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Talking Books Talk

Talking Books Talk provides news and updates about the Kansas Talking Books Service (KTBS). Talking Books staff will highlight relevant announcements from KTBS and the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped.

Questions: KTB@ks.gov or 800-362-0699

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Mar 12

Audie Award® Winners

Posted on March 12, 2020 at 10:16 AM by Maggie Witte

Every year, the Audio Publishers Association honors the best titles in audio publishing. These audiobooks are the commercially produced versions. All books listed here are available in talking book format through the cooperation of the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled (NLS) and commercial audiobook publishers.

Audiobook of the Year

DB 96933 The only plane in the sky: An oral history of 9/11 by Garrett M. Graff
Narrated by a full 45-person cast with Holter Graham
Annotation: An account of the 9/11 al-Qaeda terrorist attack on America through the voices of the people who experienced it. Draws on transcripts, declassified documents, interviews, and oral histories from government officials, first responders, witnesses, survivors, friends, and family members. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. Bestseller. 2019.

Autobiography/Memoir
DB 92627 Becoming by Michelle Obama
Narrated by Michelle Obama
Annotation: A memoir by the former First Lady, the first African American in that role. Obama recounts her childhood in Chicago, her years balancing motherhood and her career as an executive, and her time in the White House. Commercial audiobook. Bestseller. 2018.

Best Male Narrator
DB 92965 Kingdom of the Blind by Louise Penny
Narrated by Robert Bathurst
Annotation: A stranger names Armand Gamache as an executor of her will. The terms are so odd that Gamache suspects the woman was delusional. When a body is found, the will suddenly seems more menacing than peculiar. Meanwhile, Gamache tries to stop missing opioids from hitting the streets. Commercial audiobook. 2018.

Business/Personal Development
DB 96496 So you want to start a podcast: Finding your voice, telling your story, and building a community that will listen by Kristen Meinzer
Narrated by Kristen Meinzer
Annotation: Guide to starting and publishing a podcast. Sections include "Dream It," "Write It," "Host It," "Cast It," "Make It," "Share It," and "Grow It." Topics covered include idea development, scripting, guest management, technology considerations, and promotion. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2019.

Fantasy
DB 96852 The ten thousand doors of January by Alix E. Harrow
Narrated by January LaVoy
Annotation: Living in a sprawling mansion as the ward of the wealthy Mr. Locke, January Scaller is isolated and largely ignored. One day, she finds a strange book and discovers she has the ability to open doors between worlds. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2019.

Fiction
DB 95563 City of girls by Elizabeth Gilbert
Narrated by Blair Brown
Annotation: 1940. Nineteen-year-old Vivian was kicked out of Vassar College due to poor performance, so her parents shipped her off to her Aunt Peg in New York City. Peg owns a crumbling theater, but Vivian finds a home among its inhabitants. A mistake threatens her world. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. Bestseller. 2019.

History/Biography
DB 94870 American moonshot: John F. Kennedy and the great space race by Douglas Brinkley
Narrated by Stephen Graybill
Annotation: Historian presents a chronicle of the early American space program, particularly during the administration of John F. Kennedy, and the goal to land a man on the moon. Discusses how science fiction, World War II, and the Soviet space program fueled America's determination to succeed. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2019.

Literary Fiction & Classics

DB 96729 The water dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Narrated by Joe Morton
Annotation: Born into bondage, Hiram Walker is robbed of all memory of his mother when she is sold. But Hiram is blessed with a mysterious power. This power saves him when he almost drowns, and he knows he must escape the only life he has ever known. Violence. Commercial audiobook. 2019.

Middle Grade
DB 97716 Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White
Narrated by Meryl Streep and a full cast
Annotation: Fern, a young girl with a unique understanding of animals, shares a special friendship with her uncle's pig and Charlotte, a wise spider who weaves encouraging words in her web. Read by Meryl Streep and a full cast. With an appreciation written by Melissa Sweet. Commercial audiobook. For grades 3-6. 1952.

Multi-Voiced Performance
DB 96933 The only plane in the sky: An oral history of 9/11 by Garrett M. Graff
Narrated by a full 45-person cast with Holter Graham
Annotation: An account of the 9/11 al-Qaeda terrorist attack on America through the voices of the people who experienced it. Draws on transcripts, declassified documents, interviews, and oral histories from government officials, first responders, witnesses, survivors, friends, and family members. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. Bestseller. 2019.

Mystery
DB 97654 The chestnut man by Søren Sveistrup
Narrated by Peter Noble
Annotation: At each bloody crime scene a Copenhagen serial killer leaves a "chestnut man"--a doll made of matchsticks and chestnuts. Examining the dolls reveals fingerprints belonging to a government minister's young daughter who had been kidnapped a year ago. Translated from the 2018 Danish. Violence, strong language, and some explicit descriptions of sex. Commercial audiobook. 2019.

Narration by the Author or Authors
DB 95376 With the fire on high by Elizabeth Acevedo
Narrated by Elizabeth Acevedo
Annotation: Teen mother Emoni Santiago struggles with the challenges of finishing her senior year, raising her two-year-old daughter, and following her dream of working as a chef. Strong language. Commercial audiobook. For senior high and older readers. 2019.

Non-fiction
DB 95473 Grace will lead us home: The Charleston church massacre and the hard, inspiring journey to forgiveness by Jennifer Berry Hawes
Narrated by Karen Chilton, Jennifer Berry Hawes
Annotation: Journalist recounts the events of June 17, 2015, when twelve members of the historically black Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, were murdered by a white supremacist they had welcomed into their prayer meeting. Discusses the fallout and the lives of two survivors. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2019.

Romance
DB 94678 Devil’s daughter by Lisa Kleypas
Narrated by Mary Jane Wells
Annotation: Phoebe hated West Ravenel before she ever saw him, having heard stories from her late husband of how West bullied him in school. But when they meet at a family wedding, West offers to help Phoebe with the management of her estates. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2019.

Short Stories/Collections
DB 97124 Full throttle: Stories by Joe Hill
Narrated by Zachary Quinto, Wil Wheaton, Kate Mulgrew, et al.
Annotation: Short story collection from the author of NOS4A2 (DB 76605). Includes "In the Tall Grass" and "Throttle," both co-written with his father, Stephen King, as well as "Late Returns," about a librarian who delivers books to the dead in an antique bookmobile. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2019.

Thriller/Suspense
DB 96528 The institute by Stephen King
Narrated by Santino Fontana
Annotation: In the middle of the night, intruders silently murder Luke Ellis's parents and take him to the Institute. He wakes to find he is among other kids like him, with psychic gifts that the Institute wants to exploit. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. Bestseller. 2019.
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