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Title: New Voices: The Guardian 4th Estate BAME Short Story Prize 2017

Author: Arun Das, Jimi Famurewa, Kit Fan, Avani Shah, Lisa Smith, Henry Wong

Narrator: Arun Das, Jimi Famurewa, Kit Fan, Avani Shah, Lisa Smith, Henry Wong

Format: Unabridged

Length: 2 hrs and 30 mins

Language: English

Release date: 07-13-17

Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Limited

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 25 votes

Genres: Fiction, Short Stories & Anthologies

Publisher's Summary:

Writers short-listed for the Guardian 4th Estate BAME Short Story Prize read their short-listed stories.

Collected here are the six best stories chosen by the judging panel of the Guardian 4th Estate BAME Short Story Prize 2017.

In them you'll encounter a range of characters: an Indian soldier fighting for the British in WWII; a teenage girl fasting in a small London flat; an out-of-work dad in an urban playground; a woman cleaning the toilets in Hong Kong International airport; a wealthy Malaysian teenager in his last few days of school; and a septuagenarian arrested on New Year's Eve.

Read here by the writers themselves, these stories will move, entertain and surprise you - and give a tantalising taste of the future work we might expect from these talented writers.

Members Reviews:

©©Good book¿¿

Awesome book to listen ©Œü h h h h h hsodf fghfgh sz df

Not my cup of tea

I appreciate what these writers are trying to do which is write about things that people don't want to talk about and I know they are trying to open people's eyes to certain subjects but some of theses stories are boaring and repetitive. Sorry not for me.

mixed bag, worth a listen

The final story is excellent. Fresh story on playground parent discomfort and their awkward relationships.

wouldn't listen again

well narrated books. the books however were not really my cup of tea. expected some sort of gripping finish but I didn't get any.

Enjoyable

Interesting short stories from young authors, each with their own perspective of life. Free and good.

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Title: For a Little While

Author: Rick Bass

Narrator: Rick Bass

Format: Unabridged

Length: 17 hrs and 39 mins

Language: English

Release date: 03-21-17

Publisher: Hachette Audio

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 5 votes

Genres: Fiction, Short Stories & Anthologies

Publisher's Summary:

A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice

Long considered one of the most gifted practitioners of the short story, Rick Bass is unsurpassed in his ability to perceive and portray the enduring truths of the human heart. Now, at last, we have the definitive collection of stories, new and old, from the writer Newsweek has called "an American classic".

To listen to his fiction is to feel more alive - connected, incandescently, to "the brief longshot of having been chosen for the human experience," as one of his characters puts it.

These stories reveal men and women living with passion and tenderness at the outer limits of the senses, each attempting to triumph against fate. Bass provides searing insights into the complexity of family and romantic entanglements, and his lush and striking language draws us ineluctably into the lives of these engaging people and their vivid surroundings. The intricate stories collected in For a Little While - brimming with magic and wonder, filled with hard-won empathy, marbled throughout with astonishing imagery - have the power both to devastate and to uplift. Together they showcase an iconic American master at his peak.

Critic Reviews:

"A literary titan...Bass is, hands down, a master of the short form, creating in a few pages a natural world of mythic proportions." (The New York Times Book Review)

"While nature figures heavily in Bass' work, in this collection it always yields the foreground to people and their difficult, sometimes devastating lives." (San Francisco Chronicle)

"This is a rich collection of stories by a major American writer esteemed for his originality as well as for his fine prose. One of the trademarks of the Rick Bass story is the fresh perception of places and people in their relationships to each other. Never facile, Bass is able to make us see and feel in unexpected ways and his stories call out to readers to stop and consider, to explore their feelings about what has risen up from the pages." (Annie Proulx)

Members Reviews:

Captures Contemporary Western/Rural America

I can't say enough about how much I have enjoyed Mr. Bass's fiction and prose. I relate to the writing as an outdoorsman as he captures the moments and contemplations that can only be drawn from a life afield. I also appreciate the grassroots approach of the recording. It is read by the author both solo and accompanied by what (I'm speculating) is a score composed by musicians who have endeavored to capture the emotional underpinnings of these diverse tales.

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Title: Always Happy Hour

Subtitle: Stories

Author: Mary Miller

Narrator: Madeleine Lambert

Format: Unabridged

Length: 6 hrs and 22 mins

Language: English

Release date: 03-07-17

Publisher: Dreamscape Media, LLC

Ratings: 3 of 5 out of 4 votes

Genres: Fiction, Short Stories & Anthologies

Publisher's Summary:

Always Happy Hour weaves tales of young women who are deeply flawed, intensely real, and who struggle to get out of their own way. These women love to drink and have sex; they make bad decisions with men who love them too much or too little; they haunt gas stations, public pools, and dive bars, seeking understanding in the most unlikely of places; and, although each shoulders the weight of different baggage, they all suspect they deserve better. In this collection of acerbic and ruefully funny stories, Miller takes a microscope to love and intimacy, evoking the reticence of love among the misunderstood, the grit and comfort of bad habits that can't be broken, and the beat-by-beat minutiae of ill-fated relationships.

Members Reviews:

Boring boring boring

The story should really get 0 stars. A combination of run on short stories that highlights the insecurity of these woman and their boring lives. This was a book club read...wasted ink.

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Title: Anno Dracula 1899

Subtitle: And Other Stories

Author: Kim Newman

Narrator: William Gaminara

Format: Unabridged

Length: 12 hrs and 28 mins

Language: English

Release date: 02-01-17

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 9 votes

Genres: Fiction, Short Stories & Anthologies

Publisher's Summary:

A brand-new collection of chilling stories by master of horror Kim Newman, in which Jack the Ripper still stalks the streets, Frankenstein's monster rises from the Arctic ice, and the terrifying legacy of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde haunts fog-shrouded London.

This volume also includes a brand-new exclusive Anno Dracula story, 'Yokai Town: Anno Dracula 1899', which sets the scene for the forthcoming novel Anno Dracula 1999: Daikaiju.

Critic Reviews:

"A marvellous marriage of political satire, melodramatic intrigue, gothic horror and alternative history. Not to be missed." (The Independent)

Members Reviews:

Some gems here

I actually requested this book for review by mistake, peeps. I've wanted to read Anno Dracula for a long time and thought this was the actual novel and not the collection of stories.

Oh, well. I did enjoy some of the stories, and I did get a feel for Kim Newman's writing which is very much a mix between Justin Cronin and Joe Hill.

So, the stories.

FAMOUS MONSTERS

A bit of a drab reminiscence of a Martian's acting career. Not an auspicious start.

A DRUG ON THE MARKET

I got a kick out of this one, peeps. Someone revises Jekyll & Hyde's formula for the mass market with all the fun in the marketing and after effects.

ILLIMITABLE DOMINION & JUST LIKE EDDY

While I listened to both of these twice, I could not concentrate on the narrative it was so boring. Verdict: skip.

AMERIKANSKI DEATH AT THE MOSCOW MORGUE

Super creepy, trippy & entertaining. A fascinating concept of a world after the zombie apocalypse in the end of the 80s - beginning of the 90s in Moscow. I got another kick out of this one.

THE CHILL CLUTCH OF THE UNSEEN

30 Days of Night but the old guy in the chair is conversing with the monster instead. Boring.

ONE HIT WANDA

As in "one hit wonder", it's a fun story about a band with a cursed hit song which they can't stop singing.

IS THERE ANYBODY THERE?.

Another fabulous concept of a medium from 1920s trolled by a modern hacker, whom she entraps like a common spirit. Really entertaining.

THE INTERVENTION

This one left me confused. Either I missed something or wasn't clever enough to understand it.

RED JACKS WILD

One of my favorites, it's about a real Jack the Ripper hunting down his copycats. It was so good, I'd have loved to read a full novel about it.

SARAH MINDS THE DOG

It starts light and cute and quickly twists into something so much darker. It made me quite uncomfortable.

THE SNOW SCULPTURES OF XANADU & THE PALE SPIRIT PEOPLE

Not memorable at all. My mind kept wandering, and I could not understand the stories, especially the first one.

UBERMENSCH!

Awesome read. This was about a German Superman who worked with Nazis and is being interviewed years after by a monster hunter after the Wall collapsed. So freaking good.

COASTAL CITY

Meh. Not worth the read.

COMPLETIST HEAVEN

Another meh. It was really tiring to listen to this one, and I'm sure the narrator didn't enjoy the mad recitation as well.

UNE ETRANGE AVENTURE DE RICHARD BLAINE

Another good story involving Nazis hunting monsters in Paris. Very atmospheric.

FRANKENSTEIN ON ICE

I loved the concept! It would have made a fab movie, and it reminded me of Justin Cronin the most.

YOKAI TOWN: ANNO DRACULA 1899

Now, this was a good introduction to the actual novel, which I now want to read.

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Title: The Strong Land

Subtitle: A Western Sextet

Author: Jon Tuska - editor, Louis LAmour

Narrator: Jim Meskimen, Mark Bramhall, Traber Burns

Format: Unabridged

Length: 4 hrs and 3 mins

Language: English

Release date: 02-01-17

Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Ratings: 5 of 5 out of 11 votes

Genres: Fiction, Short Stories & Anthologies

Publisher's Summary:

Louis L'Amour was the most decorated author in the history of American letters and a recipient of the Medal of Freedom. Now collected here in a single book are several of Louis L'Amour's finest Western stories the way Mr. L'Amour wrote them. At the time Louis L'Amour was writing, it was common practice for editors to rewrite the manuscript to fit certain publishing criteria. The text of The Strong Land has been restored, and the stories within it appear as Mr. L'Amour intended.

Whether you're new to the thrilling frontier fiction of Louis L'Amour or one of his legions of fans, these six short stories will assure you that you are in the hands of a master storyteller.

Included here are:"The One for the Mohave Kid", "His Brother's Debt", "A Strong Land Growing", "Lit a Shuck for Texas", "The Nester and the Paiute", and "Barney Takes a Hand".

Members Reviews:

So well read!

LL does it again. Although I've read a couple of these stories in the past, it was so entertaining and well read, I was completely engrossed. If you like the traditional LL story lines, you'll love this audiobook version. Definitely get these narrators; you'll thank yourself later. Enjoy!

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Title: Creatures of the Kingdom

Subtitle: Stories of Animals and Nature

Author: James A. Michener

Narrator: David Ackroyd

Format: Unabridged

Length: 11 hrs and 1 min

Language: English

Release date: 11-01-16

Publisher: Random House Audio

Ratings: 5 of 5 out of 4 votes

Genres: Fiction, Short Stories & Anthologies

Publisher's Summary:

In 16 wonderful stories, Pulitzer Prize-winning author James A. Michener burrows deep into the secret lives of animals and the hidden world of nature. Here he sheds light on nature's most awesome and beguiling handiwork, from the sublime shaping and reshaping of earth's lands and seas to a ridiculous armadillo's assault on a bit of Texas real estate that paid off handsomely. Handpicked from Michener's most popular books, these mini masterpieces are imbued with the music of the spheres and the heartbeat of creation.

Critic Reviews:

"[Creatures of the Kingdom contains] the dramatic elements of a life - the wonder of birth, rites of passage, lots of conflict, much of it physical and bloody, and death.... As characters in a James Michener novel, a beaver can know loneliness, a buffalo can bide his time, a salmon can feel encouraged, and a woolly mammoth can 'luxuriate' in the ecological rewards of a plains fire." (Boston Sunday Herald)

"Dramatic...enthralling...expertly crafted.... Michener treats each of these creatures with fundamental respect, and in many cases, admiration and awe, if not outright love." (The Virginian-Pilot)

"Anyone who has read a James Michener novel knows that it's a learning experience as well as an adventure." (The Sacramento Bee)

Members Reviews:

Fascinating, thrilling, and educational. Thornton W. Burgess for adults.

James Michener is perhaps best known for writing the 1947 book on which the popular Rogers & Hammerstein musical (and film) South Pacific was based. But to readers in the 1950s â 1980s he was best known for huge, sprawling historical novels, such as Hawaii, The Source, Centennial, Space, Texas, Alaska, and many more. Although historical fiction doesnât get much respect among the literati, he was the sort of person whom the average reader of shorter, easier novels would admire and praise even if they never got around to reading him.

Michener had read and loved Thornton W. Burgess as a child, and as an adult writer he worked into some of his novels stories about nature that would appeal to adults who had loved Burgess as children. Like Burgess, they are as educational as they are entertaining. Like Burgess, the thoughts and feelings of wild creatures are somewhat anthropomorphized. They are like Burgess stories grown up and made fascinating, thrilling, and educational for adults. No adult who enjoyed Burgess as a child should miss these stories. Teens enjoy it too.

Though his novels were huge, and these 16 nature stories are taken from them, this book, published near the end of his career, is much shorter at about 280 pages. If you read only one of these stories, you absolutely must not miss âThe Eagle and the Snakeâ, about an epic battle. If you can read a few more, be sure to include the amazing âNerka the Salmonâ. I have no doubt that if you read those two, you wonât stop until youâve read them all.

One small disappointment -- the Kindle edition does not have the illustrations. The illustrations in the print editions are not all that good, but they do provide some atmosphere and the Kindle book would have been improved if they had been included. For the $12 that they charge for this, they should have included the illustrations.

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Title: Bucket List

Subtitle: Warning: Some Scenes May Disturb

Author: Dawn Cano

Narrator: Chris Barnes

Format: Unabridged

Length: 45 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-27-16

Publisher: Dawn Cano

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 4 votes

Genres: Fiction, Short Stories & Anthologies

Publisher's Summary:

This is a book of extreme horror. Please do not purchase if you are easily shocked or offended.

After 10 years of marriage, Mike and Emilia's relationship falls apart after Emilia admits to having an affair - an affair with a man who gave her HIV. Once Mike finds out what she's done, he will go to any length to ensure she dies a slow, painful death, just like the one he's sure his wife has sentenced him to.

Members Reviews:

Dawn Cano is one to watch....

A simple tale of horrific revenge....Dawn utilizes as many details as she can to get her point across, leaving her audience cringing and spent. Narrator Chris Barnes does his job well, although it is difficult to discern some words, due to his English accent. Still, I would peruse more from this duo....

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Title: The Highway Kind: Tales of Fast Cars, Desperate Drivers, and Dark Roads

Subtitle: Original Stories by Michael Connelly, George Pelecanos, C. J. Box, Diana Gabaldon, Ace Atkins & Others

Author: Patrick Millikin

Narrator: Will Collyer

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 54 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-18-16

Publisher: Hachette Audio

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 14 votes

Genres: Fiction, Short Stories & Anthologies

Publisher's Summary:

Thrilling crime stories about cars, driving, and the road from the world's best-selling and critically acclaimed writers.

Like fiction, cars take us into a different world: from the tony enclaves of upper-crust society to the lowliest barrio; from muscle-car-driving con men to hardscrabble kids on the road during the Great Depression; from a psychotic traveling salesman to a Mexican drug lord who drives a tricked-out VW Bus. We all share the roads, and our cars link us together.

Including entirely new stories from Michael Connelly, C. J. Box, George Pelecanos, Diana Gabaldon, James Sallis, Ace Atkins, Luis Alberto Urrea, Sara Gran, Ben H. Winters, and Joe Lansdale, The Highway Kind is a street-level look at modern America as seen through one of its national obsessions.

Critic Reviews:

"A high-octane anthology.... Entertaining" (Publishers Weekly)

"So good.... a fine collection of short crime thrillers." (Booklist)

Members Reviews:

series of short stories

This book is a collection of short stories, from different authors, some are good and interesting and a couple to me were not.

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Title: After the Fireworks

Subtitle: Three Novellas

Author: Aldous Huxley, Gary Giddins

Narrator: Michael Page, Tom Parks

Format: Unabridged

Length: 12 hrs and 36 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-04-16

Publisher: HarperAudio

Ratings: 5 of 5 out of 2 votes

Genres: Fiction, Short Stories & Anthologies

Publisher's Summary:

From one of the greatest writers of the 20th century, Aldous Huxley, comes his great novella, set in Rome, about a writer's affair with a mysterious young fan - once again available in the US, for the first time in more than 70 years, and featuring two other acclaimed short works, plus an original introduction from noted critic Gary Giddins.

In After the Fireworks, three of Aldous Huxley's lost classic pieces of short fiction are collected for the first time. In the title novella, Rome is the stunning backdrop where internationally famous novelist Miles Fanning is setting out on a walk down Via Condotti toward the Spanish Steps when he encounters the mysterious Pamela Tarn - a beautiful young American admirer of his work who shares a name, as well as conspicuous personality traits, with a character from his most celebrated book. Though there is a considerable age difference between them and they come from different worlds, both are soon irresistibly drawn into a dangerous affair that has unforeseen consequences.

First published one year before he wrote his classic Brave New World and now available again for the first time in 75 years, After the Fireworks is Aldous Huxley at the height of his powers. Featuring an original introduction by National Book Critics Circle Award-winner Gary Giddins, this new collection also includes Uncle Spencer (1924), the story of an aging World War I veteran's quest for the lost love he met in a prison during the war, and Two or Three Graces (1926), the tale of a passionate and destructive writer's abusive relationship with an impressionable bourgeois housewife.

Critic Reviews:

"The psychology of the two individuals is shrewdly mastered.... After the Fireworks displays on Huxley's part a rare but genuine if elusive sympathy, as well as a sound perception of human shortcomings." (New York Times)

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Title: The Scottish Fairy Book

Subtitle: Collection

Author: Elizabeth W Grierson

Narrator: Steven Cree

Format: Unabridged

Length: 7 hrs and 14 mins

Language: English

Release date: 09-26-16

Publisher: Spokenworld Audio & Ladbroke Audio Ltd

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 9 votes

Genres: Fiction, Short Stories & Anthologies

Publisher's Summary:

A collection of 28 Scottish fairy tales, perfect for children (and adults) of all ages.

Herein you will find what may be called Celtic stories, which were handed down for centuries by word of mouth by professional storytellers, who went about from clachan to clachan in the Highlands and Islands, earning a night's shelter by giving a night's entertainment.

There are, roughly speaking, two distinct types of Scottish fairy tales. These stories (which are also common to the North of Ireland), are wild and fantastic, with every flavour of Scotland throughout. They tell of heroes and heroines who set out on dangerous quests, giants and monsters, fairy folk and other mythical creatures, strange other-lands and mysterious meetings. They have a peculiar Celtic fascination of their own, and they are quite distinct from the more traditional (Grimm-style) fairy tales. These tales, in Scotland, have also a character of their own, for there is no country where the existence of spirits and goblins has been so implicitly believed in up to a comparatively recent date.

From morality tales to spooky stories, these 28 fascinating fictions are performed with energy and amazing characterisation by Steven Cree, one of the UK's most versatile actors, currently making a big splash in the US hit TV series Outlander.

Collected and edited by Elizabeth W Grierson and originally published in 1910, the audio collection contains the following tales: 'Thomas the Rhymer', 'Gold-Tree and Silver-Tree', 'Whippety-Stourie', 'The Red Etin', 'The Seal-Catcher and the Merman', 'The Pageboy and the Silver Goblet', 'The Black Bull of Norroway', 'The Wee Bannock', 'The Elfin Knight', 'Nippit-Fit and Clippit-Fit', 'The Fairies of Merlin's Crag', 'Habetrot', 'The Spinstress', 'The Wedding of Robin Redbreast and Jenny Wren', 'The Dwarfie Stone', 'Canonbie Dick and Thomas of Ercildoune', 'The Laird o' Co', 'Poussie Baudrons', 'The Milk-White Doo', 'The Draiglin' Hogney', 'The Brownie o' Ferne-Den', 'The Witch of Fife', 'Assipattle and the Mester Stoorworm', 'The Fox and the Wolf', 'Katherine Crackernuts', 'The Well o' the World's End', 'Farquhar MacNeill', 'Peerifool', 'The Heather Lintie'.

Read by Steven Cree (Outlander, Brave, John Carter, 300 Rise of an Empire, Maleficent.

Critic Reviews:

"This is a lovely set of stories for all ages that captures the tradition of Scottish story-telling for future generations. As I have come to expect from Spokenworld, the production on the audio is excellent and the music very well chosen. This collection would make a lovely gift for children of any age or just a great excuse to get back into listening to traditional bedtime stories." (8/10 The Cult Den)

Members Reviews:

The Scottish Fairy Book

This is a wonderful book. Its great to hear the old stories.

The man who read the stories was excellent.

I will listen to it again and again.