What We’re Listening To: Rory’s August Picks
Hi! My name is Rory Collins and I am interning on the Listening Library Editorial team this summer.
As we emerge into the season of salt air (and the rust on your door…if you know you know), I find myself looking back upon all the audible media that kept me sane this summer through countless un-air conditioned subway cars, long walks, and days of lying down in the park. Here are my favorite things that I listened to this summer:
The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong
After my high school English teacher gave me On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous as a graduation present, I have been enraptured by Ocean Vuong’s contemporary poetry and lyrical writing style. I yearned for this book to be published for many, many moons and when it finally was, it immediately became my listen when setting up my new apartment. Because come on, building a bookshelf all by myself was hard work, and I wasn’t about to add another heavy hardcover to my already overflowing collection.
The narration of this book was flawless and had me gripped the whole way through. Not only was James Aaron Oh able to poignantly reflect Vuong’s beautiful conglomeration of words in his reading, his portrayal of the characters and his vocal change between each of them was extremely admirable. I can definitely say I shed a few tears while listening to this book, and it will not be one I forget soon.
Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry
Flipping over to the other side of my literary brain, I must admit that I can never get enough of a good rom-com. Especially not one about two rival writers in a small town, both begging to write what could be the next Pulitzer Prize-winning biography. Emily Henry has her characters and the building of their romantic relationships down to a science… and that science makes me giggle and kick my feet every single time.
Listening to this novel whisked me away to the island of Little Crescent, Georgia, and immersed me in a world of giddy, budding romance and beautiful small town moments (when, in reality, I was probably fighting my way through the Times Square station to get to the Uptown 1 train as this blasted through my headphones).
Henry never disappoints when it comes to creating a gripping story and making the butterflies in my stomach flutter. Her simple yet vivid stories usually get read by me in less than 48 hours, so it was a nice change of pace to get to listen to one and really soak in her every word.
Las Culturistas with Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers
Everything I have learned about pop culture; I have learned from Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers. In their hilarious current events-based podcast, the comedy duo discusses everything from their personal lives to why they believe James Cameron MUST be stopped. One of the most successful podcasts in our current climate, these two do not shy away from calling out what they feel is incorrect about our world and righting it with their “Rules of Culture,” a list of declarations about pop culture that are presented as absolute truths every episode. I laugh, I cry out of laughter, and sometimes even wheeze through my laughter every time this podcast is in my ears. It is one of the silliest yet most intelligent pieces of media out there right now, and I highly recommend checking out their recent Las Culturistas Award Show ceremony if you are a pop culture fiend such as I.
Folklore by Taylor Swift
And finally, we cannot have an August blog post without crediting the woman who basically invented the feeling of Augustal nostalgia: Taylor Swift. As much as Folklore was a huge COVID album for me, it has proved to be a conglomeration of timeless songs that come back around for every season, especially toward the end of summer. So, as the salt air and the rust on my door begin to wash away into the fall in the next few weeks, I will attempt to hold on to my amazing memories with Penguin this summer, which truly slipped away into a moment of time (though they were mine!)
