Iambik Discontinues Development of “LibriVox” Iphone App

Some of you have been using the Librivox Selections app produced by Iambik to enjoy selected audiobooks from the LibriVox collection. You may have noticed that some features in the applications have stopped working.

We have decommissioned this app, and will not be supporting it further.

As Iambik founder Hugh McGuire (who happens to also be the founder of LibriVox) explained, “We’ve decided to keep our attention focused on producing great new audiobooks in partnership with publishers, and the LibriVox app didn’t fit in with our focus. There are some very good audiobook apps out there already giving access to the LibriVox catalog, and we’d prefer to let app developers continue their good work, while we spend our time making more great audiobooks.”

Some alternatives include:

We’re sure there are many more; feel free to let us know what we’re missing in the comments.

We apologize for the inconvenience and hope you continue to enjoy our outstanding audiobooks.

 

New Releases: February 5, 2013

The coldest, shortest month in many parts of the world means you’re allowed to take a holiday inside a warm blanket, with hot drinks spicing your throat and a probing new audiobook warming your ears.  Here are February’s new releases from Iambik, with something for lovers of science fiction and fantasy, classic literature, young adult, and horror:

Machine by Jennifer Pelland. Narrated by Bev J. Stevens.
Published in print by Apex Book Company.
“Intensely provocative and deeply disturbing, Pelland’s Machine is simply an unforgettable – and potentially nightmare-inducing – read. In a word: twisted.”- Paul Goat Allen

 

 

Stealing Home by Hayden Trenholm. Narrated by Mark F. Smith.
Published in print by Bundoran Press.
“Hayden Trenholm doesn’t just steal home — he knocks the ball out of the park with this stunning conclusion to one of the best SF/Crime crossover series ever written. Bravo!” — Robert J. Sawyer, Hugo Award-winning author of WAKE

 

Monstrous Affections by David Nickle. Narrated by Robert Keiper.
Published in print by ChiZine Publications.
“David Nickle writes ’em damned weird and damned good and damned dark. He is bourbon-rough, poetic and vivid. Don’t miss this one.”–Cory Doctorow, author of Little Brother

 

Audiobook reviewers, book bloggers, and Iambik ambassadors: as always, email Miette for review copies of any title.

New Audiobook Releases: January 17, 2013

We’re well into the start of the New Year, which means you might already be falling short on your resolutions. We hope not. We hope you’re exercising every day, eating healthfully, not smoking or drinking as much, and reading a book a week. If you’ve slipped on your literary promises to yourself, we can help you get back on track. Put down your drink and smother your cigarette, and enjoy:

The Pilgrim by Paul Almond. Narrated by Paul Almond.
Published in print by McArthur & Company.
The Pilgrim is the fourth book of The Alford Saga, following The Deserter, The Survivor, and The Pioneer

 

 

The Great Lenore by J.M. Tohline. Narrated by John Greenman.
Published in print by Atticus Books.
“The Great Lenore is…beautiful in the same way that J.D. Salinger’s books are beautiful…” –New York Journal of Books.

 


Spirit Singer
by Edward Willett. Narrated by Edward Willett.
“…deserved the Saskatchewan Book Award it won” – Lynn (J.R.) Wytenbroek (Canadian Literature Magazine).

 

 

Audiobook reviewers, book bloggers, and Iambik ambassadors: as always, email Miette for review copies of any title.

Exclusive! A free (and sexy) Jon Papernick short story

Jon Papernick’s first novel, Who by Fire, Who by Blood, has been referred to as a “fast-paced thriller,” and “smart, relentless, impossible to put down.”  The audiobook, narrated by John Greenman, is such a sharp, hairpin-turning work of literary delight that we asked Jon if he’d not only indulge our few questions, but offer us up another audio story for you.

He was, John graciously recorded it, and we’re pleased to offer up My Darling Sweetheart Baby, a short story by Jon Papernick, narrated by John Greenman. Enjoy it, then read below to discover what else Jon’s up to.

Listen now

Miette Elm:Did you have any reservations about allowing Who By Fire, Who By Blood to be made into an audiobook? What were they? How did narrator John Greenman’s voicing of the text match up to what you had in your head?

Jon Papernick: I had no reservations at all about turning Who by Fire, Why by Blood into an audio book. I think John did a wonderful job and he was really willing to work at getting all of the Hebrew/Yiddish pronunciation correct.

Bruce Pirie

Author Jon Papernick

ME: The novel works quite well when read aloud– there’s something cinematic to the narrative voice, and a natural cadence to the sentence structure. Do you read aloud when writing?

JP: Yes, I do read aloud when I’m writing, and I always tell my students that it is important to constantly read your work out loud. I think Robert Frost once said “The ear is the only true reader,” and I think that is absolutely true. Not reading your work aloud is somewhat like writing sheet music without actually playing it out loud. Prose should be as musical as poetry, and of course human speech at its truest is poetry.

ME: Do you listen to many audiobooks? If so, what else do you do while listening? Driving? Knitting? Ay titles you’d like to recommend as exceptional?

JP: I used to listen to a lot of audio books when my kids were first born. I would listen in the car as it was driving them back and forth, and while I was preparing dinner, and while I was folding laundry. Sometimes I would download them onto my iPod and go for long walks listening to novels. I really think that John Greenman did a wonderful job reading The Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain, which is probably the funniest book ever written. Listening to that book made me really excited to work with John. I also think that the audiobooks for Middlesex By Jeffery Eugenides, Tree of Smoke by Dennis Johnson and Lush Life Richard Price were superlative.

ME: We seem to be in somewhat of a golden age of strong Jewish heroes and anti-heroes in North American fiction. Who else is writing gripping, bitingly real fiction like this that would work well as an audiobook?

JP: I just met with a young writer named Ilan Mochari whose novel Zinsky the Obscure is coming out this fall. I think that would make a wonderful audio book.

ME: You’ve also taught fiction writing at a number of colleges and universities. How does teaching the craft shape your own craft, and vice versa?

JP: First of all, I really enjoy teaching, and I wonder whether I could be a writer at all if I was simply locked up in a garret somewhere with a pen and paper. I think there is a certain symbiotic relationship between me and my students, and I often articulate my inner thoughts clearly to them before I actually integrate them into my own writing. Teaching really helps center me as a writer, and I am constantly reminded that writing is a craft that needs to be practiced regularly.

ME: What are you working on next?

JP: I’m currently working on a novel and am about to undertake a major rewriting of it. The novel is called the Sunday Synagogue Softball League. I recently sent my agent the first 68,000 words, and he had some very helpful comments about major structural changes that I need to consider in order for the story to really come alive. I’ve got a lot of work ahead of me, and I’m just trying to find the right headspace to get started. I’m also working on a third collection of short stories entitled Gallery of the Disappeared Men.

 


Who By Fire, Who By Blood

Who by Fire, Who by Blood  is available from Iambik as an audiobook for only $6.99. Bestselling author Jennifer Haigh calls it a thinking man’s thriller — smart, relentless, impossible to put down.

We couldn’t agree more. Why not listen to the first chapter and see if it hooks you?

Happy second birthday to us! Let’s celebrate with a giveaway.

Iambik is celebrating our second birthday this week – our infant days of spit-up and toothless drooling are behind us now, as we see how terrible we can be in our toddling twos.

Is there any better way to celebrate this milestone than to give away audiobooks?  No, we don’t think there is.  We’re offering any one of Iambik’s audiobook collections to the winner of our random drawing at the end of the month.

Have your pick of any of these collections:

Literary Fiction 1
Literary Fiction 2
Literary Fiction 3
Literary Fiction 4
Literary Fiction 5
Romance Collection 1
Science Fiction and Fantasy Collection 1
Science Fiction and Fantasy Collection 2
Crime Collection 1
Crime Collection 2
Crime Collection 3

Enter via the usual channels:  Tweet about the giveaway or fan us on Facebook for an entry.  To really increase your chances, we want to know what you think of our audiobooks!  Review any of our titles on Amazon, Audible, Goodreads or iTunes.  Leave a link in the comments section on this post, and earn three entries into the giveaway.

Feel free to leave your reviews on all these sites, and review as many Iambik titles you’ve listened to, and earn roughly eleventy hundred entries.  (We’re word people; you do the math!).  Good luck!

You must use the Rafflecopter widget below for your entries to count.  Email Miette with any issues.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

New audiobooks: to your ears from the pens of Edward Willett, Marc Estrin, E. Nesbit & Thomas Hardy

Leaves are falling and the evenings are getting chilly, at least in this part of the world. The children are back in school and their grownups are back from escapist trips, plucking the sand from their memories and wiping sunscreen from their daydreams.

But don’t despair the shortening days!  Long, cool nights are best spent with a warm drink and an even warmer story, delivered straight to your ears.  Our new releases include an intergalactic adventure for young adults, an absurdist glimpse into a world ruled by  madness (not so unlike our own) , and two classic pearls from the public domain.  Enjoy:


Andy Nebula: Interstellar Rock Star by Edward Willett. Narrated by Justin S. Barrett.
“The action in Andy Nebula moves along at a cracking pace and the characters are well-drawn…Andy Nebula is fast and furious enough to keep even reluctant readers turning the pages, and young teen fans of fantasy and science fiction will not be disappointed.” – John Wilson, Quill & Quire

 

 

The Lamentations of Julius Marantz by Marc Estrin. Narrated by Anthony St. Pierre.  Published in print by Unbridled Books.
“Clubfooted, 60-something Cal Tech grad Julius Marantz is pursued by both the Central Intelligence Corporation and a corporate coalition known as GEKO in this Kafkaesque near-future mashup from Estrin (Insect Dreams: The Half-Life of Gregor Samsa). Julius’s crimes include having perfected a mechanism known as the Doodad, which, among other things, polarizes the water molecules in living beings and is used to create rapture-like experiences among the multitudes of India. ” – Publisher’s Weekly

 

The Railway Children by E. Nesbit. Narrated by Cori Samuel.
In this classic children’s book by E. Nesbit, three children are suddenly uprooted from their happy suburban life to move to the country with their mother. Their new house, “Three Chimneys”, is near a railway line, and Roberta (Bobbie), Peter and Phyllis (Phil), find amusement in watching the trains and waving to the passengers. They become friendly with Albert Perks, the station porter, and with the Old Gentleman who regularly takes the 9:15 down train. The children get involved in all kinds of good deeds, while their mother is busy writing children books.

 


Under the Greenwood Tree
by Thomas Hardy. Narrated by Tadhg Hynes.
Under the Greenwood Tree or The Mellstock Quire: A Rural Painting of the Dutch School is a novel by Thomas Hardy, published anonymously in 1872. It was Hardy’s second published novel, the last to be printed without his name, and the first of his great series of Wessex novels.

 

Audiobook reviewers, book bloggers, and Iambik ambassadors: as always, email Miette for review copies of any title.

Love audiobooks? Here’s a chance to hear them free.

Love audiobooks? Want a chance to feed your addiction for free? Iambik is looking for new proof-listeners. If you enjoy listening to audiobooks and would like the ‘job’ (don’t expect to get rich; most books are proof-listened on a volunteering basis. We do show our appreciation with all the free Iambik audiobooks you can stand). Please write to production@iambik.com. We prefer people with proof-listening experience but we’re happy to train novices if you’re interested. Spread the word!

August 2, 2012: New Sci-fi and Fantasy Audiobooks

If you’re like me (and heaven help you if you are), a muggy August haze often makes you want to leave the planet for a spell, disappear into fantasy, or retreat into noir.  Between these four gripping titles, we’ve got your ticket for the escapist fantasy you need, and we’re putting you in first class.  Enjoy:


Steel Whispers coverSteel Whispers by Hayden Trenholm. Narrated by Mark F. Smith.  Published in print by Bundoran Press.
“Steel Whispers is an edge-of-your seat amalgam of police procedural and razor-sharp science fiction. The streets of Calgary never seemed so mean! Fans of Dashiell Hammett and William Gibson both will love this; a great novel from one of Canada’s fastest-rising SF stars. ” – Robert J. Sawyer, Hugo Award-winning author of Wake

 

Outer Diverse coverOuter Diverse by Nina Munteanu. Narrated by Dawn Harvey.  Published in print by Starfire World Syndicate.
“A master of metaphor, Munteanu turns an adventure story into a wonderland of alien rabbit holes… a fascinating and enthralling read. ” – Craig Bowlsby, author of Commander’s Log

 

Last Dragon coverLast Dragon by JM McDermott. Narrated by Cori Samuel.  Published in print by Apex Book Company.
“Its call for our participation in assembling a story from the novel’s brief fragments and long silences reminds us why we read, makes plain the interactivity that is at the heart of reading’s entertainment. Last Dragon literalizes our impulse to Story, to construct narratives out of our memories and circumstances. ” – BSC Book Reviews, Matt Denault

 

Playing Solitaire coverPlaying Solitaire and Other Stories by Mark Shainblum. Narrated by John Greenman and Elizabeth Klett.
“People have argued that it will be impossible to imagine what life would be like on the other side of a Singularity because humanity will be so fundamentally altered as to not even be human anymore. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try. Especially if it gives us excellent tales like ‘The Art of Solitude’. ” – James Palmer, Tangent Online

Audiobook reviewers, book bloggers, and Iambik ambassadors: as always, email Miette for review copies of any title.

New in Crime, Dark Fantasy, Literary Fiction, & Mark Twain

It’s your friends at Iambik here, with some summer listening selections that can be taken to the beach, shared on a crowded airplane, enjoyed on a trek through a foreign city, or indulged on the lawn of your own city’s nearest park.  Enjoy!

CRIME FICTION

Bound for Eternity coverBound for Eternity by Sarah Wisseman. Narrated by Priscilla Holbrook.
“Highly authentic, written by an archaeologist, BOUND FOR ETERNITY is a great read. The museum setting was both eerie and fascinating. I hope to see Lisa Donahue in many books to come.” — Barbara D’Amato, Chicago author of the Cat Marsala series

 

SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY

Land at the End of the Working Day coverThe Land at the End of the Working Day by Peter Crowther. Narrated by Robert Keiper.  Published in print by PS Publishing.
“Peter Crowther with this excellent collection reminds us that, first of all he’s a terrific writer moving effortlessly across the various subgenres of dark fantasy, always providing evidence that what makes good fiction is the ability to tell in the right words what we feel about the mysteries of human life ,a fleeting light in the dark of an immense universe. ” – Trashotron.com

 

LITERARY FICTION

Skulk coverSkulk by Marc Estrin. Narrated by Anthony St. Pierre. Published in print by Progressive Press.
“Marc Estrin has his finger on the pulse of American madnesses. Contemplating 9/11 conspiracies would be no laughing matter except in the hands of a writer who once (INSECT DREAMS) resurrected and apotheosized Gregor Samsa’s discarded insect carcass. Now in SKULK, this master satririst raises questions of our national (ir)realities to breathless heights. As they used to say, “Right on!”  — Peter Glassgold – author of Angel Max, Anarchy!

 

YOUNG ADULT FICTION

Saving Angelfish coverThe Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain. Narrated by Tadhg Hynes.
“I read this one because my sixth grader is studying it in her English class.  At first I was a bit skeptical – the language is pretty archaic sometimes, but the more I read the more I could see that there is a lot of good things to discuss in this story.  About appreciating what we have.  About how we handle disappointment and misunderstanding.  About how being rich or poor does not determine whether or not we are good, honorable people.  About how our visible circumstances can dictate SO MANY of the assumptions people make about us. “  — The Book Nest

 

Audiobook reviewers, book bloggers, and Iambik ambassadors: as always, email Miette for review copies of any title.