Oh That Voice

Once in awhile you stumble upon a book that's so special, it takes you on a ride that you never want to get off.  The prose is beautiful, the characters have depth and as a writer, you spend half the time thinking "I want to write like this." Such is the case with EVERYTHING I NEVER TOLD YOU by Celeste Ng. From New York Times Bestseller to being named one of Amazon's best books of the year in 2014, it's got it's fair share of accolades and with good reason.  Ng interweaves complex characters between present day 1970's and a 1950's past like it's the easiest thing to do. I could go on and on about the book but the main point of this blog is that truth be told, I never read the book...I listened to it. 

With traffic jams and longer commutes, audio books are becoming increasingly popular.  Sites like audible.com make it easier than ever to access them instantaneously.  But it wasn't until I read EVERYTHING I NEVER TOLD YOU that I truly appreciated the importance of a skilled narrator.  

Ng's novel is narrated by the talented Cassandra Campbell. Her voice is literally like butter to me. Smooth in all the right places and distinct when speaking in the voice of various characters.  Once I finished the book, instead of searching for more Celeste Ng, I looked up Cassandra Campbell. 

Interested in learning more about these little known audio book makers and breakers?  Check out this article on one of the queens of audio books Lorelei King and a more in-depth discussion of the rise of audio books here. Happy listening!