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The Shoemaker's Wife, by Adriana Trigiani
 
Adriana Trigiani has become an extremely popular writer and The Shoemaker's Wife gives ample evidence as to why she has gained this reputation. With an excellent reading divided between the author and Annabella Sciorra, her story flows so easily and holds the listener's attention. The Shoemaker's Wife revolves around two main characters, Enza and Ciro. They meet quite by accident while both are living in villages tucked away in the northern Italian Alps in the early twentieth century. Each migrates to the United States before World War I unaware than the other has made the same journey. Ciro ends up a shoemaker in lower Manhattan and Enza becomes a seamstress. Their lives intersect at times, but then they wander off in different directions. Enza eventually has a great success creating wardrobes for the Metropolitan Opera while Ciro makes a good living making the shoes for the men building bridges and buildings in New York.

The book has great settings : early twentieth century New York City, the rugged mountains of northern Italy, battlefields of World War I as well as the mining areas of Minnesota. Enza and Ciro proceed through their lives and eventually find happiness. The Shoemaker's Wife on cd is a very pleasurable listening experience.
-Roy

Iron Orchid, by Stuart Woods
 
For this reviewer, listening to Stuart Woods's Iron Orchid was the introduction to this very popular author's writing. This is the fourth in his Holly Barker series and is an extremely enjoyable story. Barker has moved from being a police chief in Orchid Beach, FL to a CIA intelligence agent tracking down terrorists. In this adventure, she is chasing Teddy Fay, an assassin on the loose who is killing political figures. The action really gains speed as Barker and other CIA operatives hunt the cunning killer through the streets of New York City. As with all books on cd, the reader can expertly make the story come alive and Carrington MacDuffie gives the listener a great performance with Iron Orchid. Not only is this book on cd recommended, but it also made this reviewer want to seek out more of Stuart Woods's books.
-Roy

Duchess of Death, by Richard Hack
 
The story of Agatha Christie's rise from a writer of short stories as a young English woman into one of the most widely-published authors in history is quite an interesting tale. Her name quickly became synonymous with the very best in the classic, cleverly-constructed, never-easy-to-solve murder mystery. Born in 1890, Christie had a very protected upbringing that did not prevent her from eventually getting her short stories published early in her life. Moving away from that genre, she began to write the murder stories for which she became so famous. While Richard Hack has labeled this book as an "unauthorized biography, he has drawn upon unpublished letters, notes and documents to write Christie's story. How this proper English woman became the master of the murder mystery is quite entertaining. In addition to her great success as a book author, Christies wrote many plays. Quite incredibly, The Mousetrap is the longest-running play in theater history as it premiered in London in 1952 and is still drawing crowds today. One of the more interesting facets of Christie's life is how she became a devoted partner to her second husband Max Mallowan in his exploits as a world-renowned archeologist. Well read by Nicolas Coster, this CD is highly recommended for fans of Christie's books or anyone who wants to learn about a woman whose books have been published in the millions and provided generations of readers terrific entertainment
-Roy

The Pillars of the Earth , by Ken Follett
 
Here is the audio book CD version of Ken Follett's monumental tale of 12th Century England that was originally published as a book in 1989. It comprises 32 discs and totals 41 hours, so it is a commitment of time on your part. But as the nights become longer or your commute does too, this is the perfect epic story to slip into. It took this reviewer a trip to Pennsylvania and back plus much daily commuting to finish it. It certainly is worth the effort as a compelling story of life in the 1100s unfolds in all its passion, ambition, treachery, grubbiness and magnificence. A string of memorable characters such as Tom the Builder, Aliena, Prior Philip, Jack, Ellen the witch, William Hanley, Queen Maud, King Stephen, two King Henrys, Thomas Becket and a host of ecclesiastics all figure in this tale. Throughout the tale of hardship, murder, pillaging, and cruelty, the shining beacon is the construction of a Cathedral at Kingsbridge, a job that spanned three generations. If you thought you had a bad day, put yourself into any one of these characters places and see what they endured on a daily basis. Life was tough in the Middle Ages. Here's what Ken Follett himself has to say about this book and here's the skinny on a new mini-series currently being shot in Europe for airing in 2010.
-Wayne C.

The Dark Tower (series) by Stephen King

Follow the adventures of Roland the Last Gunslinger as he treks across a world that time has left behind in pursuit of the mysterious Dark Tower and the answers he hopes will lie within. Along the way he gains and loses friends and companions and battles with enemies nefarious and weird.
If you were unfamiliar with the series before now, you may have been fooled into thinking it is simply a Western--it's not. King's fantastical tale spans seven volumes, each of which is filled with equal parts horror, mystery, fantasy and adventure. The compact disc versions of King's novels are perfect for those fantastical (and long) treks of your own!
-Will

Nonviolence: Twenty-five Lessons From the History of a Dangerous Idea, by Mark Kurlansky

Famous actor Richard Dreyfuss lends his distinctive voice to this thought-provoking audiobook. In it, the author explains the differences between pacifism and active nonviolent resistance, while giving a history of the interaction between the forces of violence and nonviolence. All too often violence has won by forcing the nonviolent to take up arms in self-defense, thus losing the advantage of their superior moral argument. Once violence is thought of as a legitimate means to defeat violence, nonviolence has surely lost. But all hope is not gone, as Kurlansky explains, there have been several nonviolent victories, and by looking to these examples we can learn how to change our world through active resistance, thus creating the nonviolent world we desire.
-Rick

The Cay, by Theodore Taylor

If you are looking for an audiobook that adults and children (ages 10 and up) can enjoy together try The Cay by Theodore Taylor. This adventure/survival story is set during World War II. A young white boy and an old black man are stranded on a small uninhabited island after a boat they were on was torpedoed by the Germans. The young boy goes blind as a result of an injury and he comes to realize that friendship is color blind. I listened to the recent Random House/Listening Library compact disc version. The reader, Michael Boatman of Spin City fame, does an excellent job with the West Indian dialect of Timothy, the old black man. A previous version on Audio Cassette has Levar Burton as the reader. A bonus track on the compact disc is an interview with the author, recently deceased, who talks about the inspiration for this novel and how the book changed his life.
-Marilyn

The Bounty: the true story of the mutiny on the Bounty, by Caroline Alexander, narrated by Michael York

Having seen several film versions of the story of the mutiny on the Bounty, I was curious to learn about the event in more detail. Caroline Alexander's expertly researched account paints a broader picture of the whole affair than any single film could. I got the audiobook to listen to during my commute, and was pleasantly surprised to hear acclaimed actor Michael York doing the reading. His skill with dialogue and knack for accents lent an air of authenticity to this salty sea tale.
-Rick

The Martha Rules, by Martha Stewart

For all of us who find Martha's improbable decorating schemes the most relaxing thing in the world, this audiobook "rules." I once had her convince me that staple gunning pine boughs to the outside of my house would create an incredibly welcoming holiday treat. Her soporific monotone is the best thing since sliced bread to cure road rage. Listen to it on your way home after a hard day at the office. You will enjoy the anecdotes from Alderson prison, her recounting on the genesis of our own SONO bakery, and her ten rules for business success can't help but inspire.
-Marcia

Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media

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Hegemony or Survival: America's Quest for Full Spectrum Dominance, by Noam Chomsky

Noam Chomsky - We've all heard the name before. And the quote, "Noam Chomsky is one of the most important intellectuals of our age", is often repeated. But sometimes people my age can find all of this clout off-putting. I mean, who really wants to read a book by an "important intellectual" anyway? I think that if you give him a chance, most readers will find Chomsky to be engaging, thought-provoking, perhaps even life-changing. But where to start? A quick search of our catalog reveals 30 titles by this author. To ease you into the world of Noam Chomsky, I'd start with the DVD version of Manufacturing Consent". If that peaks your interest, try the audiobook version of Hegemony or Survival: America's Quest for Full Spectrum Dominance. After that, there are plenty of books to choose from. Enjoy!
-Rick

Comedy SuperStars

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The Bob Hope Show

Laugh in the Fast Lane ...If you are looking for something a little different than the usual audio book for that commute or vacation ride, try a classic radio program. Comedy SuperStars and The Bob Hope Show are two titles from the Legends of Radio series. On Superstars, Abbott & Costello, Amos 'n' Andy, Burns and Allen, Fibber McGee and Molly and more show how they tore up the airwaves between the vaudeville days and the dawn of television. The Bob Hope Show has Bob's favorites from his radio show that aired between 1938-1955, with Hollywood stars such as Bing Crosby, Peter Lorre, Olivia De Havilland, and Betty Grable. Both titles provide hours of comedy and music from this Golden Age of Radio.
-Deirdre

Lies (and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them): a Fair and Balanced Look at the Right, by Al Franken

While I listened to this book on CD rather than reading it in the traditional way, Franken's scathing and hilarious look at the government, the news media, and the world in general was as interesting as it was funny. Franken intersperses the text with fictional scenes and other bits that carry his point across while breaking the stereotype of the dry, bitterly written political tome. The audio version is especially enjoyable because Franken has actors portray the characters in his fictional scenes. While I would recommend this book, I especially recommend it to those who are looking for an audiobook- it had me laughing through rush hour traffic on the Merritt, which is certainly a difficult feat!
-Jaime