Many audio book fans like to be able to search through lists of audiobooks by their favourite narrator. One guy with a fantastic voice is Phil Gigante who is also an actor, director and producer. His career spans more than twenty years in TV, theatre, radio and film. 

He is well worth listening to on such masterpieces as Karen Marie Moning’s Highlander books, some of which he received Audie nominations. Other notable works include Black Lightening by John Saul, and Blood Brothers by Nora Roberts. For a comprehensive list of Phil Gigante narrations, visit the best audio book website.

It is not unusual to find that high blood pressure symptoms are almost non existent. This is the reason that high blood pressure is often described as the silent killer.

It can simply run in families. The symptoms which do exist can sometimes be confused with other ailments. It is not surprising to find that over forty percent of people who have high blood pressure are unaware of their condition. It is important therefore that blood pressure should be measured on a regular basis using a reliable monitor. Blood pressure monitors can be purchased at your local drugstore but it is wiser to have your doctor measure it properly.

There are however some symptoms which people with high blood pressure may have and these include faintness or dizzy spells, headaches, frequent nose bleeds, vision problems and nausea.

People who have any of these symptoms should seek medical advice as early as possible. Untreated blood pressure can cause severe damage to vital organs including blood vessels, can cause a heart attack or coronary, and can also cause strokes. There are many high blood pressure medications on the market and with proper supervision by a doctor, the condition can be normalized, especially if the underlying cause can be determined such as hypertension.

Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN, C.Ht the well known Clinical Medical, Sports & Personal Development Hypnotherapist has recently released a downloadable MP3 audiobook entitled Managing High Blood Pressure.

According to the author this one hour audio is designed for the individual looking to regulate his/her blood pressure through the practice of deep relaxation, specialized mindbody imagery & lifestyle change.
The program includes body specific deep relaxation, commands for opening & diminishing stress points, body scanning, mental biofeedback & awareness tools for managing emotions, thought patterns & unhealthy lifestyle behaviors. It also includes subconscious mind suggestions for building new lifestyle behaviors & inner power for change.

You can find high blood pressure articles all over the internet but these are for information only. If in any doubt, consult your doctor.

APA Survey Finds Solid Audio Gains in 2007  

by Jim Milliot — Extract from Publishers Weekly, 9/15/2008 10:27:00 AM

Sales of spokenword audiobooks rose 12%, to just over $1 billion, in 2007 and the percentage of adults that now listen to audiobooks rose to 28%, according the Audio Publishers Association’s annual sale and consumer surveys. Young listeners are the fastest-growing segment of the market, with the APA reporting that 53% of teens have listened to an audiobook. Sales of CDs and downloads increased in the year, while sales of cassettes declined. CDs represented 78% of audiobook sales in 2007, with downloads comprising 17%, up from 14% in 2006. The market share of cassettes was 3% in 2007 down from 7% in 2006. The library was the most popular place for consumer to get audiobooks, while retail bookstores was the largest sales channel.

The car continues to be the place where consumers listen to audiobooks the most, with 40% of consumers reporting they listen to audiobooks during long drives and another 18% listen on their commute to work. Twenty-three percent of consumers said listening to audiobooks was a good use of time while doing other activities. According to the survey, mystery/thriller/suspense is the most popular segment, followed by general fiction, science fiction/fantasy, biography/memoir, and classic fiction.
What surprises me is that foreign language audiobooks did not feature in the statistics.

To quote  ANDREA GALABINSKI BreezeNewspapers.com
The North Fort Myers library is now offering residents information to help them plan “staycations” — vacation or summer activities ideas close by, to help with the skyrocketing gas prices.

“With the current economic situation, more and more people are finding that they just want to stay close to home, instead of spending a lot of money on gas this summer,” said Maryellen Woodside, branch librarian and manager of the North Fort Myers location. “Here in the library, we have lots of resources for them, including all kinds of guide books for the state of Florida.”

Pygmalion, A Play by George Bernard Shaw.

The good news for students of Pygmalion who might be struggling with the  Cockney pronunciation is that George Bernard Shaw’s classic comedy is now available on audiobook.  This means that the Pygmalion student can now benefit from listening to the play and reading the script at the same time.

 This is a fully dramatized version which incorporates the entire Pygmalion script. The narration of the characters in the play, Professor Higgins, Colonel Pickering, Eliza Doolittle are performed by famous English actors including Michael Redgrave, Donald Pleasance and Lynn Redgrave.

Shaw’s play was written in 1913 and the first English production took place in London in 1914. It was regarded as one of the best British comedies of that era. The Pygmalion theme was transformed into a musical by Lerner and Loewe in the 1950′s and became a Broadway smash hit in 1956. The musical, which was renamed ‘My Fair Lady’, includes several memorable songs such as ‘I Could Have Danced All Night’, ‘On The Street Where You Live’, and ‘I’ve Grown Accustomed To Your Face’. The production won the prestigious Tony Award for Best Musical in 1956.

My Fair Lady has been translated into many languages including Czech, Danish, French, German, Polish, Spanish etc..

In 1964, Hollywood produced a film version of My Fair Lady starring Rex Harrison and Audrey Hepburn. The film won eight Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Musical Score.

The plot of Pygmalion revolves around a wager between two uppercrust Englishmen concerning the transformation of a cockney speaking flower girl into an upperclass English lady.  Professor Higgins, a phonetics expert boasts to his colleague Colonel Pickering as follows: ‘You see this creature with her kerbstone English: the English that will keep her in the gutter to the end of her days. Well, sir, in three months I could pass that girl off as a duchess at an ambassador’s garden party. I could even get her a place as lady’s maid or shop assistant, which requires better English.’

The ‘creature’ in question is Eliza Doolittle a flower girl who was brought up in the cockney speaking East London. 

A quote from the audiobook publishers Harper Collins follows:

‘Following this public boast, Professor Henry Higgins accepts a challenge to teach the flower-seller Eliza Doolittle to speak standard English and launch her into polite society.

Through Higgins’s triumphant transformation of Eliza into a ‘lady’, and Eliza’s subsequent rebellion against Higgins’s attitudes and assumptions, Shaw’s provocative comedy explores questions of speech and class in England.’

Audio Books for Education and Entertainment

With the Bush era now in its final years, all eyes are turning to the 2008 political season—especially those of Democratic voters, who are casting about for a galvanizing leader to help them win back the White House.

The case for Hillary Clinton.

Longtime political analyst Susan Estrich argues that no candidate even approaches the power and promise of Hillary Rodham Clinton , the senator from New York. Both a passionate spokesperson for progressive values and a strong advocate for our troops overseas, Clinton has used her time in the Senate to establish herself successfully as a genuine political powerhouse. And she offers Americans a once-in-a-lifetime chance to break the world’s most prominent glass ceiling and elect a female president of the United States.

In an atmosphere where conservative Hillary-bashing is still as virulent as ever, Estrich
demonstrates all the reasons that this principled leader still blows away any other potential contender in the early polls for 2008. And, with arguments both stirring and sensible, she reminds us that if Hillary should succeed, America and the world would be changed forever and for the better.

Susan Estrich has been called one of the most influential public intellectuals of the century. The first woman ever to run a presidential campaign, she was also the first female president of the Harvard Law Review and the youngest woman to be tenured at Harvard Law School. The author of several books, including Real Rape , Getting Away with Murder , and the New York Times bestseller Sex and Power, she is the Robert Kingsley Professor of Law and Political Science at the University of Southern California Law School.

The case Against Hillary Clinton.

“Noonan offers a searing analysis of what she sees as the emptiness of HRC’s political platform and the mountain of questions about her past that remain unanswered.”
Publishers WeeklyAs the long, scandal-ridden trial of the Clinton years is over, it is time for a summation. What is the legacy of Clintonism? What is there in Hillary Clinton‘s background, talents, or record of achievement that qualifies her to represent New York in the U.S. Senate? Where will her ambition lead her next?Peggy Noonan, one of our most astute political observers and a speechwriter for the Reagan White House, argues in this passionate and compelling book that everyone in the United States, not just New Yorkers, must look closely at Hillary and the implications of her Senate run. Noonan takes the measure of the woman, the candidate, and the striving politician, and offers a convincing argument that her calculated bid for power constitutes the first truly important election of the new millennium.

Not Easily Broken

Publisher : Hachette Audio
Author : T.D. Jakes
Narrator : Pamala Tyson

Length : 6 hours (Abridged)

Bishop T. D. Jakes tells a powerful story of destruction and restoration. Through Dave and Clarice Johnson, he offers insight into the issues many relationships face.

Dave and Clarice Johnson are a professional couple who think they are realizing the American dream until their lives come to a screeching halt after a car accident. Their marriage is tested as the aftermath brings unanticipated changes and reveals unexplored problems in their relationship.

The Johnsons’ struggle to overcome personal disappointments and unrealized expectations is at the center of the discord in their home. This becomes painfully obvious as Clarice and Dave come face-to-face with the differences that exist between them. Strife mounts as they realize how much they diverge in their opinions of what it means to be successful and to live a meaningful life.

Adding insult to injury, the presence of Clarice’s therapist. Julie, and the mentoring relationship between Julie’s son and Dave create strife that could destroy the Johnsons’ marriage.

As Clarice and Dave learn the importance of promises made and kept. God speaks to them in the most unlikely places.

PAMALA TYSON, has appeared in the films Last Dance, Seven, and What’s Love Got To Do With It. Her extensive television credits include Crossing Jordan, Will & Grace, JAG, The Shield, Touched By An Angel, and Any Day Now. She has worked throughout regional theatre, as well as, Off Broadway and received an Obie Award for her distinguished work in Imperceptible Mutabilities in The Third Kingdom

T. D. Jakes. One of the world’s most widely recognized pastors, is the bestselling author of Woman, Thou Art Loosed!. Cover Girls, and sixteen other popular books. He has inspired millions through his speaking tours, and his television show. The Potter’s Touch, airs weekly on Trinity Broadcast Network. The senior pastor of The Potter’s House, a multiracial, non denominational church, Bishop Jakes lives in Dallas, Texas, with his wife and five children.

The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox.

    
Publisher :  Blackstone Audio Inc
Author :  Maggie O’Farrell
Narrator :  Anne Flosnik
 
Length :  7 hours 19 minutes (Unabridged)
 

“An intricate, eloquent novel of family malice, longings, and betrayal. O’Farrell maintains a high level of tension throughout, and the conclusion is devastating.”

Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“O’Farrell’s fourth novel brilliantly illustrates her talent for gradually revealing her characters’ inner lives….A gripping read with superbly crafted scenes that will blaze in the reader’s memory long after the novel is returned to the shelf.”

Booklist

Iris Lockhart is stunned to learn that a great aunt whom she never knew existed is being released from an institute where she has been locked away for years. If Iris takes her in, what dangerous truths might she inherit?
 

Category Audio Drama

Sweeney Todd and the String of Pearls: An Audio Melodrama in Three Despicable Acts

The movie based on this classic was released December 21, 2007. Directed by Tim Burton and starring Johnny Depp.

According to legend, Sweeney Todd had his barber shop at number 186 Fleet Street, next door to St. Dunstan’s Church, just a few blocks away from the Royal Courts of Justice. On this site, they say, he robbed and murdered more than 150 customers. To dispose of their remains, he carried them through underground tunnels to the bakery of one Mrs. Lovett a few blocks away, where they supplied the stuffing for her meat pies, the favorite mid-day repast of the lawyers who worked nearby and got their shaves from Sweeney Todd. The man you lunched with yesterday could be your lunch today! The story first appeared in 1846 as a best-selling “penny dreadful,” a sensational thriller published in installments. Before the final chapters even had a chance to hit the stands, the first stage version was packing them in at the Royal Britannia Saloon. Since then there have been numerous stage and literary versions of the story. This script has been specially commissioned by Blackstone Audio, Inc., based on the original sources of the tale.

This year’s nominations for audio books awards (The Audies) were announced on February 4th 2008 by the Audio Publishers Association.
Over the next few weeks we will be taking a look at some of the outstanding audio books which are eligible for these prestigious awards.

Starting with this Shakespeare audio book biography by Bill Bryson.

Audio Books Category : Biography/Memoir

Shakespeare: The World as a Stage
Publisher : Harper Collins UK
Author     : Bill Bryson
Narrator : Bill Bryson
Length : 6 hours (Unabridged)

This audio book chronicles Shakespeare’s life, despite the scrutiny of generations of biographers and scholars, is still a thicket of myths and traditions, some preposterous, some conflicting, arranged around the few scant facts known about the Bard – from his birth in Stratford to the bequest of his second best bed to his wife when he died.

Following his international bestsellers ‘A Short History of Nearly Everything’ and ‘The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid’, Bill Bryson has written a short biography of
William Shakespeare
for the Eminent Lives series – which seeks to pair great subjects with writers known for their strong sensibilities and sharp, lively points of view.

Reviews

Praise for ‘A Short History of Nearly Everything’ (HB):

‘A modern classic.’ The New York Times

‘It represents a wonderful education, and all schools would be better places if it were the core science reader on the curriculum.’ Times Literary Supplement

Praise for ‘The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid’:

‘Outlandishly and improbably entertaining inevitably [I] would be reduced to body-racking, tear-inducing, de-couching laughter.’ New York Times

‘Always witty and sometimes hilarious wonderfully funny and touching.’ Literary Review