Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge discussion
2016 Read Harder Challenge
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Task 9: Listen to an Audiobook That Has Won an Audie Award
Is it okay to listen to a book you've already read?I'm contemplating Connie Willis' Bellwether read by Kate Reading.
I'm going with Yes Please by Amy Poehler. I so often get irritated by the narrators (especially male narrators who do weird things to imitate female voices), but I figure a humor book should be good!
Cheri wrote: "I'm going with Yes Please by Amy Poehler. I so often get irritated by the narrators (especially male narrators who do weird things to imitate female voices), but I figure a humor bo..."I was so happy I listened to the audiobook version of this--it made it 10x funnier to hear Amy read it! One of my favorites.
I'm either going with The Tao of Pooh or The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.
I missed out reading All the Light We Cannot See for a group read for another group's challenge last year. I think I will remedy that.
Laura wrote: "Cheri wrote: "I'm going with Yes Please by Amy Poehler. "Thanks for the encouragement, Laura and Britany! Now I can't wait to listen to Amy Poehler's book!
My choice is The Fault in Our Stars. It won an Audie in 2013 and is actually available at my library, so it's a match made in heaven.
I'm going to listen to All the Light We Cannot See. It works out pretty well since I'll have an 8 hour drive the night of January 1, so this will probably one of the first tasks I complete!
I'm leaning towards The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism because Edward Herrmann (AKA Richard Gilmore) has such a lovely voice for audiobooks.
Patrick wrote: "Going on a two-fer here: The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. Gonna count this one as my middle-grade novel as well."I'm listening to this one now....the reader (who is also the author) is amazing...along the lines of Jim Dale (Harry Potter).
Leftmost wrote: "My choice is The Fault in Our Stars. It won an Audie in 2013 and is actually available at my library, so it's a match made in heaven."I enjoyed listening to this one! Hope you do as well.
Ballad of the Whiskey Robber: A True Story of Bank Heists, Ice Hockey, Transylvanian Pelt Smuggling, Moonlighting Detectives, and Broken Hearts
Karin wrote: "I'm leaning towards The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism because Edward Herrmann (AKA Richard Gilmore) has such a lovely voice..."I'm about halfway through this audio book right now and I'm loving it! There's so much detail about TR and Taft's lives and parents and wives and wives' families. I've already started looking for other books by Doris Kearns Goodwin or narrated by Edward Herrmann. I highly recommend it!
Ok, I don't normally listen to audiobooks and looking into this challenge has taught me that 1: they are expensive, and 2: the ones that have won the award don't seem to be widely available in the UK. However, I've found Put on Your Crown by Queen Latifah available on itunes. It's only 4 hours, too.
I was originally planning to go with The Hound of the Baskervilles, which won an Audie in 2015, but it seems to be a dramatized abridgment of the story rather than a reading of the whole novel. I will probably go instead with either Saint Joan (2011 award) or The Dybbuk (2000 award).
Louise wrote: "Ok, I don't normally listen to audiobooks and looking into this challenge has taught me that 1: they are expensive, and 2: the ones that have won the award don't seem to be widely available in the ..."You might want to try Project Gutenberg as they have audible files. They are older books but i wouldnt be surprised if they had something for you to listen too.
Rainey wrote: "I just checked and they do have an audible version of the hound of baskervilles for example."For what it's worth, Audies seem to be awarded to particular readings. Obviously, it's up to you to decide on the spirit of the challenge, but I thought I'd chip in.
Sean wrote: "Rainey wrote: "I just checked and they do have an audible version of the hound of baskervilles for example."For what it's worth, Audies seem to be awarded to particular readings. Obviously, it's ..."
Yes, for example, I found a version of All the Light We Cannot See available on itunes, but it wasn't the narrator that won the award, and the same went for a few I looked into. Hopefully these challenges will make me read things I wouldn't normally have considered :)
Audible has a free 30 day trial too. You can always sign up for one of the Audies and the cancel the subscription if you don't think you'd like to continue. I originally didn't think I'd use it enough to justify the book a month but I ended up really liking it.
Christie wrote: "I will be reading/listening to The Silkworm."I love this series. Just reading book 3 - career of evil
Dianna wrote: "Audible has a free 30 day trial too. You can always sign up for one of the Audies and the cancel the subscription if you don't think you'd like to continue. I originally didn't think I'd use it eno..."I signed up for the free trial. I dont normally listen to books so may cancel mine.
Many public libraries, at least in the States provide access to audiobooks both on CD and electronically. Save yourself some money.
I'm going for "The end of the affair" by Graham Greene, largely because it's narrated by Colin Firth, whom I adore. Is that a good enough reason?Audio books are a new thing for me - as witnessed by the fact it took me ages to work out how to download it to my phone. Done now though.
Ultra wrote: "That's a good one, Colin Firth does a fantastic job narrating it."This was my first choice, but the library doesn't carry that version. Ditto The Handmaid's Tale narrated by Claire Danes. Looks like I'm going to have to get the Audible free trial.
I'm going with the Graveyard Book too. It is technically one I've read before, but I'd love to hear Neil Gaiman's recital of it having listened to part of his performance of the Christmas Carol recently.
Just put a library hold on the The Girl with All the Gifts, which won the 2015 AUDIE for Paranormal audiobooks.
I'm not so crazy about this one as I am picky enough as it is with audiobooks and I also usually listen to them to and from work so i need to make sure I'll actually pay attention. My choices are Furious Cool: Richard Pryor and the World That Made Him, What I Know For Sure and Runaway
Astrid wrote: "I'm not so crazy about this one as I am picky enough as it is with audiobooks and I also usually listen to them to and from work so i need to make sure I'll actually pay attention. My choices are [..."I am reading the Alice Munro book for another group.
I was excited to see Graveyard Book listed. I've already read and listened to it. I must say Neil Gaiman has great audiobooks. Since I've done that one already, I'm starting my challenge with this task and I've picked Oprah's What I Know For Sure. I really like the breadth of the 2016 challenges and felt this one wouldn't overlap. Are we allowed to overlap? I think I'd rather have 24 unique books, but I also have my monthly Sci-fi book club selection.
Books mentioned in this topic
Yes Please (other topics)Daughter of Smoke & Bone (other topics)
Yes Please (other topics)
Mandela: An Audio History (other topics)
The End of the Affair (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Tina Fey (other topics)Pam Muñoz Ryan (other topics)
Neil Gaiman (other topics)
Neil Gaiman (other topics)
Alex Gino (other topics)
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Here are your Audie Award winners by year. There's some overlap in years on these two lists:
2001-present: https://www.audiopub.org/audies-gala.asp
1996-2007: http://booksalley.com/bAMain/bAlleyAw...