Story Tags

Staff Pick: "A Stroke of Malice" by Anna Lee Huber

A Stroke of Malice by Anna Lee Huber

Super Rooster

A Bracket of Past Winners of the Tournament of Books

Every year, I like to play along with The Morning News’ Tournament of Books.

When books are recorded as audiobooks, a voice actor is usually hired to bring it to life. Sometimes, though, the best person to narrate an audiobook is the author themselves. Most often this happens with memoirs but it can also happen in other genres as well. Here are some audiobooks across multiple genres narrated with particular skill by their authors.

Disease and Pestilence Pay a Visit

2018 was the centennial of the signing of the Armistice Agreement to end WWI and unquestionably, people who were living at that time were relieved that the war was over. After the war ended, however, there was another global threat—the Spanish Flu pandemic. Pre-Covid 19, I had assembled a couple of titles for a possible list of books that take place at the end of “the great war,” and coincided with the flu pandemic. Instead, I have here a list of five novels with a mix of health crises.

Mysteries From the Depths

Seafaring historical fiction

“My course is set for an uncharted sea.” - Dante Alighieri The ocean has been an infinite and undeniable source of fascination. This hypnotic collection of maritime mysteries reflects some of the most perilous and tragic periods in history; readers will encounter yarns of legendary shipwrecks, bloodshed and possession, and the hope of redemption. Chart a course for lands unknown and grab your investigator’s cap, you’ve got some sleuthing to do!

Many Voices

Audiobooks with a full cast of narrators

When books are recorded as audiobooks they generally only have one narrator, occasionally two if there are two main characters, but some books lend themselves well to having many more narrators giving voice to the book's characters. These full cast productions that often also include music and sound effects can provide a rich immersive listening experience. Here are a few that the library has available.

Books My Dad Loves

Some of my most beloved childhood memories are of my father reading to me. Not just as a young child, but well into my middle school years. I loved it - spending time with him, but also sharing these books and stories with him. Whatever age I was, he always seemed to genuinely enjoy the books we read.

August Staff Picks

A famous novelist and a First Lady are remembered by their sisters in these two new novels. Both novels are available to download from Overdrive. Miss Austen by Gill Hornby

Contemporary Central European Literature

Writing from the Lands Between

Central European writers created some of the most distinctive prose and poetry of the 20th century. Kafka, Sienkowicz, Kundera, Andrić, Musil and others masterfully employed irony, gallows humor, and the anti-heroic “view from below” in their examinations of modern bureaucracy, ill-treatment by historical forces, and the weight of memory. This list provides suggestions for readings from their 21st-century literary heirs (loosely conceived) – writers born in a mutilated world that demands both praise and lament.

The American Revolution for Kids

While most children in the United States learn about the American Revolution in school, you don’t have to wait until it is introduced in the classroom to talk to them about that moment in history, and you don’t have to rely on textbooks to do so! The DC Public Library has a great selection of books for children of all ages about the people and moments of the American Revolution. Try dipping your toe into one of these fascinating books and you may learn a thing or too!