Books Audiobook Spotlight
Audio is a growing market that is richly served by narrative talent—which can oſten distinguish a title from its competition—so isn’t it time publishers started extolling it more? Sue Baker believes so...
UDIO HAS A readership with different needs to print readers. Those with litle or no sight need access to books pure and simple, yet others
Sue Baker Freelance contributor
listen for pleasure—and it’s this sector that seems to be expanding year on year.
Audiobook spotlight A
So isn’t it time that audio got more of the market- ing budget, that there was a litle more drum-banging going on? It’s sad to see too that all the activit is going online—booksellers lose out, so it’s to be hoped that cross-promotions, reading tours or locally produced material are being considered. Where are the audiobook Oscars! For me, as an ardent audio lover, it’s the voice that counts above all, which is why I shall listen to Sir Walter Scot’s Waverley read by David Rintoul, and shall dither over the new Shardlake from Macmilllan if Steven Crossley is not at the helm. I hope that Sandi Toks-
Previewer’s Picks
vig will read her autobiographical Between the Stops (Hachete); and Eddie Mair is reading his autobiography A Good Face for Radio (who else could?) for Hachete, so that’s a must have. An excellent discovery this time around was Constan- tine Gregory with Fyodor Dostoevsky’s The Possessed (Naxos), a very compelling listen, and Naxos has chosen
For me, as an ardent audio lover, it’s the voice that counts above all, which is why I shall listen to Sir Walter Scott’s Waverley read by David Rintoul, and shall dither over the new Shardlake from Macmilllan if Steven Crossley is not at the helm
two more excellent voices in David Shaw Parker with (Anthony Trollope’s Eustace Diamonds) and Juliet Stevenson (Henry James’ The Golden Bowl). Many of the details provided in this preview are provi- sional, including in some instances pricing and timings,
and reader details are included, where known. *Editor’s note: all titles are available digitally and in CD format where indicated.
Eddie Mair A Good Face for Radio
Hachette, November 2017, £19.99, 9781405539234
I felt better just reading the blurb, in which Hachette describes Eddie Mair’s first foray into the world of autobiogra- phy as “like an episode of W1A written by David Sedaris” no less. Read by the man himself.
David Sedaris Calypso
www.thebookseller.com
Hachette, June, £19.99, 9781405534741
Apart from his short story “Calypso”, I have no idea what else is on this audio. But it’s the brilliant David Sedaris, so who cares.
A J Pearce Dear Mrs Bird
Macmillan, April, £19.99, 9781509853915
I’ve only read extracts so far, but it does look as if this has the charm and the
humour to carve a niche. Set in war- time London and featuring Mrs Bird, the agony aunt of Woman’s Friend maga- zine, and Emeline Lake, who becomes her secretary.
James Boswell
The Life of Samuel Johnson Naxos, February, £125, 9781781981023 (42 CDs) Read by David Timson. Listening to other versions of James Boswell’s Life..., it becomes apparent that there is a great need for a new version. This is a
mammoth listen, but it is by David Tim- son, so we are in good hands.
Walter Scott Waverley Naxos, April, £50, 9781781981184 (15 CDs) Read by David Rintoul—if anyone can make the Laird of Abbotsford come alive, it’s Rintoul. He’s a superb reader and on checking details for this fea- ture found his reading of Kidnapped, another Naxos recording and a good appetiser for Waverley.
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