2014 Favorite Audiobooks and Favorite Debuts

2014 brought about my entry into reviewing audiobooks for Audiofile Magazine. My organization--or rather lack thereof--for this year has been the main obstacle for me getting those reviews here on the blog. The reviews for Audiofile focus on the production and not the story, so I have wanted to add additional information into the reviews to cover my reactions to the stories as well. I am hoping to do better in 2015 in this area so I can include those reviews here as well. In the meantime, those audios listed below that I haven't reviewed here, but have appeared at Audiofile will be linked to their pages on the Audiofile site. I hope you'll visit the site if you don't already.

My choices for favorite audiobooks--from the 35 I listened to this year--are based solely on the audio production, so some of the books listed below may not be (in my opinion) the greatest stories but they were stellar performances. They were enjoyable to listen to. So if the story wasn't that great then the narrator was extra wonderful in order to overcome that disadvantage and keep me engaged for the entire book.

FAVORITE AUDIOBOOKS OF 2014 ARE:
 
5. Midwinterblood (written by Marcus Sedgwick; narrated by Julian Rhind-Tutt): this is a YA book, but can certainly be enjoyed by any listener. A strong atmosphere and Rhind-Tutt does a magical job with the irregular structure of this book. It's a collection of interconnected stories and he keeps the reader firmly entwined in that connecting thread. (Listening Library)

4. The Intern's Handbook (written by Shane Kuhn; narrated by Pete Simonelli): this particular book is showing up all over my lists this year. It's a wonderful, complete package. Simonelli didn't try to force drama into this book, he kept his reading dry to match the concept of the handbook--who's ever read a dramatic handbook?  This may at first seem like the audiobook would be a boring listen, but quite the contrary. His approach enhanced the sarcastic humor and the suspense of the genius plot. (Simon & Schuster Audio)

3. Wait for Signs (written by Craig Johnson; narrated by George
Guidall): I'm utterly convinced that there is nothing Guidall can't do when it comes to narration, but he still continues to amaze me in his depiction of Craig Johnson's world of Absaroka County. Johnson's short stories are especially powerful with huge helpings of passion and meaning in small packages. Guidall made the opening of these packages a joyous occasion. He juggles the spiritual, the humorous, the respectful and the heartfelt without dropping a single ball. Sometimes he has to perform a magic trick and juggle them so they merge and then reappear as separate entities. He does it all without breaking a sweat--or at least without letting us hear he's breaking a sweat. He also shows up the individual who reads the introduction to this collection...the person who couldn't be bothered to find out how to pronounce Absaroka even though it appears half a dozen times in the text. How lame!  (Recorded Books)

2. The Midnight Plan of the Repo Man (written by W. Bruce Cameron; narrated by George K. Wilson): This is a book I may very well have turned away from had I been reading it in print.  It deals with a ghost trapped in the main character's head. Not my normal fare, but the presentation was simply so engaging and fun I was disappointed when the book ended.  (Macmillan Audio)

1. The Morgue Drawer series (written by Jutta Profijt; translated by Erik J. Macki; narrated by Macleod Andrews): This is the only series this year that I started and HAD to continue to listen to--one right after the other. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get my  hands on the second book, so I'll still be anticipating that one. I listened to the first book, Morgue Drawer Four, then the fourth, Morgue Drawer: Do Not Enter!, then the third, Morgue Drawer for Rent. They were absolutely wonderful even out of order. I'll have a full review for you soon, but suffice it to say these blew me away. The story concept is fabulous; the translation is brilliant--there's tons of slang and made-up words and Macki did an incredible job taking them from the original German to English; finally at the delivery Macleod Andrews was astounding. His timing, his attitude, his energy and intensity, they were all award-worthy. I love this series and the audiobooks are pure gold. (Brilliance Audio)

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Debuts. I only read 11 debuts this year. I read books by 70 authors who were new to me, but only 11 of those were people writing their first books. So I'm leaving this list at only 3, which is still a large percentage of the total debuts, but I think these three deserve the kudos...and one you will see again tomorrow.

FAVORITE DEBUTS:

  

3. The Secret Wisdom of the Earth by Christopher Scotton. A stunning portrayal of the Appalachian region, beautiful writing and a wonderful coming of age story. I look forward to more from Scotton in the coming years.

2. The Intern's Handbook by Shane Kuhn. Geez, this book is like a bad penny, right? It keeps showing up everywhere. It's getting harder and harder to wow me with creative approaches to crime stories so when someone does, I celebrate it. Loved this book!

1. A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman. It continues to astound me that this book is a debut. I have recommended it to more people than any other this year and have had more people contact me about it than any other this year. It is beautifully written, funny, smart, heart-felt and it transcends time and place. It's set in Sweden but is relevant to anyone, anywhere, anytime. A Man Called Ove embodies why I love reading and love books.

The Secret Wisdom of the Earth - Christopher Scotton

My review of The Secret Wisdom of the Earth first appeared as a Maximum Shelf issue at Shelf Awareness. I am posting it today for non-crime Monday with their permission. You can also check out my interview with Christopher Scotton here.

First line: "The Appalachian Mountains rise a darker blue on the washed horizon if you're driving east from Indiana in the morning."

Making his fiction debut with an ambitious coming of age novel, Christopher Scotton paints the Appalachian region and its people with a reverential brush. Using their flaws and charms to highlight and shadow the work, Scotton produces a masterpiece in The Secret Wisdom of the Earth.

Leaving Indiana for Medgar, Kentucky, fourteen-year-old Kevin Gillooly and his mother try to escape the horror of an accident that took the life of Kevin's younger brother. His mother is non-functional with guilt, and Kevin is battling his own trauma plus the weight of blame from his father.

Medgar offers Kevin a freedom he hasn't known before and one he desperately needs to survive the suffocation his family's loss is creating. He wanders the countryside with his new friend Buzzy Fink, discovering both the beauty and the hostility of a land that means everything to his grandfather, Arthur "Pops" Peebles. As adult Kevin narrates the story he fondly recalls, "Off we'd go, breaknecking the hills and plundering the hollows where the compounded guilt and grief I felt would fall away like original sin at a baptismal."

Through this small backwoods town in Kentucky, Scotton sketches a rainbow of humanity. Using natural--and often humorous--dialogue, vivid descriptions and authentic behaviors, he populates Medgar with a colorful cast Kevin meets as he assumes the role of assistant to his large animal vet grandfather. While most in Medgar are poor, this is the least of what defines them. For example, "'The Finks are poor, but they're proud poor. Esmer runs the hollow hard. Kids stay in school; they truck their garbage out once a week. These are solid people.'" Contrast them to the Budgets who "'generally don't go to school past the tenth grade; they live off the land, get handouts, and work the mines and odd jobs to make up the rest. They've been living in this hollow for almost one hundred years, marrying each other and having each other's babies. The gene pool is getting a bit shallow.'"

And with the diversity of people comes a diversity of issues: racism, hate crimes, poverty and the issue that symbolizes them all, mountaintop removal.

Coal mining has been a way of life in Medgar for many years, but instead of tunneling into the earth, the coal companies now remove the tops of mountains through explosions, leaving the landscape ripped open and scarred. For part of Medgar's residents, including Pops and Paul Pierce, this is a travesty that must stop. It's not only erasing the physical land but the history of Medgar's people: the acid rain created from coal dust erodes the headstones in the graveyards.

One Medgar resident bemoans, "'We are talking about mountains that have been here for ten thousand years. Mountains that have defined us for generations... and now three are gone.... they are not coming back.... Ever.'" And Pops points out "'People don't care about experts; they care about Betty Dodger being a widow.... They care about black water coming out of the faucets up in Corbin Hollow. They care about their neighbors getting sick from all this crap in the water.'"

As dark as Scotton daubs mountaintop removal into his picture of Appalachia, Kevin's narrative reveals the other side as well: the struggling families who have no other way of making a living in the harsh, elevated landscape. Their mineral rights and land ownership are all they can leverage. Still, Pops and Paul work to rally the Medgar citizens against the mining companies and the decimation of Kentucky's mountains.

The division between the factions intensifies during that summer of 1985. A series of violent crimes rock the town with more force than one of the mountaintop explosions and as the investigation stalls for lack of evidence, Kevin learns the hard truth in Pop's words, "'Evil doesn't have to be loud, son. In fact, it reserves that for the merely boorish. Evil is quiet, stealthy--it sneaks up on you, smiles, and pats you on the back while pissing down your leg.'"

The death of Kevin's brother, the wounding of nature and the crimes that happen in Medgar are all brutally dark and ugly, yet The Secret Wisdom of the Earth is splendid and hopeful. Scotton's undeniable love and awe of this region shine through as he painstakingly portrays strokes of beauty in man and nature.

While camping Pops teaches Kevin about the "courtesy pile" of firewood. And when Kevin wants to know what if people don't do their part, Pops' response is "'Well, somebody's gotta be first, don't you think? Just imagine what would happen if we all left a place a little better than we found it.'" This advice carries a multitude of meanings in the book, but it also reflects what Scotton has done with his debut novel. He's left the literary world a little better than he found it.

The Secret Wisdom of the Earth will be available from Grand Central Publishing January 6th in hardcover (ISBN: 9781455551927). There will also be an unabridged audio (ISBN: 9781478986874), narrated by Robert Petkoff, available from Hatchette Audio and Blackstone Audio