Hello, friends! I know I talk about Libro.fm frequently, but there’s a good reason: I genuinely love this service and want more people to know that Audible has real competition. Competition is healthy—monopolies benefit those at the top while leaving the rest of us with fewer choices and higher prices.
Libro.fm’s Recent Updates Make It Even Better
Libro.fm recently lowered their monthly subscription price to compete directly with Audible, and they just launched an annual subscription option. As a subscriber, you also get extra discounts on sale items—even books that are already discounted!
I highly recommend checking them out. The only limitation I’ve noticed is that their library isn’t quite as extensive as Audible’s, and they don’t carry Audible exclusives. But here’s the thing: you don’t have to choose just one. You can use both services depending on what you’re looking for. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.
Supporting Local Bookshops Through Your Audiobook Purchases
What I love most about Libro.fm is that you can support a local bookshop with every purchase. This means the world to me since I live on an island where small bookshops struggle to survive—they simply can’t compete with companies like Amazon on selection or pricing.
Fortunately, major international chain bookshops haven’t arrived here yet, but supporting local shops remains challenging, especially as more readers shift from print to audio. Libro.fm solves this problem beautifully: I can enjoy my audiobooks while putting a little something in my local bookshop’s tip jar. It feels wonderful to help them stay afloat.
My Libro.fm Journey and Recent Hauls
Enough about why Libro.fm is great—let’s talk about the books!
I joined Libro.fm a few months ago specifically to get the audiobook of The Roommate Risk by Talia Hibbert—a spicy, sweet, swoony friends-to-lovers contemporary romance. I’d been reading the ebook but wanted to play Two Point Campus while continuing the story. Being the multitasking hobbyist that I am, I decided the audiobook was the perfect solution.
Then Ali Hazelwood released an audio-only book, so naturally, I had to grab that. I dipped my toes into their sales and picked up a few more titles. After that, I let my credits accumulate for a few months before redeeming them for a bunch of wishlist items all at once.
I love doing this! I “window shop” by adding books to my wishlist, then treat myself to several at once when my credits build up. It gives me such a retail therapy buzz.
Those Sales Though!
The Libro.fm sales are fantastic and worth mentioning again. Recently, they offered several fantasy audiobooks completely free for Friends of Fantasy Day. Free! I picked up five books. There were more available, but I didn’t want to be greedy and clutter my library with books I wouldn’t actually listen to.
Full Disclosure
I should mention that I’m not sponsored by Libro.fm—they haven’t paid me to promote them in any way. I genuinely think the service is excellent. However, I do have an affiliate link with them, so if you sign up or purchase an audiobook through my link, I may earn a small commission.
You’d simply be supporting me in a small way, just as you’d be supporting your local bookstore. A little something in the tip jar that goes a long way.
Thank you so much for your support, even if it’s just reading this post! It means a lot that you chose to spend your time with me today.
You can find full details of all the audiobooks I picked up below—there are some real gems! And check out Libro.fm here [link].
Thanks for joining me today! Check out the full list of audiobooks below 🎧 🩷
The Audiobooks
The Roommate Risk by Talia Hibbert
Contemporary Romance
Romance is weakness, and Jasmine Allen doesn’t have time for either. Lifelong cynic Jas is the queen of one-night things—until a plumbing disaster screws everything up and leaves her temporarily homeless. Luckily, she has someone to turn to: her best friend Rahul. For seven years, Rahul Khan has followed three simple rules. -Don’t touch Jasmine if you can help it. -Don’t look at her arse in that skirt. -And don’t ever—ever—tell her you love her. He should’ve added another rule: Do not, under any circumstances, let Jas move into your house. Now Rahul is living with the friend he can’t have, and it’s decimating his control. He knows their shared dinners aren’t dates, their late-night kisses are a mistake, and the tenderness in Jasmine’s gaze is only temporary. One wrong word could send his skittish best friend running. So why is he tempted to risk it all?
Bound by Ali Hazelwood
Romance
A reluctant con artist and a professor with too many secrets are bound together in Ali Hazelwood’s intoxicating new dark academia romance—available only in audio!
Veronica “Vero” Mercer grew up with grifters for parents, and she knows her way around a con. When grad school bills pile up and her friends are in trouble, she turns her art history skills into a forgery side hustle.
It’s supposed to be a short term deal, but her work draws the attention of Dr. Viktor Ashworth, a reserved, very British professor. Instead of turning her in, Ashworth kidnaps her—politely—and makes an unusual offer: forge a mysterious ancient manuscript for him.
Soon Vero finds herself spending long nights with Viktor, bent over rare vellum samples and obscure inks. But as the con grows riskier, Vero has to wonder: what does Viktor really want, and why can’t she stay away?
Dead of Winter by Keri Beevis
Thriller
A sister looking for answers.
A brother with secrets to hide…
Three days before Christmas, I travel to Midwinter Manor in Norfolk through a worsening snowstorm to meet Daniel, the brother I never knew existed. He has reluctantly granted me an hour of his precious time.
The welcome I receive is frosty. Daniel is cold, intimidating and unfriendly, while his wife, Rose, is polite, but tense. From the moment I step through the door of this imposing manor house, I sense I’m not welcome.
When I go to leave, the snowy blizzard prevents me. Then there’s a power cut and I can’t let anyone know where I am. I realise I am trapped.
Something feels wrong in this house. The way Daniel and Rose speak in whispers behind closed doors suggests something’s amiss. As cracks start to form in their stories, I wonder what it is they are hiding.
Midwinter Manor is a house full of secrets, and some of them are dangerously deadly.
Devolution by Max Brooks
Horror
As the ash and chaos from Mount Rainier’s eruption swirled and finally settled, the story of the Greenloop massacre has passed unnoticed, unexamined . . . until now.
But the journals of resident Kate Holland, recovered from the town’s bloody wreckage, capture a tale too harrowing – and too earth-shattering in its implications – to be forgotten.
In these pages, Max Brooks brings Kate’s extraordinary account to light for the first time, faithfully reproducing her words alongside his own extensive investigations into the massacre and the beasts behind it, once thought legendary but now known to be terrifyingly real.
Kate’s is a tale of unexpected strength and resilience, of humanity’s defiance in the face of a terrible predator’s gaze, and inevitably, of savagery and death.
Yet it is also far more than that.
Because if what Kate Holland saw in those days is real, then we must accept the impossible. We must accept that the creature known as Bigfoot walks among us – and that it is a beast of terrible strength and ferocity.
Part survival narrative, part bloody horror tale, part scientific journey into the boundaries between truth and fiction, this is a Bigfoot story as only Max Brooks could chronicle it – and like none you’ve ever read before.
The Christmas Tree Farm by Laurie Gilmore
Cozy Romance
Kira North hates Christmas. Which is unfortunate since she just bought a Christmas tree farm in a town that’s too cute for its own good.
Bennett Ellis is on vacation in Dream Harbor trying to take a break from both his life and his constant desire to fix things.
But somehow fate finds Ben trapped by a blanket of snow at Kira’s farm, and, despite her Grinchiest first impressions, with the glow of the fairy lights twinkling in the trees, and the promise of a warming hot chocolate, maybe, just maybe, these two lost souls will have a Christmas they’ll remember forever…
The Angela Carter BBC Radio Drama Collection
Fiction
Angela Carter was one of the most important writers of the 20th Century. A pioneer of British magical realism, her work was described by Salman Rushdie as ‘without rival and without equal’. Her radical, inventive novels influenced countless writers, while her dark, sensual short fiction turned traditional fables inside out, giving women the power over their desires and fates.
Susannah Clapp, Angela Carter’s literary executor and friend, introduces the productions and offers fascinating insights into Angela Carter’s life and work.
This landmark collection includes five new dramatisation of stories from her iconic collection of fairytales retold, The Bloody Chamber. Alongside the title story are ‘The Erl-King’, ‘Wolf-Alice’, ‘The Tiger’s Bride’ and ‘The Company of Wolves’, with casts including Sophie Cookson, Ariyon Bakare, Lily Lesser, Hannah Genesius and Adjoa Andoh. A sixth tale from The Bloody Chamber, ‘Puss in Boots’, is adapted by Carter herself and stars Andrew Sachs as Puss.
Also included is an adaptation of Carter’s award-winning Nights at the Circus, starring Roisin Conaty as Cockney trapeze artist Sophie Fevvers, and the world premiere of her unproduced screenplay The Christchurch Murder. Based on the real-life story of two New Zealand schoolgirls who killed for love, it was an inspiration for the Peter Jackson film Heavenly Creatures, and stars Fiona Shaw, Nancy Carroll and James Wilby.
Accompanying these are three thrilling radio plays: the Gothic Vampirella (starring Jessica Raine and Anton Lesser); the hallucinatory drama-documentary Come Unto These Yellow Sands (featuring James Anthony Rose as patricidal painter Richard Dadd); and an exploration of the life of Ronald Firbank, A Self-Made Man (with Lewis Fiander as Firbank).
Finally, Liza Ross reads the short story ‘Lizzie’s Tiger’, originally commissioned for radio, in which the four-year-old Lizzie Borden has an extraordinary encounter at the circus.
A bonus documentary, Third Ear: Angela Carter, comprises Paul Bailey’s lively interview with the author, recorded shortly before her death in 1992. In it, she discusses her novel Wise Children, and examines the impact of Britishness, politics, and the oral tradition on her subversive writing.
Contents
1 Introduction
2 The Bloody Chamber
3 The Erl-King
4 Wolf-Alice
5 The Tiger’s Bride
6 The Company of Wolves
7 The Christchurch Murder
8-9 Nights at the Circus (in two parts)
10 Vampirella
11 Come Unto These Yellow Sands
12 Puss in Boots
13 A Self-Made Man
14 Lizzie’s Tiger
15 Third Ear: An Interview with Angela Carter
The Daphne du Maurier BBC Radio Collection
Fiction
Daphne du Maurier was one of the 20th century’s most popular writers. Extraordinarily prolific, she produced a string of bestsellers, many of which were adapted as award-winning films. From romance and adventure yarns to psychological thrillers and supernatural tales, the breadth and imaginative variety of her storytelling continues to thrill us today.
This bumper collection features her most famous works and some lesser-known gems, beginning with full-cast adaptations of seven of her much-loved novels – Jamaica Inn, Rebecca, Frenchman’s Creek, The King’s General, My Cousin Rachel, The Scapegoat and The House on the Strand. With settings ranging from the 19th century to the English Civil War and the Black Death of 1349, these thrilling tales take us from the wilds of Cornwall to Monte Carlo, Italy and northwestern France. Among the star casts are Susannah Corbett, Christopher Cazenove, Lorna Heilbron, Cathryn Harrison, Adam Godley, Hugh Burden and Ian Richardson.
Next up are two of her acclaimed plays, The Years Between, set in the 1940s and telling the story of a woman whose MP husband is reported killed in action, and September Tide, a bittersweet love story centred around a mother, her newly-married daughter and her artist son-in-law. Diana Quick, Roger Allam, Paula Wilcox, Jonathan Firth and Alice Hart star in these twisty, subversive dramas.
We conclude with a selection of Daphne du Maurier’s short fiction. Dramatised by Melissa Murray, ‘The Birds’ stars Neil Dudgeon and Nicola Walker. It is followed by ‘The Blue Lenses’ and ‘The Little Photographer’, starring Bethany Muir and Lucy Boynton respectively; and ‘The Apple Tree’, starring Charles Gray. Also included are full-cast adaptations of ‘Panic’ (starring Dinsdale Landen and Maureen O’Brien), ‘The Chamois’ (starring Christopher Cazenove and Anna Cropper), ‘The Alibi’ (starring Tony Britton and Sarah Badel), ‘Ganymede’ (starring John Le Mesurier and Anthony Daniels) and ‘Don’t Look Now’ (starring Jamie Parker and Aisling Loftus).
Please note that the pieces in this collection range from vintage 1970s productions to modern adaptations, and the sound quality reflects the age of the recordings.
Contents
Jamaica Inn
Rebecca
Frenchman’s Creek
The King’s General
My Cousin Rachel
The Scapegoat
The House on the Strand
The Years Between
September Tide
‘The Birds’
‘The Blue Lenses’
‘The Little Photographer’
‘The Apple Tree’
‘Panic’
‘The Chamois’
‘The Alibi’
‘Ganymede’
‘Don’t Look Now’
Hagstone by Sinead Gleeson
Literary Fiction
The haunting debut novel from acclaimed, Irish no. 1 bestselling author, Sinéad Gleeson.
The sea is steady for now. The land readies itself. What can be done with the women on the cliff?
On a wild and rugged island cut off and isolated to some, artist Nell feels the island is her home. It is the source of inspiration for her art, rooted in landscape, folklore and the feminine. The mysterious Iníons, a commune of women who have travelled there from all over the world, consider it a place of refuge and safety, of solace in nature.
All the islanders live alongside the strange murmurings that seem to emanate from within the depths of the island, a sound that is almost supernatural – a Summoning as the Iníons call it. One day, a letter arrives at Nell’s door from the reclusive Iníons who invite Nell into the commune for a commission to produce a magnificent art piece to celebrate their long history. In its creation, Nell will discover things about the community and about herself that will challenge everything she thought she knew.
Beautifully written and gripping, Sinéad Gleeson’s debut novel takes in the darker side of human nature and the mysteries of faith and the natural world. Perfect for readers of Margaret Atwood and Sarah Moss.
Murder at Gulls Nest by Jess Kidd
Mystery
The first in a sparkling new 1950s seaside mystery series, featuring sharp-eyed former nun Nora Breen.
In a house like Gulls Nest, curiosity might prove fatal . . .
After thirty years in a convent, Nora Breen has thrown off her habit. Her fellow sister Frieda has gone missing and it’s up to Nora to find her. Nora’s only clue is that Frieda was last seen at Gulls Nest boarding house. So she travels down to the seaside town of Gore-on-Sea, takes a room and settles in to watch and listen. Over dubious – and sometimes downright inedible – dinners, Nora gathers evidence about the other lodgers. At long last, she has found an outlet for her powers of observation and, well, nosiness.
When one of the lodgers is found dead, Nora decides she must find the murderer. Not least because she suspects the victim knew Frieda. Could solving this mystery help her to understand what has happened to her friend?
Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab
Fantasy
This is a story about hunger.
1532. Santo Domingo de la Calzada. A young girl grows up wild and wily – her beauty is only outmatched by her dreams of escape. But María knows she can only ever be a prize, or a pawn, in the games played by men. When an alluring stranger offers an alternate path, María makes a desperate choice. She vows to have no regrets.
This is a story about love.
1827. London. A young woman lives an idyllic but cloistered life on her family’s estate, until a moment of forbidden intimacy sees her shipped off to London. Charlotte’s tender heart and seemingly impossible wishes are swept away by an invitation from a beautiful widow – but the price of freedom is higher than she could have imagined.
This is a story about rage.
2019. Boston. College was supposed to be her chance to be someone new. That’s why Alice moved halfway across the world, leaving her old life behind. But after an out-of-character one-night stand leaves her questioning her past, her present, and her future, Alice throws herself into the hunt for answers . . . and revenge.
This is a story about life . . .
how it ends, and how it starts again.
Utterly unmissable, this is a twisting, gothic tale of immortality and hunger. From the bestselling author of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue.
Guilty Pleasures by Laurell K. Hamilton
Urban Fantasy
Anita Blake is small, dark and dangerous. Her turf is the city of St Louis. Her job – re-animating the dead and killing the undead who take things too far. But when the city’s most powerful vampire asks her to solve a series of vicious slayings, Anita must confront her greatest fear – her undeniable attraction to master vampire Jean-Claude, one of the creatures she is sworn to destroy …
The Anatomy of Songs by Megan White
Fantasy
Bestowed the Songs of both Life and Death, Kasira Severen spends her days as a Daughter of Silba, curing the Lowtown of their ailments. When the sun sets, however, she becomes the city’s most notorious assassin. Now, under her father’s command, she’s hunting her biggest target yet.
Veridian Erris is the Crown Prince of Livadha, and he fears his whisky-fuelled life is about to end. With the bodies of soldiers piling up on the northern borders and nobles turning up dead on the docks, he has no choice but to try and broker peace with the exiled Queen – as long as he survives the attempts on his life before they arrive.
With dark twisting conspiracies, treacherous ancestors and a hair-raising night watcher stalking the streets, the two fated enemies have far more to be wary of than each other.
The Rule by Bronwyn Eley
Fantasy
She has lived only in shadows, but now she must step into the light.
Born and raised by the Baleful, an assassin guild spoken of only in hushed rumours, Zinha is chosen for a dangerous assignment – a game of seduction with a deadly goal that will test everything she’s trained for. The King wishes to invade the neighbouring country of Maetora, but he must first neutralise their ruler – and her dangerous magic.
Zinha infiltrates The Trial of Power, a magical competition during which the Maetorian Heir chooses his consort. She must seduce the Heir, uncover his mother’s secrets and topple their kingdom from within. But Heir Reyher is not what she expected and neither are the Maetorians. Especially Mateo, a fellow contestant with his own secrets.
As Zinha gains more distance from the darkness of her previous life, doubts begin to surface about everything she’s been told. When rumours of a rival assassin threaten her success – and the lives of the people she has come to love – Zinha is forced to choose between the powerful bonds of her past and the fragile hope of an unexpected future. Because time is running out, and the Baleful live by only one rule – succeed or die.
The First by Kipjo K. Ewers
Science Fiction
After spending four years on death row for the brutal murder of her husband, Sophia Dennison takes her final walk in the Mountain View Facility in Gatesville and is put to death by lethal injection at 12:00 a.m. Several hours after Sophia’s execution, FBI agent Mark Armitage is called to investigate a serious disturbance at the prison.
Upon arriving he finds the place a war zone. After being debriefed by his friend and partner, Dustin Mercer, he views the videotapes and learns that the source of the destruction is Sophia. Footage reveals that seven minutes after her execution, she miraculously resurrected, breaking free of her bonds and overpowering several guards. Sophia Dennison has escaped and is now on the run…
The hunt is on for the first actual superhuman.
How to Summon a Fairy Godmother by Laura J. Mayo
Fantasy
If a fairy godmother can get one sister into a marriage, getting another out of one should be easy…
Lady Theodosia Balfour has certainly gotten the short end of the stick—her stepsister, the newly crowned Princess Beatrice, is telling everyone in polite society that Theo, her sister, and their mother are evil, wicked, and horrid people who treated her like a slave. Though Theo knows this isn’t exactly true, it seems her life is thoroughly ruined by the rumor. With the Balfour family estate on the verge of bankruptcy, Theo’s only path forward is a forced betrothal to the Duke of Snowbell, a foul-tempered geezer who wishes only to use her as a brood mare for spare heirs.
Desperate for help, Theo clings to the only thing that might save her: the rumor of a fairy godmother, one that supposedly helped her stepsister secure a prince. After discovering a way to summon a fairy in Beatrice’s old room, Theo thinks her prayers have been answered. But the fairy she meets isn’t at all what she imagined. Drop-dead gorgeous, incredibly cunning, and slightly devious, Cecily of the Ash Fairies is much more interested in gathering powerful favors and smoking her pipe than providing charitable magic for humans in a bind.
Before she receives magical assistance, Cecily sets Theo to three tasks, seemingly to prove that Theo is a selfless and kind person. Helping her along the way are Cecily’s familiars, the flirty human-turned-mockingbird Phineas and the aloof Kasra, a fox shapeshifter who should not be as handsome as he is for someone with such cutting remarks. As Theo works on her tasks, she shockingly finds kinship with the magical creatures she’s helping, and starts to wonder if a continued life among her human peers is what she really wants after all.
Elaine Howlin 
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