In the tradition of superb audio recordings of Southern coming-of-age novels comes WHERE I’D LIKE TO BE--about 11-year old orphan Maddie, who journeys from a lost soul to a girl with a family and a true sense of self. Delivering the first-person narration, Denise Wilbanks reveals Maddie’s spirit, both staunchly secure, thanks to the unconditional love of her adopted Granny Lane, and deeply sad and insightful after years confinement in the East Tennessee Children’s Home. The quirky cast of foster care and orphan children she draws around her comes alive in Wilbanks’s reading. As the children create a series of scrapbooks about family and home, Maddie and her friends learn the true secret of family that Granny Lane knew so well: “Some people just feel like home.”
Ages 10+Pub Date: Jan. 22, 2003
Duration: 4 hrs
Publisher: Listening Library
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Reader Michael Prichard delivers a convincing rendition of Archie Goodwin, the burly right hand of the portly Nero Wolfe, world-renowned gourmand and detective. Prichard preserves the 1970s setting and 1950s origins of the story, bringing listeners a well-paced narration of murder and politics--a combination of elements that usually guarantees an exciting listen. This audio entertainment is as well formed and fragrant as one of Wolfe's hothouse orchids (the stout sleuth cultivates them by the hundreds in his town house greenhouse) as Goodwin walks us through an explosive murder investigation and political wheeling and dealing in a tough yet intelligent read.
Pub Date: Jan. 15, 2006
Duration: 5 hrs, 30 mins
Publisher: Audio Partners
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
This collection of eight short stories contains gentle tales of fantasy and magic--not the magic of wizards and wands, but of wishing mats and enormous cats and gifts brought by the winds. In a lovely English accent, Lizza Aiken quietly narrates these stories in which magic and good fortune often come to those who deserve it. Although her pitch changes little, she registers a range of emotions--from the sadness of a girl whose necklace of raindrops has been stolen to the joy of a child who moves from a hard life and a ramshackle trailer to a happy home amid the clouds. A NECKLACE OF RAINDROPS would make a soothing choice for a family car trip after a long day.
Ages 6+Pub Date: Jan. 5, 2016
Duration: 1 hr, 45 mins
DD ISBN: 9781101915721
Publisher: Listening Library
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
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