These are the newest additions to our audiobook collection:
FICTION
The Nature of Monsters by Clare Clark, narrated by Julia Barrie
Sinful by Victor McGlothin, performed by Shari Peele
NON-FICTION
Rainbow's End: A memoir of childhood, war, and an African farm by Lauren St. John, performed by Bianca Amato
The Bible: A Biography by Karen Armstrong, read by Josephine Bailey
Happy Listening!
In her book The 
Planets, Dava Sobel begins her book by introducing the reader to her own relationship with the planets. After a personal glimpse into the author’s fascination, the reader is more open to the creative writing that follows. Sobel’s essays are well-researched, but her presentation of the astronomical facts is blended with history, biography, mythology, physics, science fiction, astrology, music and literature. Our solar system is centered on the sun, and so are these essays. Beginning with the sun, and proceeding from Mercury to Pluto (with an essay on Earth’s moon added in just before Mars), Sobel shares the known and unknown about each heavenly body. Anecdotes about the scientists and amateurs involved in the discovery of each planet help us imagine how the ideas of humans about the solar system have changed over time, and also help us remember that these ideas will continue to change as we are able to learn more. Each essay is given a unique narrative perspective. For example, the essay “Sci-Fi” is written in the first-person from the perspective of a Martian meteorite and “Night Air” is written in the form of an imagined letter from the daughter of the man who discovered Uranus. As fits a collection celebrating the planets, Sobel’s story concludes at a party where scientists have gathered after theCassini spacescraft successfully entered Saturn's orbit in 2004.
This delightful book of essays also provides a sound overview of the planets in our solar system. I admit that I don’t read much non-fiction. So when I discover an author who can make something millions of miles away both intriguing and relevant, I am probably more amazed by the experience than someone who regularly espouses the joys of reading narrative non-fiction. My willingness to give this book a try may have been influenced by fact that I was trapped on a long Christmas-time car-trip with my dad and my husband, and this was the only audiobook in the car. That said, Sobel’s other books have interesting titles and I plan to check them out: Longitude: the true story of a lone genius who solved the greatest scientific problem of his time and Galileo's daughter: a historical memoir of science, faith, and love.
Reviewed by Lissa Staley.
From Amazon.com's website:
We have the following new audiobooks for your listening pleasure:
Fiction
Queen of Babble in the Big City by Meg Cabot, read by Justine Eyre
The Gravedigger's Daughter by Joyce Carol Oates, read by Bernadette Dunne
Still Summer by Jacquelyn Mitchard, read by Kirsten Potter
Meet Me in Venice by Elizabeth Adler, narrated by Carrington MacDuffie
The Judas Strain by James Rollins, performed by Peter Jay Fernandez
Lottery by Patricia Wood, read by Paul Michael
The Guardians by Ana Castillo, read by the author
Mysteries
Merciless by Richard Montanari, read by Scott Brick
The Crime Writer by Gregg Andrew Hurwitz, narrated by Scott Brick
Fantasy Fiction
First Among Sequels by Jasper Fforde, performed by Emily Gray
A Distant Magic by Mary Jo Putney, narrated by Terry Donnelly
Dragons of the Highlord Skies by Margaret Weis, read by Sandra Burr
Non-Fiction
At the Center of the Storm: My Years at the CIA by George Tenet, read by Arthur Morey
Now You're Speaking my Language by Gary Chapman, read by the author
content from the New York Times, chronicles the debate in some book clubs and reading circles between audiobook users and traditional readers. Apparently, some audiobooks listeners are looked down on when they admit that they have listened to the book instead of reading it traditionally, especially if they are in a book discussion group. 
Read the book, then watch the movie! A brand new batch of CD audiobooks was just added to our collection, here they are:
Fiction
Blood Lies by Daniel Kalla, read by Anthony Heald
Bungalow 2 by Danielle Steel, read by Michael Boatman
Cat O'Nine Tails by Jeffrey Archer, narrated by Anton Lesser
Second Chance by Jane Green, read by Rosalyn Landor
The Double Agents by W.E.B. Griffin and William Butterworth IV, perfomed by Paul Hecht
Life's a Beach by Claire Cook, narrated by Kymberly Dakin
The Fourth Order by Stephen Frey, narrated by Holter Graham
The Big Girls by Susanna Moore, narrated by Robin Miles, Tom Stechschulte, Elisabeth Rogers and Jenny Burleson
The Sleeping Doll by Jeffrey Deaver, performed by Anee Twomey
Blaze by Richard Bachman, performed by Ron McLarty
The Sonnet Lover by Carol Goodman, Narrated by Jen Taylor
North River by Pete Hamill, Performed by Henry Strozier
Innocent As Sin by Elizabeth Lowell, performed by Carol Monda
When Day Breaks by Mary Jane Clark, Performed by Isabel Keating
Non-Fiction
The Atomic Bazaar: The Rise of the Nuclear Poor by William Langewiesche, read by Tom Weiner
China Road: A Journey Into the Future of a Rising Power by Rob Gifford, read by Simon Vance
Happy Listening!
From SkreemR's website:
"SkreemR is a search engine for locating audio files on the web. We don't actually host any files--we index what exists on the publicly accessible reaches of the internet. Our goal is make this content as searchable and useable to the internet community as possible.
We don't just want you to find and experience music and audio that interests you. Skreemr wants to launch you into the internet music community. When you find something you really like, check out some suggestions of where you can buy the music and support the artists. Visit the sites that host the audio content and read what they and others are saying about the music you love. Find out facts about the artist and their songs, find concert tickets, and share your experience with your friends.
We may be the new kid on the block, but we think we have some good ideas and plan on being around for a while. We hope you enjoy our service and check back in from time to time to see what we're up to."
I'm a huge music fan, and I entered a search for the Popinjays' "Vote Elvis"; a song that is not well known in the least. This search engine came up with a variety of hits for me, which is rare.
Here are the latest CD audiobook titles added to our collection, now available for checkout.
Fiction
Simple Genuis by David Baldacci, performed by Scott Brick
Chasers by Lorenzo Carcaterra, narrated by L.J. Ganser
American Outrage by Tim Green, read by Jesse Bernstein
Momzillas by Jill Kargman, read by Renee Raudman
The Good Husband of Zebra Drive by Alexander McCall Smith, performed by Lisette Lecat
The Year of Fog by Michelle Richmond, read by Carrington MacDuffie
What's So Funny by Donald Westlake, narrated by William Dufris
Echoes of the Dance by Marcia Willett, narrated by June Barrie
Detective
Set Sail for Murder by Carolyn Hart, read by Kate Reading
Looks to Die For by Janice Kaplan, read by Renee Raudman
Nonfiction
Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know by Stephen Prothero, read by the author
10 Things Your Minister Wants To Tell You by Oliver Thomas, read by the author
The Mistress's Daughter: A Memoir by A.M. Homes, read by Jane Adams
The No Asshole Rule: Building a Civilized Workplace and Surving One That Isn't by Robert Sutton, read by the author
Einstein: His Life and Universe by Walter Isaacson, Performed by Edward Hermann
Happy listening!
Here are the titles of our newest CD audiobooks now available for checkout (or to place holds on):
Fiction
Cold Day In Hell by Richard Hawke, read by Paul Michael
The Castle In the Forest by Norman Mailer, performed by Harris Yulan
Sister Mine by Tawni O'Dell, read by Renee Raudman
Blind Spot by Terri Persons, read by Coleen Marlo
Innocent Traitor by Alison Weir, performed by varioius narrators
My French Whore by Gene Wilder, read by Scott Brick
Nonfiction
The Art of Aging: A Doctor's Prescription for Well Being by Sherwin B. Nuland, read by Arthur Morey
Nixon and Mao by Maragaret MacMillan, performed by Barbara Caruso
Happy Listening!
From LibrarianActivist:"LoudLit.org offers free MP3 audio books of classic works that you can download or read along with onscreen. (via MetaFilter)"
Works are organized by work, author, and performer and can be read and listened to or downloaded. Once you've begun to read and listen, you'll be given a scroll-down menu that allows you to see the book chapter by chapter. The performer's voice reads while you follow along on the page. The read and listen is web-based and the download option is an mp3 file.
How is this legal? Through a Creative Commons license. As long as the product is not altered in any way, it can be copied, distributed, and transmitted. It may not be used for commercial use, and it must be attributed to the author who wrote it.
LoudLit.org is a part of Project Gutenberg, which "is the oldest producer of free ebooks on the Internet" (projectGutenberg.org). Its collection was produced strictly by volunteers. Project Gutenberg has a larger variety of material, but Loudlit is on its way. Try both out and compare. Odds are that you'll find something that will suit you. Enjoy!
I was inspired to post this week's question by several conversations I have had with our patrons about audiobooks. Almost all of them agree that the narrator of the book makes a big difference in how well they enjoy it. Most of today's audiobook performers do an outstanding job, but every once in a while listeners may find one whose voice just rubs them the wrong way. And author-read books, while that sounds like a good idea, are not always the best as authors may be good at writing but not the best at performing. Nevertheless, USA today's latest roundup of audiobook reviews includes a couple read by the authors that sound promising, especially since one is written and read by a professional audio narrator. So for this week's question I'd like to ask: Who is your favorite (or least favorite) audiobook narrator?Continue reading "52 Questions #12: Who do you like to listen to?" »
Every year the Spoken Word category of the Grammy Awards allows a select few audiobook performers the chance to participate in the star studded award ceremony and maybe even take home one of the golden prizes. This year there was a tie for the Best Spoken Word Album (which includes poetry, audiobooks, and storytelling). The winners this year were former president Jimmy Carter for Our Endangered Values: America's Moral Crisis and Ruby Dee for With Ossie And Ruby: In This Life Together. Carter is not the first former president or politician to win a grammy, Bill Clinton also won spoken word Grammy's in 2004 and 2005, and Hillary Clinton won in 1997. And last year presidential hopeful Barak Obama won for his narration of his book Dreams from My Father. The other winner in the category, actress Ruby Dee, won for her performance Ossie And Ruby: In This Life Together, which is the tandem autobiography of herself and her late husband, actor Ossie Davis.
Another category that may have escaped your attention is the Grammy for Best Comedy Album. This year the winner was Lewis Black for his recording The Carnegie Hall Performance. Black's reaction is chronicled in the following excerpt from a New York Daily News story: "I never win s---!" He actually seemed astonished that the category exists at all. "You don’t honor comics very often. You guys" – meaning musicians – "you all DO something. You make music. All we do is yack." For more about what went on behind the scenes during the 9 hour long Grammy ceremonies, check out the rest of the Daily News story here.
FICTION
The Big Bamboo by Tim Dorsey, performed by George K. Wilson
All Mortal Flesh by Julia Spencer-Fleming, narrated by Suzanne Toren
Abundance by Sena Jeter Naslund, narrated by Susanna Burney
Chill of Night by John Lutz, read by Scott Brick
Paint it Black by Janet Fitch, narrated by Jen Taylor
Piece of Work by Laura Zegman, read by Emily Durante
The Interpretation of Murder by Jed Rubenfield, read by Kirby Heyborne
NON-FICTION
The Great Deluge by Douglas Brinkley, performed by Adam Grupper
The Invisible Employee: Realizing the Hidden Potential in Everyone by Adrian Gostick and Chester Elton, read by Alan Skylar
Redemption: The Last Battle of the Civil War by Nicholas Lemann, read by Michael Prichard
Point to Point Navagation by Gore Vidal, performed by the author
Happy Listening!
It's been a while since we had a new batch of audiobooks, so without further ado here are the latest additions:
FICTION
Undead and Unpopular by MaryJanice Davidson, performed by Nancy Wu
Restless: A Novel by William Boyd, read by Rosamund Pike
Keeper of the Keys by Perri O'Shaughnessy, read by Dick Hill and Laural Merlington
NON-FICTION
Wake Up Call: The Political Education of a 9/11 Widow by Kristen Breitweiser, read by the author
Mommies Who Drink by Brett Paesel, read by the author
To Hell With All That: Loving and Loathing our Inner Housewife by Caitlin Flanagan, read by Julia Fletcher
The Lemon Tree: An Arab, A Jew, And the Heart of the Middle East by Sandy Tolan, read by the author
Mavericks at Work: Why The Most Original Minds in Business Win by William C. Taylor and Polly LaBarre, read by Barrett Whitener
Happy Listening!
When I was younger and still living at home, one of my favorite Christmas traditions was to choose a book of holiday stories to read with my sisters. Every night we would read aloud a poem and a story (or part of a story) with a Christmas theme.
If reading is one of your holiday traditions, there is a lot to choose from, from perennial classics like A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens to the contemporary tale of A Christmas Pig by Kinky Friedman. The nice thing is most of these tales are short and sweet, such as this list featured in USA Today.
And don't forget that listening to an audiobook of an old favorite can be a great way to put yourself in the Christmas spirit. Nothing is better than popping in a favorite Christmas tale, sipping on a warm, fragrant beverage, and driving around looking at Christmas decorations. Try Jim Dale's performance of A Christmas Carol or Dylan Thomas reading A Child's Christmas in Wales (which is included in Dylan Thomas: A Caedmon Collection).
Happy reading and merry Christmas everbody!!!
Gina Millsap, director of TSCPL, is back with more book recommendations! She sat down with me to discuss fiction and non-fiction picks, audiobooks she’s listened to and holiday book buys. She also discusses current changes happening in and around TSCPL and what changes we can expect to see at TSCPL during 2007. Check it out!
Gina's Winter Reads
Upcoming changes at TSCPL
Continue reading "What the Director is Reading, Take Two: a TSCPL Podcast" »
From CNN.com:
GRAND RAPIDS, Michigan (AP) -- It's an epic telling of the life of Jesus -- an ambitious production featuring an all-star cast. But it's not a movie or miniseries.
It's been at or near the No. 1 spot among the best-selling books listed on Wal-Mart's Web site since its early fall release. The retail chain Family Christian Stores say it's the fastest-selling audio Bible it has ever stocked.
The 21-hour production, which lists for $49.99, features the voice talents of more than 250 singers, clergy and actors, including Denzel Washington, Cuba Gooding Jr., Angela Bassett and Alfre Woodard. Blair Underwood portrays Jesus, and Samuel L. Jackson, who played a Scripture-spouting hit man in "Pulp Fiction," is the voice of God.
"It's really good and it's transcending every barrier. We're thrilled with the way that the product has turned out," said Paul Caminiti, vice president and publisher of Bibles for Zondervan, a Grand Rapids-based division of News Corp.-owned HarperCollins.
Continue reading this article here.
What creeps Stephen King out? According to a recent article he wrote for Entertainment Weekly, he was so freaked out by Kathy Bates reading of Silence of the Lambs that he had to stop the CD. "It was her voice", King writes, "so low and intimate and somehow knowing. It was flat creeping me out". King has loads of other good stuff to say about the audiobook medium in his article. He says to critics of audiobooks that "In some ways, audio perfects reading". The only negative thing King has to say about audiobooks is that he hates abridgements. He writes: "Abridgments should be outlawed. No, I take that back. Abridgements should be taken out and hung from the nearest lamppost." To see why he hates them so much be sure to check out the full article. And while you're there you can comment on King's top ten list of his audiobook favorites, which also follows here, with links to the ones that the library owns:1. American Pastoral by Philip Roth, read by Ron Silver
2. Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry, read by Wolfram Kandinsky
3. The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling, read by Jim Dale
4. That Old Ace in the Hole by Annie Proulx, read by Arliss Howard
5. Back When We Were Grownups by Anne Tyler, read by Blair Brown
6. Enduring Love by Ian McEwan, read bySteven Crossley
7. The Aubrey/Maturin novels by Patrick O'Brian, read by Patrick Tull
8. Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt, read by Frank McCourt
9. Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood, read by Campbell Scott
10. American Gods by Neil Gaiman, read by George Guidall
That is, the end of Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events is near. The final book, the thirteenth in the series, appropriately entitled The End, will be published next Friday. Friday, the 13th! Will we find out what happened to the Baudelaires’ parents? Have the Quagmire triplets finally been reunited? What do the initials VFD stand for? Is Mr. Poe a volunteer or a villain? Did Justice Strauss survive the fire at the Hotel Denouement (Which happens to have rooms organized by the Dewey decimal system. Yea libraries!)?
You should! It’s her birthday today and outside of Bram Stoker, she’s probably the most famous author of vampires. 
I recently sat down with Gina Millsap, our director of TSCPL. She shared some of her favorite reads of the past summer, books she’s looking forward to reading this fall, childhood favorites, vampire novels and her take on Banned Books Week. Check it out! (Editor's note: during the book talk of Twilight by Stephenie Meyer, I say the main female character is from Texas, but she is in fact from Arizona. My apologies to Ms. Meyer!)Gina’s books of the summer.
Gina’s lifetime favorites.
The worst book ever written?
Fall reads and vampire fiction.
Gina’s take on Banned Books Week.
Swing by the East Wing to check out our brand new Horror display! For a complete list of books and authors mentioned, click on the link below.
Continue reading "What the Director is Reading: a TSCPL Podcast" »
From NPR.org:
Mommy? is the newest children's book from artist