Spuddie's comments (member since Sep 19, 2009)

Spuddie's comments from the All Ears Audiobooks group.

Okay, one definite exception to the "authors shouldn't read their own work" rule is Neil Gaiman. I just finished listening to The Graveyard Book and he is really fantastic!!

Cheryl

Kristen wrote: I am trying to listen to the rest of the Bartamaeus Trilogy read by Simon Jones and he takes some getting used to.

I agree--I listened to the first several in the "Charlie Bone" series by Jenny Nimmo that were read by Simon Russell Beale--and they were wonderful! The sixth one (and I think subsequent ones) is done by Simon Jones and I really did not care for his voice. I did listen to the whole book as I love the series, but I found myself being much less attentive and irritated at times with his voices.

Cheryl

I am just finishing up with Michael Scott's "The Sorceress" which is the third in the 'Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel' YA fantasy series. I've enjoyed it but sometimes the reader annoys me for some reason I can't quite pinpoint.

About to start The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman which is narrated by the author, so it will be interesting to see how he does...I think he narrates most of his own books, but this will be my first.

Thanks for the recommendations--I think I have Oryx and Crake here in print (somewhere!) and will move it up my TBR stacks as soon as I find it. LOL

I also loved The Bonesetter's Daughter best among the Amy Tan books I've read.

Cheryl

So far my favorite audio books of the year are (I had to look back at my journal to refresh my memory as I read and listen a lot!)

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society--this is the first audio I've listened to with a "cast" of readers, more than one person. It was a great story and the production was stellar!

Hoot by Carl Hiassen, a young adult story. Excellent!

The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry, read by one of my favorite readers, Alyssa Bresnahan

A Beautiful Place to Die by Malla Nunn, a mystery set in 1950's South Africa, read very skillfully with a number of interesting accents by Saul Reichlin.

I've also much enjoyed several of Margaret Maron's Judge Deborah Knott series this year, read by C.J. Critt.

Cheryl

I would agree with pretty much everything said here. I cannot listen to non-fiction or technical books as I seem to need the visualization of the words in front of my eyeballs to retain difficult concepts. This is why I mostly limit my audio listening to lighter, series books where every detail isn't important. I listen to audio while cleaning, cooking, walking, playing computer games and occasionally driving--although I do tend to be careful when driving ever since I drove right by the interstate exit I was supposed to take and didn't notice until five miles later when I was listening to one of Jim Dale's stellar Harry Potter readings! LOL Now I only listen to audio when I'm driving a long distance on a fairly straight roadway without needing to turn off, such as driving from Minneapolis "up north" on I 35 and vice versa. Once I actually hit the Twin Cities, my book gets turned off so I can concentrate fully on the road and traffic.

Cheryl

Tara, Amy Tan was one of those authors that I could not get through--I listened to the first hour of Saving Fish from Drowning and had to give up. I have the print version so will probably read it--I've loved her written works.

Donna, one of the series I enjoy on audio is Rita Mae Brown's "Mrs. Murphy" cat mysteries--they are way too cozy and not something I'd probably read in print, but Kate Forbes does a wonderful job with the series and I love the audios. I didn't realize that RMB recorded her own Hunt Club series--haven't listened to any of those, and now I probably won't. LOL

Julie, I read Cat's Eye in print and I agree with you, it was really a downer. I find Atwood's stuff to be rather hit or miss with me. A Handmaid's Tale was the first of hers I read and remains my favorite of hers, and in fact one of my all-time favorie books!

Cheryl

Howdy, newcomer to the group here. :) I just finished up Charlie Bone and the Beast (written by Jenny Nimmo and read by Simon Jones) which is #6 in a Young Adult fantasy series. I enjoyed it, but to be honest, I preferred the reader who did the first five in this series, Simon Russell Beale. Some of that is probably me just getting used to his characterizations, but I think he did the varying voices more skillfully than this reader, too. The story itself was great, though!

Two others I've listened to recently that I really enjoyed--Proven Guilty (written by Jim Butcher and read by James Marsters) which is #8 in the Harry Dresden paranormal series, and The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley, read by Jayne Entwhistle. Very well read, both of them.

Cheryl

Cheryl

Howdy, I'm new to this group, so thought I'd chime in. I have a few favorite readers--I would probably listen to them reciting the dictionary! LOL--and what I do is use the "author alerts" from my library. The reader is usually listed as a secondary author, so I get an e-mail notifying me when that reader has a new audiobook being ordered by the library.

To me, a good reader is able to not only differentiate between many different character's voices, does a plausible job of varying accents, but is able to set the "tone" for a book. Lighthearted? Serious and literary? Casually funny? I've come across a few that, while reading competently, just don't seem to "match" the book itself, if that makes any sense.

I just discovered audiobooks a couple of years ago, so my experience with readers is somewhat limited, but so far my favorite readers are George Guidall, C.J. Critt, Alyssa Bresnahan. I really loved Jesse Bernstein narrating Rick Riordan's "Percy Jackson and the Olympians" young adult fantasy series though I've listenend to nothing else that he's done. He was perfect for the role!

One thing I have to say is that so far my experience with authors narrating their own work is...don't! So far the great majority of audio books I've DNF'd were those narrated by the author, and their speaking voice was just not up to snuff. In one case, the production itself was sub-par, as the author kept moving away from the microphone or something, as the sound would fade in and out, and there was a lot of background sound--not noise really, just not a "clean" listen. I think unless an author has a really wonderful reading voice and someone to organize a professional production--don't do it!

Cheryl