Audio Book Reviews by: Lanea

Lanea is professional web monkey and writer with an academic background in Celtic Studies and Literature, a dangerous knitting addiction, occasional story-telling and singing gigs, and a serious hankering for an MLS degree.

Mystic River by Dennis Lehane

Mystic River
Author: Dennis Lehane
Reader: Scott Brick
Short Review: A well-read, strong mystery with one major flaw.
Long Review: I’ve been sitting on this review for ages, because I like almost everything about this book except for the thing I absolutely hate about it. And of course, I can’t explain what I dislike about the book without [...]

Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides

Middlesex: A Novel
Available from Audible.com
Author: Jeffrey Eugenides
Reader: Kristoffer Tabori
Short Review: A novel I absolutely love, full of gorgeous language, beautifully-rendered characters, and entrancing history and myth. Tabori’s reading is downright fantastic, and Eugenides remains one of the most talented writers of his generation. This is one of the best books I’ve ever read [...]

The Chosen One by Carol Lynch Williams

The Chosen One from Audible.com
The Chosen One from Amazon.com
Author: Carol Lynch Williams
Reader: Jenna Lamia
Short Review: A good book about a controversial subject, improved by an excellent reading by Jenna Lamia.
Long Review: Jenna Lamia is a true standout as a narrator, and I plan to seek out her other work. She truly [...]

Rag and Bone Shop by Robert Cormier

Rag and Bone Shop
Author: Robert Cormier
Reader: Scott Shina
Short Review: Cormier’s final novel, published posthumously, read by the talented Scott Shina. It’s disturbing, and upsetting, and good despite its flaws.
Long Review: The title alone would have made me listen to this audiobook. I am an obsessive W.B. Yeats fan, [...]

The Ladies of Grace Adieu by Susanna Clarke

The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories
Author: Susanna Clarke
Readers: Davina Porter and Simon Prebble
Short Review: Clarke’s entrancing, charming short stories about the magical world introduced in Jonathan Strange & Mr.Norrell particularly focusing on the women who practice magic in this alternate England and run-ins between Englishpeople and faeries. Prebble and Porter are [...]

Skinny Dip by Carl Hiaasen

Skinny Dip
Author: Carl Hiaasen
Reader: Stephen Hoye
Short Review: An engaging, funny, environmental crime novel set in the Florida Everglades. Hiaasen is a gem, and Hoye is good but doesn’t shine quite as brightly.
Long Review: As the book opens, Hiaasen has us witness an attempted murder at sea. The beautiful young [...]

Making Money by Terry Pratchett

Making Money
Author: Terry Pratchett
Reader: Stephen Briggs
Short Review: This follow-up to Going Postal follows Moist Von Lipwig as he embarks on a new venture: running the Mint at the all-too-pointed behest of Lord Vetinari. Briggs, as usual, reads well and beautifully. Pratchett, as usual, is funny and satirical. What’s not to love?
Long [...]

Johnny and the Dead by Terry Pratchett

Johnny and the Dead
Author: Terry Pratchett
Reader: Richard Mitchley
Short Review: A standout story from Pratchett’s Johnny Maxwell trilogy, read with great personality and skill by Richard Mitchley. Our hero Johnny learns that he can see and speak to the Dead in his local cemetery, and winds up facing down corrupt, frightening enemies. [...]

Free Audiobook Short Stories from Barnes and Noble!

Barnes and Noble is offering nine audiobook versions of short stories by wonderful authors absolutely free! The books appear to cost a penny each at first (still a steal), but when you check out you won’t be charged a single penny. You do need to create an account on barnesandnoble.com to get the [...]

James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl

James and the Giant Peach

Author: Roald Dahl

Reader: Jeremy Irons

Short Review: One of my favorite Dahl books, read enchantingly by the inimitable Jeremy Irons.