Staff Picks: Audiobook Tearjerkers for Summertime Sadness
There can be something melancholic about the dog days of summer. Friends are out of town, the window unit air conditioner is working overtime, and the mosquitos are biting in only the itchiest places (why the feet!).
It can be easy, as Lana Del Rey once sang, to get that summertime sadness. And while cheering up with an ice cream cone can be healthy, some days you just have to lean into the seasonal ennui. Preferably with an audiobook that will tug at your heartstrings and inspire the kind of cry that only book lovers can understand.
The Penguin Random House Audio staff, after wiping our eyes and tossing our tissues, has pulled together listening recommendations that got our tears flowing, best listened to while gazing out at a body of water.
Promise Me Sunshine by Cara Bastone
“I adore everything Cara Bastone writes, and I really appreciate a romance that remembers that our platonic relationships are just as important as a romantic one. This story really digs deep into what it’s like to live after your best friend forever passes away, and how there isn’t one perfect guide for how to keep going.”–Kate Smith, Publicist
When the Cranes Fly South by Lisa Ridzén
“When the Cranes Fly South by Lisa Ridzén is the perfect audiobook if you’re in need of a cathartic cry. It’s about an elderly man’s attempts to mend his relationship with his son before it’s too late. It’s a profound story about forgiveness and family, with a lovable dog as the cherry on top. If you loved A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman, then this story is for you.”–Marissa Secreto, Associate Manager, Marketing
The Unbroken Coast by Nalini Jones
“Listening to Sneha Mathan narrate the intergenerational family epic that is The Unbroken Coast will transport you so gracefully from triumphant peaks to tragic depths and back again. By the end of this audiobook, your tear ducts may be empty, but your heart will be full.”–Olivia Langen, Associate Producer
Beach Read by Emily Henry
“Beach Read is a summer romance audiobook with a strong undercurrent of grief, trauma, and the journey we go through to find peace with the versions of our parents that we dreamed up versus the reality of them as real people who make mistakes. If you’ve lost a parent or experienced strained relationships with them (this one includes both daddy AND mommy issues – BONUS!) then you are sure to cry at least a few empathetic tears as you listen. January embodies both the desires and fears so many of us book lovers carry, the fear that happy endings aren’t real life and the desire to prove that they can be.”–Kayla Kohlmeister, Publicist
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
“The Bluest Eye was my first Morrison novel. I read it at nine, too young to fully grasp it, but still captivated. The narrator Claudia was also nine, so I figured it was meant for me. I devoured it, not realizing how much it would haunt me. Rereading it now? It still wrecks me. Set in 1940s Ohio, it follows Pecola Breedlove, a young Black girl who believes blue eyes will make her beautiful—and make the world kinder. Morrison unpacks the brutal effects of internalized racism and neglect with unflinching grace. It’s one of the most devastating books I’ve ever read, and still, one of the most beautiful. The audiobook, read by Morrison herself, is extraordinary. If you’re looking for a deep cry, I can’t recommend it enough.”–Alexis Patterson, Associate Director, Marketing
Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin
“Giovanni’s Room broke my heart open in what felt like a hundred different ways. There’s the simultaneous anger and empathy for our protagonist David, the absolute bleeding heart of his lover Giovanni, and the gutting consequences of internalized shame and repression. With his signature brilliant and beautiful prose, James Baldwin has created the pinnacle of summertime sadness: a story that’s as sticky and claustrophobic as an August day, with golden moments that are far too fleeting.”–Erin Murphy, Associate Manager, Marketing
