Why we think it’s a great listen: Some books are meant to be read; others are meant to be heard – Water for Elephants falls into the second group, and is one of the best examples we have of how a powerful performance enhances a great story. Nonagenarian Jacob Jankowski reflects back on his wild and wondrous days with a circus. It's the Depression Era and Jacob, finding himself parentless and penniless, joins the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth.

Maggie Atwood and Becky McCabe, mother and daughter, both champion riders, vowed to never, ever, go up against one another. Until the tense, harrowing competitions leading to the Paris Olympics. Mother and daughter share a dream: to be the best horsewoman in the world. Coronado is Maggie’s horse. An absolutely top-tier Belgian warmblood. Sky is Becky’s horse. A small, speedy Dutch warmblood.

Fifteen-year-old equestrian prodigy Roan Montgomery has only ever known two worlds: inside the riding arena and outside of it. Both, for as long as she can remember, have been ruled by her father, who demands strict obedience in all areas of her life. The warped power dynamic of coach and rider extends far beyond the stables, and Roan's relationship with her father has long been inappropriate. She has been able to compartmentalize that dark aspect of her life, ruthlessly focusing on her ambitions as a rider heading for the Olympics, just as her father had done.

It’s been a year since college senior Mila Kozak watched her sister Anya’s tragic accident on course at a horse show. Since then, nothing has been the same. Her relationship with her sister is as shattered as Anya’s paralyzed body. Her boyfriend of two years dumped her out of the blue and, even though she’s doing everything she can to win him back, he won’t give her the time of day. And her favorite thing in the world—show jumping—is tainted by the crippling fear she’ll end up like Anya.

Casey Halbach's life was perfectly on track. She had it all: good friends, a loving boyfriend, a decent job with her very own cubicle. Then, she met Sky. Riding instructor, barn manager, and whirlwind of energy, Sky effortlessly launches Casey back into the saddle. Friends are confused, the boyfriend is concerned, and Casey is conflicted - but when she decides to take the plunge and buy a horse of her own, she realizes that she was just dabbling in the shallow end before. Now, Casey's pretty sure she's in over her head, but the crazy thing is: She thinks she likes it this way.

When the nouveau riche Parker family moves to an exclusive community in the heart of Southern California, they believe it’s their chance at a fresh start. Heather Parker is determined to give her daughters the life she never had—starting with horses. She signs them up for riding lessons at Rancho Santa Fe Equestrian, where horses are a lifestyle. Heather becomes a “Barn Mom,” part of a group of wealthy women who hang at the stables, drink wine, and prepare their daughters for competition.

Brynn honors her passion for horses by studying at the toughest veterinary program in the country. Months from graduating, tragedy strikes - tragedy for which she can't help but feel responsible. Brynn feels suffocated by the weight of her father's legacy and his dusty hopes for horse show jumping success. When Brynn's frenetic efforts to dig the family business out of debt fail, she's down to one desperate hope.

A small Georgia town erupts in panic when a young college professor is found brutally mutilated in the local diner. But it's only when town pediatrician and coroner Sara Linton does the autopsy that the full extent of the killer's twisted work becomes clear. Sara's ex-husband, Police Chief Jeffrey Tolliver, leads the investigation - a trail of terror that grows increasingly macabre when another local woman is found crucified a few days later.

In 2008, 26-year-old Tik Maynard faced a crossroads not unlike that of other young adults. A university graduate and modern pentathlete, he suffered both a career-ending injury and a painful breakup, leaving him suddenly adrift. The son of prominent Canadian equestrians, Maynard decided to spend the next year as a "working student." In the horse industry, working students aspire to become professional riders or trainers, and willingly trade labor for hands-on education.

In a snow-covered morning in upstate New York, a girl out riding her horse is hit by a 40-ton truck. Though horribly injured, both 13-year-old Grace and her horse Pilgrim survive. Annie, Grace's mother, refuses to have Pilgrim destroyed and hears about a man in Montana, a 'whisperer' who is said to have the gift of healing troubled horses. They set off across the continent to find him and there, under the massive Montana sky, all their lives are changed forever.

When a dead body swan-dives from a balcony into the pool at a wedding, gossip comes to a halt about disgraced paralegal and former rodeo queen Emily - whose husband left her for a woman who turns out to be a man. Enter Jack, a secretive attorney and sexy mix of cowboy and Indian. She refuses to work for him, until she learns about the disappearance of the six-year old daughter of his notorious client Sofia. Emily launches a desperate search for her.

Left for dead in the fields of rural Oregon, a young woman defies all odds and survives - but she awakens with no idea who she is, or what happened to her. Refusing to answer to "Jane Doe" for another day, the woman renames herself "Water" for the tiny, hidden marking on her body - the only clue to her past. Taken in by old Ginny Fitzgerald, a crotchety but kind lady living on a nearby horse farm, Water slowly begins building a new life. But as she attempts to piece together the fleeting slivers of her memory, more questions emerge....

No one wants to be a victim, but most find the event too hypnotic to ignore. In order to save their traveling carnival from bankruptcy, the Binewskis are creating their own brood of sideshow freaks. Under Al's careful direction, the pregnant Lil ingests radioisotopes, insecticides, and arsenic to make her babies "special".

They say it's better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. Finn McGraw disagrees. He was just 17 when he had a torrid summer affair with the girl who stole his heart - and then turned on him. Now, 10 years later, he's got more than his lost love to worry about. A horrific accident turns his life upside down, resurrecting the ghosts of his long-dead family and taking the lives of the few people he has left. Finn always believed his estranged brother was responsible for the fire that killed their family - but an unexpected inheritance throws everything he knows into doubt.

Born and raised in the quaint mountain town of Saratoga Falls where everyone knows everything, Samantha struggles to escape the harrowing night that changed her life three years ago. While she finds solace in the hard work that keeps her father's ranch afloat, her guilt and heartbreak makes it impossible to completely move on or forget. But when Sam's past comes rumbling back in a lifted, cherry red pickup truck, it's all Sam can do to keep her wits about her.