2013 Audiobook Favorites

Today's list of favorites is audiobooks. As I mentioned yesterday, I listened to fewer audiobooks this past year. Now that I'm not driving to work, my audiobook time has gone down a bit. So I'm going to limit my list a bit this year. As with my previous lists, these come from audios I listened to this year, they may not have been published this year. Given that, here are my seven favorite audiobooks of 2013:

Reconstructing Amelia (written by Kimberly McCreight; narrated by Khristine Hvam) Hvam sent chills up my spine as she sent me back to the brutal world of high school. The fact that I felt my heart being ripped apart by the evil children can do to one another speaks volumes for the performance Hvam put forth on this production. Harper Audio

Point and Shoot (written by Duane Swierczynski; narrated by Pete Larkin) This is the final book and audio in Swierczynski's trilogy and all three have been exceptional listening experiences. They are fun stories and Larkin simply has fun narrating them. His humor and energy mesh with Swierczynski's style and the listener reaps the rewards. Hachette Audio/AudioGo

Gun Machine (written by Warren Ellis; narrated by Reg E. Cathey) Cathey had a great book to work with here, but he wove his interpretation into the very fibers of the story. I was especially impressed with his range of character. Gritty, hardboiled and fun! Hachette Audio


Dare Me (written by Megan Abbott; narrated by Khristine Hvam) I haven't had an opportunity to review this one as I listened to it late this year, but Hvam is quite masterful with the high school world as she took the narration lead on this one as well but gave it its own unique sound. I didn't make the connection that she had narrated Reconstructing Amelia until looking back later. She nails the attitude, the energy and most especially the perspective of the novel. Hachette/AudioGo

The October List (written by Jeffery Deaver; narrated by January LaVoy) If my list would have been longer than 7, the eighth audio would have been Killer Instinct. It introduced me to January LaVoy and she knocked my socks off, but I had to choose The October List first because she was as important in the surprise of the plot twist for me as the writing itself.  She knew and understood the story and played it perfectly. Hachette Audio

The Goldfinch (written by Donna Tartt; narrated by David Pittu) I'm still finishing this one up, but have been transfixed for more than 20 hours already (the full audio is over 30) and have run the gamut of emotions. Pittu's easy transitions between the many dialects is stellar and I'm especially enamored by his portrayal of females. What a great listening experience this has been. Hachette Audio

The Graveyard Book (written and narrated by Neil Gaiman) Can I just say, "wow! This one blew me away!"? Is that sufficient? I felt like I was there in the graveyard with Bod. And Gaiman's sound made me feel safe there. I'm always skeptical of an author performing his/her own audiobooks, but this one was flat out amazing. So thankful I finally listened to it. Harper Audio


And that does it for the favorite audiobooks of 2013! How about you? What were your favorites?

Reconstructing Amelia - Kimberly McCreight

My review of the audiobook of Reconstruction Amelia was originally written for Shelf Awareness but was unable to run. However, it's definitely able to appear here. Hope you enjoy!

First line: "Because there are 176 definitions for the word loser on urbandictionary.com."

Kate Baron is in the middle of a high-powered meeting for her law firm when she receives a call that her daughter Amelia has been suspended from her private prep school for cheating. Kate needs to come and pick up Amelia immediately.

Certainly there must be a mistake as Amelia is a perfect student; she’d never cheat. But when Kate arrives at the school, she never has a chance to ask. Amelia is dead and the police believe she jumped from the school’s roof, committing suicide. Kate almost comes to terms with the suicide when she receives an anonymous text message, “Amelia didn’t jump.”

In her debut novel, Kimberly McCreight aims high by exploring the volatility of teenage relationships. As the book’s narrator, Khristine Hvam is tasked with expressing every emotion of the young female spectrum. From the cocky, self-assured, and extremely overindulged Zadie to the book’s title character, smart, athletic, play-by-rules Amelia, Hvam keys into the teen psyche as though she’s still in high school herself.

Interspersed between the chapters from Amelia’s perspective, McCreight offers the perspective of Kate. Changing gears, Hvam climbs into the role of desperate, grieving mother, allowing listeners to intimately experience every parent’s worst nightmare.

Hvam never loses sight of the intensity of the plot. Carefully balancing the roles of mother and daughter, Hvam convinces her audience that smart girls can make stupid choices, while she jolts listeners with the horrors teens are capable of inflicting on one another.

Heart-breakingly disturbing, this audiobook’s haunting narration will echo long past “the end.”

Reconstructing Amelia is available as an unabridged audio from Harper Audio (ISBN: 9780062237590) and in hardcover (ISBN: 9780062225436) from Harper.