Title: Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
Author: Seth Grahame-Smith
Narrator: Scott Holst
Length: 11 hours, 4 minutes

Ok, so what do we really know about Abraham Lincoln from our history books? That he successfully led his country through its greatest constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union while ending slavery, and promoting economic and financial modernization? Sure, that’s all true. But did you also know that ‘Honest Abe’ was a slayer of the undead?

Seth Grahame-Smith generated a lot of buzz with his novel ‘Pride and Prejudice and Zombies’. It was the first of the current trend of mash-ups, taking the original text from Jane Austen’s ‘Pride and Prejudice’ and mixing in zombie attacks and martial arts. Now he’s back at it, only this time it’s with vampires. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter is another bizarre, fun and weirdly well-researched mash-up in which Grahame-Smith skillfully blends historical facts of Lincoln’s life with vampire-killing crusades and slave-trading ghouls.

Using Abraham Lincoln’s top secret diary, Grahame-Smith tells the untold story of one of America’s greatest presidents/axe-wielding super heroes. The death of his mother at the hands of a vampire when Abe was just a young boy turns him into a sworn enemy of vampires and he is inspired to be one of the premier vampire hunters (and killers) of his day.

This was the first book narrated by Scott Holst that we’ve listened to and we were big fans. We were especially impressed with his flawless portrayal of Lincoln’s Midwestern accent. His voice was soothing, his pitch was perfect and, with the help of a funny and fast-paced story, he created a unique listening experience.

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter is an engaging and entertaining listen. Even if you think you know what’s going to happen next (assuming you paid attention in history class), the vampire twists will keep you guessing throughout the entire book. So, if you like vampires, historical fiction, biographies and mash-ups or just want to be thoroughly entertained, save this book to your shelf.

If you’re a fan of historical fiction, but vampires aren’t really your thing, check out these other great listens:

The sweet, sweet summertime is finally upon us! With its beach days, road trips, vacation time and long warm nights, summer just feels like it was made for listening to audio books. Considering the giant virtual stack of books we have waiting to be listened to, we’re more than happy to oblige.

While the thought of indulging in audio books all summer long has us on a major high, we also know that the warm days won’t last forever. We’ll be taking some extra-long bike rides, early morning runs and a lot of weekend trips to the cottage to maximize our listening time (and our summer fun)!

So what books will we be taking on our many adventures this summer? Well we did a roundup of this season’s hottest listens, mixed in some of our favorite classic audio books and created one of the best summer must-listen lists of all-time.

Don’t worry, we didn’t forget about the young’uns. School’s out for summer and audio books are a great way to keep their brains and imaginations occupied on road trips to the beach, lazy afternoons and rainy days. Check out these great summer listens that will keep your kids entertained all summer long.

Happy summer listening!

Title: 8
Written by: Dustin Lance Black
Read by: Brad Pitt, George Clooney & an All-Star Cast
Length: 2 hours, 8 minutes

We love following politics so we’re always excited to throw a great political audio book into the listening mix. When we heard about the new audio book ‘8’ by Dustin Lance Black—which happens to focus in on a very hot topic in the US presidential race right now—we had to check it out. It also didn’t hurt that a certain Mr. Brad Pitt was part of the star-studded cast that narrated the book. ‘8’ is a fantastic story that will hit close to home for many, no matter what side of the political spectrum you’re on.

‘8’ takes a look at the controversial case filed by the American Foundation for Equal Rights to overturn Proposition 8, a constitutional amendment that eliminated the rights of same-sex couples to marry in the state of California. Drawing on actual transcripts of the 2010 trial, as well as first-hand observations of the courtroom drama and interviews with the plaintiffs and their families, ‘8’ tells the story of Kris Perry and Sandy Stier and their groundbreaking court case.

Academy Award-winning writer Dustin Lance Black felt compelled to craft the actual trial transcripts into a one-night only production in order to shed some light on what went on throughout the duration trial for all of us who were unable to see inside the courtroom. Black frames the story around the trial’s closing arguments, but also features all of the influential arguments and witness testimonies presented by both legal teams as well as each eye-opening moment throughout the case. The audio recording of that performance, featuring Brad Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Martin Sheen, Kevin Bacon, Jane Lynch and many other talented actors, is what’s now been released as the ‘8’ audio book.

Not only do the stars provide their A-list acting chops, they also perform brilliantly. The entire cast gives a genuine account of what went on in the courtroom and gives an intimate look at what unfolded throughout the monumental trial. Some noteworthy performances include Jamie Lee Curtis and Christine Lahti in their heartfelt portrayal of Perry and Stier and Martin Sheen brings the house down with this brilliant performance of the closing arguments.

In addition to the play, the audio book also features exclusive backstage interviews with Black, director Rob Reiner and many of the actors, including John C. Reily and Jesse Tyler Ferguson. So, all politics aside, we definitely recommend listening to this production of ‘8’—it deserves a standing ovation.

When you’ve finished listening to ‘8’, here are a few more great political listens to check out:

P.S. We’re almost half way through Audio Book Month! Keep up this year’s momentum by tweeting, Facebooking and blogging about all things audio books and tell anyone, anyway you can about why you love to listen to audio books—and why they’ll love listening to them too!

Last night the best of the best in the audiobook community put on their finest, hopped in their limos and headed to the 17th Annual Audies Gala in New York City to celebrate another incredible year in audiobooks.

The lineup of nominees was impressive to say the least, but if you were following our tweets leading up to the Audies, you’ll know that Tina Fey’s Bossypants was clearly our pick for Audiobook of the Year. The judges must have felt the same way because Tina Fey cleaned up. Fey’s self-narrated Bossypants took home the Audie for best Biography/Memoir as well as the night’s top prize, Audiobook of the Year. Let’s just say we’re not surprised…we’ve been rooting for it all along.

Bossypants is smart, delightful, and really, really funny. Not only does it give a behind-the-scenes look at Fey’s life and career, but it also offers life lessons and funny anecdotes along the way. What makes this audiobook the Best Audiobook of the 2011 is Fey’s hilarious narration of the book herself, making the most of her own comedic timing and characteristic wit. Listening to this book will make you laugh-out-loud and possibly even induce a few tears.

Despite our bias towards Tina Fey, we were still very impressed by all of the amazing audiobooks that were produced this year and we couldn’t be more proud to be a part of such a talented community. A huge congrats goes out to all of the nominees and winners for 2011. We look forward to seeing what the rest of 2012 will bring and who will reign supreme at next year’s Audie Awards!

Check out these other fantastic audiobooks that took home the top Audie Award in their respective categories:

Best Fantasy
Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor
 

Best Literary Fiction
State of Wonder by Ann Patchett

Best Mystery
Feast Day of Fools by James Lee Burke

Best Teen
The Wake of the Lorelei Lee by L.A. Meyer

Title: Masters of Doom
Author: David Kushner
Narrator: Wil Wheaton
Length: 12 hours, 46 minutes

If you know anyone who plays video games and is over the age of 25, there’s a good chance they spent a lot of the 1990s playing the now-legendary video game Doom. And even if a significant part of your life in the 90’s wasn’t consumed by playing Doom, we still highly recommend you listen to the Masters of Doom audio book, which launches today exclusively through Audiobooks.com.

David Kushner writes the incredible true story of the pair who have been called the Lennon and McCartney of video games: John Carmack and John Romero. What started out as the perfect collaboration ended with them turning their backs on each other due to the enormous pressures that come with success. But in between, these two geniuses created some of the most popular video games ever, transforming popular culture, provoking national controversy, and revolutionizing the video game industry.

On the surface, Masters of Doom takes a historical look at early PC gaming, but at the core of this book is one of the video game industry’s greatest stories. Kushner – a veteran in video game industry journalism – pieces together his own inside information with hundreds of interviews he conducted over the years and turned it into a makeshift biography of “the Two Johns.” Both of their stories begin with their escape from broken homes, less-than-ideal parenting and overexposure to pop culture, which is ultimately how they both discovered their love for video games. Kushner then takes you through their fateful meeting as coworkers at SoftDisk, the rise of their legendary company id Software, and their inevitable demise.

Luckily for gamers everywhere, before their toxic partnership ended, Carmack and Romero essentially invented and then re-invented the wildly popular genre of ”first-person shooter” games with titles like Wolfenstein 3-D, Doom, and Quake. Their games existed in brilliantly crafted fantasy worlds which were unlike anything anyone had ever seen before in the industry – and certainly much more violent and shocking. Each game brought players further into a new realm of virtual world innovation, and in the process changed the industry forever.

Kushner gives an in-depth look into this pair of complementary opposites, describing Carmack as the “rocket scientist”, a coding prodigy and self-taught programmer who was obsessive and antisocial and Romero as the “rock star” gamer and design mastermind. Their strengths and talents meshed perfectly, with Carmack’s programming genius allowing Romero’s creative genius to run wild, and vice versa.

The fantastic Wil Wheaton performs the audio book narration for Masters of Doom and without a doubt, he is the perfect choice. Wheaton is a serious gamer himself who has no problem embracing his inner geek so it’s no surprise that you can hear Wheaton’s excitement, enthusiasm and intensity throughout the entire audio book.

This audio book is as addictive as Doom. It sparks nostalgic flashbacks and provides tons of interesting information into the relationship between the developers as well as into the video gaming industry. But above all else, this is a powerful look at what it’s like to be young, driven and incredibly brilliant.

Listen to the Masters of Doom audio book (for free!) here.

Peanut butter and jelly, milk and cookies, wine and cheese—some things just go better together. And that’s exactly how we feel about one of our favorite author-narrator duos, Lemony Snicket (aka Daniel Handler) and Tim Curry.

Audio book lovers know that the most important piece to an audio book can be finding the right narrator. The best of the best add to the story by taking cues from the author’s words and making the right artistic decisions so that the story and characters come to life.

When you pair a talented narrator with an incredible story what you have is pure audio book gold. A perfect example is Tim Curry reading stories from Lemony Snicket’s collection, A Series of Unfortunate Events. So perfect in fact, when Narrator ratings launched on our site last week, we headed straight to The Ersatz Elevator, the very first Snicket/Curry audio book, to give Curry a 5-star rating.

When Curry came on board to record The Ersatz Elevator, the sixth book in the series, something amazing happened. He took Snicket’s already magical story, added his own creative flair, and voila – one of our favorite audio books was created. Curry’s uniquely able to bring the sinister creepiness of Snicket’s book to life. He gives each eccentric character a distinct voice and personality—switching between the dozens of voices without a hiccup.

Curry is in his element narrating Snicket’s over-the-top, touching, funny, fabulous story and that’s what makes The Ersatz Elevator one of the top audio books on our list of fave author-narrators. It’s a must-listen that will make you want to drive around the block three more times to finish a chapter (and yes, we’re speaking from personal experience).

When narrators and authors like these two come together it reminds us why we fell in love with audio books in the first place – the perfect duo can make your listening experience memorable, inspiring, and consuming.

With the help of the new Narrator ratings on Audiobooks.com, you’ll be able to easily find great audio books with an equally great narration, including some of our faves below:

And, while you’re there, help your fellow audio book fans out by adding a narrator rating to one of your past listens.