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Watch & listen to VH1′s “Mob Wives” star in the recording booth as she narrates her autobiography Mob Daughter. I love seeing the director & engineer at work, and hearing a tough chapter and the emotional reactions  that won’t make it into the final polished recording. Karen, daughter of Sammy ‘the Bull’ Gravano, was nineteen years old when her father turned his back on the mob and cooperated with the Feds. Listen here as she describes the day her father revealed his decision.

The importance of audiobooks for those with disabilities was Voice of Choice narrator Vance‘s topic in his most recent blog post. I know the resources available through Learning Ally (formerly Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic) and  the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS) are life-changing – the continued response to my Booklist article “That All May Read” has shown me that listeners of all ages depend on these services. If you serve patrons or students who have vision, physical or learning disabilities, please take time to learn about the huge variety of materials available for free – and if you have a family member that qualifies, assist them with signing up! In years past, specially-formatted audios came through the mail, but now digital technology allows instant downloads and app-based access. Many times, those with vision or learning disabilities are frustrated when a particular title is unavailable in a commercially-available audiobook through a vendor or public library – yet that same title (and hundreds more) are readily-available through the NLS, or you may even request that Learning Ally record that title for you! The amazing volunteers who record for these organizations provide a marvelous service and often go on to become top audiobook narrators – here’s what Vance has to say about…

Creating audiobooks for the blind, partially sighted or dyslexic.  When I began 30 years ago we recorded on reel-to-reel 1/4? tape machines and had one engineer between two recording studios – yesterday there was one engineer to each narrator and everything was recorded onto a computer’s hard drive using rather strange software.

I’m choosing this topic for my first blog on the re-designed “me” website because yesterday I donated some time in support of Learning Ally’s Record-A-Thon (the organization formerly known as “Reading for the Blind and Dyslexic”) and had a wonderful morning down at their studios in Palo Alto which made me recall the many pleasant hours I spent at the Royal National Institute for the Blind’s Talking Book Service (now more than 75 years old) in London in the 1980?s.  I always say it’s where I served my apprenticeship in audiobook narration.

Find out more by visiting the link to Simon’s blog & exploring both the NLS and Learning Ally websites!

The Audio Publishers Association will award the “Oscars” of audiobooks, the Audies, on June 5, 2012. Today the APA announced the finalists for this year’s honors. Take a look at all the nominees below for a fantastic list to add to my compilation of 2011 audiobook “Bests.” This announcement is perfect timing for library A/V departments looking for a new audiobook display or website splash page – why not capitalize on Oscar fever with a feature on possible Audies winners? And for audiobook listeners, time to reserve & download selections from the nominee list to catch this year’s best listening!

AUDIO DRAMA
The Arthur Miller Collection, by Arthur Miller, Narrated by Stacy Keach, Richard Dreyfuss, Ed O’Neill, Brian Cox and a full cast, L.A. Theatre Works

The Graduate, adapted for the stage by Terry Johnson, based on the novel by Charles Webb and  the screenplay by Calder Willingham and Buck Henry, Narrated by Bruce Davidson, John Getz,  Jamison Jones, Devon Sorvari, Linda Purl, Matthew Rhys and Kathleen Turner, L.A. Theatre  Works

I, Claudius, by Robert Graves, Narrated by Derek Jacobi, Tim McInnerny, Harriet Walter,  AudioGO/BBC Audio

The Mark of Zorro, by Johnston McCulley and Yuri Rasovsky, Narrated by Val Kilmer and a full cast, Blackstone Audio

We’re Alive, by Kc Wayland, Narrated by a full cast, Blackstone Audio

BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
Bossypants, by Tina Fey, Narrated by Tina Fey, Hachette Audio

The Dirty Life, by Kristin Kimball, Narrated by Tavia Gilbert, Tantor Audio

Here Comes Trouble, by Michael Moore, Narrated by Michael Moore, Hachette Audio

My Dog Tulip, by J.R. Ackerley, Narrated by Ralph Cosham, Blackstone Audio

Until Tuesday, by Louis Carlos Montalvan, Narrated by Louis Carlos Montalvan, Audible, Inc.

BUSINESS/EDUCATIONAL
23 Things They Don’t Tell You About Capitalism, by Ha-Joon Chang, Narrated by Joe Barrett, Audible, Inc.

Aftershock: Protect Yourself and Profit in the Next Global Financial Meltdown, by David Wiedemer, Robert A. Wiedemer and Cindy S. Spitzer, Narrated by Christopher Kipiniak, Audible, Inc.

The Barefoot Executive, by Carrie Wilkerson, Narrated by Carrie Wilkerson, Oasis Audio

The Blue Sweater, by Jacqueline Novogratz, Narrated by Jacqueline Novogratz, Audible, Inc.

I’m Feeling Lucky, by Douglas Edwards, Narrated by Douglas Edwards, Audible, Inc.

The Thank You Economy, by Gary Vaynerchuk, Narrated by Gary Vaynerchuk, HarperAudio

CHILDREN’S TITLES FOR AGES 8-12
Countdown, by Deborah Wiles, Narrated by Emma Galvin, Random House Audio/Listening Library

The Flint Heart, by Katherine Paterson and John Paterson, Narrated by Ralph Lister, Brilliance Audio

Heart and Soul, by Kadir Nelson, Narrated by Debbie Allen, HarperAudio

The Hidden Valley: The Incorrigible Children of Aston Place: Book II, by Maryrose Wood, Narrated by Katherine Kellgren, HarperAudio

A Tale Dark and Grimm, by Adam Gidwitz, Narrated by Johnny Heller, Recorded Books, LLC

CHILDREN’S TITLES FOR AGES UP TO 8
Black Jack: The Ballad of Jack Johnson, by Charles R. Smith, Jr., Narrated by Dion Graham, Live Oak Media

Django: W

Ever wonder what happens during recording? If you think those perfect audiobooks flowed error-free into the mic, this sound clip will change your mind – and make you laugh! Here’s the backstory to the recording of Hit by a Farm from Dog Ear Audio:

As a memoir writer, I’m used to sharing my mistakes, especially when they’re farm-related. But today I’m sharing an audio-related mistake. A blooper. The audio file is a blooper from when I recorded the audiobook of Hit by a Farm. 

In this blooper, I’ve forgotten how to say the word, ‘iron.’ Remember I’d been closed up in a little sound booth for days, with no contact with the ‘outside’ world but a 12×12 inch window so I could see the sound engineers, etc. I’d been talking for days. My mouth muscles had started to lock up. I began hating every word I’d written. And normal words began to look like alien things I’d never seen before… like ‘iron.’ Look at that word. Of course it’s i-ron.

Quick note: The clicks you hear between ‘takes’ are made with a dog training clicker. When I wanted to redo a sentence, I’d click, and this created a spike in the file so it would be easy to find and make those repairs later.

2012 Newbery winner for Dead End in Norvelt on audiobooks, books for boys, and the power of sound literature. Jack Gantos has garnered book awards galore, from the Newbery to National Book Award finalist. Not only is he one of the most thoughtful – and funny – writters for any age listener, he’s a top author-narrator. I featured my Booklist interview with Gantos when Dead End in Norvelt was first published, but am hitting replay today as his insights are just too awesome to resist. Can’t get enough Gantos? Check out the video from Macmillan Audio at the end of the interview!

The Booklist Interview: Jack Gantos

By Mary Burkey

Jack Gantos began narrating his own books in 1999 with his reading of Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key (Listening Library). Should he ever decide to leave his award-winning (Newbery, Printz, Sibert, and more) writing career behind, he has the vocal talent to become a sought-after audiobook reader. From voicing Rotten Ralph Helps Out (Live Oak, 2006) to reading his deeply personal autobiography, Hole in My Life (Listening Library, 2007), and the fictional escapades of young Jack Gantos in Dead End in Norvelt (Macmillan, 2011), he has proven himself an outstanding audiobook reader. I was fortunate to talk with Gantos in a phone conversation as he walked home from the Boston Athenaeum, where he goes daily to write.

BKL: You recorded a wonderful author interview at the end of the marvelous audiobook production of Dead End in Norvelt (given a starred review in the October 15, 2011, issue of Booklist). Is the story a reflection of your childhood? And how did you start narrating audiobooks?

GANTOS: Well, I was born in Norvelt, though I didn’t grow up full time there. My mom was raised there, and my dad grew up in a town a stone’s throw away. I have to say that even though I didn’t spend a lot of time in Norvelt, the western Pennsylvania voice has stayed within me. Joey Pigza is from Lancaster, Pennsylvania (not quite as far west as Norvelt), and I sound like I belong there. When you write picture books, such as the Rotten Ralph titles, you read them aloud so you can hear how that spare text rolls off the tongue—or not. I never thought of myself as having a voice worth recording. But after I listened to the first—and only—book of mine narrated by someone else, I thought, “Dang, I know I’m not good, but I’m better than that!” The book is funny, and the guy couldn’t deliver a joke. He was so slow that you could drive a truck between every sentence. I realized, “He’s got no feel for the material. He’s got no zip on his fastball. All the fun is sponged up out of it.” Then at the National Book Award readings, I read a portion of Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key, and Tim Ditlow, then at Listening Library, came up and said he wanted me to record the novel. I was a bit stunned, but he was very enthusiastic and persuasive. I’m so fortunate that he was generous enough to offer me the opportunity.

BKL: What’s the recording process like for you?

GANTOS: It’s really hard work because you have to put your heart and soul into it. I can’t do voices. I can’t sound like a Frenchman, a German, or a Spaniard, but I can give emotional modulation to the characters. But it just wears you ou

Katherine Kellgren reads this cozy mystery written by Rhys Bowen, a limited time freebie from Audible. Grab this 2011 Audies Award nominee for “Best Mystery/Suspense Audiobook” - pure fun narrated by Booklist‘s “Voice of Choice” Kellgren. No doubt they’ve decided to offer this introduction to the  Lady Victoria Georgiana Charlotte Eugenie series to hook you on the series – be prepared to devour all five of these light, frothy treats! Here’s the download link

And check out the video below for a guided tour of Audible’s headquarters, an episode of Cubes hosted by the lovely Katy Kellgren

Just yesterday I was talking with a YA librarian about the strangle hold first- person narrators have on children's books. Then this morning I learned that Monica Edinger has a post at Educating Alice called Thought on Newbery: Third Person Omniscient Narration. In it she discusses third-person narrators that she describes as characters or "third person narrators who insert themselves occasionally into the reader’s consciousness." If you follow her referrals to other posts, you'll get to her own Whatchamacallit Narrators and The Personalities of Intrusive Narrators at Fuse #8 Production.

I don't recall the intrusive narrating in The Golden Compass, which Monica mentions somewhere along the line. And I liked the second The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place book, a series Betsy Bird mentions at Fuse #8, very much, though I never got a chance to blog about it. However, while I'm sure there are other exceptions, as a general rule, I am not a fan of the intrusive narrator.

I think of intrusive narrators as being the literary equivalent of breaking the fourth wall in television programs, something else I'm not a fan of. I want the illusion that the fictional world is a real one that I have entered and am experiencing somehow, even though there is no pretence that I'm a character. Breaking the fourth wall and speaking to me directly destroys that for me. If the characters in the fictional world know I'm there, then they know they're not part of a real world, right?

While I'm reading that book or watching that TV show, I want the characters to believe in themselves and not me.

Now, this is not to say I will never use an intrusive narrator. I would just need an incredibly compelling reason that I can't even imagine right now.

Best line of the episode? ”And the audiobook is only available abridged. ABRIDGED!” followed by maniacal laughter from the evil CEO of TweenLit Inc, played by Andy Garcia. I’m glad that Gaiman - a huge proponent of audiobooks -was able to include an audio reference in the show “The Book Job,” which focused on Lisa Simpson’s disillusionment over the fact that her favorite tween book series was the creation of a focus-group guided stable of writers out for the big bucks. *cough*Alloy Entertainment*cough*

A quick synopsis: Homer Simpson created a cabal of Springfield writers going for a cool million dollar payoff from TweenLit, adding Gaiman to the mix as the catering crew.  Neil Gaiman’s cameo role allowed the mega-star author to appear in a cartoon version of an off-hand remark he made after winning the Carnegie Medal for The Graveyard Book: when asked about the copycat publishing phenomenon triggered by Twilight & vampires , he answered that the next teen horror trend might be trolls. You can watch for yourself here – but not until the episode unlocks in a week.

Personally, I’d rather spend some time having Gaiman read his books to me. He is one on the very best author-narrators, with his reading of  The Graveyard Book of of my all-time A+ audios. Just visit Gaiman’s website to experience his storytelling genus.

Six audiobook stars speak in a live chat hosted by the All About Romance blog. If you’ve always want to know the inside scoop on the art of audiobook performance, tune in by clicking this link http://www.likesbooks.com/blog/ to participate in real time at 11am Eastern time on Monday, November 14th. Or – if you can’t participate Monday morning – visit the blog to see the transcript which will be posted following the event. Justine Eyre, Paul Gigante, Tavia Gibert, Renee Raudman, Xe Sands, and Karen White are the featured narrators, each an expert voice of every type of audiobooks, not solely Romance titles. This “Speaking of Audiobooks” forum is a terrific idea – thanks to the All About Romance web site for coordinating this event!

Author video: Audiobooks are THE way to experience poetry. Watch YA novelist Ellen Hopkins as she reflects on the audiobook version  of her newest title Triangles in this video from Simon & Schuster Audio. Hear her reaction to the decision to use four narrators, how audio actors absorb an author’s intent and breathe out the character, and the importance of an aural medium in communicating the power of poetry:

Jack Gantos: amazing author and outstanding narrator. Read my interview below, first printed at BooklistOnline, to hear what Gantos thinks about the value of audiobooks, the power of a male voice, and the need for more humor in literature for kids & teens. And be sure to listen to the audiobook of Dead End in Norvelt, Gantos’ newest novel, brilliantly narrated by the author. Sure, it will probably be shelved in the youth department of your library, but the story set in 1962 will resonate with adult listeners, garnering tears, laughter, and heart-tugging affection for the title’s main character Jack Gantos. There’s even a terrific interview with the author at the end of the audio, where you’ll learn just how autobiographical the story really is. Get more details from my starred review of this marvelous family-listening,  must-have audiobook for all library collections.

The Booklist Interview: Jack Gantos

By Mary Burkey

Jack Gantos began narrating his own books in 1999 with his reading of Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key (Listening Library). Should he ever decide to leave his award-winning (Newbery, Printz, Sibert, and more) writing career behind, he has the vocal talent to become a sought-after audiobook reader. From voicing Rotten Ralph Helps Out (Live Oak, 2006) to reading his deeply personal autobiography, Hole in My Life (Listening Library, 2007), and the fictional escapades of young Jack Gantos in Dead End in Norvelt (Macmillan, 2011), he has proven himself an outstanding audiobook reader. I was fortunate to talk with Gantos in a phone conversation as he walked home from the Boston Athenaeum, where he goes daily to write.

BKL: You recorded a wonderful author interview at the end of the marvelous audiobook production of Dead End in Norvelt (given a starred review in the October 15, 2011, issue of Booklist). Is the story a reflection of your childhood? And how did you start narrating audiobooks?

GANTOS: Well, I was born in Norvelt, though I didn’t grow up full time there. My mom was raised there, and my dad grew up in a town a stone’s throw away. I have to say that even though I didn’t spend a lot of time in Norvelt, the western Pennsylvania voice has stayed within me. Joey Pigza is from Lancaster, Pennsylvania (not quite as far west as Norvelt), and I sound like I belong there. When you write picture books, such as the Rotten Ralph titles, you read them aloud so you can hear how that spare text rolls off the tongue—or not. I never thought of myself as having a voice worth recording. But after I listened to the first—and only—book of mine narrated by someone else, I thought, “Dang, I know I’m not good, but I’m better than that!” The book is funny, and the guy couldn’t deliver a joke. He was so slow that you could drive a truck between every sentence. I realized, “He’s got no feel for the material. He’s got no zip on his fastball. All the fun is sponged up out of it.” Then at the National Book Award readings, I read a portion of Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key, and Tim Ditlow, then at Listening Library, came up and said he wanted me to record the novel. I was a bit stunned, but he was very enthusiastic and persuasive. I’m so fortunate that he was generous eno

Jane Lynch: my new BFF! Heartfelt audiobook memoir as perfect girl-talk car commute companion. The power of hearing the author sharing every detail of life’s happy accidents? You’ll be driving around the block to spend more time with Jane, as you bond together over her acting insecurities, Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, and critical success. Happy Accidents is pure listening perfection, inviting you to lean forward with tears in your eyes as Jane shares the letter she wrote to her parents explaining that she is gay, while the next moment you’ll throw your head back in hysterical laughter at the description of life’s crazy relationships. I must admit that I have one CD of this audiobook unheard and can hardly bring myself to listen  – I just don’t want my time with Jane to be over!

I wish that I could have both Jane & my other audio BFF, Lisa Scottoline, in the car at the same time. I think I’ll work on a “If you liked Scottoline’s Why My Third Husband Will Be a Dog, you’ll like…” listen-alike compliation, with Happy Accidents the first on the list.  I had the honor of speaking with Lisa, her daughter Francesca Scottoline Serritella, and children & YA author Gary Paulsen about their experiences recording their own memoirs in my Voices in My Head column My Life, My Words, My Voice. If you’re interested in how authors react to reading the story of their lives, check it out. I’ll bet the experience is different for actors who record their memoirs. Perhaps I can try to give my new BFF Jane a call to see exactly what she thought about her time in the audiobook studio. Or maybe I’ll just have to settle for watching the in-studio interview that publisher Harper Audio did with Jane! In the video below, Jane gives you some background on how & why she wrote Happy Accidents. And if you haven’t seen Jane and Lara’s It Gets Better video, watch it as well. Now do yourself a favor – go get a copy of the audiobook for yourself & listen

Grab the free audio short story “Chosen,” in which bestselling author George Pelecanos first explored the character of Iraq War veteran Spero Lucas, hero of his newest novel, The Cut. Best of all, the audio is read by actor Dion Graham, who appears in TV’s The Wire – a series that includes Pelecanos as a writer. Audiobook fans know that Graham is one the very best narrators, from award-winning adult titles to Odyssey-honored youth & YA titles. Good to know that Dion Graham will be voicing the whole Lucas series, beginning with The Cut. If you’ve never heard Graham work his magic, download “Chosen” for free and see what you’ve been missing! Just visit the Hachette Audio web site, scroll all the way to the bottom, find the “Online Exclusive” on the bottom right of the page, right-click the blue Chosen link, and save the MP3 file to your computer. Then drag and drop onto to your player or cell phone. Or you can visit Hachette Audio’s Facebook page and listen to the story on their Lit Amp online player – no download required. Enjoy this 1 hour 15 minute free treat!

Chiming in to Fuse #8 Production blog today. Just had to add my two cent’s worth about audiobooks to the questions raised in Betsy Bird’s post below:

Say you’re a children’s librarian.  Your office is directly connected to the picture book room and due to the layout of the space the walls of your space do not reach the ceiling.  This means that anyone in the attached room can be heard with crystal clear clarity.  Maybe that’s not so great when you’re eating your ham sandwich for lunch and can hear five five-year-olds running hell-for-leather around the space while their parents gab, but generally it’s charming.  Particularly when you get to overhear parents reading to their children.  One day you might hear a stirring rendition of The Lonely Doll. The next, you’re getting ideas for storytime due to how a British dad reads The Terrible Plop.

But what if the parental reader is an awful reader?  This is often the case, after all.  Sometimes, for whatever reason, a parent isn’t particularly good at reading a book aloud.  This might be because they are unaccustomed to the activity, or it could be because English is not their first language.  Maybe they’re embarrassed to be heard giving voice to a smarmy pigeon or a truculent pig.  Or perhaps they always speak in a monotone anyway, and reading a book is never going to be any different.

Whatever the case, it got me to thinking.  We all know that it is incredibly important for parents to read to their children from a very young age.  With that in mind, what I’m about to ask is akin to near treason in the children’s librarian world.  Still, it’s something that has been floating about in my brain.  I had a chance to hash it out with another librarian recently, and I feel no closer to an answer.  Maybe you have an idea about the following then:

When a poor reader reads aloud to a child, can that person do more harm than good in instilling a love of reading?

My instinct is to say no, of course not.  A great book can survive even the worst reading.  But if a bad reader has been reading poorly to a child from day one, does that mean that the kid is ruined for books from Day One onwards?  I shouldn’t think so, but I wonder if any studies have been done on the subject.  I suppose not since defining a “good” reader sounds like a fairly subjective supposition to start from.  Still, have studies been done about reading with a single tone versus reading to children with a tone that jumps and jives?  Should there be such studies?  What could possibly be done if such a study took place anyway?  Would parents suddenly be inclined to “train” to learn how to read aloud to their children?  Does such a state of affairs already exist?  And, if not, wouldn’t the person who taps into parental fears and insecurities make a tidy bundle if they advertised classes meant to teach parents how to read to their kids “the right way”?

The librarian I mentioned all this too argued that if a parent reads poorly and doesn’t give any context to the reading (saying something angrily when a character is angry, for example) then they aren’t teaching their children properly and the kid loses out.  I dunno.  Sort of sounds right.

Your thoughts on the matter?

and about this bit in a comment on the post:

I believe *adults* are more apt to be influenced by a person’s voice. We recently borrowed an audio book from the library that I absolutely refused to listen to because of the reader’s voice (it was a recent newbery too!) I had to blast other noise over top of it whenever the kids listened to it in the other room, it was so awful. But that’s the thing… the kids listened to it. Constantly. They love story, reg

1 Comments on Ponderable: Do Bad Readers Affect a Love of Books?, last added: 7/10/2011

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Angela Reynolds said, on 7/10/2011 5:10:00 AM

This is why I love storytime, and why I insist on parents attending storytime, not leaving their little dears while they go off to chat– the parents are learning as much from the trained librarian as the children are– they hear good readings of books, hopefully this modeling rubs off and they try some of that at home. I have developed a training session for parents and child care providers on how to read well to children because we all know it does not always happen naturally. Great discussion!

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Today’s video: AC/DC’s Brian Johnson on Rockers and Rollers, his memior recorded for Harper Audio, a great example of “My Life, My Words, My Life, the title of my “Voices in My Head” column in this month’s Booklist. If you are attending #ALA11 in New Orleans, stop by the Booklist booth 1334 to grab a FREE copy of the June issue, which features both a Spotlight on Biographies AND the annual Audiobook Showcase. Check out the video below, where Brian Johnson talks about the process of recording his own book – clearly he had a blast!

June 27th: Top narrators, a goody bag & reception, all for FREE. A great finish to the American Library Association’s Annual Conference in New Orleans, whether you are an audio aficionado or new to the genre.

Celebrate the spoken word at the 2011 Odyssey Award Presentation featuring clips from the 2011 winners of the award that highlights the most excellent audiobook productions for children and young adults. Bahni Turpin, the reader of Odyssey winner The True Meaning of Smekday (Listening Library), is slated to speak as are MacLeod Andrews (narrator of Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green, Brilliance Audio), Emma Bering and Emily Janice Card (narrators of Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly, Listening Library), Booklist’s Voice of Choice Katherine Kellgren (narrator of Alchemy and Meggy Swann by Karen Cushman, Listening Library), and Nick Podehl (narrator of The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness, Brilliance Audio).

This free program concludes with a reception sponsored by the Audio Publishers Association and a cash bar. The Odyssey Award is presented annually to the best audiobook production for youth. It is co-administered by YALSA and ALSC and is sponsored by Booklist magazine. The Odyssey Award Presentation and Program, will take place Monday, June 27,  from 4:00-5:30pm in room 356-357, New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. Hope to see you there!

Brick has been sharing the nitty-gritty on the process of creating an audiobook every day of June is Audiobook Month, in his 140-character Twitter posts using the #NARR8 tag. But he’s caught video star fever, and is posting his tweets on his MrScottBrick YouTube Channel, read by some of your favorite narrators, including Booklist Voice of Choice narrators Barbara Rosenblat, Katherine Kellgren, Simon Vance, and top producers such as Paul Allan Ruben. Short, and definitely sweet!

The 2011 Audies Awards featured on Talk of the Nation today, with Arnie Cardillo (Live Oak Media), narrator George Guidall, and Janet Benson, president Audio Publishers Association, the guests. Cardillo spoke about about his production Here in Harlem, by Walter Dean Myers, the winner of this year’s Distinguished Achievement in Production award, and mentioned ALA’s Odyssey Award. Guidall shared his opinions on the value of listening and how he became a narrator. Benson spoke about current challenges facing publishers with the transition to digital, and mentioned synced text & audio – the toggle effect I am SO waiting for!!

And here’s a conundrum – NPR uses the term “audio book.” The Audio Publishers Association has championed the adoption of the single-word name audiobook. And just recently I picked up a flyer in a local public library where both terms were used! Of course, there are plenty out there that still call CDs & digital downloads “books on tape.”

Debut novelist Clark’s legal expertise forms the foundation of her thriller (you remember her as the lead prosecutor in the OJ Simpson murder trial), but it’s the fresh wit that has earned her hot new mystery Guilt by Association multiple starred reviews. I’ve got an exclusive  video below of Clark chatting with narrator January LaVoy about her book published by Mulholland Books & the Hachette Audio production. I find it interesting that both Clark & LaVoy both look alike and sound alike – one of those great pairings of author and reader, which will hopefully continue as new titles in the series are published. Put Guilt by Association in the CD player and get ready for a fast-paced ride with Rachel Knight, a heroine whose role as DA and member of the Special Trials Unit drives the L.A. legal scene action. Her smart-mouth humor will have you laughing out loud and the gritty action will whet your appetite for the next installment. Prime summertime listening!

Musician Jack White puts the spotlight Amy Winter’s video that’s had over 5 million YouTube views in an NPR story The Flipside With Jack White: Why He Loves Accents, But Hates His Own by Bill Boilen. Winter recently released a vinyl 45 with White, Discourse on Accents, that starts with the classic readalong audiobook phrase “You can read along with me in your book. You will know it is time to turn the page when you hear the chimes ring like this…” Doin’ it old school!

If you’ve never seen the video, where Walker morphs between 21 accents, check out her expertise in the video below. Impressive, yes, but nothing I haven’t heard plenty of my favorite audiobook narrators pull off with subtle ease – and let’s not forget Jim Dale, whose creation of 134 voices for a single Harry Potter audiobook put him in the Guinness Book of World Records!

Patrons want more after watching the movie? Here’s a video of a REAL 1938 speech by King George VI, courtesy of Open Culture and the British Pathe historical archive. And don’t forget to order the Tantor audiobook of The King’s Speech, written by London Sunday Times journalist Peter Conradi and Mark Logue—grandson of Lionel Logue, whose recently discovered diaries are the true story behind the movie. Simon Vance, Booklist’s Voice of Choice, narrates the title which will be available Feb. 28th.

Weston Woods gave me the chance to be part of  an ALA Notable production! You might remember my post about recording the background clucks and squawks for Rebecca Emberley & Ed Emberley’s Chicken Little, hilariously narrated by the reboubtable Walter Mayes. Connie Rockman & I had a complete blast behind the mic providing the “voices” of Mayes’ panicked friends, a complete about-face from our usual seats behind the table in an ALA award committee. Chicken Little gave us the chance to tag on Walter’s tail-feathers and bask in the reflected glow of not one but TWO Notable seals on the production – one from the Notable Children’s Recordings committee for the audiobook, and a Notable Children’s Video as well. The best moment? When I played the audio for my granddaughter, who astutely crowed “Grandma!” when she heard my “Awks” and “Eeps”

Flo Gibson’s 1,134 audiobook recordings hold a life’s-work of stellar narration. When Ms. Gibson, founder of Audio Book Contractors, passed away last week at the age of 86, the New York Times hailed her as “the Grand Dame of Audiobooks.” Margalit Fox’s NYT story highlighted a near 40-year career voicing unabridged classics that served as core collections for libraries establishing audiobook collections. Although many of Ms. Gibson’s recordings are available today through her company and vendors such as Audible and Recorded Books, it’s true that many have disappeared along with cassette collections. In a conversation on the Audiobook Community social network, Gibson fans praised the availability of out-of-print titles through their local public library.

This is a perfect opportunity to remind audiobook fans about the awesomeness of using the FREE resource WorldCat to track down audiobooks. And as Christine Bulson shares in her recent post on Booklist’s Points of Reference blog, there’s even a new WorldCat mobile app! Here’s a bit from a previous Audiobooker post about WorldCat…

If you are ever trying to track down the availability of a title in audiobook format, don’t waste time on store sites such as Amazon or Barnes & Noble. You’ll miss titles published by Recorded Books, BBC Audio (now AudioGo), and other major library-edition audiobook companies. Or you might find only the mass-market abridged version, and never realize that the unabridged audio is at the public library down the block! WorldCat even catalogs some Recordings for the Blind and Dyslexic titles – another tremendous resource for disabled patrons.

Don’t know what WorldCat is? Take time to explore! WorldCat is a great FREE resource from OCLC – basically, it is a worldwide online library catalog showing you public & academic libraries that own a particular title. But the awesome trick is that you can narrow the search to libraries near your zip code, and see the closest place to pick up a title – or request an interlibrary loan, even if it is a university library. WorldCat links you to the library’s website, allowing you to check to see if the title is on the shelf – and then to reserve online. You can create WorldCat lists, or – my favorite trick – get citations in five common styles, and export them to a variety of formats including EndNote and RefWorks. Instant Works Cited – even if you don’t have the title in hand!

If you like to add your audiobooks to LibraryThing, GoodReads, or Shelfari and you find only the print title’s info, pop over to WorldCat to grab the audiobook edition information!

The Art Of Storytelling Alive And Well In Audio Books by Lynn Neary features beloved audiobook icon George Guidall reflecting on the power of the spoken word, in both print and as an extended podcast on the NPR website. Guidall is one of the audiobook world’s most prolific voices, with over 900 titles to his name along with numerous honors and awards. From picture book read-alongs to providing the signature voice of best-selling series by blockbuster authors such as Tony Hillerman, Guidall has remained a constant standard of excellence for over twenty years. Visit Guidall’s website for a list of his favorite recordings, audio interview, and more. I’m always pleased to learn about audiobooks featured in the media (thanks, Bina!), but I am often bamboozelled by the name variations of the media format. In searching the NPR site, it looks like the NPR style book mandates “audio book” as two words. The Audio Publishers Association (“the voice of the audiobook industry”) holds for the single word “audiobook.” Those that started listening to Guidall when he was just a young whippersnapper might still call their downloaded digital recordings “books on tape.” In the fast-changing world of all things prefaced with the letter “i” or “e,”  it time for another name change to keep up with the new media Joneses? Perhaps we should shift to “aBook” for audiobooks! On second thought, this seems a bit like trying too hard. But it would make for a great alternate version of Lane Smith’s It’s a Book”

It’s no trick -  treat yourself to the perfect Halloween season listen:  Frankenstein, narrated by Simon Vance (Booklist’s 2008 Voice of Choice). Tantor Audio is offering the free download of the 8 hour, 30 minute classic for a “limited time,” so I suggest downloading it NOW. Just visit the Tantor website here and grab the MP3.

I love having audiobooks as an MP3 – I can add to my iPod, cell phone, or – my new favorite for audiobook listening – my Kindle 3. The Kindle won’t allow download of many non-Audible audiobook formats (for example, those downloaded from the public library) but you can drag-n-drop MP3 audiobooks onto the Kindle as if they were music files. One thing I don’t like? That Amazon (owner of Audible) has not yet enabled playing a professionally narrated audiobook downloaded from Audible (or an MP3) WHILE following along with the book. I know that following the text while listening to the robotic Kindle text-to-speech is a technique used by some readers, but it would be so much better to have a real person doing the reading. And while I’m making my wish list, how about bundled purchase of both print & professional audiobook of bestsellers in a single package or download – just like Tantor has been doing with their nearly 300 classics plus companion PDF eBook on disc!