Audie Award Nominees on Library2Go

Audie Award Nominees on Library2Go

The Audie Awards are the Oscars for audiobooks those of us that are audiophiles follow these more closely than the Oscars these are awards for great narration and as anyone who has listened to an audiobook knows how important a great narrator is. These awards are put out by the APA - Audio Publishers Association (APA) is a not-for-profit trade organization dedicated to creating a public awareness of the audio publishing industry as well as providing industry professionals with educational opportunities to develop their businesses. To learn more about APA, please click here.

Full list of nominees from Audiofile Magazine here

So here is a list of the nominees that are available through Library2Go.

AUDIO DRAMA

Die, Snow White! Die, Damn You!, by Yuri Rasovsky, Narrated by a full cast, Blackstone Audio

Also nominated in ORIGINAL WORK

Die, Snow White! Die, Damn You!, by Yuri Rasovsky, Narrated by a full cast, Blackstone.

BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR

My Cross to Bear, by Greg Allman and Alan Light, Narrated by Will Patton, Harper Audio

The Seamstress, by Bernstein, Sara Tuvel; Thornton, Louise Loots; Samuels, Marlene Bernstein, Narrated by Wanda McCaddon.

BUSINESS/EDUCATIONAL

Spy The Lie, by Philip Houston, Michael Floyd, Susan Carnicero, Don Tennant, Narrated by Fred Berman, Macmillan Audio.

CHILDRENS 8-12

The Cheshire Cheese Cat, by Carmen Agra Deedy and Randall White, Narrated by Katherine Kellgren and Robin Sachs, Listening Library/Books on Tape.

CLASSIC

The Mark of Zorro, by Johnston McCulley, Narrated by Armando Durán, Blackstone.

              

            The Prime Minister, by Anthony Trollope, Narrated by Simon Vance, Blackstone.

HUMOR

The Cursing Mommy's Book of Days, by Ian Frazier, Narrated by Cynthia Nixon, Macmillan Audio.

INSPIRATIONAL FAITH NON-FICTION

Anna and the King of Siam, by Margaret Langdon, Narrated by Anne Flosnik, eChristian Inc.

Fearless, by Eric Blehm, Narrated by Paul Michael, eChristian Inc.

LITERARY FICTION

Bring Up the Bodies, by Hilary Mantel, Narrated by Simon Vance, Macmillan Audio.

MYSTERY

And When She Was Good, by Laura Lippman, Narrated by Linda Emond, MacMillan Audio.

The Beautiful Mystery, by Louise Penny, Narrated by Ralph Cosham, MacMillan Audio.

NARRATION BY AUTHOR OR AUTHORS

Most Talkative, by Andy Cohen, Read by Andy Cohen, Macmillan Audio.

Yes, Chef, by Marcus Samuelsson, Read by Marcus Samuelsson, Random House Audio/Books on Tape.

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

It Worked for Me: In Life and Leadership, by Colin Powell, Narrated by Colin Powell, Harper Audio.

SCIENCE FICTION

The Age of Miracles, by Karen Thompson Walker, Narrated by Emily Janice Card, Random House Audio/Books on Tape.

SHORT STORIES

I Am An Executioner, by Rajesh Parameswaran, Narrated by Neil Shah and Lina Patel, Dreamscape media, LLC.

Astray, by Emma Donoghue, Narrated by Khristine Hvam, James Langton, Robert Petkoff, Suzanne Toren, Dion Graham, Hachette Audio.

SOLO NARRATION-MALE

Beautiful Ruins, by Jess Walter, Narrated by Edoardo Ballerini, Harper Audio. This is not available on Library2Go but we do has the CD’s in house.

          The Absolutist, by John Boyne, Narrated by Michael Maloney, Tantor Media.

SOLO NARRATION-FEMALE

The Boy in the Suitcase, by Lene Kaaberbøl and Agnete Friis, Narrated by Katherine Kellgren, AudioGO.

Also Nominated in THRILLER/SUSPENSE

The Boy in the Suitcase, by Lene Kaaberbøl and Agnete Friis, Narrated by Katherine Kellgren, AudioGO.

Call the Midwife, by Jennifer Worth, Narrated by Nicola Barber, HighBridge. This one is not available on library2go but is available on CD in house.

         Juliet in August, by Dianne Warren, Narrated by Cassandra Campbell, Tantor Media.

TEENS

Dodger, by Terry Pratchett, Narrated by Stephen Briggs, Harper Audio.

     The Diviners, by Libby Bray, Narrated by January LaVoy , Listening Library/Books on Tape

Inheritance, by Christopher Paolini, Narrated by Gerard Doyle, Listening Library/Books on Tape.

The Orchardist by Amanda Coplin

The Orchardist by Amanda Coplin

Synopsis from Goodreads: At the turn of the twentieth century, in a rural stretch of the Pacific Northwest in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains, a solitary orchardist named Talmadge carefully tends the grove of fruit trees he has cultivated for nearly half a century. A gentle, solitary man, he finds solace and purpose in the sweetness of the apples, apricots, and plums he grows, and in the quiet, beating heart of the land-the valley of yellow grass bordering a deep canyon that has been his home since he was nine years old. Everything he is and has known is tied to this patch of earth. It is where his widowed mother is buried, taken by illness when he was just thirteen, and where his only companion, his beloved teenaged sister Elsbeth, mysteriously disappeared. It is where the horse wranglers-native men, mostly Nez Perce-pass through each spring with their wild herds, setting up camp in the flowering meadows between the trees.

One day, while in town to sell his fruit at the market, two girls, barefoot and dirty, steal some apples. Later, they appear on his homestead, cautious yet curious about the man who gave them no chase. Feral, scared, and very pregnant, Jane and her sister Della take up on Talmadage's land and indulge in his deep reservoir of compassion. Yet just as the girls begin to trust him, brutal men with guns arrive in the orchard, and the shattering tragedy that follows sets Talmadge on an irrevocable course not only to save and protect them, putting himself between the girls and the world, but to reconcile the ghosts of his own troubled past.

Writing with breathtaking precision and empathy, Amanda Coplin has crafted an astonishing debut novel about a man who disrupts the lonely harmony of an ordered life when he opens his heart and lets the world in. Transcribing America as it once was before railways and roads connected its corners, she weaves a tapestry of solitary souls who come together in the wake of unspeakable cruelty and misfortune, bound by their search to discover the place they belong. At once intimate and epic, evocative and atmospheric, filled with haunting characters both vivid and true to life, and told in a distinctive narrative voice, The Orchardist marks the beginning of a stellar literary career.

My review:

This is a quiet book about flawed people, what your upbringing can turn you into and why even when given a fighting chance some people can’t get over what was done to them. This isn’t a great drama, or a thrill ride it is really just Talmadge’s story told in a sad way, rueful and regretful.

Talmadge is a quiet man working his orchards and still not over the disappearance of his sister years ago, when one day 2 young girls dirty, hungry and pregnant have wandered onto his property looking for food. The girls Jane & Della & Talmadge finally come to tentative understanding that he will leave them food and he will not try to touch them or talk to them. When the girls go into labor only one baby lives; Angeline, who becomes a huge part of Talmadge’s life, but there is a man looking for these girls and the events of that day will haunt all their lives forever.

This is not a happy story but there is something about it that grabs at your heart plus the imagery of the orchard and the time period is done so beautifully. I am finding it very hard to put into words the emotions this book evoked.

I think this is one of those books that will stay with me awhile and the sad people in it, yet this books is so beautiful , lyrical and flowing. What amazes me is this is a first novel I think Amanda Coplin will be an author to watch and I look forward to more from her!

4 Stars

My One Square Inch of Alaska: A Novel by Sharon Short

My One Square Inch of Alaska: A Novel by Sharon Short

I was expecting a 1950’s coming of age story and I got that but I also got so much more with this great story. Donna a high school senior and her little brother Will live in Ohio their mother is dead and their father has taken up drinking and isolates himself from his children and the world. Donna takes care of everything around the house including cooking and taking care of Will plus going to school, working at her grandmothers diner and doing alterations at a dress shop where she dreams of getting out of Ohio and becoming a seamstress or a designer.  Will is trying to win a cereal/TV Show contest eating as much cereal as he can to send in his box tops to win his very own one square inch of Alaska, but Donna starts noticing that Will’s health is deteriorating and so begins their amazing journey.

This book was so much more than I expected it to be, it is about grief and friendship, family, dreams and first loves and this all comes together to become a great story. It is hard to review this book because there is so much going on in Donna’s life and I don’t want to give anything away to harm your enjoyment of how the story unfolds. You will fall in love with Will, with his kind heart and naiveté and his outlook on life even through the difficulties. My other favorite character is MayJune who brings this light and calm to both Donna & Will. There is also the story of Will and the junkyard dog he rescues which is a great story on its own. Least favorite characters would have to be their simpering father, the never happy grandmother and Hank (who I wish we could have found out finally got his in the end!).

I really enjoyed this book and finished it in 2 days it will grab at your heart and make you feel for the characters. This book has a similar feel to books like Saving CeeCee Honeycutt or The Homecoming of Samuel Lake it is very well written and I will be looking for other books this author has written.

I would highly recommend this book to young adult and adults alike and could also see it becoming a bookclub book because it will have some interesting discussions with a myriad of topics this book evokes.

4 ½ Stars

Full Disclosure I received this book from the Librarything Early Reviewer Program and the publisher for a fair and honest review. 

Shadow Girl by Patricia Morrison

Shadow Girl by Patricia Morrison

This is a sad but powerful book about a 12 year old girl in Canada whose father is an alcoholic, her mother left when she was 4 so it has been just the 2 of them for years. The story starts out with Jules trying to keep her dad happy even when she knows he’s been drinking but no matter how bad it gets Jules still loves her dad. When she is left alone she goes to the shopping center and hangs out in the toy department in Zellers there she meets a very nice salesclerk who lets her play and read and is nice to her, something Jules is not used to. When the sales lady Mrs. Adamson starts noticing something isn’t right with Jules and she gets Jules to admit her dad has been gone over a week so she calls social services and so begins Jules’ journey into the foster care system.

This book started a little slow for me but from page 40 I read over a hundred pages in one sitting and had to force myself to go to bed and quit reading. I felt so bad for Jules the foster home she ends up in is a nice home but the family never makes her feel very welcome and she still feels very much alone, social services does find her dad but his visits are sporadic at best and he doesn’t seem to want to make the changes he needs to make to fix the situation and bring their family back together. The hard part in this story is how much Jules loves her father and just wants to go back to how it was before.

Jules walks through life feeling like a shadow

     “To be loved, to be happy, to be cared for, nourished body and soul. These things were never granted to shadows. And that’s what she was—a shadow being.”

You can’t help but care for Jules, I do wish I knew what happened to her after she grew up did her upbringing affect her for the rest of her life especially in her relationships with others? I think this is a good middle grade book that will make kids think and care. I recommend this book for school and public libraries.

4 Stars

I received this book from Librarything Early Reviewers Program for a fair and honest review.

Out of The Easy by Ruta Sepetys

Out of The Easy by Ruta Sepetys

Synopsis from Goodreads:

It’s 1950, and as the French Quarter of New Orleans simmers with secrets, seventeen-year-old Josie Moraine is silently stirring a pot of her own. Known among locals as the daughter of a brothel prostitute, Josie wants more out of life than the Big Easy has to offer. She devises a plan get out, but a mysterious death in the Quarter leaves Josie tangled in an investigation that will challenge her allegiance to her mother, her conscience, and Willie Woodley, the brusque madam on Conti Street.

Josie is caught between the dream of an elite college and a clandestine underworld. New Orleans lures her in her quest for truth, dangling temptation at every turn, and escalating to the ultimate test.

With characters as captivating as those in her internationally bestselling novel Between Shades of Gray, Ruta Sepetys skillfully creates a rich story of secrets, lies, and the haunting reminder that decisions can shape our destiny.

My Review:

This book was so hard to put down, it grabbed me immediately and didn’t let go till the very last page and I was sad it was over. In New Orleans in 1950 we meet Josie she lives above the bookshop she works in but she didn’t always live there, she used to live with her mother at a brothel her mother still lives there, Josie started sleeping in the bookshop after she had had enough of the icky men and her mother stealing from her. When her boss Charlie figured out she was sleeping at the shop he put a room together for her and she has lived there ever since.

I loved Josie, her spirit was great and her dreams big, she wants to go to Smith College but can the poor daughter of a prostitute be accepted to a fancy school like that? But Smith College is expensive if she is accepted where will she get the money. Josie wants this so bad that she gets herself if a few situations that found me screaming at the book and hoping beyond hope that certain things don’t happen to her!

The supporting characters in this book are such a memorable bunch including her mother’s Madam Willie who is actually more of a mother to Josie than her own mother ever could be. The driver Cokie who always believed in his Josie girl and even gambled his own money to try to help her pay for college because he had no doubt she’d be accepted he was one of my favorites in this book. Then we have the 2 boys, Patrick, Charlie’s son who knows all of Josie’s secrets but does she know all his? And Jessie, badboy mechanic with a somewhat similar upbringing to Josie and will do anything for her. Then there is Josie’s mother what a piece of work this woman is she makes you cheer for Josie even more once you get to know her!

I truly enjoyed this book and will be recommending it to anyone and everyone young adults to adults will enjoy this book, I have already pre-ordered this for our library. I will now be going back and reading Ruta Sepetys first book and will be looking forward to anything else this author writes!

4 ½ Stars

Touch & Go by, Lisa Gardner

Synopsis from goodreads: 
#1 New York Times bestseller Lisa Gardner, author of Catch Me and Love You More, returns with a heart-thumping thriller about what lurks behind the facade of a perfect family. 
This is my family:  Vanished without a trace…

Justin and Libby Denbe have the kind of life that looks good in the pages of a glossy magazine. A beautiful fifteen-year old daughter, Ashlyn. A gorgeous brownstone on a tree-lined street in Boston’s elite Back Bay neighborhood. A great marriage, admired by friends and family.  A perfect life.

This is what I know:  Pain has a flavor…

When investigator Tessa Leoni arrives at the crime scene in the Denbes’ home, she finds scuff marks on the floor and Taser confetti in the foyer.  The family appears to have been abducted, with only a pile of their most personal possessions remaining behind.  No witnesses, no ransom demands, no motive.  Just an entire family, vanished without a trace.

This is what I fear:  The worst is yet to come…

Tessa knows better than anyone that even the most perfect façades can hide the darkest secrets.  Now she must race against the clock to uncover the Denbes’ innermost dealings, a complex tangle of friendships and betrayal, big business and small sacrifices.  Who would want to kidnap such a perfect little family?  And how far would such a person be willing to go?

This is the truth:  Love, safety, family…it is all touch and go.

My Review:
Lisa Gardner cements her title as the queen of suspense this is another edge of your seat, keep you guessing, oh why didn’t I see that coming, kind of book.

It was great to see Tessa Leone again (I would highly recommend reading Love You More before this book so you understand Tessa’s background) it was a nice follow up so we we’re able to see how her and her daughter are doing since the events in Love You More. Tessa is now working for a private security firm and one of their top clients seems to be missing and not just him, his whole family.

As always with Lisa Gardner’s books it is very hard to review without giving anything away, but I will try…I really enjoyed Tessa in this one and her interaction with Wyatt a small town sheriff whom I also really liked and hope to see more of the two of them in future. We get a little touch of DD but that was all that was needed, I will admit to hoping when the FBI swooped in it might be one of the Quincy’s but no such luck! Then there is the kidnapped family who we get to know intimately flaws and all and you can’t help but hope everything works out for them. The kidnappers are interesting too she doesn’t give us cardboard cutouts but fleshed-out characters who we also get to know. As I said Lisa Gardner knows how to write a great suspense filled novel, I was up until 2 am for a few nights in a row and had to force myself to go to bed because I didn’t want to stop reading!

Another hit for Lisa Gardner highly recommend!

4 ½ stars