Dreamscape Revisits Price and His Pooch

The late actor Vincent Price’s lighthearted memoir, The Book of Joe: About a Dog and His Man, chronicling life with his beloved 14-year-old mutt, was first published in 1961. A new e-book edition featuring an introduction by actor Bill Hader and a preface by Price’s daughter, Victoria, was released by Open Road Media in April and arrives in audiobook format later this month (download available June 28; CD, July 26) from Dreamscape Audio, with Victoria narrating the production. Victoria Price, an interior designer and art consultant, authored Vincent Price: A Daughter’s Biography, published by St. Martin’s Press in 1999.

Real-Life Couples Read Ephron’s ‘Siracusa’ for Random

Bestselling author Delia Ephron’s new novel Siracusa focuses on themes of marriage, deceit, friendship, and betrayal. In a perfectly fitting casting scenario, the audiobook, due from Random House Audio on July 12, is narrated by two couples who are married in real life. Married actors John Slattery (Spotlight, Mad Men) and Talia Balsam (Mad Men, Homeland), and Darren Goldstein (The Girl on the Train, The Affair) and Katie Finneran (Noises Off, Bloodline), perform Ephron’s story—told in shifting points of view—of two couples whose relationships unravel during a vacation to the Sicilian coastal town of Syracuse.

L.A. Theatre Works’ ‘God of Carnage’ from Stage to Audiobook

Another real-life married couple—actor Simon Helberg (The Big Bang Theory) and actress/producer Jocelyn Towne—are featured in L.A. Theatre Works’ audiobook production of God of Carnage, Yasmina Reza’s Tony Award–winning play, scheduled to be recorded later this month in Los Angeles and set for publication in October. In it, two sets of parents attempt to have a civil discussion about how one couple’s child injured the other couple’s son at a neighborhood park. Additional scheduled cast members are Geoffrey Arend (Madam Secretary) and Stephanie Beatriz (Brooklyn Nine-Nine).

HighBridge Adopts Armstrong’s ‘Foreign Policy’

For his debut novel, British comedy writer Jesse Armstrong (Peep Show, The Thick of It) mines the war in the former Yugoslavia for some laughs. Set in 1994, Love, Sex and Other Foreign Policy Goals follows the misadventures of London activist and idealist Andrew who joins up with some student actors to travel around Bosnia and perform a peace play hoping to change hearts and minds. British comedian and actor Chris Addison recently stepped up to the microphone to read the book for HighBridge Audio’s June release, which is simultaneous with the Blue Rider hardcover.

Audible and ‘Anna’ Get Gyllenhaal

The latest entry in Audible Studios’ line of classic recordings is a new audiobook version of Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy, narrated by actress Maggie Gyllenhaal (The Dark Night, The Honourable Woman). “I love the book so much more than I did before I read it aloud,” she is quoted as saying on Audible’s website. Gyllenhaal has often cited the novel as a favorite and read a passage from it at the Lapham’s Quarterly Decades Ball benefit in 2014, which celebrated the 1870s.

‘Of Beetles and Angels’ Takes Wing on Hachette Audio

Originally self-published in 2001, Mawi Asgedom’s inspirational autobiography, Of Beetles and Angels: A Boy’s Remarkable Journey from a Refugee Camp to Harvard, was published as a trade paperback in 2002 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers under the Megan Tingley imprint and has sold more than 250,000 copies. The title is now available on audio for the first time as a recording read by the author, out since June 7 from Hachette Audio. Asgedom shares his account of spending three harrowing years in a refugee camp in Sudan before coming to the U.S. with his family—via World Relief sponsorship—in 1983 at the age of seven. The family settled in suburban Chicago and continued to face struggles, largely living on public assistance. Asgedom received a scholarship to Harvard University, where he gave the commencement address; following his graduation, he became a motivational speaker, visiting more than 1,000 schools in 40 U.S. states and around the world. His book has often been selected as the “one book” that an entire community endeavors to read, and according to Hachette’s Megan Fitzpatrick it is a timely audio release in light of the attention generated by the current refugee crisis, the Black Lives Matter movement, and the challenges of English-language learners.

Hachette Fires Up Dragon Finale with Tennant

The 12th and final installment of the How to Train Your Dragon series by Cressida Cowell, How to Fight a Dragon’s Fury, goes on sale July 19 for Hachette Audio with Scottish actor David Tennant (Dr. Who, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire) reprising his role as narrator. Since the first title was released in 2003 in the U.K. (the American edition appeared in 2004), the books have inspired feature films, video games, and graphic novels. A new movie is planned for 2017.