Audiobooks

Road trips have to be one of the best things about summer. One way to make your road trip even better is to listen to books on CD through your car's stereo system, or if not everyone is interested, you can listen to a book on your iPod. Timberline has a lot of books on CD. We also have a few on Playaways. Most of our selection focuses on our most popular fictional novels, but we have some classics, informational, and even audiobooks to help you learn another language.

My family recently took a trip to Seattle, which is 14 hours of driving each way. The time actually flew by because we were engrossed in listening to Hunger Games and Catching Fire. Of course, you need a great story with an interesting plot and sympathetic characters, however with an audiobook there is an added dimension. The reader must be able to do different voices and make you want to listen to them read an entire novel. I've often found that bad narrators turn me off to the story.

On the other hand a wonderful reader adds new dimension to a story you may already know. Many people have read Harry Potter, but have you listened to the stories on CD? Those who have listened to them rave about the reader Jim Dale. His voice seems perfect for J.K.Rowling's tales, and since he is English he can do all the interesting British accents.

Each year a selected committee chooses the best audiobooks produced for children and/or young adults called the Odyssey Awards. This year the winner was a book more for elementary children, but the runner-up is In the Belly of the Bloodhound: Being an Account of a Particularly Peculiar Adventure in the Life of Jacky Faber, written by L.A. Meyer, narrated by Katherine Kellgren and produced by Listen & Live Audio. The name may be a little long, but you know a pirate story will be filled with adventure.

So do you have a road trip planned this summer? It may be time to find that perfect audiobook so that the miles will quickly roll by.

Timberline Library Talk - Podcast

Ranger's Apprentice

One of the more popular fantasy series at Timberline has been Ranger's Apprentice.
Junior high students aren't the only ones who enjoy them. One of our great special ed teachers told me how much she has enjoyed the series and that she just can't put them down. There are now eight of these books published in the U.S. with at least two more to be released in the next few years. The series is sold in about eighteen countries. John Flanagan, the Australian author, first wrote the books as short stories to show his son that reading could be enjoyable and that heroes are not always big, strong men.

The series focuses on Will who becomes an apprentice to Halt, a Ranger. He and Halt work for the kingdom of Araluen. They have different adventures while trying to keep the kingdom save. Rangers focus on blending with the environment, learning certain weapons such as the long bow, and working as spies for the kingdom. Will's friends, who were also orphans under the care of Baron Arald, are also a part of the series. Horace, formally a rival of Will, becomes a battleschool apprentice. Alyss is in the diplomatic core and is in love with Will. Jenny is apprenticed to the master chef, and George is in scribe school.

If this sounds like the series for you or if you are already a fan, check out the author's website, the U.S. publisher's website, and this movie insider site which claims a movie about the first book will open next year.

The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner

On June 5th Stephenie Meyer released a short Eclipse novella The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner. I will admit I am a Twilight fan, but the first two books in the series are my favorite. Bree Tanner wasn't a character I even remember from reading Eclipse. It really wasn't something that interested me, but since the Eclipse movie is coming out soon I figured I'd give it a try.

The actual book was released on the 5th, but Stephenie Meyer has made it available online from June 7th to July 5th. A friend offered me the book before I decided I wanted to read it, but I declined. So I had the experience of reading the novella online. Although I generally don't like reading for pleasure online, it wasn't too bad for a short novel. At first I found the print a bit small, but then I finally noticed there are options to make the font bigger and easier to read.

Bree is part of Victoria's army of newborn vampires. Riley, the head of this army, looks for runaways, gang members, or other teenagers that won't be missed. Bree, who fled from an abusive father, became a vampire after Riley offered her a burger. (Victoria was waiting for her in the shadows). Bree learns to keep a low profile around the other vampires since fights and "accidents" are common. She learns to stays by Fred and later finds out that he has the "gift" to repulse other vampires.

While out hunting one day she meets Diego. He is one of Riley's favorites. They both find out they have the ability to think and delay the immediate gratification most newborn vampire want, human blood. Together they discover that Riley has told them lies about vampires. They won't burn in the sun; they just sparkle. They know that Victoria has plans to use them and that they are probably just pawns, but for what exact purpose?

If you remember Bree's small part in Eclipse then you'll remember how her story ends. However, it was very interesting to read her back story and feel more sympathetic towards her character. In the introduction to the book Stephenie Meyer explains that Bree was a character she became more interested in developing as she looked at what was happening behind the scenes as she edited Eclipse. She said she grew to care about her.

Want to know more? Check out this wiki. This is a bit of a spoiler, if you're one who doesn't know the end of the story. Check out this excerpt from Eclipse about Bree and the actress who plays her character.