How To Get Audiobooks in Fiction, Contemporary Top Rated

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Title: The Light of Day

Author: Graham Swift

Narrator: Graeme Malcolm

Format: Unabridged

Length: 7 hrs and 5 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-13-03

Publisher: HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 87 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

In this masterful novel, Graham Swift takes us inside Webb's mind. For one dazzling day, we see what Webb sees and know only what his thinking reveals. We learn about his childhood and the secret it forced him to carry; his changing relationship with his once-renegade daughter; the last moments with his ex-wife; his fall from grace as a cop; the unexpected ease with which he has turned his police-learned skills to the more delicate demands of his new profession. And we learn how those demands have put him in silent league with the fateful client, a woman he has come to love.

Fascinating in its slow and revelatory accumulation of physical and emotional detail, tender and humorous, intense and suspenseful, The Light of Day is a tour-de-force journey into human emotions.

Critic Reviews:

"He is a writer of immense gifts." (The Washington Post)

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Title: Getting Mother's Body

Author: Suzan-Lori Parks

Narrator: Suzan-Lori Parks

Format: Unabridged

Length: 7 hrs and 29 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-06-03

Publisher: Random House Audio

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 91 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

As Willa Mae's only daughter, Billy is heiress to her mother's substantial but unconfirmed fortune - a cache of jewels that Willa Mae's lover, Dill Smiles, is said to have buried with her. Dirt poor, living in a trailer with her Aunt June and Uncle Roosevelt behind a gas station in a tumbleweedy Texas town, and pregnant with an illegitimate child, Billy knows that treasure could mean salvation. So she steals Dill's pickup truck and, with her aunt and uncle in tow, heads for Arizona with Dill in hot pursuit. While everyone agrees it's only polite to speak of getting mother's body and moving her to a proper resting place, it's well understood that digging up Willa Mae's diamonds and pearls will make the whole trip a lot more worthwhile.

The enormously accomplished fiction debut from Suzan-Lori Parks, the 2002 winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Getting Mother's Body takes its place in the company of the classic works of Zora Neale Hurston and Alice Walker. But when it comes to an ingenious, uproarious knack for depicting the trifling, hard-luck, down-and-out souls who need a little singing and laughing and lying and praying to get through the day, Suzan-Lori Parks shares the stage with no one.

Critic Reviews:

"Getting Mother's Body is a straightforward, light-footed novel with none of the bleak, doomy undertones of Faulkner's; it's just about as funny and not nearly as scary." (The New York Times)

"Though I've read countless novels, I had never read one like this." (The Washington Post)

Members Reviews:

Just a warning...

Just so you aren't surprised (as I was), the entire book, other than the singing, is narrated in the first person by the author as a variety of poor, southern black folk in the early 1960's. It is humorous, and the diiference in point of view between the older characters and younger characters, particularly as to the evolving racial and social issues of the time, is quite interesting. At first I was somewhat put off by the narrative style, but it grew on me as I came to know the characters' personalities.

Good Read

What a good book to listen to. I usually listen at work but this time I burned CD's and listened in the car. I could have done without the singing in it but I guess it added to the story. The story line was good, the characters believable. Poor Bille Beede! I felt for her and her life and wanted so much for her to have something good happen to her. I guess you will have to listen and find out in the end if Bille does get a better shake out of life!

This is what audible is meant to be

Occasionally I listen to a book that I feel is made immensely more enjoyable by being heard as compared to being read. This is one such book. Suzan-Lori Parks has written an excellent book and has acted as an exceptional narrator/singer.

For those just wanting an interesting story, this book has that. I was very curious as to how the author was going to resolve the conflicts in the book, and I was not disappointed. If you like character sketches, you will be delighted in this book. Even if the story had not been interesting, I would have been immensely pleased just to listen to each of her characters speak.

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Title: Tepper Isn't Going Out

Author: Calvin Trillin

Narrator: Calvin Trillin

Format: Unabridged

Length: 5 hrs and 26 mins

Language: English

Release date: 12-14-01

Publisher: Random House Audio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 138 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Tepper isn't going out. Why not? His explanations tend to be rather literal: the indisputable fact, for instance, that he has 20 minutes left on the meter.

Tepper's behavior sometimes irritates the people who want his spot. ("Is that where you live? Is that car rent-controlled?") It also irritates the mayor - Frank Ducavelli, known in tabloid headlines as Il Duce - who sees Murray Tepper as a harbinger of what His Honor always calls "the forces of disorder."

But once New Yorkers become aware of Tepper, some of them begin to suspect that he knows something they don't know. And an ever-increasing number of them are willing to line up for the opportunity to sit in his car with him and find out.

Tepper Isn't Going Out is a wise and witty story of an ordinary man who, perhaps innocently, changes the world around him.

Critic Reviews:

"Trillin is a highly accomplished storyteller as well as a humorist and a memoirist, and this oddly titled novel is by far his funniest and sunniest yet." (Publishers Weekly)

"By dint of Trillin's fertile and humorous imagination, the book emerges as a refreshing and completely likable jape." (Library Journal)

Members Reviews:

Dog Stopping Funny

I walk dogs while I listen and I was laughing so loudly that my dogs kept stopping and turning around to see what had gotten into me. I tried to explain it to them but I don't think they ever understood. What a hoot this book is.

Constantly entertaining

Very funny. As a former New Yorker I enjoyed every minute of it.

To park or not to park...

Simply one of the most entertaining books I have read or listened to this year. Mr. Trillum delivery is dry but laced with humor and grace as he explores the ordinary life of Tepper as it turns very extraordinary by the most unusual of circumstances. His acerbic wit casts its gaze on all aspects of our modern life - work, family, politics and much more. Tis a book to curl up with in any convenient parking spot and enjoy.

Disappointed...

After reading all the reviews touting how humorous this book was, I must admit, I'm quite disappointed. I didn't "laugh out loud" or even giggle. I equate this book to reading a human interest story in the newspaper; you read it, for a moment think,"hmm okay interesting" then you move on. The ending left me wondering "that's it?" Though the descriptions of the city area are quite good and whisked me away to NYC, they do not make up for the weak storyline. Perhaps this is a book you should read only when you are circling the West Side looking for a parking spot.

An absolute classic.

I've read/listened to this book many times, and each time I discover something new; a small detail or nuance in the story line or dialogue that makes me glad I read it again. This book should be required reading for everyone!

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Title: Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned

Author: Walter Mosley

Narrator: Paul Winfield

Format: Abridged

Length: 6 hrs and 17 mins

Language: English

Release date: 12-16-99

Publisher: Phoenix Books

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 73 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

In each of the stories that comprise this richly brooding novel, Socrates, like his namesake, questions the morality of the world beset with crime, poverty, and racism that surrounds him. His unforgettable presence and his perceptions cast a glow of somber lyricism upon an often harsh world. This is the debut of Walter Mosley's most compelling new character since the introduction of detective Easy Rawlins.

Critic Reviews:

"On rare occasions, the skill and talent of author and narrator are both fully realized in one production; Mosley's latest is a shining example. (AudioFile)

Members Reviews:

loved this book!

What made the experience of listening to Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned the most enjoyable?

I loved the pace of this book, along with the characters. Having grown up in LA I enjoyed getting to know these characters, almost feeling like they are people I could run into. I also loved the broader implications of social issues that he tackles with thought and eloquence, while still telling a damn good story.

amazing

I'm hooked great story, jam packed with suspense. Finished the book in one Day, I could put it down.

Heart Of Steel - Socrates

I totally love this book, The story is on of a kind and it teaches you some deep lessons about life.

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Title: Heavy Water and Other Stories

Author: Martin Amis

Narrator: Judy Geeson, Christopher Cazenove

Format: Unabridged

Length: 6 hrs and 45 mins

Language: English

Release date: 12-16-99

Publisher: Phoenix Books

Ratings: 3 of 5 out of 20 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

From the celebrated author of London Fields come these 8 unforgettable and imaginative short stories. "Career Move" is a through-the-looking glass romp in a world where poets are top dogs fawned over by executives and paid handsomely for their work, while screenwriters are domed to near-obscurity. "What Happened to Me on My Holiday" created a stir in The New Yorker because of its extraordinary voice exploring a child's first understanding of nature, death, and humanity. Other stories include: "Denton's Death," "Heavy Water," "Straight Fiction," "Let Me Count the Times," "The Coincidence of the Arts," and "State of England."

Critic Reviews:

"The publication of Heavy Water... provides a good opportunity to state plainly what has been apparent for some time: Martin Amis is the best American writer England has ever produced." (The New York Times Book Review)

Members Reviews:

Overrated

I may simply not be suited to Martin Amis' writing but I found the stories to be slow, minimally engaging and in some cases not very creative. So, bottom line, I didn't much care for this collection of short stories.

Amis Smooths Seas, Phrases, Stories

A lovely collection, wonderfully performed and packaged. The credit goes to Amis, but the audio -- featuring Dame Judi Dench, among others -- is sumptuous and deluxe.

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Title: Cold Sassy Tree

Author: Olive Ann Burns

Narrator: Richard Thomas

Format: Abridged

Length: 3 hrs

Language: English

Release date: 12-16-99

Publisher: Bantam Doubleday Dell Audio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 32 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Cold Sassy, Georgia had never been a whirlpool of excitement. But on July 5, 1906, things took a scandalous turn. E. Rucker Blakeslee, proprietor of the general store and barely 3 weeks a widower, eloped with Miss Love Simpson - a woman half his age and worse yet, a Yankee! On that day, Will Tweedy's adventures began and an unimpeachably pious, secretly irreverent town came to life.

©1989 Olive Ann Burns and Dell Publishing; (P)1989 Bantam Doubleday Dell Audio Publishing, Bantam Doubleday Dell Audio Publishing, A Division of Random House, Inc.

Critic Reviews:

"One of the best portraits of small-town Southern life ever." (Pat Conroy)

"A story...about death and love, both funny and deeply touching." (San Francisco Chronicle)

Members Reviews:

coming of age between the great wars

This is the story of a boy, coming of age in the twenties in the south. The great war was not the conflict overseas, but rather, the conflict between the states. Generally, I found the book good; it suffered from some editing problems -- at various points throughout the book, sentences would repeat as if the editor hadn't made the right cuts. On the whole, however, I thought it was a good book, and makes you realize that grandparents went through the same stuff as we did.

A Very Good Book!

What a pleasure to listen to. Olive Ann Burns has written a wonderful story. I didn't want it to end. I truly enjoyed this book.

Richard Thomas as narrator, has a clear and pleasant voice.

I highly recommend this book.

The abridged version is very disappointing

I tried downloading the full version but audibles wouldn't let me unless I was a prime member. Unfortunately I went for this version and was very disappointed. Had we not read the book years ago I would not think CST is a classic southern novel.

my favorite book!

The narration is perfection! Richard Thomas is fabulous. The book is a story of undying love, family, unconditional love and devotion. I revisit it about once a year. It feels like going home every time. The sequel is a terrible, pitiful excuse for a book but Cold Sassy Tree is perfection.

so amazing

I had to read this book for school and at first I was a little bit Sketchy. After I finished I fell in love with the book and im glad that I picked this one rather than the book thief.

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Title: Into the Forest

Author: Jean Hegland

Narrator: Alison Elliot

Format: Abridged

Length: 6 hrs

Language: English

Release date: 12-16-99

Publisher: Bantam Doubleday Dell Audio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 89 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Eva, eighteen, and Nell, seventeen, are sisters, adolescents on the threshold of womanhood - and for them anything should be possible. But even as Eva prepares for an audition with the San Francisco Ballet and Nell dreams of her first semester at Harvard, their lives are turned upside down and their dreams are pushed into the shadows. In a nation suddenly without electricity or communication, Eva is compelled to dance alone to the music of memory, and Nell's education consists of reading the encyclopedia, devouring knowledge as if it were her last meal. Theirs is an age of darkness and terror.

A distant war rages overseas. Resources society had depended on, such as gas and electricity, are no longer available. Riots spread through the inner cities, while deadly viral infections spread across the countryside. Isolated in their home in the northern California woods, Eva and Nell live in a world without television or phones, in a time of suspicion and superstition, of anger, hunger, and fear. Perhaps on day the lights - and their dreams - will return, but orphaned by their parents' deaths and by society, Eva and Nell have been left to forage through the forest, and through their past, for the keys to survival. As they blaze a path into the forest and into the future, they become pioneers and pilgrims - not only creatures of the new world, but the creators of it.

Members Reviews:

Into the Forest

I enjoyed this book very much. It was an interesting look at what is a probable outcome of our current course of living in terms of natural resources, war, disease, etc. To go from great abundance and regress to pioneer-type existence. It also caused me to reflect on appreciation of the simple things and more awareness of wastefulness. I enjoyed the development and growth of the characters. A great listen.

Great listen

I listened to this three times to ensure I had heard all of the nuances of the plot and characters. The story arc and conclusion entranced me. I want more.

Best book I have ever read

I never wanted this book to end. They dynamics between father and then sisters were powerfully expressed. This end of the world story has a hopeful and healing ending

Try it.... you'll like it!

I have a weakness for post-apocalyptic fiction and this was the very book that started it all 12+ years ago. Over the years I often thought of this book so I decided it was time to revisit it as a listener. I dont usually go for abridge since I am one of those people that want it ALL! I just dont get who decides which parts of a story should be cut out and why? However it was the only version available at the time so I went for it.

The story is about two sisters survival in a changed world. The changes start slowly with rolling electric blackouts and then one day the electricity never comes back on and things you depended on slowly disappear. Its told in the perspective of the oldest sister and has an almost poetic tone to it.

I did have a couple gripes!

My first one being the music! There are these little tunes that just pop out, sometimes its a harmonica others times its a piano and I swear once I heard an accordion. There were a few times when they started it scared the bejeebies out of me. Maybe they put it there to make sure you were awake and listening not sure.

My second gripe these sisters did some things that sisters just dont do or even think about doing and anyone with a sister would know this.

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Title: Lost in Translation

Author: Nicole Mones

Narrator: Angela Lin

Format: Unabridged

Length: 14 hrs and 14 mins

Language: English

Release date: 08-17-10

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 207 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

A novel of searing intelligence and startling originality, Lost in Translation heralds the debut of a unique new voice on the literary landscape. Nicole Mones creates an unforgettable story of love and desire, of family ties and human conflict, and of one woman's struggle to lose herself in a foreign land - only to discover her home, her heart, herself.

At dawn in Beijing, Alice Mannegan pedals a bicycle through the deserted streets. An American by birth, a translator by profession, she spends her nights in Beijing's smoke-filled bars, and the Chinese men she so desires never misunderstand her intentions. All around her rushes the air of China, the scent of history and change, of a world where she has come to escape her father's love and her own pain. It is a world in which, each night as she slips from her hotel, she hopes to lose herself forever.

For Alice, it began with a phone call from an American archaeologist seeking a translator. And it ended in an intoxicating journey of the heart - one that would plunge her into a nation's past, and into some of the most rarely glimpsed regions of China. Hired by an archaeologist searching for the bones of Peking Man, Alice joins an expedition that penetrates a vast, uncharted land and brings Professor Lin Shiyang into her life. As they draw closer to unearthing the secret of Peking Man, as the group's every move is followed, their every whisper recorded, Alice and Lin find shelter in each other, slowly putting to rest the ghosts of their pasts. What happens between them becomes one of the most breathtakingly erotic love stories in recent fiction.

Indeed, Lost in Translation is a novel about love - between a nation and its past, between a man and a memory, between a father and a daughter. It's powerful impact confirms the extraordinary gifts of a master storyteller, Nicole Mones.

Critic Reviews:

"The key to the novel's success is Mones's in-depth knowledge of China's culture, history, and politics. The question of cultural identity is at the core of her tale, and she skillfully weaves various aspects of Chinese life--from ancestor worship to the Cultural Revolution - into the personal relationships of her characters. By novel's end, readers have discovered a great deal about archeology, China, and most especially about the unmapped territories of memory, desire, and identity. Lost in Translation is a fine first novel, the first salvo of a promising literary career." (Amazon.com review)

Members Reviews:

Absolutely fascinating!

I'll be honest, when I bought this, I was taking a punt at an unknown writer, with material unknown to me. I listened to the free sample, and I really liked the narrators voice. Over some 8 years and 500 plus books, I've worked it out that spending 10 hours or so with someone who's voice you can't stand is a special kind of hell. A bad narrator can kill even the finest written work.

No fears here, Angela Lin is superb, getting the awkward Chinese pronunciations on the nail, and carrying the whole thing forward in a most satisfactory way.

The writing is slick, and powerful, and to my eyes and ears anyway, seems pretty accurate and believable.

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Título: Arrebatos Carnales [Carnal Outbursts]

Autor: Francisco Martín Moreno

Narrador: Gustavo Bonfigli, Carla Sicard, Rene Sagastume, Adolfo Stambulsky, Javier Gomez, Hector Almenara

Formato: Unabridged

Duración: 19 hrs and 49 mins

Idioma: Español

Fecha de publicación: 05-20-15

Editor: Audible Studios

Calificaciones: 4.5 de 5 de 45 votos

Categorías: Fiction, Contemporary

Resumen del editor:

Porfirio Díaz, José Vasconcelos, Maximiliano y Carlota, Francisco Villa, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, y José María Morelos. A lo largo de los siglos, hombres y mujeres han sido arrastrados por el inevitable impulso de poseer a quien parece ostentar el sentido de la vida. Y de esta atracción impetuosa no se libran los grandes forjadores del destino de una nación. ¿Qué apetitos y obsesiones sirvieron de causa para algunos de los protagonistas de la historia de México? Con su estilo singular, donde confluyen una investigación rigurosa y la maestría narrativa, Francisco Martín Moreno hurga en la memoria de su país y se adentra en un viaje íntimo hacia el corazón y la alcoba de la monja, el dictador, el revolucionario, el político reformador, el emperador, y el líder de la Independencia. Un audio libro provocador que revela la condición humana y su inevitable rendición ante la pasión amorosa.

Please note: This audiobook is in Spanish.

Opiniones de los miembros:

Education

Aprendí mucho de la historia de México de una forma que difícilmente voy a olvidarme de Sor Juana, Porfirio Díaz, Maximiliano huerta y Pancho villa.

Muy buen libro

Muy interesante la información. Recomendable

Buena oportunidad de conocer el otro lado de los personajes de la historia

Interesante

Interesante, aprendí varios datos históricos que desconocía pero en la parte Porfirio Díaz no me gusto la forma de abordarla

La historia de México desde otra perspectiva

Los héroes y antihéroes de México humanizados, vistos como lo que eran, con aciertos y errores, ni buenos, ni malos

Buen material.

Me gustó. YA había leído el primer libro del autor que también me agradó. A momento excesivas las descripciones sexuales. los personajes humanizados .

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Title: Lonesome Lies Before Us

Subtitle: A Novel

Author: Don Lee

Narrator: Corey M. Snow

Format: Unabridged

Length: 7 hrs and 3 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-06-17

Publisher: HighBridge, a Division of Recorded Books

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 3 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Yadin Park is a talented alt-country musician whose career has floundered - doomed first by his homely looks and lack of stage presence and then by a progressive hearing disorder. His girlfriend, Jeanette Matsuda, might have been a professional photographer but for a devastating heartbreak in her teens. Now Yadin works for Jeanette's father's carpet-laying company in California while Jeanette cleans rooms at a local resort. When Yadin's former lover and musical partner, the celebrated Mallory Wicks, comes back into his life, private hopes and dreams are exposed and secret fantasies about love and success are put to the test. Beautifully sad and laced with dark humor, Lonesome Lies Before Us is a profound, heartfelt romance, a soulful and memorable song.

Contact me for any questions: [email protected]