Miles Narrates with a Purpose

Robin Miles is recording Prepared for a Purpose: The Inspiring True Story of How One Woman Saved an Atlanta School Under Siege by Antoinette Tuff and Alex Tresniowski (Bethany House). The book tells of Tuff’s heroic efforts to avert tragedy when, in August 2013, a disturbed man with an assault rifle walked into the school in Atlanta where she worked as a clerk. Todd Hoyt, CEO of christianaudio, which is producing the audiobook, says of Tuff: “Her own life story centered around faith in God helped prepare her for that moment, and that story is Prepared for a Purpose.”

Timson to Help Celebrate 20 Years of Naxos AudioBooks

At regular intervals throughout 2014, Naxos AudioBooks will release Edward Gibbon’s The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire—weighing in at 140 hours on 110 CDs—in six volumes, as originally published during Gibbon’s lifetime. David Timson, who also narrated Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes novels and stories for Naxos, prepared for nearly a year before beginning the recording process. Nicolas Soames, publisher at Naxos, says, “We wanted something special with which to celebrate 20 years of Naxos AudioBooks in 2014, and Gibbon’s Decline and Fall is not only the greatest classic history but also a masterpiece of literature.” He adds, “Recording it proved a double challenge: we set out to offer an unabridged text incorporating numerous anecdotes and extras that Gibbon put in the footnotes, while at the same time doing justice to these wonderful Augustan sentences. David Timson’s reading will be regarded, I am confident in saying, as one of the most unforgettable landmarks in the story of the audiobook.”

Allman in the Studio for Random House

Galadrielle Allman, daughter of the late Duane Allman, founder of the legendary Allman Brothers Band, will read her memoir, Please Be with Me (Random/Spiegel & Grau, March 2014), for Random House Audio. Duane Allman was killed in a motorcycle accident when Galadrielle was two years old, and her memoir is both a chronicle of the Allman Brothers Band and a daughter’s search for her father. Dan Zitt, v-p, content production at Penguin Random House Audio, says, “Galadrielle Allman’s writing is like poetry, and listening to her read her own work is like listening to music. Since this book is as much about Duane Allman as it is about Galadrielle getting to know her father, there was no other choice but to have her in the studio, reading her memoir.”

Kramer in the Studio for Tantor

AudioFile Earphones Award– and PW Listen-Up Award–winning narrator Michael Kramer has recorded Harry Dolan’s thriller The Last Dead Girl (Putnam/Amy Einhorn) for Tantor Media. The book is a prequel to the author’s David Loogan novels, Bad Things Happen and Very Bad Men. “We’re excited to bring the backstory of David Loogan out on audio by bestselling author Harry Dolan,” says Ron Formica, director of acquisitions at Tantor. “Loogan’s dark past has been hinted at in past books by Dolan, and now listeners will get the full story in The Last Dead Girl.”

Bridges of Madison County Coming to Audio

Actors Kelli O’Hara and Steven Pasquale will record a new audio edition of Robert James Waller’s 1992 bestseller, The Bridges of Madison County. O’Hara and Pasquale are the stars of the musical adaptation of Bridges, which is soon to hit Broadway. The audiobook will be sold at the Schoenfeld Theatre, where Bridges opens January 17. “We’re thrilled that the charismatic stars of the Broadway production of The Bridges of Madison County were able to free time up in their busy rehearsal schedule to visit audiobook recording studios here in New York,” says Anthony Goff, v-p of audio and large-print publishing at Hachette. I was lucky enough to get a chance to hear Steven read one afternoon a couple weeks ago, and his performance of the book is nothing short of magnetic!”