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Listen up—it's gift-giving time
REVIEWS BY SUKEY HOWARD Giving the gift of good listening is easier than ever. To jump-start your shopping, we've found audios that will please listeners in almost every category.
By Jon Meacham Random House AudioBooks, $37.95 9 hours abridged, CD, ISBN 0739306774
By Caroline Alexander Penguin Audiobooks, $49.95 cassette, ISBN 0142800309
By Anne Garrels Audio Renaissance, $36.95 8 hours unabridged , CD, ISBN 1593973586
By Mariane Pearl Simon & Schuster Audio, $26 6 hours abridged, cassette, ISBN 0743528409
By Clive Cussler Brilliance Audio, $36.95 11 hours, CD, ISBN 1593552033
By James Bradley Time Warner AudioBooks, $25.98 6 hours abridged, cassette, ISBN 1586215671
Happy holidays—happy listening!
By Monica Ali Highbridge Audio, $36.95 12 hours abridged, CD, ISBN 1565118294
By Haywood Smith Audio Renaissance, $24.95 5 hours abridged, cassette, ISBN 1559279672
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For the history buffs on your holiday hit list,
Franklin and Winston: An Intimate Portrait of an Epic Friendship
by Jon Meacham, read by veteran actor and top-notch audio
narrator Len Cariou, is a great choice. Using new sources, Meacham explores the crucial, unique and remarkable friendship shared by
the two great leaders of the "Greatest Generation" who guided us and our allies to victory in WWII.
The unabridged 15-hour presentation
of Caroline Alexander's The Bounty: The True Story of the Mutiny on the Bounty,
narrated by Simon Prebble, is another fine choice. It's an intriguing, intricately detailed account of the men, the mood, the mutiny and
the Royal Navy's attempt to bring the mutineers to justice.
Support your 
Anne Garrels, one of only 16 non-embedded journalists, reported firsthand on the "shock and awe" and aftermath of the American
invasion of Iraq from the now famous Palestine Hotel.
Naked in Baghdad: The Iraq War as Seen by NPR's Correspondent, her
very personal, very immediate account, will appeal to anyone who wants the authentic, inside scoop on the war and on life as a foreign
correspondent. Garrels and her husband, Vint Lawrence, read.
Another voice from the frontlines of war is heard in
A Mighty Heart: The Brave Life and Death of My Husband Danny Pearl, Mariane Pearl's moving portrait of her marriage and of the harrowing five weeks after Danny's abduction by terrorists in Karachi, Pakistan, when she initiated and helped direct the intense search for him. She too has a mighty heart, and tells a story that is mightily heartbreaking.
In the guys-will-be-guys gift category, there's an unabridged performance of Clive Cussler's
Golden Buddha, the first installment in a new high-seas adventure
series starring a new tougher-than-nails, cooler-than-cool high-seas action hero.
Flyboys: A True Story of Courage, written and read
by James (Flags of our Fathers) Bradley, relives the harrowing true story of nine young American airmen who were shot down over
the South Pacific island of Chichi Jima during WWII. One (who just happened to be George H.W. Bush) was rescued; the secret of
what happened to the others has never before been revealed.
Let's not forget the gals either. Monica Ali's acclaimed debut novel,
Brick Lane, looks deep into the heart and immigrant life of a
Bangladeshi woman, married off to an older man and moved abruptly to the intimidating, but ultimately liberating world of London.
If you'd prefer something on the lighter side, meet the five fine women who belong to
The Red Hat Club. One of their husbands has a mistress,
and the group is determined to get revenge. Haywood Smith's charming Southern novel might best be thought of as The First Wives Club
meets the the Ya-Yas.