The Listening Books Podcast

Emily Woo Zeller is an American voice actress and audiobook narrator whose work has earned heaps of awards, including AudioFile’s prestigious Golden Voice Award. You may have heard her reading fantasy books like R.F. Kuang’s Poppy War series, romance novels like Helen Hoang’s The Bride Test, or perhaps a spy thriller like Chloe Gong’s Foul Lady Fortune. Today she tells us what she appreciates about those books, and a little of what she’s learned about creating a well-balanced life.

Other books mentioned:

Phoenix Extravagant, by Yoon Ha Lee

The Stress Prescription: Seven Days to More Joy and Ease, by Elissa Epel

The Telomere Effect: A Revolutionary Approach to Living Younger, Healthier, Longer; by Elizabeth Blackburn, Elissa Epel

Links!

Emilly Woo Zeller and Gabra Zackman’s short-form romance and erotica: https://www.lovebytesoriginals.com/

AudioFile interview: https://www.audiofilemagazine.com/articles/interview-with-golden-voice-narrator-emily-woo-zeller/

Give the gift of audio this Christmas with a Listening Books gift membership: https://www.listening-books.org.uk/gift-membership

Members' Choice Award

To vote for your favourite audiobook to win the Members Choice Award, visit https://www.listening-books.org.uk/extra/members-choice-award

We’d love to hear from you!

If you're enjoying this podcast, leaving a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen, can help others find us (and makes us feel good, too).

You can also give us a shout on Twitter or Instagram: @ListeningBooks

Or find us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ListeningBooks12

We also have more content on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@ListeningBooks

Who Are We?

The Listening Books Podcast is hosted by audio producer Jessica Stone and is a production of Listening Books, a UK charity that provides an audiobook lending service for over 120,000 members who find that an illness, mental health, physical or learning disability affects their ability to read the printed word or hold a book. It’s simple to join. Visit https://www.listening-books.org.uk for more information. To purchase a gift membership, go directly to https://www.listening-books.org.uk/gift-membership

'It's all just for a Guardian mug.'

What happens when judges overturn a popular vote? The Guardian's Sam Jordison, organiser of the long-running Not the Booker Prize, chats with Jessica about the nature of literary awards, and the sometimes tense conversations that arise about what's fair and what's worthy.

Listening Books is an audiobook charity for anyone who struggles to read or hold a book due to illness, disability, learning difficulty or a mental health issue. To find out more about what we do, go to www.listening-books.org.uk

Polly Lee is an award winning actress and narrator of over 200 fiction and non-fiction books. She has also narrated over 200 romance novels under the name Ashford McNab/MacNab. Raised in the UK, she has lived in the US now for 25 years working equally in both her British and American dialects. Today she tells us about some of the books that have stayed with her, including Soman Chainani’s School for Good and Evil series, and the voices she would have done differently if she’d known how the series would play out.

Other books mentioned:

A Place to Hang the Moon, by Kate Albus Better Late than Never: Understand, survive and thrive a midlife diagnosis of ADHD, by Emma Mahony and Sari Solden

Members' Choice Award

To vote for your favourite audiobook to win the Members Choice Award, visit https://www.listening-books.org.uk/extra/members-choice-award

We’d love to hear from you!

If you're enjoying this podcast, leaving a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen, can help others find us (and makes us feel good, too).

You can also give us a shout on X (formerly Twitter) or Instagram: @ListeningBooks

Or find us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ListeningBooks12

We also have more content on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@ListeningBooks

Who Are We?

The Listening Books Podcast is hosted by audio producer Jessica Stone and is a production of Listening Books, a UK charity that provides an audiobook lending service for over 120,000 members who find that an illness, mental health, physical or learning disability affects their ability to read the printed word or hold a book. It’s simple to join. Visit https://www.listening-books.org.uk for more information. To purchase a gift membership, go directly to https://www.listening-books.org.uk/gift-membership

Stephanie Cannon is an American voice actor, circus performer, and audiobook narrator living in England. In this conversation with host Jessica Stone, she tells us what that’s like, how walking on stilts complements reading in a box, which kinds of books she loves to narrate, and conversely which ones she'll take a pass on. We also discuss Kate Dylan’s cyberpunk dystopian novel Mindwalker and its sequel Mindbreaker, both narrated by Stephanie.

Books and other recommendations:

• The Sharp Edge of Silence, by Cameron Kelly Rosenblum, narrated by Stephanie Cannon
• Mindwalker, by Kate Dylan, narrated by Stephanie Cannon
• Mindbreaker, by Kate Dylan, narrated by Stephanie Cannon
• Noir, by Christopher Moore, narrated by Johnny Heller
• Heidi’s Guide to Four Letter Words, by Tara Sivec and Andy Arndt, narrated by Andy Arndt
• The Space Race, docudrama from B7 Media, narrated by Kate Mulgrew

Links!

For more of Stephanie’s work, head to her website www.sparkthecannon.com

To vote for your favourite audiobook to win the Members Choice Award, visit https://www.listening-books.org.uk/extra/members-choice-award

Give the gift of audio this Christmas with a Listening Books gift membership: https://www.listening-books.org.uk/gift-membership

We’d love to hear from you!

If you're enjoying this podcast, leaving a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen, can help others find us (and makes us feel good, too).

You can also give us a shout on Twitter or Instagram: @ListeningBooks

Or find us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ListeningBooks12

We also have more content on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@ListeningBooks

Who Are We?

The Listening Books Podcast is hosted by audio producer Jessica Stone and is a production of Listening Books, a UK charity that provides an audiobook lending service for over 120,000 members who find that an illness, mental health, physical or learning disability affects their ability to read the printed word or hold a book. It’s simple to join. Visit https://www.listening-books.org.uk for more information. To purchase a gift membership, go directly to https://www.listening-books.org.uk/gift-membership

'Come on, Charles, get a grip.'

Comedian, writer and avid reader Mark Evans sat down in the Listening Books studios with Jessica Stone to talk about his BBC Radio 4 smash hit comedy, Bleak Expectations and his relationship with the works of Charles Dickens.

Listening Books is an audiobook charity for anyone who struggles to read or hold a book due to illness, disability, learning difficulty or a mental health issue. To find out more about what we do, go to www.listening-books.org.uk