Non Fiction New Releases

Game Change by Dennis Heilemann 

In 2008, the presidential election became blockbuster entertainment. Everyone was watching as the race for the White House unfolded like something from the realm of fiction. The meteoric rise and historic triumph of Barack Obama. The shocking fall of the House of Clinton--and the improbable resurrection of Hillary as Obama's partner and America's face to the world. The mercurial performance of John McCain and the mesmerizing emergence of Sarah Palin.  [read more] 

Here's the Deal: Don't Touch Me by Howie Mandel 

Howie Mandel is one of the most recognizable names in entertainment-respected by his peers and beloved by audiences as the host of the enormously popular prime-time game show "Deal or No Deal." With a career that spans three decades and many different show-business platforms he's one of the most versatile performers anywhere. But there are aspects of his personal and professional life he's never talked about publicly-until now.  [read more] 

The Leader Who Had No Title by Robin Sharma 

Regardless of what you do within your organization and the current circumstances of your life, the single most important fact is that you have the power to show leadership. Wherever you are in your career or life, you should always play to your peak abilities. This book shows you how to claim that staggering power, as well as transform your life—and the world around you—in the process.  [read more] 

UltraMind Solution by Mark Hyman 

Three-time "New York Times" bestselling author Dr. Mark Hyman unveils his groundbreaking program that shows how we can fix our broken brains by healing our bodies first. Based on the emerging field of Functional Medicine, Dr. Hyman presents a simple six-week plan to restore health and gain an UltraMind, one that's highly focused, able to pay attention at will, has a strong memory, and leaves us feeling calm, confident, in control, and in good spirits.  [read more] 

Making the Shift by Wayne Dyer 

In this deeply engaging live seminar, Dr. Wayne W. Dyer explains that instead of heeding the demands of the ego, which keep you mired in self-sabotage through never-ending pleas and false promises, you can choose to move in a new direction--one that leaves the false self behind so you can reclaim your true nature.  [read more] 

From Eternity to Here by Sean Carroll 

Time moves forward, not backward--everyone knows you can't unscramble an egg. In the hands of one of today's hottest young physicists, that simple fact of breakfast becomes a doorway to understanding the Big Bang, the universe, and other universes, too. In From Eternity to Here, Sean Carroll argues that the arrow of time, pointing resolutely from the past to the future, owes its existence to conditions before the Big Bang itself--a period modern cosmology of which Einstein never dreamed. [read more] 

Fiction New Releases

Altar of Eden by James Rollins 

Louisiana state veterinarian Lorna Polk stumbles upon a shipwrecked fishing trawler carrying a caged group of exotic animals. Yet, something is wrong with these beasts: a parrot with no feathers, a pair of Capuchin monkeys conjoined at the hip, a jaguar cub with the dentition of a saber-tooth tiger. They also all share one uncanny trait--a disturbingly heightened intelligence.  [read more] 

Brava, Valentine by Adriana Trigiani

As "Brava, Valentine" begins, Valentine learns that Alfred, her only brother and nemesis, has been named her partner at Angelini Shoes. Devastated, Valentine falls into the arms of Gianluca, a sexy Tuscan tanner. Despite their passion for one another, a long-distance relationship seems impossible.  [read more]

Nanny Returns by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus

After living abroad for twelve years, she and her husband, Ryan, aka H.H., have returned to New York to make a life for themselves. In the midst of getting her new business off the ground and fixing up their fixer-upper, Ryan announces his sudden desire to start a family. His timing simply couldn't be worse.  [read more] 

Sizzle by Julie Garwood

Lyra Prescott, a Los Angeles film student, is closing in on graduation and facing important decisions about her future. She's already been offered a job at her hometown TV station, an opportunity that could ultimately launch her dream career as a film editor. But heading back home would also mean dealing with her overprotective brothers, social-climbing mother, and eccentric grandmother. Unsure of her future, Lyra dives into work on her final school assignment: a documentary transformed by a twist of fate into a real-life horror film. [read more] 

Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova


Ranging from American museums to the coast of Normandy, from the late nineteenth century to the late twentieth, from young love to last love, The Swan Thieves is a story of obsession, the losses of history, and the power of art to preserve human hope.  [read more] 

Audiobooks = cultural literacy?

From the New York Times: 

"At the age of 26, when I returned to New York after an inglorious stab at graduate work in medieval history on the frozen steppes of Chicago, I had a horrifying realization: I was illiterate." [click to read the rest of the essay]. 

It might sound surprising that someone could get through graduate school without picking up the classics along the way, but lots of us manage to get through school without having read the classics, and then wonder what we've been missing.  The author of the essay resolves her problem the old-fashioned way, but for those who don't have enough hours in the day, are audiobooks cheating? 

Nope.  (Well, not if you're listening to unabridged editions, at least--those 3 disc abridgments are another story).  Here's why:

1) You're getting the entire text, word for word, so no one can say you missed out on anything.  Sometimes you even get an author interview at the end!

2) People listened to stories long before they developed written text.  It used to be common to listen to stories around the fire, or even to have one person read from a book while others listened.  Listening to an audiobook can recreate that experience.

3) Many people absorb content better when it's read aloud.  It doesn't do any good to buy a book if you can't pay attention long enough to learn from it. 

So, for those of us who may not have gotten around to reading all those classics we weren't forced to read in school, audiobooks are a fantastic option for expanding our cultural literacy.  Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. 

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky

One of the greatest works of fiction ever written, Crime and Punishment is an intense psychological study, a terrifying murder mystery, and a fascinating detective thriller instilled with philosophical, religious, and social commentary.  [more]  

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier 

This is the chilling classic of a girl haunted by her own imagination and by the ghost of Rebecca de Winter. After honeymooning in Italy the dashing Max de Winter returns with his innocent young bride to Manderley, the beautiful family estate in Cornwall. Yet the former mistress' disturbing presence lingers throughout the house. [more] 

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

Wuthering Heights is the story of love turning on itself and of the violence and misery that result from thwarted passion. A book of immense power, it is filled with the raw beauty of the moors and a deep compassion for the conflicting destinies of men and women. [more]

Under the Dome by Stephen King

Stephen King's newest audiobook, Under the Dome, has been getting fantastic reviews.  Check out this Globe and Mail review: 

There's no way to really know what's going to be read and studied 100 years from now.  If I were forced to make an educated guess, though, my money would be on Stephen King.  I know: A remark like that is going to get my membership in the Tight-Ass Literati Union brought up for review, but I stand by it. . .[Under the Dome] is perhaps King's finest novel since The Stand, and that's just about the highest praise I can give. [Click for the rest of the article] 

The narrator of the audiobook edition, Raul Esparza, is a Tony award winning actor, which makes it that much better.  If you had given up on King, this might the time to give him another shot.

Pema Chodron

One of our perennial bestsellers in spirituality/personal growth is Pema Chodron, a Buddhist nun who offers short, easily digestible lectures and audiobooks about how to live a more peaceful life. You definitely don't have to know anything about Buddhism to listen to her because her audiobooks are aimed at life experiences that everyone can relate to--fear, anger, and bad habits, for instance.  They are also filled with a warmth and humour that can sometimes be missing from personal growth titles. 

Comfortable With Uncertainty is a good place to start because it contains excerpts from Pema Chodron's other works, and applies to a broad range of situations.  Live lecture recordings like Don't Bite the Hook are also fantastic because they showcase her sense of humour and ability to relate big concepts to small problems like whether or not you should eat that extra cookie. 

Comfortable With Uncertainty

Short, stand-alone readings designed to help us cultivate compassion and awareness amid the challenges of daily living. More than just a collection of “thoughts for the day,” Comfortable with Uncertainty offers a progressive program of spiritual study. [more] 

Don't Bite the Hook

Life has a way of provoking us with traffic jams and computer malfunctions, with emotionally distant partners and crying children—and before we know it, we're upset. We feel terrible, and then we end up saying and doing things that only make matters worse. But it doesn't have to be that way, says Pema Chödrön. It is possible to relate constructively to the inevitable shocks, losses, and frustrations of life so that we can find true happiness.  [more] 

Start Where You Are 

Start Where You Are is an indispensable handbook for cultivating fearlessness and awakening a compassionate heart. With insight and humor, Pema Chödrön, author of The Wisdom of No Escape and When Things Fall Apart, presents down-to-earth guidance on how to make friends with ourselves and develop genuine compassion toward others.  [more] 

Interview with Joe Hill

If you haven't already heard of him, Joe Hill is Stephen King's son, and now a successful writer himself.  Hill's books, Heart-Shaped Box and Horns, are both easy, entertaining horror reads involving men seeking revenge for past wrongs.  Heart-Shaped Box concerns an aging rock star who buys a ghost on the internet, while Horns is about a man who wakes up one morning as a demon.  The men are both fairly unlikable to begin with, but as one awful thing after another happens to them, you can't help but want to know what will happen next.  Hill's writing is very similar to his father's, so if you like Stephen King, you should definitely give Joe Hill a try. 

Here's an interview with Hill from the Globe and Mail: 

“'More than ever I think it’s really important in a story to keep the gas pedal mashed right to the floor,' he says. Characterization matters, themes count. 'But the first priority is to keep people turning the pages.'”  [click to read the rest of the interview].

Interview with Martin Jarvis

Today's Independent has a great interview with audiobook reader Martin Jarvis: 

"I'm not interested in making my own mark when I read an audiobook, only in serving the writer. My aim is to make people forget they're being read to. I try to be the book, be the characters, to midwife to people the images and attitude the writer intended."  

Click here to read the rest of the interview.

And here are some of the audiobooks Jarvis has narrated: 
Good Omens by Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Silks by Dick Francis
Quiver Full of Arrows by Jeffrey Archer

Audiobooks for March break

March break is just around the corner and audiobooks are a great way to spend a road trip!  Whether you're driving with your family, your significant other, or by yourself, here are a few great recommendations. 

For the older kids:  

The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling 

A modern family classic made even better by Jim Dale's award winning narration.  

(1) Harry Potter & the Sorcerer's Stone, (2) Harry Potter & the Chamber of Secrets, (3) Harry Potter & the Prisoner of Azkaban, (4) Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire, (5) Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix, (6) Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince, and (7) Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows. 

The Inheritance trilogy by Christopher Paolini 

Fifteen-year-old Eragon believes that he is merely a poor farm boy - until his destiny as a Dragon Rider is revealed.

(1) Eragon 

(2) Eldest

(3) Brisingr  

For the younger kids:

Holes by Louis Sachar

Stanley Yelnats is under a curse. A curse that began with his no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather and has since followed generations of Yelnats.  Stanley tries to dig up the truth in this inventive and darkly humorous tale of crime and punishment—and redemption.  

 Frindle by Andrew Clements  

Nicholas Allen is not a troublemaker -- he's just creative. When he decides to liven things up in Mrs. Granger's fifth grade language arts class, he comes up with the greatest plan yet. He invents a new word for a pen -- frindle.  It doesn't take long for frindle to take root and soon the excitement spreads beyond the school and town and unleashes a series of events that rapidly spins out of control.  

Lunch Money by Andrew Clements  

School had suddenly become the most interesting place on the planet. Because young Greg Kenton had decided that school would be an excellent place to make his fortune.  

For the adults (and mature teens): 

The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown

Pirate Latitudes by Michael Crichton

Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

Superfreakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner

Have a Little Faith by Mitch Albom

Audie Award nominees

Now that we're done with the Oscars, it's time for the Audies!  Each year, the Audio Publishers Association presents awards for the best audiobooks of the year.  Here are some from this year's list of nominees: 

The Ascent of Money by Niall Ferguson 

Niall Ferguson follows the money to tell the human story behind the evolution of finance, from its origins in ancient Mesopotamia to the latest upheavals on what he calls Planet Finance.  [read more] 

 The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery 

An enchanting New York Times and international best seller and award-winner about life, art, literature, philosophy, culture, class, privilege, and power, seen through the eyes of a 54-year-old French concierge and a precocious but troubled 12-year-old girl.  [read more] 

The Help by Kathryn Stockett 

In Jackson, Mississippi, in 1962, there are lines that are not crossed. With the Civil Rights movement exploding all around them, three women start a movement of their own, forever changing a town and the way women--black and white, mothers and daughters--view one another.  [read more] 


Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell 

In this stunning new book, Malcolm Gladwell takes us on an intellectual journey through the world of "outliers"--the best and the brightest, the most famous and the most successful. He asks the question: what makes high-achievers different? [read more]

What Would Google Do? by Jeff Jarvis  

In a book that's one part prophecy, one part thought experiment, one part manifesto, and one part survival manual, internet impresario and blogging pioneer Jeff Jarvis reverse-engineers Google—the fastest-growing company in history—to discover forty clear and straightforward rules to manage and live by.  [read more] 



Some other notable titles include Just After Sunset by Stephen King, Fatally Flaky by Diane Mott Davidson, Darling Jim by Christian Moerk, and Road Dogs by Elmore Leonard.

The Infinities by John Banville

From John Banville, Booker Prize winning author of The Sea, comes The Infinities.  If this week's review in the Globe and Mail is any indication, this should be a great one! 

From the review: 

"Equally infinite, however, is the sensual and sensory beauty of the physical world, itself an animate force, almost a character, in any Banville novel. In The Infinities, the details are typically gorgeous: mist from a river advances up a hillside to press 'Its flanks shyly against the bottle-glass windows' of a pub, and spring winds that 'flow through the streets like weightless water.'" 

Click here to read the rest of the review.