Welcome to the new year and welcome to another installment of AudioSynced! We’ve got a lot of reviews this month. If you have a link to share, either of an audiobook review, news, best-of list, or anything else related to audiobooks, share it in the comments and we’ll pop it up.
We seem short on news this month, so if you’re a publisher, blogger, or other audiophile who has some sort of audiobook news from December, let me know.
The Best of 2010
What would a round up of audiobook news from December 2010 be without a few best of lists? Here’s just a sampling (and bonus! You can read blogger reviews of many of these titles in the next section).
Amazon.com editors give us a wide selection of favorite audiobooks of 2010.
Audible offers their best ofs here.
Audiofile gives us their favorites here.
Lee of Reading with My Ears offers her first list of favorites.
Audiobook reviews
I’m pretty blown away with the number of audiobooks reviewed this month. This is incredible, and the variety of titles this month means that surely, there is something here for everyone. Check them out!
Amanda at A Patchwork of Books reviews one of the Cybils shortlist titles, Swati Avasthi’s Split, this month.
Lee at Reading with My Ears offers up a ton of reviews this month (from middle grade to young adult to adult!), including Stieg Larsson’s Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Frank Cottrell Boyce’s Framed, Charles Portis’s True Grit, T. H. White’s The Sword in the Stone, and Laini Taylor’s Blackbringer.
Laura at Ramblings of a (Future) Librarian offers up a wealth of reviews this month, too. Check out her takes on John Green’s An Abundance of Katherines, Charles Dickens’s Great Expectations, Andrea Cremer’s Nightshade, Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey, Jandy Nelson’s The Sky is Everywhere, and John Green and David Levithan’s Will Grayson, Will Grayson.
Lanea at Books for Ears reviews Neil Gaiman’s American Gods and Muriel Barbery’s The Elegance of a Hedgehog.
Lenore at Presenting Lenore offers up a review of the Zombies vs. Unicorns anthology. I think this would be one heck of an awesome book to listen to!
Abby at Abby (the) Librarian gives us her take on Beverly Cleary’s classic Ramona and her Father.
Shelf Employed shares a review of Sara Pennypacker’s Clementine: Friend of the Week.
Jen of STACKED gives us her thoughts on the full cast production of Shannon Hale’s The Goose Girl.
From the Audio News Files:
Audiogo, home of BBC America Audiobooks, is offering a free download of Bill Pronzini’s Book Taker this month. This sleuthing tale should be an excellent way to kick off your audio listening for 2011. Check it out!
Z v U was a great audiobook for me since it was easier for me to concentrate on short stories. I'd totally be up for listening to more anthologies on audio!
Enjoying reading through the Best of lists. I'm currently listening to The Help and loving it! Hoping to read more audiobooks in 2011!!!
@Lenore: I think, too, the stories themselves would lend to a really fun listening experience. I've been in a horrible audiobook listening drought but might pick that one up because it is in small enough chunks.
@Mollie: The Help was probably *my* favorite listen, too, all up until chapter 24 (or 25?). You'll know what I mean when you get there. But otherwise? Jenna Lamia is so, so good, as are the other readers on this one. When you finish The Help, I suggest you pick up Saving CeeCee Honeycutt.
OMG I'm to Chapter 25…..is the rest of the audio book w/ this narrator?! 🙁 I
Whew I finished the Help so glad it was just that chapter. That was sooo weird though. It was really distracting!
@Mollie wasn't it? I get why they chose to do it but it was so bizarre and jarring considering the rest of the production.
I reviewed Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey on audio this week: http://librariansbookreviews.blogspot.com/2011/01/book-review-mysterious-benedict-society.html
I actually read the Split audio book. I thought the book was excellent , but my co workers thought different