Friday, December 23, 2011
I WONDER AS I WANDER by Langston Hughes, read by Dominic Hoffman
Part travelogue and part history of the 1930s, Hughes’s memoir uses poetry and text to remind us that times may change, but the human condition often stays remarkably the same. Narrator Dominic Hoffman does a masterful job.
Listen now. Time 3:02
Download now an excerpt as an mp3 file. Size: 3.5 MBSoundReview support comes from Harper Audio and Hachette Audio.
Comment here: Wednesday, December 21, 2011
BEFORE I GO TO SLEEP by S.J. Watson, read by Orlagh Cassidy
Imagine awakening each morning not knowing who you are, where you live, and what happened in the years between what you can remember and each new day when you awaken. Orlagh Cassidy brilliantly narrates this chilling story of memory and forgetting. Listen now. Time 3:04 Download now an excerpt as an mp3 file. Size: 3.6 MBSoundReview support comes from Harper Audio and Hachette Audio.
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
I-HOTEL by Karen Tei Yamashita, read by Nancy Wu, Ramon de Ocampo and others
Ten related novellas recount the political and social activism of 1960s and 70s San Francisco. Listen now. Time 2:36 Download now an excerpt as an mp3 file. Size: 3 MBSoundReview support comes from Harper Audio and Hachette Audio.
Monday, December 19, 2011
DOC by Mary Doria Russell, read by Mark Bramhall
Russell’s novel masterfully imagines John Henry “Doc” Holliday’s everyday life. With a growly Southern drawl straight out of central casting, narrator Mark Bramhall saunters through the narration as confidently as Doc once strolled the dusty streets of nineteenth-century Kansas. Listen now. Time 2:19 Download now an excerpt as an mp3 file. Size: 2.7 MBSoundReview support comes from Harper Audio and Hachette Audio.
Friday, December 16, 2011
TEN THOUSAND SAINTS by Eleanor Henderson, read by Steven Kaplan
Raised by hippie parents with addictions and other profound flaws, Jude's life in small town Vermont seems to focus on petty crime and substance abuse. An overdose sends his life careening to new extremes in New York City. Kaplan’s narration infuses a variety of troubled characters with youthful, earnest voices that quietly convince the listener not to give up on them. Listen now. Time 2:43 Download now an excerpt as an mp3 file. Size: 1.6 MBSoundReview support comes from Harper Audio and Hachette Audio.
Thursday, December 15, 2011
THE GOLDEN BOWL by Henry James, read by Katherine Kellgren and Simon Prebble
For those who love the classics of Henry James, THE GOLDEN BOWL is often a favorite. Katherine Kellgren does a miraculous job with James’s famously endless sentences. She keeps the rhythm and structure of each one clear without losing sight of its emotional content and its pace within the story. Listen now. Time 2:45 Download now an excerpt as an mp3 file. Size: 1.6 MBSoundReview support comes from Harper Audio and Hachette Audio.
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
LATE RAIN by Lynn Kostoff, read by Kenneth Campbell
Kostoff's crime story involves a hired murder witnessed by an elderly man with Alzheimer's offers well-drawn, interesting and unpredictable characters. Kenneth Campbell does a great job with good and bad cops, a charming, streetwise informant and the elderly witness. Listen now. Time 2:52 Download now an excerpt as an mp3 file. Size: 1.7 MBSoundReview support comes from Harper Audio and Hachette Audio.
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
DIVERGENT by Veronica Roth, read by Emma Galvin
In Roth's dystopian novel, 16-year-old Tris must choose the societal faction she will join. Narrator Galvin conveys Tris’s emotional growth as she moves through a brutal initiation, making new friends and finding first love. Galvin youthful voice is perfect for Tris, but she never neglects the secondary characters. Listen now. Time 2:28 Download now an excerpt as an mp3 file. Size: 1.5 MBSoundReview support comes from Harper Audio and Hachette Audio.
Monday, December 12, 2011
COMPOSERS' LETTERS by Ludwig Van Beethoven, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, et al., read by Jeremy Nicholas, Daniel Philpott, and others
This is a perfect and perfectly delightful use of the audio format. We hear accomplished and well-cast actors paired with letters written by famous composers. A brief and helpful historical note precedes each composer’s section, and, best of all, this Naxos production includes the music he’s writing about. Listen now. Time 3:18 Download now an excerpt as an mp3 file. Size: 1.9 MBSoundReview support comes from Harper Audio and Hachette Audio.
Friday, December 09, 2011
THE WHITE WOMAN ON THE GREEN BICYCLE by Monique Roffey, read by Adjoa Andoh
Issues of colonialism and postcolonial living collide with the heartbreak of an outwardly loveless marriage. Narrator Adjoa Andoh becomes each of the characters in turn, flawlessly giving voice to a variety of accents. Listen now. Time 2:36 Download now an excerpt as an mp3 file. Size: 3 MBSoundReview support comes from Harper Audio and Hachette Audio.
Thursday, December 08, 2011
BULLFIGHTING by Roddy Doyle, read by Lorcan Cranitch
Lorcan Cranitch delivers a one-man-show as he interprets Doyle's second collection of stories with an authentic Irish brogue. Men audibly struggle for their lost power, virility, health, social standing. Listen now. Time 2:04 Download now an excerpt as an mp3 file. Size: 2.4 MBSoundReview support comes from Harper Audio and Hachette Audio.
Wednesday, December 07, 2011
STATE OF WONDER by Ann Patchett, read by Hope Davis
Patchett’s new novel takes a suspenseful odyssey from a sedate Minnesota pharmaceutical lab to the darkest Amazonian jungle. A researcher is dispatched to remote Brazil to investigate a colleague's death while conducting research on a new fertility drug. Listen now. Time 2:42 Download now an excerpt as an mp3 file. Size: 1.6 MBSoundReview support comes from Harper Audio and Hachette Audio.
Tuesday, December 06, 2011
SCARAMOUCHE: A Romance of the French Revolution by Rafael Sabatini, read by Simon Vance
In this 1921 historical novel, André-Louis Moreau, is forced into hiding as his life and his part in the coming French Revolution unfold. Moreau’s adventures lead him to assume many roles—from actor Scaramouche to fencing master to politician. Simon Vance is masterful in his delivery of this swashbuckling story. Listen now. Time 2:46 Download now an excerpt as an mp3 file. Size: 1.6 MBSoundReview support comes from Harper Audio and Hachette Audio.
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