Grab the Essential Full Audiobooks in Fiction, LGBTQ+

The Sheltering Sky: A Novel by Paul Bowles

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/564543 [https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/564543] to listen full audiobooks. Title: The Sheltering Sky: A Novel Author: Paul Bowles Narrator: Saskia Maarleveld Format: Unabridged Audiobook Length: 10 hours 9 minutes Release date: May 14, 2024 Ratings: Ratings of Book: 5 of Total 2 Genres: LGBTQ+ Publisher's Summary: Audio edition of the landmark of 20th Century literature, by acclaimed author Paul Bowles “The Sheltering Sky is one of the most original, even visionary, works of fiction to appear in the twentieth century.” —Tobias Wolff ''It stands head and shoulders above most other novels published in English since World War II.” —New Republic In this classic work of psychological terror, Paul Bowles examines the ways in which Americans apprehend other cultures--and the ways in which their incomprehension destroys them. The story of three American travelers adrift in the cities and deserts of North Africa after World War II, The Sheltering Sky is at once merciless and heartbreaking in its compassion. It etches the limits of human reason and intelligence--perhaps even the limits of human life --when they touch the unfathomable emptiness and impassive cruelty of the dessert.

Black Shield Maiden by Willow Smith, Jess Hendel

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/566833 [https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/566833] to listen full audiobooks. Title: Black Shield Maiden Author: Willow Smith, Jess Hendel Narrator: Willow Smith Format: Unabridged Audiobook Length: 14 hours 23 minutes Release date: May 7, 2024 Ratings: Ratings of Book: 4 of Total 2 Genres: LGBTQ+ Publisher's Summary: From Willow Smith and Jess Hendel comes a powerful and groundbreaking historical saga about an African warrior in the world of the Vikings. “Intimate, tender, and fiercely epic.”—Tomi Adeyemi, author of Children of Blood and Bone Lore, legend, and history tell us of the Vikings: warrior kings on epic journeys of conquest and plunder. But the stories we know are not the only stories to tell. There is another story, one that has been lost to the mists of time: the saga of the dark queen. This saga begins with Yafeu, a defiant yet fiercely compassionate young warrior who is stolen from her home in the flourishing Ghānaian empire and taken to a distant kingdom in the North. There she is thrust into a strange, cold world of savage shield maidens, tyrannical rulers, and mysterious gods. And there she also finds something unexpected: a kindred spirit. She comes to serve Freydis, a shy princess who couldn’t be more different from the confident and self-possessed Yafeu. But they both want the same thing: to forge their own fate. Yafeu inspires Freydis to dream of a future greater than the one that the king and queen have forced upon her. And with the princess at her side, Yafeu learns to navigate this new world and grows increasingly determined to become one of the legendary shield maidens—to fight not only for her freedom but for the freedom of others. Yafeu may have lost her home, but she still knows who she is, and she’s not afraid to be the flame that burns a city to the ground so a new world can rise from the ashes. She will alter the course of history—and become the revolutionary heroine of her own myth.

The Wonder of It All by Barbara Taylor Bradford

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/560488 [https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/560488] to listen full audiobooks. Title: The Wonder of It All Author: Barbara Taylor Bradford Narrator: Joan Walker Format: Unabridged Audiobook Length: 9 hours 44 minutes Release date: November 9, 2023 Genres: LGBTQ+ Publisher's Summary: James Falconer returns in the third House of Falconer historical novel from multi-million copy bestseller Barbara Taylor Bradford. The Somme, 1916. James Falconer, once a barrow boy on a London market, stands in the trenches, awaiting the command to go over the top. Away from his business empire in London, he is simply a soldier, war the great leveller. But, unlike his men, and unknown to them, deep down, Falconer doesn’t care if he lives or dies. When a face from the past offers James the chance to repair his fractured relationship with his estranged daughter, Leonie, he must decide if he can hold different things dear – and make space in his life for love. But the war has left terrible scars, both personal and professional, and swept huge changes through the glittering world he once inhabited. James must weather myriad storms as he attempts to right past wrongs and build a new life. 'Bradford’s tale is enriched by dynamic characters, especially James, who heroically persists in his effort to rebuild his life. It’s a satisfying culmination to a richly drawn historical series' Publishers Weekly

Shakespeare's Sword by Alan Judd

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/569373 [https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/569373] to listen full audiobooks. Title: Shakespeare's Sword Author: Alan Judd Narrator: John Telfer Format: Unabridged Audiobook Length: 3 hours 56 minutes Release date: August 17, 2023 Ratings: Ratings of Book: 4 of Total 5 Ratings of Narrator: 4 of Total 1 Genres: LGBTQ+ Publisher's Summary: From the author of Legacy, now a major BBC Film, comes a brilliant new historical crime novella for fans of Antonia Hodgson and CJ Sansom. ‘To Mr Thomas Combe my sword.’  These six words in Shakespeare’s will tell us that Shakespeare had a sword. Did he wear it?  Did he use it?  What sort was it?  When and why did he get it?  What happened to it?  Might it – does it – still exist?   These questions plague Simon Gold, an antiques dealer.  He believes he has identified the sword as belonging to a customer, an unworthy owner indifferent to cultural icons and uninterested in history.  Simon is desperate to acquire the sword, but how?  How far is he prepared to go to get it?  In alliance with Charlotte, his customer’s attractive and disaffected wife, Simon finds himself going farther than he had intended - and finds, too, that Charlotte is rather more than she appears. Praise for Alan Judd: 'Judd has an infallible grasp of intelligence' Spectator 'Wonderful. One of the best spy novels ever' Peter Hennessey on Legacy  'Plotting in the best le Carré tradition' Mail on Sunday 'Belongs to the classic tradition of spy writing' Guardian

The Complete Short Stories by Patrick O’brian

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/561779 [https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/561779] to listen full audiobooks. Title: The Complete Short Stories Author: Patrick O’brian Narrator: David Rintoul Format: Unabridged Audiobook Length: 20 hours 52 minutes Release date: April 27, 2023 Genres: LGBTQ+ Publisher's Summary: The Complete Short Stories is the most comprehensive collection of O’Brian’s short fiction ever published. An essential volume, certain to enchant O’Brian admirers as well as readers who are fortunate enough to be journeying with him for the very first time. Patrick O’Brian is acclaimed as one of the greatest historical novelists of the twentieth century, celebrated throughout the world for his masterful roman fleuve, the Aubrey‒Maturin series. But he was also a prolific writer of short stories, and it is in this form that he first made his mark. Encompassing stories written in his unvarnished youth to tales told by a seasoned traveller, this is the most comprehensive collection of O’Brian’s short fiction ever published. It is a treasure chest, overflowing with riches, containing more than sixty tales, including rarities, uncollected works, and forgotten jewels that have been out of print for decades. These are stories of friendship, travel, adventure and the wonders of the natural world. Some are enchantingly funny, others exciting, terrifying, passionate. All of them prove Patrick O’Brian to be a true master of the form.