MEMOIR
The Dirty Life
2012 Audie Finalist
Kristin Kimball
Read by Tavia Gilbert
“Kristen Kimball makes it clear that a family farm, especially an unsubsidized organic one in a northern climate, is unending hard work. And yet, this is a love story—a double romance of Kimball meeting her husband, Mark, and learning to be a farmer. Tavia Gilbert’s performance raises the memoir a notch. She translates Kimball’s wonder at the path of her life, which took her from Manhattan, where she was a journalist with designer clothes and a disdain for physical work, to upstate New York, where she embraced the life of a farmer, wife, cook, and horse driver—a meaningful life with muscles. In addition, Gilbert’s enthusiastic delivery, impeccable timing, and lovely voice make the author completely relatable even though you will have no interest in becoming a small farmer when you’ve finished listening—although you may want a small garden. AudioFile 2011
Available Here on Audible.com
The Middle Place
2009 Audie Finalist
Library Journal Top 10 Non-Fiction Audiobook of 2008
Kelly Corrigan
Read by Tavia Gilbert
“Alternating between childhood reminiscences and present-day events, this engaging memoir of growing up in a small town evokes an OUR TOWN sensibility, which will leave listeners amused, sympathetic, and occasionally teary. When Kelly, a young mother of two small children, and her beloved, larger-than-life father are simultaneously diagnosed with cancer, listeners will quickly become involved with the events that follow. Tavia Gilbert's performance fully captures Corrigan's youthful exuberance, shock, and evolving maturity as she contends with doctors, chemotherapy, and the fear of leaving her children motherless and losing her father. Her father's boisterous energy and expansive can-do personality are also brought vividly to life. This performance will especially resonate with anyone who has ever experienced the ups and downs of a cancer diagnosis.
AudioFile 2008
Tavia Gilbert impressively voices the male and female characters of Corrigan's ‘heart-wrenching and humorous’ breast cancer memoir. Library Journal
This is Corrigan's heart-wrenching and humorous memoir of her struggle with breast cancer. The chapters alternate between detailed descriptions of her chemo and radiation treatments and her happy childhood growing up in a large, loving Irish family. The text is well written and poignantly read by Tavia Gilbert, whose narration brings out the personalities and feelings of the main characters: Corrigan's ebullient father, her worried mother, her loving husband, and her supportive brothers. Library Journal
Available Here on Audible.com
AN AMERICAN CHILDHOOD
Annie Dillard
Read by Tavia Gilbert
Annie Dillard’s memoir provides a detailed look at her somewhat privileged childhood in Pittsburgh in the 1950s. She has an amazing ability to remember even minute details of her early years as she seamlessly weaves Pittsburgh’s history into her own. Tavia Gilbert delivers the poetic words with all the meaning and emotion that Dillard invested in them. It would be easy for a narrator to lull the listener to sleep with the microscopic details of the memoir, but Gilbert’s portrayal of a quiet yet vital life captures the listener’s attention. Listeners will hear Dillard’s respect for life, nature, and family clearly in Gilbert’s careful delivery. AudioFile 2011
Available Here on Audible.com
THE WRITING LIFE
Annie Dillard
Read by Tavia Gilbert
Pulitzer Prize-winning author Annie Dillard (PILGRIM AT TINKER CREEK and AN AMERICAN CHILDHOOD) whimsically explores the process of writing, delving fearlessly into the subconscious and offering practical wisdom. Tavia Gilbert delivers Dillard's poetic treatise, giving an exclamatory tone to the author’s observations as well as the quotes from other writers. Gilbert imparts Dillard’s examination of the creative process and the heights and depths of an author's daily struggle with words in a way that exalts. Dillard's wry prose is conveyed as a daisy chain of metaphors and quotes that reveal one writer's techniques for coping with anxiety and producing consistently. The work doesn’t present as a cohesive whole, but Gilbert's conversational style and honest fervor make the best of it. AudioFile 2011
Available Here on Audible.com
FIRST THEY KILLED MY FATHER
Loung Ung
Read by Tavia Gilbert
“Loung Ung was 5 years old in 1975, when the Khmer Rouge marched into Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The next four years were a desperate struggle to survive starvation, labor camps, and the loss of both parents. Ung relates her experience in the present tense, and Tavia Gilbert takes us on that journey with a superb performance that includes a myriad of emotions—from audible crying to fear and anger. This is a human story that takes place within the genocidal context of two million deaths, and it illustrates both the sheer brutality of mankind and the individual will to survive. Gilbert may be an unusual choice for narrating the memoir of a Cambodian. She cannot deliver a Khmer voice, but she certainly captures the emotional experience. AudioFile 2011
Available Here on Audible.com
LOUISA MAY ALCOTT:
The Life of a Beloved Author and Storyteller
Susan Cheever
Read by Tavia Gilbert
This audiobook clearly has two minds: one is focused on a biography of the author of LITTLE WOMEN and other American classics, and the other connects Cheever’s feelings and reactions to Alcott’s writing. The effect is a distinctly personal book full of digressions and literary analysis. These might distract listeners who are looking for a straightforward biography but will gratify those who want a point of view to argue with. Narrator Tavia Gilbert has a bright, cheery voice that is full of expression and enthusiasm. She seems intent on keeping listener interest by varying her pitch, tone, and pacing, and the result is refreshing. Gilbert does not employ any character voices but successfully interprets Cheever’s theories and personal asides. AudioFile 2011
Available Here on Audible.com
Madness: A Bipolar Life
Marya Hornbacher
Read by Tavia Gilbert
One of the most dramatic clues to a new cycle of the highs and lows of bipolar disorder is the shift in the pace of the sufferer's internal dialogue, which soon leads to erratic behavior and actions. Narrator Tavia Gilbert uses this shift in pace to construct a framework for her narration of this memoir. It’s a powerful technique for personalizing the experiences of Hornbacher, and the people whose lives are profoundly affected by her illness: rapid-cycling bipolar disorder, the worst form of the condition. During each cycle Gilbert's initial shifts in pace begin subtly and then intensify as the cycle progresses and ultimately ends, only to begin again. Through this technique, she effectively foreshadows changes, heightens the impact of Hornbacher's brutal honesty and self-revelation, and provides a glimpse of the dramatic mood shifts characteristic of this disorder. AudioFile 2008
Available Here on Audible.com
Saving Sammy: Curing the Boy Who Caught OCD
Beth Alison Maloney
Read by Tavia Gilbert
“At 12, Maloney’s son Sammy won math awards but exhibited bizarre symptoms. The newly divorced mother’s concerns grew as Sammy started hopping and spinning instead of walking and repeatedly resorted to uncontrollable headbanging. His disintegration, diagnosed without any thought about causation as sudden onset obsessive-compulsive disorder, included verbal tics, hours-long crying jags, and sporadic refusals to eat. Linking infection to “mental” illness, as strep antibodies are linked to the neurological Tourette’s syndrome, has been rejected by many doctors since the rise of psychoanalysis, but Maloney insisted Sammy be tested for strep titers when he became unable to attend school and to walk. He was diagnosed with pediatric neuropsychiatric disorders associated with streptococcal infections, caused by strep antibodies attacking the basal ganglia controlling behavior. Antibiotics ended two torturous years for the family, and Sammy’s regains came as rapidly as the symptoms had overtaken him. This stirring account of a mother’s determination and a boy’s astonishing bravery makes you want to stand up and cheer.” -Whitney Scott [Booklist ONLINE]
“Maloney's debut chronicles her son, Sammy, and the illness that, almost overnight, transformed him from a sunny, bright boy (described by one teacher as ""the purest math mind the school had ever seen"") into an antisocial stranger ""so dominated by obsessions, compulsions, and rules that daily life becomes impossible."" Sammy's descent into mental illness was diagnosed as severe Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Tourette's and a number of other ailments, all promising a lifetime of disability; it wasn't until a family acquaintance, whose son exhibited the same symptoms for 10 years, urged Maloney to have Sammy tested for Strep that they learned his condition was treatable. Describing herself as ""part courtroom lawyer and part detective,"" attorney Maloney perseveres with ferocity and sharp storytelling instincts, making this medical mystery-meant to inform families dealing with mental illness-a tear-wrenching crowd-pleaser.” Publisher’s Weekly
Available Here on Audible.com
CONTEMPORARY FICTION
THE ADULTS
Library Journal Top 10 Fiction for 2011
Booklist Editor’s Choice Top Adult Audiobooks of 2011
Booklist starred review
Alison Espach
Read by Tavia Gilbert
“The title of this novel hints at the ironic humor that characterizes its unconventional coming-of-age story. At the age of 14, Emily realizes that the dysfunctional people in her family and upscale suburban community are not credible adults. It’s clear that she will have to grow into maturity on her own. Narrator Tavia Gilbert deftly captures Emily's vulnerability, confusion, and wry analysis as she encounters people and experiences that make her journey unique. Gilbert's unaffected presentation avoids sensationalizing Emily's rough language or the occasional description of a sexual encounter. Subtle shifts of tone are all Gilbert needs to give Emily a convincing voice through her ten-year journey of transformation from troubled adolescent to her own version of successful adult.” AudioFile 2011
“Espach’s coming-of-age debut novel examines what it means to be an adult. Fourteen-year-old Emily Marie Vidal’s life begins veering off the predictable course of privileged life in a wealthy Connecticut town at her father’s fiftieth birthday party. During the festivities on the grounds of their sprawling home, Emily spots her father kissing next-door-neighbor Mrs. Resnick, the mother of Emily’s friend Matt. Soon Emily’s parents announce they are divorcing, Mrs. Resnick announces her pregnancy, and Mr. Resnick hangs himself in his yard as helpless Emily looks on. Emily enters into a 10-year, on-again, off-again affair with her English teacher. Although this may sound like the makings of a lightweight romance, Espach manages to create something grander, a novel full of wit, emotion, and sensitivity, resulting in an engaging roller coaster of a listening experience. Gilbert is pitch-perfect in her delivery of the cast of likable—and unlikable—characters, including snarky teens and dramatic adults. She comes up with a multitude of distinct voices—ranging from toddler tones and teenspeak inflections to supercilious adults. The characters are memorable and totally fleshed out by Gilbert in this wry story, which follows Emily to adulthood. Pacing is dependent on the characters’ emotional responses: weariness, anger, surprise, morosity, passion. This thoroughly engaging production propels listeners to a satisfying, if not thought-provoking, conclusion.” Booklist
“Our audio reviewer asserted that “Audie Award nominee Tavia Gilbert’s narration adds candid poignancy to the story” about a teenage girl’s coming-of-age among adults behaving badly in mid-1990s suburban Connecticut. This is a novel that begs to be heard—literally—and is the perfect example of a top-flight narrator enhancing a story beyond the original print. “ (Library Journal 2011)
Available Here on Audible.com
BRIDGE TO A DISTANT STAR
Carolyn Williford
Read by Tavia Gilbert
“This fictionalized narrative of the actual 1980s Sunshine Skyway Bridge collapse opens with stormy sound effects and vivid action before continuing with stories of those caught in the tragic event. Tavia Gilbert delivers an accomplished portrayal of three separate families, including their problems and what brought them to cross the bridge span. Characters run the gamut from a mother and 5-year-old daughter to parents anticipating a weekend getaway after months at their amputee son’s bedside and a young woman caught in an emotional betrayal. Gilbert's excellent performance renders diverse characters with a spectrum of accents and emotions that range from joy to stark terror as vehicles drop like out-of-control elevators in Tampa Bay waters. Gilbert’s narration's is compelling and worth hearing.” AudioFile 2012
Available Here on Audible.com
Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen
Susan Gregg Gilmore
Read by Tavia Gilbert
Catherine Grace Cline’s mother drowned when she was 6. Since then, Catherine Grace has been impatiently waiting for her 18th birthday, when she can say good-bye to her sister, Martha Ann, her Baptist preacher daddy, and the small, boring town of Ringgold, Georgia. Narrator Tavia Gilbert brings Catherine Grace to life, filling her voice with the all frustration, sorrow, boredom, and longing of a young woman who is determined to find her life anywhere but at home. Gilbert’s narration actually makes the story better than it is. As the author tries to work in every cliché of Southern fiction, the characters remain flat and the plot overworked, and the listener is left wondering where it all went wrong. AudioFile 2012
“In Gilmore’s novel, set in Ringgold, Ga., in the early 1970s, preacher’s daughter Catherine Grace Cline longs to escape smalltown life and move to Atlanta. With a little help from a friend, she does just that—only to be called back home because of a family emergency. Back in Ringgold, Catherine Grace is forced to examine her life and her changing town—and determine just where she wants to call home. Narrator Tavia Gilbert delivers a winning performance in this audio edition. She ably captures the spirit of the text and its stubborn but smart protagonist. Gilbert’s chirpy narration is well paced and conversational, infused with a Southern drawl. Listeners looking for a Southern-fried coming-of-age tale about love and loss and family will not be disappointed. A Broadway paperback.” (Jan.) – Publisher’s Weekly
Available Here on Audible.com