
Ordinary Time
Lessons Learned While Staying Put
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Pre-order for $25.19
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Annie B. Jones
-
Emily P. Freeman
-
By:
-
Annie B. Jones
About this listen
In her first book, the popular From the Front Porch podcast host and independent bookstore owner challenges the idea that loud lives are the ones that matter most, reminding us that we don't have to leave the lives we have in order to have the lives of which we've always dreamed.
Can life be an adventure, even when it’s just . . . ordinary?
Annie Jones always assumed adulthood would mean adventure: a high-powered career; life in a big, bustling city; and travels to far-flung places she’d longed to see. But her reality turned out differently. As the years passed, Annie was still in the same small town running an independent bookstore—the kind of life Nora Ephron dreamed.
During that time, she hosted friends’ goodbye parties and mailed parting gifts; wrote recommendation letters and wished former shop staffers well. She stayed in her small town, despite her love of big cities; stayed in her marriage to the guy she met when she was 18; and she stayed at her bookstore while the world outside shifted steadily toward digital retailers. And she stayed loyal to a faith she sometimes didn’t recognize.
After ten years, Annie realized she might never leave. But instead of regret, she had an epiphany. She awakened to the gifts of a quiet life spent staying put.
In Ordinary Time, Annie challenges the idea that loud lives matter most. Rummaging through her small-town existence, she finds hidden gifts of humor and hope from a life lived quietly. Staying, can itself be a radical act. It takes courage to stay in the places we’ve always called home, Jones argues, as she paints a portrait of possibility far away from thriving metropolises and Monica Gellar-inspired apartments.
We’ve long been encouraged to follow our dreams, to pack up and move to new places and leave old lives—and past selves—behind. While there is beauty in these kinds of adventures, Ordinary Time helps us see ourselves right where we are: in the middle of messy, mundane lives, maybe not too far from where we grew up. We don’t have to leave to find what we yearn—we can choose to stay, celebrating and honoring our ordinary lives, which might turn out to be bigger and better than we ever imagined.
©2025 Annie B. Jones (P)2025 HarperCollins PublishersPeople who viewed this also viewed...
-
I Thought It Would Be Better than This
- Rise from Disappointment, Regain Control, and Rebuild a Life You Love
- By: Jessica N. Turner
- Narrated by: Jessica N. Turner
- Length: 7 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What happens when you look at your life and think, I thought it would be better than this? You know you can’t stay where you are, but have no idea what to do next. When Jessica N. Turner, a mom of three, lost her 16-year-marriage after her husband came out as gay, her life shattered. With grit and determination, she picked up the pieces, chose hope and courageously rebuilt a beautiful next chapter.
-
-
Authentic feelings
- By Michael P. Musachio on 04-19-25
-
I Regret Almost Everything
- By: Keith McNally
- Narrated by: Richard E. Grant
- Length: 10 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A memoir by the legendary proprietor of Balthazar, Pastis, Minetta Tavern, and Morandi, taking us from his gritty London childhood in the fifties to his serendipitous arrival in New York, where he founded the era-defining establishments the Odeon, Cafe Luxembourg, and Nell’s. Eloquent and opinionated, Keith McNally writes about the angst of being a child actor, his lack of insights from traveling overland to Kathmandu at nineteen, the instability of his two marriages and family relationships, his devastating stroke, and his Instagram notoriety.
By: Keith McNally
-
Happy Land
- By: Dolen Perkins-Valdez
- Narrated by: Bahni Turpin, Ashley J. Hobbs
- Length: 10 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Nikki hasn’t seen her grandmother in years. So when the elder calls out of the blue with an urgent request for Nikki to visit her in the hills of western North Carolina, Nikki hesitates only for a moment. After years of silence in her family, due to a mysterious estrangement between her mother and grandmother, she’s determined to learn the truth while she still can. But instead of answers about the recent past, Mother Rita tells Nikki an incredible story of a kingdom on this very mountain, and of her great-great-great grandmother, Luella, who would become its queen.
-
-
What an incredible story!!! A must read!!!
- By Ely B on 04-18-25
-
Heartwood
- By: Amity Gaige
- Narrated by: Justine Lupe, Alma Cuervo, Rebecca Lowman, and others
- Length: 8 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the heart of the Maine woods, an experienced Appalachian Trail hiker goes missing. She is forty-two-year-old Valerie Gillis, who has vanished 200 miles from her final destination. Alone in the wilderness, Valerie pours her thoughts into fractured, poetic letters to her mother as she battles the elements and struggles to keep hoping. At the heart of the investigation is Beverly, the determined Maine State Game Warden tasked with finding Valerie, who leads the search on the ground.
-
-
Very good with details for folks who love hiking
- By Amazon Customer on 04-04-25
By: Amity Gaige
-
All the Other Mothers Hate Me
- By: Sarah Harman
- Narrated by: Georgina Sadler
- Length: 11 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Florence Grimes is a thirty-one-year-old party girl who always takes the easy way out. Single, broke and unfulfilled after the humiliating end to her girl band career, she has only one reason to get out of bed each day: her ten-year-old son Dylan. But then Alfie Risby, her son’s bully and the heir to a vast frozen food empire, mysteriously vanishes during a class trip, and Dylan becomes the prime suspect. Florence, for once, is faced with a task she can’t quit: She’s got to find Alfie and clear her son’s name, or risk losing Dylan forever.
-
-
Good book!
- By Amanda Corkum on 03-13-25
By: Sarah Harman
-
Dear Writer
- Pep Talks & Practical Advice for the Creative Life
- By: Maggie Smith
- Narrated by: Maggie Smith
- Length: 6 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Drawing from her twenty years of teaching experience and her bestselling Substack newsletter, For Dear Life, Maggie Smith breaks down creativity into ten essential elements: attention, wonder, vision, play, surprise, vulnerability, restlessness, tenacity, connection, and hope. Each element is explored through short, inspiring, and craft-focused essays, followed by generative writing prompts. Dear Writer provides tools that artists of all experience levels can apply to their own creative practices and carry with them into all genres and all areas of life.
By: Maggie Smith
-
I Thought It Would Be Better than This
- Rise from Disappointment, Regain Control, and Rebuild a Life You Love
- By: Jessica N. Turner
- Narrated by: Jessica N. Turner
- Length: 7 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What happens when you look at your life and think, I thought it would be better than this? You know you can’t stay where you are, but have no idea what to do next. When Jessica N. Turner, a mom of three, lost her 16-year-marriage after her husband came out as gay, her life shattered. With grit and determination, she picked up the pieces, chose hope and courageously rebuilt a beautiful next chapter.
-
-
Authentic feelings
- By Michael P. Musachio on 04-19-25
-
I Regret Almost Everything
- By: Keith McNally
- Narrated by: Richard E. Grant
- Length: 10 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A memoir by the legendary proprietor of Balthazar, Pastis, Minetta Tavern, and Morandi, taking us from his gritty London childhood in the fifties to his serendipitous arrival in New York, where he founded the era-defining establishments the Odeon, Cafe Luxembourg, and Nell’s. Eloquent and opinionated, Keith McNally writes about the angst of being a child actor, his lack of insights from traveling overland to Kathmandu at nineteen, the instability of his two marriages and family relationships, his devastating stroke, and his Instagram notoriety.
By: Keith McNally
-
Happy Land
- By: Dolen Perkins-Valdez
- Narrated by: Bahni Turpin, Ashley J. Hobbs
- Length: 10 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Nikki hasn’t seen her grandmother in years. So when the elder calls out of the blue with an urgent request for Nikki to visit her in the hills of western North Carolina, Nikki hesitates only for a moment. After years of silence in her family, due to a mysterious estrangement between her mother and grandmother, she’s determined to learn the truth while she still can. But instead of answers about the recent past, Mother Rita tells Nikki an incredible story of a kingdom on this very mountain, and of her great-great-great grandmother, Luella, who would become its queen.
-
-
What an incredible story!!! A must read!!!
- By Ely B on 04-18-25
-
Heartwood
- By: Amity Gaige
- Narrated by: Justine Lupe, Alma Cuervo, Rebecca Lowman, and others
- Length: 8 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the heart of the Maine woods, an experienced Appalachian Trail hiker goes missing. She is forty-two-year-old Valerie Gillis, who has vanished 200 miles from her final destination. Alone in the wilderness, Valerie pours her thoughts into fractured, poetic letters to her mother as she battles the elements and struggles to keep hoping. At the heart of the investigation is Beverly, the determined Maine State Game Warden tasked with finding Valerie, who leads the search on the ground.
-
-
Very good with details for folks who love hiking
- By Amazon Customer on 04-04-25
By: Amity Gaige
-
All the Other Mothers Hate Me
- By: Sarah Harman
- Narrated by: Georgina Sadler
- Length: 11 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Florence Grimes is a thirty-one-year-old party girl who always takes the easy way out. Single, broke and unfulfilled after the humiliating end to her girl band career, she has only one reason to get out of bed each day: her ten-year-old son Dylan. But then Alfie Risby, her son’s bully and the heir to a vast frozen food empire, mysteriously vanishes during a class trip, and Dylan becomes the prime suspect. Florence, for once, is faced with a task she can’t quit: She’s got to find Alfie and clear her son’s name, or risk losing Dylan forever.
-
-
Good book!
- By Amanda Corkum on 03-13-25
By: Sarah Harman
-
Dear Writer
- Pep Talks & Practical Advice for the Creative Life
- By: Maggie Smith
- Narrated by: Maggie Smith
- Length: 6 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Drawing from her twenty years of teaching experience and her bestselling Substack newsletter, For Dear Life, Maggie Smith breaks down creativity into ten essential elements: attention, wonder, vision, play, surprise, vulnerability, restlessness, tenacity, connection, and hope. Each element is explored through short, inspiring, and craft-focused essays, followed by generative writing prompts. Dear Writer provides tools that artists of all experience levels can apply to their own creative practices and carry with them into all genres and all areas of life.
By: Maggie Smith
-
It's a Love Story
- By: Annabel Monaghan
- Narrated by: Hillary Huber
- Length: 10 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the USA Today bestselling author of Nora Goes Off Script, a novel about a former adolescent TV punch line who has left her awkwardness in the rearview mirror thanks to a fake-it-till-you-make-it mantra that has her on the cusp of success, until she tells a lie that sets her on a crash course with her past, spending a week on Long Island with the last man she thinks might make her believe in love.
By: Annabel Monaghan
-
The Bright Years
- By: Sarah Damoff
- Narrated by: Ferdelle Capistrano, Joy Osmanski, Lee Osorio
- Length: 8 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Told from three intimate points of view, The Bright Years is a tender, true-to-life novel that explores the impact of each generation in a family torn apart by tragedy but, over time, restored by the power of grace and love.
By: Sarah Damoff
-
A Clean Mess
- A Memoir of Sobriety After a Lifetime of Being Numb
- By: Tiffany Jenkins
- Narrated by: Tiffany Jenkins
- Length: 9 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Told with humor and honesty, A Clean Mess is Tiffany Jenkins’s story of how she learned to live and feel for the first time without numbing herself with drugs—and how she discovered inner reserves of strength she didn’t know she had. From her tentative first days of sobriety, to seeing two pink lines on a pregnancy test weeks later, to navigating anxiety, a new marriage, and motherhood at the same time, to surviving betrayal and divorce, Jenkins shows how she got through it all when her crutches and Band-Aids were taken away from her.
By: Tiffany Jenkins
-
The Next Day
- Transitions, Change, and Moving Forward
- By: Melinda French Gates
- Narrated by: Melinda French Gates
- Length: 3 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a rare window into some of her life’s pivotal moments, Melinda French Gates draws from previously untold stories to offer a new perspective on encountering transitions. Melinda will reflect on some of the most significant transitions in her own life, including becoming a parent, the death of a dear friend, and her departure from the Gates Foundation. The stories she tells illuminate universal lessons about loosening the bonds of perfectionism, helping friends navigate times of crisis, embracing uncertainty, and more.
-
-
So much wisdom
- By Michelle Hicks on 04-16-25
-
Gentle
- Rest More, Stress Less, and Live the Life You Actually Want
- By: Courtney Carver
- Narrated by: Courtney Carver
- Length: 8 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Being Gentle is about being grounded in self-compassion and a fierce commitment to less—becoming the Gentle You isn’t about taking the easy road. Organized into three parts—Rest, Less, and Rise—Courtney Carver's Gentle provides simple challenges and practices that will help listeners radically and gently shift their pace, headspace, and heart. Becoming the Gentle You is a practice of real self-care that, over time, will soothe your nervous system and strengthen your relationships.
-
-
Kind thoughts
- By AliceR on 03-23-25
By: Courtney Carver
-
Kate & Frida
- A Novel of Friendship, Food, and Books
- By: Kim Fay
- Narrated by: Kelsey Jaffer, Ines del Castillo
- Length: 6 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Twentysomething Frida Rodriguez arrives in Paris in 1991, relishing the city’s butter-soaked cuisine and seeking her future as a war correspondent. But then she writes to a bookshop in Seattle, and receives more than just the book she requests. A friendship begins that will redefine the person she wants to become.
By: Kim Fay
-
We Can Do Hard Things
- Answers to Life's 20 Questions
- By: Glennon Doyle, Abby Wambach, Amanda Doyle
- Narrated by: Glennon Doyle, Abby Wambach, Amanda Doyle, and others
- Length: 12 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The #1 New York Times bestselling authors and award-winning podcasters Glennon Doyle, Abby Wambach, and Amanda Doyle created We Can Do Hard Things—the guidebook for being alive—to help fellow travelers find their way through life.
By: Glennon Doyle, and others
-
Mark Twain
- By: Ron Chernow
- Narrated by: Jason Culp
- Length: 48 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer Ron Chernow illuminates the full, fascinating, and complex life of the writer long celebrated as the father of American literature, Mark Twain.
By: Ron Chernow
-
Crush
- A Novel
- By: Ada Calhoun
- Narrated by: Robyn Maryke
- Length: 5 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
She’s happy and settled and productive and content in her full life—a child, a career, an admirable marriage, deep friendships, happy parents, and a spouse she still loves. But when her husband urges her to address what the narrow labels of “husband” and “wife” force them to edit out of their lives, the very best kind of hell breaks loose. Using the author’s personal experiences as a jumping-off point, Crush is about the danger and liberation of chasing desire, the havoc it can wreak, and most of all the clear sense of self one finds when the storm passes.
-
-
This Spoke to my soul
- By Lloyda on 04-03-25
By: Ada Calhoun
-
Gifted & Talented
- By: Olivie Blake
- Narrated by: Eunice Wong
- Length: 18 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Atlas Six comes the story of three siblings who, upon the death of their father, are forced to reckon with their long-festering rivalries, dangerous abilities, and the crushing weight of all their unrealized adolescent potential.
-
-
It is finally
- By crperkins on 04-15-25
By: Olivie Blake
-
The Paris Express
- By: Emma Donoghue
- Narrated by: Justin Avoth
- Length: 7 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Based on an 1895 disaster that went down in history when it was captured in a series of surreal, extraordinary photographs, The Paris Express is a propulsive novel set on a train packed with a fascinating cast of characters who hail from as close as Brittany and as far as Russia, Ireland, Algeria, Pennsylvania, and Cambodia.
-
-
Outstanding narrator
- By Amazon Customer on 03-19-25
By: Emma Donoghue
-
Murder at Gulls Nest
- A Novel
- By: Jess Kidd
- Narrated by: Siobhan McSweeney
- Length: 9 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
1954: When her former novice’s dependable letters stop, Nora Breen asks to be released from her vows. Haunted by a line in Frieda’s letter, Nora arrives at Gulls Nest, a charming hotel in Gore-on-Sea in Kent. A seaside town, a place of fresh air and relaxed constraints, is the perfect place for a new start. Nora hides her identity and pries into the lives of her fellow guests. But when a series of bizarre murders rattles the occupants of Gulls Nest it’s time to ask if a dark past can ever really be left behind.
-
-
I love everything that Jess writes!
- By littleannie on 04-16-25
By: Jess Kidd