Atlantic

Simon Winchester's audiobooks deserve a genre of their own. The gifted author has created 10 books--all scientific, observational, and introspective--and proceeded to narrate all of them. His latest title, ATLANTIC, sounds too general, but the author has no trouble turning generalities into specifics, all presented with his perfect logic. Winchester's personality enhances his eloquent word choices and elaborate sentence constructions. The author, an experienced sailor, mixes knowledge from his own seven-seas experiences into these instructional journeys to an abundance of ports in many different ages. Action-loving listeners will find plenty of piracy and plundering to keep them awake, and "verbivores" will enjoy the lexicon as much as the stories. Winchester's fans will agree: He keeps us entertained while teaching us a lot. J.A.H. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine