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

Audio books which excel are recognized by the Audio Publishers Association (APA) each year in a ceremony known as ‘The Audies’. The Audies is the audio books equivalent to The Oscars awards for films, and this year takes place in Los Angeles at the end of
May.

The APA recognizes the best audio books from over 30 categories and in 2008 they have introduced an additional category, namely, The Achievement in Abridgment Award. There is also an Audiobook of the Year award.

The audio books which have been selected for nomination will be announced in early February 2008.

A selection of Audie award winners for last year 2007 is as follows:

Category: Mystery

For excellence in narration, direction, engineering, mix and abridgment when applicable of an unabridged or abridged mystery audiobook, usually featuring a protagonist trying to solve a crime, usually a murder committed early in the story.

The 2007 winner was Echo Park, Publisher: Hachette Audio, Author: Michael Connelly, and Narrator: Len Cariou.

Echo Park synopsis:

In 1993, Marie Gesto disappeared after walking out of a supermarket in Hollywood. LAPD detective Harry Bosch caught the case, but the young woman never turned up, dead or alive, and it was an investigation Bosch couldn’t close. Now Bosch works in the Open-Unsolved
Unit, where he still keeps the Gesto file on his desk, when he gets a call from the DA. A man accused of two heinous killings is willing to come clean about several others in a deal to avoid the death penalty. One of these is the murder of Marie Gesto.

Bosch is now tasked with taking the alleged killer’s confession to make sure he is not scamming the authorities to avoid a date with death. In doing so, Bosch must get close to a man he has sought – and hated – for thirteen years. When Bosch learns that he and his
partner missed a clue back in 1993 that could have led them to Gesto’s killer – and that would have prevented all the murders that followed – his whole being as a cop begins to crack.

Michael Connelly’s enthralling new novel in audio book format pits the detective People magazine calls “one of the most complex crime fighters around” against the most brilliant and sadistic killer he has ever confronted. And it proves once again that “in suspense… Connelly has no superiors” (Washington Post).

Category: Solo Narration – Male
For excellence in the solo reading of an audiobook by a male, any category.

The 2007 winner was Peter and the Shadow Thieves, Publisher: Brilliance Audio, Authors: Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson, and The Narrator
was: Jim Dale.

Peter and the Shadow Thieves synopsis:
In this riveting and adventure-packed follow-up to the award-winning New York Times bestseller Peter and the Starcatchers, Peter leaves the relative safety of Mollusk Island – along with his trusted companion, Tinker Bell – for the cold, damp, dangerous streets of London.

On a difficult journey across the sea, he and Tink discover the dark and deadly slithering part-man/part-creature Lord Ombra, who is intent on
recovering the missing starstuff – celestial dust that contains unimagined powers. In London, Peter attempts to track down the indomitable Molly,
hoping that together they can combat Ombra’s determined forces. But London is not Mollusk Island; Peter is not the boy he used to be; and Lord
Ombra – the Shadow Master – is unlike anything Peter, or the world, has ever seen.

Category: Solo Narration – Female
For excellence in the solo reading of an audiobook by a female, any category.

The 2007 winner was Telegraph Days, Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio, Author: Larry McMurtry and the Narrator: Annie Potts.

Telegraph Days Synopsis:When Nellie Courtright and her brother Jackson are unexpectedly orphaned by their father’s suicide, they make their way to the nearby town of Rita Blanca. Once there, Jackson manages to secure a job as a sheriff’s deputy, while the ever resourceful Nellie becomes the town’s  telegrapher.
Together, they inadvertently put Rita Blanca on the map when young Jackson succeeds in shooting down all six of the ferocious Yazee brothers in a gunfight that brings him lifelong fame but which lie can never repeat because his success came purely out of luck.
Nellie almost conquers the heart of Buffalo Bill, the man she will love most in her long life, and goes to meet, and witness the exploits of Billy the Kid, the Earp brothers, and Doc Holliday.
A big, brilliant saga full of life, love, shootings, real Western heroes and villains, Telegraph
Days is Larry McMurtry at his epic best.Category: Narration by the Author or Authors
For excellence in the reading of an audiobook by the author or authors of that audiobook, any category.

The 2007 winner was The Tortilla Curtain, Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc., Author: T.C. Boyle and the Narrator: T.C. Boyle.

The Tortilla Curtain Synopsis:

Topanga Canyon is home to two couples on a collision course. Los Angeles liberals Delaney and Kyra Mossbacker lead an ordered sushi-and-recycling existence in a newly gated hilltop community: he is a sensitive nature writer, she an obsessive realtor.
Mexican illegals Candido and America Rincon desperately cling to their vision of the American Dream as they fight off starvation in a makeshift camp deep in the
ravine.
From the moment a freak accident brings Candido and Delany into intimate contact, these four and their opposing worlds gradually intersect in what becomes a tragicomedy of error and misunderstanding.

Looking forward to the announcement of the audio books selected for the 2008 Audies awards nominations.  These are due to be released February 4th 2008.

 Arthur’s Audio Book Favourites

The ideal audio book present for children under 10. The audio book you can listen to whenever you want to. No monthly fees on this website.

ARTHUR‘S FIRST SLEEPOVER Audio Book: What could top a sleepover in the backyard with Buster and the Brain? When rumors start that a spaceship has landed in the neighborhood the idea of camping under the stars takes on a whole new meaning. Arthur‘s sister D.W. is so sure that he will see an alien on his overnight that she gives him her camera. When they hear muffled footsteps approaching their tent and see strange flashes of light, it seems D.W. was right! Or was she?

ARTHUR‘S TOOTH Audio  Book: Arthur, tired of being the only one in his class who still has all his baby teeth, waits impatiently for his loose tooth to fall out.

ARTHUR‘S BIRTHDAY Audio  Book: Arthur‘s friends must decide which party to attend when Francine schedules her birthday party for the same day as Arthur‘s birthday party.

ARTHUR‘S PET BUSINESS Audio  Book: Arthur‘s determination to prove he is responsible enough to have a puppy brings him a menagerie of animals to care for.

ARTHUR‘S NEW PUPPY Audio Book: Arthur is delighted when he finally gets his new puppy, Pal, but his “accidents” and all-night barking make life miserable for the entire family, until Arthur comes up with a solution.

ARTHUR WRITES A STORY Audio Book: What makes a story entertaining? That’s the question Arthur asks himself when Mr. Ratburn gives a creative writing assignment to the class. When D.W. yawns through Arthur‘s first story, he worries that his tale isn’t exciting enough. Is the setting to humdrum? Maybe he needs to research his subject more thoroughly. With every new angle, Arthur‘s story takes one more hilarious step further away from his original idea – but is the end result really the tale he wants to tell ?

Ghost of the Brotherhood Audio Book 

A chilling ghost story on audio book.

In the very early hours of the morning, Philip Gardiner, Michael Bourne and Angela Davies ventured into the heart of medieval York, England, to investigate a ghostly legend. What they ultimately found was more than they had bargained for.

Joining Martin Jeffrey of Fright Nights and a team of ghosthunters from CE Paranormal, they uncovered a dark and mysterious past…

This audio book diary of the events that occurred that morning including additional footage with one of Britain’s foremost paranormal experts and magazine editor, Martin Jeffrey’s.

Featuring specially written music by Soul Path, Hillbilly Prophet and ambient artist, Thoth, this unique documentary will have you re-examine your beliefs like no other. The Blair Witch was fiction, The Brotherhood of the Ghost is very real…. and the audio book narrators bring the characters to life, or is it death?

The audio book is organized by Angela Davies and features Michael Bourne, Angela Davies, Martin Jeffrey’s, John Blackburn, Janice Blackburn and June Grimes.