The Memory of Running by Ron McLarty

You often see authors reading the audiobook versions of their own books, but you don't often see a well-known narrator write a book.  Ron McLarty's The Memory of Running has been getting great reviews in the store, and apparently it has made an impression over at Blogcritics, too:  

"The avid reader, or audiobook listener, will notice one more characteristic about The Memory of Running that is hard to find in other publications: Ron McLarty's sense of rhythm. The text and the words that form it flow in an extraordinary rhythm that will in places take you by surprise and make you rewind several times to hear it again, and to make sure that you heard it right, because you've possibly never heard anything like it."

Click here to read the rest of the review. 

And for a list of titles narrated by Ron McLarty, click here.

The surprising story of The Shack

Usually when an audiobook becomes a bestseller, it has gone through the regular channels of agents and publishers and editors.  The Shack, it turns out, took a different route: independently published by a pair of pastors, it went on to sell a million copies before being picked up for wider publication.  Now, who gets the profits?  If you're interested in the occasionally sordid hijinks of authors and publishers, check this out:

"Meanwhile, 'The Shack' sells thousands of copies every week as the royalties continue to pile up. But that's no cause to celebrate."  [Read the rest of the article].

I Know I Am, But What Are You by Samantha Bee

Fans of David Sedaris and Sarah Silverman should immediately check out I Know I Am, But What Are You by The Daily Show's Samantha Bee.  Like Sedaris, Bee writes essays about assorted mortifying experiences in her life, including the time someone thought she and her mother were a lesbian couple, her glory days in a terrible Sailor Moon stage production, and how she thought her legs were long and gazelle-like for many years, only to learn that they are not.  Her narration is deadpan and perfect, and you will wish the audiobook could go on much longer than it does. Hopefully, she will continue to experience many weird and wonderfully strange moments so that she can provide a sequel. 

If you aren't convinced, here's an interview to give you a sample of her humour:

"[My family] seem to really like it, they seem to be embracing it wholeheartedly, though they did not read the book before it came out. In fact, I’m so merciless, I’ve actually made them buy it. Isn’t that awful? I have free copies, too! I have all these free copies. But it’s actually kind of hard to send a book across the border, because the border guards think its pornography, so they tear it all apart."  [Click to read more].

Do you re-listen?

Are there any audiobooks that are so fantastic that you would listen to them again?  For most people, audiobooks are a way to kill time in the car, but some are so fantastic that you're drawn to them over and over.  Publishers Weekly explores the reasons:

"I suppose it has something to do with the human truths at the hearts of the stories, and the language that reveals, and revels, in them, that make me want to live in those worlds again."  [Click for the rest of the column]  

The list they provide is excellent, but here are some more: 

Eat, Pray, Love: With the movie coming out this summer, it's an excellent time to revisit the audiobook.  Gilbert's narration perfectly captures the mood of the book, which is inspirational and funny at the same time.

Of Mice and Men: If you haven't read this since high school (or at all), it's absolutely worth a listen.  Gary Sinise is the perfect voice of John Steinbeck.

A Dirty Job: It's hard to explain the many strange and hilarious voices Fisher Stevens performs in the course of this audiobook, but if you ever wondered what a sewer-harpy demon would sound like, now is your chance to find out.

Bookclubs, audiobooks, and Wolf Hall

Lots of people use audiobooks to keep up with their book club selections, but many are not willing to admit it. With the Man Booker Prize winning Wolf Hall, publishers gave away copies of the audiobook to book clubs around the US.  Here's a profile of one of the bookclubs:

"Alerted to such offerings by her subscription to several publishers’ reading group e-mail and newsletter distribution lists, Gaffney jumped at the chance to participate. . .

An inspiring way to infuse inane daily chores, audiobooks are certainly gaining popularity as earbuds become part of the modern couture.

And what better way to make the summer road trip more enjoyable than to listen to great literary works along the way?"

Click here for the rest of the article.

Phrasebooks for the particular traveler

In the category of Things You Didn't Know You Needed comes phrasebooks for food allergies, medical conditions, and the like.  It's a completely obvious niche once you think about it, but one that most travel books probably do not cover.

Click here for the article:
"Faced with her own health issues and food allergies, Natale decided to launch an audiobook series, called Freedom 2 Travel, which teaches essential phrases in several languages. She also devised an iPhone app that translates phrases and speaks for the user."

 and Click here for the Freedom to Travel Language Series website.

Non Fiction New Releases

Spoken from the Heart by Laura Bush

In this brave, beautiful, and deeply personal memoir, Laura Bush, one of our most beloved and private first ladies, tells her own extraordinary story. . .Laura Bush's compassion, her sense of humor, her grace, and her uncommon willingness to bare her heart make this story revelatory, beautifully rendered, and unlike any other first lady's memoir ever written. [read more]

Women Food and God by Geneen Roth
No matter how sophisticated or wealthy or broke or enlightened you are, how you eat tells all.  If you suffer about your relationship with food—you eat too much or too little, think about what you will eat constantly or try not to think about it at all—you can be free. Just look down at your plate. The answers are there. Don’t run. Look.  [read more] 

This Time Together by Carol Burnett 

Carol Burnett is one of the most beloved and revered actresses and performers in America. The Carol Burnett Show was seen each week by millions of adoring fans and won twenty-five Emmys in its remarkable eleven-year run. Now, in This Time Together, Carol really lets her hair down and tells one funny or touching or memorable story after another - reading it feels like sitting down with an old friend who has wonderful tales to tell. [read more] 

The Shadow Effect by Deepak Chopra, Debbie Ford, and Marianne Williamson 

Deepak Chopra, Debbie Ford, and Marianne Williamson—New York Times bestselling authors and internationally acclaimed teachers—have joined together to share their knowledge on one of the most crucial obstacles to happiness we face—the shadow. These three luminaries, each with a signature approach, bring to light the parts of ourselves we deny but that still direct our life. For it is only when we embrace our shadow that we discover the gifts of our authentic nature. [read more] 

Oprah by Kitty Kelley 

After a quarter of a century of the Oprah-ization of America, can there be any more secrets left to reveal?

Yes. Because Oprah has met her match.  [read more] 

The New Rules of Marketing and PR by David Meerman Scott 

The Internet has profoundly changed theway people communicate and interact witheach other. It has also changed the way businesses communicate with current and potential customers. In the old days, marketers could only communicate through the filter of expensive advertising or media ink placed by a PR firm. Today, the rules have changed entirely.  [read more] 

Fiction New Releases

This Body of Death by Elizabeth George 

Thomas Lynley is called back to Scotland Yard when the body of a woman is found stabbed and abandoned in an isolated London cemetery. His former team doesn't trust the leadership of their new department chief, Isabelle Ardery, but Lynley may be the sole person who can see beneath his superior officer's hard-as-nails exterior to a hidden—and possibly attractive—vulnerability.  [read more] 

Island Beneath the Sea by Isabel Allende 

Born on the island of Saint-Domingue, Zarité—known as Tété—is the daughter of an African mother she never knew and one of the white sailors who brought her into bondage. When twenty-year-old Toulouse Valmorain arrives on the island in 1770, he purchases young Tété for his bride. Yet it is he who will become dependent on the services of his teenaged slave.  [read more] 

Executive Intent by Dale Brown 

The United States has just launched the most powerful weapon in history -- a missilelaunching satellite called "Thor's Hammer" that can strike anywhere on the planet in seconds. The world's other major superpowers, Russia and China, are rocked by America's development, and they scramble to respond by gaining control of the seas.  [read more] 

The Rule of Nine by Steve Martini 

San Diego defense attorney Paul Madriani is still reeling from the trauma of a near nuclear explosion he helped avert at the naval base in Coronado. Threatened by federal authorities to keep quiet about the close call in California, Madriani is now faced with a new problem in the steely-eyed and alluring Joselyn Cole, a weapons control expert, who believes he has to go public with what he knows if they have any hope of stopping a similar event in the future.  [read more] 

The Burning Wire by Jeffrey Deaver 

Lincoln Rhyme is back, on the trail of a killer whose weapon of choice cripples New York City with fear. The weapon is invisible and omnipresent. Without it, modern society grinds to a halt. It is electricity. The killer harnesses and steers huge arc flashes with voltage so high and heat so searing that steel melts and his victims are set afire. When the first explosion occurs in broad daylight, reducing a city bus to a pile of molten, shrapnel-riddled metal, officials fear terrorism.  [read more] 

Spies of the Balkans by Alan Furst 

With extraordinary authenticity, a superb cast of characters, and heart-stopping tension as it moves from Salonika to Paris to Berlin and back, Spies of the Balkans is a stunning novel about a man who risks everything to fight back against the world’s evil.  [read more] 

The Upside of Irrationality by Dan Ariely

Dan Ariely's first book, Predictably Irrational, was a fascinating exploration of the strange logic people use to arrive at illogical decisions.  Now in his new book, The Upside of Irrationality, he focuses on how we can use the information in our daily lives.

From the New York Times review:

"[D]eciding how to apply his insights is a pleasure that lingers long after the book is finished. 'Ask questions,' he says. 'Explore. Turn over rocks.' What lies in wait is a better understanding of your own irrational mind."

Click here for the rest of the review.