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Raising the dead with free SYNC audiobooks!

Jun29

This week’s free audiobooks from SYNC are deadly delights, as we hear tales of a grave-robber and a mad scientist…

Remember that although each download is only available from Thursday through Wednesday, you have free use of the audiobooks for as long as you keep them on your computer or electronic device

We have several more weeks of full-length audiobooks to look forward to this summer. Have you bookmarked the SYNC site yet?  http://www.audiobooksync.com/
 
CD audiobook cover of Rotters by Daniel Kraus read by Kirby Heyborne published by Listening LibraryRotters
By Daniel Kraus
Read by Kirby Heyborne
Published by Listening Library

 

 

FrankensteinCD cover of audiobook Frankenstein by Mary Shelley read by Jim Weiss published by Listening Library
By Mary Shelley
Read by Jim Weiss
Published by Listening Library

Do you dare listen to these creepy tales before bedtime?
**kmm

Nobody’s Secret, by Michaela MacColl (book review) – Emily Dickinson, death, and a mystery

Jun25

book cover of Nobodys Secret by Michaela MacColl published by Chroncicle BooksSmall-town secrets, small-town minds,
Can’t be bothered  too much about a dead stranger,
But young Emily can’t forget meeting him… Mr. Nobody.

Yes, teenaged Emily Dickinson can’t ignore the obvious clues left at Mr. Nobody’s purported death scene, even when warned away by her fastidious mother and local law officials.

A mystery threaded through with first drafts of her poems, from those earlier days when she would venture out of her house alone – and perhaps a mystery that solves the mystery of why her older self kept so much to herself.

Do you like novels which “star” real people?
**kmm

Book info: Nobody’s Secret / Michaela MacColl. Chronicle Books, 2013.  [author site]  [publisher site]  [book trailer]

My book talk: When Emily meets a young man who charmingly declines to tell her his name, she’s intrigued. When he’s found dead in her family’s pond, she’s aghast. When she decides to discover who he is and why he died, she’s in danger from more than just society’s disapproval.

Of course, she knows that Mama wants her to stay indoors with sister Vinnie, doing their chores while not in school. But the meadows and clouds call to Emily’s poetic soul, which is why the young man from elsewhere finds her out among the flowers. As they don’t properly exchange names, they call one another “Nobody” with laughter. A chance meeting in town shows Mr. Nobody less than cheerful about family business which brought him to the law office of Emily’s father in Amherst.

Imagine the shock of finding him drowned in the Dickinson family pond later! But he’s clad in rough workman’s wear instead of the city clothes Emily remembered, and no one in town knows his name, so his body is being kept in the church basement until he can be identified.

Emily takes it upon herself to unravel the mystery surrounding him so that the young man may at least be buried under his own name. But Amherst is a small town, and everyone knows what everyone else is doing, so it may be more difficult than she first thought.

Why did Mr. Nobody say he’d leave as soon as he cleared up this family business?
If he has family nearby, why haven’t they claimed his body?
Why don’t the stories that Emily uncovers add up to the truth?

As the fifteen-year-old tries to understand what happened to the young man she wanted to know better, she jots down impressions which become the unique poetry seen later by the larger world, as Mr. Nobody predicted, in this original and clever mystery featuring Emily Dickinson.  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com) Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher through NetGalley.

The Immortal Von B., by M. Scott Carter (book review) – music, cloning, love, and villainy!

Jun21

book cover of The Immortal Von B. by M Scott Carter published by RoadRunner PressLudwig von Beethoven, here,
in the flesh, young and healthy!
Impossible… except it’s true!

Of course, Josie showed someone else Dad’s super-secure genetics lab when he told her not to. Of course, her routine button-pushing on the DNA sequencer started it up.

Who could have expected that the hair which floated unseen into the sequencer belonged to Beethoven, or that his clone would be so amazing on electric guitar?? (Romance between Ludwig and Josie…that’s something else entirely)

Check out the June 2013 contest on Carter’s website – you could win your own autographed copy of The Immortal Von B.  and a gift card to your favorite bookstore! Yes, this is the same M. Scott Carter who wrote Stealing Kevin’s Heart,  featured yesterday on BooksYALove, but this is such a different story. I wonder what his third book will be about….

If you could clone anyone from history, would you?? (and who?)
**kmm

Book info: The Immortal Von B. / M. Scott Carter. RoadRunner Press, 2013. [author site]  [publisher site]

My book talk: Moving from Oklahoma to Vienna for Dad’s research is quite a change for Josie, but losing her mother, discovering a dreadful secret, and unleashing a chain of musical impossibilities puts the teen and her friends in mortal peril.

It was a bit strange when Mom suddenly stopped playing concerts with symphonies all over the world; her piano genius came down to Josie as a love for guitar. Then Dad being chosen to head up the largest private genetics research center in Europe made quite a switch from being a university professor. So away they go, from the Oklahoma town she’s always known to a huge estate near Vienna.

When Mom suddenly falls ill and dies, Josie is left to raise herself as her grieving father throws himself into his work. He shows her the new genetic sequencer in his lab once, but is usually gone to meetings and conferences. She has just one friend at school, purposely going grunge-rocker to distance herself from the kids of diplomats and duchesses.

The only bright spot in her whole senior year is visiting the Vienna Haus der Musik as a new Beethoven exhibit is being unveiled. The museum director knew Anna and is delighted to show Beethoven’s own clothing and fortepiano to her daughter.

Somehow Josie’s friend Fa8 talks her into hosting a party at the estate where a diplomat’s son starts criticizing her dad’s work. Eager to shut him up, she disobeys Dad’s instructions and shows him the lab and sequencer.  Days later, Dad calls to ask her to check on the lab computer; it says it’s running a human DNA sequence when nothing should be on. Just a glitch probably…

Except when Josie goes down to the lab, she discovers footprints leading from the sequencer to the yard! What got cloned in there? Yes, a strand of Beethoven’s hair from the museum fell from Josie’s sweater into the sequencer when she was showing how harmless it all was, and now a 17-year-old Ludwig is alive in the 21st century!

Suddenly, not only Dad is wondering which human DNA sequence was completed, but thugs with automatic weapons are after Josie, Fa8 and Ludwig – with orders to kill all but the clone! Racing through Vienna while trying to help Ludwig adjust to modern life and all the music that his older self will/did write sends Josie from fear to joy to terror.

Can the three teens escape the bad guys?
What is the DNA sequencer really supposed to do?
Is Josie falling in love with Ludwig, or is he falling in love with her?

Classical music, cutting-edge research, timeless values, and Beethoven learning to play the electric guitar… adventure and romance in Vienna – if they can just live long enough to enjoy it!  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com) Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

A Corner of White, by Jaclyn Moriarty (book review) – barrier between worlds slips, danger enters

Jun17

US book cover of A Corner of White by Jaclyn Moriarty published by Arthur A Levine BooksColors so strong that they’re living entities,
Skies so gray that they smother all cheerfulness,
One white piece of paper forges a forbidden link between worlds.

Elliot’s family and neighbors try to raise crops in a land where summer could arrive four times in a month or never all year.  Madeleine’s latest attempt to run away from her wealthy parents somehow dragged her mother along, too. Communication between their two worlds is treason in the Kingdom of Cello, unknown by Madeleine’s world… and suddenly happens.

I wish that the US cover (at top right) were more like the original Australian cover (below right) which better reflects the colors and whimsicality of the story (yes, Madeleine wears bright colors to counteract the gray Cambridge weather, but that’s not the real essence of color in the story).

Grab this one today at your local library or independent bookstore to slide through that narrow gap between the Kingdom of Cello and The World – and prepare to be entranced.

Would you dare to communicate with someone if it were forbidden, illegal, necessary for your mental health?
**kmm

Book info: A Corner of White (The Colors of Madeleine, book 1) / Jaclyn Moriarty. Arthur A. Levine Books, 2013.  [author site]  [publisher site]  [author interview video]

My book talk: Separated by a spectral barrier for their own good, The World and the Kingdom of Cello haven’t communicated in 300 years. Yet through a small crevice, a boy and a girl send letters back and forth, perhaps changing both for the better, perhaps setting dire danger into motion.Australian book cover of A Corner of White by Jaclyn Moriarty published by PanMacmillanAustralia

Elliot is ready out again to search for his father who was kidnapped a year ago by the rogue Purple that killed his uncle, while his neighbors anxiously await the Selectors who might choose their town for the Princess Sisters’ tour of the Kingdom. His pal Cody makes all the unrepairable machines from Dad’s shop into a sculpture in the schoolyard, and one day Elliot notices a small note stuck in it, a note that’s not from anyone in Bonfire…

As Mum answers every quiz show question wrong, Madeleine wonders yet again how they came to be here – an attic apartment in a university town, eating baked beans again – when just months ago they were jetsetting around the world with her financier father, platinum credit cards at the ready.

Thank goodness for Jack and Belle and for their home-schooling arrangement, so none of them have to deal with the bullies and drama of high school. Jack’s uncle makes their minds stretch with his assignment to ‘become’ the Cambridge historical figure selected from the hat – that’s Isaac Newton for Mad, Charles Babbage for Belle, Lord Byron for Jack.

As Madeleine muses on Newton and Cambridge, she passes an out-of-service parking meter with a note stuck in it “Help! I’m being held against my will!” and decides to answer it, little imagining that it’s a message from a world that’s been sealed off from ours for over three centuries.

The correspondence between Elliot and Madeleine is interesting, as he knows about The World from history class and she thinks he’s a just local who’s trying a huge hoax. Trying to explain the color attacks and momentary seasons of Cello doesn’t convince her of the Kingdom’s reality, but something finally does.

Why is it so dangerous to have an opening between Cello and The World?
Will the Princess Sisters visit Bonfire once the Butterfly Child arrives?
Would Jack and Belle ever believe Madeleine about Cello?

Escapes and worries, attacks and misunderstandings – so much begins when that corner of white paper crosses the gap from the Kingdom of Cello to Cambridge, England. First in a series that mixes teen concerns with philosophical science, family drama with political intrigue, and what-is-not-now with what-might-someday-be. (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com) Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

Magic visions, compelling stories – this week’s SYNC audiobook features

Jun15

Hurry to download this week’s free audiobooks from SYNC  by June 19th, and dive into two different worlds of magical visions.

Remember that although each week’s complete audiobooks are only available from Thursday through Wednesday, you have free use of them as long as you keep their Overdrive Media files on your computer or electronic device.
 

CD cover for audiobook of The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater read by Will Patton published by Scholastic AudiobooksThe Raven Boys
By Maggie Stiefvater
Read by Will Patton
Published by Scholastic Audiobooks

 

 

CD cover of audiobook Bless Me Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya read by Robert Ramirez published by Recorded Books
Bless Me, Ultima
By Rudolfo Anaya
Read by Robert Ramirez
Published by Recorded Books
This title is only available to listeners in the USA and Canada.
 

Will the power of magical visions solve problems in this world? Read and find out!
**kmm

Spy School, by Stuart Gibbs (book review) – secret agents, wannabe agents, double agent!

Jun14

book cover of Spy School by Stuart Gibbs published by Simon SchusterPlanning ideal future career,
Investigating opportunities,
Tripping over both feet –
CIA material or not?

Ask kids what they want to be when they grow up, and they’ll give a list of amazing, exciting jobs – astronaut, firefighter, doctor – but Ben isn’t just dreaming about becoming a spy; he’s written to the Central Intelligence Agency numerous times about it!

Now in paperback, this Edgar Award nominee should be easy to find at your local library or independent bookstore, but try not to look too conspicuous as you pick up your copy… you do want to be around to see what happens to Ben and compatriots when they get to Spy Camp,  right?

I wonder if they really do recruit middle schoolers for covert training….
**kmm

Book info:  Spy School / Stuart Gibbs.  Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2012 (paperback 2013).  [author site]  [publisher site]  [author interview]

My book talk: A secret agent in his living room, telling him to get ready to go to spy school! Ben’s biggest dream is about to come true. If he doesn’t get maimed or killed during his first day, he might be able to find the mole who’s endangering CIA operations from within…

As agent Alexander Hale tells him, “When you express an interest in the CIA, the CIA becomes interested in you,” and the Agency has been keeping close tabs on the 12-year-old for quite a while. Naturally, his parents and classmates have to think that he’s at an elite science school in nearby Washington, D.C. – no one can know that he’s entering the Academy of Espionage.

Coming in during the middle of the year isn’t easy at any school, but Academy class subjects make Ben’s transition much harder. Math and science are Ben’s gifts, not hand-to-hand combat (he’ll need tutoring), covert target shooting (practice, practice, practice), or clandestine surveillance (yep, behind in that, too).

Luckily, Erica has all those skills and is willing to help him improve, although Ben begins to wonder just why he’s at the Academy and who dropped out at midterm leaving the spot open for him. Other students aren’t a bit friendly, and he realizes that competition for the best CIA assignments in real life begins here inside the Academy.

When bullies Chip and Hauser vanish into thin air during a paintball attack and a bomb found underground exposes a true threat to the Academy, it’s time for Ben and Erica to do some extra-credit work. A few glitches might be accidental, but the increasingly serious incidents point to sabotage…which may endanger national security!

Can Ben and Erica discover which of their classmates is a double-agent?
Can they convince the adults in charge of the danger?
Can Ben survive until his final exams this semester?

Washington D.C. landmarks are supporting characters in this series-starter filled with action, secrets, and math whiz tricks.  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com) Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

Being Henry David, by Cal Armistead (book review) – memory gone, called to Walden

Jun11

book cover of Being Henry David by Cal Armistead published by Albert WhitmanNo luggage, no memory,
No memory, no past…
Why? Why did he erase his own memories?

From wherever home was, teenage “Hank” finds himself alone in a train station with only a copy of Henry David Thoreau’s Walden  and knows that he must get to Walden Pond, just as the author did, to discover truth through nature and perhaps find the strength to face his past.

Read an excerpt of the book here as you dive into the story of why a young man abandons his memory and decides that Being Henry David  is much better than being himself.

Can deciding that a memory doesn’t exist change the past?
**kmm

Book info: Being Henry David / Cal Armistead. Albert Whitman, 2013.  [author site]  [publisher site]  [video author interview]

My book talk: Waking up in Penn Station alone, no memories. None. Looking in washroom mirror, he sees a teenage guy with black hair, gray eyes, a big lump on his head. He has ten bucks in his front pocket and a copy of Walden – that’s it. He’ll be Henry David, after its author, until he can remember his own name or past or why he can’t remember…

Another teen rescues him from a homeless guy who wants to eat the book, nicknames him Hank because Henry David is too long, takes him to a hidden place to sleep, and gets him involved with some drug dealers who need more runners. After a knife fight, running seems like an excellent idea, so Jack splits the drug money and Hank gets on the train for Concord, looking for answers at Walden Pond, the only glimmer of memory he’s got.

Thoreau’s cabin site is easy to find, says Hailey, the girl he meets at the station. But Hank can’t understand why there is no cabin at the cabin site, just four rock cornerstones and a slab… cold sleeping tonight, and dreams where Thoreau speaks to him.

Is Thoreau there in the flesh in the morning? No, it’s Thomas, who does historical interpretations at Walden Pond and is the town reference librarian, heavily tattooed and riding a Harley. He shares breakfast with Hank, shares hia appreciation for Thoreau’s vision of a simpler life, but doesn’t pry into Hank’s affairs.

In Concord, Hank scopes out Hailey’s high school as a place to stay over the weekend, trying to avoid the blackness that erupts when he probes his memories. Visiting the town library to read more about Thoreau, Hank passes out as the infected knife wound clobbers his system and Thomas takes him home.

Hank’s fingers remember how to play the guitar – can he help Hailey in the Battle of the Bands?
Thomas suggests checking the missing teens database – can he find himself?
The blackness holding back his memories wavers – can he live with what he remembers?

Whether runaways or kidnapped, lost, strayed or stolen, so many stories of teens gone from home have unhappy endings – read Being Henry David to see if Hank’s story is one of them. (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com) Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

SYNC free audiobooks for June 6-12: most mysterious!

Jun8

Time to download this week’s free audiobooks from SYNC so you can read with your ears!

Remember that although these complete audiobooks are only available from Thursday through Wednesday, you have free use of them as long as you keep them on your computer or electronic device

Bookmark the SYNC site now so you can download great audiobooks all summer long: http://www.audiobooksync.com/

CD cover of Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place The Mysterious Howling by Maryrose Wood read by Katherine Kellgren for HarperAudioThe Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place, Book 1: The Mysterious Howling
By Maryrose Wood
Read by Katherine Kellgren
Published by HarperAudio

 

 

Jane Eyreaudiobook cover of Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte read by Wanda McCaddon for Tantor Media
By Charlotte Brontë
Read by Wanda McCaddon
Published by Tantor Media

Have you read either of these spooky titles before?
**kmm

Ghost Knight, by Cornelia Funke (book review) – murder long-passed, a knight long-dead, danger now!

Jun7

book cover of Ghost Knight by Cornelia Funke translated by Oliver Latsch published by Little BrownGhostly rider with blood on his sword,
evil sidekicks with murder on their minds,
how many centuries can a death vow stay alive?

Every ancient cathedral and old castle has unexplained deaths in its history, many have ghosts who appear with a bit of regularity, but most don’t feature bloodthirsty murderers’ specters threatening schoolkids in their beds!

Listen to an excerpt of the audiobook version here and be sure to view the book trailer of the author visiting Salisbury Cathedral and reading aloud the section where Jon meets the Ghost Knight  for the very first time.

The paperback version was published in May 2013, so you should be able to find it in several formats at your local library or independent bookstore.

Would you call on a ghost to help you solve a dangerous mystery?
**kmm

Book info:  Ghost Knight / Cornelia Funke.; translated by Oliver Latsch. Little Brown, hardback 2012, paperback 2013.  [author site]  [publisher site]  [book trailer]

My book talk: Boarding school, rain, Mum in love with a dentist – Jon thought life couldn’t get worse…until he’s threatened by ghosts who can injure him, meets a girl with an adventurous streak, and invokes a dead knight to right the wrongs!

It definitely wasn’t Jon’s idea to attend the same boarding school as his late father, but after his many attempts to make his mother fall out of love with The Beard (as Jon called the dentist who tricked his little sisters and dog into liking him) all backfired, the 11-year-old found himself on the train to Salisbury. He doesn’t care about the ancient city’s history that his houseparents love and doesn’t care that he wasn’t selected for the cathedral school’s famous choir.

But the ghosts whispering threats about killing him, trying to ride him down on ghostly horses – those are another matter! Ella at school takes Jon to visit her grandmother who gives ghost tours. They discover that Lord Stourton and his henchmen were hanged for the death of Jon’s relatives centuries ago, vowing revenge. Zelda says Jon is in danger if he stays here, but he doesn’t want to go home to Mum and The Beard.

So Jon calls on the knight Longspee who originally captured Stourton, asking the ghost knight to help him rid the school of these wicked specters and save him from their vengeance.

Can Jon and Ella trust Longspee who wants to stay away from this world?
Can the trio truly send Stourton and crew back to their graves forever?
Can Jon find any way to keep The Beard from becoming his stepfather?

Through Latsch’s flowing translation, the noted German fantasy author of the Inkspell trilogy brings readers into the echoing aisles of Salisbury Cathedral and the windswept ruins of old castles as Jon and Ella fight enemies they cannot touch with mortal hands. (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com) Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

Memory of After, by Lenore Appelhans (book review) – sinister stop-off between life and heaven

Jun6

book cover of Memory of After by Lenore Appelhans published by Simon SchusterDead, but not gone,
memory lives on,
in limbo, but never heaven?

Felicia figured she was more likely to end up in hell than heaven, considering what she’d done with Julian and to her best friend before she was banished to Grammy’s small town, but her time with Neal was slowly convincing her that forgiveness was possible.

And then she died – bam – end of second chances… or was it? Given a choice of revisiting memories of Neal forever or trying to change a corrupt system, she does have a second chance – if she dares to act.

In an unusual turn, the publisher realized that the hardback title Level 2  and its cover art (shown next to My Book Talk section) did not fit with the story, so the paperback (issued just 3 months after original pub date) uses the new title and art seen above. I agree that their first choice made this book look and sound like some paranormal video game, rather than the contest between good, not-so-good, maybe-evil, and oh-so-bad that it is.

Could you give up your favorite memories to move on?
**kmm

Book info: The Memory of After (Memory Chronicles, book 1) [hardback title: Level 2] / Lenore Appelhans. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2013.  [author’s blog]  [publisher site]  [author video interview]

book cover of Level 2 by Lenore Appelhans published by Simon Schuster, reissued as Memory of After

original hardback cover art & title

My book talk: Felicia’s not in heaven or hell, just stuck in Level 2 reliving memories over and over. When another girl in her pod vanishes and no one else remembers she was there, the teen thinks something’s amiss. When a dangerous guy from her past on Earth invades the pod to recruit her into a revolt against the angels, she knows something really strange is going on!

Not that Felicia was a good girl as a teenager, but dying just a day short of her 18th birthday seems so unfair. After the horrific incident with Julian and her best friend Autumn in Germany, her diplomat parents sent to live with her grandmother Stateside.

Felicia has lived in cities around the world, so the tiny Oklahoma town and Grammy’s strictness strangle her, but maybe it’s punishment she deserves.  School, church, school, home – that’s it. Meeting Neal at church youth group is the best thing in her world. Maybe she can overcome her guilt after all, with his love and help.

Now here she is with other dead teen girls in their stark white pod, not hungry or thirsty, accessing the best-ever memories. like her time with Neal. Suddenly Beckah finds herself trapped in her own terrifying death memory and is gone when Felicia checks on her later…and the other girls swear there never was any Beckah!

Julian’s abrupt appearance in the pod is alarming – no one ever comes in, let alone boys! He says he’s coming back for Felicia, then leaves. What’s going on? How did Julian find her? Is he dead, too?

As the pod is attacked and Felicia flees with Julian, she sees that there are thousands of pods, which means many thousands of people-drones here with their memories instead of in heaven or hell…

Why did angels set up pods filled with good memories that no one wants to abandon?
Why does Julian need Felicia’s help to “restore balance” in the afterlife?
Is Neal in one of those pods?

The battle is just beginning in this new series that takes the power of memories to a whole new level.  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com) Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.