CHECK IT OUT:The language of audio books

Commute to work? Chauffeur the kids to activities and school? Printed words getting too small? You are ready for books on compact disc.

Rediscover the wonderful sensation of listening to a book. The Newport Beach Public Library wants to heighten your enjoyment and involvement when you hear a professional reader “act” a book on an audio format. Readers distinguish various characters on books through accents, inflections, tone and voice modulation.

Descriptive passages can reverberate with profound meaning when read aloud, rather than pronounced in the silence of one’s own thoughts. Invite the passengers in your vehicle or companions at home to listen to new stories with you.

Or enjoy the rolling, tingling, richness of spoken language penetrating your ears, following in time-honored oral tradition.

2007 Fiction

“Breakpoint” by Richard A. Clarke: This exciting, suspenseful political fiction posits terrorist hackers against America’s Homeland Security agencies and two New York police officers in the latest techno-thriller following Clarke’s “Against All Enemies.” Reader Robertson Dean covers the action in heart-pounding detail.

“Dust” by Martha Grimes: Fans of mystery author Grimes will not be disappointed in the Scotland Yard Supt. Richard Jury series’ newest entry. The banter between the usual suspects and the characters that surround our hero is made especially poignant when spoken aloud by the narrator John Lee. Add an unexpected office romance to a historic past involving Britain’s WWII top code breakers and discover how fun listening to dialogue can be.

“Trouble” by Jesse Kellerman: Medical student Jonah Stein comes to the aid of an attacked women and inadvertently kills her assailant. Although treated like a hero in the media, all is not as it seems when the victim turns stalker. Reader Scott Brick depicts the scenes with enthusiasm, clearly and slowly revealing the suspenseful twists and turns.

“Sisters” by Danielle Steel: Performed by Sam Freed: Hear the story about four sisters who move into a brownstone town house in Manhattan after a car accident kills their mother and blinds a sister. Domestic scenes and family reunions are enhanced by Steel’s gentle treatment of a heart-wrenching tale.

Best Audio Reading Ever

“Harry Potter Series” by J.K. Rowling: Forget about the juvenile aspect of the Harry Potter books. Reader Jim Dale is the best audio narrator, bar none. All ages will seriously thrill at the range and seemingly unlimited accents that Dale uses to distinguish males, females, giants, villains, heroes, muggles, professors and magical animals during the course of an entire book. Each and every character is instantly recognizable from the first word, even from a small sigh or a low moan. Play one of these on your next road trip and make the miles fly by.

Recognizable Readers

Once you listen and become accustomed to a particular reader’s style, I promise you will associate that voice with the author and the actions described. For instance, when Richard Brown reads Patrick O’Brian’s series featuring Capt. Jack Aubrey, you will think yourself on the high seas with cutlass in hand. When Kate Reading (wonderful name) performs as Patricia Cornwell’s Kay Scarpetta character, you can feel the tension and terror rising in her voice.

Donada Peters makes Ruth Rendell’s loner, psychotic characters all that more terrifying through their ordinariness. Revel in Simon Prebble’s, Davina Porter’s and Bernadette Dunne’s dulcet tones. George Guidall reading Frank Herbert’s “Dune” series brings an entire, imagined science fiction world into the realm of human possibility. Poet, translator and Irishman Seamus Heaney narrates the Anglo-Saxon epic “Beowulf” from Old English.

You won’t be disappointed. In fact, you may never want to get out of your car. And that ain’t no April Fool.

CHECK IT OUT is written by Newport Beach Public Library Reference Librarian Mary Ellen Bowman. Use your Newport Beach Public Library card to reserve these titles at www.newportbeachlibrary.org or call (949) 717-3800 and press 2.