If your plan is to be on the road traveling to a far away place (or a not-so-far-away place) with your family this holiday season, be sure to pick up some audiobooks to help everyone enjoy the trip. While audiobooks certainly pass the time when you’re stuck in traffic or on a layover at the airport, they’re also a shared experience that can spark memorable conversations between every generation.
For Young Kids: CORDUROY TAKES A BOW
Written and Read by Viola Davis
Celebrate 50 years of America's favorite teddy bear with a brand-new audiobook by Academy Award winner Viola Davis.
When Lisa takes Corduroy to the theater for the very first time, it’s so magnificent and exciting that he just can’t help heading out on his own to explore. From the orchestra pit to the prop table to the dressing rooms, Corduroy sees it all. Could there be a place for Corduroy on stage, too?
Fifty years after this lovable, inquisitive teddy bear was first introduced to readers, he’s now the star of the show. Author Viola Davis uses her own experience as an Emmy, Tony, and Oscar Award-winning actress to imbue Corduroy’s adventure with all the magic of the stage. A beautiful tale with a classic feel, Corduroy Takes a Bow is sure to spark an interest in theater in children of any age.
For Older Kids: A LONG LINE OF CAKES
Written by: Deborah Wiles
Read by: Jenna Lamia
Two-time National Book Award finalist Deborah Wiles introduces us to the Cakes, a family of traveling bakers, who've just arrived in Wiles's legendary Aurora County, Mississippi.
Emma Lane Cake has five brothers, four dogs, and a family that can't stay put. The Cake family travels from place to place, setting up bakeries in communities that need them. Then, just when Emma feels settled in with new friends . . . they move again.
Now the Cakes have come to Aurora County, and Emma has vowed that this time she is NOT going to get attached to ANYONE or ANYTHING. Why bother, if her father's only going to uproot her again?
But fate has different plans. And so does Ruby Lavender, who is going to show Emma Lane Cake a thing or two about making friendship last.
For Older Kids: BRIDGE OF CLAY
Written and read by Mark Zusak
An unforgettable family saga from Markus Zusak, the storyteller who gave us the extraordinary bestseller THE BOOK THIEF, lauded by the New York Times as "the kind of book that can be life-changing."
The breathtaking story of five brothers who bring each other up in a world run by their own rules. As the Dunbar boys love and fight and learn to reckon with the adult world, they discover the moving secret behind their father’s disappearance.
At the center of the Dunbar family is Clay, a boy who will build a bridge—for his family, for his past, for greatness, for his sins, for a miracle.
The question is, how far is Clay willing to go? And how much can he overcome?
Written in powerfully inventive language and bursting with heart, BRIDGE OF CLAY is signature Zusak.
Family Friendly Read: READY PLAYER ONE
Written by: Ernest Cline
Read by: Wil Wheaton
Nominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American Read!
In the year 2045, reality is an ugly place. The only time teenage Wade Watts really feels alive is when he's jacked into the virtual utopia known as the OASIS. Wade's devoted his life to studying the puzzles hidden within this world's digital confines--puzzles that are based on their creator's obsession with the pop culture of decades past and that promise massive power and fortune to whoever can unlock them.
But when Wade stumbles upon the first clue, he finds himself beset by players willing to kill to take this ultimate prize. The race is on, and if Wade's going to survive, he'll have to win--and confront the real world he's always been so desperate to escape.
For Couples: AN UNWANTED GUEST
Written by: Shari Lapena
Read by: Hillary Huber
A weekend retreat at a cozy mountain lodge is supposed to be the perfect getaway . . . but when the storm hits, no one is getting away
It's winter in the Catskills and Mitchell's Inn, nestled deep in the woods, is the perfect setting for a relaxing--maybe even romantic--weekend away. It boasts spacious old rooms with huge woodburning fireplaces, a well-stocked wine cellar, and opportunities for cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, or just curling up with a good murder mystery.
So when the weather takes a turn for the worse, and a blizzard cuts off the electricity--and all contact with the outside world--the guests settle in and try to make the best of it. Soon, though, one of the guests turns up dead--it looks like an accident. But when a second guest dies, they start to panic.
Within the snowed-in paradise, something--or someone--is picking off the guests one by one. And there's nothing they can do but hunker down and hope they can survive the storm. . . and one another.
