Audiobooks discussion
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June 2015
Finished Cat Out of Hell which was seriously quirky and more eerie than I expected; not as good as her earlier novellas IMO. Next was season 1 of the radio show Cabin Pressure, not really a book so I'm surprised to find it on GR; loving this series.Listened to my first Dave Robicheaux novel, The Neon Rain, loved listening to Burke's descriptions of New Orleans. Now listening to How to Start a Fire; I loved the Spellman files series, but nice to see what else Lutz has on tap.
I really like the Dave Robicheaux series
Dee wrote: "Sara wrote: "John wrote: "Partway through Girl in the Dark, memoir by a woman who is SO allergic to ANY light that she's pretty much relegated to her sealed off room (think: Boy in ..."I think the Lifetime movie had to be about something other than Retinitis Pigmentosa which is an eye disease characterized by night blindness and a loss of peripheral vision. There is no allergy to light but sometimes more light than usual is needed in order to see.
Nancy wrote: "J. wrote: "The Martian...I don't like Damon, but this trailer gets me excited.The Martian. I'm ready. I'm ready. I'm ready."
oh man - that *does* look good! That's one of the books that I would..."
I agree, I never would have found it without audiobook recommendations and I ended up giving the book to 4 or 5 people. Though I'm convinced that people who read it in print are missing out.
Sandi wrote: "I'm listening to Lock In by John Scalzi. I preordered it when Audible offered both editions for the price of one. I'm switching off between the Amber Benson and Wil Wheaton narrat..."Geez. I should have done that deal. I just looked and it isn't offered anymore. I have heard the Benson narration is better. Your opinion?
Jeanie wrote: "Dee wrote: "Sara wrote: "John wrote: "Partway through Girl in the Dark, memoir by a woman who is SO allergic to ANY light that she's pretty much relegated to her sealed off room (th..."yeah, i screwed up - its Xeroderma pigmentosum
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109416/?...
pretty good article about the couple in the movie i think - http://www.people.com/people/archive/...
Bill, I think Amber Benson does a better job. I know a lot of people love Wil Wheaton's narrations, but I've always thought he sounds like he's rushing through it. He also sounds over excited, even when the text doesn't call for excitement. I'm probably right because his version is an hour shorter than Benson's version.That said, I think this book is probably best read in text, not audio.
I had been pushing the Benson narration over in the sci fi thread Sandi so glad to hear you agree. Although it isn't just the narration I still feel the story works better with a female lead. Although I understand about text vs audio as the real point is to have the character gender neutral as a threep is just a thing really not a real person.
On my second listen I envisioned the threep as a crash test dummy
Sandi wrote: "Bill, I think Amber Benson does a better job. I know a lot of people love Wil Wheaton's narrations, but I've always thought he sounds like he's rushing through it..."I bought the Amber Benson version a few months ago [I didn't have the option to get both (late to the game)], and I enjoyed it. I hear Wesly Crusher talking when Wil Wheaton narrates.
finished Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates: And a Thousand Cocktails - juvenile male humor just doesn't really work for me - some of the stories were funny, but for the most part i was like ughlistening to The Ultimate Harry Potter and Philosophy: Hogwarts for Muggles - narrated by Susan Duerdan
Fran wrote: "Sara wrote: "I finished A Man Called Ove and A Death in the Family this past week. I started Middlemarchyesterday, and listened to 1 CD, but I guess I a..."Fran, I did the same thing with Kim I listened to 2 CDs and was not in the mood for it.
Grumpus wrote: "MissSusie wrote: "Started Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania by Erik Larson narrated by, Scott Brick"I'll be interested in learning your opinion. I've had this on my t..."
I read the book, not the audio version, and liked it a lot. Larson is very good at distilling facts and research into a compelling narrative that almost reads like a novel.
Marilee wrote: "Grumpus wrote: "MissSusie wrote: "Started Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania by Erik Larson narrated by, Scott Brick"I'll be interested in learning your opinion. I've ..."
I agree, I am 50% done with it now and it's really fascinating, it's about so much more than just the Lusitania, it's an interesting history of what seafaring was like at this time of war.
Storyheart wrote: "I'm with Simon Vance in South Africa, listening to the tales of The Elephant Whisperer."Literally or are you in an armchair??????? Either way I'm having varying degrees of jealousy.
I finished Lock In today. I listened to about half Amber Benson and half Wil Wheaton. I did like Amber Benson's narration better, but I still think it's a book that should be read in text because of the gender ambiguity. The last two hours of the audiobook was the novella Unlocked: An Oral History of Haden's Syndrome. It had a lot of narrators. I recognized Luke Daniels, Oliver Wyman and Bronson Pinchot right off the bat. However, I drove myself nutty trying to figure out who the other narrators were. There were quite a few who sounded familiar, but I couldn't place them. Some that I remember from the credits at the end were Elisabeth Rogers and Christian Rummell. I knew some of the other names/voices, but I can't remember them now. I really liked the novella in audio.
Not sure what I'll listen to next.
Sandi wrote: "Not sure what I'll listen to next. ..."The Fold since you liked 14. Or As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride since you like the Princess Bride movie.
;)
I went ahead and read The Duke's Perfect Wife just to finish the series. Glad to be done although I'll miss Ian.
After finishing Imajica (which I got as a freebie in exchange for a review) I'm now listening to Finders Keepers by Stephen King.I'll rarely say a bad word about King - I've enjoyed his work for decades - but I really think he's writing some of his best work right now. The writing is taut and effective.
With about five other books in progress, I impulsively decided to read the second Albert Campion book by Marjorie Allingham, Mystery Mile. Good story and Albert is a great quirky character, but the narration had bad American accents and very frequent pauses that made it slow going. I'd still be interested in another Campion story though.
Just finished Our Souls at Night. My favorite listen all year. Brilliantly simple with depth and mesmerizing narration. Tried to listen to Delicious Foods. The narrator was stilted and uncomfortable. I quit half way through the first disk. Started Jack of Spades and it is quite good so far.
Joy wrote: "Finished Beloved read by the author. While Toni Morrison is not a narrator i would generally choose, I felt this was a case where she told the story the way she wanted it told. Not a fu..."I read Beloved in print when it first came out and I couldn't make sense of most of it. I remember reading whole passages and not having a clue what the author meant. Obviously audio didn't help much!
Don't think I'll be tempted to try it again.
I've just started The Chronicles of St Mary's series with the first one Just One Damned Thing After Another by Jodi Taylor> I bought the first one in some Audible sale a while ago and all the rest are whispersync for around $5-6. So I got the second one too and I've also downloaded the 3 free short 'in-between' stories from Audible. If I like them I'll buy the next 3 as well.
So far so good, I'm about half way through the first one and I've laughed out loud a couple of times. Like the attitude of the main character and like the narration...a bit faster than I'm usually comfortable with, but it's clear and I'm not having any problems following along.
So that's my next 50ish hours of listening.
I am loving the author's narration of Delicious Foods! Did you get to chapter 2? The voice changes quite dramatically, and takes a bit of getting used to, but I'm about 2/3 done and am finding it an amazing performance. Roxanne wrote: "Just finished Our Souls at Night. My favorite listen all year. Brilliantly simple with depth and mesmerizing narration. Tried to listen to Delicious Foods. The narr..."
Roxanne wrote: "Just finished Our Souls at Night. My favorite listen all year. Brilliantly simple with depth and mesmerizing narration. Tried to listen to Delicious Foods. The narr..."I just added my name to the library's rather long wait list for Our Souls at Night. After hearing it discussed on the Books on the Night Stand podcast, the NYT book review and now your comment I guess I know why the list is long!
Just finished listening to World Gone By by Dennis Lehane, the last in the trilogy mostly featuring fictional gangster Joe Coughlin. Enjoyable, as are most Lehanes (to me).Now listening to Finders Keepers by Stephen King, a continuation of the story begun in Mr. Mercedes. So glad to be back in Kingland, he is a master. Read by Wil Patton, whose voice is so familiar from the Dave Robicheaux series that I found it unsettling, but he is excellent at a variety of voices.
Fran wrote: "Storyheart wrote: "I'm with Simon Vance in South Africa, listening to the tales of The Elephant Whisperer."Literally or are you in an armchair??????? Either way I'm having varying..."
Sadly only in my imagination, but I have spent time in the area and wish I was there literally.
Patricia wrote: "I've just started The Chronicles of St Mary's series with the first one Just One Damned Thing After Another by Jodi Taylor>..... So far so good, I'm about half way through the first one and I've laughed out loud a couple of times. Like the attitude of the main character and like the narration..."I like these too. I am back-and-forth between the print and audio on these. Finished the first in print, started the 2nd in audio and got sidetracked. But I'll get back to it, real soon, I promise, lol.
Sandi wrote: "I finished Lock In today. I listened to about half Amber Benson and half Wil Wheaton... Not sure what I'll listen to next."Have you listened to other John Scalzi books? I am curious to know how this would compare to his other books.
Adrian wrote: "Sandi wrote: "I finished Lock In today. I listened to about half Amber Benson and half Wil Wheaton... Not sure what I'll listen to next."Have you listened to other [author:John ..."
While the story itself is quite different. The writing style and wise ass humor is vwry much typical Scalzi
CatBookMom wrote: "Patricia wrote: "I've just started The Chronicles of St Mary's series with the first one Just One Damned Thing After Another by Jodi Taylor>..... So far so good, I'm about half way through the firs..."I love this series and never would have discovered it, if it hadn't been nominated for an Audie in the Paranormal category - Max just makes me laugh
2 positive reviews! That's good, I think I'm going to like them.I am usually put off by anything that says "book 1" I hate waiting a year for the next one, so I usually avoid series' but one of my reading goals this year was to tackle a few series, especially ones that are complete, although I have no idea if book 5 is the last one or not.
I'm reading, not listening to Day Shift right now, no Whispersync avalable, and then I think I will listen/read The Miniaturist. Has anyone ever read/listened to it?
I just finished listening to To Kill a Mockingbird. I loved it and can't believe I never read it before now. Cissy Spacek narrated it and did a fantastic job. 5*
Carol/Bonadie wrote: "Just finished listening to World Gone By by Dennis Lehane, the last in the trilogy mostly featuring fictional gangster Joe Coughlin. Enjoyable, as are most Lehanes (to me).Now li..."
I can't wait to listen to Finders Keepers. I'm next on the hold list at the library.
Grumpus---- Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania was fascinating and kept me interested all the way through. It is about so much more than just the Lusitania it’s also about seafaring during a time war, and so much more, I would recommend it. I think you will enjoy it!
The Pearl that Broke Its Shell was a fascinating view into the life of Afghan women from the early 1900s and present day. I would call the writing good, not great, and the narration was good. I've just started Killing Floor. I know I'm in the minority here, but I'm not feeling Dick Hill's narration yet. He just seems too stiff and formal for the language and demeanor of Jack Reacher. Maybe I'll warm up to it. I like reading mystery/action books on my Kindle, so I may just switch over to reading the series instead.
Kristie wrote: "The Pearl that Broke Its Shell was a fascinating view into the life of Afghan women from the early 1900s and present day. I would call the writing good, not great, and the narration..."I thought the narrator did a great job on The Pearl that Broke Its Shell , I also found it a fascinating story!
Alina wrote: "I just finished listening to To Kill a Mockingbird. I loved it and can't believe I never read it before now. Cissy Spacek narrated it and did a fantastic job. 5*"Alina! If I had to pick one fictional character who is my hero, hands down it is Atticus Finch.
Kristie wrote: "The Pearl that Broke Its Shell was a fascinating view into the life of Afghan women from the early 1900s and present day. I would call the writing good, not great, and the narration..."Ya - The Killing Floor was a decent content listen but I'm with you on the narration. I didn't hate, it just got me through.
Fran wrote: "Kristie wrote: "The Pearl that Broke Its Shell was a fascinating view into the life of Afghan women from the early 1900s and present day. I would call the writing good, not great, a..."I found Dick Hill's style for the Reacher novels to be one of those things that grew on me. It wasn't long before it felt like just the right way to present Reacher. I might have liked a different narrator better if he had started the series, but Dick Hill is Reacher for me now. Sadly, he isn't any of the female characters for me... not the best at doing the feminine.
Adrian wrote: "Sandi wrote: "I finished Lock In today. I listened to about half Amber Benson and half Wil Wheaton... Not sure what I'll listen to next."Have you listened to other John ..."</i>
I've listened to [book:Fuzzy Nation and Redshirts, both read by Wil Wheaton. I've read quite a few more in print. Lock In is pretty good. If you go for the audio, go for the Amber Benson version. She's just a much better narrator.
One of the things that drives me crazy about listening to Scalzi is his abundant use of "said". It seems like he tried to tone it down in this one, but there were still too many of them. Also, Will Wheaton doesn't do the "saids" very well. He puts too much emphasis on them. In print, your eyes just kind of slip past them, but they really jump out at you in audio.
Hmmm. Not sure why my post came out in italics. The HTML code looks okay. I decided to listen to City of Stairs. It's this month's book for the Sword and Laser book club. I got the print version from the library, but I just can't handle paper books anymore. I've got a book on my Kindle that I'm reading for my local science fiction club, so I decided to go with audio. I've never heard of the narrator. She seems okay so far.
You know I read Lois McMaster Bujold following Scalzi and the thing that jumped out at me was the switch from Scalzi the said" junkie to Bujold who blends conversation in a variety of ways and makes it seem natural and flows smooth.
Tracy wrote: "I'm reading, not listening to Day Shift right now, no Whispersync avalable, and then I think I will listen/read The Miniaturist. Has anyone ever read/listened to it?"
I listened to The Miniaturist a few months ago. Davina Porter is excellent (as expected), as was the historical setting and atmosphere. The story was good - it kept my interest - but some things were left unexplained and I didn't feel I knew what was going to happen to the characters in the future. So, enjoyable experience then nagging doubt.
I gave it 4 stars and I have very few 5 star reads.
I finished The Invention of Wings this morning (actually sat in my car in the parking lot at work to do this). What a great story. I especially loved Hettie/Handful. I will start One Plus One on the way home today...
Dee wrote: "CatBookMom wrote: "Patricia wrote: "I've just started The Chronicles of St Mary's series with the first one Just One Damned Thing After Another by Jodi Taylor>..... So far so good, I'm about half w..."Thanks for mentioning this. My library didn't have it on audio but I've downloaded the ebook and it's just what I was craving right now.
Tracy wrote: \ I will listen/read The Miniaturist. Has anyone ever read/listened to it?"
I read it a few months back. It doesn't have a traditional historical plot line which seems to have bothered some readers but I enjoyed it a lot. I found out afterward that the miniature house exists--you can see it online.
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Audiobooks
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I enjoyed Middlemarch but it is one of the 'in the mood' novels. I just shelved Kim for the same reason.