JULY 2017
AUDIO BOOK REVIEWS
by Jonathan Lowe
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A
heartfelt comedy of manners, Diksha Basu’s
debut novel THE WINDFALL unfolds
the story of a family discovering what it means to
“make it” in modern India. For the past
thirty years, Mr. and Mrs. Jha's lives have been defined
by cramped spaces, cut corners, gossipy neighbors,
and the small dramas of stolen yoga pants and stale
marriages. They thought they'd settled comfortably
into their golden years, pleased with their son’s
acceptance into an American business school. But then
Mr. Jha comes into an enormous and unexpected sum
of money, and moves his wife from their housing complex
in East Delhi to the super-rich side of town, where
he becomes eager to fit in as a man of status: skinny
ties, hired guards, shoe-polishing machines, and all.
The move sets off a chain of events that rock their
neighbors, their marriage, and their son, who is struggling
to keep a lid on his romantic dilemmas and slipping
grades, and brings unintended consequences, ultimately
forcing the Jha family to reckon with what really
matters. Brooklyn-based actress Soneela Nankani narrates.
She is a voiceover artist and singer of Indian and
Ghanaian descent who grew up traveling all over the
world – to Ghana, India, Scotland, Thailand,
Turkey, Morocco, South Africa, Spain, and the Czech
Republic. She has a strong theatre background and
has worked with Classical Theatre of Harlem, the Oregon
Shakespeare Festival, Primary Stages, the Vineyard
Playhouse and Kansas City Repertory Theatre, and Sojourn
Theatre.
Jonathan
Lowe: What
was creating the characters of The Windfall on audio
like for you, and what made the book special for you?
Nankani:
“I truly enjoyed narrating The Windfall.
It's certainly one of the audiobooks I'm most proud
of. The book really spoke to me as a story about the
challenges of identity, transformation, duty and desire.
And at the same time there is so much humor in it!
Diksha Basu does an incredible job of balancing the
two. In terms of how I work on character voices -
I generally get a very clear image of the characters
as I read. What makes them unique, what makes them
tick. And I create voices from there. In this particular
book there are a lot of characters! So I was very
lucky to be working with a fantastic director, Paula
Parker, who helped me find even greater specificity
with which to imbue and distinguish the characters.”
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Next,
we know the iPhone as the device that transformed
our world, changing everything from how we talk to
each other and do business, to how we exercise, travel,
shop, and watch TV. But packed within its slim profile
is the fascinating, untold story of scientific, technological,
and business breakthroughs—global in scope,
sometimes centuries in the making, and coming from
vastly different disciplines—that enabled Apple
to create the most profitable product in history.
For all the time we spend swiping, tapping, and staring
at iPhones, you think there would be few things we
didn’t know about these gadgets. But think again.
THE ONE DEVICE is a Magic School
Bus trip inside the iPhone—traveling into its
guts, peeling back its layers, and launching explorations
that take us to the driest place on earth and a Mongolian
lake of toxic sludge, down the Silk Road, into 19th
century photography, and all the way back to Cupertino,
California, where members of the original design team
reflect on the earth-shattering work they did. As
multifaceted as the invention it follows, The One
Device is a roving, wide-lens approach to tech history
that engages the imagination as it explores the marvel
of engineering that millions of us use each day. This
big audiobook subtitled The Secret History of the
iPhone, and is narrated with sustained engagement
and interest by Tristan Morris. |
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Finally,
POPULAR by Mitch Prinstein
examines why popularity plays such a key role in our
development and, ultimately, how it still influences
our happiness and success today. In many ways—some
even beyond our conscious awareness—those old
dynamics of our youth continue to play out in every
business meeting, every social gathering, in our personal
relationships, and even how we raise our children.
Our popularity even affects our DNA, our health, and
our mortality in fascinating ways we never previously
realized. More than childhood intelligence, family
background, or prior psychological issues, research
indicates that it’s how popular we were in our
early years that predicts how successful and how happy
we grow up to be. But it’s not always the conventionally
popular people who fare the best, for the simple reason
that there is more than one type of popularity—and
many of us still long for the wrong one. As children,
we strive to be likable, which can offer real benefits
not only on the playground but throughout our lives.
In adolescence, though, a new form of popularity emerges,
and we suddenly begin to care about status, power,
influence, and notoriety—research indicates
that this type of popularity hurts us more than we
realize. Realistically, we can’t ignore our
natural human social impulses to be included and well-regarded
by others, but we can learn how to manage those impulses
in beneficial and gratifying ways. Popular relies
on the latest research in psychology and neuroscience
to help us make the wisest choices for ourselves and
for our children, so we may all pursue more meaningful,
satisfying, and rewarding relationships. Review: A
must hear for anyone still trying to get over rejection
at an early age by peers or parents. The author narrates
in a friendly, believable style that doesn't preach
or sound like a lecture. He shows why money doesn't
equal happiness, and how our culture's obsession with
status harms everyone. Depression, and endless cycles
of blame, result from bullying to protect one's dominance
in whatever group, from gangsters to cheerleaders.
Prinstein defines how this proactive aggression plays
out on social media, too. Yet only those whose goal
is to acquire positive, life-affirming qualities achieve
lifelong success. The difference is between judging
and accepting (which means speaking out for those
who are voiceless.) With high school perceptions affecting
one's life forever, including how one interprets future
insults, it's vital to understand the entire dynamic
to avoid falling into the trap of chasing likes and
fake friends as a substitute for happiness. Subtitle:
THE POWER OF LIKABILITY IN A STATUS OBSESSED WORLD.
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Other
worthy good listens this month include FATA
MORGANA by Steven R. Boyett, read by Ken
Mitchroney; NO IS NOT ENOUGH by Naomi Klein,
read by Brit Marling; YOU SHOULD HAVE LEFT
by Daniel Kehlmann, read by Robertson Dean;
and INTO THE GRAY ZONE by Adrian Owen,
read by Steve West. |
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