Simply The Best Audiobooks in Fiction, Contemporary to Listen Online

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Title: The Book of Strange New Things

Author: Michel Faber

Narrator: Josh Cohen

Format: Unabridged

Length: 19 hrs and 27 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-06-14

Publisher: Canongate Books Ltd

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 12 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

'I am with you always, even unto the end of the world . . .'

Peter Leigh is a missionary called to go on the journey of a lifetime. Leaving behind his beloved wife, Bea, he boards a flight for a remote and unfamiliar land, a place where the locals are hungry for the teachings of the Bible - his 'book of strange new things'. It is a quest that will challenge Peter's beliefs, his understanding of the limits of the human body and, most of all, his love for Bea.

The Book of Strange New Things is a wildly original tale of adventure, faith and the ties that might hold two people together when they are worlds apart. This momentous novel, Faber's first since The Crimson Petal and the White, sees him at his expectation-defying best.

Members Reviews:

Bad story, good narrator.

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

It was okay, but not mind-blowing.

What was most disappointing about Michel Fabers story?

It had a lot of potential that remained unexplored. The way I understand it, the author took on a very limited point of view of emphasise that it was Peter's outlook and priorities that counted, but then a first-person narrative would have suited this novel much better. As it is, the reader is left with the feeling that many important issues have remained unexplored.

What does Josh Cohen bring to the story that you wouldnt experience if you just read the book?

He brings an boyish enthusiasm to Peter that fits his personality, and the way he reads the Oasans is also good (and not easy to pull off).

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

No, unless they fixed the plot holes in the novel.

Not sure Michel Faber does resolution...

If you are familiar with Michel Faber's works you won't be too surprised by the ambling nature of the novel. An evangelistic pastor is recruited by a mysterious corporation to bring the gospel to an alien race on a planet they wish to colonise. It's less about a plot than an exploration of a set of possibilities and human nature in extreme circumstances. I think I enjoyed it even though the pronunciation of the "alien" speech was absolutely tortuous and made me glad the narrator wasn't with me in person to cover me in spit.

Thought provoking and given the recent extreme weather in Vanuatu possibly prescient.

Slow and without resolution.

This book had a few interesting concepts, none of which were explored. The ending was particularly poor, I think a better ending May have saved the book, unfortunately not the case.

A really interesting adventure

If you could sum up The Book of Strange New Things in three words, what would they be?

original, interesting, creative

What did you like best about this story?

the moral dilemmas that Peter faces is very real and relatable despite the fantasy setting of the story.

What does Josh Cohen bring to the story that you wouldnt experience if you had only read the book?

I really liked his interpretation of the Oasians voices and pronunciation

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

the fear that the Oasians felt when Peter hurt himself, really brought home for me how important it was to them to have a religious leader, and the bond they felt with this man.

Any additional comments?

I am a huge fan of The Crimson Petal and the White.

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Title: A Pale View of Hills

Author: Kazuo Ishiguro

Narrator: Roe Kendall

Format: Unabridged

Length: 5 hrs and 59 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-02-14

Publisher: Canongate Faber Audio

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Kazuo Ishiguro tells the story of Etsuko, a Japanese woman now living alone in England, dwelling on the recent suicide of her daughter.

Retreating into the past, she finds herself reliving one particular hot summer in Nagasaki, when she and her friends struggled to rebuild their lives after the war. But then as she recalls her strange friendship with Sachiko -- a wealthy woman reduced to vagrancy -- the memories take on a disturbing cast.

Members Reviews:

Impressive debut novel, but grating narration

This is a subtle debut novel, impressive for a (then) young writer. Emotionally cool at best, even cold. This may well be appropriate for characters struggling to deal with new American cultural norms after centuries of their own less-individualistic Japanese culture. With elements set in Nagasaki, not long after the A-bomb, it is perhaps not a surprise to find relationships and conversations somewhat alien to us and the characters unsympathetic. But this book is certainly intriguing as the author teases us with tiny clues along the way.

Unlike another reviewer, I found the narrator unable to cope with some basic requirements of a good audiobook - particularly with a poor range of harsh voices for the dialogue. This spoiled my enjoyment and probably led me to miss important connections in the story. Sadly it was too bad for me to attempt a second listen- a great shame.

One to listen to carefully, worth the effort.

The story plods along is a seemingly casual manner. Do not be deceived. There are hard punches at the end. Well worth listening to but pay attention! You will be rewarded! Brilliant performance too by the narrator. I loved this!

Disappointing performance

Great story spoilt by childlike reading. But worth persevering to the end. I will try another with a different performer.

Odd

So many threads left untied. A little frustrating. Everything was so mysterious, but it has only left me slightly irritated.

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Title: The Dream Swimmer

Author: Witi Ihimaera

Narrator: George Henare

Format: Unabridged

Length: 18 hrs and 16 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-24-14

Publisher: Penguin Books NZ

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

The Dream Swimmer continues the odyssey of Tama Mahana, grandson and heir to the matriarch, as he assumes the mantle of leadership and, with it, his grandmother's battles with the Pakeha. But at every step Tama is thwarted - by deception and intrigue, and by the woman whose destiny has intersected Riripeti's and his. She is the enigmatic Tiana, his mother, the woman of no account.

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Title: The Right Thing

Author: Amy Conner

Narrator: Kate Baldwin

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 42 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-20-14

Publisher: Recorded Books

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 28 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

On a scorching August day in 1963, seven-year-old Annie Banks meets the girl who will become her best friend. Skinny, outspoken Starr Dukes and her wandering preacher father may not be accepted by polite society in Jackson, Mississippi, but Annie and Starr are too busy sharing secrets and playing elaborate games of Queen for a Day to care. Then, as suddenly as she appeared in Annie's life, Starr disappears.

Annie grows up to follow the path ordained for pretty, well-to-do Jackson women - marrying an ambitious lawyer, filling her days with shopping and charity work. She barely recognizes Starr when they meet twenty-seven years after that first fateful summer, but the bond formed so long ago quickly reemerges. Starr, pregnant by a powerful married man who wants her to get out of town, has nowhere to turn. And Annie, determined not to fail her friend this time, agrees to drive Starr to New Orleans to get money she's owed.

During the eventful road trip that follows, Annie will confront the gap between friendship and responsibility; between her safe, ordered existence and the dreams she's grown accustomed to denying.

Moving, witty, and beautifully told, The Right Thing is a story of love and courage, the powerful impact of friendship, and the small acts that can anchor a life - or, with a little luck, steer it in the right direction at last.

Members Reviews:

Light and fun

This book was a story of maturity and personal identity and how sometimes it gets mixed up with the right thing to do

Just ok

This book was just ok for me, I wanted to really like it, heck I got the paperbook in a Goodreads giveaway but wanted to get it done so listened to it on audio.

I liked these girls much more as children than I did as adults I felt neither one was very likeable. Annie a put upon southern housewife with an eating disorder (no they didnt delve into that too much but it was so obvious by things she said) who has been desperately trying to get pregnant with no luck. She doesnt seem too happy with her life when a chance meeting with her best friend from 2nd grade Starr (who she hasnt seen since). Starr is in the middle of a scandal she is pregnant by a married man who is also a society bigwig and when Starr asks for Annies help Annie lies to her husband and goes off with Starr to help her out. And as you can guess things dont go as planned.

I felt these characters werent very fleshed out, I like a book where I care about what happens to the characters and that just didnt happen in this book , I think I liked the secondary characters more than I liked the main characters. I liked Annies mom and Annies aunt Tuti in the flashback scenes and the girls friend Betty.

And the ending was just well blah, I think if we had seen them from childhood and the story had been more linear instead of the alternating chapters I dont know maybe I say that because I really enjoyed the parts where they were children but neither grew up to be very likeable.

So I guess what I am saying is I enjoyed parts of this book and other made me cringe, from the choices these two women make.

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Title: The School Inspector Calls!

Author: Gervase Phinn

Narrator: Gervase Phinn

Format: Unabridged

Length: 12 hrs and 22 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-19-14

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 12 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

The third Little Village School novel.

Summer has arrived in Barton-in-the-Dale and as a new term begins at the little primary school, it's not just the warm weather that's getting people hot under the collar.

Meetings with the teachers from Urebank School to discuss the merger are producing more than a few fireworks, a disruptive new pupil arrives, set to cause trouble, and a surprising staff love affair is exposed. There's also a big school production of The Wizard of Oz to organise as well as an impending visit from the Minister of Education.

Head teacher Elisabeth Devine certainly has her work cut out for her. And that's just some of the drama set to shake-up the village. Throw in a sprinkling of secrets, shocking revelations, old flames, new liaisons, psychics, weddings and misfortune...there's plenty to gossip about this term.

Members Reviews:

Wonderful!

A gentle and moving tale of life in a small Yorkshire village told with giid humour and keen observation.

Book three of three

Any additional comments?

Wish I had known this was the third book in the series. A good story however but would have been better if I had listened to the two previous books. I was left up in the air about what was to happen to some of the characters at the end of the book. I assume all will be revealed in the next book (or at least some of it).

This is one that I will read again.

If you could sum up The School Inspector Calls! in three words, what would they be?

Inspiring, honest, captivating

What was one of the most memorable moments of The School Inspector Calls!?

The boy and the dog

Have you listened to any of Gervase Phinns other performances? How does this one compare?

This is good, I like this series of books and this is as good as the others I've read.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No, that would be a bit of a marathon

Any additional comments?

I would recommend this book.

A enjoyable story told with geuine warmth

What made the experience of listening to The School Inspector Calls! the most enjoyable?

The authors love of his characters brought depth to an otherwise very simple tale of every day village life.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The School Inspector Calls!?

The relationship between the head teacher and her brightess pupil is beautifully written.

What does Gervase Phinn bring to the story that you wouldnt experience if you had only read the book?

As with any conversation based text the reader brings the characters to life in a way reading can never quite capture. Gervase does a wonderful job here.

A True Gem

Just love the little village school characters and Mr Phinn brings his characters alive so beautifully. A true gem, recommended by my Mum, Elizabeth, a teacher who also loves these books.

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Title: Secrets on Cedar Key

Author: Terri DuLong

Narrator: Kate Udall

Format: Unabridged

Length: 10 hrs and 8 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-10-14

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 20 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

"You'll fall instantly in love with Cedar Key and this homespun knitting community." (Lori Wilde)

"A Southern Debbie Macomber, but with a flair all her own." (Karin Gillespie)

New York Times best-selling author Terri DuLong's heartwarming new novel invites you to Cedar Key, Florida - a close-knit community that offers an easy pace, gorgeous scenery - and a whole new perspective on family and forgiveness.

In the wake of her husband Andrew's sudden passing, there's nowhere Marin Kane would rather be than back on Cedar Key. Marin plans to run the needlepoint store next to her mother Dora's yarn shop, and settle once more into her tranquil hometown. Then a bombshell arrives: a secret daughter Andrew never revealed to anyone.

Now 19, Fiona was the product of a summer affair Andrew had when he was out of town teaching - while Marin was home with their two small sons. All Fiona wants is a chance to meet her half-brothers and Marin - and through them get some sense of the father she barely knew. Marin isn't sure she can ever overcome her sense of betrayal. But buoyed by old friends - and a new love - the answers may unfold, guiding both Marin and Fiona to a true refuge at last.

Members Reviews:

Wonderful!

Loved it!

I can visualize these places that Terri Dulong describes in her book.

Kate Udall has a clear and pleasant voice.

Recommend this book.

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Title: The Lion Seeker

Author: Kenneth Bonert

Narrator: Dennis Kleinman

Format: Unabridged

Length: 17 hrs and 52 mins

Language: English

Release date: 05-20-14

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 12 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

In the tradition of the great immigrant sagas, The Lion Seeker brings us Isaac Helger, son of Lithuanian Jewish immigrants, surviving the streets of Johannesburg in the shadow of World War II. Are you a stupid or a clever? Such is the refrain in Isaac Helgers mind as he makes his way from redheaded hooligan to searching adolescent to striving young man on the make. His mothers question haunts every choice. Are you a stupid or a clever? Will you find a way to lift your family out of Johannesburgs poor inner city, to buy a house in the suburbs, to bring your aunts and cousins from Lithuania? Isaacs mother is a strong woman and a scarred woman; her maimed face taunts him with a past no one will discuss. As World War II approaches, then falls upon them, they hurtle toward a catastrophic reckoning. Isaac must make decisions that, at first, only seem to be life-or-death, then actually are. Meanwhile, South Africas history, bound up with Europes but inflected with its own accents - Afrikaans, Zulu, Yiddish, English - begins to unravel. Isaacs vibrant, working-class, Jewish neighborhood lies near the African slums; under cover of night, the slums are razed, the residents forced off to townships. Isaacs fortune-seeking takes him to the privileged seclusion of the Johannesburg suburbs, where he will court forbidden love. It partners him with the unlucky, unsinkable Hugo Bleznick, selling miracle products to suspicious farmers. And it leads him into a feud with a grayshirt Afrikaaner who insidiously undermines him in the auto shop, where Isaac has found the only work that ever felt true. And then his mothers secret, long carefully guarded, takes them to the diamond mines, where everything is covered in a thin, metallic dust, where lions wait among desert rocks, and where Isaac will begin to learn the bittersweet reality of success bought at truly any cost.

Critic Reviews:

"Narrator Dennis Kleinman commands a great range of South African accents in this reading, showing differences in class, ethnicity, even gender, through speech patterns more than vocal impersonations. He handles the fragments of Yiddish, Afrikaans, and Zulu with no difficulty." (AudioFile)

Members Reviews:

The Lion Seeker

Really enjoyed this book. None of the characters were particularly loveable but characters all the same. Narration was good except for the South African accents & way of speaking. I'm a South African & never heard anyone speak like that. But it got better as the story progessed.

Flawed ending, but top-notch description & detail

Any additional comments?

The author does a great job of making the various worlds in and around the Jewish area of Johannesburg (Doornfontein) collide. His dialogue captures the language of the different groups really well and, what is more, the narrator does a great job capturing the accents, too.

Still, despite the great description, the pace of the novel and the importance of the subject matter (life in Jewish ghettos and the oncoming Shoah), the climax of the book seemed completely unbelievable to me.

Nevertheless, the audiobook is worth a listen and a high grade for the description and language.

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Title: Cocoon

Author: David Saperstein

Narrator: Alex Hyde-White

Format: Unabridged

Length: 8 hrs and 15 mins

Language: English

Release date: 04-01-14

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 3 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Fifteen years before the start of the Earths third Christian millennium, after a 5,000-year absence, Antarean space travelers have returned to Earth. After the destruction by the impact of an asteroid, a few islands were all that remained of the continent above the waters of the Atlantic Ocean.

Before the asteroids impact destroyed Antares Quad-Three, they had cocooned and secreted a diplomatic army for future use on Earth. They believed these soldiers and commanders, numbering 941, were secure and safe in a state of suspended animation beneath the sea floor. But, sadly, the Antareans discovered that pollution and ultraviolet radiation had adversely affected the cocoons, making the life they held partially damaged and dangerously vulnerable.

On arrival to the destroyed planet, the Antarean presence was discovered by a small group of retired humans. Once discovered, the seniors offered to help the Antareans reseal their damaged cocoons and return them to their underwater chamber, saving the diplomatic army to be revived and awakened in the future. To show their gratitude, the Antarean leaders invited their aged helpers to join them on their Mothership, and thus become Earths first deep space travelers. They called themselves the Geriatric Brigade.

Cocoon, which was a New York Times best seller upon its release (and an Academy Award-winning film of the same name), is the amazing beginning of the Cocoon trilogy, which spans 20 years and was a pioneering science fiction novel by David Saperstein that still resonates with audiences today.

Members Reviews:

Nice Fantasy that may be reality some day

The more I read about genetic research, the less I believe that this storyline (living forever) is a complete fantasy. Of course, it is amiable aliens who bring it to Earth rather than our planet's research scientists. Heck, if jellyfish do not get old, why do we have to?

Four Stars

A lot of mistakes but overall a good story and different from the film.. Me likey

Comparison to the movie. SPOILERS.

I saw the movie years ago, and thought the book would be a sweet, familiar read. Little in the book except the basic premise of alien rescue, the names of main characters and Jack's boat are the same. The story isn't in a retirement community with adjacent nursing home; they are in a seaside high-rise that has people in their early 50's and older as residents. The second building in the development (both buildings owned by aliens called Antereans are a working base, while they retrieve their comrades from the sea) is kept unfinished so that the Antereans can move about it unmolested.

Jack (who owns the Manta II) is a vietnam vet with a brother, sister-in-law and live-in girlfriend. They figure prominently as worried family members who resort to spying on him and the aliens when a more somber and efficient Jack than you know, works an extended charter with 'treasure hunters'. The family cause quite a bit of trouble and girlfriend Judy smokes a lot of 'grass'.

Ben (Wilford Brimley) is a tough, cunning and intimidating ad-man who resents his loss of status as a retiree. Joe (Hume Cronyn) is a kind natured retired stage actor with Leukemia. He is madly in love with his wife, and is failing fast. Joe is not an adulterer!

Art (Don Ameche) is a retired mob accountant. He has a lot of dirt on his hands, but grimly acknowledges there was no way out for him. And sweet old Bernie Lefkowitcz (Jack Gilford)...

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Title: Soning [Zoning]

Author: Ian McEwan

Narrator: Grete Tulinius

Format: Unabridged

Length: 13 hrs and 11 mins

Language: English

Release date: 03-20-14

Publisher: Viatone

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

P sommerens varmeste dag i 1935 overvrer 13-rige Briony Tallis flere ting p familiegodset i Sydengland, som det bestemt ikke var meningen, hun skulle vre vidne til. Briony, en prpubertr, forklet efternler med svrmeriske digteraspirationer er plaget af bde kedsomhed, jalousi og vrede, og da hun om aftenen str som hovedvidne til en dramatisk begivenhed, lber fantasien af med hende. Hun tager en katastrofal beslutning, der fr livslange flger for hende selv, hendes smukke sster Cecilia og husholderskens lovende sn Robbie. Frst fem r senere erkender Briony sin utilgivelig synd og bruger derefter resten af sit liv p at forsge at sone det, der er sket.

Please note: This audiobook is in Danish.

Critic Reviews:

Ingen kan som han skildre krlighedens dybe romantiske klange midt i liderlighedens heftighed og hensynslshed. Soning er en bde konstant underholdende og dybt fascinerende fortlling om at skrive og at elske. Ikke altid str de to egenskaber brud i samme kirke. Slet ikke i denne magelse roman af en af Englands bedste nutidige forfattere. Bo Tao Michaëlis, Politiken

Hos den engelske romanforfatter Ian McEwan befinder man sig i et storslet litterrt landskab mellem Woolf og Waugh. Hvis man nu ikke lige har mulighed for at holde juleferie p en engelsk landejendom og fre belevne konversationer med de andre gster om litterre og etiske problemer, kan jeg p det varmeste anbefale et ophold i McEwans fine prosa i stedet for. Lilian Munk Rösing, Information

Ian McEwan er en litterr virtuos, der ved, hvordan en historie skal skrues sammen for at nagle lseren til sofahjrnet, men han har ogs den dybe menneskekundskab, der gr en god roman til andet og mere end bare en historie. Dertil kommer s en overlegen beherskelse af romanformen og tidens litterre modetendenser, s vi slipper for et gumpetungt lrestykke, men i stedet fr en elegant turneret pointe, der falder lige netop dér, hvor liv og kunst mdes. Soning er endnu et pragtfuldt eksempel p, at britisk prosafiktion stortrives i disse r. Simpelthen topkarakter til Ian McEwans Soning. Lars Ole Sauerberg, Jyllands-Posten

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Title: Traveler's Rest

Author: Ann Tatlock

Narrator: Kate Forbes

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 18 mins

Language: English

Release date: 03-11-14

Publisher: Recorded Books

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 14 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Jane Morrow has a dilemma. She's engaged to Seth Ballantine, a member of the National Guard's 30th Heavy Brigade Combat Team, and he's returned from Iraq severely wounded. Jane hasn't seen him for nearly a year, and with trepidation, she heads to the VA hospital in Asheville, North Carolina, where he is being treated. Seth isn't happy to see her. He'd asked her not to come. He wants to end the relationship. But Jane loves him, and despite his injury, she's determined to convince him that they can have a life together. Her faith has never been strong, yet she hopes God will answer her prayers and tell her what to do.

Members Reviews:

Anger, Fear, Running . . . Hope, Love, Home

Jane and Seth have been engaged almost a year when he returns home from Iraq, a quadriplegic . . . a carpenter by trade, unable to use his hands or move . . . Seth is deeply depressed and when Jane arrives at the VA hospital, he sends her away . . . Jane keeps returning, becoming friends with Truman Rockaway, a veteran and retired doctor and with Jon-Paul, the blind lawyer who entertains the wounded veterans by playing the piano for them . . . eventually pulling Seth out of his depressed shell by starting up a chess tournament . . . then there's Hoboken and Sausalito, the two cousins from Uganda who work at the VA hospital while going to nursing school . . . they are the cut-ups and bring laughs to the otherwise dreary surroundings . . . Traveler's Rest is a story of journeys . . . for Seth, for Jane, for Truman and even for Jon-Paul . . . gently and beautifully told, with no easy answers for suffering, yet comfort and balm for souls who seek respite . . . and a time and a season for healing . . . for hope and for coming home . . .

Wonderful book!!

I bought this based on the reviews and I don't regret it for a minute. The story, narration and execution never let me lose my interest, and the end was beautiful!