New Audiobooks

Colm Toibin…is an expert, patient fisherman of submerged emotions…In tracking the experience, at the remove of half a century, of a girl as unsophisticated and simple as Eilis—a girl who permits herself no extremes of temperament, who accords herself no right to self-assertion—Toibin exercises sustained subtlety and touching respect. He shows no condescension for Eilis's passivity but records her cautious adventures matter-of-factly, as if she were writing them herself in her journal…In Brooklyn, Colm Toibin quietly, modestly shows how place can assert itself, enfolding the visitor, staking its claim.

The Ascent of George Washington: The Hidden Political Genius of an American Icon
by John E Ferling read by Norman Dietz
Historian Ferling (Almost a Miracle: The American Victory in the War of Independence, 2007, unveils the canny politician behind America's first president. In a revisionist view, the author argues that Washington, generally thought of as a selfless Olympian figure who was above politics, was actually "a master of political infighting . . . one of the very best politicians in American history." Ferling's bright narrative offers considerable evidence of Washington's savvy politicking.. In fact, writes the author, Washington "was so good at politics that he alone of all of America's public officials in the past two centuries succeeded in convincing others that he was not a politician. "A fresh take on a monumental American

The Duchess
by Amanda Foreman read by Wanda McCaddon
Winner of Britain's prestigious Whitbread Prize, Amanda Foreman's bestselling work is a penetrating, marvelously written account of Lady Georgiana Spencer. Amanda Foreman, born in London in 1968, was educated at Sarah Lawrence College, Columbia University, and Oxford University, where she received a Ph.D. in history. A freelance journalist and until recently a researcher at Oxford, she has, since the immensely successful publication of Georgiana in the United Kingdom, made numerous television and radio appearances there, including the presentation of a Channel 4 documentary on the life of her subject. The Duchess (originally published as Georgiana: Duchess of Devonshire) is her first book. Tantor; 9781400111619; 13UnCD;

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
by Stieg Larsson read by Simon Vance
This remarkable first novel by the Swedish journalist Stieg Larsson…has been a huge bestseller in Europe and will be one here if readers are looking for an intelligent, ingeniously plotted, utterly engrossing thriller that is variously a serial-killer saga, a search for a missing person and an informed glimpse into the worlds of journalism and business…It's hard to find fault with The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. We care about his characters because we come to know them so well. The central question—what happened to Harriet?—is answered in due course, and other matters involving romance and revenge are wrapped up as well. It's a book that lingers in the mind.

Finger Lickin' Fifteen (Stephanie Plum Series #15)
by Janet Evanovich
The next Stephanie Plum novel, in which complications arise, loyalties are tested, cliffhangers are resolved, and donuts are eaten.. : Sunglasses, insect repellant, a flotation device, slotion, cheez-doodles, extra-large towel, fire extinguisher, baseballlip balm, monkey leash, sixty three pieces of chewing gum, and one canister of oxygen (don't ask). Hey, it's a Stephanie Plum novel!

The Strain
by Guillermo del Toro read by Ron Perlman
Director Del Toro (who won an Oscar for Pan's Labyrinth) makes a dramatic splash in his fiction debut, the first volume in a vampires vs. humanity trilogy, coauthored with Hogan (Prince of Thieves). Just as a jumbo jet on a flight from Germany to New York is touching down at JFK, something goes terribly wrong. When Ephraim Goodweather, of the Centers for Disease Control, investigates the darkened plane, he finds all but four passengers and crew dead, drained of blood. The authors maintain the suspense and tension throughout in a tour de force reminiscent of Whitley Strieber's early work. (Other Titles Include Hellboy I, Hellboy II, and Noc

The Sign
by Raymond Khoury read by Richard Ferrone
During filming in Antarctica, a news crew witnesses a shimmering sphere, unexplainable by any scientific expert. Meanwhile, in Egypt, the broadcast of the event startles a group of Coptic priests, who recognize the symbol as identical to one rendered by a prominent priest visiting their monastery. Khoury pitches an eloquent argument for the value of personal responsibility toward one another while maintaining careful stewardship of the earth. This is a thoughtful book with a powerful message and yet also a thrilling read with compelling, well-developed characters.

Medusa (NUMA Files Series)
by Clive Cussler read by Paul Kemprecos
In the prologue to the winning eighth Kurt Austin adventure 18-year-old Caleb Nye, a farm boy on his first sea voyage in 1848, finds himself a modern-day Jonah after being swallowed by a whale and then cut from the stomach, alive but forever changed. In the present, a Russian captain sees his Typhoon-class submarine sold to an unknown buyer, and in China, Dr. Song Lee, who's been banished to the countryside, gets orders to return to Beijing to fight a deadly SARS epidemic.. Soon enough, the disparate plot lines converge in an action-packed tale that snags readers and drags them racing through heavy seas and high drama.

The Winter Vault
by Anne Michaels
Profound loss, desolation and rebuilding are the literal and metaphoric themes of Michaels's exquisite second novel. A tender love story set against an intriguing bit of history is handled with uncommon skill. (Michaels’s first novel was the international best seller Fugitive Pieces, now a major motion picture. It won several awards, including the Lannan Literary Award for Fiction, the Chapters/Books in Canada First Novel Award, the Guardian Fiction Award, and the Orange Prize for Fiction. Michaels is also the author of three highly acclaimed poetry collections.)

Matters of the Heart
by Danielle Steel read by Mel Foster
In a spellbinding blend of suspense and human drama, Danielle Steel tells a powerful and unusual story of one woman’s journey from darkness into light, as she fights to escape a mesmerizing sociopath who holds her in his thrall…. With razor-sharp insight, Danielle Steel delivers an unforgettable tale of danger and obsessive love. Fearlessly telling the truth, refusing to look away, Steel proves once again that as an American storyteller she has no peer when she explores the dark secrets that sometimes lurk just below the surface of ordinary lives, writing about men and women and their courage to prevail, in this case, even in the face of evil.