Best Audio Books of the Year 2010 announced

News: Launching on Monday 5th July, the Best Audiobooks of the Year 2010 features the best in audio publishing from April 2009 – March 2010. Comprised of four categories – fiction, non-fiction, poetry and children’s – the objective is to showcase the very best audiobooks, and the resulting shortlist features a diverse collection of audio ranging from Shakespeare to Charlaine Harris.

Over 100 titles were submitted by audio publishers to a judging panel formed of key figures from the book trade and national media, including The Times’ audiobook reviewer Christina Hardyment, and audiobook reviewer for The Independent Sue Gaisford. The panel’s selections were based on excellence in several criteria: quality of literary content, abridgement, reading, production value and sound quality.

Samples of each title will be available to listen to at www.audiobooks.co.uk/vote2010, where the public can also vote for their favourite audiobook, and be in with the chance of winning £50 worth of vouchers for The Audiobook Store. Voting closes on 10th September and the winner will be announced at Chiswick Book Festival (17th – 19th September 2010).

TITLES IN THE BEST AUDIOBOOKS OF THE YEAR 2010:

FICTION:

The Honourable Schoolboy by John le Carre, read by Full Cast (BBC)
Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf, read by Juliet Stevenson (Naxos)
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson, read by Saul Reichlin (Whole Story Audio Books)
Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris, read by Johanna Parker (Orion Audio)
The Long Song by Andrea Levy, read by Andrea Levy and Adrian Lester (Hachette Digital)
The Complaints by Ian Rankin, read by James Macpherson (Orion Audio)
The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway, read by Gareth Armstrong (Naxos)
Music and Silence by Rose Tremain, read by Michael Praed (Naxos)
Dead Tomorrow by Peter James, read by William Gaminara (Macmillan)
Doctor Who: Dead Air by James Goss, read by David Tennant (BBC)
Lenny Henry’s Othello by William Shakespeare, read by Full Cast (BBC)
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel, read by Dan Stevens (HarperCollins)
Adrian Mole: The Prostrate Years by Sue Townsend, read by Mark Hadfield (Whole Story Audio Books)
Animal Farm by George Orwell, read by Simon Callow (CSA Word)

NON-FICTION:

The Colonel of Tamarken – Philip Toosey and The Bridge on the River Kwai by Julie Summers, read by Anton Lesser (Chrome Audio)
The Making of Modern Britain by Andrew Marr, read by Andrew Marr (Macmillan)
Thanks For Nothing by Jack Dee, read by Jack Dee (Random House)

POETRY:

From Shakespeare with Love by William Shakespeare, read by David Tennant, Juliet Stevenson, Anton Lesser et al. (Naxos)

CHILDREN’S:

War Horse by Michael Morpurgo, read by Dan Stevens (HarperCollins)
Flood and Fang by Marcus Sedgwick, read by Martin Jarvis (Orion Audio)