When Amazon Prime Day rolls around, the company is always great at offering deals on its own services, and Audible is one of those deals worth waiting for Prime Day to pick up.
On top of all the Prime Day deals right now, you can currently get three months of Audible for free if you're a Prime member, way more than the usual 30-day trial the platform usually offers.
If you didn't know, Audible is a subscription service for audiobooks, and arguably the largest service of its kind. With Audible, you can stream an unlimited number of audiobooks, plus download and keep one per month for free (which you can keep, even after your subscription ends).
So it's a great service for story fans, but with an impressive library, the choice can sometimes be quite overwhelming. That's why I (literature major) picked five different books you might want to check out as part of your first read, and they're all favorites I'd recommend.
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Five books to watch out for
1. Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer (opens in a new tab) (non-fiction, 7 hours)
Jon Krakauer has many fantastic nonfiction books on Audible, including Into Thin Air and Under The Banner of Heaven (recently adapted into a TV show of the same name), but Into The Wild has more of a profile thanks to its film adaptation.
The book tells the story of Christopher McCandless, who in 1992 ran away from his comfortable life to wander the interior of the United States. Six months later, he was found dead in Alaska.
Into the Wild (the book) is fantastic not only for the way it explores McCandless's story, but for the way it explores his motivations, with many references to Krakauer's own stories and those of others who have also run the nature (for better or better). ). worse). It is a fascinating exploration of the human psyche.
2. A Tour of Jennifer Egan's Goon Squad (opens in a new tab) (fiction, 10 hours)
Is Goon Squad a novel or a series of short stories? I'm not entirely sure, but I think that's what I love about it: you get everything you put into this book.
It's a disparate cast of characters, with each chapter or novel focusing on select people; at different times and in different places around the world and over the decades.
I really enjoyed reading this, gradually bringing together the lives and times of a group of interesting people as their stories feed through a number of different perspectives. I don't think it's for everyone, but it could be for you.
3. Flower Moon Killers by David Grann (opens in a new tab) (documentary, 9 hours)
Martin Scorsese fans will be interested in this book as it's the basis for his next movie, but I'd recommend it for another reason - it's a really interesting read.
Killers of the Flower Moon tells the story of a series of murders in the Osage Nation of Oklahoma in the 1920s, caused by oil found on land protected by First Nations people. The story explores the horrible treatment these people received just a hundred years ago, as well as the birth of the FBI.
It's not my favorite David Grann book, as I'd recommend The Lost City of Z for him, but this story is possibly the most relevant (and, like I said, Scorsese fans will love it).
4. The Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler (opens in a new tab) (fiction, 12 hours)
I don't read as much science fiction or fantasy as I should (or as much as I watch or play), but I wanted to include this one because of its strong attitude towards global change.
The Parable of the Sower depicts a XNUMXst-century crisis, based largely on the real-life housing and water crises in California, and follows a young woman who becomes a prophet to her community.
Apparently the A24 movie studio is working on adapting it into a movie, but you should watch this story anyway. It's an interesting and politically relevant take on the busy genre of dystopian novels.
5. On the trails of Robert Moor (opens in a new tab) (non-fiction, 10,5 hours)
That's what I'm currently reading, but even though I'm only halfway there, I've already recommended it left, right, and center.
On Trails is, as the name suggests, about trails: the paths made by animals and humans. It's an expansive look at how and why animals create them, combined with many observations and stories from its globetrotting author.
This book really makes you think about the world we live in and how we (and animals) interact with it, and so far I find it fascinating. I hope you too.