My Favorite Audiobooks

Back before the pandemic I listened to a lot of audiobooks; I started on audiobooks when I had a data entry job in a big bureaucratic library and nothing to do with my brain while my fingers typed things all day.

Later I listened on my commutes; these days I have to carve out special walking time to listen, and that just doesn't happen that often. I exercise plenty; I'm just not a big long-walker.

Where did I get them? At the library data entry job, I downloaded them from the library or rented discs from the local independent bookstore.  When I started working at a bookstore I could borrow audios and then a company came up called Libro.fm that offers ALCs, or Advance Listening Copies, to booksellers, and I still have a huge queue of audiobooks downloaded from them. 

Libro.fm has audiobooks that can be played on any device and your purchases support your local independent bookstore. The library is also a great choice for audiobooks and if you are visually impared or have another condition that affects your ability to read print books, you may be able to avail yourself of books from the Perkins School for the Blind.  

I'm not someone who fangirls over specific narrators but I do make one exception, the rock star Peter Berkrot, who was my improv teacher way back when at Boston Casting. If you ever see an audiobook that he narrates, you should buy it because he is the best.

Elizabeth McCracken's wonderful novel Bowlaway was one of my favorite fictional audio experiences. It's narrated by Kate Reading and she does such a great job bringing this narrative to life. Bowlaway tells the story of a Boston-area community over time and its people, starting with a woman named Bertha who opens a bowling alley. 

The audio of Truman Capote's In Cold Blood, narrated by the true-crime master Scott Brick, is one of the very few audiobooks I've listened to more than once. The book, a classic of the genre, is incredible and Brick tells this story with all the appropriate suspense and menace. He also narrated Eric Larson's The Devil in the White City and made it so creepy I had to stop listening and never finished the book.

Under the heading of author-read memoirs, there are two books that really stand out for me. One is the comic masterpiece Carsick, by John Waters. Oh-em-gee hilarious. Hil.Ar.Ious. 

Paul Auster's Winter Journal is so moving and enjoyable. I remember long walks around Cambridge listening to Auster tell his story. It's a case where the environmental experience I had colored and enriched my experience of the book.

Ben Macintyre's Double Cross is one of my all-time favorite World War 2 stories and the audio was just plain fun and fascinating and addictive. Double Cross is the story of the team of Allied spies who helped pull off the Normandy Invasion. The stories cover everything from society figures to double-agent pigeons to a guy in a house in England who created hundreds of fictional characters that passed as real people who played a range of roles in winning the war for the Allies. Amazing. It's narrated by the talented John Lee.

I want to go back to true crime with the magnetic I'll Be Gone in the Dark, by Michelle McNamara. I loved this book. It was so addictive and compulsively listenable, a book I would take a walk just to listen to. It's narrated by Gabra Zackman.

Finally I want to mention by #1 favorite audiobook author and narrator, David Sedaris. You can pick any of his books- it doesn't matter- he is always a delight. His most recent is Happy Go Lucky, a memoir. You just can't go wrong. My favorite is probably Holidays on Ice; I listen to "The SantaLand Diaries" every Christmas the way that some people watch Charlie Brown or the Grinch. It just doesn't get any better than that.

Paris in July- My French Book Reviews

 

I'm kind of late to the party for the Paris in July French book party going on in the blogosphere but here is a list of some of my favorite books I've reviewed that were originally written in French.

The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery, the book that put Europa Editions on the map.

Climates, by André Maurois, a great beach read of a romance novel, originally published in the 1920s.

Another frothy romance, Enough About Love, by Hervé le Tellier.

Fatale, by Jean-Patrick Manchette, a gritty, violent noir.

On Leave, by Daniel Anselme, a moving book about soldiers in the Algerian War.

The Truth About Marie, by Jean-Philippe Toussaint, about the end of a love affair.

The Last Brother, by Natacha Appanah, about World War 2 Mauritius- a gem.

The German Mujahid, by Boualem Sansal, an emotionally challenging novel about the legacy of the Holocaust for one German-Algerian family.

Of course these are just a few of my reviews of books in translation from the French. Hopefully you will find something to enjoy!

Books to Love, Books to Share

A while ago a bookseller friend of mine asked on his Facebook page the question "what book or books do you buy multiple copies of, to have on hand to pass out to friends?"

I offered a title but in truth I don't do this although I think it's a great idea. I definitely have my short list of go-to's of favorite titles to suggest when asked. But favorites are so personal, and just because I loved it doesn't mean someone else will, so I guess I hesitate to think of any book as a one-size-fits-all.

Nonetheless I am now going to tell you about some books I should carry around in multiples and pass out all the time. You might keep these in mind for holiday gifts as well.

The Wedding of Zein, by Tayeb Salih. This short comic novel about a misfit and his nuptials is pure delight. It's small enough that you could carry it around.

Dinner, by César Aira. Zombies and single men in a small town in Argentina. Funny, crazy, ridiculous.
It's great.

Prophets of Eternal Fjord, by Kim Leine. An immersive
historical novel set in Greenland in the 19th century, this tale of a preacher going to convert indigenous people is fascinating, raw and unforgettable.

The Missing Year of Juan Salvatierra, by Pedro Mairal. Juan Salvatierra was a mute and an artist; his sole work was a huge painting that he worked on for his entire adult life. When he dies, his son tries to find a single scroll of the painting representing a year of his father's life. What he finds, what he loses and what he finds out roll out in a simple and beautiful story. It turns out sometimes the trees must be gone in order to find the forest.

Hild, by Nicola Griffith. Another long and immersive historical novel, this time
set in England, about a little girl who grows into a saint- but has to get through girlhood first. I've seldom read such a gripping and detailed account either of early Britain or what it's like to grow up female.

The Son, by Phillip Meyer. A multigenerational tale set in Texas from the beginning to the end of the 20th century, this book deserves to be a classic. It's violent and charged-up as well as heartbreaking and full of insight into what makes us human.



Double Cross, by Ben Macintyre. I love Ben Macintyre's books about espionage and intrigue- all of them- but this is the best, in terms of scope and detail and range. This is nonfiction about some of the spies who helped the Allies plan and execute the D-Day invasion of Normandy- and the stuff is stranger than fiction, from the guy who invented non-existent Welsh nationalists to the carrier pigeons who sent information back and forth over enemy lines. And Macintyre's writing sparkles, as usual, and brings it all to life like it's happening right now.

And if you love reading about espionage you have to read Code Girls, by Liza Mundy, about the American women who were a crucial part of the war effort, decoding Axis messages right here in this country. What a fascinating and gripping story.

Last but by no means least, The Moonflower Vine, by Jetta
Carleton, is a rediscovered classic that deserves to be discovered again and again. It's the story of a 1930s Missouri family told from the point of view of each character and the narratives wrap around each other and laying bare their secrets, their shames and the love that pulses through their veins. This was a staff pick of mine in my bookselling days and did very, very well with my customers- it's the kind of book you want to share with a friend, and people did come back to buy multiple copies for friends after reading it. You might too.

So I picked these by going through my LibraryThing books for five-star ratings and then saying "yeah, that one." Very scientific. Nonetheless there you go.

Halloween Reads-Updated Edition

I haven't done a Halloween book list in a couple of years and I definitely have some spooky titles to share that weren't on there.

Get your flashlight and cozy blanket handy.

See What I Have Done, by Sarah Schmidt, is a fictional take on the real-life Lizzie Borden mystery- the gruesome murders of Fall River, Massachusetts. This will definitely keep you up at night.

J.W. Ocker's memoir A Season with the Witch: The Magic and Mayhem of Salem, Massachusetts is a fun, interesting and only slightly scary tale of one family's time in the Witch City. I grew up in and around Salem and Ocker gets its combo of schlock and history just right.

Dan Chaon's Ill Will is a long and frankly terrifying crime novel with a brutal twist ending. If you've never read him before- or even if you have- buckle up.

Out is a crime novel from Japan about how evil seeps into everything around it. The tale of a group of women drawn into a murder and its consequences, all the while moving around a vicious killer none of them knows about, will keep you turning pages to the bitter end.

Last year I finally read Bram Stoker's Dracula and if you haven't read it, you really have to. It's an incredible read and one of the foundations of modern horror.

Have a great Halloween!

Bastille Day Books

Here we are again, it's Bastille Day when we can all get the chance to be French for the day. Here are some of my favorite books to give you a little Gallic flair.

Henri de la Barbe, aka Henry Beard, penned this adorable and silly book to teach you how to speak French to your cat. It's indispensable. French for Cats: All the French Your Cat Will Ever Need truly lives up to its title.

Jean-Jacques Sempé is a wonderful artist and his book A Little Bit of Paris collects much of his charming, light-filled and evocative work focused on one of the most beautiful places in the world.

The Parisianer is a wordless, coffee-table-ready collection of illustrations by a variety of French artists, creating their own New Yorker-style "covers" highlighting different aspects of Parisian life. Arist Aurélie Pollet is the editor.

Antonia Fraser's accessible and lively biography of one of the most controversial figures of French history makes excellent reading. Marie Antoinette: The Journey attempts to rescue France's infamous queen and rehabilitate her image. Along the way it makes for fascinating look at French social and royal history. It's one of my favorites.

I'll finish off this year's quick list with a current novel, Nathacha Appanah's wonderful Waiting for Tomorrow, about contemporary French life, a friendship and a marriage all built on self-deception and denial. Appanah is one of the best people writing in French today.

Any of these books will give you a taste of France this Bastille Day weekend and beyond.

You Should Definitely Read These Books This Fall

There are so many good books coming out this fall. This list isn't really everything you should read this fall- it's just my top picks. But you should read all of these, even if there are also other things you should read too.

Fiction

The Resurrection of Joan Ashby, by Cherise Wolas (September)
The Best Kind of People, by Zoe Whitall (September)
Sing, Unburied, Sing, by Jesmyn Ward (September)
Belladonna, by Daša Drndic (September)
Little Fires Everywhere, by Celeste Ng (September)
Fever, by Deon Meyer (September)

Ferocity, by Nicola Legiola (October)
Madonna in a Fur Coat, by Sabahattin Ali (October)
Dunbar, by Edward St. Aubyn (October)

The Night Language, by David Rocklin (November)

Nonfiction

Marita: The Spy Who Loved Castro, by Marita Lorenz (September)
The Madeleine Project, by Clara Ledoux (September)


The Future is History: How Totalitarianism Reclaimed Russia, by Masha Gessen  (October)
Renoir: An Intimate Biography, by Barbara Ehrlich White (October)
San Francisco's Queen of Vice: The Strange Career of Abortionist Inez Brown Burns, by Lisa Riggin (currently on my nightstand) (October)

When Ferrante Isn't Enough

It's summer and you've got Ferrante Fever. You've read all of the Neapolitan Quartet, and maybe even some of her earlier, shorter fiction, and maybe her book of essays Frantumaglia, and her "children's" book The Beach at Night, and now you don't know what to do. You want more Italian literature- you're even willing to read translations- but you don't know where to start.

I can help.

Here are some of my favorite Italian novels in translation for Ferrante fanatics.

Swimming to Elba, by Sylvia Avallone. It's about two girls growing up, and apart, in a working class town in Tuscany. Translated by Antony Shugaar.


Happy Ending, by Francesca Durante, is a beautiful art-house-movie of a novel about wealthy family, also in Tuscany, dealing with love, loss and change. Translated by Annapaola Concogni.

From the Land of the Moon, by Milena
Agus, is a tiny perfect gem about a woman who finds out her life is not worthless after all . Translated by Ann Goldstein.

Crossroads or As God Commands, by Niccolo Ammaniti, about a group of friends with wild dreams to make their lives better and how it all goes wrong one stormy night in Italy, and a coming of age story about a 14 year old who finds himself picking up the pieces of their disastrous decisions.  Translated by Jonathan Hunt.

Quiet Chaos, by Sandro Veronesi, is about a man whose life is falling apart. His partner dies as he saves the life of another woman. And now he has to care for his young daughter and put the pieces back together. Simple, but perfect, and winner of Italy's Strega Prize. Translated by Michael F. Moore.

I Hadn't Understood, by Diego de Silva, is a funny and
moving crime novel (I know, right?) about a loser trying to save his career and win the woman of his dreams, avoid the mob and solve a murder. Spoiler alert: it works. Translated by Antony Shugaar.

Eva Sleeps, by Francesca Melandri, is a heart-string-puller about a woman who has a little girl out of wedlock in 1950s/1960s South Tyrol, and what happens to that girl when she grows up. It's a wonderful story. Translated by Katherine Gregor.

My Favorite Reads of 2016

2016 has been kind of a lackluster reading year for me. Personally 2016 has been pretty good; we bought a condo, I got a job in a local bookstore and I've messed around with background acting and even shown up on TV once or twice. But reading? Meh. I've been reading at a slower pace than usual and loving less than usual of what I've been reading. Which is not to say I haven't found some favorites. In no particular order here they are. Links are to my reviews.

2016 Releases I Loved 

Baba Dunja's Last Love. Alina Bronsky's latest is her best since Broken Glass Park, a bittersweet story about a Chernobyl survivor and her black-comedic search for meaning, dignity and family.

The City of Mirrors, Justin Cronin's finale to his show-stopping trilogy is a fitting ending to a series destined to be a classic.

The Pirate, Jon Gnarr's coming of age story set in 1970s Iceland is funny, heartbreaking and wonderful.

Charlotte Bronte: A Fiery Heart, Claire Harman's page-turning and fascinating biography of one of my favorite writers is now one of my favorite books.

Best of the Backlist

The Crossroads/As God Commands, by Niccolo Ammaniti is an amazing, emotionally shattering read.

The Passage, is the first book in Justin Cronin's Passage trilogy and one of my all-time favorites.

The Sparrow. Mary Doria Russell's literary-science fiction epic is a tough book but worth the effort.

Chocolates for Breakfast, by Pamela Moore, is a better-than-expected coming of age story set in California and New York.

Places of My Infancy, by Giuseppe di Lampedusa is beautiful and sweet memoir about his privileged Sicilian childhood.

A Man of Good Hope, by Jonny Steinberg, is a tremendous piece of journalism and biography set in Africa and the United States and essential reading in my opinion,

The Talented Mr. Ripley, by Patricia Highsmith, kept me turning the pages like mad and marveling at her brilliant prose and grasp of the psychology of madness.

Empire of the Summer Moon, by S.G. Gwynne, is an immersive if too-short history of the fall of the Comanches and their charismatic standard-bearer, Quanah Parker.

So there, that gets me to twelve favorites in no particular order. What were your favorites of 2016? And what are you looking forward to reading next?

What's Hot in Early 2017

Next year is going to be a great one for books.

As we start to wind down 2016 and look towards 2017, certainly a lot of big changes are on the horizon, but one thing that stays the same is the exciting winter book season. Winter is the best time to read- nothing beats curling up with a hot cocoa or tea and a blanket while you dive into that great new book.

Here are some I'm looking forward to in the coming months.

Ill Will, by Dan Chaon. I finished reading this already and let me tell you, it's hot. Like, keep you up all night hot. If you've read him before I don't have to tell you because you already know. But if you're new to Chaon's work, you'll love his literary brand of high-density suspense. Look for it in March from Scribner.


On the more commercial side, there's Peter Swanson's Her Every Fear,  a genuinely scary whodunit which will have you locked in place too. Releases in January from William Morrow.


The Impossible Fairy Tale, by Han Yujoo, bills itself as "a fresh and terrifying exploration of the ethics of art making and of the stinging consequences of neglect." It takes place in a school where there is one child who seems to go unnoticed until she starts editing her classmates' work. I haven't read this one yet but I am really looking forward to it. It comes out March 7 from Graywolf Press.

Booker Prize winner Aravind Adiga has a new novel, The Selection Day, coming out in January. I am a fan for life of his after The White Tiger. His new book takes place in Mumbai and focuses on a 14 year old talented cricket player named Manjunath whose life changes when he meets someone even better than himself, an older boy whose rival is Manjunath's brother. Coming from Scribner.

I'm reading Sana Krasikov's first full length novel, The Patriots, now, and it's a winner. It's about several generations of a Jewish family traveling back and forth from Russia and America. Her writing just sparkles. It releases in January from Spiegel & Grau.

Catriona Lally's Eggshells comes out in January. It's a fun and moving story about an Irish woman who longs to return to the world from which she believes she came, the world of fairies. From Melville House.

Also of interest is Val Emmich's The Reminders, about two misfits, one who remembers everything and one who wants to destroy every memory and what happens when they join forces to win a songwriting competition. It comes out May 30 from Little, Brown.

Finally I'm looking forward to reading Spoils, by Iraq war vet Brian Van Reet, a novel set in 2003 Baghdad and told from different points of view. It's out in April, also from Little, Brown.

What are you looking forward to in 2017? I'd love to know!

Women in Translation Month!

In August we take some time to recognize and celebrate women authors whose works have come to us in translation.

Here's a list of some of my favorite translated women I compiled last year.

And here are some translated books by women I've read this year.

The Mountain and the Wall, by Alisa Ganieva, translated from Russian, is the first novel to come to us in the US from the ex-Soviet republic of Dagestan. It's about war in the region and the effects of Islamic fundamentalism on a secular European community of several faiths.

The Other Woman, by Therese Bohman, translated from the Swedish, is the second book I've read by this intriguing author. This story is about a young woman who has an affair with an older man, painful and true in its realism and psychological insight.

Stockholm Noir, an anthology series of crime stories edited by Nathan Larson and Carol-Michael Edenborg and translated from the Swedish, contains several stories by women including Anna-Karin Selberg and Lina Wolff,

The Core of the Sun, by Johanna Sinisalo, translated from the Finnish, is a modern-day dystopia set
in an unrecognizable Finland, kind of The Handmaid's Tale meets Brave New World, with chili peppers,

So Much For That Winter, by Dorthe Nors, translated from the Danish, two novellas about romantic breakups written as prose-poems.

And I have so many others in my TBR piles. Maybe that's another post later in the month! What translated books by women have you read this year?

My Favorite Reads of 2012

It's that time again- time for all of us to write our top faves of the year. I read 30-odd 2012 releases so I won't do a 2012 Top Ten- not enough to choose from! But I'll share my top five or six and then some great backlisters I read this year.

I knew it would be my favorite when I read it back February and time has not proven me wrong. Absolution, by Patrick Flanery, was the best new book I read this year. It's a staggering debut about South Africa, loss, memory, reconciliation and finding the truth buried under layers of secrets- or not finding it. It just blew me away.

Other 2012 books I loved:

• Varamo, by Cesar Aira, the funnest book I read in 2012 about a soon-to-be poet and his hilarious dark night of the soul,
• Pure, by Andrew Miller, expertly written historical fiction with a dry wit, set in pre-Revolutionary Paris,
• The Forgiven, by Lawrence Osborne, a book the New York Times called "sleek" and "panther-like," a gripping and moody page turner set in the Moroccan desert,
• Second Person Singular, by Sayed Kashua, is a not-to-be-missed meditation on identity set in Israel among Arab-Israelis trying to figure out their place in a country that can't figure out what to do with them, and
• The Watch, by Joydeep Roy-Bhattacharya, an incredible and riveting war novel set in Afghanistan that isn't afraid to take sides even as it shows a single event from numerous points of view.

But I don't just read new releases. Here are some other books that I loved reading this year:


Before Night Falls, by Reinaldo Arenas. Read this, please! The memoir of the dissident Cuban writer is the book I read in 2012 that I think I want everyone to read.

Moffie, by Andre Carl Van Der Merwe. It's a searing, unforgettable story about a gay man in the South African army and a must-read.

Freedom in Exile, the memoir of the 14th Dalai Lama.

He Died With His Eyes Open, brilliant literary crime by Derek Raymond, himself a fascinating character!

Happy Birthday, Turk! the funnest crime novel I read this year, by Jakob Arjouni, about an ethnically Turkish German P.I. out to solve the murder of an immigrant.

Cold Comfort Farm, by Stella Gibbons. Irresistible fun about a posh young lady visiting her country cousins.

The Goodbye Kiss, by Massimo Carlotto. Silly, trashy fun about a love-to-hate psychopath on the loose in Italy.


The Sisters Brothers, by Patrick deWitt. Simply delightful Western black comedy about a pair of hired killers and their last big job.

The Long Song, by Andrea Levy. What a great, engrossing, gorgeous book!

Stoner, by John Williams, a quiet and somewhat depressing novel about an academic in the early 20th century. I loved it even though it was kind of a downer.

Season of Migration to the North, by Tayeb Salih. If you've never read this masterful Sudanese writer, make room in your schedule for this tight, amazing novel about cultural clash.

When I Was Otherwise, by Stephen Benatar.  An extraordinary book from an extraordinary writer, this haunting and harrowing family story is dysfunction at its messed-up best. A brother and sister live with their sister-in-law and the three create a brilliantly frightening domicile.

What made your tops-of-the-year list this year? What are you excited about in 2013?