Tuesday, March 31, 2009
ART by Patrick McDonnell, read by Bobby McFerrin
Art, a little boy who loves to draw, shares his art. Author/illustrator McDonnell's story takes flight with the innovations of Bobby McFerrin's narration. Listeners don't get just one narration and, true to McFerrin's celebrated style, each has different trills, vocal jazz, and improv.
Listen now. Time 2:38
Download an excerpt as an mp3 file. Size: 3.1 MBSoundReview support comes from Harper Audio,
Scholastic Audio, Hachette Audio, and Full Cast Audio.
Comment here: Monday, March 30, 2009
LETTER TO MY DAUGHTER by Maya Angelou, read by the author
With the careful phrasing and emphatic pacing of a poet, and her distinctive and original voice, Angelou offers her meditations on life to the many daughters she's never had yet considers to be her extended family. Listen now. Time 2:34 Download an excerpt as an mp3 file. Size: 1.5 MBSoundReview support comes from Harper Audio,
Scholastic Audio, Hachette Audio, and Full Cast Audio.
Friday, March 27, 2009
CURSE OF THE BLUE TATTOO by L.A. Meyer, read by Katherine Kellgren
With sass and song, Kellgren continues her portrait of Jacky Faber. Fighting off pirates in BLOODY JACK barely prepared Jacky for the battles she faces after being given the heave-ho as midshipman on the HMS Dolphin and being sent to a Boston boarding school. Listen now. Time 2:30 Download an excerpt as an mp3 file. Size: 1.5 MBSoundReview support comes from Harper Audio,
Scholastic Audio, Hachette Audio, and Full Cast Audio.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
WINTERGIRLS by Laurie Halse Anderson, read by Jeannie Stith
Two best friends had been competitors in anorexia, and now one is dead. Still alive, Lia hides her self-starvation and cutting from the perplexed adults who want to save her. In print the author uses visual textual representations of Lia's torment. Stith has just her voice. Listen now. Time 2:24 Download an excerpt as an mp3 file. Size: 1.4 MBSoundReview support comes from Harper Audio,
Scholastic Audio, Hachette Audio, and Full Cast Audio.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
THE HELP by Kathryn Stockett, read by Bahni Turpin, Octavia Spencer, Jenna Lamia, Cassandra Campbell
Jackson, Mississippi, 1962. White ladies playing bridge and sipping ice tea. Colored maids cooking, cleaning, and loving the white babies. The separate, intertwined paths of these worlds are going to collide. Audio is the way to be inside this story, brilliantly cast with four voices. Listen now. Time 2:49 Download an excerpt as an mp3 file. Size: 1.7 MBSoundReview support comes from Harper Audio,
Scholastic Audio, Hachette Audio, and Full Cast Audio.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
OUTLIERS written and read by Malcolm Gladwell
Did you ever wonder why very successful people become very successful, while other equally smart people don’t thrive? Gladwell's book takes a good look at this question, presenting sociological, cultural, and generational analysis in easy, accessible language. Reviewed by Bob Grundfest. Listen now. Time 2:44 Download an excerpt as an mp3 file. Size: 2.6 MBSoundReview support comes from Harper Audio,
Scholastic Audio, Hachette Audio, and Full Cast Audio.
Monday, March 23, 2009
TOP SECRET by Geoffrey Cowan and Leroy Aarons, read by John Heard, Susan Sullivan, James Gleason, and a full cast
Urgent, poetically earthy, and extremely listenable, BBC Radio's full-cast dramatization of Odysseus's treacherous ten-year journey home is outstanding audio theater. Listen now. Time 3:09 Download an excerpt as an mp3 file. Size: 3.7 MBSoundReview support comes from Harper Audio,
Scholastic Audio, Hachette Audio, and Full Cast Audio.
This exciting production from LA Theatre Works was recorded before a live audience. It dramatizes the WASHINGTON POST's struggle with the Nixon administration over the publication of the Pentagon Papers. Much of the dialogue is lifted straight from the historical record. Listen now. Time 2:29 Download now as an mp3 file. Size: 2.9 MBSoundReview support comes from Harper Audio,
Scholastic Audio, Hachette Audio, and Full Cast Audio.
Friday, March 20, 2009
THE SECRET SCRIPTURE by Sebastian Barry, read by Wanda McCaddon
Ninety-nine year-old Roseanne McNulty reexamines a life lived during the Irish "troubles" and within the confines of a sectarian, conformist country. The hospital director of the mental hospital where Rose lives tells his version of her story. Listen now. Time 2:33 Download an excerpt as an mp3 file. Size: 1.5 MBSoundReview support comes from Harper Audio,
Scholastic Audio, Hachette Audio, and Full Cast Audio.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
THE LAST CENTURION by John Ringo, read by Dan John Miller
Bandit Six, the Last Centurion, and his band of soldiers are trapped in Iran in 2019. Left behind to secure a military base, Bandit Six and his men fight their way back from Iran to Turkey to the U.S. The story is laced with crude language and dark images of the future, and Dan John Miller's reading is straightforward and army tough. Listen now. Time 2:19 Download an excerpt as an mp3 file. Size: 1.4 MBSoundReview support comes from Harper Audio,
Scholastic Audio, Hachette Audio, and Full Cast Audio.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
THE ART THIEF by Noah Charney, read by Simon Vance
This deftly plotted mystery is filled with art, French food, and delightful heroes (or are they thieves?). Charney’s knowledge of the art world is extensive, so this romp is not only entertaining, but educational. Vance “ooo-la-las!” his way through a series of gastronomic adventures as the plot shifts between Rome, London, and Paris. Listen now. Time 2:38 Download an excerpt as an mp3 file. Size: 1.6 MBSoundReview support comes from Harper Audio,
Scholastic Audio, Hachette Audio, and Full Cast Audio.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
THE BLACK HOLE WAR by Leonard Susskind, read by Ray Porter
Here's a melding of memoir, reportage, and cutting-edge science. It's heady stuff in theoretical physics, but Ray Porter's skilled reading goes beyond Susskind's engaging and (reasonably) comprehensible writing. He delivers the sometimes very challenging material with admirable clarity. Listen now. Time 2:10 Download an excerpt as an mp3 file. Size: 1.3 MBSoundReview support comes from Harper Audio,
Scholastic Audio, Hachette Audio, and Full Cast Audio.
Monday, March 16, 2009
THE LAST GUN FIGHTER 4: The Forbidden, by William W. Johnstone, performed by Ken Jackson and a Full Cast
The latest addition to the Graphic Audio "Movie in Your Mind" series is an epic story of revenge in the Old West. Outlaw Frank Morgan wants to find some peace but instead finds himself between two feuding factions. Remarkable sound effects and a great cast in this rousing adventure transport you to the Wild West. Listen now. Time 2:54 Download an excerpt as an mp3 file. Size: 3.4 MBSoundReview support comes from Harper Audio,
Scholastic Audio, Hachette Audio, and Full Cast Audio.
Friday, March 13, 2009
THIS I BELIEVE II edited by Jay Allison and Dan Gediman, read by various readers
Here's another intriguing volume of essays written for and read on NPR's "This I Believe." They are alternately touching, emotional, and even quirky personal statements of belief from a wide cross section of people, featuring everyday folks (a waitress in a Texas diner) and the rich and famous (cellist Yo-Yo Ma). Listen now. Time 2:58 Download an excerpt as an mp3 file. Size: 1.7 MBSoundReview support comes from Harper Audio,
Scholastic Audio, Hachette Audio, and Full Cast Audio.
READING THE OED by Ammon Shea, read by William Dufris
After reading the entire 20 volumes of the OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY in one year, Shea extols upon the fascinating, unusual, and useless words it compiles. William Dufris is the perfect narrator for this book. The words trip easily and clearly from his tongue. Listen now. Time 2:22 Download an excerpt as an mp3 file. Size: 1.4 MBSoundReview support comes from Harper Audio,
Scholastic Audio, Hachette Audio, and Full Cast Audio.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
JENNIE CHURCHILL: Winston's American Mother by Anne Sebba, read by Joanna David
The American-born mother of Winston Churchill was considered one of the most beautiful women of her day. This biography begins with family history and follows independent-minded Jennie to high-society life and the political career of her son. Listen now. Time 2:31 Download an excerpt as an mp3 file. Size: 2.9 MBSoundReview support comes from Harper Audio,
Scholastic Audio, Hachette Audio, and Full Cast Audio.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
IT'S TIME TO SLEEP, MY LOVE & ON THE NIGHT YOU WERE BORN by Nancy Tillman and Eric Metaxas, read by Orlagh Cassidy
With this production, children can shut their eyes and imagine a world that revolves around them, where bears dance at news of their birth, where the moon smiles at them and the night wind whispers their name. Orlagh Cassidy's narration and the music by Sally Taylor (daughter of Carly Simon and James Taylor) make this into a treat to help little ones off to sleep. Destined to be a family favorite. Ages 4+ Listen now. Time 2:03 Download an excerpt as an mp3 file. Size: 1.2 MBSoundReview support comes from Harper Audio,
Scholastic Audio, Hachette Audio, and Full Cast Audio.
Monday, March 09, 2009
THE ASCENT OF MONEY: A Financial History of the World by Niall Ferguson, read by Simon Prebble
An excellent perspective on the (formerly) green stuff. Written before the current downturn, yet seeming to predict it, the book explains that the popping sound you hear is when the belief bubble bursts. With command, authority, and a BBC accent, Simon Prebble adds a classy element to the project. Listen now. Time 2:24 Download an excerpt as an mp3 file. Size: 1.4 MBSoundReview support comes from Harper Audio,
Scholastic Audio, Hachette Audio, and Full Cast Audio.
Friday, March 06, 2009
THE GUNS OF AUGUST by Barbara W. Tuchman, read by Nadia May
In this history of the opening month of WWI, Tuchman creates caustic portrayals of kings, kaisers, and generalissimos with a keen eye and ear for detail and an instinct for the right quote and the right word. This masterpiece of historical reconstruction gets a narrator who comprehends in full its enormous narrative power. Listen now. Time 2:29 Download an excerpt as an mp3 file. Size: 1.5 MBSoundReview support comes from Harper Audio,
Scholastic Audio, Hachette Audio, and Full Cast Audio.
THE WOMAN IN WHITE by Wilkie Collins, read by Glen McCready, Rachel Bavidge, Hugh Dickson, Teresa Gallagher, Allan Corduner, and Marie Collett
A drawing teacher is employed to give lessons to two sisters at a country estate. This gothic tale of redemptive love and treachery is perfectly suited to a multiple-voice performance. Collins's classic was a forerunner of the modern detective novel. Listen now. Time 3:08 Download an excerpt as an mp3 file. Size: 1.8 MBSoundReview support comes from Harper Audio,
Scholastic Audio, Hachette Audio, and Full Cast Audio.
Wednesday, March 04, 2009
STANDING TALL by C. Vivian Stringer and Laura Tucker, read by Adenrele Ojo
Vivian Stringer, Rutgers basketball team coach, does not offer a basketball memoir, but one about personal and professional integrity, about life as a team sport, and about the role of family, friends, and communities who share in its victories and defeats. Listen now. Time 3:05 Download an excerpt as an mp3 file. Size: 1.8 MBSoundReview support comes from Harper Audio,
Scholastic Audio, Hachette Audio, and Full Cast Audio.
Tuesday, March 03, 2009
SHADOWS IN THE TWILIGHT by Henning Mankell, read by Francis Greenslade
The Swedish author of the Inspector Wallender mysteries turns to a young audience in this unusual coming-of-age story. Twelve-year-old Joel Yule has miraculously escaped injury after being run over by a bus, and he sets about showing his gratitude. Greenslade perfectly conveys Joel's fantasy life, creating a richly rewarding listening experience. Listen now. Time 2:40 Download an excerpt as an mp3 file. Size: 1.6 MBSoundReview support comes from Harper Audio,
Scholastic Audio, Hachette Audio, and Full Cast Audio.
THE SEER OF SHADOWS by Avi, read by Steven Boyer
Set in New York City in 1872, this historical is novel about photographer's apprentice 14-year-old Horace Carpetine. Narrator Boyer reinforces the atmosphere of magical mystery and otherworldliness that lures the listener through this tale. Listen now. Time 2:44 Download an excerpt as an mp3 file. Size: 3.2 MBSoundReview support comes from Harper Audio,
Scholastic Audio, Hachette Audio, and Full Cast Audio.
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