Finished S-Town and feel some aural emptiness? Try these audiobooks.

I already love audiobooks (I'm an aural-o-gist!), so I didn't think twice about whether to binge-listen to the S-Town Podcast or not. I split the seven-"chapter" (episode) podcast into two days of listening while editing image files at work and baking a lasagna at home. Now I'm scouring Facebook, Twitter, and even Reddit for any extra morsel of commentary, any images of the characters or the setting, to satisfy that emptiness completing the podcast listening left.

As my own personal auralogist, I decided to come up with a "listen-alike" list inspired by the thematic elements of S-Town. Here's that bibliographic homage to the show.

(Most books linked to audiobooks on OverDrive unless otherwise noted.)

Close Range: Wyoming Stories by Annie Proulx -- Listen to the short story "Brokeback Mountain," which inspired the film of the same name that Olin enlightened John B. about

True Crime

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt -- now classic Southern crime drama where the victim is a male prostitute killed by a Savannah socialite; worth trying out if you loved the Southern Gothic aspect of the podcast.

True Crime Addict by James Renner -- follow along with a journalist who becomes obsessed with his subject

The Innocent Man by John Grisham -- esteemed fiction writer seeks the truth

The Spider and the Fly by Claudia Rowe -- subtitled "A Reporter, a Serial Killer, and the Meaning of Murder," this literary true crime thriller tells the story of a journalist getting into the head of a man who strangled eight women--an he gets into hers...

Foxcatcher by Mark Schultz -- another true crime story in Yankee territory, and one that involves madness, money, and murder

Depression & Mental Illness

This Close to Happy  by Daphne Merkin -- an autobiography about a gifted writer's lifelong battle with depression and the struggle for relief

Fast Girl by Suze Favor Hamilton -- highly talented youth hiding a double-life

Elemental Poison

A Very Expensive Poison by Luke Harding (Hardcover) -- a polonium political assassination story

The Disappearing Spoon by Sean King (Audio CD) -- interesting tales from the history of the periodic table

Elements of Murder and Molecules of Murder by John Emsley (Paperback, Interlibrary Loan) -- a look at the organic chemicals used as poisoning agents in historic murder cases