According to Merriam-Webster.com, an ode is a work “in which a person expresses a strong feeling of love or respect for someone or something.” And these two BOT audiobooks on the October 2014 LibraryReads list do just that.
Jodi Picoult’s LEAVING TIME is an ode to motherhood and to the wonder of African elephants. Jane Smiley’s SOME LUCK is an ode to American farms and farmers. And this post itself is our ode to these two spectacular October picks (that make great listens), as well as the wonderful program that is LibraryReads!
By Jodi Picoult
Read by Rebecca Lowman, Abigail Revasch, Kathe Mazur, & Mark Deakins
LibraryReads Review: “Leaving Time is a love story—love between mother and child, love between soulmates, and love between elephants. The story is told from a variety of narrators, all of whom are broken and lost. Jenna is searching for answers to the disappearance of her mother, and seeks the help of a retired police detective and a psychic. Alice, Jenna’s mom, disappeared after a tragic accident at the elephant sanctuary, and her work with the elephants is fascinating and touching. The book is an ode to motherhood in all its forms–the good, bad and the ugly–and it is brilliant.”—Kimberly McGee, Lake Travis Community Library, Austin, TX
“…truly engaging…crosses through the genres of mystery and the supernatural….Perfect for Picoult fans and book clubs.”—Library Journal, starred review
“Best-selling, reliably entertaining, and thought-provoking…”—Booklist
By Jane Smiley
Read by Lorelei King
LibraryReads Review: “Smiley’s latest is a love song to American farms and the people who keep them. This glorious and heartfelt novel chronicles the lives of an Iowan farm family over 30 years, beginning in 1920. Family members are born, grow, change, and die. Readers follow their triumphs and crushing losses and, along the way, learn about the evolution of farming and society in the United States. Definitely one of the best novels of 2014.”—Laurie Van Court, Douglas County Libraries, Parker, CO
“Smiley’s grand, assured, quietly heroic, and affecting novel is a supremely nuanced portrait of a family spanning three pivotal American decades.”—Booklist, starred review
“Told in beautiful, you-are-there language, the narrative lets ordinary events accumulate to give us a significant feel of life at the time, with the importance and dangers of farming particularly well portrayed…Highly recommended.”—Library Journal, starred review
