Cassandra West

THE BEST OF NPR: WRITERS ON WRITING Time Warner Audio, approximately 90 minutes, $12.98. All books have something in common: an opening line. Writers, however, approach those first words in...

LITTLE ALTARS EVERYWHERE By Rebecca Wells, Harper Audio, approximately 3 hours, abridged, $18. Performed by the author. Millions of us have already met Siddalee Walker, her dysfunctional family and her...

Once upon a time, Barbara Stanny's daddy handled her finances. When she married, Stanny's husband took over the task of managing her substantial trust fund. (Her father is Richard Bloch,...

Mountain resorts that made their fortunes on groomed ski slopes are welcoming a new cadre of web-footed visitors. Snowshoe programs are multiplying like bunnies. "Snowshoeing is a good way for...

KING OF THE WORLD By David Remnick, Nova Audio Books, approximately 6 hours, abridged, $24.95. Read by Dick Hill. New Yorker Editor David Remnick has written an enthralling portrait of...

PATRICK STEWART PERFORMS CHARLES DICKENS' A CHRISTMAS CAROL By Charles Dickens, Simon & Schuster Audio, approximately 110 minutes, unabridged, $16. Read by Patrick Stewart. From the moment the inimitable voice...

MY WORLD--AND WELCOME TO IT By James Thurber, The Audio Partners, 4 hours and 34 minutes, unabridged stories, $24.95. Read by John Cullum. Welcome to the wit and wisdom of...

EVENING By Susan Minot, Random House Audiobooks, 3 hours, abridged, $18. Read by Kathryn Walker. In the twilight of her life, as she slips into and out of consciousness, Ann...

BY THE LIGHT OF MY FATHER'S SMILE By Alice Walker, Random House Audiobooks, 4 hours, abridged, $24. Read by Audra McDonald. In this message-heavy novel, multiple narrators traverse borders that...

BLUE LIGHT By Walter Mosley, Time Warner AudioBooks, approximately 3 hours, abridged, $17.98. Read by Tucker Smallwood. Walter Mosley leaves his best-known character, Easy Rawlins, and the mean streets of...