Tag Archives: Romance

Page to Screen in May 2017

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The month of May will see its fair share of shows and movies adapted from popular books. Check out what’s upcoming and take a listen before they hit the screen!
The Dinner, by Herman Koch
Expected Release: May 5th

Between mouthfuls of food and over the polite scrapings of cutlery, conversation between two couples remains a gentle hum of polite discourse-the banality of work, the triviality of the holidays. But behind the empty words, terrible things need to be said, and with every forced smile and every new course, the knives are being sharpened. Each couple has a fifteen-year-old son. The two boys are united by their accountability for a single horrific act; an act that has triggered a police investigation and shattered the comfortable, insulated worlds of their families. As the dinner reaches its culinary climax, the conversation finally touches on their children. As civility and friendship disintegrate, each couple shows just how far they are prepared to go to protect those they love… Read more and listen to a sample


King Arthur: Legend of the Sword – a classic legend rewritten many times over. We linked to a great version but search the site for others!
Expected Release: May 12th

Uther Pendragon, High King of Celtic Britain, is nearing death, and his kingdom is being torn apart. Only one man can bring the Celts together as a nation and restore peace—King Arthur. Artorex (Arthur) doesn’t yet seem like the great man he will grow into. We meet him as a shy, subservient twelve-year-old living in the foster home of Lord Ector, who took in Artorex as a babe to protect him from murderous kin. Life has been unremarkable until the arrival of three influential men who arrange for Arthur to be taught the martial skills of the warrior. Little does Artorex know that these three men—one of whom is Merlin—secretly hope that one day he will take Uther’s crown and restore peace to Britain… Read more and listen to a sample


Everything, Everything, by Nicola Yoon
Expected Release: May 19th

My disease is as rare as it is famous. Basically, I’m allergic to the world. I don’t leave my house, have not left my house in seventeen years. The only people I ever see are my mom and my nurse, Carla. But then one day, a moving truck arrives next door. I look out my window, and I see him. He’s tall, lean and wearing all black—black T-shirt, black jeans, black sneakers, and a black knit cap that covers his hair completely. He catches me looking and stares at me. I stare right back. His name is Olly. Maybe we can’t predict the future, but we can predict some things. For example, I am certainly going to fall in love with Olly. It’s almost certainly going to be a disaster… Read more and listen to a sample


Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul, by Jeff Kinney
Expected Release: May 19th

A family road trip is supposed to be a lot of fun… unless, of course, you’re the Heffleys. The journey starts off full of promise, then quickly takes several wrong turns. Gas station bathrooms, crazed seagulls, a fender bender, and a runaway pig—not exactly Greg Heffley’s idea of a good time. But even the worst road trip can turn into an adventure—and this is one the Heffleys won’t soon forget… Read more and listen to a sample

Which of May’s renditions are you most excited for? Let me know!

Featured Customer Reviews

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Featured reviews written by Audiobooks.com customers! Have a favorite audiobook? Review it! If it gets featured, you get a free credit to use on any book in our library.

Book: A Dog’s Purpose, by W. Bruce Cameron
Rating: 5
Review by: Emily N.


“This book is so lovable! An incredible narrator adds so much to the story! I listen to lots and lots of audio books, a bad narrator can make my favorite book almost intolerable to listen to. You really feel like you’re listening to a dog talk and his enthusiasm is infectious! I’ve listened to this book multiple times and highly recommend it! Especially to anyone who loves dogs!”

 

Book: The Mistress, by Danielle Steel
Rating: 5
Review by: Debbie M.

“This is my favorite book written by Danielle Steele. I have read many of her books, and this book was by far my top favorite. I live out here in Southern California, you know how bad traffic is if you moved out here. I downloaded her book on audiobooks, and after the first chapter I was captivated. I had something to look forward to wherever I drove. To tell you the truth, I didn’t pay any attention to the traffic or any noise. I was in my own imagination between Conversations with “Vladimir and Natasha”. Danielle, I think really gave this book all she had and I want to thank you Danielle for writing so beautifully. I don’t cry much, yet I cried at the ending. I did not want the book to end and I wanted to hear more on a new developing love. It was over too quickly. What a wonderful, awesome, beautiful story. Thank you, Danielle.”

 

Book: Strangers, by Dean Koontz
Rating: 5
Review by: Christopher H.

“I loved this book, and after only about 20 mins I got used to, and enjoyed the narration and the narrator. Great characters that are slowly exposed to the listener. The story unfolds as fine threads of the plot connect all the characters, leading to the climactic event evident in all the Koontz novels I’ve read to date. If you like Koontz, you’ll love Strangers and the audiobook and narrator are also great! I highly recommend it!”

STAFF PICK: The Fault In Our Stars by John Green

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This month, I chose John Green’s The Fault In Our Stars, a Young Adult romance book about two teenagers with cancer who fall in love. That’s just the elevator pitch, though: it’s really about friendship, family, love and loss, all of which are already incredibly difficult and complicated things, but even more so for teenagers and for teenagers with terminal illness. I’d heard that the book was a real tear-jerker, but I generally have a higher tolerance for that kind of thing so I figured I’d judge it for myself.

The Fault In Our Stars audiobook by John Green

The first half of the book is, for the most part, hopeful. It does an excellent job of humanizing “sick people”, moving them from other and unknowable to sympathetic and familiar. Hazel and Augustus are teenagers like any other, though their singular life experiences have given them an advanced maturity and perspective. There is color and quirky fun and while the characters are going through some tough stuff, the first half cannot hold a candle to the second half of the book, whichcontained some of the most heart-breaking hours of literature I’ve ever listened to.

YA frequently gets written off as fluff. I’d like to argue that while there are indeed lots of poorly written YA stories with weak characters and flimsy pretenses just cashing in on the success of other poorly written YA stories, that’s not something that’s unique to young adult lit. There are plenty of poorly written books in every genre. (#sorrynotsorry)

The Fault In Our Stars, on the other hand, is an example of YA writing at it’s finest: yes, it’s a book about two teenagers who fall in love and yes, it’s written with simple language and straight-forward structure and it reads quickly and easily, as is typical of the genre. But that very simplicity makes it an extra-effective medium to explore the brutal and heart-breaking reality of cancer in children. There are no thick paragraphs of prose to hide in; instead, his characters love and fear and cry upfront, with dialogue that is so sincere and forthcoming that, as a reader, it’s impossible to turn away. Green’s ability to competently discuss such a difficult topic in such a straightforward and easily digestible way points towards a greater mastery of writing, not a lesser one. Complex ideas, simple language.

The narrator, Kate Rudd, was incredible. While her voice for main character Hazel was perfectly executed, I’m more impressed with her voice for Augustus. She manages to imbue his slightly pretentious dialogue with a sense of good-humor, awareness and sincerity that make the character more likable than my own mental narrator ever could. It’s rare to find a narrator who can do same- and opposite-gender characters equally well, but Rudd is definitely one of them.

I highly, highly recommend this audio book. If you listen to it and love it, check out Esther Earl’s This Star Won’t Go Out who influenced Green’s writing.

Let me know what you think!