Emily Roberts, Author at AudiobooksNow Blog

To Kill a Mockingbird….”Go Set a Watchman”, by Haper Lee

The prestigious author of To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee, has allowed her long-lost book, Go Set a Watchman, to be published. It was written before Mockingbird, which was published in July of 1960, and portrayed lawyer Atticus Finch, losing a case he represented for a local black man, Tom Robinson, who was accused of raping a white woman. The legal representation was not popular at that time (30’s Depression Era) with the town. Many moral, ethical, and racial issues ensued. Go Set a Watchman is another controversial novel which sheds a very different light on the character of Atticus Finch. The main plot is a description of the return of Scout Finch back to her small hometown of Maycomb from New York, to visit her father. During her visit, she has flashbacks to her childhood and the chaos of the trial. These flashbacks were the material from which Mockingbird was written years later.

In 2014 Lee’s lawyer was examining her safe deposit box and found Lee’s manuscript for Watchman, which had previously been thought to be lost. The book, even though pre-Mockingbird, was initially thought to be a trilogy with it being the first, a shorter connecting novel, then Watchman as the third.

In 2006, Harper Lee wrote: “Now, 75 years later in an abundant society where people have laptops, cellphones, iPods, and minds like empty rooms, I still plod along with books”. As for the publishing of Go Set a Watchman, she stated that she is still alive, kicking, and happy that she is humbled and amazed that it is now published after all those years. One reviewer has this to say about Go Set a Watchman: “It doesn’t quite reach that standard (of Mockingbird) but it is a great read in itself…….a fan like myself will really enjoy it.

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We’re All In This Together…”Modern Romance”, by Aziz Ansari

The newly published book, Modern Romance, by author (and comedian) Aziz Ansari is a factual research-based book that attempts to explain how people are finding romance in this day and age of technology. He provides the element of humor that makes the charts and statistics more palatable to the reader of books, or to the listener of audiobooks. Ansari developed the idea for the book when he was performing his comedy routine about obsessing over a girl that he had called who had not yet returned his call. He imagined her phone had fallen into a volcano, or that maybe she was dead. And then, it hits you that she just doesn’t want to call back. And that is the scariest reason of all.

Ansari enlisted the professional expertise of Eric Klinenberg, a sociology professor at New York University, to provide the scientific data to serve as the base of the book. They held group discussions in several different cities in several different states, forums on social media, and consulted experts in the fields of sociology, psychology, and human behavior. The result is a book of simple facts, observations, advice, and comedy. The book answers one of today’s most asked questions…….why do millennials not answer the phone? As author Ansari surveys all the information, one statement seems to stand out……… “The main thing I’ve learned from this research is that we’re all in this together”.

The book is especially interesting on audiobook, since author Ansari is the narrator and what could be better than having the comedic parts of the book presented by a comedian. It gives a substantial reason to listen to this book rather than read it in paper form. Or, the best of both worlds……..do both!

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Inside His Brain….”Grey”, by E.L. James

To celebrate fictional character, Christian Grey’s birthday, author E. L. James, announced a new book which tells the erotic story of 50 Shades of Grey, from Christian’s viewpoint, entitled “Grey: Fifty Shades“. James said she had so many fans request a version of her best-selling novel which shows the billionaire playboy as seen through his own eyes.

The book was shrouded in strict secrecy, with one rumor being that a copy of the new version had been stolen. However, no proof was ever found, so the police investigation was suspended. Now, copies are circulating and reviews have started being printed. One such review said, “James’ characteristic internal monologs provide a direct line into Christian’s mind, revealing his deepest, darkest desires…..and they don’t disappoint”. (Francesca Cookery….Vietnam)

The book is said to continue in the same “harder, coarser, and more direct attitude……..destroying the criticism of some that the books are “light” erotica or “mummy porn”.

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Wealth, Love, Ambition and Secrets…”Tiny Little Thing”, by Beatriz Williams

Author Beatriz Williams has written an intriguing novel that has fictional characters intertwined with historical happenings. It is a story set in the Vietnam War era, and follows in a Kennedy-style, the most gregariously social of the three Schuyler sisters, Christina “Tiny” Hardcastle of Cape Cod. She seemed predestined to meet and marry a man who would attain a leadership position with her help. She possessed elegance and grace with impeccable style. In the new age of television politics, “Tiny” was always looking camera ready. With their handsome attributes, they are poised to become the ultimate power couple…… seemingly unstoppable.

As many times happens, unwelcome characters appear unexpectedly in Cape Cod, who each in their own way can potentially bring down Frank and “Tiny” Hardcastle’s perfect world. Among those characters are Tiny’s volatile sister Pepper, someone bearing incriminating photographs, and Frank’s intimidating, Vietnam War hero cousin, Caspian. Tiny quickly realizes her perfect life may be full of cracks and the only way out is to fight for herself instead of continuing the glossy facade she has created.

As quoted from William’s publisher, the novel is……….a fascinating look at wealth, love, ambition, secrets, and what family members will and won’t do to protect each other……Kirkus.

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For Good, For Bad, Forever…”Finders Keepers”, by Stephen King

Once again, the genius author Stephen King, masters another thriller novel with a brilliant title…… Finders Keepers. The book is the second volume of a planned trilogy with main character, Detective Bill Hodges. Mr. Mercedes was volume one in the trilogy, and introduced Detective Hodges. The main theme of Finders Keepers is somewhat of a recurring theme (as was his novel, Misery) of a reader whose obsession with a favorite writer has become very dangerous. The new novel, published on June 2, 2015, promises to fulfill the high expectations that Stephen King’s readers have come to expect.
A thirty year old murder of a writer sets the stage for the premise of the novel. Detective Hodges gets drawn into the complicated story, but does not realize how it will lead to more mystery involving the decades old murder. It is a deadly cat and mouse game that he walks into, but he is the detective who brought down the murderer, Mr. Mercedes.
“Finders Keepers is spectacular, heart-pounding suspense, but it is also Stephen writing about how literature shapes a life……… for good, for bad, forever”.

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There Must be a Pony Here Somewhere, “A Lucky Life Interrupted”, by Tom Brokaw

Tom Brokaw, the former news anchor and managing editor of NBC Nightly News has written a new book, A Lucky Life Interrupted: A Memoir of Hope, in which he reflects back on his life and considers what he would still like to achieve. He was 75 years old and had extreme back pain due to his multiple myeloma. Every day that he went outside his Manhattan apartment, he was smacked in the face by a huge billboard of a young, healthy Tom Brady starring back at him. He admitted to Tom Brady the first time they met, that he therapeutically cursed that billboard every time he saw it. He told Brady that his cursing him got him through cancer treatment. The story gave the New England Patriots quarterback a good laugh.
Brokaw was very touched by all those who reached out to him with support during his battle with cancer. Among them were the current President, President George W. Bush, Charles Barkley, and many more, including David Letterman, who was very kind in checking on him and inviting him to dinner. It was immensely helpful to him to have such considerate people caring about him.
In the book, he considers his bucket list: ● Learn to sail solo ● Learn to play chess ● Get a short story published ● Spend more mornings by the sea, with his wife, Meredith, a copy of The New Yorker, and plenty of black coffee ●Fish more river and saltwater flats
Brokaw insists he is an eternal optimist, even through the difficult journey of having multiple myeloma. A great story he used as illustrating that optimism was when Ronald Reagan used the great line “about a child comes down in the morning, and beneath the Christmas tree there is just an enormous pile of horse dung. And he starts thinking, ‘there must be a pony here somewhere’. That is kind of my attitude about life.”

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Audiobook vs Audio Book

When you type the word audiobook, do you use “audiobook” or “audio book“? You can tell by my first sentence I use audiobook. It is clear the industry standard is “audiobook”, not “audio book”. The Audio Publishers Association (APA) and AudioFile Magazine both use the word audiobook. Even all the audiobook publishers spell it as one word on their website. So why do I still see it spelled “audio book”?

There are some spell checkers that underline “audiobooks” in red and suggest spelling it “audio books”, even when I type the word audiobooks on my Android phone it automatically breaks it into two separate words. You can even look up the word audiobook in an online dictionary and it will break it up into two separate words and say “Also, audiobook”. I even see it in auto suggest drop downs when typing it into a search like in Apple’s App Store on my iPad mini. I start typing the word audiobooks and it automatically shows me the words “audio books” in the drop down.

June is National Audiobook Month and everywhere I see it advertised it is spelled as one word “Audiobook”. This is what actually prompted me to write this post, given that today is June 3rd and I have been seeing lots of ads about National Audiobook Month. I have never seen it spelled as two words in any of the ads I have seen for National Audiobook Month.

Why does this even matter you ask. Who cares how you spell it, right, wrong. In today’s search boxes are everywhere society, you get different results when you enter it “audiobooks” vs “audio books” in a search box. This is the main reason there should be a standard way of spelling the word audiobooks and it should clearly be “audiobooks”, not “audio books” in my opinion. What do you think?

Deceit, Debt and Lies…”The Liar”, by Nora Roberts

“The Liar”, is another extraordinary novel by Nora Roberts. Roberts has a special way of writing about subject that may actually happen in real life, but includes many twists and turns making it unusual. Her main character, Shelby Foxworth, is found suffering over the loss of her husband. Little did she know there would be much more to be lost.

Shelby’s husband was lost in a boating accident which opened her eyes to the many I.D.’s he had in his past, and the deceit and debt he left behind. Appalled and embarrassed, she took her three year old daughter and traveled back to her roots in the Smokey Mountains. She is prepared to concentrate on building a new life for herself and her daughter, but does not expect evil to follow her home. She must use all of her strength and ability to get through the challenges that followed her to the mountains. In an intense, complex mystery, happiness can be found when there is a special man who enters her life and has the patience to wait for her to overcome all the lies perpetrated by “The Liar”.

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Broken Flocks Are Roaming In…”Maximum Ride Forever”, by James Patterson

Maximum Ride Forever is the ninth and ultimate novel in the Maximum Ride series by author, James Patterson. Those who are Patterson “Max” fans will not experience any disappointment with this encore “Max” episode……..all remaining questions will be answered.
It is a post-apocalyptic world where Maximum Ride and her broken Flock are roaming. The world has evolved by this time that only mutants can survive. The Flock with their avian characteristics and their gills are able to cope with everything that has taken place, but they are constantly pursued by those who belong to The School, who have no good intentions of handling The Flock, if they are re-captured. Readers have given mixed reviews of this installment, perhaps final installment, of the “Max series. It is said to contain conflicting answers to questions that remained after the previous novel. It appears to be at the discretion of the readers as to how their queries into the happenings of “Max” and the Flock are finally answered. To be sure, the twists and turns will keep the reader on their toes.

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The True Meaning of What It Is To Be A…”Legend”, by Eric Blehm

Eric Blehm, a best-selling author, uses the Vietnam War as a backdrop for his novel, Legend. It is seen through a mission that occurred on May 2, 1968. U.S. forces were forbidden to operate in the neutral Cambodian jungle, but a 12-man Special Forces team was covertly placed there to prove that the North Vietnamese Army was using the neutral zone as a means to traffic supplies to the south through the Ho Chi Minh Trail. The mission turned very sour when they discovered that they had infiltrated a section of jungle that concealed a major enemy installation. They were immediately surrounded by North Vietnamese Army, under attack, and low on ammunition.

The remainder of the story is carried out by the 20th Assault Helicopter Company, and principally Master Sergeant Ray Benavidez. His heroic actions were so impressive that he received the Congressional Medal of Honor from President Ronald Reagan in 1981. Awarded the medal for his service with Detachment B-56, 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne), 1st Special Forces, Republic of Vietnam. Even though severely injured himself, he saved numerous lives during that 1968 Vietnam Mission. The story exemplifies the complete title: Legend: A Harrowing Story from the Vietnam War of One Green Beret’s Heroic Mission to Rescue a Special Forces Team Caught Behind Enemy Lines.

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