Hot This Week: July 22

Check out this week's lists!

Video

1. Civil War (Blu-ray | 4K)
2. Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (Blu-ray | 4K)
3. Abigail (Blu-ray)
4. The Boy and the Heron (Blu-ray | 4K)
5. Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (Blu-ray | 4K)
6. Unsung Hero (Blu-ray)
7. Dune Part Two (Blu-ray | 4K)
8. Boy Kills World (Blu-ray)
9. Challengers (Blu-ray)
10. The Beekeeper (Blu-ray)

Music

1. Taylor Swift, The Tortured Poets Department
2. Morgan Wallen, One Thing at a Time
3. Billie Eilish, Hit Me Hard and Soft
4. Chappell Roan, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess
5. Morgan Wallen, Dangerous: The Double Album
6. Noah Kahan, Stick Season
7. Shaboozey, Where I've Been, Isn't Where I'm Going
8. Zach Bryan, Zach Bryan
9. Charli XCX, Brat
10. SZA, SOS

Fiction

1. A Death in Cornwall, Daniel Silva (PA | ABP | eB26C)
2. The Women, Kristin Hannah (PA | ABP | eB24M)
3. The Summer Pact, Emily Giffin (ABP | AB12M | eB12M | eB24M)
4. Swan Song, Elin Hilderbrand (AB24M | eB24M)*
5. Fourth Wing, Rebecca Yarros (PA | ABP | eB24M)*
6. Iron Flame, Rebecca Yarros (PA | ABP | eB24M)*
7. The Spellshop, Sarah Beth Durst (PA | ABP | eB24M)*
8. Funny Story, Emily Henry (PA | ABP | AB12M | eB12M | eB24M)
9. Eruption, James Patterson and Michael Crichton (AB24M | eB24M)*
10. The God of the Woods, Liz Moore (ABP | AB12M | eB12M | eB24M)*

Nonfiction

1. The Anxious Generation, Jonathan Haidt (ABP | AB12M | eB12M | eB24M)*
2. The Demon of Unrest, Erik Larson (ABP | AB12M | eB12M | eB24M)
3. The War on Warriors, Pete Hegseth (ABP | eB26C)
4. True Gretch, Gretchen Whitmer (AB24M | eB24M)
5. On Call, Anthony Fauci, MD (ABP | AB12M | eB12M | eB24M)*
6. Nuclear War, Annie Jacobsen (ABP | AB12M | eB12M | eB24M)*
7. The Singularity Is Nearer, Ray Kurzwell (ABP | AB12M | eB12M | eB24M)*
8. Outlive, Peter Attia, MD, and Bill Gifford (ABP | AB12M | eB12M | eB24M)*
9. Ask Not, Maureen Callahan (AB24M | eB24M)*
10. The Wager, David Grann (PA | ABP | AB12M | eB12M | eB24M)

Fiction/Nonfiction Format Key:

PA = Playaway (physical)

ABP = hoopla Flex digital audiobook, perpetual license

AB12M = hoopla Flex digital audiobook, 12-month license

AB24M = hoopla Flex digital audiobook, 24-month license

eB12M = hoopla Flex eBook, 12-month license

eB24M = hoopla Flex eBook, 24-month license

eB26C = hoopla Flex eBook, 26-circulation license

* = CD audiobook currently unavailable

Contact your sales rep for more information about hoopla Flex.

Hot This Week: June 3

Check out this week's lists!

Video

1. Dune Part Two (Blu-ray | 4K)
2. The Beekeeper (Blu-ray)
3. Imaginary (Blu-ray)
4. Land of Bad (Blu-ray)
5. Dune Part 1 (Blu-ray | 4K)
6. Beetlejuice (Blu-ray | 4K)
7. Migration (Blu-ray | 4K)
8. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (Blu-ray | 4K)
9. Ordinary Angels
10. The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (Blu-ray | 4K)

Music

1. Taylor Swift, The Tortured Poets Department
2. Billie Eilish, Hit Me Hard and Soft
3. Morgan Wallen, One Thing at a Time
4. Morgan Wallen, Dangerous: The Double Album
5. Noah Kahan, Stick Season
6. Zach Bryan, Zach Bryan
7. SZA, SOS
8. Benson Boone, Fireworks & Rollerblades
9. Zach Bryan, American Heartbreak
10. Beyonce, Cowboy Carter

Fiction

1. You Like It Darker, Stephen King (PA | AB24M | eB24M)
2. The Women, Kristin Hannah (PA | ABP | eB24M)
3. Mind Games, Nora Roberts (PA | ABP | eB24M)
4. Heavenbreaker, Sara Wolf (ABP | eB24M)
5. Funny Story, Emily Henry (PA | ABP | AB12M | eB12M | eB24M)
6. One Perfect Couple, Ruth Ware (PA | AB24M | eB24M)
7. Fourth Wing, Rebecca Yarros (PA | ABP | eB24M)*
8. Iron Flame, Rebecca Yarros (PA | ABP | eB24M)*
9. Think Twice, Harlan Coben (AB24M | eB24M)*
10. The 24th Hour, James Patterson and Maxine Paetro (AB24M | eB24M)*

Nonfiction

1. What This Comedian Said Will Shock You, Bill Maher (AB24M | eB24M)
2. The Demon of Unrest, Erik Larson (ABP | AB12M | eB12M | eB24M)
3. The Anxious Generation, Jonathan Haidt (ABP | AB12M | eB12M | eB24M)*
4. The Situation Room, George Stephanopoulos (AB24M | eB24M)*
5. In My Time of Dying, Sebastian Junger (AB24M | eB24M)
6. Once Upon a Time, Elizabeth Beller (AB24M | eB24M)
7. What a Fool Believes, Michael McDonald and Paul Reiser (PA | ABP | eB26C)
8. An Unfinished Love Story, Doris Kearns Goodwin (eB24M)
9. Bits and Pieces, Whoopi Goldberg (PA | ABP | eBP)
10. You Never Know, Tom Selleck (PA | eB26C)

Fiction/Nonfiction Format Key:

PA = Playaway (physical)

ABP = hoopla Flex digital audiobook, perpetual license

AB12M = hoopla Flex digital audiobook, 12-month license

AB24M = hoopla Flex digital audiobook, 24-month license

eB12M = hoopla Flex eBook, 12-month license

eB24M = hoopla Flex eBook, 24-month license

eB26C = hoopla Flex eBook, 26-circulation license

* = CD audiobook currently unavailable

Contact your sales rep for more information about hoopla Flex.

Hot This Week: May 20

Check out this week's lists!

Video

1. Madame Web (Blu-ray | 4K)
2. The Beekeeper (Blu-ray)
3. Ordinary Angels
4. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (Blu-ray | 4K)
5. The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (Blu-ray | 4K)
6. Wonka (Blu-ray | 4K)
7. Oppenheimer (Blu-ray | 4K)
8. Mean Girls (Blu-ray | 4K)
9. Migration (Blu-ray | 4K)
10. Dune Part 1 (Blu-ray | 4K)

Music

1. Taylor Swift, The Tortured Poets Department
2. Dua Lipa, Radical Optimism
3. Morgan Wallen, One Thing at a Time
4. Seventeen, Seventeen Best Album '17 Is Right Here'
5. Morgan Wallen, Dangerous: The Double Album
6. Beyonce, Cowboy Carter
7. Noah Kahan, Stick Season
8. SZA, SOS
9. Benson Boone, Fireworks & Rollerblades
10. Zach Bryan, Zach Bryan

Fiction

1. The Women, Kristin Hannah (PA | ABP | eB24M)
2. Funny Story, Emily Henry (PA | ABP | AB12M | eB12M | eB24M)
3. Five Broken Blades, Mai Corland (ABP | eB24M)*
4. The 24th Hour, James Patterson and Maxine Paetro (AB24M | eB24M)*
5. Long Island, Colm Toibin (AB24M | eB24M)
6. Home Is Where the Bodies Are, Jeneva Rose (PA | ABP)
7. Fourth Wing, Rebecca Yarros (PA | ABP | eB24M)*
8. Iron Flame, Rebecca Yarros (PA | ABP | eB24M)*
9. Summers at the Saint, Mary Kay Andrews (PA | ABP | eB24M)
10. A Calamity of Souls, David Baldacci (AB24M | eB24M)*

Nonfiction

1. The Demon of Unrest, Erik Larson (ABP | AB12M | eB12M | eB24M)
2. You Never Know, Tom Selleck (PA | eB26C)
3. The Anxious Generation, Jonathan Haidt (ABP | AB12M | eB12M | eB24M)*
4. The End of Everything, Victor Davis Hanson (AB24M | eB24M)*
5. Bits and Pieces, Whoopi Goldberg (PA | ABP | eBP)
6. Love, Mom, Nicole Saphier, MD (ABP | eB26C)
7. Coming Home, Brittney Griner (ABP | AB12M | eB12M | eB24M)
8. An Unfinished Love Story, Doris Kearns Goodwin (eB24M)
9. No Going Back, Kristi Noem (AB24M | eB24M)*
10. Outlive, Peter Attia, MD, and Bill Gifford (ABP | AB12M | eB12M | eB24M)*

Fiction/Nonfiction Format Key:

PA = Playaway (physical)

ABP = hoopla Flex digital audiobook, perpetual license

AB12M = hoopla Flex digital audiobook, 12-month license

AB24M = hoopla Flex digital audiobook, 24-month license

eB12M = hoopla Flex eBook, 12-month license

eB24M = hoopla Flex eBook, 24-month license

eB26C = hoopla Flex eBook, 26-circulation license

* = CD audiobook currently unavailable

Contact your sales rep for more information about hoopla Flex.

Hot This Week: April 22

Check out this week's lists!

Video

1. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (Blu-ray | 4K)
2. Wonka (Blu-ray | 4K)
3. Migration (Blu-ray | 4K)
4. The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (Blu-ray | 4K)
5. Oppenheimer (Blu-ray | 4K)'
6. Wish (Blu-ray)
7. The Iron Claw (Blu-ray)
8. Night Swim (Blu-ray)
9. Anyone but You (Blu-ray)
10. Dune (Blu-ray | 4K)

Music

1. Beyonce, Cowboy Carter
2. Tomorrow X Together, Minisode 3: Tomorrow
3. Morgan Wallen, One Thing at a Time
4. Benson Boone, Fireworks & Rollerblades
5. Ariana Grande, Eternal Sunshine
6. Noah Kahan, Stick Season
7. Olivia Rodrigo, Guts
8. SZA, SOS
9. Morgan Wallen, Dangerous: The Double Album
10. Taylor Swift, Lover

Fiction

1. The Women, Kristin Hannah (PA | ABP | eB24M)
2. The Familiar, Leigh Bardugo (PA | ABP | eB24M)
3. Fourth Wing, Rebecca Yarros (PA | ABP | eB24M)*
4. Toxic Prey, John Sandford (ABP | AB12M | eB12M | eB24M)
5. Iron Flame, Rebecca Yarros (PA | ABP | eB24M)*
6. Table for Two, Amor Towles (ABP | AB12M | eB12M | eB24M)
7. James, Percival Everett (PA | ABP | AB12M | eB12M | eB24M)*
8. A Fate Inked in Blood, Danielle L. Jensen (ABP | AB12M | eB12M | eB24M)*
9. The #1 Lawyer, James Patterson and Nancy Allen (AB24M | eB24M)*
10. Remarkably Bright Creatures, Shelby Van Pelt (PA | ABP | eB26C)

Nonfiction

1. Somehow, Anne Lamott (ABP | AB12M | eB12M | eB24M)*
2. The Anxious Generation, Jonathan Haidt (ABP | AB12M | eB12M | eB24M)*
3. I'm Glad My Mom Died, Jennette McCurdy (AB24M | eB24M)
4. The Wide Wide Sea, Hampton Sides (ABP | AB12M | eB12M | eB24M)
5. Age of Revolutions, Fareed Zakaria (AB24M)
6. The Age of Magical Overthinking, Amanda Montell (AB24M | eB24M)
7. The Wager, David Grann (PA | ABP | AB12M | eB12M | eB24M)
8. Outlive, Peter Attia, MD, and Bill Gifford (ABP | AB12M | eB12M | eB24M)*
9. The Secret Lives of Booksellers and Librarians, James Patterson and Matt Eversmann (AB24M | eB24M)*
10. Burn Book, Kara Swisher (AB24M | eB24M)

Fiction/Nonfiction Format Key:

PA = Playaway (physical)

ABP = hoopla Flex digital audiobook, perpetual license

AB12M = hoopla Flex digital audiobook, 12-month license

AB24M = hoopla Flex digital audiobook, 24-month license

eB12M = hoopla Flex eBook, 12-month license

eB24M = hoopla Flex eBook, 24-month license

eB26C = hoopla Flex eBook, 26-circulation license

* = CD audiobook currently unavailable

Contact your sales rep for more information about hoopla Flex.

Edwin Drood and Famous Unfinished Novels

Written by Kyle Slagley

The Mystery of Edwin Drood is one of the most famous unfinished murder mysteries of all time. Charles Dickens died at age 58, leaving the novel close enough to completion that it would be a source of speculation for the next 150 years since Dickens didn’t live long enough to tell us all whodunit.

Other authors pounced on the opportunity to continue the Dickens story immediately, with the first continuation published less than a year after Dickens’s death. More recently, Leon Garfield and Charles Forsyte have each tried their hand at finishing the story, both publishing their works in 1980.

The story has regained attention this year as PBS released it on DVD as part of the Masterpiece Collection. Also, just last month on November 13, the revival of the Tony Award-winning production premiered on Broadway at Studio 54 – a show that takes full advantage of the cliffhanger ending.

Although popular, Edwin Drood is not the only unfinished novel to be published after the author’s death. Here are a few other prominent works left unfinished.

Lady Susan, The Watsons, and Sandition by Jane Austen – Austen died at age 41, leaving behind three novels. The most complete of the three is Lady Susan, but Sandition offers a glimpse into what would have likely been a wonderful satire at a seaside resort.

The Mysterious Stranger by Mark Twain – This novel was written at irregular intervals during Twain’s life and, at the time of his death in 1910, existed in at least three different forms. Twain was an ardent opponent of organized religion, which is evident in this book. Following the failed initial publishing six years after Twain’s death, the book lay dormant until 1982.

The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer – There are 27 pilgrims listed in the prologue of this collection of poems. Each pilgrim was supposed to share two tales on the way to Canterbury and two on the way home, yet Chaucer only got 24 tales finished. Having read the entirety of the Canterbury Tales in the original Middle English, I can only imagine how long it would have taken to read had he reached his goal.

The Garden of Eden by Ernest Hemingway – Hemingway started writing this one a full 15 years prior to his death in 1961, and yet even at 800 pages it was still unfinished. It wouldn’t be published until the mid ‘80s after heavy edits that angered devoted fans.

The Trial by Franz Kafka – This story of protagonist Josef K’s arrest, “trial,” conviction, and execution is rarely thought of as unfinished – considering the final chapter is arguably one of the most famous in classical fiction, that’s not exactly surprising. In fact, the book is a collection of manuscripts that were unfinished and that Kafka had ordered to be destroyed after he died.

Fifty Shades Trilogy Now on Audio

By now, everyone has heard of Fifty Shades of Grey, the Twilight fan fiction turned legitimate erotica. Penned by E.L. James, a a West London TV executive and mother of two, the book follows 21-year-old Anastasia Steele who falls for Christian Grey, the fiendishly rich and handsome sexual fetishist who plays Dominant to Ana's Submissive.

The well-reviewed S&M-filled book has become a literary phenomenon, selling "more print and eBook copies combined on Amazon.com than the top selling romance book sold in all of 2011," says Media Bistro. Additionally, Universal Pictures has already bought the movie rights.

Most popular initially as an eBook download, Fifty Shades of Grey has since expanded into the paperback and—more recently—the audiobook market. Entertainment Weekly was the first to unveil an audio clip, explaining that now "there’s an even more discreet way to enjoy the salacious 'mommy porn' novel."

Read by Becca Battoe, the audio version is creating an entirely new Fifty Shades experience. Thus, we're extremely excited to announce that we now have the audiobooks and Playaways for all three entries in the Fifty Shades series. Now our auditory systems can join in on the naughty fun, too.

Every Title Plus Original Artwork Now from Scholastic

In December, we excitedly announced that we had begun carrying every title, including exclusives, all with original artwork from Random House, Books on Tape, and Listening Library.

Great news! The best in audiobooks has gotten even better! We here at CVS Midwest Tape are excited to announce our partnership with Scholastic. We now offer every Scholastic audiobook with their original artwork. These titles are available for order at www.cvsmidwesttapes.ca and will ship in our exclusive SoundSafe™ case.

Canada Celebrates Queen's Diamond Jubilee

Today marks the 60th anniversary of the Queen's ascension to the British throne, and around the country, Canadians are celebrating. According to the Canadian Press, there's been a marked renewal of enthusiasm and support for the monarchy here in Canada. And after Will and Kate's tour of the country last year, we have developed an "appetite for months of festivities honouring one of the longest reigns in the institution's history."

All over the country, we'll celebrate with a myriad of events scheduled throughout the year. Additionally, about 60,000 Canadians will receive a very special honour—the Diamond Jubilee medal, awarded for work in community service. Today the first 60 Canadians, including freestyle skier Alexandre Bilodeau, Terry Fox's brother Darrell, and entrepreneur Brett Wilson, received their medals.

I’ve kicked off the Jubilee by listening to Elizabeth the Queen on audiobook. I’ve only just started, but so far, I find it quite captivating. How are you and your library celebrating? 

Every Title Plus Original Artwork Now from Random House, Books on Tape, and Listening Library

CVS Midwest Tape has partnered with Random House to provide you and your patrons with every audiobook from Random House, Books on Tape, and Listening Library, all with original artwork. These titles are now available for order via www.cvsmidwesttapes.ca and will ship in our exclusive SoundSafe™ case.

Additionally, we’ve developed new Customised Standing Order Plans that ensure you’ll receive a diverse array of Random House, Books on Tape, and Listening Library audiobooks as well as their exclusive content:

•        Random House (This plan includes all newly entered Random House titles and is delivered every four weeks)

•        Listening Library Quarterly (This plan is modeled after Listening Library’s quarterly SOP plan)

•        Books on Tape Quarterly (This plan modeled after Books on Tape’s quarterly SOP plan and includes all Books on Tape exclusives and select Random House titles)

•        Exclusives Only (This plan includes Books on Tape and Listening Library exclusives only and is delivered quarterly)

As is the case with all our standing order plans, you’ll receive absolute flexibility:

•        Plans delivered as carts via our website with email notification

•        Plans automatically duplicate checked

•        Easily adjust quantities and add or remove titles

•        No contracts, minimum order requirements, or obligation to order

Want to sign up for CVS Midwest Tape’s Random House standing order plans? Interested in further customising or requesting variations to the above plans, contact our Audiobook Customised Standing Order expert Erica Messinger at 1.866.698.2231 or emessinger@cvsmidwesttapes.ca.

Experience the Difference: Audiobooks from CVS Midwest Tape [VIDEO]

We've revolutionized the audiobook industry. Let us show you how. Check out our new audiobook video:

Fall Audiobook Preview

The weather is cooling off, the leaves are changing colour, and the kids are back in school. That means it’s time to put away the beach books and take a look at what’s coming this fall.

Fiction
For fiction lovers, there is a lot to look forward to this fall.

First up, a number of series are scheduled for new installments. Among the notables: Lee Child brings Jack Reacher back for another investigation in The Affair, due September 27. John Grisham returns to the courtroom on October 25 with The Litigators. On November 1, Vince Flynn’s Mitch Rapp is back in Kill Shot. Detective Alex Cross is back in James Patterson’s Kill Alex Cross on November 14. Stephanie Plum returns on November 22 in Janet Evanovich’s Explosive Eighteen. Nora Roberts also begins a new trilogy on November 1 with The Next Always.

Of course, there are also plenty of standalones coming from popular authors. Neal Stephenson spins a tale of an online gaming world that spills into the real world in Reamde, releasing September 20. Marisa de los Santos offers Falling Together, a story of old college friends reunited, on October 4. Stephen King takes a shot at rewriting history with 11/22/63, which drops on November 8. That same day, Umberto Eco releases The Prague Cemetery and Don DeLillo offers nine short stories in The Angel Esmeralda. And Michael Crichton’s posthumous novel Micro comes out on November 22.

Beyond the bestseller shelves, quite a few exciting works are coming out from new or under-the-radar authors. First up, Erin Morgenstern debuts with The Night Circus on September 13. It’s a tale of magic and love in a circus that opens only at night, which Library Journal says, “will be big.” Man Booker Prize winner Aravind Adiga’s new novel Last Man in Tower explores a battle of wills in modern Mumbai, and will be available September 20. Amitav Ghosh follows up the critical darling Sea of Poppies with River of Smoke, the second installment of his Ibis Trilogy, on September 27. On October 4, look for music critic and essayist Chuck Klosterman’s novel The Visible Man, in which a therapist gets drawn into a patient’s delusions. 1Q84 is an epic ode to George Orwells’ 1984 from Haruki Murakami, available October 25.

Nonfiction
There’s just as much to be excited about in the nonfiction arena.

Up first is a memoir from former Vice President Dick Cheney, In My Time, which comes out August 30. Sticking with the political theme, Joe McGinniss’s profile of Sarah Palin, The Rogue, will be available September 20. And in That Used to Be Us, available September 5, Thomas Friedman and Michael Mandelbaum examine four major problems facing the United States.

Moving on from politics, Dave Ramsey offers advice to business leaders in EntreLeadership on September 20. Popular journalist and author Michael Lewis examines world finance in Boomerang, available October 4. And Joan Didion offers Blue Nights, a heartbreaking account of losing her daughter, on November 1.

If this all sounds a little heavy, how about we check out some entertainment profiles? September 20 sees the release of Pearl Jam Twenty, a chronicle of the band’s twenty years in the music business. Also on September 20, Jeopardy! powerhouse Ken Jennings offers Maphead, charting his and others’ love of geography. On October 4, the stories of two iconic female stars arrive. My Week with Marilyn tells of the week Colin Clark spent with Marilyn Monroe in 1956; and popular comedian Ellen DeGeneres presents her memoir, Seriously…I’m Kidding. Not to be forgotten just because he was a dog, Rin Tin Tin: The Life and the Legend comes out that same day.

Children’s and Young Adult
One of the biggest publishing events this fall comes with the long-awaited conclusion to Christopher Paolini’s Inheritance Cycle when the fourth book, Inheritance, comes out November 8. There are several other upcoming titles that kids will want to get their hands on, though.

For sheer star power, it’s going to be hard to beat The Chronicles of Harris Burdick, a collection of short stories by such authors as Walter Dean Myers, Lemony Snicket, Kate DiCamillo, and Stephen King. That comes out on October 25. Model and television personality Tyra Banks tries her hand at writing for young adults with Modelland, available September 13.

Kids will be lining up for the latest books in some of their favourite series. On August 30, the 39 Clues series moves into a new mode with Cahills vs. Vespers Book 1: The Medusa Plot. Then Rick Riordan’s Heroes of Olympus series continues with The Son of Neptune on October 4. James Dashner’s Maze Runner trilogy reaches its conclusion in The Death Cure on October 11. And Diary of a Wimpy Kid carries on with Cabin Fever on November 4.

As with adult fiction, there are quite a few standalone books to be excited about as well. One is Perfect by Ellen Hopkins, the story of four teens struggling to be perfect. Look for that one on September 13. Laini Taylor’s Daughter of Smoke and Bone, available September 27, is a tale of dark fantasy. Maggie Stiefvater’s latest, The Scorpio Races, comes out October 11.

Keep Up With What’s Coming!
Obviously, this is just a small sampling of the rich offerings in store for us this fall. To stay current with everything that’s coming, keep an eye on the calendar feature on our homepage. And for more fall reading previews, check out these links:

Bookpage
EarlyWord
More Magazine
Publishers Weekly

What titles are you most looking forward to? Let us know in the comments section below.

Dystopian Lit: YA's Next Big Thing

First it was witches and wizards or teens with various magical powers. Then came vampires and werewolves and paranormal romance. Now the young adult literature world is brimming with dystopian and post-apocalyptic tales. Why are these seemingly dark themes striking such a chord with today’s youth?

What Is Dystopian and Post-Apocalyptic Literature?
Utopia, of course, is the concept of the perfect society, first explored in Sir Thomas More’s 1516 novel.¹ Dystopian literature takes that concept and flips it, portraying a society that is often oppressive or stricken with poverty. George Orwell’s 1984 is perhaps the best-known example of dystopian lit. Post-apocalyptic lit takes it a step further, showing a world in which society has, for the most part, collapsed due to some catastrophic event, such as a nuclear war (a recent entry in this genre is The Road by Cormac McCarthy, which was selected for Oprah’s book club in 2007).

Sounds pretty bleak, doesn’t it? And yet something in these tales calls out to teens and keeps them coming back for more. The New York Times offers a great resource for exploring dystopian fiction and YA readers’ attitudes toward it.

Dystopian Fiction
Dystopian novels, for both kids and adults, have been around for a long time, but those for the YA set are enjoying a recent surge in popularity. The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins is just one example of this type of story. In it, young people are forced to compete each year in a televised murder-fest for the entertainment of society’s elites, who live in the Capitol. As in most dystopian fiction, the protagonist struggles against her society’s rules, eventually seeking to overthrow the system altogether.²

The difference between dystopian fiction for kids and that for adults is that adult stories are usually grimmer. The Hunger Games, for instance, provides a happy conclusion; 1984 does not. The age range of readers, however, may not be vastly different for the two books—The Hunger Games is recommended for readers aged fifteen and up, and 1984 is on many high school (14-18) reading lists. But The Hunger Games, specifically geared toward younger readers, offers a more hopeful tone.

The reasons for this are simple. Adult dystopian tales generally offer a warning of the consequences of some current trend or worry.² YA dystopia, on the other hand, is often written as an allegory for the lives of teenagers themselves. After all, an oppressive and restrictive society makes a lot of sense for teen readers surrounded by authority figures (teachers, parents, etc.) and ready to test the boundaries. As YA author Scott Westerfield points out in his blog, “Teenagers’ lives are constantly defined by rules, and in response they construct their identities through necessary confrontations with authority, large and small. Imagining a world in which those authorities must be destroyed by any means necessary is one way of expanding that game. Imagining a world in which those authorities are utterly gone is another.”³

That being the case, it’s easy to see why these stories tend to end happily. Teens reading them as reflections of their own lives aren’t going to relate to stories that don’t offer any hope.

For a list of great works of dystopian fiction, click here.

Post-Apocalyptic Romance
Post-apocalyptic fiction often reads almost as a sub-genre of dystopian lit, but it does offer some themes of its own. Instead of a repressive society, for instance, there may be no society to speak of, having been wiped out in whatever catastrophe led to the state of humankind portrayed within. Now many authors are taking it a step further by adding the element of romance.

The post-apocalyptic part of the story appeals to YA readers for much the same reason dystopian lit does: the protagonist struggling against all odds to survive and figure out a world that no longer makes sense.⁴ The romance aspect appeals to them for obvious reasons as well as they’re generally discovering that part of their lives themselves. In that sense, these novels carry on the popularity of Twilight and the paranormal romance genre that spawned from it.

In Your Library
Publishers Weekly blogger Josie Leavitt has noticed that some parents struggle with their children reading books that deal with such dark topics.⁵ She argues, though, that teens identify with these stories for the reasons mentioned above, and that parents should talk to librarians and booksellers to help determine what reading material is appropriate for their children.

What do you think of this trend in YA literature? Are dystopian and post-apocalyptic stories flying off the shelves at your library? Give us your thoughts in the comments section below.

¹ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utopia_%28book%29
² http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/atlarge/2010/06/14/100614crat_atlarge_miller?currentPage=all
³ http://www.tor.com/blogs/2011/04/teenage-wastelands-how-dystopian-ya-became-publishings-next-big-thing
⁴ http://booksandauthorsblog.com/archives/1245
⁵ http://blogs.publishersweekly.com/blogs/shelftalker/?p=5015

Get Caught Listening During Audiobook Month

June is Audiobook Month! The Audio Publishers Association has planned the “Get Caught Listening” campaign, a social media blitz promoted by popular authors like James Patterson, David Baldacci, and Meg Cabot.¹ The aim of the campaign is to make consumers (such as library patrons) more aware of the wealth of great titles that are available on audiobook.

In honour of Audiobook Month and to get caught up in the Get Caught Listening spirit, let’s take a look at what’s going on in the world of audiobooks.

School’s Out for Summer
A few weeks ago, we discussed ways in which you and your patrons can use audiobooks to enhance a summer vacation. Now that summer is upon us, it’s the perfect time to promote your audiobook collection. We’ve put together a collection of great summer listens for kids. In addition, summer is blockbuster season for movies; check out our June Audiobook Buyer’s Guide for audiobook tie-ins for some of this summer’s most anticipated films.

The Audies
The Audie competition is “the premier awards program in the United States recognizing distinction in audiobooks and spoken word entertainment.”² The awards are handed out each year in May, with this year’s ceremony taking place on May 24. The big winner was Life, the autobiography of Rolling Stones lead guitarist Keith Richards, which took the award for Audiobook of the Year as well as Best Biography/Memoir. For a full list of this year’s winners and nominees, click here, and to shop our collection of winners, click here.

Oprah’s Book Club
No discussion of books in any form is complete without a mention of Oprah Winfrey’s ultra-popular book club. A selection by Oprah is a goldmine for authors and publishers—sales of Toni Morrison’s books spiked more after Oprah selected her works than after she won the Nobel Prize for literature!³

The books Oprah has chosen have sold more than 22 million copies in the past ten years, and that number only includes the special editions branded with her logo.⁴ Although Oprah’s daytime talk show has come to an end, she has promised to continue her book club with a show dedicated to books and authors on her new network, OWN.⁵ It remains to be seen if the effect will be as substantial without the daily talk show promoting books. For a list of Oprah book club selections available on audio from CVS Midwest Tape, click here.

Difficulty for Libraries
As this article from Library Journal points out, acquiring audiobooks can be a challenge for libraries due to vendor exclusives, different publication dates for audiobooks vs. print editions, and any number of other factors. The rise of digital editions has only compounded this problem. However, CVS Midwest Tape is here to help. It’s true that other vendors do offer some library edition titles that we don’t have access to, but such is the case with all vendors. However, we do have the widest array and the broadest depth of titles out of any library vendor, and we offer the most flexible standing order plans and competitively price our titles. Plus, we now offer library exclusive audiobooks from Dreamscape Media.

What are Your Plans?
Does your library have any events or promotions planned for Audiobook Month or for the summer in general? What titles are your patrons clamouring for right now? Let us have your thoughts in the comments section below.

¹ http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/book-news/audio-books/article/47208-getting-the-word-out-audio-book-marketing-2011.html
² http://www.audiopub.org/audies-contest.asp
³ http://collegebookworm.storeblogs.com/2011/05/24/what-oprah-has-done-for-books
⁴ http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/consumer/the-oprah-effect-closing-the-book-on-oprahs-book-club/
⁵ http://www.usatoday.com/life/books/news/2011-05-22-Oprah-Winfrey-Book-Club_n.htm

Audie Award Winners Announced

On May 24^th at The TimesCenter in New York, the Audio Publisher Association hosted the 2011 Audie Awards, the only awards program in the U.S. devoted exclusively to spoken word entertainment. From the best in specific genres to the prestigious Best Audio Book of the Year, the awards honour a wide array of audiobooks, publishers, and talented narrators.

This year Keith Richard’s Life took the highest honour of the night, and narrator Joe Hurley, a New York based pop singer and songwriter, graciously accepted the award:

"‘When I heard they needed me on this project, there were no questions asked,’ said Hurley. ‘I was sound checking Singing Back Home in Paris when I got the call. I went straight to the airport, flew for hours, lost my luggage, and had no sleep, but we recorded it on time and the result is this amazing memoir to music icon, Keith Richards, who I have the privilege of calling a personal friend.’"¹

In addition to Best Audio Book of the Year, Life also won Biography Book of the Year, which Hurley accepted, too. But who else went home with top honours? Here’s the full list of finalists and winners and our collection of winners is now up at cvsmidwesttapes.ca.

¹ LIFE Takes Audie Award

Authors Eye New Markets

Publishers Weekly recently noted five Young Adult (YA) authors, like Melissa Marr, that are making the leap this year into “adult” fiction. Likewise, a number of adult authors, like John Grisham and James Patterson, have started to publish works aimed at young adults. So what’s with all the crossing over?



It’s no great mystery why adult writers are venturing into the teen market. Just look at the mega-success that franchises like Harry Potter and Twilight have created for authors J.K. Rowling and Stephenie Meyer. The Potter phenomenon made Rowling the first author ever to appear on Forbes’s annual billionaires list.¹ Meyer was second (to James Patterson) on Forbes’s most recent list of highest-paid authors.²


Figures show that YA lit sales are increasing and adult lit sales are declining.³ And it’s not just teens driving the YA craze. More and more, adults are picking up YA novels for themselves. So, in an odd way, adult authors are turning to young adult fiction because that’s where their own audience is.

For YA authors, it’s a slightly different story. While they’re undoubtedly interested in expanding their audience as well, it seems likely that they’ve always been interested in writing more complex stories and handling more mature themes than the traditional YA market would allow. As adult readers take an interest in YA fiction, though, they’re able to push the envelope.

What do you think of the blurred lines between teen and adult fiction? Have you noticed the crossover trend in your library? What YA titles are popular with adults, or vice versa? Let us know in the comments below.

¹ http://www.forbes.com/2004/02/26/cx_jw_0226rowlingbill04.html
² http://www.forbes.com/2010/08/19/patterson-meyer-king-business-media-highest-paid-authors.html
³ http://articles.latimes.com/2010/mar/08/entertainment/la-et-young-adult8-2010mar08

Audiobooks Everyone Should Hear

Last month, I came across a blog post on Stephen’s Lighthouse about a consensus cloud entitled “Books Everyone Should Read.” This post inspired us here at CVS Midwest Tape to develop our own cloud.

After scouring through critical review sources (like Publishers Weekly, Booklist, and Library Journal), award nominees and winners (such as The Audies, Parents Choice, and AudioFile Earphones), and lists from major publications (like The New York Times, O Magazine, US Weekly, and Entertainment Weekly), CVS Midwest Tape noted and tallied the most frequently occurring titles.

From this tallied list, we constructed our “Audiobooks Everyone Should Hear” cloud. These audiobooks have garnered the most critical praise, awards, and popularity over time.

Do you see your library’s most popular audiobook?
What audiobook do you recommend the most? Is it in our cloud?

Click image to enlarge.

Is your library missing anything from our audio cloud? Shop this collection of classics and contemporary sensations now: search “Audiobooks Everyone Should Hear” in SmartBrowse.

Enhancing Summer Vacations with Audiobooks

April showers may bring May flowers, but it also brings spring break for school kids and the fleeting thoughts of imminent summer vacation. While children look forward to a lengthy break from school, we all know that the cries of “I’m bored!” aren’t far behind. One solution to this familiar complaint? Audiobooks. Libraries can provide relief to kids and adults with their robust selection of hot new titles and familiar favorites.

Versatile Entertainment
The great thing about audiobooks is that you can listen to them anywhere. Both kids and adults alike can pick one out to listen to around the house or take them along on the go. While a multiple-disc audiobook itself may be a little unwieldy, it can always be loaded onto an MP3 player; or there’s the convenient Playaway format.

Of course, “I’m bored!” is just one of the dreaded cries of summer vacation. For families that may be taking long car trips, another is “Are we there yet?” Audiobooks are a great way to make the miles pass more quickly. Instead of everyone being isolated their own earbuds, smartphones, or games, an audiobook played on the vehicle’s stereo system is something everyone can enjoy and engage in. Then the cliché that getting there is half the fun will inspire smiles and nods instead of eye-rolls and grimaces.

More than Just Entertainment
Audiobooks can provide more than entertainment, though. One obvious advantage of audiobooks is that they’re accessible even to those with sight or reading disorders. Studies have shown that listening to audiobooks increases the reading accuracy of children with developmental dyslexia, which in turn improves their overall school performance and behaviour. Also, listening to audiobooks helps ESL students with fluency in English, which includes many of the same benefits.

However, audiobooks also benefit children without reading disorders and for whom English is their native language. It’s well known, for example, that reading to children from an early age is vital to their success as they learn to read themselves. While nothing can replace the one-on-one interaction between a child and a parent (or another loved one), audiobooks can serve as a fantastic complement.

As reading skills develop, using audiobooks while reading along can increase a child’s comprehension. This is particularly true for works that depend on dialects (like those by Mark Twain) or depend on older forms of the language (like Shakespeare). As they listen, students get the sense of the rhythm of the language, and thus become better equipped to read aloud themselves.

Listening to audiobooks also increases a child’s interest in reading, both via audiobooks and regular printed books. In that sense, children who start with audiobooks often become lifelong readers.

It’s important to note, too, that audiobooks offer advantages for adults as well, aside from being something they can share with the family. You can listen to them to pass the time on your daily commute or workout, or slip into your earbuds when you need to escape from the rest of the world for a few minutes (or more). Readers with failing eyesight can continue to enjoy audiobooks. And studies have shown that engaging the mind through reading or listening to audiobooks can decrease the risk of memory loss by 30 to 50 percent.

Spread the Word!
Unfortunately, the use of audiobooks as an educational tool is often limited because parents and even teachers are unaware of the benefits. You can help them out simply by promoting your library’s audiobook collection. How about a display of great summer listens or audiobooks that may be on local school reading lists? Let Midwest Tape help! Check out our collection of 2011 summer listening for kids from AudioFile magazine.

Do you know of other audiobook benefits we didn’t discuss? Are audiobooks a part of your summer reading program? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.


1 http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/dys.397/abstract
2 http://www.rbk12blog.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/rb_audiobooks_esl1.pdf
3 http://www.audiofilemagazine.com/article_archive/Why%20Listening%20is%20good%20for%20ALL%20Kids.pdf
4 http://www.audiobookshelf.com/listen.html
5 http://www.audiofilemagazine.com/article_archive/ListengoodforkidsAM07.pdf
6 http://www.audiofilemagazine.com/article_archive/BridgetoLiteracy_Optimized.pdf
7 http://www.physorg.com/news154110683.html

2011 in Preview: Books

Jonathan Frazen’s Freedom. Rebecca Skloot’s The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. Suzanne Collins’s Mockingjay.

Each of these books helped to shape the literary landscape of 2010. But what publications will make their mark on 2011?

Welcome to the second instalment of News & Views’ 2011 preview. In the first instalment, music expert Mike Rankin discussed hot upcoming albums. Here, I tackle the big books of the New Year.

Nonfiction

In 2010, W. hit a surprise slam dunk with his memoir Decision Points; now it’s time for Donald Rumsfeld to dish. Known and Unknown “promises previously undisclosed details on the inner-workings of the Bush administration, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the 9/11 attacks.”¹ Will 2011 mark the beginning of the literary dissection of the Bush administration?

Veering from the political lane on the avenue of nonfiction, we venture to the land of travelogues with Sarah Vowell’s Unfamiliar Fishes, a historical examination of Hawaii and a discussion of the year the U.S. truly became a superpower. Known for her sarcastic wit and quirky reporting, Vowell has staked a claim in the nonfiction genre and gotten people excited about historical travelogues, achieving both comedic and captivating narratives on topics often overlooked or forgotten. Both The Daily Beast and The Millions Magazine listed this book on their 2011 previews.

During my freshman year of undergrad, I read the short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” and while creepy, it resonated with me. It made me want to write, and it definitely made me remember the name Joyce Carol Oates. Making pretty much every preview I’ve encountered, Oates’s new release is far different from anything she’s written before—it isn’t fiction. It’s a memoir about coping with loss. After nearly half a century of marriage, Oates lost her husband, and A Widow’s Story is her narrative on widowhood.

Several other nonfiction titles—mostly memoirs—garnering a lot of buzz include:

• True You: A Journey to Finding and Loving Yourself by Janet Jackson
• Bossypants by Tina Fey
• J.D. Salinger: A Life by Kenneth Slawenski
• Townie: A Memoir by Andre Dubus III
• How to Run the World: Charting a Course to the Next Renaissance by Parag Khanna

Fiction

USA Today, The Millions Magazine, The National Post, and The Daily Beast all listed Tea Obreht’s debut novel The Tiger’s Wife as one of the most anticipated books of 2011. Why all the buzz? As The Millions explains, “Of all The New Yorker’s choices for the “20 Under 40″ list, none was more surprising than Obreht, the youngest on the list and the only author chosen who had not yet published a book.” The novel, which is about a young doctor working at an orphanage in the Balkans, is literary fiction, but mainstreamers may find themselves pleasantly surprised with this gem.

With True Grit reviving our love of the Western genre, it’s not surprising that The National Post listed The Sisters Brothers on their 2011 book preview. Set in 1850s California and penned by Canadian Patrick deWitt, this novel stars a pair of outlaw brothers who are hired to track down and kill Hermann Kermit Warm. Chock full of gunslingin’, killin’, and humour, this book has received plenty of advance praise and “looks ridiculously cool.”⁵

In her ninth novel, The Uncoupling, Meg Wolitzer uses the ancient Greek play Lysistrata ("wherein the women withhold sex from their menfolk until they agree to end their war”) as her inspiration.² After a New Jersey high school performs the play, the women of the town lose interest with their male partners. As proven with her previous novels, Wolitzer’s narratives definitely entertain, and The Millions and The Daily Beast are both expecting this one to truly shine.

“The final, posthumous novel from the post-modern genius,” David Foster Wallace, The Pale King is about a man named David Foster Wallace who goes to work at the IRS Regional Examination Center in Peoria, Illinois.³ Wallace’s long-time editor Michael Pietsch delicately arranged the original manuscript into the final novel, and USA Today, The Millions Magazine, The National Post, and The Daily Beast are all labelling this quixotic tome as the most anticipated book of 2011.

Here are some other fiction titles hitting several book preview lists:

• Swamplandia! by Karen Russell
• When The Killing’s Done by T.C. Boyle
• J.D. Robb's Treachery in Death
• Clive Clusser and Jack Du Brul's The Jungle
• Jodi Picoult's Sing You Home
• You Think That’s Bad by Jim Shepard
• The Astral by Kate Christensen

Children’s & Young Adult
This year is hereby the year for Cassandra Clare! She’ll release two monumental titles in 2011: City of Fallen Angels, which is the fourth instalment of her Mortal Instruments series, and The Clockwork Prince, the second instalment of her Infernal Devices series. Both of these fantasy series have already been optioned for movies, and the fan base is expected to grow to Twilight proportions.

In the midst of vampire-fever, Maggie Stiefvater emerged with a big win for werewolves. Shiver and its sequel Linger both performed remarkably well, were optioned for movies, and received high praise for not only chronicling the romance from Grace and Sam’s point of view, but also flipping the script on some clichés of the genre. The trilogy wraps up in 2011 with Forever.

Who doesn’t love a good dose of steampunk? Scott Westerfeld revived the genre with Leviathan and he’ll wrap up the entertaining trilogy in 2011 with Goliath.

Now let’s journey away from fantastical young adult books to a children’s adventure series that truly gets audiences involved through online gaming. The 39 Clues unleashes its eleventh (or is it first?) instalment in 2011. For this transitional piece entitled Vespers Rising, authors Rick Riordan, Peter Lerangis, Gordon Korman, and Jude Watson combined efforts to connect the original series to the new secondary series, Cahills vs. Vespers.

Here are some additional much-anticipated kids and YA titles:

• Shimmer by Alyson Noel
• Passion by Lauren Kate
• Sweetly by Jackson Pearce
• The Penderwicks at Point Mouette by Jeanne Birdsall
• Power Play (Kingdom Keepers) by Ridley Pearson

Stay tuned for my list of most anticipated films, and be sure to post comments here. What book are you most anticipating? Did it make my preview?

¹ 2011's Most Anticipated Books (The Daily Beast)

² Most Anticipated: The Great 2011 Book Preview (The Millions)

³ The Most Anticipated Books of 2011 (National Post)

Additional Lists:

Winter Books Preview: Good reads tend to snowball (USA Today)

The Most Anticipated Books For The Beginning Of 2011 (Huffington Post)