Clara and Mr. Tiffany by Susan Vreeland - review

Fans of Susan Vreeland's Girl in Hyacinth Blue will be pleased to hear Vreeland has a new audiobook out, and fans of historical novels should check it out too.  Here's a review of Clara and Mr. Tiffany from the Star-Telegram:

"Clara and her band of artist friends, many of whom are gay (and many of whom are also based on real people) are fun and lively, and Vreeland's characterization of Tiffany as the son of the ultra-successful jeweler is entertaining."

Click here for the rest of the review or click here for the audiobook.

Atlas Shrugged gets a movie

We have a lot of Ayn Rand fans around here, so be sure to check out the trailer for the new movie adaptation of Atlas Shrugged:

http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/ayn-rand-atlas-shrugged-trailer-released_b23330

Click here for the audiobook.

Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks author gives back

You rarely hear about the ways a bestselling book can benefit people other than its author, so it's fantastic to hear that Rebecca Skloot, author of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, has set up a foundation to aid Lacks's family.  The book focuses on a woman whose cancer cells were cultured in a lab and changed how many aspects of biological research were done.  Her family, meanwhile, remained in poverty, never seeing the benefits of billions of dollars worth of research.  Check out the New York Times story on how they're finally seeing the benefits of Henrietta's cells:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/05/books/05lacks.html?ref=books

And be sure to listen to the audiobook, because it is fascinating.  Click here for more.

The Hidden Reality by Brian Greene

Physicist Brian Greene is back with The Hidden Reality, a fascinating study of parallel universes that's sure to appeal to fans of science writing.  In his previous book, Fabric of the Cosmos, he proved himself to be a challenging listen, but well worthwhile.  He has a way of using pop culture anecdotes to explain difficult concepts that keeps you wanting to hear more, and the concepts he discusses are flat out fascinating.  The New York Times agrees:

"Bottom line: It’s exciting and rewarding to read him even when the process is a struggle."

Click for the rest of the review, or click here for the audiobook.

The Society of S by Susan Hubbard

Twilight fans (and vampire fans generally) should check out Susan Hubbard's The Society of S: a compelling story about a girl who discovers her family are vampires.  There's much less hand-wringing over boys than in the Twilight saga, which gives the author more time to develop her protagonist, Ari, as an independent-minded teenager.  Even people who don't generally listen to vampire fiction should be able to sympathize with Ari's process of self-discovery, since the vampirism is secondary to Ari's questions about her parents and the society she lives in.

The narrator does an excellent job of capturing Ari's voice without being overwhelmingly childish, which makes the audio well worth a listen.  There's not too more blood, so The Society of S would be suitable for teens and adults alike.

Click here for more info.