Audio Books: You'll Like What You Hear Quiz

Answer: Ender's Game

"Enders Game" is a 1985 masterpiece that is at first glance a genre story of how a group of children are trained to be remote commanders of an interstellar air force required to protect Earth from alien attackers. However, "Ender's Game" is filled with subtext and nuance that elevates the story above simple science fiction. The book is a discussion on the meaning of family and a discourse on nationhood with a sophisticated understanding of modern geopolitics. At its core the book explores the theme of what it means to be human. "Ender's Game" and the equally if not even more brilliant sequel "Speaker for the Dead" were winners of the Nebula and Hugo Awards for best science fiction novels and are frequently included in the lists of the best books of the 20th century..

Discussing audio books can be a tricky topic because of variances in language and personal preference. Some listeners prefer the consistency of a single narrative, while others prefer the novel be transformed into a radio play where dialogue is voiced in character. With that being said, a beautiful version of "Enders Game" is the audio version created to celebrate the book's 20th anniversary of publication. The narration is performed by voice actor Stefan Rudnicki with the key parts of Peter Wiggins read by acclaimed science fiction author Harlan Ellison and Valentina Wiggins read by Grammy nominated voice actress Gabrielle de Cuir.

Answer: How to Win Friends and Influence People

Dale Carnegie was an American entrepreneur who dreamed of being a lecturer. In the early 20th Century, he began offering seminars designed to teach public speaking and salesmanship. His open and positive techniques for making people like you and seeing the world from the listeners point of view were succinctly expressed in his 1936 international best-seller "How to Win Friends and Influence People". Carnegie's book, his subsequent collections of advice and a multinational string of training institutes spread his ideas to millions of people.

"How to Win Friends and Influence People" is perfect for an audio book. The narrative is designed to be a lecture, and Carnegie himself was most at home as a speaker. In 2011, a special edition of the book was released to celebrate the 75th anniversary of its initial publication. There are several versions of the book in the audio collection including a rare surviving recording of Dale Carnegie.

Answer: Ulysses

"Ulysses" was published as a novel in 1922, but the majority of the work was disseminated in serialized form between 1918-1920. "Ulysses" is the story of events that happen to Leopold Bloom, his unfaithful wife Molly and a family friend, Stephen Dedalus on June 16, 1904. The story is told as a series of 18 vignettes that affect the characters over the course of the day. The story is both homage and parody of life in Dublin and Homer's "The Odyssey". The erstwhile Bloom is a stand in for Odysseus and Molly is Penelope. Stephen Dedalus represents Telemachus and reprises his role from "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man" as the alter ego of Joyce.

The 1994 audio version of "Ulysses" narrated by Irish stage and screen star Jim Norton is a popular and enjoyable experience. Be prepared, however; the audio version of "Ulysses" contains 22 CDs.

Answer: Steve Jobs

Walter Isaacson spent two years interviewing Steven Jobs and was given unlimited access to Jobs' family and business contacts to create the 2011 biography. The result was a nuanced portrait of a complicated and passionate man and an international best-seller. Steve Jobs, along with his high school friend Steve Wozniak, created the original Apple computer and formed Apple, Inc. Under Jobs' leadership, Apple grew from a start up in his parents California garage to a global icon. Jobs was also the founder of Pixar, Inc., the groundbreaking computer-generated animation giant. Jobs died in October 2011 and the publication of his authorized biography during the same month served as a fitting epitaph to cap his brilliant career.

Walter Isaacson was handpicked by Steve Jobs to write his biography. Previously, Isaacson had been the managing editor of "Time Magazine", CEO of CNN and author of well-respected biographies of Henry Kissinger, Einstein and Benjamin Franklin. A popular audio book version of "Steve Jobs" is narrated by actor Dylan Baker. Baker is perhaps best known for his recurring portrayal of Colin Sweeney on American television's "The Good Wife".

Answer: The Holy Bible (Old and New Testament)

It is estimated that various versions of "The Holy Bible" have been reproduced over six billion times. When sound recording was invented in the late 19th Century, amongst the earliest records were passages (and later complete versions) of "The Bible". In 1931 under the Pratt-Smoot Act, the American Foundation for the Blind and the Library of Congress were allocated $100,000 and exemption from copyright laws to produce audio recordings for use by the vision impaired. One of the first offerings from the Talking Books Program released in 1934 was "The Holy Bible".

A remarkable audio book version of the combined "Old and New Testament" is the 79 CDs that comprise the "Inspired By... The Bible Experience". This audio experience features the voices of 400 African-American artists including Cuba Gooding Jr. as Jonah, Forest Whitaker as Noah and Angela Basset as Esther.

Answer: 14

The "Harry Potter" series has seven books. Thus, a round trip would require fourteen crossings across the Mississippi River. There were eight Potter movies because the final book "Harry Potter and the Deadly Hallows" was so large it was split into two parts. It is estimated that combined the Potter books have sold over 450 million copies.

To listen to the entire Harry Potter series will require completing 99 CDs. The unabridged and official audio book series is voiced in a US release by acclaimed voice talent Jim Dale and in the UK by the equally amazing Stephen Fry. In the Dale version the versatile actor creates different voices for over 130 characters.

Answer: The One Minute Manager

Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson created a management revolution with the publication of their 1981 guide to managing people and problems "The One Minute Manager". The book is told in parable form and has a simple premise that a good manager learns to set goals for employees, masters simple praising and short reprimands. Like any good series Dr. Blanchard went on to publish numerous books with the "one minute" theme. A personal favorite of mine is the "One Minute Manager Meets the Monkey", which sound like it should be a mash-up with "Curious George" but is not.

Unfortunately, while short, you cannot listen to the entire "One Minute Manager" audio book in a minute. A popular version of the book is one hour and fifty minutes long and features the narration of award winning voice actor Eric Conger.

Answer: Catch-22

"Catch-22" is black humor at its finest, a tale of the absurdity of war and the lengths soldier have to go to preserve their sanity. The titular Catch-22 is a made up rule of military justice that justifies anything the military does. The novel's theme of questioning authority and the motives behind military action presages the anti-war movement and increasing distrust of government that characterized the later 1960s. Interestingly, Joseph Heller wanted to name the book Catch-18 but his publisher was concerned that the title would be confused with "Mila 18" by Leon Uris that was published around the same time.

There are several fantastic audio book versions of "Catch-22" to choose from. A 1994 version is read by Alan Arkin. Arkin starred as John Yossarian in the 1970 movie version of the book. A 2007 audio book features character actor Jay O Sanders. Sanders has appeared in dozens of movies and television programs including a fine turn as the troubled preacher Billy Tuttle in HBO's sensational first season of "True Detective".

Answer: Charlotte's Web

"Charlotte's Web" is the beautifully written story of a young pig whose life is saved by a PR campaign organized by a motherly and worldly spider named Charlotte. The tale has been a beloved classic since author E.B. White published the story in 1952. Early in his career White was a writer for "The New Yorker Magazine". On a whim in 1945, White published his first children's novel, "Stuart Little". "Charlotte's Web" grew out of short story White wrote in 1949 called "Death of a Pig" that dealt with the author's emotions at not being able to save the life of a sick animal. Many people (outside of FT editors of course) do not recognize that EB White was also the editor of the influential 1959 book on English grammar, "The Elements of Style".

For me, the best audio version of "Charlotte's Web" is a recording from 1967 that was reissued in 2002 to mark the 50th anniversary of the book's publication. The clean and simple reading is done by author E.B. White shows the great affection and emotional connection he has for his characters.

Answer: Lolita

Some audio books are probably best listened to when you are alone. In "Lolita", Humbert Humbert is a literature professor recently released from a mental institution, who has always been attracted to prepubescent girls. He rents a room from Charlotte Haze and becomes obsessed with Charlotte's twelve year old daughter Dolores (whom he calls Lolita). There ensues a complicated and unhappy series of events that center either on Humbert's molestation of Dolores or clever sexual manipulation by Dolores. Nabokov's stunning prose and clever cultural satire made "Lolita" a critical and commercial success. The novel has been included in numerous lists of the greatest books written in the 20th Century and made the term "Lolita" a part of the English lexicon to describe a sexually advanced young girl.

For many, Humbert Humbert requires a voice with an English accent. The book has been filmed twice for major motion pictures both times with British actors as the lead. A 1962 Stanley Kubrick directed offering starred James Mason and Sue Lyons (herself only 15 when the movie filmed). A 1997 remake starred Jeremy Irons and 16 year old Dominique Swain. While the 1997 movie fared poorly at the box office, Iron's emotive voice is wonderful in the highly popular audio book version.