See the movie, hear the audiobook

If you haven't heard, the book club favorite Sarah's Key now has a movie version out in theatres!  It's not the lightest summer fare, but excellent if you're in the mood for more serious subject matter.  Check out the USA Today review:

"Unflinching yet poignant, Sarah's Key asks just how deeply you want to delve into your past.  Based on the real and underreported roundup of more than 13,000 French Jews in Paris in 1942, Sarah's Key occasionally drifts into melodrama. But this adaptation of Tatiana de Rosnay's best seller has the subtle power of The Lives of Others, the 2006 Oscar-winning drama about a couple who struggle against government intrusion."

Click here for the rest of the review.

Click here to check out the audiobook.

"So much depends upon the reader"

The Poughkeepsie Journal reminds us this week of the joy of being read to by a great narrator:

"I learned that life was not all that it appeared. It had twists and turns and spectacular surprise endings. But most of all I learned that there's nothing more marvelous than listening to someone tell a story."

Click here for the rest of the article.

Why not rediscover being read to this long weekend?  You can listen to Animal, Vegetable, Miracle while you garden, or Blood, Bones, & Butter while you fire up the grill.  You could even check skip the Harry Potter movie and listen to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows while you lounge in the sun.

Or, if you're stuck commuting, follow Erica Freudenberger's lead and go for Bossypants.   You won't regret it.

Simon Vance on audiobooks

Publishers Weekly brings us another great interview with popular audiobook narrator Simon Vance, who has narrated such big-name titles at The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest and The King's Speech.  Here's a shocking discovery from the interview:

"Sometimes I have relied on CliffsNotes as a cheat — why not! — to ensure I’m as familiar with the story as I think I am. Non-fiction may not require a pre-read if I know the subject — British history, autobiographies, and so on."

Click here for the rest of the interview.

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Game of Thrones review

If you've been watching HBO's Game of Thrones and are missing it now that the season is over, why not check out the audiobook?  Although the plot is very close, the audiobook fills in many details and gives a richer experience of the story--if you watch reruns you'll see things you completely missed the first time.

For listeners who don't usually listen to fantasy audiobooks, don't worry, you may enjoy Game of Thrones anyway.  It's unusually character driven and there aren't wizards and unicorns running around everywhere.  The story follows the various powerful families in a medieval England-like setting as they maneuver for power--fans of historical fiction and the weighty classics will be in familiar territory here.  There are also many strong women, a rarity in certain types of fantasy novels.

Two warnings, however: you will get hooked on the series, and do not get too attached to anyone or anything, because there are regular major plot twists.

The Psychopath Test by Jon Ronson

Jon Ronson always writes strange books--he was the creator of Men Who Stare at Goats (about secret government mind control trials), Them (about extremists of all sorts), and now The Psychopath Test, which is his most interesting to date.

Central to the story is an patient in an institution who faked insanity to avoid a prison sentence, but then found it impossible to get out because the very act of faking branded him a psychopath.  Ronson spends much of the book questioning authorities on psychopathy, and, as the inmate's story shows, it turns out it's not the kind of black and white issue you might assume.  In one memorable and completely bizarre scene, Ronson determines that a well-known CEO is also a psychopath by running through a checklist in the man's home. 

This is an audiobook not to be missed if you're interested in the bizarre, or if you've always wondered if there's something a bit off about certain powerful people.

Interview with Lorelei King

With the release of Janet Evanovich's newest audiobook, Smokin' Seventeen, comes an interview with long-time series narrator Lorelai King.  King is beloved by audio fans for her ability to capture the wacky, offbeat characters peopling Evanovich's novels. It sounds like the work isn't as easy as it might first seem--check out her thoughts in Publishers Weekly on preparing to record:

"I read the book through once, making two running lists — character and vocabulary. Preparation and research are crucial – if you have a clear idea of your character voices and know all your pronunciations ahead of time, it saves loads of time and stress in studio … I do very little marking up of the script — I like to be in the moment and see what happens. I might underline a word if the emphasis is not obvious, or I might indicate a break for breath in a long sentence, but not too much else."

 Click here for the rest of the interview.

An evening with Lisa See

The sequel to Lisa See's bestselling Shanghai Girls is out now, and it's not to be missed--both audiobooks are great for fans of historical fiction like The Help and Cutting For Stone.  See appeared at Denver's Tattered Cover bookstore to speak about the new book (Dreams of Joy), but also gave some interesting insight into life as a bestselling author:

"After toiling for several years, See wrote her breakout book, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. She reports that everyone she knew -- agent, editor, friends -- advised her not to write the book. 'No one is going to read that book,' they said.

Nevertheless, she felt drawn to write it. It was a freeing experience."

Click here for the rest of the article from Yahoo.