Author: Isabel Miller
Readers: Janis Ian and Jean Smart

Also available directly from Janis Ian’s webstore.

GRAMMY Award nominated for “Best Spoken Word”

Short Review: Touching lesbian love story, set in early 1800s and read beautifully. The two readers each read the portion of the story told from a single point of view. It really works.

Long Review: Originally self-published in 1969, this love story is set in the early 1800s in New England. It tells the story of the love found by Patience White (maiden aunt and painter) and Sarah Dowling (farmer’s daughter, cast in life as farmer’s son for practicality) in a world that mostly believed such a thing was neither possible nor permissible. The story alternates points of views between Patience and Sarah, to great effect. They are such different people, but you can see where their love comes from. The contrast of their backgrounds, and their expectations for their lives, make the story all the more compelling.

I don’t want to spoil the story for you, but it isn’t hard to assume from the premise that there will be plenty of challenges laid in their paths. It is a story of what it means to both fall in love and *be* in love. We are taken into the hearts of Patience and Sarah, but at the same time given a taste of what their worlds were like. What does it mean to fight for love? When is the fight too much — what is worth sacrifice and what is not?

There are so many other things I loved about this book. I loved seeing painting and color through Patience’s eyes. I loved Sarah’s practicality and straight forwardness. The supporting characters are varied and interesting, the path of the story less predictable then you might expect. The author created a vivid world that I really enjoyed visiting.

Both readers do an amazing job, each giving us a glimpse into their respective character’s mind – as well as providing easy to distinguish voices for the other members of the story. The two SoundCloud clips below give you a small taste of each of the readers and a toe in the water of the story they tell. They both made it so easy to get lost in the story. This is definitely a “find more excuses to keep listening” audio book.

Author: Amanda Palmer
Reader: Amanda Palmer
Extras: Songs. In the book you get lyrics. In the audio book you get music. Also, the introduction read by Brené Brown and the afterword is read by Jamy Ian Swiss.

Available from Audible.com

Short Review: Intense and personal treatise on art, music, creativity, community, connection, love, loss, and asking for (and accepting) help from others. Amanda’s style of reading is intimate and confessional.

Long Review: Amanda Palmer wrote ‘The Art of Asking’ in a series of whirlwind weeks in Australia. She poured it out during what sound like intense ten hour days. To my eye it is three stories woven together. One story traces her path as an artist and musician. The second traces her journey in figuring out how to be in love. The third is about coming to terms with the threat of losing your mentor.

This is definitely a book I would recommend you listen to rather than read. Not all authors are meant to read their own books, but this book is perfect for it. You get to hear her emphasis, her emotions, and (of course) her music. She is right there with you telling you her secrets – her revelations – her wild ideas. And I love the voice she uses when recounting the words of her husband, Neil Gaiman. The Neil Gaiman fans among you will get some behind-the-scenes details of his life too.

I am so glad that there isn’t any way for me to ‘spoil’ the story for you. It isn’t that sort of book. I knew going in that parts of the book made some people cry. I was braced for it… but somehow her story snuck up on me anyway. Followed by a very sad song. All on the subway on the way to work. Thank goodness I had a tissue in my coat pocket. I tweeted what happened. Amanda replied to my tweet with a <3.

Don’t worry, the book also made me laugh (which will also gets you strange looks on the subway) and dream and want to go home and make more art.

A lot of this book talks about community. About building and connecting with your community. It is as much about finding a community to give to as it is about asking for a community to help you. This book does talk about her wildly successful Kickstarter, but there is no silver bullet here about how to do the same. The real secret is the same one that my friend Fred knows (he and his partners over at Evil Hat have had a number of very successful game related Kickstarters): first spend ten years building and connecting with a community.

This book is more memoir than self-help book, but you might walk away from it with new ideas about how to approach your life. Do you consider yourself an artist or wish you did? Listen to this. Are you afraid to depend on others, even those you love? Listen to this. Are you a fan of Amanda’s music? Listen to this.

Not sold yet? Amanda gave a TED talk in February of 2013 on ‘The art of asking’. This book is a direct result of that talk and its resonance with people. Over six million people have watched it. It is less than 14 minutes long, and if you are on the fence about if this book is for you – go give it a listen. Either she will reel you in or she won’t.

Assorted Disclaimers: I was a fan of Amanda Palmer before I listened to this book. I backed her Kickstarter. I attended a house party (the one in Ashburn that involved time in the closet where I read her a poem and gave her a mobile made of doll parts). I attended one of the book tour concerts and waited in line for my copy to be signed the day after the book came out. I attended the same small liberal arts university (though not at the same time). I asked for, and was given, a review copy of this audio book. I expect I was quite pre-disposed to like it. Feel free to take that into account as you decide if you think you will enjoy it based on my review above.

Mr Mercedes

Author: Stephen King

Reader: Will Patton

Short Review: Engaging story that lets you into the minds of a very horrible person and his current target. Written and read with such realism that your stomach will twist, and you’ll be tempted to cover your ears.

Long Review: Detective Bill Hodges retired with a couple open cases he can’t forget about. The Mercedes Killer takes advantage of the fact that the Detective can’t forget about the horrific events, and begins a correspondence with him. What is the motivation for the contact? What skills and connections can the detective use in his attempt to bring the killer to justice?  What ethical lines get crossed? And just how many more people will be in danger?

The listener is drawn in further and further, as is Detective Hodges. You want to stop listening because you don’t want to believe that people can think these things and do these things– but, like driving by a car crash, you can’t stop yourself from wanting to know more. Will Patton does a great job as reader, helping to flesh out the characters in your mind’s eye. He does a particularly masterful job of sharing a written note in the book that must have diagrammed emphasis that could’ve been lost by another reader.

While the story gives some comfort in having small plot items that are predictable, Stephen King pulls no punches with gruesome details. It’s as if he’s setting you up to knock you down. This is not an audiobook to listen to with your small children in the car. The book encompasses gory death, sexual situations, and more uncomfortable, taboo subjects. It is not adding these elements for sensationalism, but rather for furtherance of the point of the book.

Bad people do some unfeeling, bad things, and we can only hope that there are more clever good guys than bad guys in this world.

Skin Game

Author: Jim Butcher
Reader: James Marsters

Short Review: Skin Game is a continuation of the popular fantasy series about Harry Dresden, Chicago’s only professional wizard. The series is best consumed in order, but the book contains some descriptions which could assist new Dresden readers in understanding basic series history. A very cleverly written series for adults who want to graduate from Harry Potter into something with more teeth. James Marsters reads this 15^th book in the series, bringing all the characters to life.

Long Review: Warning: this Review contains spoilers for those who have not read up to and through Book 14, Cold Days.

If you haven’t listened to any Dresden Files audiobooks, yet, Go Start. From the beginning. James Marsters has managed to give every one of hundreds of characters their own consistent voice, identity, and personality through his vocal interpretation. When I am reading the series with my eyes, I still hear Marsters’ voice in my head.

Skin Game (Book 15) shows us a relatively healthy Harry in the beginning (PARKOUR!), who is seemingly only compromised by the fact that thereâ€s a parasite inside his head. Thank the stars and stones that he has Queen Mab of the Winter Court as his boss. Sheâ€ll surely help him out, right? She just needs him to do one thing for her.

Always striving to Do the Right Thing, Dresden gets tangled up with old foes; The Denarians. Can he resist the temptation to chase off or smite his sworn enemies, as he must work alongside them? Or, will he deny the command of the Winter Queen and face her wrath, as the previous Winter Knight did? Which of his generous friends will he pull into the mix, and how much will he regret it this time? What is the “Storage Cubby of the Underworld? Who could say, Hello, lover and make the listener’s hair stand on end?

You’ll laugh out loud. You’ll get teary. You’ll panic. We’ll find a new Knight of the Cross. Butcher and Marsters knock this one out of the park. Again.

With so many secrets to peel away, I guarantee that you will want to listen or read this one a second time.

Want to hear more? Hell’s bells! Download it today!

The Ocean at the End of the Lane

Available from Audible.com

Author: Neil Gaiman

Reader: Neil Gaiman

Short Review: An excellent new dark fantasy for adults, read by the author.

Long Review: It’s probably obvious to any regular BooksForEars reader that Jeanne and I are fans of Gaiman’s work. I waited on pins and needles for this book’s release. When I learned that Gaiman would read the audio version I was particularly excited. I adore the professional readers who narrated American Gods and Anansi Boys, but there’s a special depth that a talented author can add when they read their own work. I have a bias in this direction–I’m a poet and storyteller, and if I had my druthers, I’d deliver all of my pieces directly from my mouth to my audience’s ears.

This is Gaiman’s first novel aimed at adults for several years. The story opens as the speaker returns to his childhood home for a funeral and recounts a series of events that occurred in his childhood. As ever, Gaiman is focused on mythology, and the speaker which he explores through the speaker’s interactions with his neighbors, the Hempstocks. While most of Gaiman’s stories tend towards the dark, this novel is awash in threats to the speaker and his family, and the tone is less optimistic than it tends to be in his books for children.

Gaiman is an excellent reader, as ever. His pacing and diction are lovely, and he has a unique understanding of the tone of the novel. Because the speaker in the novel is never named, Gaiman’s narration makes it feel as if the story is auto-biographical. That adds a certain frisson for a fan like me. I look forward to reading it again, on paper and as an audiobook.

Author: Erin Morgenstern
Reader: Jim Dale

Short Review: The Locus Award winning novel is an enthralling story of magic, love, and struggle beautifully read by Jim Dale.

Long Review: Two magicians who have been engaging in competitions for years decide to design a new tournament: one man’s daughter vs. the other man’s student. To provide an arena for their students’ competitions, they create the Night Circus, which travels the world without any advertised schedule and opens at dusk to allow the public to view the acts and tents the two magicians’ students develop.

Morgenstern’s writing is enchanting, and she fills her novel with a number of compelling, interesting characters. The story sprawls a bit, but I find the breadth of it very enjoyable, much as I did Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. This book is shorter and more accessible, but both are rich, detailed, and beautifully realized.

Morgenstern gives us people to love and people to hate: The magicians Hector Bowen (aka Prospero the Entertainer) and Alexander (aka Mr. A.H.) are both selfish, heartless monsters. Their students, Marco and Celia, are talented and brilliant and lovable but believable flawed. Several of the fans and performers in the circus are worthy of a great deal of attention: the clockmaker Friedrick Herr Thiessen, the boy Bailey who sneaks in and befriends a young performer, and on and on. And the descriptions of the magical feats Celia and Marco create are gorgeous.

Jim Dale, as usual, is a fantastic reader. I would listen to him recite from a phone book. His diction is crisp, his accent is comfortable and interesting to listen to, his pacing is excellent, and he clearly enjoys the material. I forget when I listen to a passable audiobook reader how much a talented actor can improve the experience of listening to a book, and then I hear someone like Dale and my listening patterns sway back to the fantastic side of the spectrum.

When all is said and done, I’ve listened to this book twice, and I am likely to listen to it every year or two from here on out. It’s a beautiful combination of novel and reader. I adored it.

Author: Veronica Roth
Reader: Emma Galvin

Short Review: Intense first-person YA tale with strong 16 year old female protagonist trying to find her place in a very complicated far future world. Fabulous reader, great story.

Long Review: ‘Divergent’ takes place in a future Chicago after some unnamed violence has dramatically reduced the population. As part of the process to broker peace, the remaining people divided themselves into five factions. Each is focused on what they believe is the key to peace. The Candor seeks total honesty, the Abnegation aim for total selflessness, the Dauntless value being brave and strong, the Amity strive for peace above all else, and the Erudite seek knowledge for answers.

Beatrice has just turned 16. She was born into Abnegation. Soon she will have to choose a faction to join for the rest of her life. This is not something that people discuss. It is a deeply personal decision – one which will make Beatrice choose between the faction of her birth and the strong feeling she has long had that she doesn’t belong. Leaving her faction means leaving her family. There is a saying that reflects the permanence of the choice: “Faction over blood”.

I really enjoyed both the story and the reader. It would have been easy for this book to be ruined by a reader who didn’t fit Beatrice. While Galvin’s voices for other characters are not as differentiated as I have heard from some other readers, she does a good enough job that you never are confused about who is speaking. The most important thing to me in the reading of this story is that Galvin’s choices for Beatrice’s inner voice are perfect. She sounds like a sixteen year old girl, but she sounds like a strong and fierce girl making hard choices and doing the best she can.

There are a number of other very interesting characters, none of which I will tell you about since I don’t want to spoil anything for you. Just trust me that there are others who you will follow anxiously, many who are more complex than they first appear.

Many people are saying that Divergent is like The Hunger Games. While I see the similarities (strong young girl in a dystopian future) I also see a number of major differences. Even though her word is constrained, Beatrice has more room to make choices for herself than Katniss ever does. While Katniss’s choice is one of self-sacrifice for others, Beatrice can and does make hard choices seeking to be true to herself. The biggest similarity I see between them is that once they make their hardest choices, they fight hard to survive and succeed. I suspect that if you liked The Hunger Games, you will enjoy Divergent.

This is just part one in a series. I look forward to see where Roth takes us. There are so many unanswered questions at the end of this book – but in a ‘I can’t wait to see what happens next’ kind of way rather than a ‘why didn’t she explain more’ kind of way. We make discoveries and learn about the world as Beatrice does. I appreciate the slow reveal and look forward to the rest of this great tale.

The Fault in Our Stars

Author: John Green
Reader: Kate Rudd

Extras: Q&A interview with the author.

Short Review: Heart-wrenching and uplifting roller coaster ride. Brilliant reader does justice to this amazing story.

Long Review: Hazel is 16 and she has cancer. This is her story. Life is different when you are young and dying faster than the average person. Hazel is alive thanks to a miracle tumor treatment. She has to tug an oxygen tank behind her everywhere she goes, even to the church basement for a Cancer Kids Support Group. Enter Augustus Waters, another ‘cancer kid’. A tall, handsome, funny cancer kid. The next thing Hazel knows she is starting to have the ‘teenage life’ her mother is always talking about.

Augustus and Hazel do lots of the things that a boy and a girl do when they are figuring out if they like each other. They talk about books. They play video games. They also do things most teens don’t – they deal with cancer and hospitals and their overprotective parents. On the other hand, I guess lots of teens have overprotective parents, so that one isn’t specific to their health.

The reader does a beautiful job bringing us Hazel’s story and giving voice to those in her life. It seems like getting a voice just right for a teenage girl is a challenge to many readers – but this is thankfully not the case here.

This book made me laugh out loud. It made me cry in public, forcing me to hide my tears while riding the subway to work. While there are definitely dark aspects to the story (cancer inherently brings that along), the overall sense is one of treasuring the moments and appreciating the world around you. I don’t know how to tell you anything else without getting into spoiler territory.

Audio sample available

Short Review: The first book in one of my all time favorite series, read by a brilliant reader. Great character driven sci-fi tale.

Long Review: This first book of the Vorkosigan Saga gives us a great blend of creative world building, mature protagonists and a captivating story line.

Cordelia Naismith from peaceful, liberal and scientifically inclined Beta Colony and Aral Vorkosigan from militaristic, conservative and tradition-bound Barrayar. The two captains are thrown together by circumstances, one forced to take the other as a prisoner. Isolated from both of their worlds and struggling to survive in the wilderness of an unfamiliar planet, they form an unexpected bond.

But of course Cordelia and Aral can’t contemplate their feelings for one another without the interference of a war, the broad reaches of space and lots of planetary politics. Bujold throws everything she can think of at them and our story includes strange alien creatures, high tech weapons, low tech tactics, and space battles and their aftermath.

Those of you who have noticed my penchant for books by Lois McMaster Bujold won’t be surprised that I recommend this book highly, but it is definitely a book which has stood the test of time. Yes, this is Bujold’s first novel and her craft improved with time, but she definitely had a clear vision of the Vorkosigan world and her primary characters. I enjoyed getting to know them as they get to know each other.

Audio sample available.

Boneshaker

Author: Cherie Priest

Readers: Kate Reading and Wil 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.

Long Review: For no good reason whatsoever, a paper copy of this book languished on my shelf for a few months before I finally broke down and bought the audio version. Initially, I’d been hesitant to listen to it because I was never a of Star Trek (I know, I know) so I didn’t have any particular connection to Will Wheaton. I also hesitate to get hooked on series that are still being written. I finally got over it and dove right in, listened to the whole series, and then listened to them again. I’m itching to start a third time, but figure I can wait for the next installment.

Will Wheaton does a great job narrating the sections of the book following Zeke, a runaway teen trying to prove that his father was a good man. Kate Reading reads the sections following Zeke’s mother Briar Wilkes, the daughter of Seattle’s late Sheriff and widow of a disgraced scientist and inventor. I adored both readers, but I particularly fell for Kate Reading’s voice. She strikes the perfect balance between Briar’s strength and the desperation that she struggles with as she searches for her son and tries to survive the nightmare that Seattle has become in the wake of her husband’s actions.

Priest is an excellent researcher, and this series really showcases her knowledge of 19th century American history. I’m often hesitant to read historical fiction or alternate histories because I find weak research so annoying, but there’s nothing to worry about with Priest’s books. She picks the perfect things to extend the Civil War in her story, and develops a creepy, fascinating plot to explain her changed Seattle.

Moreover, Priest develops excellent characters. Many series fizzle out after the first few books because the author only manages to build a few solid, interesting characters. With this book, Priest introduces a cast of fascinating people, all of whom I want to follow for book after book. The women she writes are particularly interesting, and Zeke reads true as a good but confused teen. Priest set the hook deep with Boneshaker, and I can’t wait to see where she’ll go with the rest of the series.

Reamde

Available from Audible.com

Author: Neal Stephenson
Reader: Malcolm Hillgartner

Short Review: A fantastic, well-read, fast-paced novel of hackers, criminals, anti-heroes, terrorists, and gamers.

Long Review: I adore Stephenson’s books, so I was at a loss when Anathem fell short for me. When a friend told me the day after Reamde was released that I was in for a treat, I immediately rushed home and bought a copy of the audiobook. And then I rescheduled as much as I could so I could listen to it constantly until the book was over. I binged on this book like a kid with a bag of halloween candy. I loved it like I loved Snow Crash and The Diamond Age: Or, a Young Lady’s Illustrated Primer, and I love them almost as much as I love my dog.

This novel opens at the Forthrast family reunion, where we meet our protagonists. Richard owns a company that created T-Rain, a popular MMORPG, and he offers his adopted niece Zula a job working on their new game. And then all hell breaks loose. The Russian mob, hackers, terrorists, gamers, bikers, spies, special forces . . . . think of something exciting or intriguing, and chances are Stephenson found a way to incorporate it into the story with elegance and insight. Stephenson’s talent lies in his ability to pack a great deal of information into a plot that keeps moving, while also writing interesting, surprising characters. He favors intelligent, layered characters and generally makes sure at least a couple of brilliant, strong women are mainstays in his cast. I walked away from this book wanting to know these people and ask them about their experiences.

Hillgartner does a fantastic job reading the book. His regular speaking voice seems fitting for Richard, and the accents he uses for the other characters ring true. His pacing is great, his diction is clear and undistracting, and he manages to keep this very long book engaging and entertaining throughout. I plan to seek out other books he narrated for future diversions.

Author: Ali Shaw

Reader: Heather O’Neill

Short Review: An enchanting mythic fantasy about a woman searching for a cure or explanation for the mysterious ailment that is causing her feet to turn to glass, read beautifully by one of my favorite readers.

Long Review: Ali Shaw was working at the famous Bodleian library at Oxford when he wrote this book. I can’t help but think that that storied collection crept into his first novel. The book is set on the fictional St. Haudaâ€s Land, a remote northern archipelago peopled by unusual people and animals. Ida Maclaird returns to the island seeking a strange man she met there on a previous vacation and an explanation for her unique ailment. She meets and befriends Midas Crook, an awkward young photographer, and asks his assistance in her quest. As the story progresses, Ida attempts to help Midas come to terms with his family and his feelings.

Heather O’Neill is a fantastic reader, and I think her tone and pacing were just right for this book. I was excited to get to listen to her narration again, and enjoyed this book ever more than I did The Likeness.

Shaw’s book is so entrancing because of how he plays with mythic themes. You can tell he’s fully-versed in myth and fairy-tales, but this is no retelling of a classic story. He draws from that imagery and makes gorgeous, subtle allusions, but he creates something wholly new for us. The fantastic animals he invents for the story are particularly interesting, and help establish the strange, magical locale where such unusual things can happen. This isn’t fantasy in the sword and sorcery vein. St. Hauda’s land feels real and modern, though uncomfortably different. And his characters-his characters! I want to know Ida and Midas and Henry Fuwa. I feel as if I could meet them on the train.

I look forward to Shaw’s next book, and I’m crossing my fingers that O’Neill will read the audio version.