Audiobooks to Whisk You Away: On Tour with Jo Piazza
I’m about to set off on a month-long book tour for The Parisian Heist. I get asked a lot how I manage as an introvert who presents as an extrovert who truly does get really drained on the road. One of the answers I always give is that I constantly have a great audiobook going so that I can turn all the other parts of my brain off and get whisked away to a different world.
I love books with a definitive sense of place, and I write books that use place as an additional character. In The Parisian Heist, I want you to feel like you’re walking through the alleyways of Paris and skimming the canals of Amsterdam. So if escaping into a grand audiobook is also your jam, here are some of my favorites that will hustle you off to a gorgeous new city, a beautiful beach, or even the middle of the ocean.
Italy
Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes
The original buy-a-crumbling-villa and find yourself fantasy.
Tartufo by Kira Jane Buxton
A beautiful but struggling Italian village loses its mind over a giant truffle. Charming, funny, delicious, truffle-y.
One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle
A grieving daughter arrives in Positano and finds her deceased mother there, young and alive. Sweet, funny, and heartbreaking with a dash of hope.
You Deserve Good Gelato by Kacie Rose
An American falls for Italy in this memoir/travel guide about how travel can truly change your life.
Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter
A sweeping decades-spanning love story that ricochets between a tiny Ligurian fishing village and Hollywood. The Italian coastline steals the show.
Paris
The Paris Novel by Ruth Reichl
A shy young woman inherits a one-way trip to Paris and finds an unexpected reinvention in this dazzling coming of age story that will instantly transport you to the perfect Parisian cafe.
The Only Street in Paris by Elaine Sciolino
Elaine Sciolino, the former Paris bureau chief of The New York Times, gives a tour of her favorite Parisian street.
My Life in France by Julia Child
Don’t listen to this one hungry! Listen to Julia fall in love with France one butter-soaked meal at a time.
The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George
A literary apothecary (I would like this to be my new job) prescribes novels like medicine, then sails his floating bookshop to Provence.
Salt Air
Sea Wife by Amity Gaige
A family trades suburbia for life on a sailboat, and the Atlantic tests everything they thought they knew about one another and their relationships.
Slanting Towards the Sea by Lidija Hilje
Lost love and second chances on Croatia’s Adriatic coast.
Pink Sand Summer by Chassity Evans
A Harbor Island escape filled with sun, secrets, and romance.
American Fantasy by Emma Straub
Midlife reinvention aboard a nineties boy-band-themed cruise.
Japan
The Kamogawa Food Detectives by Hisashi Kashiwai
In their Kyoto restaurant, a father-daughter duo recreate meals from clients’ memories.
The American Journey
American Rambler by Isaac Fitzgerald
A funny, big-hearted memoir of family and identity following in the footsteps of American legend Johnny Appleseed.
The Road to Tender Hearts by Annie Hartnett
A slightly dysfunctional but hilarious family cross-country trip.
Bonus! Listen to a clip of The Parisian Heist by Jo Piazza
