Hitch 22 and Christopher Hitchens

 It should come as no surprise that Christopher Hitchens, who has recently been diagnosed with throat cancer, has shrugged off questions about whether he might "see the light" when faced with his own mortality.  The author of the controversial God is Not Great is well known for his strident anti-religion views. In an essay in Vanity Fair, Hitchens describes his struggle with cancer: 

"Myself, I love the imagery of struggle. I sometimes wish I were suffering in a good cause, or risking my life for the good of others, instead of just being a gravely endangered patient. Allow me to inform you, though, that when you sit in a room with a set of other finalists, and kindly people bring a huge transparent bag of poison and plug it into your arm, and you either read or don’t read a book while the venom sack gradually empties itself into your system, the image of the ardent soldier or revolutionary is the very last one that will occur to you."  

Click here for the rest of the essay, or click here to check out Hitch 22.

Breaking into audiobook narration

  We frequently get asked how a person gets to be an audiobook reader, and the best we can do is suggest talking to agents and publishers.  Now, you can hear advice from one of the most prolific and popular narrators, Scott Brick. 

Click here for "How to Get Started in Audiobook Narration" from voices.com. 

"This is it, my advice on how to break in to this industry. The most important thing just like with any type of voiceover work, you're going to need a demo to send off to publishers." 

For those who are unaware, Scott Brick narrates for authors like Nelson Demille, Steve Berry, Clive Cussler, and too many others to mention.  Click here for a list. 

Biographies

Biographies are a perennial favorite around here, so here's what's been hot lately:

Oprah

From famed celebrity biographer Kitty Kelley comes a tell-all about one of the most popular media figures out there.  Instead of just taking Oprah's advice about what to read, you can hear about the woman herself!  Kelley claims to understand Oprah better than Oprah understands herself, so it's bound to be an interesting listen.

Laura Bush - Spoken from the Heart

The former first lady created a scandal recently with revelations that her political views don't entirely match her husband's.  With her audiobook, you can have an intimate look at how her opinions developed and how she relates to her controversial husband.

Ted Kennedy - True Compass

The Kennedys have always been popular audiobook subjects around here, and the late senator's memoir is no different.   Now you can hear from the man himself (well, almost--the narration is done by John Bedford Lloyd since it's a posthumous memoir).

Andre Agassi - Open

Open has been a surprise hit.  As it turns out, the life of a professional tennis player isn't all fun and games.  From an overbearing father to a very public entanglement with Brooke Shields, you can hear what makes Andre Agassi tick.

Marilyn Monroe - The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe

Even listeners who don't normally go for celebrity biographies are interested in Marilyn Monroe.  This comprehensive biography is great for anyone who has always wondered what was behind the glamour.

Non Fiction New Releases

How I Play Golf by Tiger Woods 

In How I Play Golf, Tiger talks about his drives, his putting, his chip shots, his mental approach to the game, and much more more. This is the complete instructional on how Tiger plays the game of golf, with fabulous color photos, and slow-motion photography in included bonus PDFs.  [read more] 

Selling in Tough Times by Tom Hopkins 

We've all heard it before: when times are tough, go back to the basics. It seems simple, but the reality is that in good times, many of us let some of the most important principles of selling go by the wayside, which leaves us scrambling when a downturn hits. That's why world-renowned sales expert Tom Hopkins is here to remind us that challenges are a constant aspect of selling and that the key to success is to keep your attitude positive and to never stop striving for excellence.  [read more] 

Life is What You Make It by Peter Buffett 

You may think that with a last name like his, Buffett has enjoyed a life of endless privilege. But the son of billionaire investor Warren Buffett says that the only real inheritance handed down from his parents was a philosophy: Forge your own path in life. It is a creed that has allowed him to follow his own passions, establish his own identity, and reap his own successes. [read more] 

Operation Mincemeat by Ben Macintyre 

In 1943, from a windowless basement office in London, two brilliant intelligence officers conceived a plan that was both simple and complicated-- Operation Mincemeat. The purpose? To deceive the Nazis into thinking that Allied forces were planning to attack southern Europe by way of Greece or Sardinia, rather than Sicily, as the Nazis had assumed, and the Allies ultimately chose. [read more] 

The Quants by Scott Patterson 

Over the past twenty years, this species of math whiz had usurped the testosterone-fueled, kill-or-be-killed risk takers who'd long been the alpha males of the world's largest casino. The quants believed that a cocktail of differential calculus, quantum physics, and advanced geometry held the key to reaping riches from the financial markets.  [read more] 

Click - The Magic of Instant Connections by Ori Brafman and Rom Brafman 

You know the feeling. You meet someone new—at a party or at work—and you just hit it off. There is an instant sense of camaraderie. In a word, you “click.”

From the bestselling authors of Sway, Click is a fascinating psychological investigation of the forces behind what makes us click with certain people, or become fully immersed in whatever activity or situation we’re involved in.  [read more] 

Blind Descent by James M. Tabor 

The deepest cave on earth was a prize that had remained unclaimed for centuries, long after every other ultimate discovery had been made: both poles by 1912, Everest in 1958, the Challenger Deep in 1961. In 1969 we even walked on the moon. And yet as late as 2000, the earth’s deepest cave—the supercave—remained undiscovered. This is the story of the men and women who risked everything to find it, earning their place in history beside the likes of Peary, Amundsen, Hillary, and Armstrong.  [read more] 

Fiction New Releases

The Bourne Objective by Robert Ludlum / Eric Van Lustbader  

After Bourne is ambushed and nearly killed while in Indonesia, he fakes his death to take on a new identity and mission- to find out who is trying to assassinate him. In the process, Bourne begins to question who he really is and what he would become if he no longer carried the Bourne identity.  [read more] 

The Passage by Justin Cronin 

"It happened fast. Thirty-two minutes for one world to die, another to be born."

First, the unthinkable: a security breach at a secret U.S. government facility unleashes the monstrous product of a chilling military experiment. Then, the unspeakable: a night of chaos and carnage gives way to sunrise on a nation, and ultimately a world, forever altered.  [read more] 

Sizzling Sixteen by Janet Evanovich 

Trenton, New Jersey, bounty hunter Stephanie Plum has inherited a "lucky" bottle from her Uncle Pip. Problem is, Uncle Pip didn't specify if the bottle brought good luck or bad luck....[read more]

The Lion by Nelson Demille 

In this eagerly awaited follow-up to The Lion's Game, John Corey, former NYPD Homicide detective and special agent for the Anti-Terrorist Task Force, is back. And, unfortunately for Corey, so is Asad Khalil, the notorious Libyan terrorist otherwise known as "The Lion."  [read more]

Innocent by Scott Turow 

The sequel to the genre-defining, landmark best seller Presumed Innocent, Innocent continues the story of Rusty Sabich and Tommy Molto who are, once again, 20 years later, pitted against each other in a riveting psychological match after the mysterious death of Rusty's wife. [read more] 

Fever Dream by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child 

At the old family manse in Louisiana, Special Agent Pendergast is putting to rest long-ignored possessions reminiscent of his wife Helen's tragic death, only to make a stunning - and dreadful - discovery. Helen had been mauled by an unusually large and vicious lion while they were big game hunting in Africa. But now, Pendergast learns that her rifle - her only protection from the beast - had been deliberately loaded with blanks. Who could have wanted Helen dead...and why?  [read more] 

Red Hook Road by Ayelet Waldman 

Set on the coast of Maine over the course of four summers, Red Hook Road tells the story of two families, the Tetherlys and the Copakens, and of the ways in which their lives are unraveled and stitched together by misfortune, by good intentions and failure, and by love and calamity.  [read more]
 

The Devil and Sherlock Holmes by David Grann

Don't be fooled by the title of The Devil and Sherlock Holmes, a new collection of essays from New Yorker writer David Grann--it's not all about Arthur Conan Doyle.  Each essay revolves around a different obsessive person, from bank robbers to washed up baseball players to, yes, Sherlock Holmes fans.  Because of the variety of topics, it's easy to find something to like here.

The most powerful essay in the group is about a man convicted of arson in Texas, and the investigation of the fire that led to his conviction.  It's not family listening for sure, but it does prompt you to think about the process of criminal trials and the people who conduct them.

Other oddities include a man who poses as a teenage boy over and over again, an elderly bank robber who wants to be as well known as Bonnie and Clyde, and a scientist obsessed with finding a live giant squid (yes, they do exist). 

The narration is solid, neither spectacular nor distracting, and the diversity of the essays means you can always skip ahead if you run into an essay you don't like.  All in all, it's a worthwhile listen.