by Juliette Koronkiewicz
When living on Long Island, there isn’t much more you want to do than sit on the beach all weekend. The smell of the Atlantic, the heat from the sun on your skin, and my favorite beach chair are all I need. Correction: I also need something playing through my airpods. It’s my mini weekend getaway filled with history, teenage angst, and crime.
True crime + history = audiobook heaven! If you’re a fan of the Jazz Age, then The Ghosts of Eden Park is the Bee’s Knees! It takes place during the early Prohibition Era, when a man named George Remus sets out to become an entrepreneur and leaves behind a career in law. He later gets named the “King of the Bootleggers,” due to his Gatsby-esque events—and owning 35 percent of the liquor in the United States. But when the prosecutor is determined to take him down, there’s only one way this is going to end—murder. Not only is this nonfiction audiobook filled with history, but you’ll get engrossed in the betrayals and madness that surrounds Remus.
William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet: Music from the Motion Picture Soundtrack
My taste in music is all over the place. One minute I’m listening to hits from the 50s & 60s, then it’s Broadway tunes, and then I’m sliding Biggie Smalls into the mix. But my recent go-to has been the soundtrack to William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet. I mean who doesn’t love a young Leo? This is the ultimate film soundtrack and the 90s mixed tape that everyone wishes they received from their high school crush. Mixed with alternative rock and beautiful love ballads, this is as 90s as choker necklaces and butterfly clips.
The Man In The Window: The Golden State Killer Podcast
If you’re a true crime junkie and looking for a good scare, Man in the Window: The Golden State Killer will have you thinking twice before looking out the window at night! He’s “accused of 13 murders and suspected of some 225 other home invasions… from the early 1970s to the mid-1980s.” The Los Angeles Times interviewed family, friends, victims, and detectives to piece together and attempt to understand what drove The Golden State Killer. I can guarantee it will be almost impossible to get the killer’s voice out of your head.
For more Penguin Random House Audio staff picks, check out our archive!