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2017 Audie Awards – Overview

Oh its the most wonderful time of year…fourth(ish) only behind Christmas, my birthday and i’m sure some other day that I’m totally forgetting, is the day that the nominees for the Audie Awards are announced. Unlike last year, I actually remembered that they were being announced today, unfortunately, my bosses failed to understand the significance of this day and scheduled me for meetings pretty much all day (HOW DARE THEY??). So after I finally got some down time to take a look at the nominees (on the Audible website) – I had a slight freak out when I saw that there was a memoir listed in the romance category and knowing me I went high and right on my freak out. Thankfully, historical romance author extradoinaire, Laura Kinsale, talked me off the proverbial cliff and pointed out that the wrong audiobook was linked…(in my defense, it wouldn’t be the first time that a totally random listen had ended up nominated for a romance audie. So anyways – taking a look at this years nominees – it was hard to pick which categories I was going to review for Armchair Audies. Honestly, I don’t normally wish for a longer commute – but maybe I should, so I could fit in 4 categories of listening…haha!

And now to the nominees…

AUDIO DRAMA
Alien: Out of the Shadows: An Audible Original Drama by Tim Lebbon and Dirk Maggs
Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor Adventures: Death and the Queen by James Goss
Doctor Who: The War Doctor: Only The Monstrous by Nicholas Briggs
In the Embers by Brian Price and Jerry Stearns
The Mountaintop by Katori Hall

AUTOBIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
Around the Way Girl written and narrated by Taraji P. Henson
Buffering: Unshared Tales of a Life Fully Loaded by Hannah Hart
The Greatest: My Own Story by Muhammad Ali with Richard Durham
The Rainbow Comes and Goes written and narrated by Anderson Cooper and Gloria Vanderbilt
When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi

BEST FEMALE NARRATOR
Another Brooklyn: A Novel by Jacqueline Woodson, narrated by Robin Miles
Be Frank with Me by Julia Claiborne Johnson, narrated by Tavia Gilbert
The Little Red Chairs by Edna O’Brien, narrated by Juliet Stevenson
The Turn of the Screw by Henry James, narrated by Emma Thompson
The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead, narrated by Bahni Turpin

BEST MALE NARRATOR
Bob Honey Who Just Do Stuff by Pappy Pariah, narrated by Sean Penn
End of Watch by Stephen King, narrated by Will Patton
Jerusalem by Alan Moore, narrated by Simon Vance
The Last Tribe by Brad Manuel, narrated by Scott Brick
The Purloined Poodle by Kevin Hearne, narrated by Luke Daniels
Underground Airlines by Ben H. Winters, narrated by William DeMeritt

BUSINESS/PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT
Capital Offenses: Business Crime and Punishment in America’s Corporate Age by Samuel W. Buell
Humans Need Not Apply by Jerry Kaplan
Shrill written and narrated by Lindy West
The Storyteller’s Secret written and narrated by Carmine Gallo
Trekonomics: The Economics of Star Trek by Manu Saadia

EROTICA
The Baller by Vi Keeland
The Darkest Torment by Gena Showalter
Eighteen (18): Based on a True Story by J.A. Huss
January: Calendar Girl, Book 1 by Audrey Carlan
Marriage Games by CD Reiss
Sweet Dreams by Sunny Leone

FANTASY
The Bands of Mourning by Brandon Sanderson
The Black Prism by Brent Weeks
The Everything Box by Richard Kadrey
The Hike by Drew Magary
League of Dragons by Naomi Novik

FICTION
America’s First Daughter by Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie
Darktown by Thomas Mullen
End of Watch by Stephen King
Julian Fellowes’s Belgravia by Julian Fellowes
Sister of Mine by Sabra Waldfogel

HISTORY/BIOGRAPHY
In Harm’s Way: The Sinking of the U.S.S. Indianapolis and the Extraordinary Story of Its Survivors by Doug Stanton
Paul McCartney: The Life by Philip Norman
A Time to Die by Robert Moore
Valiant Ambition: George Washington, Benedict Arnold, and the Fate of the American Revolution by Nathaniel Philbrick,
The Year of Lear by James Shapiro

HUMOR
The Bassoon King: My Life in Art, Faith, and Idiocy written and narrated by Rainn Wilson
Black Man, White House: An Oral History of the Obama Years by D.L. Hughley
I’m Judging You written and narrated by Luvvie Ajayi
Life and Other Near Death Experiences by Camille Pagán
You Can’t Touch My Hair: And Other Things I Still Have to Explain by Phoebe Robinson
You’ll Grow out of It written and narrated by Jessi Klein

INSPIRATIONAL/FAITH-BASED FICTION
Beric the Briton by G.A. Henty
The Christmas Town written and narrated by Donna VanLiere
The Girl from the Train by Irma Joubert
Journey’s End by Renee Ryan
Risen: The Novelization of the Major Motion Picture by Angela Hunt

INSPIRATIONAL/FAITH-BASED NON-FICTION
The Awakening of HK Derryberry by Jim Bradford and Andy Hardin
Divine Collision by Jim Gash
Forgiving My Daughter’s Killer by Kate Grosmaire and Nancy French
The Great Good Thing written and narrated by Andrew Klavan
Space at the Table written and narrated by Brad Harper and Drew Harper

LITERARY FICTION & CLASSICS
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
Another Brooklyn: A Novel by Jacqueline Woodson
David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
LaRose written and narrated by Louise Erdrich,
The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead

MIDDLE GRADE
All Rise for the Honorable Perry T. Cook by Leslie Connor
Demon Dentist by David Walliams
The Enchanted Files: Hatched by Bruce Coville
How to Train Your Dragon: How to Fight a Dragon’s Fury by Cressida Cowell
The Inquisitor’s Tale: Or, The Three Magical Children and Their Holy Dog by Adam Gidwitz

MULTI-VOICED PERFORMANCE
Les Liaisons Dangereuses: Read by the Cast of the Stage Play by Choderlos de Laclos, narrated by Dominic West, Janet McTeer, Una Stubbs, Elaine Cassidy, Adjoa Andoh, Edward Holcroft, and Morfydd Clark
The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto by Mitch Albom, narrated by Mitch Albom, Roger McGuinn, Ingrid Michaelson, John Pizzarelli, Paul Stanley, George Guidall, and more
Pruno, Ramen, and a Side of Hope: Stories of Surviving Wrongful Conviction by Courtney Lance and Nikki Pope, narrated by Whoopi Goldberg and Bill Kurtis
Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult, narrated by Audra McDonald, Cassandra Campbell and Ari Fliakos
Thomas Jefferson-From Boy to Man by Jayne D’Alessandro-Cox, narrated by James Brinkley, published by James Brinkley/Jayne D’Alessandro-Cox
A Wild Swan by Michael Cunningham, narrated by Lili Taylor and Billy Hough, published by Macmillan Audio

MYSTERY
Crimson Shore by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
The Crossing by Michael Connelly
A Great Reckoning by Louise Penny
The Heavens May Fall by Allen Eskens
IQ by Joe Ide

NARRATION BY THE AUTHOR or AUTHORS
Dear Mr. You written and narrated by Mary-Louise Parker
The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo written and narrated by Amy Schumer
In Such Good Company: Eleven Years of Laughter, Mayhem, and Fun in the Sandbox written and narrated by Carol Burnett
LaRose written and narrated by Louise Erdrich
A Life in Parts written and narrated by Bryan Cranston
The View from the Cheap Seats written and narrated by Neil Gaiman

NON-FICTION
Adnan’s Story written and narrated by Rabia Chaudry
Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond
The Gene by Siddhartha Mukherjee
Hillbilly Elegy written and narrated by J.D. Vance
A Million Years in a Day by Greg Jenner
Words on the Move: Why English Won’t – and Can’t – Sit Still (Like, Literally) written and narrated by John McWhorter

ORIGINAL WORK
The Adventures of Tom Stranger, Interdimensional Insurance Agent by Larry Correia
Alien: Out of the Shadows: An Audible Original Drama by Tim Lebbon and Dirk Maggs
Car Talk Science: MIT Wants Its Diplomas Back written and narrated by Tom Magliozzi and Ray Magliozzi
The Dispatcher by John Scalzi
In the Embers by Brian Price and Jerry Stearns
Pete Seeger: The Storm King, Vol. 2 by Pete Seeger, ed. and Jeff Haynes

PARANORMAL
Blood of the Earth by Faith Hunter
The Elementals by Michael McDowell
Ghost Gifts by Laura Spinella
The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater
Staked by Kevin Hearne

ROMANCE
Dirty by Kylie Scott
Duke of Sin by Elizabeth Hoyt
First Star I See Tonight by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
Glitterland by Alexis Hall
The Obsession by Nora Roberts

SCIENCE FICTION
The Book of the Unnamed Midwife by Meg Ellison
Crosstalk by Connie Willis
The Dispatcher by John Scalzi
Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel
Star Wars: The Force Awakens by Alan Dean Foster

SHORT STORIES/COLLECTIONS
The Brink: Stories by Austin Bunn
Certain Dark Things by M.J. Pack
Coffee at Luke’s edited by Jennifer Crusie
The Collected Stories of Arthur C. Clarke by Arthur C. Clarke
East, West by Salman Rushdie
Killer Women: Crime Club Anthology #1 by Louise Millar, Alex Marwood and Tammy Cohen

THRILLER/SUSPENSE
Cross Justice by James Patterson
The Fall of Moscow Station by Mark Henshaw
Hidden Bodies by Caroline Kepnes
Home by Harlan Coben
The Short Drop by Matthew FitzSimmons

YOUNG ADULT
The Game of Love and Death by Martha Brockenbrough
Gemina by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff,
My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows
Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys
Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco and James Patterson
Winter by Marissa Meyer

YOUNG LISTENERS (up to age 8)
28 Days: Moments in Black History That Changed the World by Charles R. Smith, Jr
Island Treasures: Growing up in Cuba by Alma Flor Ada
The Quentin Blake and John Yeoman Collection by Quentin Blake and John Yeoman
The Tale of Kitty-in-Boots by Beatrix Potter
Voice of Freedom by Carole Boston Weatherford
The Wooden Prince: Out of Abaton by John Claude Bemis

Stay Tuned for my category blog posts for my 2017 Armchair Audies listening extravaganza!

Audiobook Review – Suddenly, A Knock On The Door – Etgar Keret

23 May

Suddenly, A Knock On The Door
Author: Etgar Keret

Narrated by: Ira Glass, Adam Thirlwell, Dave Eggers, Nicole Krauss, George Saunders, Ben Foster,Mathieu Amalric, Aimee Bender, Miranda July, Ben Marcus, Willem Dafoe, Stanley Tucci, John Sayles, Gary Shteyngart, Robert Wisdom, Stella Schnabel, Michael Chabon, Lorin Stein, Rick Moody, Nathan Englander, Scott Shepherd, David Rakoff, Michael Chernus, Shea Wigham, Josh Charles, Michael Buscemi, Neal Stephenson, Mark Duplass, Shalom Auslander, Todd Hasak-Lowy, Josh Radnor, Ira Glass, Jonathan Safran Foer, Etgar Keret
Run Time: 5 hours and 7 minutes
Producer: Macmillan Audio

Description:
A man barges into a writer’s house and, holding a gun to his head, demands that he tell him a story, something to take him away from the real world. A pathological liar discovers one day that all the lies he tells come true. A young woman finds a zip in her boyfriend’s mouth, and when she opens it he unfolds to reveal a completely different man inside.

Suddenly a Knock on the Door is at once Keret’s most mature and most playful work yet, and establishes him as one of the great international writers of our time.

Review:
I have to say upfront that this book really wasn’t my thing – I would compare it to some of the work by David Sedaris – it takes a (IMHO) a different type of individual to like the short stories put forth – the slices of life (for lack of a better word). Added to that, I think that some of the potency of the stories was lost in translation. In fact, it took me probably a good half of the book to realize that the stories were set in Israel – which kind of changed my opinion of the writing – and it was harder for me to find similarities with some of the stories, because I couldn’t draw on similar experiences. They also seemed really short – since I was listening to the audiobook the vast majority of them didn’t exceed more than about 10 minutes of listening – which is somewhere between 5-15 pages (depending on the speed of the narrator).

My other complaint was actually about the narration. Individually, the narrators were all fine, I don’t really have any complaints – although, I will say that the shortness of the stories, didn’t necessarily allow for them to show their wares when it comes to narration skills – but with each story being as short as it was, and then there being a different narrator for each story – my mind had a hard time processing what was going on. The various narrators weren’t actually described anywhere in the production either – maybe that would have helped me come to terms with the different stories – but I don’t know. Overall, this was a disappointing listening experience – maybe the authors work is better being read than listened…or maybe it would be better with a more limited cast of narrators (rather than the 15-20 that I think it had). I don’t know. All I know, is that I gave it 2.5 stars, and can’t say that I will be in too much of a rush to read/listen to any more of the authors stuff – no matter the accolades he has received.

Audiobook Review – October Mourning – Lesléa Newman

06 May

the audies

October Mourning: A Song for Matthew Shepard
Author: Lesléa Newman

Narrated By: Emily Beresford, Luke Daniels, Tom Parks, Nick Podehl, Kate Rudd, Christina Traister
Run Time: 1 hr and 19 minutes
Produced by: Candlewick on Brilliance Audio

Description:
On the night of October 6, 1998, a gay twenty-one-year-old college student named Matthew Shepard was lured from a Wyoming bar by two young men, savagely beaten, tied to a remote fence, and left to die. Gay Awareness Week was beginning at the University of Wyoming, and the keynote speaker was Lesléa Newman, discussing her book Heather Has Two Mommies. Shaken, the author addressed the large audience that gathered, but she remained haunted by Matthew’s murder. October Mourning, a novel in verse, is her deeply felt response to the events of that tragic day. Using her poetic imagination, the author creates fictitious monologues from various points of view, including the fence Matthew was tied to, the stars that watched over him, the deer that kept him company, and Matthew himself. More than a decade later, this stunning cycle of sixty-eight poems serves as an illumination for readers too young to remember, and as a powerful, enduring tribute to Matthew Shepard’s life.

Review:
I remember being in high school when Matthew Shepard was attacked and died and 1998. It made shock-waves around the world – even my small town in Australia heard about it. Until then I had never really considered hate crimes and the pain they cause. Yes, I had heard of Rodney King and the attack on him – but in my homogenous community, it wasn’t really anything I had experienced or paid attention to. October Mourning was written in response to the attack on Matthew Shepard, and in part, can be used to educate the younger generation on what happened – since for many of them, they likely would not of/never will hear of it – except through something like this book of poetry.

I will say upfront, that poetry, normally isn’t my thing – I read it on rare occasions, but I don’t particularly enjoy it (maybe because I was forced to read it in high school so much). But since the audiobook was short (barely over an hour) – it was a quick/easy listen while I was out running errands one morning. I liked how the author wrote poems not only from the perspective of people involved (the guys who attacked Matthew, the bartending who was the last person to see him; friends and family) – but also animals (like Matthews cat) and inanimate objects (like the fence stake). It was an intriguing approach. The poems were also not poetry, in the normal/expected sense of the word, but rather free verse – some short, some long, lots of emphasis on different words and stylistic choices.

All of the narrators in the audiobook were new to me, with the exception of Kate Rudd. The narrators took turns for the most part with the narration – but there were a few poems where multiple voices were used. There was one (and now, I’m blanking on the title) – that started out with one voice, and one by one the voices joined in until they were narrating in unison, and then slowly died away until only the one voice remained. That poem in particular, gave me goosebumps as I heard it. I enjoyed the diversity of the voices and felt that the director did a good job of matching narration skills with the different perspectives being shown.

This is an audiobook that really made me think and remember, but I have a hard time rating it because of the topic/and the themes. So I am going to leave it unrated. I will say that people may need some tissues handy if you listen to it though. I can see why it was a Stonewall Honor book.

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Tag Archives: the audies

2017 Audie Awards – Overview

Audiobook Review – Suddenly, A Knock On The Door – Etgar Keret

Audiobook Review – October Mourning – Lesléa Newman

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