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The Prague Cemetery by Umberto Eco
Fri, Mar 02, 2012
“Narrator George Guidall’s reading is spot on in his characterizations of Simonini, Dalla Piccola and the myriad of historical figures that populate The Prague Cemetery.”
Modern Literary Fiction Archive
*Juneteenth by Ralph Ellison
Thu, Mar 01, 2012
Much of this book is a reflection of the thoughts of the minister Hickman and Senator Adam Sunraider (aka Bliss) as he lays dying after being shot during a speech to the U.S. Senate.
*The Artist of Disappearance by Anita Desai
Thu, Mar 01, 2012
“Anita Desai’s The Artist of Disappearance, captures refined longing in all of its lonely, repressed majesty.”
The Sisters by Nancy Jensen
Thu, Mar 01, 2012
This story follows two sisters who are separated by a disastrous misunderstanding.
I Married You for Happiness by Lily Tuck
Wed, Feb 01, 2012
“Tuck was born in Paris and has lived in South America. Her intimate knowledge of setting gives her stories a fascinating authenticity.”
The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh
Wed, Feb 01, 2012
“Victoria Jones is a product of the California foster-care system: angry, needy, sometimes mean, vindictive, and violent.”
*Seize the Day by Saul Bellow
Wed, Feb 01, 2012
“This classic Saul Bellow short novel captures the character of Tommy Wilhelm, a 40-something former salesman, former Hollywood extra, former husband who has lost his way.”
*Lord of Misrule by Jaimy Gordon
Wed, Feb 01, 2012
“Narrator Myra Lucretia Taylor’s throaty, musical voice hits the perfect note in Lord of Misrule. She practically sings out the feelings of these mesmerizing and fascinating characters.
A Small Hotel by Robert Olen Butler
Wed, Feb 01, 2012
“Robert Olen Butler is an excellent writer and a very good narrator.”
When She Woke by Hillary Jordan
Fri, Dec 02, 2011
“Author Hillary Jordan’s updated version of Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter addresses some difficult and controversial topics set in a world in the not-too-distant future where extreme religious sects control and take over politics, society and technology.”
In the Sea there are Crocodiles by Fabio Geda
Fri, Dec 02, 2011
“The novelist’s and storyteller's obvious fondness for one another, and the resilence and charm of Enait, make In the Sea There Are Crocodiles a captivating read, and Enait a modern hero.”
Absurdistan by Gary Shteyngart
Fri, Dec 02, 2011
Misha Vainberg (aka Snack Daddy) is the Russian heir to a post-Soviet fortune and all he wants to do is live in New York City with his Latina girlfriend.
*At Home with the Templetons by Monica McInerney
Fri, Dec 02, 2011
“Fans of Maeve Binchy will be thrilled to find Monica McInerney”
Minding Ben by Victoria Brown
Thu, Dec 01, 2011
“[Minding Ben] is ... a great description of life in New York City and especially Brooklyn in 1991 as seen through the eyes of a young immigrant girl whose mother sends her to New York from Trinidad at the age of sixteen to find a better life for herself.”
*The Distant Hours by Kate Morton
Thu, Dec 01, 2011
Each character tells his or her story in a series of flashbacks until the reader finally learns the truth about what happened so many years ago.
Ten Thousand Saints by Eleanor Henderson
Thu, Dec 01, 2011
While Ten Thousand Saints is about growing up, it is also reminds us. . . that each one of us is a brain, a jock, a princess, and a criminal.
Emily Alone by Stewart O'Nan
Thu, Dec 01, 2011
“Narrator Andrea Gallo projects the image of a nondescript old lady, for though Emily is hardly ancient, when the book opens that’s how she sees herself. But when she decides to buy a car, Gallo brings out the inner strength that made her an equal partner in her marriage not subservient.”
*Remembering Laughter by Wallace Stegner
Thu, Dec 01, 2011
“Many of Remembering Laughter’s characters are immigrants, including the tormented Scots about whom the story centers, and narrator Cassandra Campbell reads all of these characters with flawless accents.”
Maine by J. Courtney Sullivan
Thu, Dec 01, 2011
“...Maine plays with a theme that faces all women, not just the Kellehers: the pressure to raise families instead of cultivating careers, and the bitterness that often follows.”
The Astral by Kate Christensen
Tue, Nov 01, 2011
“Donald Corren’s reading captures this aging poet’s malaise so well, you can’t help but listen to find out what will happen to Harry. Like Harry, Corren sounds like a old sailor reminiscing about his perilous travels through life.”
*State of Wonder by Ann Patchett
Tue, Nov 01, 2011
"Reader Hope Davis delivers an epic performance. Her portrayal of Dr. Swenson is arrogant and intelligent;"
Luka and the Fire of Life by Salman Rushdie
Sat, Oct 01, 2011
“Luka and the Fire of Life is an old-fashioned adventure story with magic....An excellent listen for young adults and adults.”
Dreams of Joy by Lisa See
Sat, Oct 01, 2011
"Dreams of Joy explores the meaning of family relationships and gives a very detailed view of China during the late 1950’s."
*The Story of a Beautiful Girl by Rachel Simon
Sat, Oct 01, 2011
“This is a beautiful story which Kate Reading narrates beautifully.”
Foreign Bodies by Cynthia Ozick
Thu, Sep 01, 2011
In a novel that could also be called ‘Estranged Bodies,’ Cynthia Ozick looks at the Nightingale/Nachtengale family in 1952, still suffering the effects of World War II
*The Daughter's Walk by Jane Kirkpatrick
Thu, Sep 01, 2011
Kimberly Farr’s reading is outstanding... [as she]captures narrator Clara’s emotion from fear to desperation, joy to sadness, anger to disappointment, love to heartbreak...
*The Beauty of Humanity Movement by Camilla Gibb
Thu, Sep 01, 2011
This novel gives an inside look at Hanoi years after the Vietnamese war, through the eyes of Maggie who left Vietnam as a baby and who has now returned as an art curator for one of the best hotels in the city.
Sing You Home by Jodi Picoult
Thu, Sep 01, 2011
Therese Plummer, Brian Hutchison, Michele O. Medlin, Mia Barron voice each of the four major characters in Picoult’s emotionally-charged novel that explores gay marriage, in vitro fertilization, evangelical churches and alcoholism.
*Started Early by Kate Atkinson
Thu, Sep 01, 2011
Atkinson’s characters are crusty on the outside, cut off from the world, but vulnerable on the inside.
When the Killing's Done by T.C. Boyle
Thu, Sep 01, 2011
Adults enamored of the locale (The Channel Islands off Santa Barbara), who like novels with much interwoven historical/scientific information, and who are interested in the issues surrounding animals rights, will enjoy this audiobook.
Letting Go by Philip Roth
Mon, Aug 01, 2011
Gabe can't commit; Martha can, but not to what's good for her; Libby can't conceive; Paul can't leave Libby. All are victims of their times, their class, their faith, their gender, their upbringing and their unique personal limitations.
For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide by Ntoszke Shange
Mon, Aug 01, 2011
Here [narrator Thandie Newton] delivers a passionate and emotional performance of the poetry, whose intense and lyrical language is beautiful.
*How Green Was My Valley by Richard Llewellyn
Mon, Aug 01, 2011
This classic story (made into an Oscar winning film in 1941) of Huw Morgan's life, growing up in a coal-mining community in South Wales, is so compelling, especially with Ralph Cosham’s narration, that it is difficult to believe that it is pure fiction and not a memoir.
The Tragedy of Arthur by Arthur Phillips
Mon, Aug 01, 2011
David Aaron Baker hits the mark with his narration of The Tragedy of Arthur—he is self-deprecating and a little bashful just like our conflicted protagonist, and his gruff, gritty narration as Arthur’s aging, retired convict father is heart-wrenchingly real.
The World Beneath by Cate Kennedy
Mon, Aug 01, 2011
Author Cate Kennedy’s love for the beauty and culture of her adopted country Australia is apparent in this novel.
13, Rue Therese by Elena Mauli Shapiro
Mon, Aug 01, 2011
History, reality and the paranormal blend in the story and the ending is hard to fathom, but the author deliciously pulls it all together.
A Cup of Friendship by Deborah Rodriguez
Fri, Jul 01, 2011
Mozhan Marno obviously knows the accents and people of Afghanistan and renders them flawlessly….
Despair by Vladimir Nabokov
Fri, Jul 01, 2011
As Nabokov lovers will know to expect, the prose is elegant, the humor abundant, and the plot and themes convoluted. Art and reality twist, duplicate, blur, merge, and twist again and again. Hermann is a chronic liar and everything he says in both the novel and the book within the novel is completely unreliable.
The Book of Tomorrow by Cecelia Ahearn
Fri, Jul 01, 2011
Narrator Ali Coffey’s sardonic reading brings Tamara to life and as she matures, the narrator reflects that wisdom in her voice. The Irish accent and the descriptions of the people and settings also ground the story….
Open City by Teju Cole
Fri, Jul 01, 2011
Open City is like walking into a crowded room, where hundreds of people are speaking at the same time, but through all of the chatter there is a persistent whisper that you can just barely hear, until everyone stops speaking at once.
*The Finkler Question by Howard Jacobson
Fri, Jul 01, 2011
What to say about a beautifully narrated, well-written, funny book about two friends and their old professor, especially if the characters are not particularly likeable?
Rose in A Storm by Jon Katz
Fri, Jul 01, 2011
This is an unsentimental yet deeply emotional portrayal of the respect and cooperation that exists between a working dog and its master.... Highly recommended for dog lovers of all ages
*Please Look After Mom by Kyung-Sook Shin
Fri, Jul 01, 2011
Kyung-Sook Shin’s novel Please Look After Mom looks at the mystery of how one’s closest relationships are full of unknowns. Set in modern Korea, the novel vividly captures how much South Korean family life has changed in just one generation with this story of an illiterate country woman who is accidentally left at a subway station in Seoul as she and her husband come into the city to visit one of their grown children.
*The Pig Did It/*Comes to Dinner/*Goes to Hog Heaven by Joseph Caldwell
Fri, Jul 01, 2011
Each novel in the series, each hailed by critics as a “shaggy pig story,” can be taken as a “stand alone.” ... All three are humorous, tragic, historical, slightly hysterical and bacon-wrapped.
The Tiger's Wife by Tea Obreht
Wed, Jun 01, 2011
In this beautifully written novel that is set in the Balkans, there are stories within stories within stories and each must be told in order to understand the whole of it…. Listeners are in for a treat
The Paris Wife by Paula McIain
Wed, Jun 01, 2011
The Paris Wife is a fictional account of the life of Hadley Richardson, Ernest Hemingway’s first wife, from when she first met Ernest in Chicago in the 1920s ….The Roaring Twenties are in hectic motion: the gin is flowing in Chicago, despite Prohibition, as is the absinthe in the bohemian cafes of Paris.
*Townie by Andre Dubus III
Wed, Jun 01, 2011
The main character of Townie is a product of the streets…. There is no doubt that Dubus tells his story better than anyone else could, both in the prose and in the narration.
*Brewster's Millions by George Barr McCutcheon
Sun, May 01, 2011
George Barr McCutcheon's (1866-1928) novels made him a millionaire. Devoted fans inundated him with mail, and his obituary ran on the front pages of most American and British newspapers. He published stories in McClures, Good Housekeeping, and the Saturday Evening Post, national magazines.
Miss Lonelyhearts by Nathanael West
Sun, May 01, 2011
Nathanael West — novelist, screenwriter, playwright — was one of the most gifted and original writers of his generation, a comic artist whose insight into the brutalities of modern life would prove prophetic. He is famous for two masterpieces, Miss Lonelyhearts (1933) and The Day of the Locust (1939). He died in a car crash in 1940, while returning to Los Angeles to attend the funeral of his friend F. Scott Fitzgerald.