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Books & ideas
The twenty-second bookshelf

Pick a cover. Hear the beginning of a possibility.

I’m developing this twenty-second listening shelf as a way to help readers, agents, and publishers decide which books to open. It is an experiment in progress. Each teaser now has a recorded AI narrator, selected for the book. Browse by cover, read the short preview, or listen. Independent selections below show how it works with books from my shelf.

Narrative nonfiction · Twenty-second teaser

Ever wonder why something meant to make life easier creates a new problem?

A car slides across black ice. For a moment, two drivers can only watch. Friction Fighters follows the forces that resist us—from living cells and everyday inventions to rockets and AI. Some friction holds us back. Some keeps us alive. How do we tell the difference?

Expect: surprising connections, human stories, and a way to investigate familiar problems.

AI-narrated sample. Voice recording generated with ElevenLabs.
Speculative fiction · Twenty-second teaser

What happens when a discovery becomes the infrastructure for everyone else’s thoughts?

In a Cambridge cellar, Dr. Mara Voss watches an AI do something no one taught it to do. Money and power rush toward the discovery. A young researcher must decide what to reveal. Years later, a historian traces the choices that shaped their world. The Rails of Mind.

Expect: three timelines, the railroad age, and a question about who gets to build the future.

AI-narrated sample. Voice recording generated with ElevenLabs.
Whimsical science fiction · Twenty-second teaser

What if your town dump suddenly began to sing?

On a Thursday night, the Clatterford dump begins to sing. Then it starts to cry. Two teenagers, a police sergeant, and a scientist gather to find out what woke it. The Heap is finding its voice—but who, or what, might be listening? The Clatterford Chronicles, Book One.

Expect: humor, strange music, and a small town meeting something extraordinary.

AI-narrated sample. Voice recording generated with ElevenLabs.
Whimsical adventure · Twenty-second teaser

What if the town junk heap had a mind of its own?

The Clatterford dump has bought an orange pickup truck. The money was not its own. Now the mob wants the truck, and Owen and Sable are caught between people who mean business and a junk heap with a mind of its own. There’s a smart three legged dog in this one, and he’s funny. The Clatterford Chronicles, Book Two.

Expect: invention, danger, and a mischievous mystery.

AI-narrated sample. Voice recording generated with ElevenLabs.
From my shelf

Independent book teasers

These original teasers demonstrate the listening format for books by other authors. They are independent examples, not official previews or publisher partnerships. No book text, published cover art, or audiobook recordings are used.

Fantasy adventure · Independent audio demonstration

What if someone who loves comfort is asked to do something brave?

I’m sure you’ve all heard of this book. It’s included here just to demonstrate the possibilities for this site. In the book Bilbo Baggins likes predictable meals and a quiet home. Then a wizard and a company of dwarves ask him to leave both behind. Beyond his door lie unfamiliar roads, danger, and a question he never expected to face: what might he be capable of? The Hobbit.

Expect: adventure, humor, and an unlikely traveler.

AI-narrated independent demonstration. Not an official audiobook excerpt.
Historical adventure · Twenty-second independent teaser

What happens after the mutineers sail away?

The mutineers have the Bounty. Lieutenant Bligh and eighteen men have a small open boat, a little food, and an ocean between them and safety. Every decision now has a cost: water, distance, discipline, trust. How far can they go before the sea takes what the mutiny did not?

Expect: open-boat survival, fierce choices, and an ocean that offers no second chances.

AI-narrated independent sample. Voice recording generated with ElevenLabs.
Historical fiction · Twenty-second teaser

Can a family escape the past when a nation cannot?

London offers refuge. Paris is preparing a reckoning. A doctor freed after years in prison tries to rebuild his family, but revolution reaches across the Channel. Old wrongs demand payment. When private lives collide with public fury, who can leave the past behind? A Tale of Two Cities.

Expect: revolution, family loyalties, and lives bound by old choices.

AI-narrated independent sample. Voice recording generated with ElevenLabs.