Debbie's comments (member since Jun 04, 2008)

Debbie's comments from the Books on the Nightstand group.

The first audio books I listened to were of books by my favorite author that I'd previously read (many times). They were abridged versions, which was mostly what was available then. I found them to be a good reminder of the stories I loved. Once I discovered unabridged though, I decided that was the only way to listen to books. I want the full story. I'm glad that some older books are being re-released in audiobook format as unabridged versions now.

At night I listen to audiobooks that I've previously read or listened to, because they don't keep me awake getting lost in the story so much. Like bedtime stories for grown-ups.

The Harry Potter series is a good example of how covers can be different in different countries. Mary GrandPre did the US covers (an excellent job). The UK children's covers were done by a different artist, and they even had different, less childish, covers for adult editions. http://gallery.the-leaky-cauldron.org/ca... This is a link to HP covers world wide.

I was active with an on-line group devoted to the books by Anne McCaffrey, when one of her newest books was in process of being published and the covers for the US and UK versions were released. The US members protested long and loud. The US cover was awful - we had grown used to covers by the wonderful Michael Whelan. Our protests apparently did not fall on deaf ears even in cyberspace. The US cover was changed before the release of the book. That was my first taste of the power of the internet communities to effect change.

Chris wrote: "Rereading Fires of Heaven by Robert Jordan. I'm reading the whole Wheel of Time series in anticipation of the next book due out in Nov."

Chris, you might be interested in checking out the WOT re-read being done at Tor.com by Leigh Butler. She recaps by chapter and then comments on the action. I love her style and it is a good re-fresher of the books without having to re-read the whole thing myself. Here's the link to the books and chapters covered so far: http://www.tor.com/index.php?option=com_...

Happy reading!

I love my Kindle and it was well worth the money. It's so portable that it goes everywhere with me. Anytime I have to wait for an appointment I can pull out my Kindle and read. It helps keep the frustration level down when the wait gets too long. Plus I'm reading what I want to read, not a months old magazine about a topic I'm not interested in. If I don't feel like reading one book, I can read a different one, or the magazine I subscribed to, or the blog I subscribed to. And it's so easy to hold, my hands don't get cramped trying to hold a big book. I'm discovering new authors by downloading samples of their work for free, plus I can see if the sample lives up to the hype for some books. Did I mention, I love my Kindle :-)

Just finished The Alchemyst by Michael Scott. Am listening to World Without End by Ken Follett and reading Hero of the Ages by Brandon Sanderson. I got a great gift certificate for amazon.com from my daughter for Mother's Day, so my Kindle will definitely be filling up. I'm reviewing these boards for ideas, if I run out of my own :-)

I'm Kaelesa - but I'm new on twittter so don't know what I'm doing :-)

I just finished listening to "Magic Kingdom for Sale - Sold" by Terry Brooks. I am also reading "Mistborn - Final Empire" by Brandon Sanderson and "Assassins Apprentice" by Robin Hobb. I finished reading "Coraline" by Neil Gaiman which was on my Kindle.

I also just recently got the Kindle 2 and I love it. As to pricing, I noticed that "best-sellers" are usually $9.99. Other new books that are out in only hardback format can be more than that. Once a book is in paperback the Kindle price seems to drop accordingly, many under $9.99. One thing you can do with the Kindle is download a sample of the book, which is usually the first 2-3 chapters. This is a great feature to use when you hear about a book you think you might like but aren't sure. My problem is every sample I've tried so far makes me want to read the whole book. It's so easy to purchase books from the Kindle that I have to exercise so strong willpower to avoid blowing my budget.

I think I've mentioned on other posts what a fan I am of audio books. Books that I couldn't get into, reading the paper version, I ended up loving when listening to audio.

Some of favorite finds: The Lord of the Rings trilogy read by Rob Inglis. He doesn't read these books, he performs them - giving each character their own voice, singing the songs as they occur in the story, not just reading the verses. It's a wonderful experience.

Any mention of audio book narrators should include Jim Dale performing the Harry Potter books. His Grammy-winning performances set a new standard.

Michael Crichton's Airframe, read by Frances Cassidy is another book I might never have read, but found engrossing in audio.

My audiobook collection is beginning to rival my print book collection. I listen in the car, when doing my cross stitch, and when just playing games or surfing the web on my computer.

And what is this thing called an IPOD??

Julie, an Ipod is incredible. We have an Ipod Classic that holds 80 GB. We have over 100 books loaded on it, and there is room for almost that many more. Ipods aren't exactly cheap to buy, unfortunately, but once you get one you'll wonder what you ever did without it. I get audio books from audible.com, where they have several levels of membership at several different prices, and think they have outstanding value. Their selection of books is amazing - bestsellers, classics, fiction, non-fiction - you name it.

I listen to my ipod when doing my counted cross stitch, traveling in the car and to help me wind down at night to sleep. You can also get armbands to hold your Ipod while you exercise or go walking.

There are other brands of MP3 players that are less expensive, and audible.com has a list of the brands that are compatible with their format.

I hope this helps answer some of your questions. Happy Reading!

I just finished Dragonheart by Todd McCaffrey. He has taken over writing in the Pern world that his mother Anne McCaffrey created. I'm thinking there must be a sequel coming for this book, since I didn't feel things were resolved with this story.

I'm also reading Hood by Stephen Lawhead, which is a retelling of the Robinhood legend. Lawhead is great at bringing myths to life - like his Pendragon Cycle about King Arthur. I have the sequel to Hood, which is Scarlet waiting in the wings.

I always have at least one book I'm reading, and another book I'm listening to on the ipod when I go to bed. (We live in a noisy apartment complex and the readers voice going all night long blocks out some of the other noises.) Then I usually also have a book I'm listening to on my computer while I do paper work or play games. And most of the time I have another book I'm reading, in another room of the house from the first one. I stick mostly to the same genre, and sometimes it does get confusing if the books have similar plots and characters. Listening to Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time books, and George R R Martin's Song of Ice and Fire books at the same time was very confusing, since they both have a long list of characters and complex plot points.

Catyche, if you like sci-fi/fantasy and want to try an audio book, I'd recommend The Curse of Chalion, by Lois McMaster Bujold. The narrator is Lloyd James. It's a fascinating book with great characters and Mr James brings the characters to life with his reading. The narrator can make a big differnce in how much you enjoy an audio book, especially if it's a book you haven't read in print before. If you try my suggestion, let me know what you think.

Anne - I couldn't remember what the publishing date for Inkdeath was - and my computer was down for 2 weeks while we moved, but that's another story. Anyway, on Amazon it shows the release date for Inkdeath as today, Oct. 14. Normally I'd be in the car racing to the bookstore, but I had surgery on my elbow and can't drive for a few days. Hopefully it will show up on audible.com soon and I can get the audio book too.

Anne, I'm also waiting for Inkdeath to be released. I fell in love with Inkheart from the first few pages. The movie they are making from it looks interesting too. Brenden Frasier must like Cornelia Funke's work, he's narrated a few books, and is starring in the movie. Acoording to Imdb the movie will be released in January 2009.

I've been reading quite a few YA books lately, including Harry Potter, of course. My second favorite YA series is The Bartimeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud, including: The Amulet of Samarkand; The Golem's Eye; and Ptolemy's Gate. I listened to these on audio before I read them and maybe that was what sold me. The narrator of the audio books did such a delightful job! When I saw the book in print and realized that there were footnotes and such I was amazed at how those were worked into the audio narrative. The books are about a boy wizard in London, but not at all like Harry Potter. The boy conjures a powerful djinn (genie) that is always looking for a chance to kill him or escape from him. The books are full of wry humor and high adventure. I recommend them to anyone interested good YA books.

For over 10 years I belonged to an Anne McCaffrey fans bookgroup on AOL. It started out with reading a couple of her books a month, or even taking a whole month for one book. We'd meet every other week in a designated chat room. For a long time, the leaders had specific questions they'd ask to keep the discussion going. Early on we were even extremely honored to have Ms McCaffrey herself joined the online chat. (That was when I became totally hooked on the whole internet thing.) She lives in Ireland, so catching her in the USA isn't easy. She was very fun to chat with - most of the discussion revolved around "casting" her Dragonrider characters for a "soon-to-be movie". Getting her input on the actors and actresses we chose was great fun. I just recently left that group because I no longer use AOL. Maintaining book groups online is hard, when the hosting site keeps changing the rules and rooms.

I'm thinking of joining another online, or even in-person, group once we get settled in our new place. It would be a good way to meet new people.

I'm still working my way through The Foundation Trilogy. But my daughter interrupted that reading by sending me 7 of the Sookie Stackhouse books by Charlaine Harris. I've read the first two and just started the third. My daughter loves them and wanted to be able to discuss them with me. She calls me at least once a day, usually more often, and I'm grateful we have such a great relationship. What can a mom do but read books at the request of her kids? The books are enjoyable, light reads with lots of humor. Normally I'm not a vampire-genre reader, so these are a new experience for me. I'm just glad they're not the scary kind of vampires...LOL.

Anne, I'm about half way through listening to Pillars of the Earth. I had to turn it off tonight earlier than I planned. Maybe I'm in the wrong mood, but the character of William (the new Earl) is driving me crazy. He seems a little one dimensional to me - pure evil with no redeeming qualities at all. I hope somebody puts a sword through him soon! I'll finish the book, but it's rare that I have such a intense reaction to a character. I wonder if it would be the same if I were reading the book instead of listening? The narrator is John Lee, and he is doing a great job, maybe too good.

I'm currently reading "Foundation" by Isaac Asimonv. It's been on my TBR list forever and I finally decided to tackle it. I enjoy more of the fantasy books in the sc-fi/fantasy genre, but this is a classic I felt I should read. It's interesting so far.

I'm also listening to "Pillars of the Earth" by Ken Follett. It's a book I've heard a lot about, and the sequel sounded interesting so I thought I'd try it. I'm really enjoying the story so far, but I'm not sure why. I like historical fiction and the characters in this story are really coming to life for me.

Anne, I'd also love a podcast about what you and Michael do. If I'd known there was such a career back in my high school days, I'd definitely have aimed in that direction. Even though there probably wasn't a lot of publishing jobs in Utah.