The Dragon’s Eye (Erec Rex Book 1) by Kaza Kingsley

Reader: Simon Jones
Extra: Introduction by author Kaza Kinglsley in which she explains how she got the idea of Erec Rex and some of her process of creating the first book.

Short Review: Entertaining fantasy in which a 12 year old boy discovers a parallel but hidden world of magic. Fun characters plus a great reader makes for a captivating audio book.

The Precipice by Ben Bova (The Asteroid Wars)

Readers: Scott Brick, Amanda Karr, Christian Noble, Karesa McElheny and Stefan Rudnicki (with a cameo by Theodore Bikel)

Short Review: Well-woven story set in a not-too-distant-future full of corporate intrigue and environmental chaos, both on earth and in colonized outer space. The amazing readers bring our cast of characters to life – I highly recommend it and am scheming for when I can start the next book in the sequence.

Local Custom by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller

Reader: Michael Shanks

Short Review: Star crossed lovers set in an intricately woven universe including space ships, elements of magic and linguistics. The reader needed someone to insist on better pacing in an otherwise very solid performance.

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 freebies, but […]

James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl

Reader: Jeremy Irons

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

Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris

Reader: David Sedaris

Short review: One of Sedaris’ best books of essays and stories, read tenderly and hilariously and scathingly by the author. Several pieces are live performances, and many of them are downright great.

Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris

Reader: David Sedaris

Short Review: Sedaris’ funny, self-deprecating, heart-breaking stories about moving to France with his partner Hugh, learning French, his family, and his own flaws and experiences. The author reads his own work in his distinctive voice, never flinching as he excoriates himself either in front of a live audience or alone in a studio. Sedaris is an amazing, brave writer and reader. I’ve listened to this particular book three or four times, and I know I’ll keep returning to it.

The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly

Reader: Steven Crossley

Short Review: A decent book with a major flaw, read beautifully by Steven Crossley. Connolly’s book starts out as a promising depiction of the interior life of a bookish, depressed boy with apparently undiagnosed epilepsy and OCD. Unfortunately, it continues on into an all-too-familiar series of retellings of classic fairytales, several of which villanize women for no clear reason. I expected and hoped for more from the book itself. Thankfully, I truly enjoyed Crossley’s narration, and allowed it to carry me through a book that otherwise left me scratching my head and feeling disappointed and maligned.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

Charlie and The Chocolate Factory

Author: Roald Dahl

Reader: Eric Idle

Short Review: Dahl’s award-winning children’s book read wonderfully by Eric Idle.

Anathem by Neal Stephenson

Reader: Oliver Wyman, Tavia Gilbert, William Dufris, Neal Stephenson

Short Review: A pretty good but overly long book from one of my favorite authors, read less-than-ideally. This alternate future tale depicts a world where the intellectual elite are forcibly cloistered in pseudo-monastic communities around the world where they’re free to think and learn but denied access to many technologies and to “saecular,” (i.e., non-intellectual) society. The protagonist Fraa Erasmus is layered and likeable, but the book could stand to lose a couple of hundred pages and the narration isn’t as good as it should be. In this instance, I think I would have preferred the paper book to the audio book.

Coraline by Neil Gaiman

Coraline

Author: Neil Gaiman

Reader: Neil Gaiman

Short Review: A stunning story beautifully read by the author. Coraline’s boredom leads her to a place just beyond our reality. What at first seems just odd and fun becomes creepy and worth escape, but only by delicate inches. Gaiman’s voice lulls and tantalizes. He is just so good at painting images with the combination of words and his own voice.

Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer (Twilight Saga, Book 4)

Reader: Ilyana Kadushin and Matt Walters

Short Review: Your patience is rewarded and the camera pulls back to show you the full picture of where we have been headed across the landscape of these 4 extravagant novels. For me this was a very satisfying conclusion to the Twilight Saga.