75 Books...More or Less! discussion
Archive (2019 GR Completed)
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Stacie's 2019 Challenge
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I like his voice, but I prefer his nonfiction narrations. He comes across as distant and a little disconnected in his fiction narr..."
Agreed.
115.
How Rome Fell: Death of a Superpower. This was really good, and the author did a great job of keeping things from being hopelessly confusing when it got to multiple, concurrent Emperors, most of whom had names that sounded alike! (I'll be keeping an eye out for his other books. I might get them in audio or digital formats, though, because he writes chunksters that take up a lot of shelf space, lol) 5 Stars
531 pages
116.
Anthropology and the Study of Humanity This lecture series sounds like it was written and preformed by a High School student for Junior High and Elementary School kids. There is is a point in one lecture where he actually asks the audience what they think happened next- the only thing missing was "So, boys and girls...". His delivery is too casual for an academic audience, even one that is new to the subject, and filled with "so then", "hey!", "well", "right?", and "so, like". The material itself is superficial and unsatisfying. If this had been my only experience with anthropology I would never touch anything on the subject again.1 Star
11 hrs 55 mins
117.
The History of the English Language This was dry in some places but overall not bad. I wouldn't recommend it to an absolute beginner (I'd go with The Adventure of English: The Biography of a Language or Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue: The Untold History of English instead) but for a neophyte it was mostly interesting and not too technical. 3 Stars
18 hrs 27 mins
118.
The Saga of the Volsungs: The Saga of Ragnar LothbrokMaybe it's better if you read it, but the audiobook is horrible. The narration drones on and on and on in an inflectionless monotone. This is one of those instances where the author should never have been allowed to record the material, which surprised the heck out of me because Dr. Crawford's videos (he has a YouTube channel) on the subject are actually very good. At least it was free...1 Star
4 hrs 52 mins
119.
1812: The War That Forged a Nation Comprehensively researched, but it loses a star because the author kept putting in snide little asides that clashed with the rest of his writing. I felt that it would have been better if Borneman would have committed to either a humorous/tongue-in-cheek treatment of the material or a straightforward one.3 Stars
349 pages
120.
Medieval Myths & Mysteries. Picked up because I've got everything else by her. Not much that is new here, so if you've listened to her other lecture series you don't really need this one. I still enjoyed it, though, especially the lectures on Robin Hood and the medieval inspirations of Game of Thrones.3 Stars
5 hrs 6 mins
121.
The Horse and His Boy I've read this story many times, though this was my first time listening to the audiobook. The narrator does a good job, although I must admit that his idea of a talking horse's voice and my idea of a talking horse's voice were different, lol.4 Stars
4 hrs 41 mins
122.
The Silver Chair I've read this (a long time ago- it wasn't one of my favorites so it hasn't had the same number of rereads as, say, Lion) but this was the first time listening to the audio. Jeremy Northam does a good job, but there was a section that he sounded exactly like Gilderoy Lockheart (I had to verify who was narrating) which I found pretty distracting.4 Stars (rounding up, for the nostalgia factor)
5 hrs 25 mins
124.
The Collectors A tiny e-short set in the same universe as His Dark Materials. There really wasn't anything to this and I'm glad that I borrowed it from the library. I would have been annoyed if I'd paid for it.2 stars
25 pages
125.
The Magician's Nephew I've read the entire series but I hadn't listened to the audio, even though I've owned it forever. This isn't my favorite of the stories (in fact, the further into the series you go the less I like them) and the narration was only 'meh'. But I finally got around to listening to something I've owned for about a decade, lol, so that's good.2 stars
3 hrs 57 mins
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The Magician's Nephew I've read the entire series but I hadn't listened to the audio, even though I've owned it forever. This isn't my..."I also like each book less as the series progresses. Because the religious tone ramps up and the story strays further from the first book.
Elyse wrote: "Stacie wrote: "125. The Magician's Nephew I've read the entire series but I hadn't listened to the audio, even though I've owned it forever..."Exactly! Plus, the first book is allowed to just be a tale of wonder and fantasy. The further into the series you get the more Lewis tries to explain things logically, and it really doesn't work well. (view spoiler)
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The Magician's Nephew I've read the entire series but I hadn't listened to the audio, even though I've ow..."Yes!
Not a bad showing this year ;)December's Totals:
16 Titles
2,542 pages
57 hrs 23 mins
Year to Date totals:
125 Titles
19,052 pages
692 hrs 36 mins
This is the best reading year I've had since I began tracking! Woohoo!
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75 Books...More or Less!
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I like his voice, but I prefer his nonfiction narrations. He comes across as distant and a little disconnected in his fiction narrative choices.