Distinctive 2007 non-fiction audiobooks
February 24, 2008 – 11:24 pmLibrary Journal published its BEST list on January 15, 2008. Links in blue are to the non-fiction audiobooks which are in the Spokane Public Library collection. Find a favorite and reserve today! Fiction titles are in last week’s entry.
Best Audiobooks of 2007
By Ann Burns — Library Journal, 1/15/2008
Heard any good books lately? Apparently, lots of people are listening. According to a survey conducted by the Audio Publishers Association, annual audiobook sales are now estimated at $923 million. Customers find books at libraries, retail stores, and through downloading, which is becoming the fastest-growing audiobook format. This year’s “best” list includes titles by the late sf author Octavia Butler, best-selling authors Khaled Hosseini and Nora Roberts, Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates, and Good Morning America coanchor Robin Roberts. We owe a debt of gratitude to our team of reviewers, whose assessments are quoted below, for assisting us in compiling this annual roundup.
Nonfiction
Beston, Henry. The Outermost House: A Year of Life on the Great Beach of Cape Cod. Silver Hollow Audio. 5 CDs. 5 hrs. ISBN 978-0-9793115-0-5. $29.95.
Beston chronicles his yearlong stay on the sand dunes of Cape Cod, watching migrant birds and paying attention to colors in the waves, the sky, and the vegetation. “Brett Barry’s narration is ideally suited” to the work. “Daniel Payne’s interview with the author…enhances the book’s message.” (LJ 10/1/07)
Frank, Robert. Richistan: A Journey Through the American Wealth Boom and the Lives of the New Rich. Tantor Audio. 6 CDs. 7½ hrs. ISBN 978-1-4001-0445-1. $29.99.
Dick Hill’s “lively narration…helps maintain interest throughout” this book that focuses on the lifestyles of American millionaires. Drawing on his Wall Street Journal column “The Wealth Report,” Frank analyzes investing patterns, charitable giving, luxury purchases, and much more. “An important contribution to the fields of economics and demography.” (LJ 12/07)
Listen. MP3
Gates, Henry Louis, Jr. Finding Oprah’s Roots: Finding Your Own. Books on Tape. 5 CDs. 5¼ hrs. ISBN 978-1-4159-3914-7. $50.
In this genealogical guide, a companion to a PBS documentary, Harvard professor Gates, using Oprah Winfrey and her ancestors as an example, provides African Americans with “a solid framework” for searching their roots. He stresses how important it is to gather and confirm “as much oral history as one can.” Narrator Dominic Hoffman “executes this gem of a book with a comfortable and polished delivery.” (LJ 11/1/07)
Geist, Bill. Way Off the Road: Discovering the Peculiar Charms of Small-Town America. Tantor Audio. 6 CDs. 7 hrs. ISBN 978-1-4001-0467-3. $29.99.
CBS News correspondent Geist travels around the country showing weird, wild, and wonderful people on his Sunday Morning segments. Here, he presents humorous stories of the people he’s met on his many years on the road, those who have “taken lemons and made some mighty sweet lemonade.” (LJ 10/15/07)
Listen. MP3
Offley, Ed. Scorpion Down: Sunk by the Soviets, Buried by the Pentagon; The Untold Story of the USS Scorpion. HighBridge Audio. 12 CDs. 15 hrs. ISBN 978-1-59887-093-0. $39.95.
Richard Ferrone’s “gravelly voice fairly crackles with intensity” throughout this account of the 1968 sinking of the USS Scorpion, which journalist Offley believes was deliberate owing to Cold War tensions between the United States and the then Soviet Union. “First class.” (LJ 9/15/07)
Listen. MP3
Pagels, Elaine & Karen L. King. Reading Judas: The Gospel of Jesus and the Shaping of Christianity. Penguin Audio. 3 CDs. 4 hrs. ISBN 978-0-14-314186-0. $29.95
Noted religion scholars Pagels and King present a “fascinating” study of good vs. evil, of “how Christianity evolved, and the complex nature of human suffering and redemption,” based on King’s translation of the Gnostic gospel. “The reading by Justine Eyre and Robertson Dean provides an excellent point-counterpoint approach….” (LJ 8/07)
Listen. MP3
Pond, Jonathan D. You Can Do It: The Boomer’s Guide to a Great Retirement. HarperAudio. 5 CDs. 6 hrs. ISBN 978-0-06-114983-2. $29.95.
Emmy Award—winning contributing writer to a series on financial planning, Pond “presents a refreshing approach to retirement planning” for aging baby boomers, eschewing the “alarmist, gloom-and-doom perspective.” (LJ 6/1/07)
Listen. MP3
A Roberts, Robin. From the Heart: Seven Rules To Live By. Hyperion Audiobks. 2 CDs. 2½ hrs. ISBN 978-1-4013-8727-3. $19.98.
Good Morning America coanchor Roberts, recently diagnosed with breast cancer, “reflects on Hurricane Katrina,” “her 15 years at ESPN,” and “her faith,” among other topics, in this book packed with valuable wisdom. A “moving program,” with “musical interludes and the author’s lively presentation.” (LJ 12/07)
Tapscott, Don & Anthony D. Williams. Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything. Tantor Audio. 11 CDs. 13½ hrs. ISBN 978-1-4001-0415-4. $37.99.
“Alan Sklar’s rich…narration” keeps listeners interested in this “fascinating analysis of the quickly changing world of Internet togetherness…and what those changes mean for business and technology.” (LJ 9/15/07)
Listen. MP3
Woodruff, Lee & Bob Woodruff. In an Instant: A Family’s Journey of Love and Healing. Recorded Bks. 8 cassettes. 9¾ hrs. ISBN 978-1-4281-5761-3. $72.75; 8 CDs. ISBN 978-1-4281-5763-7. $92.75.
ABC News correspondent Bob Woodruff was embedded with the military in Iraq in 2006 when he suffered a head injury after being hit with an explosive device. “This powerful dual memoir” by Bob and his wife, Lee, “is an inspiring story” of love and courage. Their narration “enhances the listening experience and brings an added poignancy to the events they describe.” (LJ 10/15/07) Listen. MP3
