2021 Audiobook Awards: And the Winners Are…

This month saw two major audiobook awards: the Grammys and the Audies. We have a full list of nominees and winners in our catalog, here, but here are at least some of the audiobooks that went home holding trophies this month.

The winner of this year’s Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word or Non-Musical Album is: Blowout: Corrupted Democracy, Rogue State Russia, and the Richest, Most Destructive Industry on Earth, by Rachel Maddow, read by the author.  Think it’s all about the money? Guess again: it’s all about the oil. The popular cable news star digs deep on the dirty open secret of geopolitical power.

Catalog magic: finding new authors via additional contributors

At the library, we are always excited to help you find new authors to explore, although our current ability to hang out and talk books is limited by pandemic closures. Fortunately, our catalog has some neat ways to help you slide from one author you like to another, and today I’d like to highlight the way “additional contributors” can factor in.

First of all – what is an additional contributor? This is someone else, other than the author, who contributed to the creation of a book – often, the additional contributor field is used to indicate the reader of an audiobook; or the translator on a book that has been translated into English. The additional contributor is named in an informational field in the catalog record.

An audiobook narrator may narrate many different styles of book – mysteries, fiction, nonfiction. Likewise a translator will work in one or two languages, but otherwise may translate a variety of materials. Still, narrators and translators are lending their voice and their style to these works, so if you like the interpretation and voice of a certain reader, or the prose style of a particular translator, you may also like that person’s work elsewhere. It’s worth a try!

Listen to these Indigenous voices

The publishing world – and audiobook publishing in particular – is growing more diverse, and there are now many recorded books both created and voiced by Indigenous, First Nations and American Indian authors and narrators. Here are some outstanding listens for you to try:

Giving Thanks: A Native American Good Morning Message, read by Chief Jake Swamp. The traditional thanks prayer of the Six Nations, said in gratitude to the precious and rare gift of the natural world, from the moon and the stars to the tiniest blade of grass, and read in English and in kaniakehaka (Mohawk).

We Got Your Ears Covered

Two “Always Available” Overdrive digital nonfiction audiobooks and one with plenty of copies!

For me, audiobooks fall into two categories: “Books I Meant to Read” and “Books to Listen to while Gripped by Insomnia.” Right now, that second category has taken prominence. I’m primarily a nonfiction book reader, so when I lie down for the night, I’m looking for something that informs and delights, while being just “cozy” enough to not make me freak out.

If you need a nighttime listen and can’t wait for your hold on that perfect title to come up, check out our Always Available downloadable audiobooks collection. We have over 150 titles to choose from and all are ready to download at a moment’s notice to fill that yawning void. Here’s a few nonfiction titles I’ve tried recently that have held my interest for just long enough to get me off to Slumberland, but are also engaging enough to listen to while up and about.

Speculative Short Stories to Read or Listen to Online

Friday the 13th of March was a dynamic scene at the Central Library, with patrons queuing for help to find good books to read during the library’s closure, and the DVD aisles packed with browsers. I miss assisting patrons in person in finding a great story to read or watch – though do visit my colleagues at I at Your Next Five Books where we continue to advise readers and listeners online. Fortunately, there are many other ways to enjoy stories right now.

If you have internet access, here are some places to find speculative stories – e.g. science fiction, fantasy, horror, magical realism, slipstream, and anything in the realms of the imagination. Because it times like these, we need stories that take us away from our current realities, don’t you agree?

Tor.com is a publisher of books, yes, but they also post full-text short stories, as well as blog posts about books and popular culture weekly. Stories are updated in the carousel at the top of the site. Recent stories stories have been written by the likes of Maria Dahvana Headley, Charlie Jane Anders, Harry Turtledove, Garth Nix, and Neil Gaiman.