Cozy fall covers

There's a distinct chill in the air, and tomorrow promises to be even colder, so here are some cozy looking audiobook covers to cheer you up!  (The audiobooks themselves might also help.)  You can listen while baking, crafting, or cleaning up in preparation for cold weather ahead. 

An Irish Country Courtship

Welcome to the colorful Ulster village of Ballybucklebo, where two doctors work hand in hand to mend the bodies and spirits of the town's diverse and engaging inhabitants. But who is looking after the wounded hearts of the doctors? [read more]

The Vintage Caper

Set in Hollywood, Paris, Bordeaux, and Marseille, Peter Mayle's newest and most delightful novel is filled with culinary delights, sumptuous wines, and colorful characters. It's also a lot of fun. The story begins high above Los Angeles, at the extravagant home and equally impressive wine cellar of entertainment lawyer Danny Roth. Unfortunately, after inviting the "Los Angeles Times" to write an extensive profile extolling the liquid treasures of his collection, Roth finds himself the victim of a world-class wine heist.  [read more]

Walking in Circles Before Lying Down

Dawn's only source of security and comfort, it seems, is Chuck, a pit-bull mix from the pound. So, when her boyfriend announces that he's leaving her for another woman, a despairing Dawn turns to Chuck for solace. "I should have said something sooner," Chuck confides, as he tries to console her. "Couldn't you smell her on his pants?"  Dawn is stunned. It's one thing to talk to your pets, but what do you do when they start talking back?  [read more]

A Story-Gram from Vinyl Cafe, Inc.

Stuart McLean’s The Vinyl Cafe, one of CBC Radio’s most popular programs, is a weekly ritual for tens of thousands of Canadians that continues to grow in popularity. The show is centred around a fictional small record store, The Vinyl Cafe, and the store’ s eccentric owner, Dave, who lends Stuart music for his show and tells Stuart stories about his life, his friends, and his family -- wife Morley and children Stephanie and Sam. Stuart shares these hilarious stories with his audience.  [read more]

Good Grief

Thirty-six-year-old Sophie Stanton desperately wants to be a good widow-a graceful, composed, Jackie Kennedy kind of widow. Alas, she is more of the Jack Daniels kind. Self-medicating with ice cream for breakfast, breaking down at the supermarket, and showing up to work in her bathrobe and bunny slippers-soon she's not only lost her husband, but her job, house...and waistline. With humor and chutzpah Sophie leaves town, determined to reinvent her life. But starting over has its hurdles; soon she's involved with a thirteen-year-old who has a fascination with fire, and a handsome actor who inspires a range of feelings she can't cope with-yet.  [read more]

The Globe and Mail's top 10 audiobooks

In case you're tired of our opinions on the best audiobooks, you can try The Globe and Mail's!  Each listing has a mini-review to help you choose, and there's something for everyone.  Click here for the story, and here are the links to the audiobooks on our site:

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes
Flash and Bones by Kathy Reichs
How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
The Last Werewolf by Glen Duncan
The Greater Journey by David McCullough
Grand Pursuit by Sylvia Nasar
Robopocalypse  by Daniel H. Wilson
A Dance With Dragons by George R.R. Martin

New political audiobook arrivals

Just in time for fall, we have a crop of new political audiobooks.  Even if you don't agree with the authors, it can be interesting to hear their perspective in their own words.

In My Time by Dick Cheney

In this eagerly anticipated memoir, former Vice President Dick Cheney delivers an unyielding portrait of American politics over nearly 40 years and shares personal reflections on his role as one of the most steadfast and influential statesmen in the history of our country.  [more]

Demonic by Ann Coulter

The demon is a mob, and the mob is demonic. The Democratic Party activates mobs, depends on mobs, coddles mobs, publicizes and celebrate mobs - it is the mob.  Sweeping in its scope and relentless in its argument, Demonic explains the peculiarities of liberals as standard groupthink behavior. To understand mobs is to understand liberals. [more]

The Secrets of the FBI by Ronald Kessler

The Secrets of the FBI, by New York Times best-selling author Ronald Kessler, reveals the FBI's most closely guarded secrets and the secrets of celebrities, politicians, and movie stars uncovered by agents during their investigations.  Based on inside access, the book presents revelations about the raid on Osama bin Laden's compound, the recent Russian spy swap, Marilyn Monroe's death, Vince Foster's suicide, and J. Edgar Hoover's sexual orientation.  [more]

The Triple Agent by Joby Warrick

In The Triple Agent, Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Joby Warrick takes us deep inside the CIA’s secret war against al-Qaeda, a war that pits robotic planes and laser-guided missiles against a cunning enemy intent on unleashing carnage in American cities.  [more]

The Night Circus

One of the most anticipated new audiobooks for the season is The Night Circus, Erin Morganstern's debut.  Not only does it have a great story, but Harry Potter narrator and fan favorite Jim Dale is the reader!  Fans of literary fantasy like Neil Gaiman and Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell should definitely make sure not to miss this one.

If you're not convinced, check out how effusively the Winnipeg Free Press praises The Night Circus:

"Magical. Enchanting. Spellbinding. Mesmerizing.

Morgenstern — in much the same way as her cast of magicians and performers might — builds a fantastic creation out of words and spells and ink and paper and the power of imagination. And like her colorful characters, she's not dealing in illusions and sleight of hand.

This is real magic."

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

The Language of Flowers

This one barely came in the door before the New York Times reviewed it!  Vanessa Diffenbaugh's debut audiobook The Language of Flowers should appeal to the book club set as it interweaves extensive floral symbolism with a story of a woman's troubled past.  The New York Times agrees:

"Ballantine is surely well aware that there are book clubs that have theme parties based on a literary work’s ambience. In this case the festive possibilities are mind boggling." 

Click here for the rest of the review.

Click here for the audiobook.

And why not take advantage of the last bit of summer and have a floral themed book club this month?

Back to school!

The chill in the air is a definite reminder that it's time to put aside the beach reads and pick up some non-fiction.  If you want to join your kids in learning something new, why not try one of these?

The Experts' Guide to 100 Things Everyone Should Know How to Do

A "Cliffs Notes for life," this practical guide features 100 original essays by leading experts from around the world who offer their unparalleled insights into how to perform everyday tasks, from remembering names to ironing a shirt. It features both the famous (like Suze Orman) and the lesser known (like the head groundskeeper at Fenway Park).  [read more]

Find Out Who's Normal and Who's Not

Do you have to worry about your co-worker, nanny, neighbor, or date? If you’re concerned about a new relationship, or even an old one, you will no longer need to rely on instincts, hunches, or horoscopes. Even when interaction is limited to mere observation or a brief exchange, whether you’re at a bar, restaurant, park, or even in an elevator, you can discover how to assess the general emotional stability of a person in just minutes.  [read more]

On China

In On China, Henry Kissinger turns for the first time at book length to the country he has known intimately for decades and whose modern relations with the West he helped shape. Drawing on historical records as well as on his conversations with Chinese leaders over the past 40 years, Kissinger examines how China has approached diplomacy, strategy, and negotiation throughout its history and reflects on the consequences for the 21st-century world.  [read more]

Quick and Simple Spanish

The Pimsleur Method provides the most effective language-learning program ever developed. The Pimsleur Method gives you quick command of Spanish structure without tedious drills. Learning to speak Spanish can actually be enjoyable and rewarding.  [read more]
 

How to Study

The best-selling study book of all time, How to Study, has gained immense popularity among students of all ages. Now updated and expanded for the information age, this "A-Plus" read includes areas such as how to create a work environment, excel in class, use the library, do online research, and much more.  [read more]

Interview with Laura Lippman

Fans of genre fiction unite!  In an interview with Vulture, mystery novelist Laura Lippman has some strong opinions on cultural treatment of successful crime novels:

"[I]t suggests that genre in and of itself is a limitation. And then you can’t win. I guess I feel that with all genre novels — and crime is treated the best out of all of them — but basically, at the moment that any genre book is deemed a literary success, it’s like the cutest kid in the orphanage. Suddenly Daddy Warbucks arrives and takes it by the hand. Now you’re an heiress! We’re going to anoint you as literary fiction. You’re not genre fiction because you’re really good."

You should definitely click here to read the rest of the article.

Or, click here for Lippman's excellent audiobooks.

Timothy Ferriss: still odd

Can't get enough Timothy Ferriss?  You're not alone--his audiobooks (The 4-Hour Workweek and The 4-Hour Body) are consistent bestsellers.  Sometimes inspirational, sometimes a little strange, he's definitely a unique guy.  The New Yorker profiles him this week, and here is a small taste of the oddness:

"[The 4-Hour Body], which is five hundred and forty-eight pages long, contains a lot of colorfully odd advice—he recommends increasing abdominal definition with an exercise he calls 'cat vomiting'—but it also reassures readers that they need not go so far as to have Israeli stem-cell factor injected into the cervical spine, as Ferriss did in the name of inquiry."

Click here for the rest of the article.

Or, click here for The 4-Hour Body.