Cranking up classics, Christmas, kittens
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DEWEY:The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World
By Vicki Myron with Bret Witter
Hachette Audio, abridged nonfiction, four CDs, four hours and 30 minutes, $22.98, read by Suzanne Toren; also available as a download from www.audible.com, $18.19
HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS!: And Other Gifts From Dr. Seuss
By Dr. Seuss
Listening Library, unabridged fiction, two CDs, two hours, $19.99, read by Walter Matthau, Kelsey Grammer, Dustin Hoffman, John Cleese, Ted Danson, John Lithgow, Mercedes McCambridge, and Billy Crystal; also available as a download from www.audible.com, $2.95
KISSING CHRISTMAS GOODBYE
By M. C. Beaton
Books on Tape, unabridged fiction, five CDs, five hours and 48 minutes, $48, read by Donada Peters
AN IRISH COUNTRY CHRISTMAS
By Patrick Taylor
Macmillan Audio, unabridged fiction, 13 CDs, 16 hours and 30 minutes, $44.95, read by John Keating; also available as a download from www.audible.com, $31.47
THE LORD OF THE RINGS
By J.R.R. Tolkien
BBC Audiobooks America, 12 CDs, 13 hours and 15 minutes, $49.95, read by Ian Holm, Michael Hordern, and Robert Stephens; each of the three audiobooks included is also available as a download from www.audible.com, $22.90
BEHIND THE WHEEL: Italian, Level One
Macmillan Audio, original material, eight CDs, 112-page companion workbook, $49.95; also available as a download from www.audible.com, $34.96
You just can't go wrong with an animal story for the holidays. Cat fanciers will find great pleasure in "Dewey," the sweet story of a kitten who was left in a library drop box in Spencer, Iowa, one freezing winter night and became the focal point of a financially depressed little town that needed some cheering up. The writing style may be a little too reminiscent of Reader's Digest, but sometimes you just need a break from life, and this will do it.
Audiobooks can't get any cheerier than those written by Dr. Seuss, and "How the Grinch Stole Christmas!" is one upbeat production. It is also remarkably inexpensive to download from Audible.com, so a gift certificate for your favorite audiophile will barely dent your wallet. However, it is mostly a repackaging of "The Cat in the Hat and Other Dr. Seuss Favorites," published on audio in 2003. The stories, enhanced with music and presented with great energy, include the title tale about that mean, green Grinch, "The Cat in the Hat," "The Lorax," and "Horton Hears a Who!"
The season always brings a slew of holiday-themed audiobooks. This year a few of them stood apart from the crowd, the best being "Kissing Christmas Goodbye," by M. C. Beaton. This is the 18th in the series featuring Agatha Raisin, and as in much of Beaton's work, the pace is quick, the wit is dry, and the characters multilayered. The mystery itself is slight, but the characters are great fun, and Donada Peters, who reads all the Raisin mysteries, has a lovely, lilting voice that can suddenly turn either steely or soft. This was released only as a library copy, so go to www.booksontape.com to order.
Patrick Taylor, who writes about life in Northern Ireland in the 1960s in his "Irish Country" books, reminds one of a cross between Maeve Binchy and James Herriot, though Taylor's patients, unlike Herriot's, walk on two legs rather than four.
In "An Irish Country Christmas," a young doctor looks forward to both his first Christmas in the village of Ballybucklebo and sorting out his romantic entanglements. Taylor vividly describes life in rural Ireland through young doctor Barry Laverty, his senior partner, and the characters who make up village life. John Keating reads with warmth and an accent that is clearly Northern Irish, but still easy to understand - no mean feat, that.
The lavish, atmospheric production of J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings," which originally aired on the BBC in the early 1980s, has been repackaged into a handsome black boxed set that should satisfy your favorite hobbit. It contains the entire trilogy and is told with multiple voices, music, and sound effects.
And those who prefer a "Buon Natale" to a "Merry Christmas" can fine-tune their Italian skills with a new "Behind the Wheel" series by Macmillan Audio. (Spanish Levels One and Two and French One are now also available, with Spanish Level Three and Arabic, Chinese, and Portuguese beginning levels to be released soon.)
The new Italian edition, like all the others, is taught by an American instructor and a native speaker and is accompanied by a workbook. This approach encourages students to create their own sentences, so it is more fun and conversational than other, much more expensive programs.
Because of the way it is presented, you truly can pick up new language skills while commuting to work.
Rochelle O'Gorman is a syndicated audiobook critic.
