
The Faculty Lounge
A Novel
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed

Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $18.00
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Lisa Flanagan
-
By:
-
Jennifer Mathieu
About this listen
**An instant National Bestseller!**
A July 2024 LibraryReads Pick!
By the acclaimed author of Moxie, a funny, bighearted adult debut that is at once an ode to educators, a timely glimpse at today’s pressing school issues, and a tender character study, following a sprawling cast of teachers, administrators, and staff at a Texas high school
With its ensemble of warm and unforgettable characters, The Faculty Lounge shows listeners a different side of school life. It all starts when an elderly substitute teacher at Baldwin High School is found dead in the faculty lounge. After a bit of a stir, life quickly returns to normal—it’s not like it’s the worst (or even most interesting) thing that has happened within the building’s walls. But when, a week later, the spontaneous scattering of his ashes on the school grounds catches the attention of some busybody parents, it sets in motion a year that can only be described as wild, bizarre, tragic, mundane, beautiful, and humorous all at once.
In the midst of the ensuing hysteria and threats of disciplinary action, the novel peeks into the lives of the implicated adults who, it turns out, actually have first names and continue to exist when the school day is done. We meet: a former punk band front man, now a middle-aged principal who must battle it out with the schoolboard to keep his job; a no-nonsense school nurse willing to break the rules, despite the close watch on their campus, when a student arrives at her office with a dilemma; and a disgruntled English instructor who finds himself embroiled in even more controversy when he misfires a snarky email. Oh, and there’s also a teacher make-out session in a supply closet during a lockdown.
As these people continue to manage the messiness of this school year, there is the looming threat of what will become of their beloved Baldwin High. Ultimately, at the heart of this unconventional workplace novel is a story of the power of human connection and of the joy of finding purpose in what it is we do every day.
©2024 Jennifer Mathieu (P)2024 Penguin AudioListeners also enjoyed...
-
Down Came the Rain
- By: Jennifer Mathieu
- Narrated by: Robb Moreira, Laura Knight Keating
- Length: 7 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After Eliza Brady’s home in Houston, Texas, is destroyed by Hurricane Harvey, she is forced to transfer to Southwest High School. Traumatized by the floods and anxious in her new surroundings, Eliza throws herself into environmental activism, even if it’s against the wishes of her Big Oil dad. But when she meets Javi—a boy who has experienced climate-related trauma of his own—she’s finally able to connect with someone over the devastating mental effects of ecological disaster.
-
-
Virtue signaling
- By Pink Amy on 12-11-24
By: Jennifer Mathieu
-
Libby Lost and Found
- By: Stephanie Booth
- Narrated by: Mia Barron
- Length: 10 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Meet Libby Weeks, author of the mega-bestselling fantasy series the Falling Children—written as “F. T. Goldhero” to maintain her privacy. With the final manuscript months overdue to her publisher and rabid fans around the world growing impatient, Libby is diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s. Already suffering from crippling anxiety, Libby’s symptoms quickly accelerate. After she forgets her dog at the park one day—then almost discloses her identity to the journalist who finds him—Libby has to admit it: she needs help finishing the last book.
-
-
Twist and turn
- By kcinbloom on 02-08-25
By: Stephanie Booth
-
Lula Dean's Little Library of Banned Books
- A Novel
- By: Kirsten Miller
- Narrated by: January LaVoy
- Length: 10 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Beverly Underwood and her arch enemy, Lula Dean, live in the tiny town of Troy, Georgia, where they were born and raised. Now Beverly is on the school board, and Lula has become a local celebrity by embarking on mission to rid the public libraries of all inappropriate books—none of which she’s actually read. To replace the “pornographic” books she’s challenged at the local public library, Lula starts her own lending library in front of her home: a cute wooden hutch with glass doors and neat rows of the worthy literature that she’s sure the town’s readers need.
-
-
Small town attitudes
- By Maureen Teague on 08-26-24
By: Kirsten Miller
-
How to Age Disgracefully
- A Novel
- By: Clare Pooley
- Narrated by: Clare Corbett
- Length: 8 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Lydia takes a job running the Senior Citizens’ Social Club three afternoons a week, she assumes she’ll be spending her time drinking tea and playing gentle games of cards. The members of the Social Club, however, are not at all what Lydia was expecting. From Art, a failed actor turned kleptomaniac to Daphne, who has been hiding from her dark past for decades to Ruby, a Banksy-style knitter who gets revenge in yarn, these seniors look deceptively benign—but when age makes you invisible, secrets are so much easier to hide.
-
-
Aging imperfections
- By Susan Love on 08-07-24
By: Clare Pooley
-
The Wedding People
- A Novel
- By: Alison Espach
- Narrated by: Helen Laser
- Length: 11 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It’s a beautiful day in Newport, Rhode Island, when Phoebe Stone arrives at the grand Cornwall Inn wearing a green dress and gold heels, not a bag in sight, alone. She's immediately mistaken by everyone in the lobby for one of the wedding people, but she’s actually the only guest at the Cornwall who isn’t here for the big event. Phoebe is here because she’s dreamed of coming for years—she hoped to shuck oysters and take sunset sails with her husband, only now she’s here without him, at rock bottom, and determined to have one last decadent splurge on herself.
-
-
What a beautiful book
- By Brooke Baker on 08-15-24
By: Alison Espach
-
Plays Well with Others
- A Novel
- By: Sophie Brickman
- Narrated by: Eva Kaminsky
- Length: 9 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Annie Lewin is at the end of her rope. She’s a mother of three young children, her workaholic husband is never around, and the vicious competition for spots in New York City’s kindergartens is heating up. A New York Times journalist-turned-parenting-advice-columnist for an internet start-up, Annie can’t help but judge the insanity of it all—even as she finds herself going to impossible lengths to secure the best spot for her own son.
-
-
Fooled by the cut to purchase this book
- By flo on 10-17-24
By: Sophie Brickman
-
Down Came the Rain
- By: Jennifer Mathieu
- Narrated by: Robb Moreira, Laura Knight Keating
- Length: 7 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After Eliza Brady’s home in Houston, Texas, is destroyed by Hurricane Harvey, she is forced to transfer to Southwest High School. Traumatized by the floods and anxious in her new surroundings, Eliza throws herself into environmental activism, even if it’s against the wishes of her Big Oil dad. But when she meets Javi—a boy who has experienced climate-related trauma of his own—she’s finally able to connect with someone over the devastating mental effects of ecological disaster.
-
-
Virtue signaling
- By Pink Amy on 12-11-24
By: Jennifer Mathieu
-
Libby Lost and Found
- By: Stephanie Booth
- Narrated by: Mia Barron
- Length: 10 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Meet Libby Weeks, author of the mega-bestselling fantasy series the Falling Children—written as “F. T. Goldhero” to maintain her privacy. With the final manuscript months overdue to her publisher and rabid fans around the world growing impatient, Libby is diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s. Already suffering from crippling anxiety, Libby’s symptoms quickly accelerate. After she forgets her dog at the park one day—then almost discloses her identity to the journalist who finds him—Libby has to admit it: she needs help finishing the last book.
-
-
Twist and turn
- By kcinbloom on 02-08-25
By: Stephanie Booth
-
Lula Dean's Little Library of Banned Books
- A Novel
- By: Kirsten Miller
- Narrated by: January LaVoy
- Length: 10 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Beverly Underwood and her arch enemy, Lula Dean, live in the tiny town of Troy, Georgia, where they were born and raised. Now Beverly is on the school board, and Lula has become a local celebrity by embarking on mission to rid the public libraries of all inappropriate books—none of which she’s actually read. To replace the “pornographic” books she’s challenged at the local public library, Lula starts her own lending library in front of her home: a cute wooden hutch with glass doors and neat rows of the worthy literature that she’s sure the town’s readers need.
-
-
Small town attitudes
- By Maureen Teague on 08-26-24
By: Kirsten Miller
-
How to Age Disgracefully
- A Novel
- By: Clare Pooley
- Narrated by: Clare Corbett
- Length: 8 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Lydia takes a job running the Senior Citizens’ Social Club three afternoons a week, she assumes she’ll be spending her time drinking tea and playing gentle games of cards. The members of the Social Club, however, are not at all what Lydia was expecting. From Art, a failed actor turned kleptomaniac to Daphne, who has been hiding from her dark past for decades to Ruby, a Banksy-style knitter who gets revenge in yarn, these seniors look deceptively benign—but when age makes you invisible, secrets are so much easier to hide.
-
-
Aging imperfections
- By Susan Love on 08-07-24
By: Clare Pooley
-
The Wedding People
- A Novel
- By: Alison Espach
- Narrated by: Helen Laser
- Length: 11 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It’s a beautiful day in Newport, Rhode Island, when Phoebe Stone arrives at the grand Cornwall Inn wearing a green dress and gold heels, not a bag in sight, alone. She's immediately mistaken by everyone in the lobby for one of the wedding people, but she’s actually the only guest at the Cornwall who isn’t here for the big event. Phoebe is here because she’s dreamed of coming for years—she hoped to shuck oysters and take sunset sails with her husband, only now she’s here without him, at rock bottom, and determined to have one last decadent splurge on herself.
-
-
What a beautiful book
- By Brooke Baker on 08-15-24
By: Alison Espach
-
Plays Well with Others
- A Novel
- By: Sophie Brickman
- Narrated by: Eva Kaminsky
- Length: 9 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Annie Lewin is at the end of her rope. She’s a mother of three young children, her workaholic husband is never around, and the vicious competition for spots in New York City’s kindergartens is heating up. A New York Times journalist-turned-parenting-advice-columnist for an internet start-up, Annie can’t help but judge the insanity of it all—even as she finds herself going to impossible lengths to secure the best spot for her own son.
-
-
Fooled by the cut to purchase this book
- By flo on 10-17-24
By: Sophie Brickman
-
The Answer Is No
- A Short Story
- By: Fredrik Backman, Elizabeth DeNoma - translator
- Narrated by: Stacy Gonzalez
- Length: 1 hr and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lucas knows the perfect night entails just three things: video games, wine, and pad thai. Peanuts are a must! Other people? Not so much. Why complicate things when he’s happy alone? Then one day the apartment board, a vexing trio of authority, rings his doorbell. And Lucas’s solitude takes a startling hike. They demand to see his frying pan. Someone left one next to the recycling room overnight, and instead of removing the errant object, as Lucas suggests, they insist on finding the guilty party. But their plan backfires. Colossally.
-
-
Narrator doesn’t get Backman’s satire or rhythm
- By joey1603 on 12-01-24
By: Fredrik Backman, and others
-
Pink Glass Houses
- A Novel
- By: Asha Elias
- Narrated by: Stacy Gonzalez, Saskia Maarleveld, Andi Arndt, and others
- Length: 8 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Welcome to Sunset Academy, the most coveted elementary school in Miami Beach, where there are three categories of families: rich, wealthy, and ultra-wealthy. Perfectly tanned and smiling Charlotte Giordani is Sunset Academy’s alpha mom. With a sleek blowout and relentless charm, Charlotte’s brashness serves her well. She’s up for election as the PTA president and is riding high, having just secured a massive donation from billionaire Don Walker and his socialite wife Patricia.
-
-
Amazing narration!
- By Jazmine Celeste on 08-04-24
By: Asha Elias
-
The Secret Life of an Uncool Mom
- By: Serena Terry
- Narrated by: Serena Terry
- Length: 8 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Tara Gallagher is knackered. She used to dream of being Beyoncé but suddenly she’s 36—with three kids, a loving husband, a very boring job—and instead of headlining Coachella, she’s in her pyjamas on a Friday night, watching cheesy TV. It’s time for a mommy makeover. She’s going to show her teenage daughter she’s still cool. She’s going to show her husband she’s still an absolute ride. She’s going to show her colleagues she’s still a Boss Bish.
-
-
Relatable mom comedy
- By Megan on 04-24-24
By: Serena Terry
-
The Banned Books Club
- By: Brenda Novak
- Narrated by: Amy McFadden
- Length: 11 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Despite their strained relationship, when Gia Rossi’s sister, Margot, begs her to come home to Wakefield, Iowa, to help with their ailing mother, Gia knows she has no choice. After her rebellious and at-times-tumultuous teen years, Gia left town with little reason to look back. But she knows Margot’s borne the brunt of their mother’s care and now it’s Gia’s turn to help, even if it means opening old wounds.
-
-
loved The whole Book
- By Lisa Crawley on 02-06-25
By: Brenda Novak
-
Eleanore of Avignon
- A Novel
- By: Elizabeth DeLozier
- Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld
- Length: 9 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Provence, 1347. Eleanore (Elea) Blanchet is a young midwife and herbalist with remarkable skills. But as she learned the day her mother died, the most dangerous thing a woman can do is draw attention to herself. She attends patients in her home city of Avignon, spends time with her father and twin sister, gathers herbs in the surrounding woods, and dreams of the freedom to pursue her calling without fear.
-
-
Fantastic historical fiction.
- By Maggie Flantz on 02-15-25
-
The God of the Woods
- A Novel
- By: Liz Moore
- Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld
- Length: 14 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Early morning, August 1975: a camp counselor discovers an empty bunk. Its occupant, Barbara Van Laar, has gone missing. Barbara isn’t just any thirteen-year-old: she’s the daughter of the family that owns the summer camp and employs most of the region’s residents. And this isn’t the first time a Van Laar child has disappeared. Barbara’s older brother similarly vanished fourteen years ago, never to be found.
-
-
Tangled Mystery Overloaded with Characters and Confusing Time Jumps
- By unknown on 08-09-24
By: Liz Moore
-
Colored Television
- A Novel
- By: Danzy Senna
- Narrated by: Kristen Ariza
- Length: 10 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jane has high hopes her life is about to turn around. After years of living precariously, she, her painter husband, Lenny, and their two kids have landed a stint as house sitters in a friend’s luxurious home high in the hills above Los Angeles, a gig that coincides magically with Jane’s sabbatical. If she can just finish her latest novel, Nusu Nusu, the centuries-spanning epic Lenny refers to as her “mulatto War and Peace,” she’ll have tenure and some semblance of stability and success within her grasp. But things don’t work out quite as hoped.
-
-
Frustrating
- By Carolyn White on 12-12-24
By: Danzy Senna
-
The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife
- A Novel
- By: Anna Johnston
- Narrated by: Tim Carroll
- Length: 10 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Frederick Fife was born with an extra helping of kindness in his heart. If he borrowed your car, he’d return it washed with a full tank of gas. The problem is there’s nobody left in Fred’s life to borrow from. At eighty-two, he’s desperately lonely, broke, and on the brink of homelessness. But Fred’s luck changes when, in a bizarre case of mistaken identity, he takes the place of grumpy Bernard Greer at the local nursing home. Now he has warm meals in his belly and a roof over his head—as long as his poker face is in better shape than his prostate and that his look-alike never turns up.
-
-
Somewhat engaging but predictable
- By RSNYC on 10-15-24
By: Anna Johnston
-
PS: I Hate You
- By: Lauren Connolly
- Narrated by: Karissa Vacker
- Length: 11 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Maddie Sanderson would be proud to honor her older brother’s dying wish, that she scatters his ashes over eight destinations that the adventurous 29-year-old never got to visit before he died from cancer. But in his will, Josh assigned her an impossible partner to help complete the mission—Dominic Perry. Seriously, if Maddie weren’t already at her brother's funeral, she would have killed him for this.
-
-
The plot
- By Madhuri on 01-27-25
By: Lauren Connolly
-
Bummer Camp
- A Novel
- By: Ann Garvin
- Narrated by: Andi Arndt
- Length: 10 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Cat McCarthy has spent years extricating herself from the family business—an increasingly run-down theater camp—and all the drama contained within it. At thirty-seven, she’s putting the final touches on a new life as she renovates her dream cottage and awaits her first child. Does it worry her that the McCarthy legacy is in the hands of her disastrously irresponsible sister, Ginger? Sure. But the camp’s not Cat’s problem anymore.
-
-
Got way better in the second half
- By Ana's Attic on 10-13-24
By: Ann Garvin
-
Wanted: Toddler’s Personal Assistant
- How Nannying for the 1% Taught Me About the Myths of Equality, Motherhood, and Upward Mobility in America
- By: Stephanie Kiser
- Narrated by: Stephanie Kiser
- Length: 7 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Stephanie Kiser moves to New York City after college to pursue a career in writing, she quickly learns that her entry-level salary won't cover the cost of living. But there is one in-demand job that pays enough to allow Stephanie to stay in the city: nannying for the 1%. Desperate to escape the poverty of her own childhood, Stephanie falls into a job that hijacks her life for the next seven years: a glorified personal assistant to toddlers on Manhattan's Upper East Side.
-
-
Loved it!
- By David Randt on 10-18-24
By: Stephanie Kiser
-
I Might Be in Trouble
- By: Daniel Aleman
- Narrated by: Vikas Adam
- Length: 11 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A few years ago, David Alvarez had it all: a six-figure book deal, a loving boyfriend, and an exciting writing career. His debut novel was a resounding success, which made the publication of his second book—a total flop—all the more devastating. Now, David is single, lonely, and desperately trying to come up with the next great idea for his third manuscript, one that will redeem him in the eyes of readers, reviewers, the entire publishing world…and maybe even his ex-boyfriend.
-
-
What a dumpster fire! (Grab some marshmallows, y’all…we’re makin’ S’Mores!)
- By BD on 12-12-24
By: Daniel Aleman
Critic reviews
“The witty dialogue will keep readers’ interest, and the social observations are topical and current… highly entertaining and fun”—Library Journal (starred review)
“This is a hell of a way to start the school year, announces a teacher in the opening pages of Jennifer Mathieu's delightful novel, a celebration of teachers who remain heroically human in nearly impossible times. Likewise, The Faculty Lounge is a hell of a way to announce a major new voice in adult fiction. I loved it.”—Steven Rowley, New York Times bestselling author of The Celebrants and The Guncle
"The Faculty Lounge is painfully incisive and hilariously honest. Jennifer Mathieu takes readers behind the classroom doors, into the hearts and minds of a deeply relatable cast of public school educators who remain delightfully human and singularly courageous in the face of the superhuman expectations placed upon them. An exceptional read."—Elle Cosimano, New York Times bestselling author of Finlay Donovan Is Killing It
Related to this topic
-
The Answer Is No
- A Short Story
- By: Fredrik Backman, Elizabeth DeNoma - translator
- Narrated by: Stacy Gonzalez
- Length: 1 hr and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lucas knows the perfect night entails just three things: video games, wine, and pad thai. Peanuts are a must! Other people? Not so much. Why complicate things when he’s happy alone? Then one day the apartment board, a vexing trio of authority, rings his doorbell. And Lucas’s solitude takes a startling hike. They demand to see his frying pan. Someone left one next to the recycling room overnight, and instead of removing the errant object, as Lucas suggests, they insist on finding the guilty party. But their plan backfires. Colossally.
-
-
Narrator doesn’t get Backman’s satire or rhythm
- By joey1603 on 12-01-24
By: Fredrik Backman, and others
-
Born a Crime
- Stories from a South African Childhood
- By: Trevor Noah
- Narrated by: Trevor Noah
- Length: 8 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this award-winning Audible Studios production, Trevor Noah tells his wild coming-of-age tale during the twilight of apartheid in South Africa. It’s a story that begins with his mother throwing him from a moving van to save him from a potentially fatal dispute with gangsters, then follows the budding comedian’s path to self-discovery through episodes both poignant and comical.
-
-
Great book and perfect narration
- By MarilynArms on 12-15-16
By: Trevor Noah
-
Slaughterhouse-Five
- By: Kurt Vonnegut
- Narrated by: James Franco
- Length: 5 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Traumatized by the bombing of Dresden at the time he had been imprisoned, Pilgrim drifts through all events and history, sometimes deeply implicated, sometimes a witness. He is surrounded by Vonnegut's usual large cast of continuing characters (notably here the hack science fiction writer Kilgore Trout and the alien Tralfamadorians, who oversee his life and remind him constantly that there is no causation, no order, no motive to existence).
-
-
Don't Quit Your Daytime Job, James
- By Keith on 11-20-15
By: Kurt Vonnegut
-
Stranded
- By: Chris Bruno, David Howard Lee, Shukri R. Abdi
- Narrated by: Taraji P. Henson, Tracee Ellis Ross, Blake Griffin, and others
- Length: 2 hrs and 7 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Separated by 10 years, 3,000 miles, and the unrelenting stresses of adulthood, best friends Janet and Serena plan a 40th birthday girls’ trip to reconnect. But after a massive crash, they’re the only survivors to wash ashore on an uncharted Caribbean Island. Armed with only the clothes on their backs and zero survival skills, they fight to overcome hunger, thirst, deadly wildlife—and most terrifyingly—decades of accrued resentment. Can they find their way home, or will they kill each other first?
-
-
Get ready to Laugh
- By Lasheree McFarlane on 11-08-24
By: Chris Bruno, and others
-
I Can't Make This Up
- Life Lessons
- By: Neil Strauss - contributor, Kevin Hart
- Narrated by: Kevin Hart
- Length: 11 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Superstar comedian and Hollywood box-office star Kevin Hart turns his immense talent to the written word by writing some words. Some of those words include: the, a, for, above, and even even. Put them together and you have the funniest, most heartfelt, and most inspirational memoir on survival, success, and the importance of believing in yourself since Old Yeller.
-
-
Best Audiobook I Ever Listened To
- By Sam Clear on 07-13-17
By: Neil Strauss - contributor, and others
-
The Best Man's Ghostwriter
- By: Matthew Starr
- Narrated by: Glen Powell, Nicholas Braun, Ashley Park, and others
- Length: 4 hrs and 37 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A bad best man’s speech can ruin a wedding. Why do we plan every detail of a perfect day and then give the groom’s idiot best friend five minutes of total power? Enter Nate (Glen Powell), a speechwriter-for-hire who helps people write incredible best man speeches. To keep the best man from embarrassing himself (and the newlyweds), Nate uses his list of don’ts: Don’t mention the exes, don’t be rated R, and don’t bum everyone out. Nate’s system never fails. That is, until he meets Dan (Nicholas Braun).
-
-
SO GOOD
- By Csutty on 09-23-24
By: Matthew Starr
-
The Answer Is No
- A Short Story
- By: Fredrik Backman, Elizabeth DeNoma - translator
- Narrated by: Stacy Gonzalez
- Length: 1 hr and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lucas knows the perfect night entails just three things: video games, wine, and pad thai. Peanuts are a must! Other people? Not so much. Why complicate things when he’s happy alone? Then one day the apartment board, a vexing trio of authority, rings his doorbell. And Lucas’s solitude takes a startling hike. They demand to see his frying pan. Someone left one next to the recycling room overnight, and instead of removing the errant object, as Lucas suggests, they insist on finding the guilty party. But their plan backfires. Colossally.
-
-
Narrator doesn’t get Backman’s satire or rhythm
- By joey1603 on 12-01-24
By: Fredrik Backman, and others
-
Born a Crime
- Stories from a South African Childhood
- By: Trevor Noah
- Narrated by: Trevor Noah
- Length: 8 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this award-winning Audible Studios production, Trevor Noah tells his wild coming-of-age tale during the twilight of apartheid in South Africa. It’s a story that begins with his mother throwing him from a moving van to save him from a potentially fatal dispute with gangsters, then follows the budding comedian’s path to self-discovery through episodes both poignant and comical.
-
-
Great book and perfect narration
- By MarilynArms on 12-15-16
By: Trevor Noah
-
Slaughterhouse-Five
- By: Kurt Vonnegut
- Narrated by: James Franco
- Length: 5 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Traumatized by the bombing of Dresden at the time he had been imprisoned, Pilgrim drifts through all events and history, sometimes deeply implicated, sometimes a witness. He is surrounded by Vonnegut's usual large cast of continuing characters (notably here the hack science fiction writer Kilgore Trout and the alien Tralfamadorians, who oversee his life and remind him constantly that there is no causation, no order, no motive to existence).
-
-
Don't Quit Your Daytime Job, James
- By Keith on 11-20-15
By: Kurt Vonnegut
-
Stranded
- By: Chris Bruno, David Howard Lee, Shukri R. Abdi
- Narrated by: Taraji P. Henson, Tracee Ellis Ross, Blake Griffin, and others
- Length: 2 hrs and 7 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Separated by 10 years, 3,000 miles, and the unrelenting stresses of adulthood, best friends Janet and Serena plan a 40th birthday girls’ trip to reconnect. But after a massive crash, they’re the only survivors to wash ashore on an uncharted Caribbean Island. Armed with only the clothes on their backs and zero survival skills, they fight to overcome hunger, thirst, deadly wildlife—and most terrifyingly—decades of accrued resentment. Can they find their way home, or will they kill each other first?
-
-
Get ready to Laugh
- By Lasheree McFarlane on 11-08-24
By: Chris Bruno, and others
-
I Can't Make This Up
- Life Lessons
- By: Neil Strauss - contributor, Kevin Hart
- Narrated by: Kevin Hart
- Length: 11 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Superstar comedian and Hollywood box-office star Kevin Hart turns his immense talent to the written word by writing some words. Some of those words include: the, a, for, above, and even even. Put them together and you have the funniest, most heartfelt, and most inspirational memoir on survival, success, and the importance of believing in yourself since Old Yeller.
-
-
Best Audiobook I Ever Listened To
- By Sam Clear on 07-13-17
By: Neil Strauss - contributor, and others
-
The Best Man's Ghostwriter
- By: Matthew Starr
- Narrated by: Glen Powell, Nicholas Braun, Ashley Park, and others
- Length: 4 hrs and 37 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A bad best man’s speech can ruin a wedding. Why do we plan every detail of a perfect day and then give the groom’s idiot best friend five minutes of total power? Enter Nate (Glen Powell), a speechwriter-for-hire who helps people write incredible best man speeches. To keep the best man from embarrassing himself (and the newlyweds), Nate uses his list of don’ts: Don’t mention the exes, don’t be rated R, and don’t bum everyone out. Nate’s system never fails. That is, until he meets Dan (Nicholas Braun).
-
-
SO GOOD
- By Csutty on 09-23-24
By: Matthew Starr
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
Moxie
- By: Jennifer Mathieu
- Narrated by: Suzy Jackson
- Length: 8 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Vivian Carter's mom was a Riot Grrrl in the 1990s, but now she and Viv live a pretty quiet life in a small Texas town. When Viv witnesses a series of sexist incidents at her high school, she takes a page from her mom's past and makes a feminist zine that she distributes anonymously to her classmates. Viv is just blowing off steam, but before she knows it she's started a revolution.
-
-
Loved it!
- By Ady Reader on 11-14-17
By: Jennifer Mathieu
-
The Truth about Alice
- By: Jennifer Mathieu
- Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld, Graham Halstead, Ali Ahn, and others
- Length: 5 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Everyone knows Alice slept with two guys at one party. When Healy High star quarterback Brandon Fitzsimmons dies in a car crash, it was because he was sexting with Alice. Ask anybody. Rumor has it Alice Franklin is a slut. It's written all over the "slut stall" in the girls' bathroom: "Alice had sex in exchange for math test answers" and "Alice got an abortion last semester." After Brandon dies, the rumors start to spiral out of control.
-
-
Surprised but I liked it!
- By Yikes on 11-11-15
By: Jennifer Mathieu
-
Zero Stars, Do Not Recommend
- By: MJ Wassmer
- Narrated by: Stephen R. Thorne
- Length: 11 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Professional underachiever Dan Foster is finally taking a vacation. Sure, his life has been average at best, and yeah, he’s never quite lived up to his potential. But after a few Miller Lites in paradise with his girlfriend, Mara, things are starting to look up. Then the sun explodes....
-
-
What a great book.
- By JW on 08-10-24
By: MJ Wassmer
-
That Summer
- A Novel
- By: Jennifer Weiner
- Narrated by: Sutton Foster
- Length: 13 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Daisy Shoemaker can’t sleep. With a thriving cooking business, full schedule of volunteer work, and a beautiful home in the Philadelphia suburbs, she should be content. But her teenage daughter can be a handful, her husband can be distant, her work can feel trivial, and she has lots of acquaintances, but no real friends. Still, Daisy knows she’s got it good. So why is she up all night?
-
-
Too "woke" and too dull...
- By Maria on 05-26-21
By: Jennifer Weiner
-
Watch Me Disappear
- A Novel
- By: Janelle Brown
- Narrated by: Kaleo Griffith, Tavia Gilbert
- Length: 13 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Who you want people to be makes you blind to who they really are. It’s been a year since Billie Flanagan — a Berkeley mom with an enviable life — went on a solo hike in Desolation Wilderness and vanished from the trail. Her body was never found, just a shattered cellphone and a solitary hiking boot. Her husband and teenage daughter have been coping with Billie’s death the best they can: Jonathan drinks as he works on a loving memoir about his marriage; Olive grows remote, from both her father and her friends at the all-girls school she attends.
-
-
I really enjoyed this book!
- By Listening Queen on 09-05-17
By: Janelle Brown
-
One Night Only
- By: Catherine Walsh
- Narrated by: Jessica Regan
- Length: 9 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sarah Anderson has never been more excited about anything in her life. She’s going to her best friend’s wedding. And not just any wedding. An Irish wedding. Goodbye New York, hello rolling green hills and men with beautiful accents and twinkling eyes. But Sarah should have known that not all guests are fairy-tale princes....
-
-
American review
- By David B on 12-30-21
By: Catherine Walsh
-
Moxie
- By: Jennifer Mathieu
- Narrated by: Suzy Jackson
- Length: 8 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Vivian Carter's mom was a Riot Grrrl in the 1990s, but now she and Viv live a pretty quiet life in a small Texas town. When Viv witnesses a series of sexist incidents at her high school, she takes a page from her mom's past and makes a feminist zine that she distributes anonymously to her classmates. Viv is just blowing off steam, but before she knows it she's started a revolution.
-
-
Loved it!
- By Ady Reader on 11-14-17
By: Jennifer Mathieu
-
The Truth about Alice
- By: Jennifer Mathieu
- Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld, Graham Halstead, Ali Ahn, and others
- Length: 5 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Everyone knows Alice slept with two guys at one party. When Healy High star quarterback Brandon Fitzsimmons dies in a car crash, it was because he was sexting with Alice. Ask anybody. Rumor has it Alice Franklin is a slut. It's written all over the "slut stall" in the girls' bathroom: "Alice had sex in exchange for math test answers" and "Alice got an abortion last semester." After Brandon dies, the rumors start to spiral out of control.
-
-
Surprised but I liked it!
- By Yikes on 11-11-15
By: Jennifer Mathieu
-
Zero Stars, Do Not Recommend
- By: MJ Wassmer
- Narrated by: Stephen R. Thorne
- Length: 11 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Professional underachiever Dan Foster is finally taking a vacation. Sure, his life has been average at best, and yeah, he’s never quite lived up to his potential. But after a few Miller Lites in paradise with his girlfriend, Mara, things are starting to look up. Then the sun explodes....
-
-
What a great book.
- By JW on 08-10-24
By: MJ Wassmer
-
That Summer
- A Novel
- By: Jennifer Weiner
- Narrated by: Sutton Foster
- Length: 13 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Daisy Shoemaker can’t sleep. With a thriving cooking business, full schedule of volunteer work, and a beautiful home in the Philadelphia suburbs, she should be content. But her teenage daughter can be a handful, her husband can be distant, her work can feel trivial, and she has lots of acquaintances, but no real friends. Still, Daisy knows she’s got it good. So why is she up all night?
-
-
Too "woke" and too dull...
- By Maria on 05-26-21
By: Jennifer Weiner
-
Watch Me Disappear
- A Novel
- By: Janelle Brown
- Narrated by: Kaleo Griffith, Tavia Gilbert
- Length: 13 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Who you want people to be makes you blind to who they really are. It’s been a year since Billie Flanagan — a Berkeley mom with an enviable life — went on a solo hike in Desolation Wilderness and vanished from the trail. Her body was never found, just a shattered cellphone and a solitary hiking boot. Her husband and teenage daughter have been coping with Billie’s death the best they can: Jonathan drinks as he works on a loving memoir about his marriage; Olive grows remote, from both her father and her friends at the all-girls school she attends.
-
-
I really enjoyed this book!
- By Listening Queen on 09-05-17
By: Janelle Brown
-
One Night Only
- By: Catherine Walsh
- Narrated by: Jessica Regan
- Length: 9 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sarah Anderson has never been more excited about anything in her life. She’s going to her best friend’s wedding. And not just any wedding. An Irish wedding. Goodbye New York, hello rolling green hills and men with beautiful accents and twinkling eyes. But Sarah should have known that not all guests are fairy-tale princes....
-
-
American review
- By David B on 12-30-21
By: Catherine Walsh
-
Pink Glass Houses
- A Novel
- By: Asha Elias
- Narrated by: Stacy Gonzalez, Saskia Maarleveld, Andi Arndt, and others
- Length: 8 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Welcome to Sunset Academy, the most coveted elementary school in Miami Beach, where there are three categories of families: rich, wealthy, and ultra-wealthy. Perfectly tanned and smiling Charlotte Giordani is Sunset Academy’s alpha mom. With a sleek blowout and relentless charm, Charlotte’s brashness serves her well. She’s up for election as the PTA president and is riding high, having just secured a massive donation from billionaire Don Walker and his socialite wife Patricia.
-
-
Amazing narration!
- By Jazmine Celeste on 08-04-24
By: Asha Elias
-
How to Age Disgracefully
- A Novel
- By: Clare Pooley
- Narrated by: Clare Corbett
- Length: 8 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Lydia takes a job running the Senior Citizens’ Social Club three afternoons a week, she assumes she’ll be spending her time drinking tea and playing gentle games of cards. The members of the Social Club, however, are not at all what Lydia was expecting. From Art, a failed actor turned kleptomaniac to Daphne, who has been hiding from her dark past for decades to Ruby, a Banksy-style knitter who gets revenge in yarn, these seniors look deceptively benign—but when age makes you invisible, secrets are so much easier to hide.
-
-
Aging imperfections
- By Susan Love on 08-07-24
By: Clare Pooley
-
Lily and the Octopus
- By: Steven Rowley
- Narrated by: Michael Urie
- Length: 8 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When you listen to Lily and the Octopus, you will be taken on an unforgettable ride. The magic of this novel is in the listening, and we don't want to spoil it by giving away too many details. We can tell you that this is a story about that special someone: the one you trust, the one you can't live without. For Ted Flask, that someone special is his aging companion, Lily, who happens to be a dog.
-
-
OMG WHY!!???!??? last hour redeemed the first 7
- By Amazon Fan on 03-21-18
By: Steven Rowley
-
The Cactus
- By: Sarah Haywood
- Narrated by: Katherine Manners
- Length: 10 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For Susan Green, messy emotions don’t fit into the equation of her perfectly ordered life. She has a flat that is ideal for one, a job that suits her passion for logic, and an “interpersonal arrangement” that provides cultural and other more intimate benefits. But suddenly confronted with the loss of her mother and the news that she is about to become a mother herself, Susan’s greatest fear is realized. She is losing control.
-
-
Adorable story, AMAZING Narration.
- By Monica Flock on 06-29-18
By: Sarah Haywood
-
The Last List of Mabel Beaumont
- By: Laura Pearson
- Narrated by: Penelope Freeman
- Length: 11 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Mabel Beaumont’s husband Arthur loved lists. He’d leave them for her everywhere. ‘Remember: eggs, butter, sugar’. ‘I love you: today, tomorrow, always’. But now Arthur is gone. He died: softly, gently, not making a fuss. But he’s still left her a list. This one has just one item on it though: ‘Find D’. Mabel feels sure she knows what it means. She must track down her best friend Dot, who she hasn’t seen since the fateful day she left more than sixty years ago.
-
-
cozy till the lesbian girl showed up
- By Gary on 01-11-24
By: Laura Pearson
-
The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife
- A Novel
- By: Anna Johnston
- Narrated by: Tim Carroll
- Length: 10 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Frederick Fife was born with an extra helping of kindness in his heart. If he borrowed your car, he’d return it washed with a full tank of gas. The problem is there’s nobody left in Fred’s life to borrow from. At eighty-two, he’s desperately lonely, broke, and on the brink of homelessness. But Fred’s luck changes when, in a bizarre case of mistaken identity, he takes the place of grumpy Bernard Greer at the local nursing home. Now he has warm meals in his belly and a roof over his head—as long as his poker face is in better shape than his prostate and that his look-alike never turns up.
-
-
Somewhat engaging but predictable
- By RSNYC on 10-15-24
By: Anna Johnston
-
Family Family
- A Novel
- By: Laurie Frankel
- Narrated by: Laurie Frankel, Patti Murin
- Length: 14 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
India Allwood grew up wanting to be an actor. Armed with a stack of index cards (for research/line memorization/make-shift confetti), she goes from awkward sixteen-year-old to Broadway ingenue to TV superhero. Her new movie is a prestige picture about adoption, but its spin is the same old tired story of tragedy. India is an adoptive mom in real life though. She wants everyone to know there’s more to her family than pain and regret. So she does something you should never do—she tells a journalist the truth: it’s a bad movie.
-
-
Interesting story but horrible language
- By Jed on 01-26-24
By: Laurie Frankel
-
The Celebrants
- A Novel
- By: Steven Rowley
- Narrated by: Steven Rowley
- Length: 9 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It’s been a minute—or five years—since Jordan Vargas last saw his college friends, and twenty-eight years since their graduation from Berkeley when their adult lives officially began. Now Jordan, Jordy, Naomi, Craig, and Marielle find themselves at the brink of a new decade, with all the responsibilities of adulthood, yet no closer to having their lives figured out. Though not for a lack of trying. Over the years they’ve reunited in Big Sur to honor a decades-old pact to throw each other living “funerals,” celebrations to remind themselves that life is worth living.
-
-
Just okay
- By kristine Barnes on 06-27-23
By: Steven Rowley
-
No One Gets to Fall Apart
- A Memoir
- By: Sarah LaBrie
- Narrated by: Sarah LaBrie
- Length: 6 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On a highway in Houston, Texas, Sarah LaBrie’s mother was found screaming at passing cars, terrified she would be murdered by invisible assailants. The diagnosis of schizophrenia that followed compelled Sarah to rethink her childhood, marked at turns by violence and all-consuming closeness. Digging into the events that led to her mother’s break, Sarah traces her family history of mental illness, from the dysphoria that plagued her great-grandmother, a granddaughter of slaves, to her own experience with depression as a scholarship student at Brown.
-
-
Good iistening
- By Alan H. Wiese on 02-17-25
By: Sarah LaBrie
-
The Treasure Hunters Club
- A Mystery
- By: Tom Ryan
- Narrated by: Graham Halstead
- Length: 10 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Welcome to Maple Bay, Nova Scotia. For nearly a century, people have ventured to the idyllic seaside town of Maple Bay in search of a legendary lost pirate treasure, but locals know there’s more than just gold buried in the sand. As the paths of three strangers converge in Maple Bay, the truth is about to be blown wide open. But not before the bodies start to pile up. Peter Barnett is rapidly approaching forty with little to show for it when a mysterious letter invites him to Maple Bay and the mansion his estranged family has called home for generations.
-
-
Great book
- By amy on 11-24-24
By: Tom Ryan
-
The Authenticity Project
- A Novel
- By: Clare Pooley
- Narrated by: Anna Cordell
- Length: 10 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Julian Jessop, an eccentric, lonely artist and septuagenarian believes that most people aren’t really honest with each other. But what if they were? And so he writes—in a plain, green journal—the truth about his own life and leaves it in his local café. It’s run by the incredibly tidy and efficient Monica, who furtively adds her own entry and leaves the book in the wine bar across the street. Before long, the others who find the green notebook add the truths about their own deepest selves - and soon find each other In Real Life at Monica’s Café.
-
-
Sweet, easy listen
- By Benhandel on 04-23-20
By: Clare Pooley
-
The Joy You Make
- Find the Silver Linings—Even on Your Darkest Days
- By: Steven Petrow
- Narrated by: Steven Petrow, Michael Butler Murray
- Length: 7 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We all know what it’s like to experience the disappointments and sorrows of life. Unexpected circumstances like layoffs, divorce, illness, and death can leave us hurting and isolated. Add to that the unending anxiety we feel at the state of the world—political strife and global upheavals—and we end up with a recipe for . . . joy? Yes, says journalist Steven Petrow, who has lived through all of those things, and arrived at a surprising conclusion: Joy is always present—in our everyday routines, in ties to those we care about, even in our grief.
-
-
Worthwhile book on joy
- By Robin Kay Quinn on 09-30-24
By: Steven Petrow
What listeners say about The Faculty Lounge
Highly rated for:
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- John Perry
- 02-16-25
Lovely read
The Faculty Lounge is a touching and candid account of what it’s like to be a teacher. As the novel concludes, “it is good work.”
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Michellelee2C
- 08-22-24
Great back to school listen
I enjoyed the relatable characters and humor. The author understood the assignment. Teachers will enjoy this book.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- LinseyLoo
- 08-22-24
Love Letter to Teachers
Wow. I am so glad I read this book. I absolutely see why the author called it a "love letter" to educators. I found myself and my colleagues of past and present on those pages. I have lived so many of these moments and experiences and felt so many of these same feelings -- like SO MANY. It felt even more special that the setting was not only current but local -- a Houston, TX public school. It tackled familiar personas of REAL students, teachers, and parents, current issues in the field of public ed, and the reality that teachers are only human -- PEOPLE with lives and feelings and pasts and families and hearts. This is admittedly not my genre, and I normally find character studies boring, but it was my connection that made me love this book. Had this been about any other group of people from any other institution or organization, I would likely have passed it by. Thank you for bringing us to life in the page, Mrs. Mathieu.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kimberley
- 02-21-25
Snore
This is one of the most boring books I have listened to in ages. I would have normally give up and returned it by the third or fourth chapter. But this was for my bookclub.
There is no plot, there is very little connection between the characters. It is several chapters about the different people but it lead nowhere. It had so much potential but was sorely lacking. I was really surprised someone had recommended it. I certainly would not.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Student reviewer
- 08-04-24
Thank you from a teacher!
I loved the characters, and, as a teacher, I loved reading a novel where I actually felt seen! More, please!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Marion
- 08-05-24
School Life
This is a charming peek behind the scenes of faculty life in a large High School in Houston, Texas. At times very funny, at other times sad. It’s a tribute to the educators who devote their lives to teaching young people, particularly in a public school setting.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- HJWood
- 11-21-24
meh
To sum it up in a single word, disjointed is the best way to describe this.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Beth Fehlbaum
- 07-25-24
I love this book!
I’m a long-time teacher. Mathieu does a phenomenal job of capturing teachers’ humanity and dry wit and worries and challenges and… I could go on and on. Mathieu considers this book to be a love letter to teachers. Mark it as received and appreciated by this veteran who has seen it all. Thank you for writing this beautiful book.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- La Melliza
- 08-19-24
Excellent writing
The story was amazing. It was hard to stop listening. I strong recommend it The narrator did a great job
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Rocketeer
- 08-16-24
A teacher's world
it felt so true to the world of teaching. All of the personalities were great.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!