Danes in the Booth for Macmillan
Claire Danes, star of Showtime’s hit series Homeland, was in the studio last month for Macmillan Audio, recording the audiobook edition of Michael Cunningham’s The Snow Queen, due out May 6. The “darkly luminous” new novel from the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Hours follows the Meeks brothers as “each travels down a different path in his search for transcendence.”
Brilliance Takes On Roberts
Nora Robert’s recent romantic suspense novel, The Collector, moves the reader from “the penthouses of Manhattan to grand Italian villas, and from murder to love.” The book is narrated by actress and Audie Award–winning narrator Julia Whelan, whose “quickened pacing and delivery heightens the suspenseful scenes, while her more easygoing pace and voice adds to the romance.” The audiobook will be published by Brilliance on April 15, along with the hardcover (from Putnam).
Lowe Loves Life for S&S
Rob Lowe narrated his new book, Love Life, which was released simultaneously in hardcover and audio editions on April 8 by Simon & Schuster. In it, the actor, who most recently starred on NBC’s Parks and Recreation, uses stories and observations from his life in a “poignant and humorous series of true tales about men and women, art and commerce, fathers and sons, addiction and recovery, and sex and love.”
Michele Gets Gleeful at RH
Singer and actress Lea Michele was in the booth last month, reading her new book, Brunette Ambition, for Random House Audio. The book, out May 20 in print and audio editions, covers Michele’s start on Broadway, in shows like Les Misérables and Spring Awakening, and her path to stardom on the megahit show Glee. Throughout, she reveals “practical advice and lessons she’s learned along the way, from beauty and fashion secrets to fitness tips and career insights.”
Woodson Reads for Penguin
Jacqueline Woodson will be in the studio reading her latest book, Brown Girl Dreaming, for Penguin Audio. Slated for simultaneous hardcover and audiobook release on August 28, Brown Girl Dreaming is the story of Woodson’s childhood, told through poems. In her “mesmerizing verse,” she articulates what it was like to grow up as an African-American in the 1960s and ’70s, “living with the remnants of Jim Crow and her growing awareness of the Civil Rights movement.” By reading her own work, “Woodson fully embraces the struggles she had with reading as a child, and reflects the joy of finding her voice through writing stories,” according to the publisher. Woodson won the 2006 Margaret A. Edwards Award for lifetime achievement in writing for young adults, and the 2001 Coretta Scott King Award and Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Miracle’s Boys.
Bailey and Tantor Brave the Elements
Philip Bailey, the Grammy Award–winning musician of the band Earth, Wind & Fire, read from his memoir Shining Star: Braving the Elements of Earth, Wind & Fire, written with twin brothers Keith and Kent Zimmerman. The book chronicles the group’s “meteoric rise to stardom” and Bailey’s “professional and spiritual journey.” Tantor’s audiobook goes on sale April 15.
Rubinate a ‘Rebel Belle’ at Dreamscape
Amy Rubinate is set to read Rebel Belle, the first installment in a new series by New York Times bestselling author Rachel Hawkins. The hardcover and audio editions were released on April 8 (the former by Putnam). Rebel Belle tells the story of Harper Price, a Southern belle “born ready for a Homecoming tiara,” who acquires incredible new abilities after a strange run-in at the dance. Rubinate previously read Susan Crandall’s Whistling Past the Graveyard for Dreamscape.
