Prince Harry’s buzzy self-narrated memoir will be THE big release of the month. Other January highlights include a dark fantasy, a real-life thriller, and Australian noir from a winning author-narrator team. Plan to start off the new year right with an absorbing new listen.
HIGHLY SUSPICIOUS AND UNFAIRLY CUTE
by Talia Hibbert, read by Amina Koroma, Jonathan Andrew Hume
Listening Library, Ages 12+
Release date: January 3
In romance author Hibbert’s debut for teens, Celine and Brad compete to win a wilderness survival course (and maybe rekindle their friendship).
THE STOLEN HEIR
by Holly Black, read by Saskia Maarleveld
Hachette Audio, Ages 14+
Release date: January 3
Holly Black returns to the world of Elfhame in this first in a new duology.
SPARE
by Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, read by the author
Random House Audio
Release date: January 10
It’s safe to say that this will be the first big release of the new year. Hear Prince Harry’s story in his own voice.
ROUGH SLEEPERS: Dr. Jim O’Connell’s Urgent Mission to Bring Healing to Homeless People
by Tracy Kidder, read by the author
Random House Audio
Release date: January 17
Kidder chronicles Dr. Jim O’Connell and his efforts to create a community of caring for unhoused people in Boston.
LUNAR LOVE
by Lauren Kung Jessen, read by Raechel Wong
Hachette Audio
Release date: January 10
When Liv takes over her grandmother’s traditional matchmaking business, she clashes with the man behind a dating app.
HELL BENT
by Leigh Bardugo, read by Michael David Axtell, Lauren Fortgang
Macmillan Audio
Release date: January 10
Michael David Axtell and Lauren Fortgang return to narrate this sequel to the dark fantasy NINTH HOUSE.
THE NAZI CONSPIRACY: The Secret Plot to Kill Roosevelt, Stalin, and Churchill
by Brad Meltzer, Josh Mensch, read by Scott Brick
Macmillan Audio
Release date: January 10
A thriller writer takes on true history. Golden Voice Scott Brick narrates. Stay tuned for our interview with Meltzer and Brick on an upcoming bonus episode of Behind the Mic.
THE CABINET OF DR. LENG
by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, read by Jefferson Mays
Hachette Audio
Release date: January 17
FBI Special Agent Pendergast and his ward Constance are separated in time as they try to stop a serial killer. Jefferson Mays takes up the narrating reins of this long-running series.
HOW TO SELL A HAUNTED HOUSE
by Grady Hendrix, read by Jay Aaseng, Mikhaila Aaseng
Penguin Audio
Release date: January 17
A woman tries to clean out her family’s Charleston house in this gothic horror.
EXILES
by Jane Harper, read by Stephen Shanahan
Macmillan Audio
Release date: January 31
New Australian noir from the author of THE DRY and THE LOST MAN. Stephen Shanahan’s narration should be pitch perfect.
