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Best Audiobooks of 2005
AudioFile's editors choose 38 must-hear audiobooks of the past year. All are intimate, amazing, unforgettable audio performances--the best of what the medium can do.
  TOP 10 FICTION | |||
FAHRENHEIT 451 Ray Bradbury | UN | ||
THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY Douglas Adams | UN | ||
THE LOST MOTHER Mary McGarry Morris | UN | ||
THE MARCH E.L. Doctorow | UN | ||
THE MASTER Colm Tóibín | UN | ||
THE MERMAID CHAIR Sue Monk Kidd | UN | ||
THE NINTH LIFE OF LOUIS DRAX Liz Jensen | UN | ||
PORTUGUESE IRREGULAR VERBS Alexander McCall Smith | UN | ||
A SLIGHT TRICK OF THE MIND Mitch Cullin | UN | ||
THOSE WHO SAVE US Jenna Blum | UN | ||
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| TOP 6 FAMILY LISTENING | |||
ELDEST Christopher Paolini | UN | ||
HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE J.K. Rowling | UN | ||
KIRA-KIRA Cynthia Kadohata | UN | ||
MAGYK Angie Sage | UN | ||
MYSTERY! MYSTERY! FOR CHILDREN Jim Weiss | AUD | ||
PRIVATE PEACEFUL Michael Morpurgo | UN | ||
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| TOP 3 AUDIO ORIGINALS | |||
AMERICA (THE AUDIOBOOK) Jon Stewart et al. | AB | ||
THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY: THE TERTIARY PHASEDouglas Adams | AUD | ||
LOST & FOUND SOUND AND BEYOND The Kitchen Sisters, Jay Allison | AUD | ||
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| TOP 5 BIOGRAPHY & HISTORY | |||
1776 David McCullough | UN | ||
MY LIFE SO FAR Jane Fonda | AB | ||
GARLIC AND SAPPHIRES Ruth Reichl | UN | ||
THE PONTIFF IN WINTER John Cornwall | UN | ||
READING LOLITA IN TEHRAN Azar Nafisi | UN | ||
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| TOP 4 CONTEMPORARY CULTURE | |||
BLINK Malcolm Gladwell | UN | ||
FIRE IN THE HEART Deepak Chopra | UN | ||
THE JOURNEY OF CRAZY HORSE Joseph Marshall III | UN | ||
THE WORLD IS FLAT Thomas L. Friedman | UN | ||
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| TOP 10 MYSTERY & SUSPENSE | |||
ALONE Lisa Gardner | AB | ||
DARK VOYAGE Alan Furst | UN | ||
DEAD I WELL MAY BE Adrian McKinty | UN | ||
JANE AND HIS LORDSHIP'S LEGACY Stephanie Barron | UN | ||
ONE SHOT Lee Child | UN | ||
RUMPOLE AND THE PENGE BUNGALOW MURDERS John Mortimer | UN | ||
SHERLOCK HOLMES THEATRE Sherlock Holmes, Yuri Rasovsky | AUD | ||
TRANSGRESSIONS: CHASING SHADOWS Walter Mosley, Joyce Carol Oates | UN | ||
THE TRUDEAU VECTOR Juris Jurjevics | UN | ||
WITH NO ONE AS WITNESS Elizabeth George | UN | ||
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 You could call author Lee Child and narrator Dick Hill partners in crime--Hill has narrated all of Child's audiobooks starring former military cop Jack Reacher. Child told AudioFile that Hill's interpretation of Reacher is so convincing that he now hears it when he reads his work to himself. "Dick's just got it, period." AudioFile's review calls ONE SHOT, the latest Reacher thriller, "the ultimate disc-turner."Read Review | |||
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| UN = Unabridged AB = Abridged AUD = Audio program | |||
2003 marked the 50th anniversary ofFAHRENHEIT 451--the kind of perennial classic that supports multiple audio editions and finds new fans in every generation. Audiophiles can hear Ray Bradbury reading his own work; Scott Brick's new recording is equally compelling and, as our reviewer noted, "even more chilling and disturbing today." The medium of spoken word seems especially appropriate for Bradbury, who wrote in the afterword to his story collection QUICKER THAN THE EYE: "I don't wait for inspiration. It jolts me every morning. Just before dawn, when I would prefer to sleep in, the damned stuff speaks between my ears with my Theater of Morning Voices."
THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY is a different kind of classic--a cult hit that's as popular today as it was 30 years ago. This year brought a big-screen version and a new audio edition, both of which featured Stephen Fry to hilarious effect. Fry is the voice of the Harry Potter audiobooks in the UK, but across the pond, U.S. listeners have been treated to Fry's readings of A BEAR CALLED PADDINGTON as well as his own RESCUING THE SPECTACLED BEAR this year. We'd like to hear him do more--perhaps starting with Hitchhiker sequel THE RESTAURANT AT THE END OF THE UNIVERSE?
Jim Dale (who was honored as best male narrator in last year's Audie Awards) toured around the country this summer in unprecedented narratorial support ofHARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE--and received rock star treatment wherever he went. That's what we call audio magic. Some lucky fans even got Dale's voice on their answering machines, reminding them to pick up the book (as if they needed reminding!). In another landmark this year, Harry finally emerged from the audio dark ages when all six books in the series became available as digital downloads exclusively through Apple's iTunes Music Store. There's even a limited edition Hogwarts iPod.
Fans of "The Daily Show" brand of fake news got their first taste of America on audio: It was released as an exclusive download from Audible.com a week before the print book hit bookstore shelves. The audiobook, narrated by Jon Stewart and other "Daily Show" cast members, went on to be an Audie Award Finalist and win the spoken word Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album. We said it was "liable to become a classic of political satire."
MY LIFE SO FAR was probably the highest of the high-profile celebrity memoirs to debut in 2005, but amid all the hype, listeners were treated to an especially intimate experience (and the closest most people will come to sitting down and having a cup of tea with Jane Fonda). She recorded both the abridged and unabridged versions because, as she says in an interview included with the audiobook, "I want my life in my voice." Jane's not the only skilled author-reader on our list: David McCullough brings erudition and gravitas to his engaging histories, including this year's 1776.
"Stories, as far as I'm concerned, are the best way for people to get to know about each other," says Lakota storyteller Joseph Marshall III. Marshall has been getting his message out--and people are listening. His collection THE LAKOTA WAY was published by the small Native American music label Makoché in 2003 and won an Audie Award. It was followed by THE JOURNEY OF CRAZY HORSE (HighBridge) and QUIET THUNDER (Sounds True), both Earphones Award winners. AudioFile's review of THE JOURNEY OF CRAZY HORSE raves, "Marshall still keeps listeners on the edge of their seats, rooting for Crazy Horse and the lost Lakota way of life."
Donada Peters (aka Wanda McCaddon) and Elizabeth George are another longtime author-narrator team who work in perfect harmony--even though the two have never met. McCaddon has narrated 13 of George's Scotland Yard mysteries, including the newest, WITH NO ONE AS WITNESS. McCaddon considers narrating the books to be "a joy" and enjoys interpreting George's "well-drawn, complex characters." George's characters have been interpreted for the screen as well--"The Inspector Lynley Mysteries," starring Sharon Small as Barbara Havers and Nathaniel Parker (also a narrator--listeners can hear him reading Eoin Colfer's Artemis Fowl series) as Thomas Lynley, air on PBS.