The Other Side of the Castle: 6 Fairy Tales as Told by the Villains

Posted on May 24, 2018 by Lena Yang

For centuries, fairy tales have delighted the young and the old. Passed down through fireside fables and aged storybooks, these stories have been told and retold, yet they continue to captivate readers. As the tales typically go, good triumphs while evil is punished. Yet, nothing is ever what it seems. There are stories untold even in the most classic and familiar tales. Step into the shoes of some of the most infamous villains with these new spins on classic fairy tales.

1. All the Ever Afters: The Untold Story of Cinderella’s Stepmother by Danielle Teller, narrated by Jane Copland

As rumors about the cruel upbringing of beautiful newlywed Princess Cinderella roil the kingdom, her stepmother, Agnes, who knows all too well about hardship, privately records the true story. The story of their relationship reveals that nothing is what it seems, that beauty is not always desirable, and that love can take on many guises. Read more and sample the audio.

2. Girls Made of Snow and Glass by Melissa Bashardoust, narrated by Jennifer Ikeda

Frozen meets The Bloody Chamber in this feminist fantasy re-imagining of the Snow White fairy tale.
After the death of her mother, Mina forms a plan: win the king’s heart and become queen. The only catch is that she’ll have to become a stepmother to fifteen-year-old Lynet. Girls Made of Snow and Glass traces the relationship of two young women doomed to be rivals from the start. Read more and sample the audio.

3. Caroline: Little House, Revisited by Sarah Miller, narrated by Elizabeth Marvel

In this novel authorized by the Little House estate, Sarah Miller vividly recreates the beauty, hardship, and joys of the frontier in a dazzling work of historical fiction, a captivating story that illuminates one courageous, resilient, and loving pioneer woman as never before—Caroline Ingalls, “Ma” in Laura Ingalls Wilder’s beloved Little House books. Read more and sample the audio.

4. Forest of a Thousand Lanterns by Julie C. Dao, narrated by Kim Mai Guest

Forest of a Thousand Lanterns reimagines The Evil Queen legend as a tale of one peasant girl’s quest to become Empress. Growing up in a forgotten village on the edge of the map, Xifeng longs to fulfill the destiny promised to her by her cruel aunt, the witch Guma, who has seen glimmers of Xifeng’s majestic future. But, in order to achieve greatness, Xifeng must embrace the darkness within her. Read more and sample the audio.

5. Hiddensee: A Tale of the Once and Future Nutcracker by Gregory Maguire, narrated by Steven Crossley

Hiddensee recreates the backstory of the Nutcracker, re-imagining how this entrancing creature came to be carved and how it magically guided an ailing little girl named Klara through a dreamy paradise on a snowy Christmas Eve. It also brings to life the mysterious godfather Drosselmeier, the ominous, canny, one-eyed toymaker who presents the Nutcracker to Klara, his goddaughter. Read more and sample the audio.

6. Queen of Hearts by Colleen Oakes, narrated by Moira Quirk

Dinah, the future Queen of Wonderland, has not yet seen the dark depths of her kingdom; she longs only for her father’s approval and a future with the boy she loves. But when a betrayal threatens her throne, she is launched into Wonderland’s dangerous political game. Queen of Hearts brings to life the epic origin of Wonderland’s infamous villain. Read more and sample the audio.

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Dynamic Duos: 7 Literary Collaborations that You Didn’t Know About

Posted on May 18, 2018 by Lena Yang

The stars have aligned and it is Gemini’s time to shine! In honour of the sign’s representative twins, Castor and Pollux, here are some reads penned by authors who are actually duos writing collaboratively in disguise.

1. Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren, narrated by Erin Mallon
Duo: Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings, friends who met over fanfiction

Macy Sorensen is settling into an ambitious if emotionally tepid routine: work hard as a new pediatrics resident, plan her wedding to an older, financially secure man, keep her head down and heart tucked away. But when she runs into Elliot Petropoulos—the first and only love of her life—the careful bubble she’s constructed begins to dissolve. Read more and sample the audio.

2. The Last Mrs. Parrish: A Novel by Liv Constantine, narrated by Suzanne Elise Freeman, Meghan Wolf
Duo: Sisters Lynne Constantine and Valerie Constantine

Amber Patterson is tired of being a nobody. She deserves more—a life of money and power like the one blond-haired, blue-eyed goddess Daphne Parrish takes for granted. Amber’s envy could eat her alive…if she didn’t have a plan. Before long, Amber is Daphne’s closest confidante. But a skeleton from her past may undermine everything that Amber has worked towards. Read more and sample the audio.

3. Wildcat by Max Monroe, narrated by Jeremy York, Ava Erickson
Duo: Secretive friends Max and Monroe

Wildcat: a football formation in which the ball is snapped, not to the quarterback, but to another player lined up in the quarterback position.
Wild, Cat: a beautiful woman from the sky, who hooked me against the rails, and has me on the ropes. Sweet like honey, with a hint of sass burning behind her pretty brown eyes, she took over my heart without warning.
Read more and sample the audio.

4. Sunday Silence: A Novel by Nicci French, narrated by Beth Chalmers
Duo: Nicci Gerrard and Sean French, an English husband-and-wife team

After a body is discovered beneath the floorboards of Frieda’s house, Frieda finds herself a person of interest in a murder case. The corpse is only months old, but the chief suspect appears to have died more than seven years ago. Except as Frieda knows all too well, he’s alive and well and living in secret. And it seems he’s inspired a copycat…Read more and sample the audio.

5. A Casualty of War by Charles Todd, narrated by Rosalyn Landor
Duo: Mother-and-son writing team, Charles and Caroline Todd

Though the Great War is nearing its end, the fighting rages on. While waiting for transport back to her post, Bess Crawford meets Captain Alan Travis and later becomes entangled in the mysterious relationship between Alan and his cousin, Lieutenant James Travis. Bessie’s search for answers will lead her into unexpected danger and bring her face to face with the wounds of war that not even peace can heal. Read more and sample the audio.

6. The Hand That Feeds You by A.J. Rich, narrated by Ann Marie Lee
Duo: Established authors Amy Hempel and Jill Ciment

The duo paired up for this book, which their dying friend Katherine Russell Rich didn’t have time to write. When Morgan Prager’s fiancée, Bennett, is mauled to death, Morgan attempts to locate Bennett’s parents. In the search, she finds that he has several fiancées, and fits the clinical definition of a sociopath. When these other women are murdered one by one, Morgan’s research into Bennett suddenly takes on the urgency of survival. Read more and sample the audio.

7. A Death in the Family by Michael Stanley, narrated by Nyambi Nyambi
Duo: South African writing team, Michael Sears and Stanley Trollip

Faced with the violent death of his own father, Assistant Superintendent David ‘Kubu’ Bengu is baffled. Who would kill such a frail old man? Kubu’s frustration grows as his boss bans him from being involved in the investigation. When Kubu defies orders and sets out on the killers’ trail, startling and chilling links emerge, spanning the globe and setting a sequence of shocking events in motion. Read more and sample the audio.

STAFF PICK: The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware

Posted on May 15, 2018 by admin

Post by Pam Campbell

Title: The Death of Mrs. Westaway
Author: Ruth Ware
Narrator: Imogen Church

How am I so late to jumping on the Ruth Ware bandwagon? My lateness to discovering her work aside, I am so glad my introduction to Ruth Ware was with The Death of Mrs. Westaway.

We meet Hal Westaway – a struggling Brighton Pier tarot card reader – late one night at the end of a typical day. It’s clear she is struggling; struggling with paying her bills, struggling to keep the loan shark at bay, struggling to keep warm in her tiny flat and struggling with the recent death of her mother. But tonight won’t be a typical night for Hal. Because tonight she receives a letter notifying her of the death of a grandmother and that she’s been named a beneficiary in the will.

Hal immediately knows there’s been some mistake. She is not related to this woman. There’s no way she would be beneficiary of a large estate. Or is there? Can she use her skills of cold reading people to fool the family and lawyers into believing she is the correct descendent? Does she have any choice? She could really use the money.

Using the last few pounds in her bank account, she decides to board a train and travel to the funeral to make her claim on the inheritance. When she finally meets the family and the grand estate house, Hal finds herself questioning whether or not she can go through with her deception. But like all families and old grand houses, things are not as they seem.

With hints of gothic mystery, intrigues, secrets and distrust, The Death of Mrs. Westaway will have you hypnotised from the start. It is apparent with this book that Ruth Ware is a brilliant storyteller. She slowly and meticulously brings about the twists and turns that make this story so engrossing. Add to that, the brilliant narration of Imogen Church and the listener is left with a wonderfully eerie listening experience.

Since this was my first Ruth Ware book, I can’t compare it to her previous novels. But if you were a fan of The Thirteenth Tale, by Diane Setterfield, you will thoroughly enjoy The Death of Mrs. Westaway.

STAFF PICK: Tin Man by Sarah Winman

Posted on May 15, 2018 by admin

Post by Miranda Winters-Sayle

Title: Tin Man
Author: Sarah Winman
Narrator: Sarah Winman

The first thing I noticed when I began Tin Man was the beautiful prose. The author, Sarah Winman, gives detailed descriptions of everything in her novel. By the time I finished the book, I could easily visualize every character, place, and object of importance in my mind’s eye. Every character felt real, as though I could easily have passed them in the street. This aspect is especially important for a novel like Tin Man, which introduces itself as a romance but turns out to be more of a character study of two men who found love.

Tin Man allows us to get inside the heads of Ellis and Michael who befriended one another in their teen years and quickly developed their relationship into something more. However, we discover at the beginning of the novel that Ellis married a woman named Annie, and Michael doesn’t seem to be in the picture. The rest of the novel is unravelling the threads to their story. What happened as they grew from young boys to men?

I wish I could say more, but this story greatly relies on mystery. When I began, I had nothing but questions.

Reading tin man was almost like putting together a puzzle — you slowly build towards answers, but nothing makes complete sense until you get to the heart of it.

Winman does a fantastic job of making sure to answer every question. Her reveals are surprising, and sometimes heartbreaking.

Tin Man relies on memory to tell the story. Time is not linear through the novel, as we begin in the present day and work our way backwards. Winman’s beautiful writing executes this perfectly: there is never any confusion over whether you are reading the past or present.

It was a real treat to have Sarah Winman narrating her own title. Having a female read a novel in which both protagonists are male can sometimes be jarring, but Sarah encapsulated the tones in which Ellis and Michael would speak. I think this is something special that only an author narrating their book can accomplish.

The Most Boring Audiobook You’ll Ever Listen To

Posted on May 10, 2018 by Michelle

Title: This Audiobook Will Send You To Sleep
Author: Professor K. McCoy and Dr Hardwick
Narrator: Bruce Alexander

Have you been itching to listen to an audiobook that’s more boring than watching paint dry? We’ve got just the thing! This Audiobook Will Send You To Sleep by Professor K. McCoy and Dr Hardwick is so boring, even the most caffeine-induced night owl will be sure to fall asleep after just a few short, colorless chapters. Some of the chapters include The Economic Statistics from the First Two Five-Year Plans in the Soviet Union. Another is Railway Gauges: An Overview. Even if these subjects sound mildly interesting to you, it is explained in such dull terms that you’ll be fighting to keep your eyes open.

Professor K. McCoy, a specialist in the analysis of hypnotic states and somnambulism (sleepwalking) and Dr Hardwick, an expert in stereotypical lethargy, wrote the book to help people achieve a desirable state of mind (boredom, lassitude, and disinterest) to fall asleep.

Narrator Bruce Alexander does a phenomenal job of remaining monotone throughout the audiobook, pausing frequently and sleepily. He succeeds in making the measurement of linear density of fibre, administrative bureaucracy of the Byzantine Empire, and Belgian political crisis even less exciting than one might have originally imagined. Due to the staleness of these subjects and danger of falling asleep, I do not recommend anyone listen to this audiobook while driving or cooking with the stove on.

If counting sheep and aromatherapy just aren’t cutting it for you anymore, listen to This Audiobook Will Send You To Sleep and get the best sleep of your life. Even if you don’t, at least you’ll be well-versed in the growth pattern of holly and recent developments in the taxonomy of molluscs.

STAFF PICK: The Language of Kindness by Christie Watson

Posted on May 8, 2018 by Michelle

Title: The Language of Kindness: One Nurse’s Story
Author: Christie Watson
Narrator: Christie Watson

When both of my grandmothers were diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, I was warned that their declining memories would mean that they could confuse the past with the present. In both cases, they talked about their lives as nurses as though in real time, unearthing stories that were once too intimate to share at family parties and Sunday dinners.

During a recent conversation with my maternal grandmother, she rattled on about what she was cooking for dinner that night and, in nearly the same breath, told me she had to go check on her patient. These memories confirmed what I always knew, and what anyone who loves or is a nurse knows — it is more than a career, but a lifelong passion defined by resilience, kindness, and compassion.

Christie Watson was a nurse for 20 years. In The Language of Kindness, she shares the powerful details of beloved patient relationships, including nursing a premature baby who defied its odds of surviving the night, washing the hair of a child fatally injured in a fire to remove the toxic smell of smoke, and comforting a patient suffering from an excruciating heart-lung transplant.

Like all nurses, Christie is there during some of our most vulnerable moments. The Language of Kindness is made even more compelling as Christie narrates it herself. Her steady and assured tone, even when narrating the most emotional parts of the audiobook, demonstrates her ability to remain calm under stormy circumstances, a trait she shares with my grandmothers.

I’m grateful to Christie for both her dedicated career and for giving me the perfect gift to give the nurses in my life. For too long, the only books for people in the medical field have been for doctors. This audiobook is easy to understand even if you haven’t taken Nursing 101, and will give listeners a new appreciation for one of the toughest and most overlooked professions.

Sample the audio and get the whole story.

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Dynamic Duos: 7 Literary Collaborations that You Didn’t Know About

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