One of my favorite blogging events of 2013 was the first edition of The Armchair Audies, organized by the Literary Housewife and the Guilded Earlobe. The idea is that bloggers choose at least one category of the Audies Awards, listen to all the nominated titles, and then make their predictions.

Last year I chose the History category, had lots of fun, but failed miserably in my prediction. After seeing the 2013 nominees I’ve decided to stick to History, even though, as last year, there’s an overwhelming focus given to American History (and the world so big!).

Here they are:

 

Da-Vincis-Ghost-2781964Da Vinci’s Ghost: Genius, Obsession, and How Leonardo Created the World in His Own Image
Toby Lester
Read by Stephen Hoye (Tantor Media)

The story behind the Vitruvian Man – the nominee I’m most curious about.

X

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hash-9e50e4ffcbd9f8ddfe3385fe3295495b6a57f04cSeason of the Witch: Enchantment, Terror, and Deliverance in the City of Love
David Talbot
Arthur Morey (Brilliance Audio)

A history of San Francisco in the crazy years between 1967 and 1982, “when the city radically changed itself—and then revolutionized the world“.

X

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UntitledL.A. Noir: The Struggle for the Soul of America’s Most Seductive City
John Buntin
Read by Kirby Heyborne (Tantor Media)

After San Fran in the 60s, 70s, and 80s, enter LA in the 50s. Portrayed as “the white spot of America“, it hid “crooked cops, ruthless newspaper tycoons, corrupt politicians, and East Coast gangsters“.

X

Twelve-Desperate-Miles-2804587Twelve Desperate Miles: The Epic World War II Voyage of the SS Contessa
Tim Brady
Read by Joe Barrett (AudioGO)

How cool does this sound? It’s a movie in the making:

“The Dirty Dozen meets Band of Brothers in this true story of how a rusty old New Orleans banana boat staffed with an unlikely crew of international merchant seamen, a gang of inmates from a local jail, and a French harbor pilot spirited out of Morocco by O.S.S. agents in the trunk of a Chevy, were drafted into service in WWII — and heroically succeeded in setting the stage for Patton’s epic invasion of North Africa.”

UntitledThe Wrecking Crew: The Inside Story of Rock and Roll’s Best-Kept Secret
Kent Harman
Read by Dan John Miller (Tantor Media)

A book about the West Coast’s recording studio scene of the ’60s. A bit too similar to Season of the Witch, but it still sounds… groovy.

X
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UntitledPacific Crucible: War at Sea in the Pacific, 1941-1942
Ian W. Toll
Read by Grover Gardner (Audible, Inc.)

Pacific Crucible tells the story of the first months of the Pacific war, when the U.S. Navy shook off the worst defeat in American military history (Pearl Harbor) and seized the strategic initiative.

I though military war, especially naval, was not my cuppa until I started reading Patrick O’Brian. I’m hoping this book will have the same effect.