March 2006 Audiobook Reviews

It's Only a Show
by Garrison Keillor

Highbridge Audio
Audio
Suggested Retail Price: $24.95 or as low as $16.45 from Amazon.com!

As the host and creator of NPR's bullwark program "A Prairie Home Companion," Keillor himself says that the show got to be more fun when they realized that it was not great American literature. This CD is full of nostalgia. Garrison tells us about a school bus driver who steered with his knees while nipping out of a bottle. Guy Noir, Private Eye, is here as well as Dusty and Lefty the cowboys who are great, but my least favorite. I do love the ten-minute Macbeth, the tales from Lake Wobegon, and the great music by the Shoe Band, which is definitely a favorite of mine. You get two hours of live broadcast from this great radio show which I, for one, never miss. There’s a movie?

On the Run
by Iris Johansen, Jennifer Van Dyck

RH Audio
Audio
ISBN# 0739324802
Suggested Retail Price: $29.95 or as low as $18.93 from Amazon.com!

The book was very exciting, so I was anxious to enjoy it again in audiobook format. The plot is all about a woman named Grace and her daughter, Frankie. They have been under government protection and hiding out. One day it all blew up, and Grace and Frankie narrowly escaped the disaster. The CIA moves them to a safer spot and then we find out why. It seems that Grace was an agent with a special skill. She is a "horse whisperer," and she was sent undercover to calm down a couple of Arabian horses. She had been doing some work when she her cover was blown. The Arabian Sheik who owns the horses want to get them calm enough to lead him to a hidden fortune. Romance emerges as the father of Frankie is revealed and then she is kidnapped and Grace goes back to her job of training the horses while her daughter is being threatened. A desert romance that does not include the sheik. It's an adventure story you'll count as one of your favorites for a long time to come.

The Time Traveler's Wife
by Audrey Niffenegger

Harvest Books
Audio
ISBN# 0-1560-2943-X
Suggested Retail Price: $14.00 or as low as $4.00 from Amazon.com!

Clare and Henry have know each other since she was six-years-old and he was thirty-six. They got married when Clare was twenty-three and Henry was thirty-one.

Wait a minute. How can that be?

We find out that Henry was the first person to be diagnosed with a new disease called "Chrono-Displacement Disorder," which means that every so often his genetic clock resets, and he becomes misplaced in time.

The story is told both by Henry and Clare and I think you already know enough now to understand that this is a very different love story. It's a ripping good yarn, and thanks to Highbridge we have the complete story unabridged.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Quandary Phase
by Douglas Adams

The Audio Partners
Audio
ISBN# 1-5727-0488-8
Suggested Retail Price: $24.95 or as low as $16.45 from Amazon.com!

Here is a truly rare treasure. This is a full cast broadcast of Douglas Adams fourth book, "So Long and Thanks For All the Fish."

The Earth has reappeared after having been destroyed in the original "Guide," and even more amazing, Arthur Dent has discovered it. He returns to his home after ages roaming the galaxy. Now he falls in love with the girl of his dreams. Problems arise when Ford Prefect finds something that will likely shatter Arthur's life again. You see, the woman of Arthur's dreams has very strange feet. Almost fishy you could say. Remember the Dolphins?

Adams fans are in for a delightful return to that wonderful collection of exciting and funny adventures about the hitchhiker’s guidebook.