Simon & Schuster Audio, approximately 1 hour, $12. Narrated by Charles Kuralt.
The late CBS journalist shepherds listeners on a pleasant journey through the United States, taking in occasions such as Memorial Day at Gettysburg and Midsummer’s Day in Scandia, Minn., where residents dance on the grounds of a Lutheran parsonage and talk of trolls rumored to visit them on this magical day.
THE VANISHING AMERICAN JEW
By Alan M. Dershowitz, Time Warner AudioBooks, approximately 3 hours, abridged, $17. Narrated by the author.
Touching on assimilation and historical persecution, Harvard law professor and author Alan M. Dershowitz suggests a new “eclectic, tolerant” identity for American Jews.
STONES FROM THE RIVER
By Ursula Hegi, Simon & Schuster Audio, approximately 4 1/2 hours, abridged, $23. Narrated by Ursula Hegi.
Read in Hegi’s German-accented voice, which occasionally slips into monotone, this novel chosen by Oprah’s book club chronicles the life of Trudi, a dwarf who ends up harboring Jews in her cellar during World War II.
HELP YOUR SELF
THE WHEEL OF LIFE: A MEMOIR OF LIVING AND DYING
By Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, Simon & Schuster Audio, approximately 3 hours, abridged, $18. Narrated by Ellen Burstyn.
Reflections by the world-renowned expert on death, who says in the introduction, “The only incontrovertible fact of my work is the importance of life.”
SIMPLE ABUNDANCE: LIVING BY YOUR OWN LIGHTS
By Sarah Ban Breathnach, Time Warner AudioBooks, approximately 3 hours, abridged, $17. Narrated by the author.
Against a background of soft piano music, the founder of the nonprofit Simple Abundance Charitable Trust urges listeners to “find a quiet center in which to create and sustain an authentic life.”
ATOP THE STAIRMASTER
AZTEC AUTUMN
By Gary Jennings, Dove Audio, approximately 6 hours, abridged, $25. Narrated by David Dukes.
A generation after the 16th Century Spanish Conquest, a clever young Aztec plots against his people’s conquerors in this dense historical novel.
