Reading Gives Them a Headache: Audiobooks are, of course, perfect for anyone who has vision issues! Even after a special problem like light sensitivity is diagnosed, audiobooks may still be useful for a break from having to look at the text. Though we always recommend a “listen and read” method that pairs print books with audio, students who need a break from the print will still be able to keep up with the rest of the class by just listening.

They Can’t Read as Fast as Others and Get Left Behind, Don’t Want to Get Put into the “Slow” Group, or Think They Are So Far Behind They’ll Never Catch Up: Speaking of keeping up with the class, using audiobooks in a “listen and read” fashion is a great way to keep everyone on the same page (or at least reading at the same pace). Research has shown that students’ reading comprehension actually raises when pairing audio with print—even in unique instances like Scholastic discusses, where a student can read quickly, but not comprehend at that speed. So whether the whole class uses audio or just those that need help keeping up, audiobooks are a great way to keep everyone up to speed.

They Fear Reading Aloud: If you still choose to use the “round robin” method of reading, students practicing with audiobooks will be able to build fluency and confidence for when it’s their turn to read aloud to the class. Alternately, you can play the audiobook for whole-class listening. Students will all be able to listen to a trained and talented narrator reading the book, rather than their peers possibly stumbling over words and phrases—which will improve comprehension.

They Expect to Fail or Can’t Remember : As mentioned before, pairing audio with print increases comprehension—so students who before struggled to understand the text will now be more confident come test day.

They Think They Have to Finish Each Selection, No Matter How Long or Difficult, or Aren’t Interested in the Matierial: We believe in giving students choice. But audiobooks may help students get through a selection that they’d otherwise find too long, difficult, or boring. And once they’ve finished one, they might be inspired to try more longer and difficult passages. Audiobooks allow readers to access a higher reading level than print alone, which can increase confidence in nonreaders and reading enthusiasts to try something they may not have picked up previously.

Fiction and Classics

STATE OF WONDER Ann Patchett
Read by Hope Davis (Harper Audio/Recorded Books)
“The audiobook equivalent of “couldn’t put it down” must be “couldn’t pause it.” There was little pause time during this reviewer’s amazing experience of Patchett’s new novel. Hope Davis astutely paces the suspenseful odyssey from a sedate Minnesota pharmaceutical lab to the darkest Amazonian jungle.”

Mystery and Suspense

BEFORE I GO TO SLEEP S.J. Watson
Read by Orlagh Cassidy (Harper Audio/Recorded Books)
“Cassidy draws listeners into the shadowy depths of Christine’s increasing fear each time a snatch of memory returns. This novel will haunt listeners, and Cassidy’s narration is top-notch.”

PIRATE KING Laurie R. King
Read by Jenny Sterlin (Recorded Books)
“Sterlin’s intelligent performance keeps Laurie R. King’s delightful descriptions, breakneck action, and appealing characters humorous and captivating.”

Nonfiction and Culture

BOOMERANG Michael Lewis
Read by Dylan Baker (Simon & Schuster Audio/Recorded Books)
“Baker’s voice reflects Michael Lewis’s bemused realization that many of these cultures and individuals had no idea of the manipulative power of the global financial industry. If you didn’t laugh, you’d cry.”

Biography and History

THE GREATER JOURNEY David McCullough
Read by Edward Herrmann (Simon & Schuster Audio/Recorded Books)
“Edward Herrmann’s sterling voice is compatible with McCullough’s familiar syntax and manner of inflection, and conveys the distinctive character and mood of his prose … This is popular history at its best and is certain to become one of this year’s most prestigious audio releases.”

Young Adult and Fantasy

A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES Deborah Harkness
Read by Jennifer Ikeda (Penguin Audio/Recorded Books)
“[Jennifer Ikeda's] narration is quietly charming. Often her voice holds a hushed rapture that reflects the magical world uncovered by Diana and Matthew … Through the narration, Matthew’s polished façade transforms to reveal a fierce knight determined to defend his mate.”

GOLIATH Scott Westerfeld
Read by Alan Cumming (Simon & Schuster Audio/Recorded Books)
“Westerfeld hints that it’s not the last we’ve seen of the duo. One hopes that the engaging Cumming will continue to soar with them.”

Multi-Voice Productions

GREAT HOUSE Nicole Krauss
Read by Alma Cuervo, George Guidall, Celeste Ciulla, et al. (Recorded Books)
“Beautifully read and artfully written, Krauss’s every sentence wraps itself around the heart. Prepare to be mesmerized.”

SING YOU HOME Jodi Picoult
Read by Therese Plummer, Brian Hutchinson (Recorded Books)
“Music is an apt accompaniment to a story about a music therapist who finds herself falling in love with a woman after her husband leaves her. The songs, written by Picoult and Ellen Wilber, who performs them, are placed at relevant points in the heartbreaking story. Therese Plummer performs the women’s roles with pure expressions of joy, anger, and grief … A bittersweet and riveting listening experience.”

UNFAMILIAR FISHES Sarah Vowell
Read by Sarah Vowell, John Slattery, Paul Rudd, et al. (Simon & Schuster Audio/Recorded Books)
“Vowell is a master of blending current culture and personal anecdotes with historical details.”

FICTION & POETRY

• The Angel Esmeralda: Nine Stories by Don DeLillo
• 11/22/63 by Stephen King – Amazon Best Book of 2011!
• Lost Memory of Skin by Russell Banks – Amazon Best Book of 2011!
• My New American Life by Francine Prose
• Open City by Teju Cole – Griot Audio Exclusive!
• Ten Thousand Saints by Eleanor Henderson
• The Tragedy of Arthur by Arthur Phillips

NONFICTION

• And So It Goes. Kurt Vonnegut: A Life by Charles J. Shields
• Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness by Alexandra Fuller
• Harlem Is Nowhere: A Journey to the Mecca of Black America by Sharifa Rhodes-Pitts – Griot Audio Exclusive!
• Moby-Duck: The True Story of 28,800 Bath Toys Lost at Sea and of the Beachcombers, Oceanographers, Environmentalists, and Fools, Including the Author, Who Went in Search of Them by Donovan Hohn
• Rin Tin Tin: The Life and the Legend by Susan Orlean
• The Swerve: How the World Became Modern by Stephen Greenblatt – 2011 National Book Award Winner!

“Her first novel, Restoree, was written as a protest against the absurd and unrealistic portrayals of women in s-f novels in the 50s and early 60s. It is, however, in the handling of broader themes and the worlds of her imagination, particularly the two series The Ship Who Sang and the fourteen novels about the Dragonriders of Pern that Ms. McCaffrey’s talents as a story-teller are best displayed.”

McCaffrey broke new ground for female sci-fi writers. According to Wikipedia, “In 1968, McCaffrey became the first woman to win a Hugo Award for a work of fiction, and in 1969 became the first woman to win a Nebula Award. She became the first with a science fiction title on The New York Times Best Seller list in 1978, with The White Dragon. The Science Fiction Writers of America in 2005 named her the 22nd Grand Master, a now-annual award to living writers of fantasy and science fiction. The Science Fiction Hall of Fame inducted her 17 June 2006.

McCaffrey’s great contributions to the science fiction genre will be missed.

We’ll also be merging our two separate Facebook pages into one feed. If you’re not a fan yet and would like to become one, you still can! All current fans will be kept when the page merge occurs, so you’ll still continue to get news about special deals, contests, and more via our Facebook feed.

Want to get a newsletter with a recap of each month’s biggest deals, hottest titles, and most important news? Sign up for our mailing list and you’ll receive our monthly newsletter.

As we move forward with these changes, please let us know what you think!

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness
Claire DeWitt and the City of the Dead by Sara Gran
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
The Tiger’s Wife by Téa Obreht
The Swerve by Stephen Greenblatt – An Audiofile Earphones Award Winner!

2011 National Book Award Winners

• National Book Award for Fiction
  Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward (to be released on audiobook in 2012!)
• National Book Award for Nonfiction
  The Swerve by Stephen Greenblatt (to be released on audiobook in 2012!)
• National Book Award for Young People’s Literature
  Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai (to be released on audiobook in 2012!)

Also check out these past National Book Award for Fiction winners on audio:

• 2009: Let The Great World Spin by Colum McCann
• 2010: Lord of Misrule by Jaimy Gordon

• Illinois’s Dundee Public Library will receive a Disney Interactive prize package, including a Nintendo 3DS and a collection of Disney character games.
• Pikes Peak Public Library District in Colorado won a prize package from WB Games, including Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster and Batman: Arkham City.
• Both Lane Public Library in Ohio and Bloomington Public Library in Illinois will be getting games for the Sony Playsation3
• Pennsylvania’s Bucks County Public Library will receive a THQ prize package that includes UFC Personal Trainer.
• Cape May Public Library in New Jersey won a Mentor Interactive prize package including a ThinkSmart video game collection for the Nintendo DS and Wii.

Recorded Books offers popular movies and games to public and school libraries for purchase in partnership with Video Production Distributors. To find out more, please visit http://recordedbooks.com/games.

To download the official press release, CLICK HERE.

“…In a voice that brings to mind Holden Caulfield and David Sedaris rolled into one…Narrator Ramón de Ocampo is completely tuned in to Greg’s angst-filled point of view. Though Greg is not always what you’d call a sympathetic character, de Ocampo’s well-dramatized, insightful presentations of his various plights evoke our empathy—and laughter.”
—AudioFile Magazine

If you’d like to download the official Cabin Fever event kit, including a teacher’s guide, CLICK HERE!

Happy Halloween! To see what’s going on in the RB office for Halloween, check out the Twitter feed (which you can view even if you don’t use Twitter).