Audiobook Adventures: On the Road with Stories for the Whole Family

Posted by Tirzah

Summer is fast approaching and with summer comes family vacations! For some, that means long hours on the road and what better way to past the time than with audiobooks? Below are a few recommendations that I personally enjoyed while commuting or driving those long road trips. All of them are stories that the whole family are sure to enjoy. If you have little ones that are not quite ready to sit through a long audiobook, then check out our Kit Collection. Each Kit comes with a storybook and a CD with the book narration on it.

Classics

 

 


A Bear Called Paddington and More About Paddington by Michael Bond, narrated by Stephen Fry

If you are looking for a humorous story that the whole family will enjoy, then give Paddington Bear a try! The recent movies have made Paddington popular again, so some children may already be familiar with the bear from Darkest Peru. The narrator makes the listening experience enjoyable with his various voices.

 






The Little House on the Prairie series by Laura Ingalls Wilder, narrated by Cherry Jones

My mom read the Little House books to my siblings and me when we were little. I wanted to hear the story again as an adult, so I decided to try out the audio books. I think children especially would find this series interesting as the way of life is quite different from ours – no phones, no Internet, no vehicles, etc. A bonus is Pa’s fiddle playing you will hear, which is performed by Paul Woodiel.

 

 




Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White, performed by the author
I always think it’s nice when authors narrate their own stories. This is such a wonderful story about love, devotion, and friendship. Children and adults alike can learn how to be better people by the attributes Charlotte displays.

 

 

 

Mystery

  


The Boxcar Children series by Gertrude Chandler Warner, narrated by Phyllis Newman

This series is a good choice for the mystery lovers out there. Its targeted audience is approx. 2nd-5th grade, but I think the whole family can enjoy the Alden’s different adventures and mysteries they solve.

 

Fantasy

 

 

 Chronicles of Narnia series by C.S. Lewis, narrated by Various

Unlike many other people, I did not grow up reading C.S. Lewis's beloved Narnia books. I actually read it for the first time when I was 16. It is classic storytelling at its best with witches, dragons, magic, and so much more for fantasy lovers to enjoy. Each book is narrated by a different person and all of them are very good, although my favorite narrator is Kenneth Branagh (a.k.a. Professor Gilderoy Lockhart). We offer three of the audiobooks in Spanish!

 

 

 


Artemis Fowl series by Eoin Colfer, narrated by Nathaniel Parker

I must admit that I initially did not like this series. After reading the first book, I decided to give up on it until someone assured me it got better, so I gave it a second chance. That person was absolutely right. So if you decide to listen to Artemis and find the first one is mediocre, I encourage you to keep listening and you may fall in love with the characters like I did. It is a mix of fantasy, science fiction, and adventure.

 

 

 


The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien, dramatized by BBC Radio

This excellent dramatization helped speed up many a long road trip. The cast is full of talented voices, including Ian Holm, Michael Hordern, and Bill Nighy. The music composed by Stephen Oliver is beautiful and adds to the mood of the story. For older kids and adults wanting an entertaining fantasy listen, this would be a great pick.

Patron Book Reviews: Summer Suggestions #3

Book reviews provided by EPL Patrons

Sea Change by Karen White.  Great story with two parallel lines of action one hundred years apart.  Some of the coincidences near the end of the novel are a bit far fetched, but overall, very entertaining.

The House of Impossible Loves by Cristina Lopez Barrio.  This book was suggested in one of my many searches of the  new on-line catalogue.  I found it to be quite intriguing.  The book chronicles the Laguan women who are cursed as they bear only daughters.  The curse also extends to their loves whom die or leave.  This is a book of love, revenge, family and social hierarchy.  I found it to be quite an interesting read!

Matty Groves by Deborah Grabien.  This book is a great mix of spooky, spine tingly,  English history, love story, humor all wrapped together in a fast paced mystery with intelligent witty characters.

Ready Player One byEarnest Cline.  Great book!  Perfect for children of the 80s who loved video games!  Lots of pop culture references.

Piercing The Darkness by Frank Peretti.  Awesome read!!! To me, it hits home with my life. How through the choices we make, whether right or wrong, God still loves us!!

It Was A Very Bad Year by Robert J. Randisi.  A fun and clever private eye genre mystery set in Las Vegas in 1963 around the time of the Kennedy assassination. A casino pit boss who handle ‘trouble’ for the Rat Pack handles a blackmail case for a famous ‘60s starlet and ends up in the middle of the Frank Sinatra Jr. Kidnapping case. Part of a series.

Stardust by Neil Gaiman.  I loved this book!  I don't usually read fantasy but this story was magical, scary, adventurous and heart-warming.  Thanks EPL staff for the recomendation. Five stars.

Family Reading Lists

Posted by Staff

Whether you are going on vacation or staying at home, books can be welcome friends.  Often in summer, the family is spending more time together - how about spending some time talking about books?  One option is for everyone to read the same book and discuss it (try one of our book club kits).  A second option is to have everyone select a book withing a theme and talk about the similarities and differences of their choices.  The staff have selected titles for all age groups that fall into six themes.  Our first two themes are:

OUTDOOR ADVENTURES

Books for kids K-2nd Grade
Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder.  Pioneers, cabins and bears, Oh my!  This is a great choice since the adults will have likely read this book, too.

Books for kids 3rd - 5th Grade 
Hatchet by Gary Paulsen.  A boy is challenged to survive in the wild after a plane crash.
Sarah Plain and Tall by Maclachland.  Mail order bride from Maine marries a man from Kansas.  The story tells of her coping with the dramatic changes in the environment.

Books for kids 6th - 12th Grade
The Goats by Brock Cole.  Two teenagers abandoned on a island during summer camp, decide to seek revenge by disappearing.

Books for Mom
The Geography of Bliss: One Grumps Search to Find the Happiest Places in the World by Eric Weiner.  The author, a former foreign correspondent, took a year's research to travel the globe looking for the happy places.  The results are both funny and philosophical.

Books for Dad 
River Horse by William Least Heat Moon.  The author and a friend travel in a small boat from New York, across the Midwest covering Lewis and Clark's route to the Pacific.




ATTAINING YOUR DREAMS

Books for kids K-2nd Grade
The Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary.  Ralph the mouse finds a toy motorcycle and with magic and help from a friend, finds a way to ride it.


Books for kids 3rd - 5th Grade 
The School Story by Andrew Clements.  Twelve year old Natalie writes a book and schemes to get it published at the publishing house where her mother works.

Books for kids 6th - 12th Grade 
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime by Mark Haddon.  A poignant story of a 15 year old boy who, although supremely logical does't understand emotions.  His neighbor's dog is killed and he sets out to solve the mystery.

Books for Mom
My Life in France by Julia Child.  Julia's memoir describing her early years in France and how she learned to cook.

Books for Dad 
The Radioactive Boy Scout: The True Story of a Boy and his Backyard Nuclear Reactor by Ken Silverstein.  An amazing story of an Eagle Scout who attains his goal of collecting a sample of every element - even the really nasty ones!

Patron Book Reviews: Summer Suggestions #2

Book reviews provided by EPL Patrons

Juliet, Naked by Nick Hornby.  What happens when a woman who spent 15 years with a man whose obsession with a reclusive musician outweighed any passion for her, meets the object of her ex’s attention?  This sweet, funny story answers the question.  Loved it!

Keeper by KathiAppelt.   Story of a young girl who believes in magic who is in search of her mother whom left her. Explores the magic of love while she discovers the truth.

The Dinner by Herman Cock.  This book was hard to put down.  I wanted to know where it was going, then did not!  It keeps you guessing and thinking the whole way through.

The Moon and More by Sarah Dessen.  Follows a young girl during her last summer before starting college. Captures the angst of the excitement of starting a new while being afraid of leaving all she knows behind. A god summer read.

Night Road byKristin Hannah.  This is a story about a family who must deal with a horrible tragedy, learn to live with it and forgive. The characters seemed too perfect and were hard to like. Early foreshadowing allowed me to kind of figure out what would happen, and the book was very predictable because of this. The ending was too “happily ever after,” and could be seen coming from a mile away.

The Art Thief byNoah Charney (audio).  This is a mystery/whodunit novel with a good twist at the close of the book.  The best thing about this audiobook are the characters and their dialogue.  Funny characters, funny use of language and good character development.

The Birth House byAmi McKay.  Set in Scots Bay, Nova Scotia during World War I, The Birth House tells the story of a seventeen-year-old social outcast named Dora Rare who haphazardly becomes the apprentice to the town midwife, Miss B. The book follows Dora as she learns the art of midwifery and the strength of female friendship while fighting for the women of Scots Bay to have a choice in their bodies and their births. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the historical shift from homebirths and midwives to hospitals and obstetricians as well as anyone who enjoys reading about female protagonists who find their own power to do what is right even when they are afraid and lacking in confidence.