And for the ride back, keep the kids entertained with even more engaging listens!

Explore the Universal and the Intimate with Ta-Nehisi Coates

What does it mean to inhabit a Black body? To face exploitations both historical and contemporary: slavery, segregation, the carceral state and police brutality? How does one reckon with these injustices? How do you free yourself from them?

Ta-Nehisi Coates attempts to answer these questions in an intimate, emotional and eloquent letter to his adolescent son. Between the World and Me is a bracing look at the past, a sober look at the present and a transcendent look at the future. As you take a short trip this summer, spend the three-and-a-half hours with Coates’ beautiful memoir, which he narrates himself.

Escape Screen Time with John Lutz and a Virtually Perfect Voice Cast

Escape from Virtual Island may be set in the future, but it harkens back to the radio plays of old – filled with grand adventure, high hilarity and larger-than-life characters.

In 2038, on a getaway island for the rich and famous, a high-profile guest goes missing within the Virtual Reality Theme Park. It’s up to Derek, who inherited the island from his mother, to rescue the guest and prove that he’s competent enough to take over the park. With a ragtag crew of island employees, Derek dives headfirst into a daring mission on the other side of reality.

The voice cast on Escape from Virtual Island is stacked: Paul Rudd, Henry Winkler, Amber Ruffin, Seth Meyers, Kenan Thompson, Olivia Wilde and many more! Wherever you’re escaping to this weekend, put away the phone and head to Virtual Island.

For more on-the-road laughs, find a new comedy series at Audible.ca!

Check out the Bold, Experimental and Compassionate Mythology of Tanya Tagaq

Polaris Prize-winning, Inuk throat singer Tanya Tagaq is accustomed to offering up trailblazing art. So, it may come as no surprise that her first audiobook – a stirring, surreal and visceral blend of memoir and fiction – belongs in a category all its own.

A coming-of-age story in a small arctic town, Split Tooth oscillates between the tedium of the everyday world, the raw, seductive energy of the animal kingdom and the mythology that binds the two. Punctuating her bold narration with throat singing, Tagaq’s performance on the audiobook will have you gripped from the first to last moment. It may be just a short trip, but it will transport you to a whole new place.

For more amazing books by Indigenous authors, follow the link and explore Audible’s extensive selection.

Take a Couple’s Retreat with Stephen Marche

Between work, chores, exercise and personal obligations, sometimes the daily grind leaves little time for love. It can be an act of mutual liberation and connection to just say, “forget life for a while – why don’t the two of us skip town and spend some quality time together?”

As a guidebook for your couple’s retreat, bring along Stephen Marche’s Audible Original podcast, How Not to F*/ck Up Your Marriage Too Bad. Its title may be brash, but what you’ll find in this podcast is a frank, intimate and funny investigation of modern relationships. Should you schedule sex? How do you stop fighting when neither person wants to back down? How do two people live together without imploding? With 10 episodes totalling five hours, pick and choose the topics that speak to you.

If you’re taking a short road trip this summer, pack an equally short listen with you. As you explore Canada, from the sands of Vancouver Island to the shores of the Saint Lawrence, explore the six titles above or download the Audible app to search through many more. And if your adventures take you further afield than you’d anticipated, check out these six car-friendly titles with no maximum runtime.

What’s your favourite single-sitting title? Do you prefer the pithy episodes of a podcast or the immersive experience of an audiobook? Share your thoughts with us on social media.