2008 Staff-Recommended Fiction on Audio

My Old True Love  by Sheila Kay Adams (Katy - Cameron Village)
In a haunting novel set during the Civil War in the mountains of Appalachia, Arty raises her brother, Hackley, and their cousin, Larkin, together like her own children, but the close relationship between the two young men is threatened when they both fall in love with the same woman.

The Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Adichie (Lynn - Eva Perry)
Growing up in a wealthy Nigerian home under the domain of a harsh, demanding, and tyrannical father, Kambili and her brother, Jaja, find new happiness during a visit to their Aunty Ifeoma outside the city, but as Kambili enjoys her newfound freedom and falls in love for the first time, the country begins to fall apart under a military coup.

Savannah Breeze by Mary Kay Andrews (Amy - Southeast Regional)
Savannah belle BeBe Loudermilk struggles to cope with the loss of everything following her relationship with Reddy, an investment "counselor" and conman, until she launches a campaign to retrieve her fortune and bring Reddy to justice.

The Hamish MacBeth mystery series by M.C. Beaton (Lynn - Eva Perry)
Police Constable Hamish Macbeth is called in to investigate the death of the unpopular Lady Jane, a malicious gossip and student at the Lochdubh School of Casting, Salmon and Trout Fishing, set in the Scottish Highlands. (Refers to 1st book in series - not all available on audio)

Darwin's Radio by Greg Bear (Kathe - West Regional)
Molecular biologist Kaye Lang has a theory on human retroviruses and it has just been verified with the discovery of SHEVA, a virus that has slept in our DNA for millions of years and is now waking up. Kaye and her colleagues must race against a genetic time bomb in this international adventure taking place in a cave high in the Alps and in Southern Russia.

The Double Bind by Chris Bohjalian (Teddy - Eva Perry Regional)
Working at a homeless shelter, student Laurel Estabrook encounters Bobbie Crocker, a man with a history of mental illness and a box of secret photos, but when Bobbie dies suddenly, Laurel embarks on an obsessive search for the truth behind the photos.

The Brief History of the Dead by Kevin Brockmeier (Teddy - Eva Perry Regional)
In an afterlife world inhabited by the recently departed who remain in the memories of the living, Marion and Phillip Byrd fall in love again, while on Earth, their daughter, Laura, is stranded alone in an Antarctic research station.

March by Geraldine Brooks (Janet - Athens Drive)
As the North reels under a series of defeats during the first years of the Civil War, one man leaves behind his family to aid the Union cause. His experiences will change his marriage and challenge his ardently held beliefs.

Stephanie Plum mystery series by Janet Evanovich (Michele - West Regional)
Out of work and out of money, Stephanie Plum becomes a bounty hunter. Her first assignment is to track down a former vice cop on the run for murder. (Refers to the first in the series)

Time and Again by Jack Finney (Teddy - Eva Perry Regional)
Simon Morley moves into the Dakota apartments and returns to the year 1882 under hypnosis, where he falls in love and refuses to change records for the government agency controlling his experiment.

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (Teddy - Eva Perry Regional)
Jay Gatsby still adores Daisy Buchanan although she has married someone else, and he risks everything to lure her back.

Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald (Beth - Cameron Village)
Dick Diver, a young psychiatrist, marries a wealthy woman whose pursuit of glitter effectively destroys him.

The Mysteries of Glass by Sue Gee (Christina - Eva Perry)
It's the winter of 1860 when Richard Allen, a young curate, travels to a small hamlet outside of Hereford to take up his first position.  It's in the quiet place of wind and trees, birds and water that Richard is to fall passionately in love -- but he cannot find fulfillment, for his lover is Susannah Beddoes, the wife of the vicar of his new parish.

One Woman Short by Nelson George (Ife - Cameron Village)
When Rodney Hampton's best friend's marriage shakes his complacent bachelor lifestyle, Rodney sets out to make one of three former girlfriends that slipped away his wife.

Kinsey Milhone mysteries by Sue Grafton (Steve - Cary)
Nikki Fife, the wife of a hated divorce lawyer, out on parole after eight years in prison for killing her husband, hires ex-cop-turned-private detective Kinsey Millhone to find the real killer and clear her name. (Refers to first in the series)

Soon I Will Be Invincible by Austin Grossman (Kathe - West Regional)
When Doctor Impossible, an evil genius and ambitious wannabe world dominator, launches a new plot to seize control of the world, Fatale, a woman built by the NSA to be the next generation of weaponry, joins a group of misfit superheroes in their quest todestroy Doctor Impossible.

Lucky You by Carl Hiaasen (Amy - Southeast Regional)
The latest winner of the Florida lottery, JoLayne Lucks faces an unexpected problem in collecting her winnings when Bodean Gazzer and his sidekick steal her ticket, planning to collect the millions to help their white supremacist group prevent a NATO invasion of the U.S.

The Kite Runner by Khalid Hosseini (Celia - East Regional)
Traces the unlikely friendship of a wealthy Afghan youth and a servant's son, in a tale that spans the final days of Afghanistan's monarchy through the atrocities of the present day.

Love and Devotion by Erica James (Sue W. - Cameron Village)
At the age of 32, Harriet Swift thinks she has the perfect life -- a satisfying career, her own flat and a new boyfriend who respects her need for her own space.  But when tragedy strikes, and her only sister is killed in a car crash, Harriet is forced to give up her well-ordered life and help her parents look after her orphaned niece and nephew.  Moving back to her childhood home and sacrificing so much doesn't come easily.  And before long, Harriet discovers things about her family she never believed possible.
The Ninth Life of Louis Drax by Liz Jensen (Maryjo - West Regional)
Louis Drax has always been accident prone, with something violent befalling him every year, but when he falls off a cliff and into a coma on his ninth birthday, it may not have been an accident, and the only one with the key to the truth may be Louis himself.

The Crazed by Ha Jin (Ife - Cameron Village)
Assigned to care for his fiancâee's father, Professor Yang, after he suffers a stroke, Jian Wan is disturbed when the professor begins to rave against his family and colleagues, and takes great risks to uncover the truth.

The Million Dollar Divorce by R. M. Johnson (Nicole - East Regional)
Scheming to obtain a divorce without losing half of his millions by exploiting an infidelity clause in his prenuptial agreement, Nate Kenny blackmails a man into seducing his wife, a plan that backfires in unexpected ways.

The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd (Kathe - West Regional)
Jessie Sullivan is summoned home to tiny Egret Island, where she meets Brother Thomas, a monk who is about to take his final vows, and encounters the legend of a mysterious chair dedicated to a saint who had originally been a mermaid.

The Ha-Ha by Dave King (Teddy - Eva Perry Regional)
Rendered unable to speak, read, or write after a Vietnam War injury thirty years earlier, Howard Kapostash feels trapped by his disability until his high school sweetheart, recently forced into rehab, asks him to care for her nine-year-old son.

The Gunslinger (Dark Tower series) by Stephen King (Kristen - West Regional)
Roland, the world's last gunslinger, tracks an enigmatic Man in Black toward a forbidding dark tower, fighting forces both mortal and other-worldly on his quest.

Boogaloo on Second Avenue by Mark Kurlansky (Kathe - West Regional)
Captures the lives of the inhabitants of a tight-knit, ethnically diverse neighborhood on the Lower East Side of New York, including Nathan, a claustrophobic married man falling for Karoline, a German pastry maker.

44 Scotland Street by Alexander McCall Smith (Sue W. - Cameron Village)
Pat rents a room from the handsome and cocky Bruce, at 44 Scotland Street, and discovers that she has also acquired some colorful new neighbors, including Domenica, an eccentric widow.

Zombies of the Gene Pool by Sharon McCrumb (Kathe - West Regional) 
Years after eight friends bury a time capsule filled with original science fiction stories, some of the friends have become famous and dig up the capsule amid much publicity, until a believed-dead member of the group arrives.

On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan (Ashlyn - Southgate)
On their wedding day, a young couple--Florence, daughter of an Oxford academic and a successful businessman, and Edward, an earnest history student with little experience of women--looks forward to the future while worrying about their upcoming wedding night.

The Peacock Emporium by Jojo Moyes (Christina - Eva Perry)
The only place Suzanna Peacock finds comfort is her shop, which provides a haven for the misfits in the town.  But she is forced to confront events of the past and her family that have been haunting her for so long.  And she discovers that the key to her happiness may have been in front of her all along.

After Dark by Haruki Murakami (Erik - West Regional)
Two sisters--Eri, a fashion model sleeping her way to oblivion, and Mari, a young student--form the center of a novel that documents a series of encounters in Tokyo during the witching hours between midnight and dawn.

The Magic Seeds by V. S. Naipaul (Beth - Cameron Village)
In his early forties, Willie Chandran joins an underground movement in India, but seven years of revolutionary campaigns--and several years in jail--convince him to return to England.

The Falls by Joyce Carol Oates (Beth - Cameron Village)
Follows the interconnected and secretive lives of parents and their children when they are challenged by circumstances outside their family, in a tale set against a backdrop of Niagara Falls in the mid-twentieth century.

School Days by Robert B. Parker (all Spenser novels) (Sue S. - Cameron Village)
Hired by a Massachusetts grand dame to prove the innocence of her grandson, who has been implicated in a school shooting, Spenser wonders why the boy seems unconcerned about his possible wrongful imprisonment.

Queen of the South by Arturo Perez-Reverte (Ife - Cameron Village)
When she discovers that her boyfriend Guero, a Mexican drug smuggler, has been killed by rivals and that she is the next target, Teresa Mendoza must give up her old life and become a member of a dark and deadly world in order to survive.

Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse by Robert Rankin (Maryjo - West Regional)
Jack sets out to seek his fortune in Toy City and hooks up with Eddie Baer as they try to stop a serial killer who is murdering old nursery rhyme characters.

Witches of Chiswick by Robert Rankin (Tara - Southeast Regional)
In the twenty-third century, Will Starling uncovers the real truth about nineteenth century history.

Empire Falls by Richard Russo (Sue S. - Cameron Village)
Milo Roby tries to hold his family together while working at the Empire Grill in the once-successful logging town of Empire Falls, Maine, with his partner, Mrs. Whiting, who is the heir to a faded logging and textile legacy.

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfeld (Kristen & Megan - West Regional)
When her health begins failing, the mysterious author Vida Winter decides to let Margaret Lea, a biographer, write the truth about her life, but Margaret needs to verify the facts since Vida has a history of telling outlandish tales.

The Last Girls by Lee Smith (Kathe - West Regional)
Thirty-five years after a trip down the Mississippi on a raft with their classmates, four women are reunited to cruise the river once again, this time on a luxury steamboat, down to New Orleans, where they plan to release the ashes of a fellow rafter, Margaret "Baby" Ballou.

Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut (Dan - West Regional)
The author questions the condition of modern man in this novel depicting a science-fiction writer's struggle to find peace and sanity in the world.

Pardonable Lies by Jacquline Winspear (Maryjo - West Regional)
Psychologist-sleuth Maisie Dobbs is called in by Sir Cecil Lawton--fueled by a deathbed plea from his dying wife--to investigate the mystery behind the death of his wife's aviator son during World War I, a mission that tests her feelings for her mentor, Maurice Blanche, and brings her face to face with a college friend with ties to the missing pilot.

Frankland by James Whorton, Jr. (Suzanna - Zebulon)
Plagued by his anxieties and ambitions, historian John Tolley pursues recently discovered documents in the hopes of writing a career-making biography but is inadvertently drawn by a host of colorful locals into a clandestine scheme to launch the Tennessee state lottery.