It’s still summer by my count, which means it’s okay to go out on a schoolnight, skinny dip in a rooftop pool, and otherwise indulge in large-scale rulebreaking.  In that spirit, here are a few special releases, including our first work of Classic Literature, a saucy Romance, and a Young Adult classic.  To celebrate further, enter the code “rulebreaker” at checkout for an additional 25% off your purchase.  Now, go out and put a tassel on your nightcap already, and blame it on me.

The Good Soldier by Ford Madox Ford. Narrated by Robert Keiper
“The Good Soldier is an odd and maybe even unique book. That it is a masterpiece, almost a perfect novel, comes as a repeated surprise even to readers who have read it before.” — Jane Smiley in The Guardian

Around the World in Stilettos by Natalie-Jane Revell (published in print by HandE Publishers).   Narrated by Cori Samuel.
I read this book in two days – just couldn’t put it down! If you love the shopoholic books, you will love this. Superb book for taking on holiday and reading on the beach. My daughter has borrowed my copy and is loving it too. Thoroughly recommended. I can’t wait for the sequel to come out. – Amazon review

Step on a Crack by Mary Anderson (published in print by Atheneum Books).  Narrated by Xe Sands.
It is without question one of the fastest paced novels dealing with the psychological problems of the young that has been published to date. From the time that Josie fully enters the novel until it’s shrieking climax, one is literally bound with hands clasped to the bindings of the book! – Catholic Library World

These hot July nights are made for the steamy filth of city sidewalks, shadows lurking in the dark, and bodies dropping under mysterious circumstances.  Of course, it’s better for all of us if the blood, shadows, and soot are relegated to fiction.  And so, we introduce Iambik’s second Crime fiction release, six nail-biting, suspense-heavy, genre-defying works from today’s leading independent U.S. and Canadian crime fiction publishers.  You may need to leave a light on after some of these:

Hard Cold Whisper by Michael Hemmingson. Narrated by Adam Verner (Black Mask)
“[Hemmingson’s writing] is a twisted mix of sin and redemption.”
— American Book Review

Listen to the Dead by Randall Peffer. Narrated by Art Carlson (Tyrus Books)
“Fueled by sex, drugs, long-suppressed memories, and the practice of Santeria, this fast-paced fifth entry in Peffer’s series (after Bangkok Dragons, Cape Cod Tears)is unusual and intriguing”
— Library Journal

Richmond Noir by Various. Narrated by Charles Bice (Akashic Books)
“A lovingly compiled entry in Akashic’s strong regional noir series, this could have appeal beyond the Commonwealth and its capital.”
– Library Journal

The Painted Messiah by Craig Smith.  Narrated by Clive Catterall (Myrmidon)
“I got paper friction burns on my fingers and pressure sores elsewhere because I could barely move until I’d finished it.”
– Paul Doherty, author of the Hugh Corbett mysteries

Thought You Were Dead by Terry Griggs.  Narrated by Gregg Margarite (Biblioasis)
“Griggs’s finest joke lies in her decision to set her novel in the publishing industry, which allows her to riff on tacky book covers and take aim at everyone from aspiring writers to copy editors to a lowly book reviewer who meets an untimely demise.”
— Lee Ferguson, CBC Arts & Entertainment

The Vaults by Toby Ball.  Narrated by Michael Agostini (St. Martin’s Press)
“Astonishingly, Toby Ball is a first-time novelist. The Vaults succeeds on every level, in its language, plotting, and ability to enthrall readers.”
– Mystery Scene Magazine

Complete Crime #2 Collection: All six titles for $29.99!

Summer is here – or on the way – for many of us, and our just-released third collection of Literary Fiction has been scientifically structured to meet any vacation you might be planning. To prove it, here’s my Summer Holiday Audiobook Matchmaking Guide (scientific, remember). Just pick the type of holiday that best suits you, and I’ll let you know which audiobook you’ll want from our new collection:

For the World-Aware

Your dream vacation involves joining protestors in Libya, building houses for the poor, working a community garden in a rainforest, or keeping writers distracted on Twitter from finishing their novels. You should download:
– Amphibian, by Carla Gunn, read by Anita Roy Dobbs (Coach House Books).
“Carla Gunn’s prose crackles with energy in this illuminating, heart-gripping novel.” — Sheree Fitch

For the Urban Escapist

You seek a no-frills return to nature, with or without hugging trees or cleaning your teeth with pine needles. Your holiday dream involves rainbow trout jumping for mayflies, waking up with the sunrise, and a sky whose stars you can’t find on Google maps, because you’re out of cellphone range. You should listen to:
– The Painting and the City, by Robert Freeman Wexler, read by Robert Keiper and Ulf Bjorklund (PS Publishing).
“A complex, enthralling novel, concerned with relations between art and commerce.” — Booklist

For the Urban Enthusiast

Maybe it’s the other way around, and you’re charmed by exploring thriving foreign places. Going from Chinatown to Little Italy in two blocks in NYC. Having a dozen pints of beer in Kreuzberg and stumbling nose first into the remains of the Berlin Wall: If you plan to go around the world in a city’s day, how about:
– Then We Saw the Flames, by Daniel A. Hoyt, read by Charles Bice (University of Massachusetts Press).
With plenty of entertainment crammed between the covers, Then We Saw the Flames is a great short fiction pick.” — Midwest Book Review

For the Beach-Comber

Okay, there’s nothing about Matt Bell’s collection that makes me think of fuzzy fruity drinks, but if I had to peg a metaphor on the collection, it would be one of floating on the surface of the sea in full snorkeling gear, for a gull’s-eye view through magnified lenses of the wild of reef life. Trust me and download:
– How They Were Found, by Matt Bell, read by Mark F. Smith (Keyhole Press).
“Fierce, unflinching, funny, How They Were Found is just the book we need right now…” – Laird Hunt

For the Budget Backpacker

For the chance to explore the shadier side of the world, you’re willing to sleep on trains with one eye open, or in hostels in sketchy neighbourhoods, with your valuables tucked under your head. If sharing your life’s story and a bottle of wine with fellow travelers is your idea of summer bliss, you need to listen to:
– The Autobiography of Jenny X, by Lisa Dierbeck, read by Darla Middlebrook (Mischief + Mayhem).
“Fast-paced, psychologically taut … beguiling … sly and sharp.” —New York Observer

For the Insolvent Writer

You’re not going anywhere this summer outside of your own head. You’re determined to finish this draft of your book this summer, if you can stay off Twitter for long enough. You hope it’s not as self-indulgent as your blog posts for Iambik. The thought that it might be has you obsessing over every word, and wanting a vacation. Check out:
– With or Without You, by Lauren Sanders, read by Lee Ann Howlett (Akashic Books).
“A wickedly crafted whydunit.” –Entertainment Weekly

For the Around-the-World Cruiser

You’ve got cash to spend, or credit card debt to accumulate. You’re willing to show off, so pick up:
– Complete Literary Collection 3 , all six titles for only $29.99. I know this is too good a deal for your lifestyle: use the cash you’ll save for a caviar facial treatment.

If you’ve been on blogs, Twitter, Facebook, or any of the other social spaces, which you must be, unless you’re reading this telepathically, you might have seen a post tagged “June is Audiobook Month” or #jiam2011 or #audioweek or some variation thereof. Here’s a little more about #jiam2011, from the Audio Publisher’s Association.   And our friend Jen at Devourer of Books is taking Audiobook Week by the tail.

So, as our little contribution to the fun, enter #jiam2011 at checkout on Iambik.com for 50% off all titles through the end of June 2011.  Stock up for next year!

Dearest Listeners,

We’re happy to announce another pride-inducing collection of twelve audiobooks from iambik audio, this time more great literary fiction.  You can buy the whole collection of twelve books for $49.99, or individual books for $6.99… actually, less! Using the code “our-favorite-customers” you’ll get a 25% discount on any purchase until the end of April.

Here is our list:

One Vacant Chair, by Joe Coomer
narrated by Lee Ann Howlett / print publisher Graywolf Press
“Try reading two pages without a chuckle, and I guarantee you’ll be the first to make it.”
—The Sanford Herald

Light Lifting, by Alexander MacLeod
narrated by Adam Verner, / print publisher  Biblioasis
“Sensitive and subtle, MacLeod is a writer through whose deliberately partial and quotidian pieces shimmers life’s unspoken complexity.” –Giller Prize Citation

The Journal of Antonio Montoya, by Rick Collignon
narrated by Linette Geisel / print publisher Unbridled Books
“Strongly reminiscent of the magic realism of Garcia Marquez, this is an enchanting work by a new writer.”
— Library Journal

Alcestis, by Katharine Beutner
narrated by Diane Havens / print publisher Soho Press
“Beutner renders her multilayered heroine with beauty and delicacy, and concerns herself with no less than the intricacies of the soul…”—Publishers Weekly

The Cry of the Sloth, by Sam Savage
narrated by Charles Bice / print publisher Coffee House Press
“Delightful . . . Imagine a comic version of the great Fernando Pessoa’s The Book of the Disquiet in epistolary form, with extra laceration.”
—Guardian

The Failure, by James Greer
narrated by Tadhg Hynes / print publisher Akashic Books
“James Greer’s The Failure is such an unqualified success, both in conception and execution, that I have grave doubts he actually wrote it.”
–Steven Soderbergh

Madewell Brown, by Rick Collignon
narrated by Charles Bice / print publisher Unbridled Books
“Collignon’s writing is exquisite and his characters will touch your heart.”
-–Bookworks, Albuquerque, New Mexico

Perdido, by Rick Collignon
narrated by Charles Bice / print publisher Unbridled Books
“Collignon’s male characters are masterfully drawn, as is his rendering of the stark New Mexico landscape, with its harsh unforgiving climate.” — The San Diego Union-Tribune

A Santo in the Image of Cristóbal García, by Rick Collignon
narrated by Charles Bice / print publisher Unbridled Books
“Dreamlike and melancholy…a worthy read.”
–Publishers Weekly

Pulpy and Midge, by Jessica Westead
narrated by Phil Chenevert / print publisher Coach House Books
“A hilariously deadpan, wincingly funny take on one office innocent’s workplace coming-of-age.”
–- Lynn Coady

Migration Songs, by Anna Quon
narrated by Elizabeth Klett / print publisher Invisible Publishing
“An engaging tale, peppered with memorable scenes and lovingly drawn characters.”
— Quill & Quire

Kahn & Engelmann, by Hans Eichner
narrated by Charles Bice / print publisher Biblioasis
“Eichner’s amazingly, beautiful, word paintings radiate throughout the pages.” –Rayna Eliana

We’re very excited to announce the newest release from iambik audiobooks: a wonderful collection of indie whodunnits, mystery, crime, and noir.

We have Witness to Myself, from the noir craftsman Seymour Shubin, whom Tony Hillerman calls,  “a master of prose, one of the very best.” Suicide Casanova, by Arthur Nersesian is our very first forray into gritty erotic thrillers, which Bookmunch.co.uk calls: “perverse and filthy, funny and charming, and utterly compelling.” The Tattoo Murder Case is the famed first novel from Japan’s most acclaimed mystery writer, Akimitsu Takagi, and should give a certain Swedish series a run for its money. DC Brod’s Getting Sassy is part off-beat thriller, part touching portrait of a daughter struggling with her mother’s mental decline.

These books and six more gems come from some of our favourite indie publishers doing some of the most exciting work in letters in English: Akashic Books, Hard Case Crime, Soho Press, HandE Publishing, and Tyrus Books.

With each book priced at $6.99, you can’t afford not to buy one! Even better, you could get the whole collection of ten beautifully read audibooks for only $44.99.

The whole collection includes:

* All or Nothing, by Preston L. Allen, narrated by Mark Nelson  (Akashic Books)

“By turns harrowing, illuminating, and endearing, All or Nothing is more than a gut punch, it’s a damn good book.” –Maggie Estep

* Suicide Casanova, by Arthur Nersesian, narrated by Mark Smith (Akashic Books)

“Suicide Casanova is very New York, perverse and filthy, funny and charming, and utterly compelling.” — Bookmunch.co.uk

* It’s Behind You, by Keith Temple, narrated by Ruth Golding (HandE Pubishers)

“Keith Temple has obviously had great fun writing about a world he knows well in his debut novel” — Stirling Observer

* Fade to Blonde, by Max Phillips, narrated by Gordon Mackenzie (Hard Case Crime)

“The author has the eye and the ear and the cojones to keep pace with all this fond brutality.” — The New Yorker

* Witness to Myself, by Seymour Shubin, narrated by John Michaels (Hard Case Crime)

“Shubin is one of those making art of the mystery…a master of prose, one of the very best.” — Tony Hillerman

* High Season, by Jon Loomis, narrated by Charles Bice (Minotaur Books)

“Full of entertaining twists and sly observations, this is a perfect book for late summer reading.” — Publishers Weekly

* Death of a Nationalist, by Rebecca Pawel, narrated by Elizabeth Klett (Soho Press)

“Pawel anchors a tense and exciting story with a terrific and complex plot.”—Detroit Free Press

* Tattoo Murder Case, by Akimitsu Takagi, narrated by Mark Douglas (Soho Press)

“Takagi, Japan’s most acclaimed mystery writer, has created a first-rate mystery, excellently translated into English.” –Library Journal

* Getting Sassy, by D.C. Brod, narrated by Karen Savage (Tyrus Books)

“[T]he surprisingly affecting portrait of a woman caught in the midst of a parent’s sad but sure mental decline”. — Booklis

* Late Rain, by Lynn Kostoff, narrated by Kenneth Campbell (Tyrus Books)

“One of those rare novels that transcend genre fiction; it is writing at its very best, brilliant from start to finish.” —Charlie Stella

For more information, or to just talk about audiobooks, or indie publishing, or good books you’ve read recently, please get in touch with us:

email: hugh@iambik.com
tel: +1.514.464.2047

And here are the lovely covers: