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Narrators Kirby Heyborne & Lincoln Hoppe are a comedy duo?? The pair voiced two Odyssey audiobook titles recognized during the recent Youth Media Awards of the American Library Association. Heyborne narrated Rotters, Listening Library’s Odyssey-Award-winning title, and Hoppe narrated Listening Library’s Odyssey Honor title Okay for Now. It seems the two were presentient, as this video [...]

Katherine Kellgren reads this cozy mystery written by Rhys Bowen, a limited time freebie from Audible. Grab this 2011 Audies Award nominee for “Best Mystery/Suspense Audiobook” - pure fun narrated by Booklist‘s “Voice of Choice” Kellgren. No doubt they’ve decided to offer this introduction to the  Lady Victoria Georgiana Charlotte Eugenie series to hook you on the [...]

A new honor for top narration: the Listen List, compiled by the Reference and User Services Division of the American Library Association. I am thrilled that adult audio fans and selectors now have this tremendous resource to add to ALA’s recognition of the best in youth audiobooks. The evaluation criteria really gets to the heart of why we [...]

The year’s best listening named by the American Library Association’s youth divisions in a just-completed conference in Dallas. Yes, the total list of award-winners announced yesterday has plenty of great titles, too. But there are three committees that focus on the unique attributes of audiobook production and narration when selecting the best. ALSC, the Association for [...]

Fourteen lists featuring audio excellence for adults, teens, and children! I think most everyone has finished sounding off about their favorites, so I’ve compiled links to the top audiobook titles from 2011. There’s more great listening here than ever before – so many fantastic releases from the ever-growing number of audio producers. You’ll find titles [...]

Grammy & Audie award-winning producer/director Paul Ruben’s expertise in the recording studio has resulted in top audiobooks for every major industry publisher. Voice actors who have benefited from his  coaching and narrator workshops name him one of the best in the business. Savvy audiobook fans know that the entire production team deserves recognition for memorable audios, and seek Ruben’s name in [...]

Audiobook narrator extraordinaire, recognised as the gold standard, gracious grand dame of voice actors – the accolades could go on and on. That’s what I wrote when Barbara Rosenblat was named the 2009 Booklist Voice of Choice in recognition of her lasting impact in the world of audiobook narration. I first interviewed Rosenblat to gather her reflections on voicing [...]

These audiobooks are the year’s top titles under consideration at the American Library Association’s Midwinter conference in Dallas. The cream of the crop will appear on the 2012 Notable Children’s Recordings list, as must-have recommendations of music & audiobooks for libraries serving children ages birth – fourteen years. If you are attending Midwinter, pop in [...]

Pulitzer Prize-winning comic classic from John Kennedy Toole, narrated by Barrett Whitener, free for a limited time from Audible.com – here’s the direct link. Grab this 13 1/2 hour must-have title from Blackstone Audio quickly, as these deals don’t last long…

This audiobook narrator has hundreds of titles on his resume, multiple awards on the shelf, and was named one of the top 50 voices of the 20th century by AudioFile Magazine.  Heller has enthusiastically jumped into the 21st century, utilizing his home studio to make the digital shift that’s radically changing how narrators create their [...]