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Listening & Viewing Recommendations
Best Audio Fiction of 2006 as chosen by Library Journal and Audiofile Magazine
GENERAL FICTION Sara Gruen Water for Elephants Living out his days in a nursing home, 90-year-old Jacob Jankowski recalls his youth with a traveling circus. A poignant, colorful delight of a story told in two different voices. Scott Turow Ordinary Heroes A retired journalist finds a trove of WWII-era letters written by his dead father and describing a life no one knew he'd led. Actor Ed Herrmann's voice is a near-perfect vehicle for this story dark with the irony and muddied morality of war. Larry McMurtry Telegraph Days A picaresque tale set in the Wild West, where spunky Nellie Courtright seeks her fortune after her Virginia family dies off. Larger-than-life fictional characters share the stage with such historical figures as Buffalo Bill, Doc Holliday, and Billy the Kid. Annie Potts narrates with the humor and exaggeration the story demands. Mark Haddon A Spot of Bother A hilarious domestic comedy of (British) manners featuring hypochondriac retiree George Hall and his highly dysfunctional family. Simon Vance's reading conveys the needs, loves, and worries of each unique character . David Mitchell Black Swan Green A poignant, compassionate coming-of-age story in which 13-year-old Jason must deal with his stammer, his classmates' hostility, and his family's disintegration . Joanne Harris Gentlemen & Players The Latin master at a British boys' school begins to suspect that a string of campus catastrophes are somehow related to the arrival of a new teacher. A cat-and-mouse game ensues, culminating in a delicious twist at the end. The story is told in alternating sections by the two teachers, and reader Steven Pacey creates two entirely unique narrative voices. Irene Nemirovsky Suite Francaise This book, which surfaced some 60 years after the author's death at Auschwitz, comprises the first two of a planned five-novel cycle describing life in Nazi-occupied France. “Storm in June” is read by Daniel Oreskes; “Dolce” is read by Barbara Rosenblatt. A classic work cut tragically short.
THRILLERS, MYSTERY, & SUSPENSE Lee Child The Hard Way In a high-octane race against time, series hero Jack Reacher must use every ounce of guts and savvy to find a mother and daughter kidnapped in New York. Narrator Dick Hill's spirited reading (with a British accent that's easy on the ears) matches the story's pace perfectly. Brad Meltzer The Book of Fate Years after a presidential assassination attempt left aide Wes Holloway disfigured, he discovers that one of the supposed victims is very much alive. To discover the truth about what happened, Holloway must decipher a centuries-old code and penetrate Masonic secrets. Veteran narrator Scott Brick does the good guys and the villains with equal brilliance. Jeffery Deaver The Cold Moon Lincoln Rhyme, NYPD's brilliant quadriplegic detective, takes on the case of the “Watchmaker,” a serial killer who leaves a ticking clock at each crime scene. Edgy,dark and violent; read by Joe Mantegna in his familiar tough-guy voice for those who like their crime hard-boiled.
Martha Grimes The Old Wine Shades 20 th in the series whose intriguing titles all come from the names of British pubs, this one follows detective Richard Jury's search for the missing family of a mysterious physicist. John Lee's narration perfectly conveys the nuances of British class distinction . Donna Leon Through a Glass Darkly The Commissario Brunetti mysteries are hugely popular for their intelligent plotting, appealing hero, and atmospheric rendering of Venice, and this latest in the series does not disappoint. David Colacci's reading adds richness to the Italian ambiance. Janet Evanovich Twelve Sharp Bounty hunter Stephanie Plum searches for a kidnapped child while dealing with the barely restrained chaos of her business and the unrestrained chaos of her wacky family. Lorelei King's reading gives perfect voice to more than a dozen characters. Michael Robotham Lost Fast-paced action does not detract from thoughtful and complex characterization in this gritty thriller as an amnesiac British detective searches for the missing daughter of a Russian mobster. Narrator Ray Lonnen supplies the hard-edged accents of London's mean streets. Ruth Rendell End in Tears 20 th in the Chief Inspector Wexford series. Here the detective must puzzle out the relationship between two murdered teenage girls, one a new mother and the other newly pregnant. John Lee draws the listener in with his expert use of silence, pacing, and perfect diction.
FICTION CLASSICS Become reacquainted with these literary classics newly recorded: Harper Lee To Kill a Mockingbird The story is set in the Deep South during the pre-civil rights era, but the issues of prejudice, cruelty, justice and simple human virtue it raises transcend time and place. Actress Sissy Spacek, narrating as young Scout Finch, tells the story with an appealing southern lilt. Ernest Hemingway A Moveable Feast Hemingway's enchanting memoir (he hinted that it could be considered fiction) of the expatriate life in Paris in the 1920s, read with warmth, humor, and affection by James Naughton. James Joyce A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man This masterpiece of 20 th century literature follows the evolution of young Stephen Daedalus into a writer, costing him his family, his faith and his homeland. Jim Norton does a masterful job of recreating the hero's voice as it matures from child to adult.
Best Audio Nonfiction of 2006 as chosen by Library Journal and Audiofile Magazine :
BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR Frances Mayes A Year in the World After four bestsellers about her adopted home in Tuscany, Mayes here indulges her passion for travel to other places – Scotland, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, Morocco, and Turkey. Reader Cassandra Campbell provides a smoothly polished narrative for the author's delightful musings on the joys of independent travel. Leigh Montville The Big Bam: The Life & Times of Babe Ruth This colorful, multifaceted exploration of a baseball legend traces Ruth's life from his deprived childhood in Baltimore to his entrance into the record books. Reader Scott Brick's wry narration is the perfect vehicle for rendering the complexities of his larger-than-life subject. Joan Didion The Year of Magical Thinking Didion's account of the year following the death of her husband and the severe illness of her only child is both harrowing and engrossing. Barbara Caruso speaks the author's words as though from her own heart. “Can one call an audio performance ravishing?” ( Audiofile )
HISTORY Nathaniel Philbrick Mayflower This version of the Pilgrims' story has little to do with the Thanksgiving myth. Philbrick's unvarnished account of the settlers' struggles is echoed in the voice of veteran narrator Guidall, who guides listeners through harrowing events seldom described in schoolbooks. Michael Tougias Ten Hours until Dawn True story of the fatal final voyage of the harbor pilot boat the Can Do, which came to the aid of a Coast Guard cutter during the Blizzard of '78. Reader Joe Barrett's reenactments from actual radio transmissions adds vividness to this account of the doomed men aboard the boat. Mark Kurlansky The Big Oyster The author's stock in trade is microhistory ( Cod ; Salt ), which traces the evolution of complex events by focusing exhaustively on the history of one small, common object. Here he gives us the early history of New York as it can be inferred from the changing fortunes of the lowly oyster. Both a cautionary ecological tale and a delightful miscellany of cultural, culinary, and historical insight.
CONTEMPORARY CULTURE Michael Pollan The Omnivore's Dilemma “What should we have for dinner?” the author asks, and moves from there to an exploration of what and why we consume what we do in 21 st century America. Neither alarmist nor preachy, this wryly humorous tour of the food chain is also a thoughtful analysis of what Pollan calls “our national eating disorder.” Seth Godin Small Is the New Big Read by the author in dynamic, spontaneous style (though he advises not listening all at once – “It will give you a headache” ), this guide to business marketing is a compilation of provocative ideas, some only a few paragraphs long, that have made Godin's books irreverent bestsellers. Robert Long De Kooning's Bicycle: Artists and Writers in the Hamptons An art critic describes the lives of writers and artists in the Hamptons from the 1940s to the 1980s. Reader Grover Gardner brings to life such luminaries as Jackson Pollock and Willem De Kooning Jeffrey Siegel Keyboard Conversations Making the most of the audiobook format, pianist Siegel gives us a “concert with conversation” – a lively lecture about both the musical and personal lives of classical pianists Liszt, Grieg, and Chopin, combined with musical interludes featuring the musicians' works.
View it! feature titles we recommend for your viewing pleasure. Coming in May
COMING IN MAY
An international soccer star is on his way to sign a multimillion-dollar contract and a waitress is struggling to make it in New York City until something happens, bringing their lives to an abrupt halt until kindness brings them together.
“…a heart- tugger with the confidence not to tug too hard.” – Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times Toronto Film Festival People's Choice Award; Heartland Film Fest Dramatic Grand Prize, Crystal Heart
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A look at the life and music of Bob Dylan, with different people portraying each aspect of the legend's life, from poet to prophet to star.
Starring: Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett , Richard Gere , Kris Kristofferson, Heath Ledger, Ben Whishaw , Michelle Williams
“…best of the year.” – Roeper & A.O. Scott Golden Globe & Independent Spirit Award Supporting Actress Cate Blanchett and Robert Altman Award
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A recently deceased bride-to-be makes it her heavenly duty to keep her fiance from falling in love with anyone else.
Starring: Lake Bell , Jason Biggs, Eva Longoria, Paul Rudd
“It's three lead characters have just the right mix of sass, slapstick and sincerity…” – Detroit News
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Holly Kennedy is devastated when her loving husband unexpectedly dies. But he seems to come back into her life when messages he recorded before he died start showing up on her doorstep, helping to push her into a new and happy future.
Starring: Kathy Bates, Gerard Butler, Harry Connick Jr., Lisa Kudrow , Hilary Swank “…made for the female audience and we thank you. PS, take Kleenex.” – The MovieChicks.com “…one of the year's best love stories.” – Urban Cinefile
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Chronicles the journey of Professor Melvin Tolson , a debate team coach who turns a group of underdog students from a small African-American college into a historically elite debate team. Inspired by a true story. Directed by Denzel Washington Starring: Kimberly Elise, Jurnee Smollet , Denzel Washington, Forest Whitaker “…affirming and inspiring and re-creates the stories of a remarkable team and its coach.” – Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times 2008 NAACP Image Awards Best Picture, Actor and Supporting Actor Denzel Washington, Actress Smollett
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MAD MONEY [Street date 5-13-08 ] Three desperate women from very different worlds decide to smuggle millions of dollars in worn-out currency from their jobs inside the Federal Reserve.
Starring: Ted Danson , Katie Holmes, Diane Keaton, Queen Latifah
“…the feistiest Hollywood movie about American women and their jobs since ‘9 to 5'. – Boston Globe
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A predator that stalks his prey online uses his website to determine who dies based on how many hits his site gets. Now it's up to a special division of the FBI to find the killer before he posts his next victim.
Starring: Joseph Cross, Colin Hanks, Diane Lane
“…so hypnotic that all you do is sit there waiting while they deliver one big shock after another.” – Rex Reed
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After an adverse event changes the life of a timid professor and forces him into exile from Nazi scientists, he decides to ponder the mysteries of life.
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola Starring Tim Roth
2008 Independent Spirit Award Nominee Best Cinematography
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When Ben's great-grandfather is implicated as a key conspirator in Abraham Lincoln's death, he is determined to prove his ancestor's innocence. Ben follows an international chain of clues that leads to the trail of the world's most treasured secrets.
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Ed Harris, Helen Mirren , Jon Voight
“…total entertainment from start to finish.” -- Maxim
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Follow the extraordinary acting coach Elaine Hall, five autistic children, and their parents as they improbably, heroically mount a full-length original stage production and learn to communicate their feelings in song and performance.
Documentary; Winner at 4 International Film Festivals
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Two brothers that are desperate to make their troubled lives better instead become entangled into a sinister situation after meeting a beautiful stranger.
Directed by Woody Allen Starring: Colin Farrell, Ewan McGregor, Tom Wilkinson
“…a pulp story pinned to the screen with an ice pick of conscience…” – New York Post
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A man decides to take his two daughters on a road trip to tell them that their mother has just been killed in the Iraq War, and to learn how to be a better father.
Starring: John Cusack, Marisa Tomei “…serves as a gently thoughtful coda and reminder of what continues.” – Los Angeles Times
2007 Sundance Film Festival Audience Award Best Drama and the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award
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After missionaries are taken prisoner by Burmese soldiers, Rambo is sent in to rescue them in the midst of a civil war.
Directed by Sylvester Stallone Starring: Matthew Marsden, Sylvester Stallone
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A look at the 7th President of the United States, and how he founded the Democratic Party but was viewed by his enemies as an American Napoleon.
Narrated by Martin Sheen.
Part of the Pbs Home Video series.
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Katy Haswell visits Belgium and Luxembourg, two European countries small in stature but large in attractions, such as Antwerp, Bruges, Brussels, and the site of the battle of Waterloo, then Luxembourg in time to take part in the National Day festivities.
Part of the Pilot Guides series.
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The Complex Rock Tour captures two shows at the Next Stage Amphitheatre in Grand Prairie , Texas .
Features behind-the-scenes footage, and three music videos.
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Explore bustling Havana , the cigar famed Pinar del Rio region, and the musical Santiago de Cuba . Travel onto Haiti through its capital, Port au Prince and end the journey at the spectacular Citadel in Cap Haitien .
Part of the Pilot Guides series.
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Experience a spectacular voyage through the heart of Russia . Travel the scenic and historic Russian waterways, along the Neva , across two of Europe 's largest lakes, Lake Ladoga and Lake Onega , down the Volga-Baltic Waterways, and all on the Volga .
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Explores the indelible footprint that humans have left on this planet, and the catastrophic effects of environmental neglect and abuse, and calls for restorative action through a reshaping of human activity.
Produced and Narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio
“…some altogether fascinating ideas about how to go about solving the climate crisis.” -- Variety
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A surprisingly fascinating feature-length documentary about the sans-serif typeface known as Helvetica, created in Switzerland in 1957 and now found sprawled across street signs, form letters, ads, storefronts - you name it.
“…an emblem of the machine age, a harbinger of globalization and an ally of modern art's impulse toward innovation, simplicity and abstraction.” – New York Times
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A look at Jimmy Carter as he tours to promote his newest book.
“…gripping meditation on the very hot-button-ness of the Israeli-Palestinian question.” – Entertainment Weekly
“…simply, easily immerses us.” – Associated Press
“***Recommended |
