Free Audio Book: All Our Yesterdays

Sync are offering two free audio books per week over the summer. You only get a week to download them but then they can be played at any time afterwards. This week's selection is available from June 5 – June 11 and includes:

ALL OUR YESTERDAYS
By Cristin Terrill
Read by Meredith Mitchell
Published by Tantor Audio

This audiobook is only available in the US and Canada.

Description:

From Cristin Terrill, a wrenching, brilliantly plotted story of fierce love, unthinkable sacrifice, and the infinite implications of our every choice. “You have to kill him.” Imprisoned in the heart of a secret military base, Em has nothing except the voice of the boy in the cell next door and the list of instructions she finds taped inside the drain. Only Em can complete the final instruction. She’s tried everything to prevent the creation of a time machine that will tear the world apart. She holds the proof: a list she has never seen before, written in her own hand. Each failed attempt in the past has led her to the same terrible present–imprisoned and tortured by a sadistic man called “the doctor” while war rages outside. Marina has loved her best friend, James, since they were children. A gorgeous, introverted science prodigy from one of America’s most famous families, James finally seems to be seeing Marina in a new way, too. But on one disastrous night, James’s life crumbles apart, and with it, Marina’s hopes for their future. Marina will protect James, no matter what. Even if it means opening her eyes to a truth so terrible that she may not survive it. At least not as the girl she once was. Em and Marina are in a race against time that only one of them can win.

Download All Our Yesterdays here.

Review: Passion by Lauren Kate (audio book)

Passion by Lauren Kate and read by Justine Eyre (June 2011, RHCB Audio, ISBN: 9781846577444 )

Notes: May contain spoilers for the previous books in the Fallen series.

Review: Passion is the third book in the Fallen series about Lucinda (Luce) Price and fallen angel Daniel. Lucinda's soul has had many previous incarnations but each time when she and Daniel have fallen in love, Luce has died around the age of seventeen. This time around she's still alive; she's broken the curse it seems. Passion explains more about the creating and breaking of the curse.

At the end of Torment, Luce was fleeing for her life and from her situation by diving into a shadow (an announcer). In her current life she is now able to control the announcers and travel through them in time. In Passion, Luce visits several of her previous lives going deeper back in time. She meets a small (flying) gargoyle called Bill in one of her announcers and he joins her and offers guidance (as well as period clothing).

Luce's quest is to see how much and why Daniel loves her and also to break the curse once for and all and she has to witness 'herself' dying again and again.

Meanwhile Daniel and an assortment of Angels, Demons and Nephilim are searching for Luce through time, meeting their own selves at times, until finally Daniel goes back to the beginning...

Passion answers some of the questions about Luce and Daniel and hints at why she is so important to both the Angels and Demons. We find out about the Fall and how Cam ended up on the opposite side to Daniel and though the story doesn't end on quite the personal cliff-hanger of Torment it sets up a mighty global problem to be resolved in Rapture.

I enjoyed Passion more than I thought I would as it seemed like it would be a bit repetitive with Luce going to a time period and Daniel would miss her by a few hours and so on, but enough different information was revealed at each stop to keep the attention. Bill is a humorous character and made things more entertaining. I did prefer the non Luce bits though which revealed more about Daniel and his colleagues. There was one icky part which involved beheadings which I thought was a bit scary!

Justine Eyre continues her excellent performance of this series with readily identifiable voices for the main characters.

I'm eagerly awaiting the library's purchase of the audio book of the final book, Rapture.

Review: The Double Life of Cassiel Roadnight by Jenny Valentine (audio book)

The Double Life of Cassiel Roadnight by Jenny Valentine and read by Joe Van Moyland (4 CDs, 2011, Oakhill Publishing, ISBN: 978-0-85735-925-9)

Note: The Double Life of Cassiel Roadnight is being published as The Double in the US on 21 February 2012.

Review: Sixteen-year-old "Chap" who has been living rough in London ends up at a hostel where he is identified as the missing Cassiel Roadnight. Though he looks almost identical, Chap knows he's not Cassiel but what if he became him? A loving family and home would be his, at least for a while until the real Cassiel turns up.

So, Chap claims Cassiel's life and is returned to his sister, brother and mother in a lovely cottage near Hay-on-Wye. How long can Cassiel keep the deception up and what about the effect his deception is having on his new family, in particular his sister and heavily-medicated mum?

Chap thought he was getting the perfect life but it's not long before a darkness appears. What has happened to Cassiel? What Chap discovers could destroy everything he's got and the people he's beginning to care about as well as bringing danger to himself. As Chap learns about Cassiel, we learn about Chap and how he ended up without a name or a family and on the streets.

The story goes full circle with a violent confrontation at the Hay on Fire festival, exactly two years since both Cassiel and Chap disappeared from their respective homes.

The Double Life of Cassiel Roadnight is a well-written, absorbing teenage mystery with many twists and turns. It's a tense read, as Chap is always on edge, wondering when his cover will be blown. Despite "stealing" Cassiel's life, Chap is a likeable character with a solid moral compass and well-educated despite his lack of formal schooling. All the characters felt real and are well portrayed by narrator, Joe Van Moyland. The author also looks at alienation from society, not just of teenagers but adults too, as people get lost from the mainstream and the nature of family.

On a personal note, I loved the Hay-on-Wye setting as I'm a regular visitor and could imagine the scenery.

Jenny Valentine doesn't hide the fact that this story was inspired by the classic Brat Farrar by Josephine Tey and I have fond memories of watching the BBC tv series when I was (much) younger with the gorgeous Mark Greenstreet in the lead(s).

Review: The Case of the Cryptic Crinoline by Nancy Springer (audio book)

The Case of the Cryptic Crinoline by Nancy Springer and read by Katherine Kellgren (3 CDs, November 2011, Whole Story Audiobooks, ISBN: 978140749 413 5)

Review: The Case of the Cryptic Crinoline is the fifth in this series which features Enola Holmes, younger sister to Sherlock. Enola is now fourteen and is living with her elderly and deaf landlady Mrs Tupper, under an assumed name. She has run away from home to avoid being sent to boarding school.

The reader has met the young Mrs Tupper in the prologue where she had accompanied her husband to Scutari (Turkey) during the Crimean War and where subsequently her husband became mortally ill and was tended to by the "Lady with the Lamp", Florence Nightingale.

Thirty years later in London, Mrs Tupper is sent a mysterious note demanding she hand over a message. Mrs Tupper has no notion of what the missive means but the letter-writer does not accept that and kidnaps the old lady and ransacks her home.

Enola, who sees Mrs Tupper as family - in part replacing her own missing mother - must solve the mystery and find Mrs Tupper before any harm befalls her. Her adventure has her mixing with high society and avoiding and outwitting her own brother from time to time.

I really enjoyed The Case of the Cryptic Crinoline which has an independent, clever teenager as its heroine. Written by an American, the language sounds authentically British and is quite sophisticated. The plot is quite complicated - I'm not sure I fully understand the why but the who and what is clear enough and I like how it introduces the reader to the Crimean War and Florence Nightingale which may lead to further reading on those topics. There is an ongoing mystery regarding the disappearance of Enola's mum - is she alive still? I look forward to finding out more. There is an excellent scene near the end where Florence Nightingale explains to Sherlock Holmes the horror of corsets and boarding schools!

It's a shame that the first one in the series available in the UK is the fifth but at least the sixth, The Case of the Gypsy Goodbye, will be out on audio book in February.

Like the author, the narrator is also American but she narrates in an almost flawless English accent, only tripping-up over words like "shone" and "perseverance". Her regional accents are equally well done and her Florence Nightingale is a charm.

More Sherlock Holmes related series for children can be found here.

Free Audio Books of Storm Runners & The Cay

Like last year, Sync are offering two free audio books per week over the summer. You only get a week to download them but then they can be played at any time afterwards. Here's the final two:

(Available to download August 11 - August 17)

STORM RUNNERS
By Roland Smith
Read by Ramón de Ocampo, Bronson Pinchot,
Hillary Huber, John Morgan, Samantha Quan
Published by Scholastic Audiobooks

THE CAY
By Theodore Taylor
Read by Michael Boatman
Published by Listening Library

There don't appear to be any geographical restrictions on Storm Runners, I haven't yet tried The Cay. You have to download a small piece of software (Overdrive) before being allowed to download the mp3 files.

Download the books from here.

Free Audio Books of Immortal & Wuthering Heights

Like last year, Sync are offering two free audio books per week over the summer. You only get a week to download them but then they can be played at any time afterwards:

(Available to download August 4 - August 10)

IMMORTAL
By Gillian Shields
Read by Emily Durante
Published by HarperAudio

WUTHERING HEIGHTS
By Emily Brontë
Read by Carolyn Seymour
Published by Blackstone Audiobooks

There don't appear to be any geographical restrictions on either title. You have to download a small piece of software (Overdrive) before being allowed to download the mp3 files.

Download the books from here.

Free Audio Book of Ashes, Ashes by Jo Treggiari

Like last year, Sync are offering two free audio books per week over the summer. You only get a week to download them but then they can be played at any time afterwards. This week's selection runs out today:

(Available to download July 28 - August 3)

ASHES, ASHES
By Jo Treggiari
Read by Cassandra Campbell
Published by Oasis Audio

(Released June 2011: A thrilling tale of adventure, romance, and one girl's unyielding courage through the darkest of nightmares.

Epidemics, floods, droughts--for sixteen-year-old Lucy, the end of the world came and went, taking 99% of the population with it. As the weather continues to rage out of control, and Sweepers clean the streets of plague victims, Lucy survives alone in the wilds of Central Park. But when she's rescued from a pack of hunting dogs by a mysterious boy named Aidan, she reluctantly realizes she can't continue on her own. She joins his band of survivors, yet, a new danger awaits her: the Sweepers are looking for her. There's something special about Lucy, and they will stop at nothing to have her.)

RESCUE: Stories of Survival From Land and Sea
By Dorcas S. Miller [Ed.]
Read by Terence Aselford, Colleen Delany, David Elias, et al.
Published by Listen & Live Audio

There don't appear to be any geographical restrictions on Ashes, Ashes. You have to download a small piece of software (Overdrive) before being allowed to download the mp3 files.

Download the books from here.

Review: Torment by Lauren Kate (audiobook)

Torment by Lauren Kate and read by Justine Eyre (September 2010, RHCB Audio, ISBN: 9781846577437)

Notes: Contain spoilers for the previous book Fallen (but who hasn't read that yet?)

Review: I'm probably the last person (of those likely to read it) to have got to this one. Nudged by the release of Passion I set to it.

Torment takes place shortly after Fallen finishes and heroine Luce knows that Daniel is the love of her life(lives) and that every time she has a life she dies when she's 17, except in this life. Something's changed. For her own safety, as various supernatural beings want her dead, Luce is moved to a boarding school in California called Shoreline. Luce is kept pretty much in the dark about what Daniel's doing whilst she's there but the reader knows that there's a short-lived truce between the angels (eg Daniel) and demons (eg Cam). Daniel orders Luce to stay on the campus and is generally unhelpful and uncommunicative. Luce of course does not follow his orders and puts herself and others in danger.

At Shoreline she makes new friends and begins to get close to Miles, a nice guy who doesn't order her around! Also Luce begins to see the impact of the curse she's under, the effect her death has had on a long history of her own families. She also learns more about "the Shadows" that have haunted her all her life and begins to get the mastery of them.

Lessons continue and her love-life becomes complicated until another dramatic battle brings Torment to a cliff-hanging end....

I enjoyed Torment much more than Fallen where I found the behaviour of "the boys" Daniel and Cam to be annoying and patronising. This time Luce is standing up for herself and thinking about more than swoon-some kisses. She's developing her own skills and showing off her kindly traits. As it'd been a while since I listened to Fallen I was quite confused at first but slowly, as various new people had the back-story explained to them I got up to speed (I think). If there is anyone new to this series then it may be worth reading them closer together than I did! I'm still unclear on some things, such as why did Luce's previous boyfriends go up in flames and why were so many angels and demons attending Luce's previous school for reform students and is Daniel always the same age? Maybe there'll be more answers in Passion. I'll get back to you!

Free Audio Book of Chanda's Secrets

Like last year, Sync are offering two free audio books per week over the summer. You only get a week to download them but then they can be played at any time afterwards. This week's selection runs out today:

Download July 21 - July 27:

CHANDA'S SECRETS
By Allan Stratton
Read by Suzy Jackson
Published by Brilliance Audio

TESS OF THE D'URBERVILLES
By Thomas Hardy
Read by Anna Bentinck
Published by Naxos AudioBooks

There don't appear to be any geographical restrictions on Chanda's Secrets. You have to download a small piece of software (Overdrive) before being allowed to download the mp3 files.

Download the books from here.

Free Audio Book of The Spook's Apprentice/Revenge of the Witch

Like last year, Sync are offering two free audio books per week over the summer. You only get a week to download them but then they can be played at any time afterwards. This week's selection runs out today:

Download July 14 - July 20:

THE LAST APPRENTICE: REVENGE OF THE WITCH
By Joseph Delaney
Read by Christopher Evan Welch
Published by HarperAudio

BEOWULF
By Anonymous, Francis B. Gummere [Trans.]
Read by Rosalyn Landor
Published by Tantor Media

There are geographical restrictions on The Last Apprentice: Revenge of the Witch. You have to download a small piece of software (Overdrive) before being allowed to download the mp3 files.

Download the books from here.

Free Audio Book of Where the Streets Had a Name

Like last year, Sync are offering two free audio books per week over the summer. You only get a week to download them but then they can be played at any time afterwards. This week's selection runs out today:

Download July 7 - July 13:

WHERE THE STREETS HAD A NAME
By Randa Abdel-Fattah
Read by Kellie Jones
Published by Bolinda Audio

A PASSAGE TO INDIA
By E.M. Forster
Read by Sam Dastor
Published by AudioGO

There are no geographical restrictions on Where the Streets Had a Name. You have to download a small piece of software (Overdrive) before being allowed to download the mp3 files.

Download the books from here.

Free Audio Book of Shiver

Like last year, Sync are offering two free audio books per week over the summer. You only get a week to download them but then they can be played at any time afterwards. This week's selection is:

Available June 23 - June 29:

SHIVER by Maggie Stiefvater
Narrated by Jenna Lamia and David Ledoux
Published by Scholastic Audiobooks


ROMEO & JULIET by William Shakespeare
Narrated by a Full Cast
Published by AudioGO

I don't know if there are any geographical restrictions, I'm in the UK and am downloading Shiver ok. You have to download a small piece of software (Overdrive) before being allowed to download the mp3 files.

Download the books from here.

Viola in Reel Life - Now on Audiobook

I love the cover art for this welcome release on audio book of Adriana Trigiani's Viola in Reel Life.

Viola in Reel Life, narrated by Laurel Lefkow is published by Whole Story Audio Books and was released on 1 May.

When fourteen-year-old Viola Chesterton is sent to Prefect Academy, an all-girls school far away from her home, she doesn’t think she will survive the year. So she resorts to viewing the world behind the lens of her video camera. But at Prefect Academy, Viola may be in for the most incredible year of her life, as long as she puts the camera down and let the world in.

My review of the paperback release is here.

Review: Girl, Missing by Sophie McKenzie (audio book)

Girl, Missing by Sophie McKenzie and read by Kim Hicks (March 2009, AudioGO, ISBN: 9781408404324)

First Line:
Who am I?

Notes: Girl, Missing won the Red House Book Award for Older Readers and was Richard and Judy’s Children’s Books Winner in the 12+ Fluent Reader category. The paperback edition is published by Simon & Schuster Children's, ISBN: 9781416917328.

Review: As the sequel to Girl, Missing - Sister, Missing - is due out in September I thought I'd better get on and read the first book.

Girl, Missing is the story of Lauren Matthews who was adopted when she was three. Her parents refuse to tell her about her life before then saying that she's not old enough to know more yet as she is only fourteen. Naturally Lauren doesn't agree and a routine homework assignment on "Who am I?" turns into something more serious when she finds a missing children website. Lauren discovers that a girl, middle name Lauren, disappeared at the right age over in America. Could she be the same person?

Her investigations of family documents leads to the name of a US adoption agency on the East coast of America. Lauren manipulates and lies to get a family holiday in the right part of the US and is fortunate to be accompanied by her best friend Jam (James). Lauren's quest to find herself leads to much more than she bargained for with multiple life-threatening situations and much stress and strain for her adoptive parents.

Girl, Missing is an exciting thriller with a headstrong, teenage lead who comes across as selfish and thoughtless at times but is probably only acting as anyone would at that age when something so important is almost within your grasp. The story raises serious issues of who is family and how much blood-ties matter, along with being a gripping, thriller. I did enjoy it and am intrigued to see how Lauren will have matured as the next book is set two years later.

Girl, Missing is well narrated by Kim Hicks who gives Lauren a confident voice which may make her sound more selfish than she actually is. You can listen to a sample of the opening chapter on the AudioGO website.

My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece & David Tennant

Great news from Orion for David Tennant fans. He will be the narrator for Annabel Pitcher's My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece published 1 March.

I've enjoyed his narration of Doctor Who audio books so I'm looking forward to this very much.

You can listen to the first three minutes here.

Ten-year-old Jamie Matthews has just moved to the Lake District with his Dad and his teenage sister, Jasmine for a 'Fresh New Start'. Five years ago his sister's twin, Rose, was blown up by a terrorist bomb. His parents are wrecked by their grief, Jasmine turns to piercing, pink hair and stops eating. The family falls apart. But Jamie hasn't cried in all that time. To him Rose is just a distant memory. Jamie is far more interested in his cat, Roger, his birthday Spiderman T-shirt, and in keeping his new friend Sunya a secret from his dad. And in his deep longing and unshakeable belief that his Mum will come back to the family she walked out on months ago. When he sees a TV advert for a talent show, he feels certain that this will change everything and bring them all back together once and for all.

Review: Doctor Who: The Jade Pyramid (audio book)

Earlier today I posted my review of the latest audio exclusive adventure starring the 11th Doctor: The Jade Pyramid by Martin Day and read by Matt Smith over on my Euro Crime blog.

Review: Blood Ties by Sophie McKenzie (audio book)

Blood Ties by Sophie McKenzie and read by Rebekah Germain and Mark Meadows (July 2009, Chivers Children's Audio, ISBN: 9781408438695)

First Lines:
I could see him waiting for me outside the steel school gates.
Roy.

Notes: Blood Ties won the Red House Children's Book Award 2009. The paperback edition is published by Simon & Schuster Children's, ISBN: 1847382754.

Review: Blood Ties brings together two fifteen-year-olds, Theo and Rachel. Complete strangers, they have more in-common than anyone could possibly realise.

Theo, confident, but emotionally contained has had a bodyguard for as long as he can remember, Even when he gives him the slip, his freedom is short-lived. He and his mum have such a big row that she decides she must tell Theo the truth. That his dad is not dead but in hiding from extremists, and that Theo's life may be in danger as he's his father 's weak point.

Meanwhile, in the other-side of the city, Rachel is being bullied at school and at home she is constantly being compared to her dead sister who was apparently all that Rachel is not: brilliant, gorgeous, elegant.

Theo decides to track his dad down, in spite of what his mum's said and this leads him to Rachel as her father worked with his. Theo's desperation to find his dad however, sets in motion all that his mum has feared over the years and so begins an exciting thriller which takes the two to Scotland and Washington. They have both friends and foes, and not all will survive the experience.

Blood Ties is narrated alternately by Theo and Rachel and is a fabulously exciting and enthralling story which sees Theo and Rachel change and mature over a few short weeks. As well as thriller it's also a gentle love-story as the two realise how close they've become (though it takes Theo a bit longer to realise) with the alternating viewpoint showing how confused they are about the feelings of the other one! The theme of identity and the effects of nurture or nature on a person's personality is also there to be explored by the reader if they so wish. But perhaps first and foremost it's a page-turning thriller and one that should (and does) appeal to both male and female readers.

Though the sequel has just been published, this one stands on its own, but I am very pleased that there is more to come as there are several plot-lines that can be carried on.

I loved the dual narration by Rebekah Germain and Mark Meadows and in particular Mark Meadows accent for Theo's father was very convincing, very evocative of the man he is.

Review: Breathing Underwater by Julia Green (audio book)

Breathing Underwater by Julia Green and read by Lisa Coleman (January 2010, Chivers Children's Audio, ISBN: 1408434105)

First Lines:

It starts like this: a sudden storm.

Review: Fourteen year-old Freya returns to the collection of islands (an unnamed Isles of Scilly), where her grandparents live, for the summer holidays. This is the first year she's there on her own. Her older brother Joe drowned there last summer and her parents haven't been back. Freya can't believe that such a vibrant personality has just vanished leaving no trace behind and recently she has the sensation of him being there, just out of view, a voice in her head.

As the days go by, Freya settles back in, meets that year's campsite residents including Danny, who looks a bit like Joe, plus Izzy and her boyfriend Matt. Details of what happened the previous summer are told amongst the chapters about the current happenings. Through a combination of friendship and love and maybe something unworldly, Freya comes to terms with what happened to Joe and her grief and guilt abate.

I have been utterly gripped by Breathing Underwater. I didn't want it to end. It's one of those audio books where you do extra chores so you can carry on listening. My heart went out to Freya, for her loss and for wrongly carrying a burden of guilt and the belief that she could maybe have prevented Joe's death. Her parents, grief-stricken though they naturally are have withdrawn from her rather than cherishing her. As well as the well-developed character of Freya, the other characters are equally alive: the bohemian Izzy, the gorgeous Matt, the shy Danny who has a crush on Freya. The sense of place is equally tangible; I can picture the island and layout clearly.

This is an absorbing, quiet tale of how life goes on and how a terrible loss can be overcome. A compulsive listen, which Lisa Coleman narrates brilliantly.

Free Audiobooks of Handbook for Boys and Oliver Twist

Until 1 September, two free audiobooks have been available every week to download (for 7 days only) from Sync. The final selection is:

From 8/26 - 9/1,

HANDBOOK FOR BOYS by Walter Dean Myers (Read by Peter Francis James)
Download Courtesy of Harper Audio

OLIVER TWIST by Charles Dickens (Read by Martin Jarvis)
Download Courtesy of AudioGO

These titles are available for ONE WEEK ONLY, no exceptions, so get them while they last!

Unfortunately Oliver Twist is only available in the US and Canada. (For non-UKers, Martin Jarvis is a well-known actor who famously narrates the Just William stories amongst many other books and always with a twinkle in his eye. I'm very disappointed that I'm not able to download Oliver Twist.)

You have to download a small piece of software (Overdrive) before being allowed to download the mp3 files.

Download from here.

Free Audio Book of Wondrous Strange by Lesley Livingston

Until 1 September, two free audio books will be available every week to download (for 7 days only) from Sync. This week's selection is:

From 8/19 - 8/25,

WONDROUS STRANGE by Lesley Livingston (Read by Lesley Livingston)
Download Courtesy of Harper Audio

A MIDSUMMER'S NIGHT DREAM by William Shakespeare (Read by Michael Maloney et al.)
Download Courtesy of Naxos Audio

Unfortunately Wondrous Strange is only available in the US, Canada & Open Market (UK & Commonwealth excluded). You have to download a small piece of software (Overdrive) before being allowed to download the mp3 files.

Download from here.