Welcome to the AudioBook News Service's semi-annual review of some of the new and bestselling audio books (along with a few old classics). Our goal is to provide a lively, upbeat and unbiased review of the latest audio books. We are now celebrating the start of our 7th year of continuous operation! You can read more about us below. or jump directly to the current reviews. Please note our new mailing address below.

New Releases:  Check out where the excitement is. Now you can go directly to the new release section of many of the top audio companies by clicking these custom links that we have assembled click here.

Poetry Voices:  A new project we are working on. Hear the actual voice recording of: Gwendolyn Brooks, WB Yeats, Langston Hughes, JRR Tolkien, Edith Sitwell, Countee Cullen, Richard Eberhart, Robert Graves, Marilyn Hackler, Ted Hughes, Philip Levine, Archibald Macleish, Marianne Moore, Ezra Pound, Stephen Spender, Edna St. Vincent Millay, May Swenson, ee cummings, and several others. Order directly from Amazon at click here.

Children's Audio Column:  We have a fun column that reviews the latest children's audios. It is written by children's teacher and professional audio reviewer Jessica Teel click here.

Reviews from Jonathan Lowe: For over three years, we have included regular columns from audio insider Jonathan Lowe. This feature has some interesting audio reviews along with occasional interviews and other information. click here

Jumpstart Kit:  This is something we developed to help encourage new audio book listeners to learn about the benefits and features of audio books. This site has links to the top audio publishers, frequently asked questions, history of audio books and much more click here

Starting an Audio Book Discussion Group: This free publication helps to explain some methods and techniques for starting an audio book club. We have recently added a bookmark template that you can use. click here

We are on the air! We have donated this column to two different audio networks for the blind. Our reviews are included on the closed circuit network that goes out to thousands of blind subscribers.

Thanks: To all of the audio book companies that send in review tapes. I try to listen to as many as possible and will usually consider them for the next issue. I have donated boxes of the tapes to Babcock Place (low income retirement home), AudioReader (blind audio network), McKinley Nursing Home, Francis House (homeless shelter), Sacramento Foundation for the Blind, along with the Oroville Public Library. More information about where to send any review copies click here.

Current Reviews:

$20 Per Gallon:
How the Inevitable Rise in the Price of Gasoline
Will Change Our Lives for the Better.
By Christopher Steiner. Read by the author.
Hachette Audio
http://www.hachettebookgroupusa.com/ 

Steiner believes that the price of gasoline will continue to rise, and that this is not always a bad thing. For example, some of the benefits include: telecommuting will begin to expand rapidly. Trains and other mass transit will become more common. Cheap plastic items will go away because of the rising price to produce them. The big advantage is that expensive gas will encourage new and very promising innovations and personal choices.

The Big Idea, How to Make Your Entrepreneurial Dreams Come True,
From the Aha Moment to Your First Million
By Donny Deutsch. Read by the author.
Hyperion Audiobooks
http://www.hyperionbooks.com/

This audio is a profile of some of the most interesting guests from CNBC television series, The Big Idea. The main focus is on entrepreneurial guests from the show and the lessons he's learned from them. The success stories are inspiring, and are complemented by practical advice and resources for building a business. One example is Lisa Lloyd, a single mother in poverty who borrowed money developed hair clips that created unique braids. Lloyd licensed the product to a national manufacturer, and it has achieved $30 million in sales.

How Successful People Think:
Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life
By John C. Maxwell. Read by Chris Sorenson.
Hachette Audio
http://www.hachettebookgroupusa.com/ 

This audio will teach listeners the 11 most effective ways to think, and is based on Maxwell’s previous book, Thinking for a Change. A quick sample includes Big-Picture Thinking - seeing the world beyond your own needs and how that leads to great ideas; Focused Thinking - removing mental clutter and distractions to realize your full potential; Creative Thinking - thinking in unique ways and making breakthroughs; Shared Thinking - working with others to compound results; Reflective Thinking - looking at the past to gain a better understanding of the future.

Essential Thoreau,
Henry David Thoreau
Read By Archibald Macleish
Caedmon of HarperCollins
http://www.harpercollins.com/ 

Most people have heard of Henry David Thoreau, but do not realize that he is one of the top authors in American history. This audio focuses on the detailed journal Thoreau kept from 1837 to 1862. His diary entries range from eclectic short stories to his continual attempts to improve his writing style. During this time Thoreau moved to Walden Pond and built his cabin on land owned by Ralph Waldo Emerson. He eventually wrote his well-known essay "Civil Disobedience."

Get Motivated!: Overcome Any Obstacle, Achieve
Any Goal and Accelerate Your Success
By Tamara Lowe. Read by the author.
Books on Tape
http://www.booksontape.com/ 

Tamara Lowe and her husband Peter, produce some of the world’s largest business and self-help seminars. This audio identifies drive as the single greatest key to success in every area of life, and that anyone can harness its potential in themselves. Additional lessons from high achievers as Jerry Lewis, Colin Powell, George Foreman, Joe Montana and Mother Teresa are included. Lowe also includes a large section on raising positive, motivated children.

Nelson Mandela's Favorite African Folktales
by Nelson Mandela
Narrated by: Charlize Theron, Benjamin Bratt, LeVar Burton, Samuel L. Jackson,
Matt Damon, Alan Rickman, Whoopi Goldberg. The introduction is by Archbishop Tutu.
Hachette Audio
http://www.hachettebookgroupusa.com/ 

An all-star narration cast helps bring to life Nobel Peace laureate Nelson Mandela’s collection of short stories that create a patchwork of legends drawn from all over the African continent, In one story, the children of an East African village must destroy a beautiful and enchanting bird that has brought bad luck to the surrounding countryside. In one story, a brave girl frees a prince from the spell that made him a python.

Who’s Who in the Age of Jesus,
By Geza Vermes, read by Patrick Lawlor
Tantor Media
http:// www.tantor.com/

Believe it or not, the New Testament gospels do not provide much information about Jesus, and this audio helps to provide more background detail. Included are portraits of John the Baptist, Pontius Pilate, Herod, Jesus and other key individuals of that era.

The Liar in Your Life:
The Way to Truthful Relationships
by Robert Feldman. Read by Bob Walter
Hachette Audio
http://www.hachettebookgroupusa.com/ 

Lies are much more common than we realize, and deception is an unfortunate part of everyday life, according to Robert Feldman. From mistruths by Presidents Nixon and Clinton, to false diplomas by the dean of admissions of M.I.T., to the lies from our local used car dealer. Feldman believes that the issue is not whether people lie to us, but how much and why, along with why we often believe them. Finally, he explores why we view certain lies as harmless, while rejecting others as manipulative and shameful.

The Second Book of the Tao
by Stephen Mitchell. Read by the author.
Penguin Audio
http://us.penguingroup.com/ 

This audio compliments Mitchell’s earlier works on the classic manual on the art of living. The Tao was written around the 6th century B.C. by Lao Tzu, and is written in prose to represent aspects of life, or “the way.” Stephen Mitchell has several other spiritual books and audios, such as The Gospel According to Jesus, Bhagavad Gita, The Book of Job, Meetings with the Archangel, and Gilgamesh.

The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe
By J. Randy Taraborrelli. Read by Robert Petkoff
Hachette Audio
http://www.hachettebookgroupusa.com/ 

Movie star legend Marilyn Monroe had a much more difficult childhood than most people realize, including experiences with poverty, mental illness and abandonment. Her mother, Gladys Baker, who gave up her daughter, Norma Jeane (Marilyn) after having two other children kidnapped from her. Marilyn was bounced around in foster homes and learned some dysfunctional behavior as a result. The audio also explores Marilyn's so-called affair with JFK; and he reveals shocking information about Marilyn's relationship with Robert Kennedy.

Neil Simon’s Broadway Bound,
Read by a Full Cast
L.A. Theatre Works
http://www.latw.org 

After returning home from World War II, Eugene Jerome joins up with his brother Stanley to break into the world of professional comedy writing, but a lively and sometimes unsupportive family stands in the way. The play that this audio is based on a semi-autobiographical trilogy, following on from Brighton Beach memoirs and Biloxi Blues. It won a Tony Award for Best Play Nominee.

Start Where You Are,
Life Lessons in Getting From Where You Are to Where You Want to Be.
By Chris Gardner. Read by Andre Blake.
HarperCollins Audio
http://www.harpercollins.com/ 

Bestselling author Chris Gardner provides a narrative of his rise from homelessness to business success in this audio. Besides the personal story, Gardner provides inspiration for anyone who wants to launch a personal or professional undertaking, or someone who simply wants to break through the cycles and thinking that have limited his or her potential in the past.

What Would Google Do?
By Jeff Jarvis. Read by the author.
HarperCollins Audio
http://www.harpercollins.com/ 

Jarvis offers observations and insights for individuals and businesses who want to maximize the opportunities available on the Internet. He provides a new set of rules for emerging technologies as well as industries such as retail, manufacturing, and service. Jarvis encourages the belief that customers are now in charge, and they need to be treated as a partner by any successful online business.

Pride and Prejudice - unabridged audio
By Jane Austen
Read by Helen Lisanti
http://Audiodrama.com 

Pride and Prejudice, A comedy–drama of manners, set in late–eighteenth–century England - the author provides us with a glimpse of the social issues of her time through her keen wit and exquisite sense of humor. Read by Helen Lisanti, a rising star in audio narration who found this project a creative and joyful experience.

Hit Hard: A Story of Hitting Rock Bottom at the Top
by Joey Kramer Read by the author
HarperCollins Audio
http://www.harpercollins.com/ 

Aerosmith drummer Kramer shares the good and bad memories in his memoir. Much of the story centers on his drug and alcohol abuse, and his love/hate relationship with his father, his wife and band member Steven Tyler. He also provides a background sketch on how he developed his own musicianship and how the band Aerosmith rose to the top, crashed, and climbed the charts again. The main theme is his roller coaster ride through the excess of drugs, alcohol, and fast living.
 

About us: The AudioBook News Service is semiannual review of some of the new and best-selling audio books (along with a few old classics). Our goal is to provide a lively, upbeat and unbiased review of the latest audio books. We specialize in non-fiction (narrative, instructional, self-help, etc.) but also consider fiction. This column can be reproduced in part or as a whole, without cost or obligation as long as we are notified of where it will be published. AudioBook News Service is the creation of journalist and college instructor Rick Sheridan. He is the primary writer and reviewer for this column. This column is sent out to over 1,100 book and audio reviewers, journalists, book publishers, bookstores, audio companies and others, mostly by e-mail. Rick also writes occasional reviews for Amazon.com and Magical Blend magazine.

Check out some of our previous columns:

Please send in any audio books to be reviewed in the next issue to our new address:

Rick Sheridan,
AudioBook News Service
1745 Louisiana Street
Lawrence, KS 66044
(916) 716-1608
ricksheridan57 @ yahoo.com

(Please Note: This is an 'anti-spam' email address written so that the robot/spiders don't read it. Please type the email address without the spaces when you submit to us. Do not just copy and paste it, the spaces will cause it to be incorrect).