, and super-genius Max Einstein - everyone's favorite characters from James Patterson's best-selling series for kids! PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
©2020 James Patterson and Chris Tebbetts (P)2020 Jimmy Patterson
The Future Won't Be Long
Summary
A euphoric, provocative novel about friendship, sex, art, clubbing, and ambition set in 1980s and '90s New York City, from the author of I Hate the Internet. When Adeline, a wealthy art student, chances upon a young man from the Midwest known only as Baby in a shady East Village squat, the two begin a fiery friendship that propels them through a decade of New York life. In the apartments and bars of downtown Manhattan to the infamous nightclub The Limelight, Adeline is Baby's guardian angel, introducing him to a city not yet overrun by gentrification. They live through an era of New York punctuated by the deaths of Warhol, Basquiat, Wojnarowicz, and Tompkins Square Park. Adeline is fiercely protective of Baby, even bringing him home with her to Los Angeles, but he soon takes over his own education. Once just a kid off the bus from Wisconsin, Baby relishes ketamine-fueled clubbing nights and acid days in LA, and he falls deep into the Club Kid twilight zone of sexual excess. As Adeline develops into the artist she never really expected to become and flees to the nascent tech scene in San Francisco, Baby faces his own desire for artistic expression and recognition. He must write his way out of clubbing life, and their friendship, an alliance that seemed nearly impenetrable, is tested and betrayed, leaving each unmoored as the world around them seems to be unraveling. Riotously funny and wise, The Future Won't Be Long is an ecstatic, propulsive novel coursing with a rare vitality, an elegy to New York and to the relationships that have the power to change - and save - our lives.
©2017 Jarett Kobek (P)2017 Penguin Audio
Under the Southern Sky
Summary
One of Country Living’s 20 New Books You Don’t Want to Miss This Spring One of Bookstr’s 8 Most Anticipated Reads of 2021 One of Frolic’s 12 Most Anticipated Books of 2021 One of BookTrib’s Most-Anticipated Reads of 2021 Two childhood friends discover that love - and family - can be found in unconventional ways in this timely, moving novel from the USA Today best-selling author of the “beautifully Southern, evocative Peachtree Bluff series” (Kristin Harmel, internationally best-selling author of The Winemaker’s Wife). Recently separated Amelia Buxton, a dedicated journalist, never expected that uncovering the biggest story of her career would become deeply personal. But when she discovers that a cluster of embryos belonging to her childhood friend Parker and his late wife, Greer, have been deemed “abandoned”, she’s put in the unenviable position of telling Parker - and dredging up old wounds in the process. Parker has been unable to move forward since the loss of his beloved wife three years ago. He has all but forgotten about the frozen embryos, but once Amelia reveals her discovery, he knows that if he ever wants to get a part of Greer back, he’ll need to accept his fate as a single father and find a surrogate. Each dealing with their own private griefs, Parker and Amelia slowly begin to find solace in one another as they navigate an uncertain future against the backdrop of the pristine waters of their childhood home, Buxton Beach. The journey of self-discovery leads them to an unforgettable and life-changing lesson: Family - the one you’re born into and the one you choose - is always closer than you think. From “the next major voice in Southern fiction” (Elin Hilderbrand, number-one New York Times best-selling author), Under the Southern Sky is a fresh and unforgettable exploration of love, friendship, and the unbreakable ties that bind.
©2021 Kristy Woodson Harvey (P)2021 Simon & Schuster Audio
The Gravity of Us: After the Launch
Summary
For fans of The Gravity of Us - a glimpse of Cal and Leon's life one year after the launch. In Houston, NASA's mission to Mars brought "Astrokids" Cal and Leon together. Back in New York one year later, Cal is excited to show his boyfriend the city and finally introduce him to his best friend, Deb, but everything feels different, from the ads posted in Times Square to the location of Cal's favorite falafel cart. Deb has new friends, a new apartment - a new life - and Cal isn't sure of his place in it anymore. Though all Cal wanted a year ago was to come back to Brooklyn, he no longer feels like he belongs. Phil Stamper brings his signature heart, wisdom, and romance to this touching The Gravity of Us short story. Includes the first chapter of Phil Stamper's sophomore novel, As Far as You'll Take Me.
©2021 Phil Stamper (P)2021 Listening Library
Middle School: From Hero to Zero
Summary
James Patterson's best-selling Middle School series is now a major motion picture! Catch up with everyone's favorite troublemaker Rafe Khatchadorian when he gets lost in London on the worst field trip ever! After a mostly-successful stint at Hills Valley Middle School, Rafe is excited to visit the incredible city of London with his class. Sightseeing around a foreign country sounds like a blast, until Rafe finds out his roommate will be none other than Miller the Killer, bully extraordinaire! Then Rafe is forced to work on a class project side by side with his crush Jeanne Galletta and her too-perfect boyfriend, which might be even more torturous than rooming with Miller. And it's no surprise that Rafe's bad luck follows him across the pond, putting him in one crazy situation after another - all under the watchful eye of his bad-tempered principal. Out of all of his adventures, this trip could prove to be Rafe's most embarrassing yet, undoing everything good he has going for him back home!
©2018 James Patterson (P)2018 Hachette Audio
The Beauty That Remains
Summary
Told from three diverse points of view, this story of life and love after loss is one Angie Thomas, author of The Hate U Give, calls a "stunning, heart-wrenching look at grief that will stay with you long after you put it down." We've lost everything...and found ourselves. Music brought Autumn, Shay, and Logan together. Death might pull them apart. Autumn always knew exactly who she was: a talented artist and a loyal friend. Shay was defined by two things: her bond with her twin sister, Sasha, and her love of music. And Logan has always turned to writing love songs when his real love life was a little less than perfect. But when tragedy strikes each of them, somehow music is no longer enough. Now Logan is a guy who can't stop watching vlogs of his dead ex-boyfriend. Shay is a music blogger who's struggling to keep it together. And Autumn sends messages that she knows can never be answered. Despite the odds, one band's music will reunite them and prove that after grief, beauty thrives in the people left behind.
©2018 Ashley Woodfolk (P)2018 Listening Library
Otherwood
Summary
What happened in the woods that day? Pete Hautman’s riveting middle-grade novel touches on secrets and mysteries - and the power of connections with family and friends. “Hatred combined with lies and secrets can break the world.” Grandpa Zach used to say that before he died, but Stuey never really knew what he meant. It was kind of like how he used to talk about quantum physics or how he used to say ghosts haunted their overgrown golf course. But then one day, after Stuey and his best friend, Elly Rose, spend countless afternoons in the deadfall in the middle of the woods, something totally unbelievable happens. As Stuey and Elly Rose struggle to come to grips with their lives after that reality-splitting moment, all the things Grandpa Zach used to say start to make a lot more sense. This is a book about memory and loss and the destructive nature of secrets, but also about the way friendship, truth, and perseverance have the ability to knit a torn-apart world back together.
©2018 Pete Hautman, original book published by Candlewick Press. (P)2018 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.