Audiobook Café
Episodes
Canada Reads 2025 & How Stories Shape our Sense of Home
21 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Karoline Bourdeau has never missed a year of the Canada Reads debates. She breaks down this year’s shortlisted top five books, focusing on the ...
The Mob Mentality of Reading: Is it Good Because It’s Popular?
19 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Fifty Shades of Grey and the Twilight saga—are they loved because they’re great, or just because they’re everywhere? Jacob Shymanski and There...
Logic Gaps, Slow Burns, and Broken Worlds
14 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Are you frustrated when authors can’t justify their own logic in the worlds they’ve built? Jacob and Ramya discuss some of the biggest logic gaps ...
Reviewing The God of the Woods by Liz Moore: A Deep Dive into Mystery and Family Secrets
12 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Sara Hillis and Jacob Shymanski review The God of the Woods by Liz Moore, a slow-burn story weaving together a rich tapestry of characters, over a dec...
Cats in Literature: Review of We’ll Prescribe You a Cat by Syou Ishida
10 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Danielle McLaughlin reviews We'll Prescribe You a Cat by Syou Ishida, a unique narrative of a transient clinic offering cats as solutions to personal ...
Reviews of Avenue of Champions by Connor Kerr & Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey: Stories with Lessons
07 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Métis history, generational pain, and the lies of reconciliation—Avenue of Champions doesn’t hold back. Jacob breaks down Connor Kerr’s powerfu...
Behind the Microphone of an Audiobook Narrator: Get to Know Simon Mattacks
05 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Audiobook narration: is it pure performance or a faithful reading of the text? We get into it with Simon Mattacks, a narrator who’s voiced more than...
Book Bans, Free Speech, and The Potential Power of Literature
31 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Book bans are back in the spotlight after The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill was pulled from the London, Ontario Catholic School Board. The novel, w...
Exploring the Comedy of Corporate Horror: Review of I Hope This Finds You Well by Natalie Sue
28 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What happens when Joline, a complicated character with a penchant for self-destruction, gains access to everyone's emails at work? From the presentati...
Grief, Love, and Acceptance: Review of What I Know About You by Éric Chacour
24 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We examine Éric Chacour’s What I Know About You, a powerful Canadian LGBTQ+ novel originally published in French, set in late 20th-century Egypt. T...
Rapid Fire Review with Memoir Addict Andy Frank
21 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We welcome back Andy Frank, Manager of AMI-audio, for a deeper than usual Rapid Fire Review. Andy shares five intriguing memoirs and biographies, and ...
Reviewing The Women by Kristin Hannah: Untold Stories of Vietnam
17 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We uncover the untold stories of Vietnam with Kristin Hannah's The Women. Sara Hillis shares perspectives on the novel’s intricate look at female fr...
Rapid Fire Review with Katherine Vatcher
14 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We welcome back a friend of AMI who lets us in on her latest reads. She joins us for Rapid Fire Review: Kathrine VatcherBooks discussed in this episod...
Author Interview: Double Take by Kathryn Cole
10 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We dive into Kathryn Cole’s life in authoring, illustrating, editing, and much more of her fascinating career in Canadian Lliterature. Kathryn has a...
Literature for Swimmers with Danielle McLaughlin
07 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Danielle McLaughlin lets us in on her love for swimming, and ties the hobby right back in with her love for literature. With books like Swell: A Water...
A Book Look at 2025 with Karoline Bourdeau
03 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Karoline Bourdeau introduces us to BetaBooks, a platform where authors open up their writing for crowd-sourced consultation. Plus, we ponder about our...
Your Top Reads of 2024
24 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Here’s our Year in Reading, one-hour special episode, featuring your top lit picks of 2024. From page-turning thrillers to memorable memoirs, and ev...
Review: Three Holidays and a Wedding by Uzma Jalaluddin and Marissa Stapley
23 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
An emergency landing during a flight to Toronto has a group of strangers, including an entire bridal party, snowbound at the quirky Snow Falls Inn in ...
Rapid Fire Review with Karen Magee
20 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Karen Magee steps right into the rabbit hole if she enjoyed the first book an author wrote. She also can’t remember the last time she didn’t finis...
Author Interview: I Don't Do Disability and Other Lies I've Told Myself by Adelle Purdham
17 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In a society where people with disabilities remain largely invisible, what does it mean to parent a child born With Down syndrome? Adelle Purdham bega...
Review: Patriot By Alexei Navalny
13 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Alexei Navalny’s Patriot is an unpolished memoir, mostly written from prison, chronicling his fight against corruption in Russia through his deeply ...
Top Books of 2024 with Karen McKay and Theresa Power
10 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Do book lists even matter? Karen McKay and Theresa Power from the Centre for Equitable Library Access to chat about the year’s hottest book lists. W...
Read and Tell
06 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Jacob Shymanski and Ramya Amuthan defend their beloved picks on Read and Tell. Today’s prompts are: "The best recommendation I’ve gotten in a whil...
Rapid Fire Review with Danielle McLaughlin
02 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
We’re inviting a brand new contributor on the show – though she is an old friend and known voice on the network, Danielle McLaughlin. Let’s give...
Review: The Maid by Nita Prose
29 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Aamer Khan, Jacob Shymanski, and Ramya Amuthan review “The Maid” by Nita Prose. A 2022 New York Times Best Seller, it sold over 2 million copies,...
Author Interview: From Potential to Purpose by Marco Pasqua
26 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
“You’re only as good as the last person who remembers you.” This is the first line in Potential to Purpose by Marco Pasqua. Marco is an award-wi...
Cozy Reading with Karen McKay
22 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
As the days get cold and dark, we settle in and hibernate with our books, maybe revisiting old favourites. But what draws us back to books we’ve alr...
Why do we relate to Fictional Characters?
18 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Literary characters make for good friends, great enemies, andrealistic mirrors of who we are. Sometimes, we use them to imagine our lives in different...
Author Interview: Don’t Snooze Your Dreams: Lessons From Life With Narcolepsy by Michelle Weger
15 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Living with narcolepsy and cataplexy, Michelle Weger (rhymes with eager) has turned her toughest experiences into fuel to power her success. Don't Sn...
Question: Can you stand listening to synthetically narrated audiobooks?
12 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Well… Can you? Some of us are not picking up a book if it’s labelled as anything other than human-narrated. With AI in the mix, others of us can’...
Review: The Wonder of Stevie, Audible Original
08 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Jacob Shymanski thought he was Stevie Wonder’s Number 1 fan, until he heard Barack and Michelle Obama’s relationship started with bonding over the...
Part 2: How to be a resourceful audiobook listener
05 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Do ratings and reviews make an impact on what book we pick up next? Is mandatory reading during school prepping us to enjoy reading as adults? Where d...
How to be a Resourceful Audiobook Listener
28 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
There are numerous online resources that audiobook listeners can use for recommendations, reviews, summaries' discussions, etc. Ramya Amuthan is here...
Non-fiction vs. Fiction with Karen and Theresa from CELA
25 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Our friends at the Centre of Equitable Library Access, Karen McKay and Theresa Power join us to talk about why people may be fiction adverse, and pref...
Reviewing: Reuniting with Strangers by Jennilee Austria-Bonifacio
21 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Our very own Ramya Amuthan and our regular contributor, Aamer Khan join us for an Audiobook review. Today we review, Reuniting with Strangers: A Novel...
Steve "Dangle" Glynn's new book Hockey Rants and Raves
16 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Steve “Dangle” Glynn is a hockey analyst, broadcaster, author and the host of the popular Steve Dangle Podcast. He has a Youtube channel where he ...
Advocate, Author, and Communications Specialist Emily Ladau
09 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Emily Ladau is a passionate disability rights activist, writer, storyteller, and digital communications consultant. She was born with Larsen Syndrome,...
Rapid Fire Review with Ramya Amuthan
07 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Ramya Amuthan is back! She joins us for a Rapid Fire Review today! Ramya’s RFR Picks: 1. Big Dating Energy by Jeff Guenther and Kate Happ 2. Tuesday...
Fall 2024 AI Narration Update
03 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Today we chat with our regular contributor, Sara Hillis about updates on AI Narrated Audiobooks. Audiobook Café is broadcast on AMI-audio in Canada a...
Cars, Politics and Book Recommendations
03 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Our guest is an avid Audiobook listener. Jeffrey Rainey is back with another edition of Rapid Fire Review. Here are Jeffrey Rainey’s book recommen...
Reviewing The Mars Room by Rachel Kushner with Aamer Khan
23 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Joining us today is our audiobook contributor and bookworm, Aamer Khan. Aamer and Jacob will be reviewing The Mars Room By Rachel Kushner The book was...
Why Highschool English Class Sucks with Ryan Hooey
18 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan Hooey is an avid audiobook listener, who also is a regular contributor on Kelly and Ramya on his featured segments called The Chatty Bookshelf.He...
Premee Mohamed, author of The Annual Migration of Clouds
16 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Premee Mohamed is a Nebula award-winning Indo-Caribbean scientist and speculative fiction author based in Edmonton, Alberta. She is an Assistant Edito...
Danielle Bouthillier's debut novel Hero
11 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Danielle Bouthillier is a laboratory technician, digital artist, and a science fiction writer. Her debut novel, Hero, work started in 2012 and went th...
PAL-Reading Services with Susan Loube
09 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this edition of AMI Audiobook Review, we speak with Susan Loube, a Director of PAL-Reading Services.Their mission is to provide, upon request, free...
Guilty Pleasures & "Rebel Girl" by Kathleen Hanna with Ryan Delehanty
04 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
AMI Podcast Coordinator Ryan Delehanty joins us to discuss guilty pleasures, share his Rapid Fire Reviews and discuss the autobiography “Rebel Girl”...
Reviewing "Horror Movie" by Paul Tremblay with Sarah Hillis
03 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Audiobook contributor Sarah Hillis joins us to review the novel Horror Movie by Paul Tremblay. Find out why it's one of Jacob Shymanski's favourite li...
Rapid Fire Review with Jeffrey Rainey
28 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Jeffrey Rainey is an avid Audiobook listener and he will be joining us for a Rapid Fire Review. Today’s theme for RFR is Baseball book titles! Menti...
Book Club Roundtable with Aamer Khan and Nisreen Abdel-Majid
26 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
On today's Audiobook Review, we’re having a Book Club roundtable. Joining our conversation is our audiobook contributor and bookworm, Aamer Khan. ...
Interview with Red Széll, Author & Host of "My Life in Books"
21 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Audiobook contributor and host of “My Life in Books” Red Széll returns to the show to reflect on his experiences as an author and share his persp...
Profile of Karin Slaughter, Author of the Popular “Will Trent” Series
19 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Audiobook contributor Aamer Khan joins us for a dive into the career of Karin Slaughter, a suspense thriller author famous for “The Will Trent” Se...
Rapid Fire Review of Canadian History Books with Greg David
16 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Greg David is our Communications Specialist at AMI, and an avid audiobook listener. He joined our host Jacob Shymanski for a ‘Rapid Fire Review’ f...
Reviewing “Eruption” by James Patterson and Michael Crichton with Ryan Hooey
14 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Two of the bestselling storytellers of all time have created an unforgettable thriller. The master of the techno-blockbuster joins forces with the mas...
Reviewing "The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store" by James McBride with Sara Hillis
07 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
One of our Audiobook contributors Sara Hillis joins us for another Audiobook review. James McBride's The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store begins with the ...
Reviewing "The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece" by Tom Hanks with Michael Feir
06 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
One of our avid audiobook readers, Michael Feir, joins us to review “The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece,” written and narrated...
Reviewing Tom Lake by Ann Patchett with Karen McKay
06 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The novel Tom Lake by critically acclaimed American author Ann Patchett is a mature and cerebral exploration of parent-children relationships, love an...
How to be a Better Listener of Audiobooks with Aamer Khan
29 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Better reading/audiobook listening comprehension leads to greater enjoyment of books. Do not neglect the quality of book consumption over quantity. Th...
Reviewing Normal People by Sally Rooney and The Liveship Traders Series by Robin Hobb
22 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This week, Jacob and Ramya each review a book they've been eager to share. Both titles come with enthusiastic and overwhelmingly positive recommendati...
Fan-Fiction for Dummies with Cassandra Chaddock
15 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This week, our co-worker in AMI's Marketing & Communications department, Cassandra Chaddock, schools us on fan-fiction basics. It's a strange world of...
Audiobook Pet Peeves + How Couples Can Listen Together
08 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
What’s your biggest audiobook pet peeve? That one, seemingly insignificant thing that for whatever reason, drives you crazy. We posed this questio...
This Summer Will Be Different by Carley Fortune - Review + RFR with Cora Coady
01 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
With the help of our friends at CELA, Karen McKay and Theresa Power, Ramya and Jacob are reviewing the latest book from best-selling Canadian author,...
Reviewing Homes: A Refugee Story By Abu Bakr Al-Rabeeah and Winnie Yeung
25 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Homes: A Refugee Story, by Abu Bakr Al-Rabeeah and Winnie Yeung, was recommended to us by our audiobook curator, Aamer Khan, as part of a previous epi...
What is CELA? + Demystifying the Audie Awards
18 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
CELA , the Center for Equitable Library Access, is celebrating its 10th anniversary. For over a decade, they’ve been maintaining a massive physical ...
Interview with Veteran Narrator Anne Flosnik
11 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
With over 700 audiobook titles to her credit, Anne Flosnik is a veteran amongst veteran audiobook narrators. When we got the chance to have her on the...
Sarah Desjardins' First Audiobook + Spotify Enters the Audiobook Game
04 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Canadian actress Sarah Desjardins (Yellowjackets, The Night Agent) joins us to talk about her very first work of audiobook narration. She discusses th...
PAL Reading Services and Books That Made Us Cry
27 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
PAL reading services is a non-profit, registered charity service that will record a human narration of any text you submit, no questions asked, at no ...
Audible's 1984 Adaptation: Interview with Writer Joe White
20 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Last week we reviewed Audible’s awesome audio adaptation of George Orwell’s 1984.If you haven’t heard our review, the short version is that we l...
Reviewing Audible's Adaptation of 1984
13 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Audible recently released their full-cast, radio-play adaptation of George Orwell’s classic 1984. Featuring a cast full of recognizable names, origi...
A Guide to Literary Awards, Plus Reviewing "Beware the Woman" by Meagan Abbot
06 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Karen McKay and Theresa Power of CELA help us better understand the place literary awards hold within the publishing industry, and how they affect eve...
Autobiography Trivia with Aamer Khan
30 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
On today's episode: One of the beautiful things about audiobooks is the flexibility they give us. If you’re reading a print book, you just sit there...
Autobiography of Malcolm X & Rapid Fire Reviews with Karoline Bourdeau
23 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
On today's episode: How much do we really know about the people who've shifted and coloured our histories?We review The Autobiography of Malcolm X, wr...
"Archer's Voice" a Small-Town Romance Review & Rapid Fire Reviews with Greg David
16 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
On today's episode: Archer’s Voice by Mia Sheridan is a New York Times best-selling romance novel about the healing and transformative power of lo...
Book Sales Trends & AI Narrated Audiobooks
09 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
On today's episode: Dissecting book sales trends doesn’t just concern the capitalists. It’s also relevant to those of us who love to inspect the d...
The Benefits of Audiobooks & Rapid-Fire Reviews with Ted Cooper
02 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
On today's episode: Listening to an audiobook, as opposed to reading it in print, is a different experience. Not better or worse, just different. But ...
Is Listening to Audiobooks the Same as Reading?
24 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
On today's episode: Did you read a book if you listened to the audiobook version? If you research this question online, you’ll find all sorts of opi...
Silly, Ridiculous and Cringy Book Titles
17 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
On today's episode: First impressions matter, and the title of an audiobook is more than likely going to be the first thing you’ll react to when com...
The Popularity of Romantasy + Celebrity Narrators
10 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
On today's episode: The Romantasy genre has blown up in the past few years and Booktok is responsible. What is it about this genre that’s made it so...
Episode 125: Behind the Scenes of Audiobooks
03 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
On today's episode: We’ve spoken in the past about the huge role audiobook producers have over the final product of a project. So many small ...
Episode 124: The Art of Book Recommendations
27 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A huge part of living the audio bookworm lifestyle is constantly seeking out your next read. That means taking tons of recommendations, be it from web...
Episode 123: Multi-Voice Narration
20 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Multi-Voice narration audiobooks offer a product that’s more like an engrossing old-school audio drama when done well. When done badly, though, they...
Episode 122: Interview with Author/Narrator Julia Whelan
13 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
We’re so excited to have one of our favorite audiobook narrators, Julia Whelan, on the show. Julia Whelan is an author, audiobook narrator of over...
Episode 121: The Best Audiobooks of 2023
06 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
On today's episode: With 2023 behind us, Karen Mackay of CELA is here to help us break down the best and most notable audiobooks of the year. Plus,...
Episode 120: Harry Potter Universe
23 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The last book in the Harry Potter series was published back in 2007, over 15 years ago. That’s 15 years for the millions of fans around the world, i...
Episode 119: The Strange World of Co-authoring
16 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
On today's episode: Being an author is typically thought of as a lonesome affair, but it doesn’t need to be. Enter the strange world of co-authoring...
Episode 118: Rapid-Fire Review Bonanza
09 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
It’s a rapid-fire review bonanza and Ramya, Nisreen and Jacob are finally participating; Julie Martin, Community Reporter on AMI's Kelly and Ramya, ...
Episode 117: Audiobooks In The Wild With Lawrence Gunther
02 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
On this week's episode: Sometimes, we need to take a step back from our busy lives and just appreciate the simple things. And what better way to do ...
Episode 116: My Life In Books with Red Széll
25 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Red Széll, host of My Life in Books with Red Széll, is with us, all the way from some place called England. Drawing on his years of experience as ...
Episode 115: Genres and How Far Can They Go
18 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Is our obsession with rigidly classifying every book into a set list of genres a bad habit that desperately needs breaking? That’s a loaded question...
Episode 114: Deep Dive on Brandon Sanderson & Know Your Narrator
11 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We’re discussing the always-fascinating fantasy author, Brandon Sanderson, who’s fully embraced the audiobook revolution despite using his massiv...
Episode 113: Reviewing Britney Spears' Memoir, The Woman in Me
04 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Karen and Theresa of CELA, the Center for Equitable Library Access, join us for another book review, this time for the highly-anticipated memoir, The ...
Episode 112: Reviewing Success by Martin Amos with Dave Brown
28 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Dave Brown, of the world-famous NOW with Dave Brown, which airs live weekdays at 9 a.m. Eastern on AMI-tv, joins us for an in-depth review of Success ...
Episode 111: Our Thriller/mystery and non-fiction recommendations
21 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This week, we finally take a moment to present our own book recommendations, in the thriller/mystery and non-fiction categories. On the second half of...
Episode 110: Why do we read horror?
14 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Karen and Theresa make their monthly appearance on the show. This time, we discuss the many reasons why so many people read horror. Why do we willingl...
Episode 109: Plot, writing, characters and setting
07 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This week, Ramya and Jacob convene with the book club to have an in depth discussion on what specifically makes a book enjoyable. Everyone shares thei...
Episode 108: The Invisible Life of Addy Leroux
30 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We’ll actually make an effort to live up to this show’s name and review a book for once. The invisible Life of Addy Leroux, by V.E. Schwab, is w...
Episode 107: Avid Readers & Rapid Fire Reviews
23 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
On today’s episode, two avid readers are coming on to discuss their recent reading adventures. Karen Magee, Content Development Specialist at AMI is...
Episode 106: 50 Shades of Taboo
16 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The meat of this episode is our Know your Narrator chat with Sara Hillis, she features long time, legendary narrator, George Guidall. And we touch bas...
Episode 105: Letters With Smokie
09 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We speak with Rod Michalko and Dan Goodley, authors of Letters with Smokie, a collection of letters providing a lively exploration of human-animal rel...
Episode 104: Provocative, Edgy and Taboo Literature
02 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We introduce a new member to the Audiobook family and discuss books that are purposely provocative, edgy, and explore taboo topics. Also, we're back w...
Episode 103: Pulitzer Prize Winners
26 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Aamer Khan features three Pulitzer Prize Winners, books focusing on important, melancholic times in history, where the main characters are on a journe...