Sound Commentary - Your Wise Guide to Audiobooks and Audio Book Reviews

The Children's Book by A.S. Byatt

A. S. Byatt is the author of numerous novels, including the quartet The Virgin in the Garden, Still Life, Babel Tower and A Whistling Woman; The Biographer's Tale; and Possession, which was awarded the Booker Prize. She has also written two novellas, published together as Angels & Insects; five collections of shorter works, including The Matisse Stories and Little Black Book of Stories; and several works of nonfiction. A distinguished critic as well as a novelist, she lives in London.

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson

SHIRLEY JACKSON (1919–1965), a celebrated writer of horror, wrote such classic novels as The Haunting of Hill House and We Have Always Lived in the Castle, as well as one of the most famous short stories in the English language, “The Lottery.” Her work has been adapted to film, television, and theater.

North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell

Elizabeth Gaskell, like her friend Charles Dickens, wrote socially relevant novels during the Victorian Era. North and South is one of her best known. Her final work, Wives and Daughters, was reviewed in the May edition of SoundCommentary

The Horse Boy by Rupert Isaacson

Rupert Isaacson was born in London to a South African mother and a Zimbabwean father. Isaacson's first book, The Healing Land (Grove Press), was a 2004 New York Times Notable Book. He has traveled extensively in Africa, Asia, and North America for the British press and now lives in Austin, Texas, with his wife, Kristin, and their son, Rowan.

Freeze Frame by Peter May

Peter May won the Scottish Young Journalist of the Year Award at 21 and had his first novel published at 26. He went on to become a successful Scottish television dramatist. He lives in France with his wife Janice Halley.

A Dark Matter by Peter Straub

PETER STRAUB is the New York Times bestselling author of more than a dozen novels. Two of his most recent, Lost Boy Lost Girl and In the Night Room, are winners of the Bram Stoker Award. He lives in New York City.

The History of Tom Jones, Foundling by Henry Fielding

HENRY FIELDING (1707- 1754) was an English novelist and dramatist known for his rich earthy humour and satirical prowess. His writings reflect his ongoing preoccupation with fraud, sham, and masks. Tom Jones is considered to be his greatest work.

Scent of the Missing by Susanah Charleson

Susannah Charleson works as a handler with her partner, Puzzle, a golden retriever, in Dallas, Texas. A flight instructor who previously flew disaster searches, she is also an experienced television and radio broadcaster.

No Sleep Till Wonderland by Paul Tremblay

Paul Tremblay has won acclaim for his short fiction, and received two nominations for the 2007 Bram Stoker Award. He lives in Massachusetts with his wife, two children, a hairy dog, and a soggy basement, where he is at work on a follow-up to The Little Sleep. His Web site is www.paultremblay.net.

Death and the Maiden by Ariel Dorfman

Ariel Dorfman, born in 1942 in Argentina, is a writer of novels, plays, poetry. He has also written about the impact of political repression and terrorism. His family spent the first years of his life in the US, returning to Chile in 1954. He was forced to leave Chile after the military coup of 1973 that overthrew the democratically elected president Savador Allende; he settled in the US to teach and write until the restoration of democracy in Chile in 1990. He lives part of the year in Chile and part of the year in the US. Death and the Maiden, perhaps his best known work, was written in 1990 and premiered on stage in London in 1991.

Animal Magnetism by Rita Mae Brown

Rita Mae Brown is the bestselling author of the Sister Jane novels–Outfoxed, Hotspur, Full Cry, The Hunt Ball, The Hounds and the Fury, The Tell-Tale Horse, and Hounded to Death–as well as the Sneaky Pie Brown mysteries and Rubyfruit Jungle, In Her Day, Six of One, and The Sand Castle, among many others. An Emmy-nominated screenwriter and a poet, Brown lives in Afton, Virginia.

*Beneath the Lion's Gaze by Maaza Mengiste

Maaza Mengiste was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. A recent Pushcart Prize nominee, she was named "New Literary Idol" by New York magazine. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Island Beneath the Sea by Isabel Allende

Born in Peru and raised in Chile, Isabel Allende is the author of eight novels, including, most recently, Zorro, Portrait in Sepia, and Daughter of Fortune. She has also written a collection of stories; three memoirs, including My Invented Country and Paula; and a trilogy of children's novels. Her books have been translated into more than twenty-seven languages and have become bestsellers across four continents. In 2004 she was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Isabel Allende lives in California.

The Pleasures of the Garden by Christina Hardyment

Christina Hardyment is a journalist and broadcaster who has written books on a wide range of subjects. She is especially interested in the history of gardens and the literature inspired by them. She is also especially interested in the way that domestic circumstances and surrounding landscapes affect creativity.

*Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf

VIRGINIA WOOLF (1882-1941) was one of the major literary figures of the twentieth century. An admired literary critic, she authored many essays, letters, journals, and short stories in addition to her groundbreaking novels.

The Other Kind of Smart by Harvey Deutschendorf

Harvey Deutschendorf (Alberta, Canada) is an emotional intelligence coach who has worked in the field of EI for more than 10 years, and a Certified Administrator of the BarOn EQI, the first scientifically valid test for emotional intelligence approved by the American psychological Association.

Rhino Ranch by Larry McMurtry

Larry McMurtry is the author of twenty-nine novels, including the Pulitzer Prize-winning Lonesome Dove. His other works include two collections of essays, three memoirs, and more than thirty screenplays, including the coauthorship of Brokeback Mountain, for which he received an Academy Award. He lives in Archer City, Texas.

Tuscan Rose by Belinda Alexandra

Belinda Alexandra is the daughter of a Russian mother and an Australian father. She has lived in New York, California and Melbourne and has a Masters degree in Creative Writing and a BA in Asian Studies. She currently lives in Sydney and is studying French and ballroom dancing.

A Short History of Women by Kate Walbert

Kate Walbert is the author of Where She Went, a New York Times Notable Book of 1998; The Gardens of Kyoto, winner of the Connecticut Book Award for fiction in 2002; and Our Kind, finalist for the National Book Award in 2004. Her short fiction has appeared in The New Yorker, The Paris Review, Best American Short Stories, The O. Henry Prize Stories, and numerous other publications. She lives in New York City and Connecticut with her family.

*The Spectator Bird by Wallace Stegner

WALLACE STEGNER (1903-1993) was the author of many books of fiction and non-fiction, including the National Book Award-winning The Spectator Bird (1976) and Crossing to Safety. Angle of Repose won the Pulitzer Prize in 1971.

The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ by Philip Pullman

With the aplomb of a Shakespearean actor, author Pullman performs his retelling and reinterpretation of Jesus' life, changing tones, voice levels, and accents to portray his characters, from the smooth persuasiveness of the stranger to the coarse comments of the ordinary people.

*The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest Stieg Larsson

Larsson, who lived in Sweden, was the editor in chief of the magazine Expo and a leading expert on antidemocratic, right-wing extremism and Nazi organizations. He died in 2004, shortly after delivering the manuscripts for The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played With Fire, and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest.

*The God of the Hive by Laurie King

Laurie R. King is the New York Times bestselling author of ten Mary Russell mysteries, five contemporary novels featuring Kate Martinelli, and the acclaimed novels A Darker Place, Folly, Keeping Watch, and Touchstone. She lives in Northern California where she is currently at work on her next novel.

The Executor by Jesse Kellerman

Jesse Kellerman is the author of three previous novels, The Genius, Trouble, and Sunstroke. His plays have also won several awards, including the 2003 Princess Grace Award, given to America's most promising young playwright. He lives in La Jolla, California.

Newes from the Dead by Mary Hooper

A Week in December by Sebastian Faulks

SEBASTIAN FAULKS worked as a journalist for fourteen years, then turned to writing books full-time in 1991. In 1995 he was recognized as Author of the Year by the British Book Awards for his novel Birdsong. He is the author of Human Traces, On Green Dolphin Street, Charlotte Gray, The Fatal Englishman, The Girl at the Lion d'Or, Engleby, and the James Bond novel Devil May Care. He lives in London with his wife and three children.

Eye of the Red Tsar by Sam Eastland

Sam Eastland lives in the United States and the United Kingdom. He is the grandson of a London police detective who served in Scotland Yard's famous "Ghost Squad" during the 1940s. He is currently at work on his next Pekkala novel, which Bantam will publish in 2011.

The Call of the Wild by Jack London

Born in 1876, London was a renegade adventurer, a war correspondent and an avowed socialist. He first achieved fame with The Son of the Wolf, a collection of short stories drawn by his experiences in the Klondike gold rush. His other novels include White Fang, The Sea-Wolf, The Iron Heel, and many more. He died in 1916.

*The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

REBECCA SKLOOT is a science writer whose articles have appeared in The New York Times Magazine; O, The Oprah Magazine; Discover; Prevention; Glamour; and others. She has worked as a correspondent for NPR’s Radio Lab and PBS’s NOVA scienceNow, and is a contributing editor at Popular Science magazine. Her work has been anthologized in several collections, including The Best Food Writing and The Best Creative Nonfiction. She is a former vice president of the National Book Critics Circle, and has taught nonfiction in the creative writing programs at the University of Memphis and the University of Pittsburgh, and science journalism at New York University’s Science, Health, and Environmental Reporting Program. She blogs about science, life, and writing at Culture Dish, hosted by Seed magazine. This is her first book.

The King's Mistress by Emma Campion

EMMA CAMPION did her graduate work in medieval and Anglo-Saxon literature and is the world's foremost scholar on Alice Perrers. She lives in Seattle.

Charlotte Fairlie by D.E. Stevenson

Dorothy Emily Stevenson (1892-1973) was born in Edinburgh, Scotland. A popular, beloved author, she wrote more than forty novels set in England and Scotland still enjoyed by readers today. For more information about Stevenson check the following website: www.dalyght.ca/DEStevenson

Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier

Tracy Chevalier is the New York Times bestselling author of five previous novels, including Girl With the Pearl Earring and Burning Bright.

The Red Door by Charles Todd

Charles Todd is the author of eleven Ian Rutledge mysteries, the first Bess Crawford mystery, and one stand-alone novel. A mother-and-son writing team, they live in Delaware and North Carolina, respectively.

*The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens (1812-1870), despite an impoverished childhood and little formal education, achieved lasting artistic and popular success with the novels Oliver Twist, David Copperfield, A Tale of Two Cities, and Great Expectations, all of which were originally published in serial form.