Every year the
Audio Publishers Association proclaims June "Audiobook Month". The APA also sponsors the
Audie Awards--the "Oscars" of the audiobook world--recognizing distinction in audiobooks. Other organizations and publications also frequently highlight audiobook titles of note.
Below is just a sampling of some great audiobook titles that have recently received special recognition for excellence. Whether you are already an avid audiobook listener or a complete novice to the book-listening experience, one of theses titles might be the perfect choice to keep you company through your next workout, commute, or out-of-town getaway. All of these audiobooks can be found at the library in CD format. Many of them can also be downloaded to a portable listening device through the library's
MyMediaMall subscription service.
For historical fiction enthusiasts:
The audiobook version of Hilary Mantel's
Bring up the Bodies (12 discs, 14.5 hours) has achieved top recognition, including an Audie, from just about every audiobook reviewer in the business. Read by veteran narrator, Simon Vance, the story depicts the downfall of Anne Boleyn at the hands of Henry VIII and Thomas Cromwell. It is the 2nd title in the Wolf Hall trilogy which began with
Wolf Hall, also available in audio format.
For general fiction listeners:
Edoardo Ballerini wonderfully narrates Jess Walter's
Beautiful Ruins, an Audie finalist (10 discs, 13 hours).
In 1962, on a rocky patch of sun-drenched Italian coastline, a young innkeeper looks out over the incandescent waters of the sea and spies a woman, a vision in white, approaching him on a boat. He learns that she is an American starlet who is said to be dying. The story begins again in the present when, half a world away, an elderly Italian man shows up on a movie studio's back lot searching for the mysterious woman he last saw at his hotel decades earlier.
For fans of biography and memoir:
The astonishing autobiography of SEAL Chief Chris Kyle, whose record 150 confirmed kills make him the most deadly sniper in U.S. military history.
Cronkite by Douglas Brinkley, read by George Guidall (10 discs, 12 hours)
This Audie finalist offers a candid look at the renowned, yet fiercely private, journalist and news anchor who reported on some of the biggest stories of the twentieth century.
Spitz draws on the iconic culinary figure's personal diaries and letters to present a one-hundredth birthday commemoration that offers insight into her role in shaping women's views and influencing American approaches to cooking.
Two Rings by Millie Werber, read by Yelena Shmulenson (6 discs, 7.75 hours)
A love kept secret for 60 years is finally revealed in this unconventional Holocaust memoir that was also an Audie finalist.
For those who can't get enough mystery and suspense:
When a peaceful monastery in Quebec is shattered by the murder of their renowned choir director, Chief Inspector Armand Gamache and Jean-Guy Beauvoir of the Saurete du Quebec are challenged to find the killer in a cloistered community that has taken a vow of silence. This Audie winner is the 8th title in the Inspector Armand Gamache mystery series and the 8th title read by Cosham, in what has proven to be a very successful author/narrator collaboration.
A small-time drug dealer is found battered to death on the outskirts of Oslo. A young Dutchman, walking aimlessly in Oslo, covered in blood, is taken into custody but refuses to talk.
Creole Belle by James Lee Burke, read by Will Patton (15 discs, 18 hours)
While in a New Orleans recovery unit, detective Dave Robicheaux meets a Creole girl whose subsequent disappearance prompts his search for the girl's sister against a backdrop of a bayou-threatening oil well rupture in the Gulf of Mexico. This is Burke's 19th Dave Robicheaux novel.
The Nightmare by Lars Kepler, read by Mark Bramhall (13 discs, 16.5 hours)
In this Audie finalist, Detective Joona Linna returns to investigate a series of interlinking murders surrounding a suspicious Swedish arms deal. This title is a sequel to
The Hypnotist, also available in audio format and narrated by Bramhall.
For lovers of romantic suspense:
The Witness by Nora Roberts, read by Julie Whelan (14 discs, 16.5 hours)
At age 16, Elizabeth Fitch was in the wrong place at the wrong time and witnessed a double homicide in progress. Elizabeth vanished, then reinvented herself as Abigail Lowery, freelance security consultant. After 12 years on the run, Abigail moves to an isolated cabin on the outskirts of sleepy Bickford, Arkansas, where she attracts the interest of town police chief Brooks Gleason. Gleason believes he can help Abigail when her past finally catches up to her. But can she trust him with her life (or her heart)? An Audie winner.
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