When is a book not a book? When it is performed by a starry cast of hundreds. Except it has always been more complicated than thatNews this week of a 17% hike in the UK’s audiobook sales might seem like a niche business story, but it raises an existential question. What exactly is an audiobook today? Is it a book? Is it a play? Or is it becoming something else entirely? What is clear is that a jostle for market dominance is driving it into new dimensions. The streaming platform Spotify followed its move into podcasting two years ago with the launch of an audiobooks business. Though it has yet to start making its own recordings, last autumn it made a deal for 200,000 audiobooks to be available to its premium users.Not to be outdone, Amazon-owned Audible – accustomed to being the market leader – upped its game, hiring the Oscar-winning director Sam Mendes to record multi-voice versions of the Dickens novels Oliver Twist and David Copperfield, and announcing last month that it had reached an agreement for a recording of JK Rowling’s Harry Potter series, voiced by more than 100 actors and featuring a “groundbreaking new soundscape”. The new Potter audiobooks, it said, would not usurp but “sit alongside and complement” conventional recordings by Stephen Fry and Jim Dale, which Audible also hosts. Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2024-05-10 17:25:03 UTC ]
An awesome daily roundup of the most interesting bookish links from around the web! Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2020-04-24 10:30:04 UTC ]
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Learn more about the lives and thoughts of these authors with these nonfiction audiobooks by bi+ women of color, including memoirs and essay collections. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2020-04-21 10:31:22 UTC ]
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Our relationships with characters from books and screen – called parasocial relationships – serve many of the same functions as our friendships with real people, minus the infection risks. Continue reading at The Conversation
[ The Conversation | 2020-04-21 03:11:35 UTC ]
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"Paddington" and "Downton Abbey" star Hugh Bonneville is voicing the free audiobook for Nosy Crow's recently released children's e-book about coronavirus. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-04-20 18:06:43 UTC ]
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Subscribers to audiobook subscription platform BookBeat are growing during the coronavirus pandemic, with bestsellers and well-known authors performing best. The post Sweden’s BookBeat Rides High on the Pandemic’s Audiobook Boom appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2020-04-20 13:45:35 UTC ]
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Every Monday through Friday, AudioFile’s editors recommend the best in audiobook listening. We keep our daily episodes short and sweet, with audiobook clips to give you a sample of our featured listens. Narrators Shiromi Arserio and Jason Carpenter are perfectly matched in this modern-day fairy... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-04-17 17:18:43 UTC ]
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Answer eleven questions about the Harry Potter books and the wizarding world to discover which of the Hogwarts Professors you are most like. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2020-04-16 10:34:27 UTC ]
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Michelle Obama's Becoming (Penguin) was Audible's most downloaded audiobook for the week ending 12th April, with the self-narrated autobiography continuing on from its success across 2018 and 2019. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-04-16 04:23:02 UTC ]
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Investigate the history of American cuisine, indulge in neighborhood drama, and find reconciliation between enemies in our April audiobook picks. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2020-04-15 21:02:05 UTC ]
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Investigate the history of American cuisine, indulge in neighborhood drama, and find reconciliation between enemies in our April audiobook picks. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2020-04-15 21:02:05 UTC ]
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Investigate the history of American cuisine, indulge in neighborhood drama, and find reconciliation between enemies in our April audiobook picks. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2020-04-15 21:02:05 UTC ]
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An updating list of online treats from bibliophiles including JK Rowling, Simon Armitage and Lynda La Plante to entertain locked-down children and adults • The best arts and entertainment during self-isolationGruffalo artist Axel Scheffler has put out a free new picture book explaining the... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2020-04-09 11:04:32 UTC ]
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Though Harry Potter might be one of the most easily recognizable books about magic schools, there are many books that go beyond Hogwarts. Find them here. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2020-04-02 10:36:55 UTC ]
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HarperNonFiction is releasing an early audiobook edition of Adam Buxton's memoir in May—its first to be recorded entirely remotely. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-04-01 21:06:52 UTC ]
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Wizarding World of Harry Potter introduces Harry Potter at Home, a new collection of free resources for readers and educators. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2020-04-01 17:06:24 UTC ]
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J K Rowling and her Wizarding World partners have announced three new initiatives under the banner Harry Potter At Home, to help children, parents, carers and teachers who are at home during the coronavirus outbreak. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-04-01 16:21:07 UTC ]
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The real world isn’t looking so great right now, so here’s another option: escape into the Harry Potter universe for a bit with Harry Potter at Home, a digital hub for kids. Hosted at WizardingWorld.com, Harry Potter at Home has craft videos, articles, games, and more ways to engage Harry Potter... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-04-01 15:30:29 UTC ]
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Harry Potter at Home aims to be a new hub for parents and teachers in need of content to keep kids learning and entertained. J. K. Rowling is supplying a welcome dose of magic during the COVID-19 pandemic with Harry Potter at Home.Read Full Story Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2020-04-01 14:20:14 UTC ]
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The audiobook version of Shola Von Reinhold's debut, Lote (Jacaranda), will feature narration from award-winning “Fresh Meat” star Zawe Ashton. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-03-25 17:44:53 UTC ]
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So you wanna take a queer road trip (like to every shooting location for both L Words) and are looking for audiobook companions, or—probably more accurately given the current pandemic of it all—you wanna hole up in your house alone for days on end, scouring the queer literary canon for... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-03-24 08:48:34 UTC ]
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