Celebrate Audiobook Month With Some Winning Titles

Posted by Alana

Did you know there are awards for audiobooks?  Yes indeed.  Every year, the Audio Publishers Association nominates the best audio recordings from the previous year.  June is National Audiobook Month, the perfect time to hand out awards.  Listed below is a selection of nomination reviews from The Audies webiste; all titles are available through SHARE.

Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter.   " As the sole voice for a veritable smorgasbord of characters, time periods and plotlines, Edoardo Ballerini works magic with this audio production.  Whether capturing the heartache of an Italian innkeeper or the frustration of a Hollywood production assistant, Ballerini lends jus the right inflection and tone to some outstanding dialogue from Walter.  There doesn't seem to be an accent Ballerini can't pinpoint or a fictional person he can't animate."

The Bartender's Tale by Ivan Doig.  "During "the summer of everything" in 1960, 12-year old Rusty Harry falls in love, develops a taste for drama and story, and learns the truth about his dad's mysterious trips to Canada.  David Aaron Baker's thoughtful, reflective reading accentuates Ivan Doig's ability to tell a good story replete with detail. Deliberate pauses force scenes to unfold in real time and allow characters to listen and respond to one other.  The dialog is rich with regional colloquialisms and authentic slang, and Baker is pitch-perfect in delivering them."

Swordspoint: A Melodrama of Manners by Ellen Kushner.  Richard St. Vier, swordsman extraordinaire, often fights duels to protect the honor of a noble - or just the highest bidder.  But to fight for his own and his friends' honor is a more complicated matter... Author Ellen Kushner delivers her utterly unique blend of modern fantasy and 19th century novel of manners with absolute conviction, humor and perfect phrasing.  The voices of some of the audio world's most distinguished performers sharpen the cutting, insightful dialogue and the result is pure pleasure.

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green.  It's a testament to John Green's writing and Kate Rudd's narration that, in a book about teenagers with cancer, there are still plenty of laugh-out-loud moments.  Listeners won't be able to help speculating about what's coming and may even with they could fast-forward to find out, even as they hang on to every word.

The Chalk Girl: A Mallory Novel, Book 10 by Carol O'Connell.  This involving psychological suspense is beautifully narrated by Barbara Rosenblat.  Especially well portrayed is Coco, the little girl with Williams syndrome, which provides her with cognitive areas of both brilliance and deficits.  Rosenblat's total performance draws the listener in.  Her steady pacing and crisp, throaty delivery add calm to some pretty horrific  descriptions while still helping to build the suspense.