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Emily's Top Picks of 2012

Magical narration, some serious heartbreak, and a dash of dystopia

There was a lot to love in 2012. Colin Firth brought me to tears and nearly converted me to Catholicism in Graham Greene's The End of the Affair, Code Name Verity proved that really good young adult fiction doesn't need romance, and Beautiful Ruins was just plain awesome - as were lots of books this year. But for me it was a modern classic that had been unavailable in audio for far too long that took the top prize. You can read my review, or just trust me. The Handmaid's Tale as performed by Claire Danes is simply amazing. --Emily, Audible Editor


Back to Best of 2012

 
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  • Play The Handmaid's Tale
    AUDIOBOOK
    The Handmaid's Tale
    UNABRIDGED
    Give as a Gift

    The Handmaid's Tale

    • UNABRIDGED (11 hrs)
    • By Margaret Atwood
    • Narrated By Claire Danes
    • Whispersync for Voice-ready
    Overall
    (1059)
    Performance
    (932)
    Story
    (930)

    Offred is a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead, serving in the household of the enigmatic Commander and his bitter wife. She may go out once a day to markets whose signs are now pictures because women are not allowed to read. She must pray that the Commander makes her pregnant, for in a time of declining birthrates her value lies in her fertility, and failure means exile to the dangerously polluted Colonies. Offred can remember a time when she lived with her husband and daughter and had a job, before she lost even her own name....

    Melinda says: "Not So Far-Fetched -- Still Chilling"
  • Play Code Name Verity
    AUDIOBOOK
    Code Name Verity
    UNABRIDGED
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    Code Name Verity

    • UNABRIDGED (10 hrs and 7 mins)
    • By Elizabeth Wein
    • Narrated By Morven Christie, Lucy Gaskell
    Overall
    (191)
    Performance
    (171)
    Story
    (171)

    Code Name Verity is a compelling, emotionally rich story with universal themes of friendship and loyalty, heroism and bravery. Two young women from totally different backgrounds are thrown together during World War II: one a working-class girl from Manchester, the other a Scottish aristocrat, one a pilot, the other a wireless operator. Yet whenever their paths cross, they complement each other perfectly and before long become devoted friends. But then a vital mission goes wrong....

    sunshineuphoria says: "An Amazing Story Voiced by Amazing Actors"
  • Play The End of the Affair
    AUDIOBOOK
    The End of the Affair
    UNABRIDGED
    Give as a Gift

    The End of the Affair

    • UNABRIDGED (6 hrs and 28 mins)
    • By Graham Greene
    • Narrated By Colin Firth
    Overall
    (1129)
    Performance
    (1031)
    Story
    (1018)

    Graham Greene’s evocative analysis of the love of self, the love of another, and the love of God is an English classic that has been translated for the stage, the screen, and even the opera house. Academy Award-winning actor Colin Firth (The King’s Speech, A Single Man) turns in an authentic and stirring performance for this distinguished audio release.

    Emily - Audible says: "Colin Firth Kills It"
  • Play Beautiful Ruins
    AUDIOBOOK
    Beautiful Ruins
    UNABRIDGED
    Give as a Gift

    Beautiful Ruins

    • UNABRIDGED (12 hrs and 53 mins)
    • By Jess Walter
    • Narrated By Edoardo Ballerini
    • Whispersync for Voice-ready
    Overall
    (3769)
    Performance
    (3243)
    Story
    (3224)

    The story begins in 1962. On a rocky patch of the sun-drenched Italian coastline, a young innkeeper, chest-deep in daydreams, looks out over the incandescent waters of the Ligurian Sea and spies an apparition: a tall, thin woman, a vision in white, approaching him on a boat. She is an actress, he soon learns, an American starlet, and she is dying. And the story begins again today, half a world away, when an elderly Italian man shows up on a movie studio's back lot - searching for the mysterious woman he last saw at his hotel decades earlier.

    Cindy says: "Best Mistake I Ever Made On Audible..."
  • Play Into the Darkest Corner
    AUDIOBOOK
    Into the Darkest Corner
    UNABRIDGED
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    Into the Darkest Corner

    • UNABRIDGED (14 hrs and 1 min)
    • By Elizabeth Haynes
    • Narrated By David Thorpe, Karen Cass
    • Whispersync for Voice-ready
    Overall
    (710)
    Performance
    (584)
    Story
    (585)

    Catherine has been enjoying the single life for long enough to know a good catch when she sees one. Gorgeous, charismatic, spontaneous – Lee seems almost too perfect to be true. And her friends clearly agree, as each in turn falls under his spell. But there is a darker side to Lee. His erratic, controlling and sometimes frightening behaviour means that Catherine is increasingly isolated. Driven into the darkest corner of her world, and trusting no one, she plans a meticulous escape.

    Janice says: "Check, and check again . . ."
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