The Iliad – Homer. 8CDs, mostly unabridged. Narrated by Derek Jacobi
The excitement and powerful lyricism of this great classic has never sounded better than in this superb audiobook. There is a power and clarity in this version which brings to life the great heroes of the Trojan War – Achilles, Ajax, and the like can never be forgotten… Derek Jacobi’s reading is beyond good – it is vivid, tender, savage, and above all, beautiful. Despair, courage, desperation, small human concerns, mighty issues… the vain, the brave, and the foolish are met with in The Iliad, described with such glorious poetic deftness that the lines of this work ring in the memory like a bell of immortality.

The Odyssey – Homer. 8CDs, mostly unabridged. Narrated by Derek Jacobi
Every fantasy and adventure story in the world has its roots in the soil of this truly great tale – and in this translation by Mandelbaum, Homer’s lines are given the lustre and power in English that the original must have had for that long-ago audience, hearing the epic for the first time. As Derek Jacobi reads the immortal lines of this epic tale, gods and monsters leap up onto the bare stage of imagination. Sorcereresses, snakes, sirens, heroes, cowards, adventures, enchantments – all are encountered by the classic hero Odysseus (also known as Ulysses) as he sets out for his home kingdom of Ithaca after the Siege of Troy ends, only to be ensnared by a host of lovely maidens, hideous monstrosities, and obdurate gods with their own agendas.

The Miss Read novels, unabridged or abridged
The restful life of a retired lady in a peaceful English village – it seems as though it ought to be a life of uneventfulness. But not so – in Miss Read’s hands, life in Thrush Green and Fairacre are full of charm and interest. Listeners to the superb narrations by Gwen Watford or June Whitfield have fallen in love with these stories, which are as delicious as the English countryside on a fine spring day, and as full of human intrigue as a Gordion Knot.

The No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series – by Alexander McCall Smith, abridged or unabridged, on CD or cassette, narrated by Adjoa Andoh, Lisette Lecat or Hilary Neville.
Superb narrations by both readers add the final lustre to the completely delightful audiobooks of this entire series by McCall Smith. Set in an attractively old-fashioned town in Botswana and written with elegant clarity, the novels deservedly have captivated all who have read them or listened to them.
Mma Ramotswe, a lady of “traditional African” proportions, decides to use her facility for understanding human nature (and the endearing way the locals have of poking their noses into everyone’s business), together with her father’s legacy to her, to set up the first lady’s detective agency in town. The writing is charming, deceptively simple, and utterly absorbing. Africa in all its archaic simplicity, its gentle courtesy and barely hidden dangers, is presented with a deep love that is unmistakable. You will love the character of Mma Ramotswe and those whom she encounters as she goes about solving mysteries and dealing with life, and you will feel the magic of Africa itself…
Find all the Alexander McCall Smith audiobooks in the series, and don’t miss his gently satirical humour in the Doctor Moritz-Maria von Igelfeld novels.

Kafka on the Shore – by Haruki Murakami, unabridged on 15CDs, narrated by Sean Barrett and others.
Prepare for the surreal and fantastical, perceived through the journeys of two people whose lives are interconnected in a mysterious way; one, a 15-year-old boy trying to avoid an Oedipal curse, and two, an old man whose loss of higher cognitive ability was compensated for by the sudden ability to talk to cats. What drives these two, and the various people they meet in their separate and yet conjoining lives, makes for an intriguing set of connections, enlivened by rains of fish and leeches, living ghosts, a cat-killing Johnny Walker, an encounter with Colonel Sanders acting as a pimp, and a remote place where memories are finally forgotten and all hurt dies.

The Hitchhiker’s Guide To the Galaxy – by Douglas Adams, unabridged or slightly abridged, narrated by the author or by Martin Freeman. Also available as the ORIGINAL RADIO DRAMA, with the original cast.
“More popular than the Celestial Home Care Omnibus, better selling than Fifty-Three More Things to do in Zero Gravity and more controversial than Oolong Coluphid’s trilogy of philosophical blockbusters: Where God Went Wrong, Some More of God’s Greatest Mistakes and Who is This God Person Anyway?”
That’s The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, the indispensable electronic book, and Arthur Dent’s essential companion throughout his many adventures in a universe that turns out to be full of cosmic jokes he’d rather not hear, full of aliens wanting to knock down Earth to make way for an intergalactic bypass, full of creatures flinging insults at him and wanting to kill him, full of restaurants in strange places and full of many bizarrities that have become classic images since Hitchhiker’s Guide burst onto the scene. Whether it’s the reading of the unabridged books, or the classic radio drama that started it all off, you can’t miss this wonderful series.

The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe – by C.S. Lewis. 4CDs unabridged, 4cass unabridged, narrated by Michael York.
When Lucy inadvertently steps into a magical world through the wardrobe, she encounters all manner of wondrous beings. The animals are able to speak in this land of Narnia, but the whole realm is under a terrible spell of endless winter and snow. There is mention of Aslan, the wonderful Lion of Narnia, upon whom everyone’s hopes rest…
Lucy returns to her own world through the wardrobe, only to have her tale greeted with scepticism by her brothers and sister. But adventure lies ahead of them all, as they make their way into the mysterious land of Narnia, to find that they must resist the power of the Ice Queen, and help Aslan to restore summer to Narnia.
This is undoubtedly one of the great classics of children’s literature. C.S. Lewis’s style is lyrical and full of meaning, the tale full of high adventure at its very best.
All of the Narnia Chronicles are now all available complete and unabridged as audiobooks.

Inkheart – by Cornelia Funke. 10cass unabridged, $79.95, narrated by Lynn Redgrave
Words hold magic – stories can stir from the pages and give life to characters…
When young Meggie accompanies her father to her aunt’s secluded estate, she suspects that something is badly wrong. Why does the stranger want the mysterious book called “Inkheart”? Why will her father never read to her? What happened, all those years ago, to her mother?
In a story of sheer genius and remarkable inspiration, Cornelia Funke delves into the beauty of language, and the magnificence of storytelling itself. Mystery, magic, adventure, darkness and light, and a truly monstrous villain – this is an unforgettable and glorious novel, and the reading by Lynn Redgrave is magnificent.

Susan Cooper’s The Dark Is Rising series (Newbury Medal winner), unabridged, is outstanding fantasy swinging back and forth between the present and the Arthurian past, rich in poetic imagery and gripping action. This is a series in which teenagers and adults alike will be entranced.
Ancient and evil enemies seek to stop the linking together of the six magical Signs that will prevent their rising. It is up to three ordinary children and one very extraordinary child (one of the Old Ones) to stop the Dark. With help from a mysterious man who is more than he appears, with ancient mysteries and richly lucid language, this is truly great listening for teenagers and young adults.

Please feel free to contact us with any questions.