What We’re Listening To: Hanna’s August Picks
Hi! I’m Hanna, the Editorial Intern at Penguin Random House Audio’s Listening Library. As a recent college grad, this summer has been a whimsical and sweaty season of setting and attempting goals and intentions like it’s my New Year. With longer days but stormier weather, I have been spending my “fresh start” delighting in immersive audiobooks, new albums, and nostalgic favorites. Here are some of my summer must-listens to enjoy while inside with the sound of the rain or outside in the late afternoon sun!
The Correspondent by Virginia Evans
One of the many perks of working at Penguin Random House is free audiobook access on the PRH Audio app! I’ve been spending my summer looking through the featured lists of Hot Summer Reads, Book Club Picks, and monthly highlights. Since its release last year, I have heard much praise for The Correspondent, and when I saw it listed in the app as a 2026 Audie Winner, I knew I had to give the audiobook a listen.
A lover of epistolary fiction, I have been enjoying listening to the multiple narrators read the letters and emails exchanged between the main character, Sybil Van Antwerp, and her friends and family. Her comings and goings of a life-well-lived have been a favorite companion on my summer weekend trips. This audiobook is a perfect travel listen and, although I will miss Sybil’s distinct voice and outlook on life, I am looking forward to finishing it on my next Amtrak ride!
When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
There are few things more joyous and comforting than picking up a favorite childhood book (at least I think so). This post-grad summer has been a lovely blend of returning to past loves and finding new things to explore, in reading as well as music, tv shows, and hobbies.
At the start of my internship, I was telling Rebecca Waugh, the Editorial Director of the Listening Library, that When You Reach Me is a favorite book of mine. A fellow fan, she recommended I check out Listening Library’s audiobook. It did not disappoint! Cynthia Holloway’s lively narration brought me right into Miranda’s New York City and the ups and downs of her sixth-grade year. Stead’s brilliant plot explores a range of themes and ideas from friendship to race and class consciousness to time travel. It was such a joy to get swept up in listening to this timeless story, and I can’t recommend it (and returning to other childhood favorites) enough!
Nina Montagne’s video essays
I must confess, I am not a big podcast listener! I have, however, been listening to some YouTube video essays as if they are podcasts while I fold my laundry. Recently, I listened to a video titled, “the one who loves always wins even if it ends 🌀 eros, faith, the broken middle,” by Nina Montagne. I enjoy Nina’s videos because she discusses things like love, reading, and life habits through philosophy and critical theory. In this video, she discusses Hegel’s God and cites books, including Gillian Rose’s Love’s Work and Anne Carson’s Eros the Bittersweet, to explore the power and vulnerability of love. Listening to her has been a fun way to think about how I want to move through life in this next chapter, while getting to learn about philosophical concepts (and increasing my lengthy tbr list).
Dancing on the Wall by MUNA
Every summer is a MUNA summer, but this year, we were lucky to finally get a new album from “the greatest band in the world” (self-proclaimed, but I might concur). I am a big listener of full albums, and Dancing on the Wall, like MUNA’s other projects, is a perfect package of sonically and emotionally charged synth and indie pop. From the queer joy of “Eastside Girls” to the devastatingly beautiful “So What,” this album is MUNA at their core—politically poignant and emotionally layered, with a get-on-your feet kind of fun. Summer 2026 will forever be blasting “It Gets So Hot” (because it really does) and dancing to this album with my friends.
“purple” by Olivia Rodrigo
I couldn’t talk about my summer listens without mentioning Olivia Rodrigo’s latest album, you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love. While I can’t stop listening to the whole album, my personal favorite has been “purple.” I adore a sad song, and the lyrics and production of this track effortlessly capture the layers of sadness felt in love. Of course, “purple” can be seen as a nod to the signature color of her first two albums, but the color also becomes a striking synonym for the conflicting, confusing emotion of losing oneself in a relationship despite the delights of new love.
Nicole by Niki
I am a chronically nostalgic person and, as mentioned, have been spending my summer listening to long-time favorites. It has been a few years since I first heard this album, but it is constantly in my rotation. Having finished my undergrad in May, these past few months have been filled with reflection while looking to the unknown future. Tracks like “Facebook Friends,” “On the Drive Home,” and “Anaheim” have brought me back to moments and memories from college, while themselves being deeply reflective on the changing of time. This album is for those whose thought daughter summers are year-round.
