New Playaway Arrivals

Here’s a sampling of what’s new today in playaway. Click an image for availability.

The Butterfly’s Daughter by Mary Alice Monroe Read by the author. The annual migration of the monarch is a phenomenal story – a miracle of instinct and survival. In The Butterfly’s Daughter, four very different women embark on a transformational voyage of self-discovery that follows the monarch’s journey from the upper Midwest through Texas to Mexico. When Luz Avila’s grandmother, the local butterfly lady, unexpectedly dies, Luz is compelled to carry her ashes home to her mountain village in Mexico. Inspired by the Aztec myth of the goddess who brings light to the world, Luz attracts a collection of women, each seeking change in her life. Yet no one’s life changes more that Luz’s when she meets her long-lost mother, a woman she had believed dead. Their mishaps, trials, and joys are met with humor and compassion, culminating in their triumphant arrival in Mexico on the Day of the Dead celebration.

Familyhood by Paul Reiser Read by the author. In keeping with the theme of his two previous New York Times bestsellers, Couplehood and Babyhood, Reiser will bring his trademark warmth and razor-sharp wit to bear on observations about parenting, marriage, and midlife. Fueled by his experiences of raising two young sons, ages 10 and 15, with his wife of twenty-two years, this new book looks at the funny truths, heartbreaks, and small victories of being a family today. Paul Reiser said of the new audiobook, “After many years of trying to master the art of being a great husband and father, I’ve decided to write this book so my children will finally have all the proof they need that I have no idea what I’m doing.”

Lies Chelsea Handler told me by Chelsea’s Family, Friends, and Other Victims Read by Johnny Kansas, Stephanie Stehling, Heather McDonald and others It’s no lie: Chelsea Handler loves to smoke out “dumbassness,” the condition people suffer from that allows them to fall prey to her brand of complete and utter nonsense. Friends, family, co-workers–they’ve all been tricked by Chelsea into believing stories of total foolishness and into behaving like total fools. Luckily, they’ve lived to tell the tales and, for the very first time, write about them.

The Snowman by Jo Nesbø Read by Robin Sachs Internationally acclaimed, best-selling Norwegian writer Jo Nesbø appears on the Knopf list for the first time with a bone-chilling new thriller about a serial killer who takes Harry Hole—Nesbø’s irascible police investigator— to the brink of insanity. The first snow of the season has fallen in Oslo. A boy named Jonas wakes in the night to find his mother gone. Outside he sees the snowman, bathed in cold moonlight, that inexplicably appeared in the yard that day—his mother’s pink scarf around its neck. Hole suspects there is a link to a menacing letter he recently received. And as the number of missing women grows, it becomes more and more clear that he is a pawn in a terrifying game whose rules are devised—and constantly revised—by the killer.

What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen Read by Meredith Hagner Since her parents’ bitter divorce, McLean and her dad, a restaurant consultant, have been on the move-four towns in two years. Estranged from her mother and her mother’s new family, McLean has followed her dad in leaving the unhappy past behind. And each new place gives her a chance to try out a new persona: from cheerleader to drama diva. But now, for the first time, McLean discovers a desire to stay in one place and just be herself, whoever that is. Perhaps Dave, the guy next door, can help her find out.

Plot synopses from Playaway.