AMI Audiobook Review

Canadian actress Sarah Desjardins (Yellowjackets, The Night Agent) joins us to talk about her very first work of audiobook narration. She discusses the transition from acting to narrating, the challenges of a first-time narrator and the joys of recording audiobooks. As it so happens, the book she got to narrate is set where she grew up, in Vancouver and Vancouver Island. The Worst of You, by Sarah Richards, is a gripping suspense/thriller told from multiple points of view. Here is the link to this Audible Original: https://www.audible.ca/pd/The-Worst-of-You-Audiobook/B0D1KW16NQ Plus, Spotify recently expanded its audiobook access to premium users in Canada. Is it good value? Can Spotify compete with Audible? Stick around until the 2nd half of this episode to hear our side-by-side comparison

PAL reading services is a non-profit, registered charity service that will record a human narration of any text you submit, no questions asked, at no charge. Perfect for all those titles that don't make it into CELA's library and for all of those hyper-technical science and engineering textbooks that you want but never get made into accessible formats. Long time PAL readers Danielle McLaughlin and Suzan Laube talk to us about their work. Plus, we unpack the answers from the most recent question to the book club: What's the last book that made you cry? Here are a few of the books that were mentioned: Aamer Khan's pick - Homes: A Refugee Story by Abu Bakr al Rabeeah Julie Martin's pick - The Chain by Adrian McKinty Karen Magee's pick - The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks Thalia Homes' pick - The Fault in Our Stars by John Green Jacob Shymanski's pick - Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe Link to PAL reading services' website: https://www.palreading.org/ PAL-Reading Services Inc. (“PAL”) was founded in 1975 with a small federal grant. Originally named “Periodical Audio Library”, PAL was the idea of Jim Hamilton, a blind student at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, now part of the University of Toronto (OISE/UT). At that time, no other agency offered an audio recording service for print-challenged students who needed academic journal articles recorded quickly enough to meet weekly study deadlines. Ever since, PAL has provided this much-needed reading service to print-challenged people not only for elementary to post-graduate studies, but also for work and personal use. Since 1975 we have served numerous print-challenged individuals many of whom continue to use our services year after year.

Last week we reviewed Audible’s awesome audio adaptation of George Orwell’s 1984. If you haven’t heard our review, the short version is that we loved it for its great performances, tight writing, original music and outstanding production value. This week, we’re lucky enough to have the writer of this project with us. Joe White is an award-winning writer of screen, stage and audio. He’s the writer of the hit West End musical The Little Big Things and another popular Audible audio drama, The Knox, among many other things. Link to Audible's 1984 audio adaptation: https://www.audible.ca/pd/George-Orwell%E2%80%99s-1984-Audiobook/B0CRRSC8MH

Audible recently released their full-cast, radio-play adaptation of George Orwell’s classic 1984. Featuring a cast full of recognizable names, original music and incredible production value, it’s safe to say this is a unique project we were excited to get our hands on. Today, we’re finally sharing our review with you. The cast includes Andrew Garfield as Winston, Cynthia Erivo as Julia, Andrew Scott as O’Brian and Tom Hardy as Big Brother. You can learn more here: https://www.audible.ca/pd/George-Orwell%E2%80%99s-1984-Audiobook/B0CRRSC8MH Plus, in the show's second half, Ryan Hooey joins us for another edition of the popular Rapid Fire Review.

Karen McKay and Theresa Power of CELA help us better understand the place literary awards hold within the publishing industry, and how they affect everything from sales to author’s careers and even consumer reading habits. And, Sara Hillis recommends the suspenseful pregnancy horror novel "Beware the Woman" by Meagan Abbot.

On today's episode: One of the beautiful things about audiobooks is the flexibility they give us. If you’re reading a print book, you just sit there and look down at your book. With an audiobook, on the other hand, you have both your hands available and you’re free to walk around and do whatever you want while you listen. We want to discuss how we use that extra flexibility. Plus, Aamer Kahn, our very own audiobook curator, prepared an autobiography trivia game for us.

On today's episode: How much do we really know about the people who've shifted and coloured our histories? We review The Autobiography of Malcolm X, written by American Minister Malcolm X in collaboration with American journalist Alex Haley, narrated by the incredibly performative Laurence Fishburne. Plus, stepping up to the plate for this week's Rapid Fire Review is community member and friend Karoline Bourdeau, who hits us with five very different books with five very intriguing titles. Our conversation with Karoline touches on the difficult choices made by Muslim women living in North America around their bodies and their relationships, as well as our own stories of losing touch with people who've left significant marks in our lives.

On today's episode: Archer’s Voice by Mia Sheridan is a New York Times best-selling romance novel about the healing and transformative power of love. Seeing as romance is not one of Ramya and I’s typical go-to genres, this ended up being a very different listening experience for us. Alia Abdel-Majid, who initially brought our attention to this one, is with us today for an honest, in-depth review. If you recognize that family name, that’s because she’s none other than our technical producer, Nisreen Abdel-Majid’s sister And later, Rapid Fire Review veteran Greg David is back to show us all how RFR is done.

On today's episode: Dissecting book sales trends doesn’t just concern the capitalists. It’s also relevant to those of us who love to inspect the deeper implications. Sometimes there’s a direct correlation between the newest sales trends and notable societal changes but often, it leaves us scratching our heads. Karen McKay and Theresa Power from CELA are here to help us analyze the sales data from 2022 to 2023. Plus, Sara Hillis joins us in the second half to share with us her findings on AI-narrated audiobooks.

On today's episode: Listening to an audiobook, as opposed to reading it in print, is a different experience. Not better or worse, just different. But how exactly does it differ? And how does that change the way we appreciate the story? Yes, we’re not done talking about this. Plus, later, Ted Cooper is here for Rapid-Fire review.

On today's episode: Did you read a book if you listened to the audiobook version? If you research this question online, you’ll find all sorts of opinion pieces, message boards, and social media posts that make it clear that people have strong feelings on both sides. Why is this such a contentious issue? Why is this seemingly innocuous question always striking such a nerve? There’s a lot at play here and we’re here to talk about it. Plus, later Ammer Khan, our very own audiobook curator is with us with this month’s batch of specially curated titles, just for you. That’s in the second half of the show.

On today's episode: First impressions matter, and the title of an audiobook is more than likely going to be the first thing you’ll react to when coming across a potential next read. Sometimes that title is intriguing. Sometimes it’s confusing. Sometimes it sounds dumb as hell. The point is, that titles matter, and we’re prepared to break it down for you. We also have a list of silly, ridiculous, and cringy book titles. Plus, in the second half of the episode, we ask ourselves: is listening to a book the same as reading print?

On today's episode: The Romantasy genre has blown up in the past few years and Booktok is responsible. What is it about this genre that’s made it so irresistible to its ravenous fanbase? What’s the appeal? Why is it blowing up now? And how does Booktok wield so much influence? Karen McKay and Theresa Power of CELA are here to help us answer these questions. Plus, in the second half of the show, Sarah Hillis joins us to discuss the merits and pitfalls of celebrity narrators.

On today's episode: We’ve spoken in the past about the huge role audiobook producers have over the final product of a project. So many small decisions on their part come together to shape what we end up spending hours eagerly consuming. Our guest this week, Caleb Stoll, is the technical director of the audiobook program at Penguin Random House Canada. He’s involved in many of the stages of production for the audiobooks they produce out of their studios in Toronto. From the technical aspects of sound recording, engineering sessions and directing narrators, Caleb is well placed to shine some light on the behind the scenes of the audio book world.

A huge part of living the audio bookworm lifestyle is constantly seeking out your next read. That means taking tons of recommendations, be it from websites, close friends or coworkers. That said, not all recommendations are made equal. What is it that makes us take recommendations seriously? And how can we do better the next time we recommend an audiobook to our friends? Today we’re talking about the art of the book recommendation, and what better person to have for this discussion than our very own Audiobook curator, Aamer Khan? A little later, we’ll also get to the book club’s input on this topic.

Multi-Voice narration audiobooks offer a product that’s more like an engrossing old-school audio drama when done well. When done badly, though, they can be a disjointed mess of cringe, so say the haters. Sarah Hillis is here to help us break it down. Plus, Natasha Peters is our avid bookworm this week, and a rapid-fire review with Natasha is coming up in the 2nd half of the show.

We’re so excited to have one of our favorite audiobook narrators, Julia Whelan, on the show. Julia Whelan is an author, audiobook narrator of over 500 books, screenwriter and actress. Check out the two fantastic novels she's authored. Both are available on Audible and CELA with Julia's narration: My Oxford Year: https://celalibrary.ca/node/24026776 Thank You for Listening: https://celalibrary.ca/node/23968710 Here is an extensive list of her narration work available on Audible: https://www.audible.ca/search?searchNarrator=Julia+Whelan Her website: https://jmwhelan.com/

On today's episode: With 2023 behind us, Karen Mackay of CELA is here to help us break down the best and most notable audiobooks of the year. Plus, the voice of AMI-audio, Julia Bonett, is joining us as our avid audiobook listener this week.

The last book in the Harry Potter series was published back in 2007, over 15 years ago. That’s 15 years for the millions of fans around the world, including ourselves, to fully absorb the series and what it has to offer. We thought it would be a great time to have a deep dive discussion, giving our retrospective review of the series from a 2023 perspective. To help, we enlisted Grant Hardy, our colleague, producer on AMI's Kelly and Ramya and massive HP fan, to join us. We also get into the rollercoaster of reactions and comments the world has been expressing around the author of the Harry Potter universe, J.K. Rowling.

On today's episode: Being an author is typically thought of as a lonesome affair, but it doesn’t need to be. Enter the strange world of co-authoring. Karen McKay and Theresa Power of CELA join us to help break it down. Emily Wu Zeller is our featured narrator this week on Know Your Narrator and Sarah Hillis is here for the second half of the show. And, somewhere in there, we’ll of course find time for this week’s question to the book club: what books give you wintery vibes?