Click here to see all of the current Amazing Audiobooks nominees along with more information about the list and past years’ selections.
Her Royal Highness by Rachel Hawkins, narrated by Karissa Vacker Audio Published by Listening Library Publication Date: May 7, 2019 ISBN:978-1984885784
Millie Quint is heartbroken when she discovers that her official best friend but unofficial girlfriend has been avoiding her for weeks all to reunite with her ex-boyfriend. Millie decides to make a change and apply for a scholarship to an exclusive boarding school far from Houston in the highlands of Scotland. The change in scenery and prestigiousness of the school prove to be positive experiences, but then Millie meets her roommate – Flora. Flora has a taste for trouble, a chip on her shoulder, and acts like she’s royalty and everyone else is beneath her. All of these annoy and irritate Millie until she discovers more about Flora’s history until the girls start to be friends and maybe something more than friends.
This December something is happening that many people thought never would- we’re getting a new Star Wars film! Personally I am giddy over this, and in order to get ready for it I’ve been revisiting some of my favorite media in the Star Wars universe. Games, TV shows and books all complement the movies, so there’s much to see and even DO in the Star Wars universe these days. Where does one begin?
Kenobi by John Jackson Miller is an awesome book about how Obi-Wan Kenobi got himself settled on Tatooine after the events of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, and also how he got himself involved in a whole lotta drama he didn’t really want to get involved in. It’s hard to keep a low profile when there are Tusken Raider attacks happening all around you, teenagers sneaking to your hut to spy on you, and a mother who clearly wants more for her family than living in a general store in the middle of the dusty desert asking you for advice. If anyone can handle it, though, it’s Obi-Wan (sorry, he’s going by Ben now!) Kenobi. This is a particular favorite of mine because Obi-Wan is my favorite character in the Star Wars universe.
While we get our bearings after ALA Annual and wrap up the final details of the 2015 Hub Reading Challenge (including the winner!), we are very pleased to bring you our first reader response from a Challenge finisher!
Margaret Miles completed the Challenge in May, and has contributed this very clever tribute to Ian Doescher’s William Shakespeare’s Star Wars Collection, which was named a 2015 Amazing Audiobooks pick.
This past year I had the immense pleasure to serve as chair for the 2015 Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults committee. It was a really great year for audiobooks and my committee was fortunate to consider a total of 395 audiobooks for our selection list! After hours and hours of listening, we had to whittle down a list of no more than 30 selections that were the year’s best. If you have not yet had a chance to checkout our list you can see it here. It was released last week, after the Midwinter Conference.
We also had the even more difficult task of selecting our Top Ten Audiobooks of the year. Below are our Top Ten titles for 2015, along with a suggested listen-a-like, in case you are ahead of the game and have already listened to these Top Ten selections.
2015 Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults Top Ten
ACID by Emma Pass, read by Fiona Hardingham with Nicholas Guy Smith and Suzan Crowley. Listening Library, 2014. 10 hours, 48 minutes; 9 discs. 978-0-8041-6832-8.
The brutal police state ACID rules all, so when Jenna is broken out of prison by a rebel group she has to fight to survive as ACID’s most-wanted fugitive. Unique ACID reports and recordings read by Smith and Hardingham’s excellent pace combine with her authentic teen voice to highlight this exciting story.
Listen-a-Like:
The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater, read by Steve West and Fiona Hardingham: For those listeners who are looking for another title narrated by Fiona Hardingham that is packed with action and adventure and that has a strong female main character. (Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults 2012, 2012 Odyssey Honor Audiobook)
Curtsies and Conspiracies by Gail Carriger, read by Moira Quick. Hachette Audio, 2013. 9 hours, 30 minutes, 8 discs, ISBN: 978-1-4789-2648-1.
In the second installment of the Finishing School series, Sophronia and her classmates use their training to search for a dangerous device that may have fallen into the wrong hands. Quick’s lively narration highlights the wit and humor in Carriger’s story.
Listen-a-Like:
The Screaming Staircase by Jonathan Stroud, read by Miranda Raison: The Finishing School series, narrated by Quirk, is filled with sly humor but also packs a punch with Sophronia’s adventures. Likewise, The Screaming Staircase is not only is an action-packed steampunk mystery, but Raison brings variety to her narration by highlighting the nuances of the quirky cast of characters characters, including the darkly comedic Anthony Lockwood. (Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults 2014)
It’s time once again to consider what books our favorite TV characters would read. While reading isn’t boring, it’s not that exciting to watch. So the question remains, what books would they read? This month I decided to bring the past to the present. Our six beloved teens from the 1970s probably read the classics like The Hardy Boys and books by Judy Blume. It definitely makes me wonder what books would the gang from That 70s Show read if they were teens today.
Eric Forman – Let’s start with the unofficial leader of the group. When Eric is not obsessing over his on-again, off-again girlfriend or battling with his hard ass father, Eric has one other fixation, Star Wars. We know he went to see the original several times and has even had fantasies in which he is Luke Skywalker. I know he would plow through all of the different amalgamations of Star Wars graphic novels, from the first episode to the Clone Wars and beyond. I would also like to give him something I stumbled upon a few months ago that is just fantastic. Ian Doescher has blended together two things that have never combined before: Star Wars and William Shakespeare. I would give him Doescher’s William Shakespeare’s Star Wars: Verily, A New Hope(2014 Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults). Just the image of Jabba the Hut in Shakespearean dress is enough to make this title a favorite.
Jackie Burkhart – We know that Jackie is a reader. On several occasions Jackie mentions reading Nancy Drew mysteries. I’d like to bring Jackie to the new millennium with a few options that are a bit more modern, but still with the Nancy Drew core. First, I’d give Jackie Lulu Dark Can See Through Walls by Bennett Madison. Unlike Nancy Drew, Lulu isn’t that excited to beginning investigating a mystery, but when her designer purse is stolen, she takes the case. Instead of ending every mystery with a hot fudge sundae like Nancy Drew would do, I’d bet Lulu would celebrate every mystery with a latte. I’m sure millennial Jackie would approve. Continue reading What Would They Read?: That ’70s Show