LJ Best Audiobooks of 2009: 40 Titles, Plus Honorable Mentions

Library Journal Best Audiobooks of 2009: Little Bee, Imager & More

By Raya Kuzyk -- Library Journal, 12/17/2009

The year’s best audiobooks, nominated by our distinguished roster of 65 audio reviewers and all recipients of starred LJ reviews, are more varied than ever—they include a posthumously published novel (The Girl Who Played with Fire), two debut works of hardboiled fiction (The Manual of Detection and Bad Things Happen), a meditation on the natural world (Summer World), and a joint first-person account of injustice and redemption (Picking Cotton).

To capture better the breadth of exceptional audio titles released in 2009, we’ve expanded the number of LJ Best Audiobook winners to 40 as well as added an Honorable Mentions listing. For coverage also of major developments in language-learning media, see the print version of this article, LJ 1/10.

FICTION | NONFICTION | HONORABLE MENTIONS

FICTION
Baldwin, James. Another Country. CD, MP3-CD (lib., BBC Audiobooks America). download.
Dion Graham (Behind the Mike, LJ 11/1/09) smoothly narrates Baldwin’s classic 1962 novel—Howard Rollins read the abridged audio cassette edition (1987, DH Audio)—expertly conveying the power and rhythm of his prose. (LJ 6/1/09)

Berry, Jedediah. The Manual of Detection. CD (retail, HighBridge Audio). Playaway®. download.
Pete Larkin (The Last Campaign) inhabits characters ranging from a femme fatale to an evil magician in this clever debut novel uniquely merging “a comedic yet dark fantasy world with the hard-boiled school of detection.” (LJ 5/15/09)

Bolaño, Roberto. The Savage Detectives. CD, MP3-CD (lib./retail, Blackstone Audio). Playaway®. download.
With their rounded pronunciations, Eddie Lopez and Armando Duran reinforce the profound sense of place in Bolaño’s 1998 (U.S. 2007) captivating novel, a veritable “Latin American On the Road.” (LJ 12/09)

Boyle, T.C. The Women. CD, MP3-CD (lib./retail, Blackstone Audio). Playaway®. download.
Grover Gardner, a Publishers Weekly Narrator of the Year (2005), skillfully voices Boyle’s lauded fictional account of Frank Lloyd Wright, as told through the experiences of four women who loved him. (LJ 6/15/09)

Cleave, Chris. Little Bee. CD, MP3-CD (lib./retail, Tantor Media). Playaway®. download.
Anne Flosnik (At Last Comes Love) poignantly portrays a young Nigerian refugee, the title character in this “grueling tale burnished with humor and love,” and the British widow who takes her in. (LJ 10/15/09)

Crisis on Infinite Earths. CD, MP3-CD (retail, Graphic Audio). download.
Voice artist Christopher Graybill, Audie Award winner Richard Rohan, and 30 other readers embody DC Comics’ superheroes/supervillains in this exhilarating, sound effects–laden production. (LJ 10/15/09)

Dolan, Harry. Bad Things Happen. CD (lib., Books on Tape; retail, Penguin Audio). download.
While deftly navigating the numerous plot twists in Dolan’s witty debut crime novel, actor/narrator Erik Davies (The Orpheus Deception) offers “a crisp, droll delivery that’s spot on.” (LJ 11/1/09)

Finder, Joseph. Vanished. CD, MP3-CD (lib., Macmillan Audio from BBC Audiobooks America; retail, Macmillan Audio). Playaway®. download.
The suspense never falters in Finder’s immensely satisfying follow-up to Power Play (2007), for which narrator Holter Graham puts his significant acting skills ably and entertainingly to work. (LJ 11/15/09)

Grossman, Lev. The Magicians. CD (lib., Books on Tape; retail, Penguin Audio). Playaway®. download.
In Time book critic Grossman’s highly imaginative third novel, following Codex (2004), Mark Bramhall (The Last Theorem) lets the realistically flawed characters shine. (LJ 11/15/09)

Larsson, Stieg. The Girl Who Played with Fire. CD (lib., Books on Tape; retail, Random Audio). download.
Simon Vance (Behind the Mike, LJ 11/15/08) delivers a superlative performance of this second installment in the late Larsson’s “Millennium” trilogy, following The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. (LJ 11/15/09)

Modesitt, L.E., Jr. Imager. CD, MP3-CD (lib./retail, Tantor Media). Playaway®. download.
Audie Award nominee William Dufris (The Futurist) “masterfully brings…to life” this intriguing first entry in Modesitt’s new “Imager Portfolio” fantasy trilogy. (LJ 9/15/09)

Mosley, Walter. The Long Fall. CD (lib., Books on Tape; retail, Penguin Audio). download.
Mosley introduces a new hero—New York City PI Leonid McGill—whom actor Mirron Willis portrays in a warm, easygoing voice that invites listeners into his complex world. (LJ 8/09)

Pearl, Matthew. The Last Dickens. CD (lib., Books on Tape; retail, Random Audio). download.
Pearl’s astounding fictionalization of the world of Charles Dickens will enchant listeners; actor Paul Michael gives to his reading “the zest this excellent novel deserves.” (LJ 6/15/09)

Penny, Louise. A Rule Against Murder. CD, MP3-CD (lib./retail, Blackstone Audio). Playaway®. download.
Listeners to Ralph Cosham’s (The Master) exquisite reading of Penny’s fourth “Three Pines” mystery will not be surprised to learn he’s won three Listen Up Awards from Publishers Weekly. (LJ 6/1/09)

Picoult, Jodi. Handle with Care. CD (lib., Recorded Bks.). Playaway®. download.
A six-person cast delightfully narrates book-club favorite Picoult’s elegantly written family drama centering on a wrongful birth lawsuit. (LJ 9/15/09)

Rollins, James. The Doomsday Key. CD, MP3-CD (lib., Recorded Bks.; retail, HarperAudio). Playaway®. download.
Peter Jay Fernandez’s stellar narration of this sixth “Sigma Force” title—Rollins’s best to date—helps to keep alive the consistently heart-pounding suspense. (LJ 12/09)

Silva, Daniel. The Defector. CD, MP3-CD (lib./retail, Brilliance Audio). Playaway®. download.
Phil Gigante also voiced Silva’s previous Gabriel Allon thriller, the 2008 LJ Best Audio Moscow Rules; in his reading of this “gripping, superior entry,” he masters the European accents especially well. (LJ 11/15/09)

Stockett, Kathryn. The Help. CD (lib., Books on Tape; retail, Penguin Audio). download.
Actresses Octavia Spencer, Bahni Turpin, Jenna Lamia, and Cassandra Campbell “immediately pull listeners in, breathing life into this touching [debut] novel” set in early 1960s Jackson, MS. (LJ 6/15/09)

Todd, Charles. A Duty to the Dead. CD, MP3-CD (BBC Audiobooks America). Playaway®. download.
This start of an evocative new series set in 1916 is “beautifully conveyed through accent and tone” by narrator Rosalyn Landor. (LJ 12/09)

Tremain, Rose. The Road Home. CD (retail, Naxos AudioBooks). download.
Actress Juliet Stevenson distinctly renders the characters in Tremain’s realistic and moving portrait of the immigrant experience, a 2008 Orange Broadband Prize winner. (LJ 6/15/09)

NONFICTION
Bascomb, Neal. Hunting Eichmann. CD (lib., Recorded Bks.). Playaway®. download.
Bascomb’s (Red Mutiny) extensively researched account of the 15-year hunt for Nazi Adolf Eichmann is elevated to ecstatic heights by Tony Award nominee Paul Hecht’s gripping performance. (LJ 8/09)

Bashir, Halima with Damien Lewis. Tears of the Desert. CD, MP3-CD (lib./retail, Brilliance Audio). Playaway®. download.
Actress Rosalyn Landor sensitively narrates Bashir’s preeminent account of genocide in Sudan’s Darfur region in this “troubling but necessary” listen. (LJ 3/15/09) 

Bruni, Frank. Born Round. CD (retail, Penguin Audio). download.
Bruni’s (Ambling into History) candid self-read memoir of his lifelong struggle with food and weight suggests he could “easily make a career out of audiobook narration.” (LJ 11/15/09)

Carville, James with Rebecca Buckwalter-Poza. 40 More Years. CD, MP3-CD (lib./retail, Tantor Media). Playaway®. download.
Intelligent insight into the 2008 election and its aftermath; Alan Sklar (Behind the Mike, LJ 3/1/09) “perfectly voices Carville’s verbal snarl.” (LJ 11/1/09)

Cooper, Gwen. Homer’s Odyssey. CD (lib., Books on Tape; retail, Random Audio). download.
Renée Raudman energetically and enthusiastically narrates Cooper’s stirring, Dewey-like memoir about how a blind cat helped her to transform her life. (LJ 12/09)

Dalai Lama. Becoming Enlightened. CD (lib., Recorded Bks.; retail, S. & S. Audio). Playaway®. download.
The Dalai Lama speaks to the practice of Buddhism in modern everyday life while his longtime interpreter and the translator of this work, Jeffrey Hopkins, narrates in a pleasant and soothing cadence. (LJ 4/15/09)

Davis, Michael. Street Gang. CD (lib./retail, Listen & Live Audio). Playaway®. download.
Caroll Spinney, the voice of Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch, revives these and other Sesame Street characters in journalist Davis’s “gentle…often surprising look” at the beloved children’s TV show. (LJ 4/1/09)

Fisher, Carrie. Wishful Drinking. CD (lib., Recorded Bks.; retail, S. & S. Audio). Playaway®. download.
Actress/author Fisher’s inimitable and spirited reading of this no-holds-barred memoir of her roller-coaster life is laugh-out-loud hilarious. (LJ 6/1/09)

Gies, Miep with Alison Leslie Gold. Anne Frank Remembered. CD (retail, Oasis Audio). Playaway®. download.
Narrator Barbara Rosenblat breaths life into Gies’s “heartwarming and tragic” 1987 account—at last available on audio—of how she helped hide the Frank family and others from the Nazis. (LJ 5/15/09)

Graves, Robert. Goodbye to All That. CD (retail, CSA Word). download.
Actor Martin Jarvis proficiently narrates this arresting recording of the late Graves’s classic 1929 memoir, eliciting the sights, sounds, and smells of the era. (LJ 10/15/09)

Heinrich, Bernd. Summer World. CD, MP3-CD (lib./retail, Tantor Media). Playaway®. download.
Audie Award winner Mel Foster “enhances the ambiance and perfectly conveys” biologist Heinrich’s enchantment with the natural world. (LJ 10/1/09)

Hyman, Mark, M.D. The UltraMind Solution. CD (retail, S. & S. Audio). Playaway®. download.
Hyman dispenses practical advice on detoxifying and fortifying the body; his own “earnest, energizing” narration gives the feel of a lecture from a favorite college professor. (LJ 4/15/09)

Isaacson, Rupert. The Horse Boy. CD (lib., Recorded Bks.; retail, Hachette Audio). download.
Isaacson narrates his “absorbing, at turns heartwarming and heart-wrenching” memoir about his autistic son, Rowan, and how a family horseback-riding trip to Mongolia helped change all their lives. (LJ 8/09)

Kidder, Tracy. Strength in What Remains. CD (lib., Books on Tape; retail, Random Audio). download.
Pulitzer Prize winner Kidder (Mountains Beyond Mountains) tells the “utterly inspiring” story of a young Burundi immigrant, narrating with “a clear voice that expresses just the right level of emotion.” (LJ 12/09)

Ritz, David. Divided Soul. CD, MP3-CD (lib., Blackstone Audio). Playaway®. download.
Dion Graham (Behind the Mike, LJ 11/1/09) channels Marvin Gaye in his riveting performance of Ritz’s 1985 biography of the singer, newly available on audio. Happy 50th, Motown! (LJ 6/1/09)

The Rivalry. CD (lib., L.A. Theatre Works). Playaway®. download.
Academy Award nominees Paul Giamatti and David Strathairn vivaciously reenact the 1858 Lincoln–Douglas debates in this extremely rewarding production. (LJ 5/1/09)

Steiner, Christopher. $20 Per Gallon. CD (retail, Hachette Audio). download.
Forbes writer Steiner’s “solidly researched…critically important, and superbly written” book envisions the future as gas prices inevitably rise; actor John Wolfe sustains listeners’ interest throughout. (LJ 11/15/09)

Thompson-Cannino, Jennifer & Ronald Cotton with Erin Torneo. Picking Cotton. CD, MP3-CD (lib./retail, Tantor Media). Playaway®. download.
Narrators Richard Allen and Karen White bring this “poignant, simply unforgettable” joint first-person account of injustice and redemption wholly to life. (LJ 8/09)

Welch, Suzy. 10-10-10. CD (lib., Recorded Bks.; retail, S. & S. Audio). download.
Welch (coauthor, with Jack Welch, of Winning) engagingly narrates her no-nonsense and illuminating guide to making major life decisions. (LJ 11/1/09)

Wertheim, L. Jon. Blood in the Cage. CD, MP3-CD (lib./retail, Brilliance Audio). Playaway®. download.
Wertheim’s (Running the Table) “eye-opening, engrossing” account of a mixed martial–arts athlete and his sport entertains and enlightens, while Phil Gigante’s narration convinces and satisfies. (LJ 4/15/09)

HONORABLE MENTIONS
Modern Scholar: Recorded Books and The Teaching Company both deserve special recognition this year. These publishers are in a niche all their own, regularly producing informative college-level lectures on a variety of subjects for erudite listeners. Other audiobooks I reviewed in 2009 pale in comparison to the following releases from these publishers, which all received starred reviews.—Dale Farris, Groves, TX

Conn, Peter. Great American Bestsellers. CD (lib., Teaching Co.).
English professor Conn offers a lively survey of 22 best-selling U.S. books in 24 “consistently interesting” lectures “essential for professors and students of English and American literature.” (LJ 9/1/09)

Shutt, Timothy B. A History of Ancient Sparta. CD (lib., Modern Scholar: Recorded Bks.). Playaway®. download.
English professor Shutt’s “always-lively, impassioned delivery” of this valuable scholarly program on the history of ancient Sparta “will keep listeners focused and help to fill any existing gaps in knowledge.” (LJ 5/15/09)

Taylor, Timothy. America and the New Global Economy. CD, DVD (lib., Teaching Co.).
Taylor (managing editor, Journal of Economic Perspectives) leads a fascinating discussion surveying today’s economic crisis in this superb CD set. (LJ 4/1/09)