LibraryReads Make Great Listens
Awards & Recognition, Collection Development, Video July LibraryReads Picks on Audio are Written by Library Lovers
Submitted by on July 8, 2015

Librarians love these authors—and these authors love them right back! Listen to clips from the audiobook editions of the LibraryReads July 2015 picks (chosen by librarians from around the country), and hear why these top titles make great listens. Plus, check out videos of authors J. Ryan Stradal, Paula McLain, and Kathy Reichs declaring their love and gratitude for libraries and the librarians in their lives.

If you work at a library and would like to get involved in the LibraryReads program, learn how to nominate titles and vote for your favorites here.

Click here to see the full list of all of BOT’s LibraryReads since the program began.
 
 
LibraryReads #1 Pick and Favorite for July: KITCHENS OF THE GREAT MIDWEST
By J. Ryan Stradal
Read by Amy Ryan and Michael Stuhlbarg

LISTEN TO A CLIP:

LibraryReads review: “This novel is quirky and colorful. The story revolves around chef Eva Thorvald and the people who influence her life and her cooking. With well-drawn characters and mouthwatering descriptions of meals, Kitchens of the Great Midwest will appeal to readers who like vivid storytelling. Foodies will also enjoy this delicious tale.”—Anbolyn Potter, Chandler Public Library, Chandler, AZ

Debut author J. Ryan Stradal on how librarians inspired him to volunteer with children:

Thank you to all of the librarians here for making me what I am today. I volunteer with kids, back in L.A., and I know the effect of a concerned adult on an imaginative child. And for ten years I’ve been volunteering with kids largely because of the adults who affected my life as a kid, and it all started with librarians. And I think about it every day. My life wouldn’t be the same without it.

Watch the full video of J. Ryan Stradal speaking at the 2015 Penguin Random House BEA Librarian Breakfast (which includes a hilarious anecdote about librarians encouraging his oddball fascination with President Millard Fillmore):

CIRCLING THE SUN
By Paula McLain
Read by Katharine McEwan
Also Available in Large Print

LISTEN TO A CLIP:

LibraryReads review: “I couldn’t stop reading this fascinating portrayal of Beryl Markham, a complex and strong-willed woman who fought to make her way in the world on her terms. McLain paints a captivating portrait of Africa in the 1920s and the life of expats making their home there. Highly, highly recommended.”—Halle Eisenman, Beaufort County Library, Hilton Head, SC

Paula McLain, author of the beloved historical fiction novel The Paris Wife, on how librarians helped her through a difficult childhood:

I’ve actually always been indebted to librarians. I don’t know if you know this; I grew up in foster care in California, so basically spending fourteen years bouncing through the California foster care system, which is a really difficult way to grow up. By the time I reached second grade, I could not bear making friends only to lose them again. So I decided, judiciously I think, that I would only be friends with librarians. And so I ate my lunch in the library, and developed relationships, even in second grade, so my librarians always knew what I loved.

Watch the full video of Paula McLain speaking at the 2015 Penguin Random House BEA Librarian Breakfast:

SPEAKING IN BONES
By Kathy Reichs
Read by Katherine Borowitz
Also Available in Large Print

LISTEN TO A CLIP:

LibraryReads review: “This book lives up to the expectations we have for Kathy Reichs. A compelling and dangerous mystery, lots of medical details, and good characterization make this a title that will be easy to recommend!”—Leslie Johnson, Jefferson County Public Library, Lakewood, CO

Kathy Reichs, forensic anthropologist and author of the bestselling Temperance Brennan series (on which the television show Bones is based), on the help she receives from librarians when she’s researching and writing her novels:

I constantly access resources in the library as I’m writing both my Tory Brennan books and my Temperance Brennan books. I will pick up the phone and actually talk to a librarian. They’re amazing at locating resources that I’m unable to find by myself. They dig up the most amazing things that often trigger new ideas in my writing that I hadn’t even anticipated.

Watch the full American Library Association video of Kathy Reichs talking about libraries:

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