April Genevieve Tucholke understood the thrill of listening to audiobooks from a young age. Here, this longtime audiobook fan shares her favorite listening activities, audiobook recommendations for every season, and her TBLT (To Be Listened To) list.
She also shares her thoughts on her new audiobook WINK POPPY MIDNIGHT, a thrilling new Young Adult mystery story, told from three perspectives by three different narrators! In this cautionary tale, Tucholke plays out the dangers of trusting those we may not fully know. Full of twists and turns, no one in this audiobook is quite what you think and everything you know can change on a dime. Perfect for fans of Holly Black, and WE WERE LIARS, this tale of intrigue, dread, and beauty will leave listeners entranced and excited for more.
I heard once that oral storytelling has been around as long as human language, and I believe it.
I think it’s the fourth element of basic human survival: Food, shelter, clothing, story. From Beowulf in Scandinavia to the Icelandic Sagas to One Thousand and One Nights to the German folk tales of the The Brother’s Grimm… I think storytelling’s popularity indicates an ancient, primal need for people to have tales told/read aloud.
I’ve been in love with audiobooks for years. They punctuate my memories. Painting my old house a lovely butter yellow while listening to Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy on audio. Tim Curry reading Garth Nix’s Abhorsen trilogy to me while I packed up this same house before I moved to Edinburgh, Scotland. George R. R. Martin’s A GAME OF THRONES filling up the long, endless hours on a road trip from Wisconsin to Washington.
I make the change of seasons with audiobooks. Summer is PG Wodehouse. Autumn is Washington Irving—I’ve had The Legend of Sleepy Hollow read to me by countless narrators, and each adds his/her own unique spin. Winter is JANE EYRE. I feel that my new book WINK POPPY MIDNIGHT encapsulates spring. It has three narrators, one for each of the main characters. The first time I heard Michael Crouch’s voice, reading Midnight—he captured the lonely, romantic, hopeful spirit of my character so perfectly it took my breath away. Alicyn Packard gives Wink a delicate, fairy tale quality, and Caitlin Davies fills Poppy with intense, dynamic life.
My audiobook Mount Everest? War and Peace. It’s sixty-one hours. Yes, you read that right. It’s almost twice as long as the brilliant Lonesome Dove, and Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, and the books in Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series—which are the heartiest audiobooks I’ve done to date.
My favorite narrator? Simon Prebble.
The audiobooks on my TBLT (To Be Listened To) list? THE NIGHT CIRCUS by Erin Morgenstern. The Lord of the Rings. THE COLLECTED STORIES OF WINNIE-THE-POOH. Isak Dinsen’s Out of Africa. Bernard Cornwell’s The Archer’s Tale. Bloody Jack by L.A. Meyer (this is a re-listen—I love this series).
My favorite audiobooks of all time? A Fisher-Price set of classic books on tape. My stoic, Midwestern-farmer grandfather rarely gave me and my three siblings presents at Christmas. But one year—I must have been twelve or thirteen—I opened a gift and found Fisher-Price cassettes from my grandpa. They were bright yellow with blue labels and I listened to them again, and again, and again. And again. They were full cast dramatizations, complete with sound effects, and my favorites were Rip Van Winkle and Tom Sawyer. To this day I can quote almost the entire productions by heart. Eventually my husband recorded the tapes onto my computer so I can listen to them without fear of ruining the 20+ year old cassettes, and whenever I’m having a bad day all I need to do is hear the opening whistle of the Mississippi river boat in Tom Sawyer…and I’m swept back into my childhood, warm summer day, sitting in green grass under a blue sky, listening to stories on a pink cassette player. All is right with the world.
—April Genevieve Tucholke
By April Genevieve Tucholke
Read by Michael Crouch, Alicyn Packard & Caitlin Davies
Praise for April Genevieve Tucholke:
★ “Balancing between possibly paranormal and just plain disturbing, Tucholke walks a fine, spine-chilling line.” —Kirkus, starred review for WINK POPPY MIDNIGHT
“In airy, atmospheric prose, Tucholke has constructed an ethereal story where nothing ever feels quite real.” —Booklist review for WINK POPPY MIDNIGHT
Also available from April Genevieve Tucholke:
SLASHER GIRLS & MONSTER BOYS
By April Genevieve Tucholke
Read by Read by a full cast, including Robbie Daymond, Emma Bering, Nora Hunter, Jorjeana Marie, Julia Whelan, and MacLeod Andrews.
SLASHER GIRLS & MONSTER BOYS was also a
YALSA Amazing Audiobook pick.
BETWEEN THE SPARK AND THE BURN
By April Genevieve Tucholke
Read by Jorjeana Marie
