Boneshaker by Cherie Priest

Rating: 5

Boneshaker by Cherie Priest
Readers: Kate Reading and Will Wheaton

Short Review: A steampunk adventure set in an alternate-history Seattle where the Civil War just won’t end, airships abound, mad scientists run amok, volcanoes make zombies, and intricate questions about liberty and rights continually rear their heads.

Fever Crumb by Philip Reeve

Rating: 4.5

Reader: Philip Reeve
Extras: Unpublished excerpt and discussion by author about the origins of the story.

Short Review: Imaginative and original steampunk story set in a distant future London and beautifully read by the author.

Streams of Babel by Carol Plum-Ucci

Rating: 4

Readers: Julia Whelan, Paul Michael Garcia, Eddie Lopez, Neil Shah, Kirby Heyborne and Tai Sammons
Available from Audible.com

Short Review: Welcome a the post-9/11 world in which terrorists wield bioweapons and our best intelligence is gathered online by teenagers. Kept me listening and then made me hunt for the sequel.

Winter’s Bone by Daniel Woodrell

Rating: 5

Reader: Emma Galvin
Short Review: A stark, beautifully written and expertly read novel about an overburdened girl in dire straits.

Suite Scarlett by Maureen Johnson

Rating: 1.5

Reader: Jeannie Stith
Short Review: A disappointing audiobook that’s hard to listen to.

Behemoth by Scott Westerfeld (Leviathan Trilogy)

Rating: 5

Reader: Alan Cumming
Bonus: Endnote read by the author detailing what is fact and what is fiction

Short Review: In this stunning follow up to Leviathan, Alek and Deryn continue on their intricate path through the steampunk inspired alternate World War I created by Westerfeld. In this rollicking adventure we weave through the back streets of Istanbul, eggs are hatched, some secrets are revealed while others stay safely hidden.

The Tiger in the Well by Philip Pullman

Rating: 4

Reader: Anton Lesser
Short Review: The third Sally Lockhart mystery continues Pullman’s engrossing story of a young Victorian woman, expertly read by Anton Lesser. This book delves further into questions of women’s and children’s rights in Victorian Britain and also examines worker’s and immigrant’s rights and anti-semitism.

Warning! If you have not yet read The Shadow in the North, stop reading this review. There’s no way to review this book without giving spoilers for the previous book in the series.

The Shadow in the North by Philip Pullman

Rating: 4

Reader: Anton Lesser

Short Review: The slightly-less brilliant sequel to The Ruby in the Smoke, read just as brilliantly by Anton Lesser.

The Ruby in the Smoke by Philip Pullman

Rating: 4.5

Reader: Anton Lesser
Short Review: A beautifully read story about a resourceful young woman who finds herself orphaned and embroiled in a deadly mystery.

Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld

Rating: 5

Reader: Alan Cumming

Short Review: Fun and captivating steampunk adventure set in an alternate World War I Europe. Strong male and female leads should keep both genders interested and a very talented reader makes the story zoom along.

Catching Fire (Hunger Games, Book 2) by Suzanne Collins

Rating: 4

Reader: Carolyn McCormick

WARNING: Have you read The Hunger Games yet? No? Then stop and go listen to that before reading this review. There is NO way to even describe this book without huge spoilers of book one.

Short Review: Strong sequel, with a slightly different pace than the original. Our protagonists are barely out of the arena on their way back to District 12 as they begin to realize the strangle hold the capitol still has on their lives. More characters, more suspense – a fun, if dark ride.

3 Willows: The Sisterhood Grows by Ann Brashares

Rating: 4

Reader: Kimberly Farr

Short Review: The summer before high school, three old friends grow, change, and find their way back to themselves.