2011 Listening Challenge

[Brenda]

The Curse of Chalion narrated by Llyod James is the only way to go, he's amazing with that book.

[Vic]

1 Pick an audiobook that received a DIK grade at AAR in print format
- COMPLETED: Nalini Singh - Archangel's Kiss - Justine Eyre

2 Tempt yourself to find a series that grabs hold and won't let go by listening to the first in a series
- COMPLETED: Molly Harper - How to Flirt with a Naked Werewolf - Amanda Ronconi
Really enjoyed this light and funny PNR. Looking forward to second book coming out in audio soon.

3 Listen to another listener's romance favorite

4 Listen to a book recommended in a previous Speaking of Audiobooks column

5 Listen to a new-to-you author
- COMPLETED: Gail Carriger's Soulless - Emily Gray

7 Listen to a romance book released in 2011
- COMPLETED: Nora Roberts - Treachery in Death - Susan Ericksen
not sure this fits here tho I classify the series as romance suspense

9 Listen to an audiobook that has been languishing in your to-be-listened (TBL) pile
-- *NEW* COMPLETED: Julie Garwood - Fire and Ice - I didn't think this book really stood up to JG's normal standards. I didn't really engage with the characters.

10 Relisten to a favorite book
- COMPLETED: Patricia Briggs - Hunting Ground - Holter Graham

11. Give a less-than-favorite narrator a second chance
- COMPLETED: Jeaniene Frost - Destined for an Early Grave - Tavia Gilbert

14 Listen to a new-to-you narrator
- COMPLETED: Molly Harper's Nice Girls Don't Have Fangs - Amanda Ronconi

[Carrie]

#1 Pick a book from your TBR pile- Arabella by Georgette Heyer, narrated by Eve Matheson
#2 Pick a new narrator- Dream Man by Linda Howard, narrator Philip Gigante
#3 Pick a book that was a DIK in print- Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day by Winifred Watson, narrated by Frances MacDormand
#4 Start a series that grabs you- Shadow Game by Christine Freehan, narrated by Tom Stechschulte
#5 Listen to a book someone else chooses for you- Shards of Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold, narrated by Grover Gardner
#6 Listen to a romance sub-genre you usually avoid- A Loving Scoundrel by Johanna Lindsey, narrated by Laural Merlington
#7 Listen to a book recommended in a Speaking of Audiobooks column- Black Ice by Anne Stuart, narrated by Jennifer Van Dyck ***In Progress***

[Carrie]

Finished Black Ice by Anne Stuart and gave it 4/5 stars. It was different (in a good way) than I thought it'd be. Emotionally detached, but not abusive, hero. The narrator was quite good.

[Carrie]

8th book: The Spymaster's Lady by Joanna Bourne. Listen to another listener's favorite romance.

Starting my 9th book for the challenge: Primary Inversion by Catherine Asaro, narrated by Anna Fields. This fulfills the "new-to-you" author category.

[Krissie]

Aaargh. Don't know how to put book covers or add star rankings. Someone email me off-line and tell me, wouldja?
I'm finished, I think. I needed
1. An abridged book. I read Open Season by Linda Howard and it drove me nuts. They even cut the sex scenes!
2. Someone else's recommendation -- the Fever series
3. a different subgenre. I guess we can call SIMPLY IRRESISTIBLE a different genre. Apart from Crusie, SEP is the only contemporary non suspense author I read.
So I'm done. Unless I need to choose a different subgenre. Hard to find one I'm willing to read that I haven't tried. (No way you can get me to try history or literary fiction.

[Barbie]

hello all long time no comment but I will be starting son of the morning by linda howard this week!

[Carrie]

This challenge has been great for me. I've pushed myself to listen to books I might never have tried and I'm enjoying my new finds. I just finished to Faro's Daughter, my 10th Challenge book: relisten to a favorite book. Right now I'm listening to The Highlander's Touch by KMM. This is my first book by her, and so far I'm enjoying it. It doesn't meet a category requirement, but I got it on the recommendations of listeners here.

I have four categories to go to complete all 14.
Give a narrator a second chance.
Listen to a book released in 2011.
Listen to an abridged book. (I could use some suggestions with this! Not Open Season and no Heyer books.)
Borrow a book from a friend or library. (I have a request in for One Summer by Karen Robards, but it seems to be lost.)

[MaryK]

Carrie wrote: "Listen to an abridged book. (I could use some suggestions with this! Not Open Season and no Heyer books.)"

I plan to try this one at some point.
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

[Carrie]

This looks good! I actually read this several years ago and liked it, but ended up skimming most of the middle section because of the long separation of the lead characters. Unfortunately, that has colored my view of the author and even though many have recommended other books by her, I've avoided her since. I tried Perfect once, but I don't like the "separation by misunderstanding" plot line.

The abridgement might be just the ticket. If I try it and like it, I might look for other abridged books by this author.

[Diane]

I wasn't going to complete this part of the challenge as I absolutely despise abridged versions BUT I may give this one a try. I hate the separation by misunderstanding almost as much as I do abridgements so maybe this book will work. :)

[Carrie]

MaryK Audiobook wrote: "I plan to try this one at some point.
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show..."

I went to audible, and the abridged version available there has a different narrator than the one Lea mentions in the linked review (Laura Dean). The narrator on the audible version is Kate Miller. Anyone familiar with her?

[Lea's Audiobooks]

I just had to investigate this one. Both were produced in 2006 with the same cover and they are the same length. I have the audio CD in hand and it says Laura Dean. So I enlarged the cover image at Audible and, sure enough, it reads "Read by Laura Dean." Audible messed up!

[Carrie]

Lea's Audiobooks wrote: "I just had to investigate this one. Both were produced in 2006 with the same cover and they are the same length. I have the audio CD in hand and it says Laura Dean. So I enlarged the cover image..."

Thank you for taking the time to do that, Lea! I thought it was odd there were two versions. I'm going to give this one a try.

[Tracy]

Status: 10 of 12 completed + 14 add-on-listens

I would love to report progress on my 2011 Listening Challenge, but I cannot. I am still left with two categories that I can’t bring myself to complete. And wouldn’t you know the two categories are:

9. Listen to an audiobook that has been languishing in your to-be-listened (TBL) pile.

11. Give a less-than-favorite narrator a second chance.

Alas, I’m still listening to other books and hope to go those 2 in sometime before 2012. *sigh*

IN PROGRESS


TO LISTEN


LISTENED – CHALLENGE
Options: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 11, 12, 13, 14


LISTENED – CHALLENGE ADD-ON
Additional audiobooks I listened to because of this challenge.

[Laura (Kyahgirl)]

Tracy wrote: "Status: 10 of 12 completed + 14 add-on-listens

Wow, that's a pretty impressive pile of books listened to!

[Lea's Audiobooks]

I need to do an update too. I keep thinking I'll feature an update in the column but it hasn't happened. Hope to do so soon. In the meantime, I love seeing all the updates here.

[Tracy]

Laura wrote: "Tracy wrote: "Status: 10 of 12 completed + 14 add-on-listens

Wow, that's a pretty impressive pile of books listened to!"

Thanks. I'm a little obsessed. I've almost exclusively been on audiobooks all year. What would I do without them!?!?! :)

[Diane]

Ok, here's how I'm progressing in the challenge.

1. Pick an audiobook that received a DIK grade at AAR in print format. The Time Traveler’s Wife – Audrey Niffenegger – DONE

2. Tempt yourself to find a series that grabs hold and won’t let go by listening to the first in a series. The Secret History of the Pink Carnation – Lauren Willig – SERIES DONE

3. Listen to another listener’s romance favorite. Lois McMaster Bujold – The Curse of Chalion – DONE

4. Listen to a book recommended in a previous Speaking of Audiobooks column (and following discussion). Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews - DONE

5. Listen to a new-to-you author. Deborah Harkness – A Discovery of Witches - DONE

7. Listen to a romance book released in 2011. Shadowfever - DONE

8. Listen to an abridged audiobook. Every Breath You Take – Judith McNaught - DONE.

11. Give a less-than-favorite narrator a second chance. Richard Ferrone – The Last Templar - DONE. (He just doesn't do romances very well.)

12. Share in your listening – listen to a book someone else chooses for you. It Had to be You – SEP - DONE

14. Listen to a new-to-you narrator. Susan Bennett – BLOODSUCKING FIENDS, CHRISTOPHER MOORE - DONE

[Diane]

HELP...one of the categories I still need to do is LISTEN TO A ROMANCE SUB-GENRE YOU USUALLY AVOID. Can someone look thru my audiobook shelf and help me figure out what I should try? Thanks!!!!

[MaryK]

Diane wrote: "HELP...one of the categories I still need to do is LISTEN TO A ROMANCE SUB-GENRE YOU USUALLY AVOID. Can someone look thru my audiobook shelf and help me figure out what I should try? Thanks!!!!"

I'd say you should listen to a non-Laurens Historical. The only ones I saw were Laurens and Moning. It looks like you usually listen to Cont. and Paranormal.

I can't think of one to recommend but you could look through the group shelf and I'm sure some of the heavier listeners can rec something.

[Laura (Kyahgirl)]

Diane wrote: "HELP...one of the categories I still need to do is LISTEN TO A ROMANCE SUB-GENRE YOU USUALLY AVOID. Can someone look thru my audiobook shelf and help me figure out what I should try? Thanks!!!!"

Hi Diane, I looked at your shelves too. I'm not sure what it means that you have no ratings on a lot of the UF books. Have you listened to them? I LOVED CE Murphy's negotiator series, that might be a good place to start. ( I could be off base, I saw quite a a few fantasy books with no ratings so thought maybe they were 'to-read')

I also didn't see much Jennifer Cruise. The 'Bet Me' audiobook is a riot.

[Diane]

Everything on my audiobook shelf has been listened to at least once. I've just never taken the time to rate them. :(

[Carrie]

Diane wrote: "Everything on my audiobook shelf has been listened to at least once. I've just never taken the time to rate them. :("

Diane- I did a quick look at your audio shelf, and I didn't notice any American historicals or westerns. Maybe someone here could suggest a a good book in one of those categories. I've read a few, but I don't think I've listened to any on audio.

I noticed you have some historical romances, but I didn't see any Georgette Heyer books. I love her audiobooks, especially those read by Eve Matheson, Cornelius Garrett or Phyllida Nash.

[Karen]

I just narrated Bride of the Wolf by Susan Krinard for Audible. It is paranormal, but also set in the west in the early 1900s so perhaps that might count as historical western? I don't know when this one will be available, but I liked her writing if there are others by her on audio. Good luck!

[Krissie]

Audio bookshelf? Rating? What's that?

[MaryK]

You can add custom bookshelves to your account and use them like tags (UF, Para, Hist, Audio) to sort your books. On your bookshelf page, there should be an "add shelf" option over on the left where the shelf names are listed.

Rating is just number of stars I think.

[Diane]

Karen wrote: "I just narrated Bride of the Wolf by Susan Krinard for Audible. It is paranormal, but also set in the west in the early 1900s so perhaps that might count as historical western? I d..."

Hmmm, maybe I'll use this one. Thanks Karen!

[Diane]

For the life of me I just couldn't think of any sub-genres that I've been avoiding. Thanks for the suggestions. Keep 'em coming, please. :)

[Carrie]

11th category: Give a narrator a second chance. Naked in Death narrated by Susan Ericksen. I didn't care for Ericksen's narration of Nora Roberts' High Noon.

So far Ericksen doesn't seem to be narrating in the same way, so this is good. In High Noon she tended to end her dialog lines on an up-note, making the speakers sound like like teenagers to me. Here, the dialogs sounds more natural. I'd like for Roake's voice to be deeper, but the accent is good.

[Krissie]

hey, speaking of which, RESTLESS just got a DIK status at AAR! I'm psyched! That's a love it or hate it book.

[Xe]

Krissie wrote: "hey, speaking of which, RESTLESS just got a DIK status at AAR! I'm psyched! That's a love it or hate it book."

Krissie wrote: "hey, speaking of which, RESTLESS just got a DIK status at AAR! I'm psyched! That's a love it or hate it book."

That's wonderful, Krissie! Testament to the marriage of your fab writing and Ericksen's adept narration.

[Carrie]

Loved Naked in Death narrated by Susan Ericksen. So glad I gave her a second chance. I've already bought Glory in Death.

I just finished Ice Blue and thought it was great! Now I can't remember why I skipped Cold as Ice. I may go back now and listen to that one. These don't fulfill a challenge category.

I have three categories left: Borrow an audiobook, Abridged audio, and 2011 audio. I'm still balking at an abridged audio just 'cause I don't want to spend a credit on an abridged book. I might find one at the library instead. I have some ideas for the other categories...

[Carrie]

I finally fulfilled another category of the Challenge. I listened to Lady Be Good by SEP which I borrowed from the library. This leaves abridged and a 2011 release.

[Carrie]

I'm still chipping away at the Challenge. I finished my next-to-last category, the 2011 release with When Beauty Tamed the Beast. I loved the humor in this book! the narrator, Susan Duerden, has strong character voices for both the male and female characters, but I wasn't as crazy about her style of narration in the prose section of the book. Overall, though, it was a 4* listening experience.

I don't know that I'll do the abridged book, which is the only category I have left, but that's no matter. This sure has been fun!

[MaryK]

Carrie wrote: "I don't know that I'll do the abridged book, which is the only category I have left, but that's no matter. "

If you're interested, there've been several recs in the group for abridged books. One was for a Judith McNaught which I can't remember the name of and there was one for Linda Howard's Open Season. You might find them by searching for abridged in the discussion posts. I'm pretty sure the McNaught is reviewed on the group bookshelf.

I think the Heyers read by Richard Armitage are abridged.

[Diane]

The abridged category was a major struggle for me too. I took a chance on Every Breath You Take by Judith McNaught because of the recommendations on this group. I have to admit, it was a success. Enough that I will probably listen to it again.:)

[Carrie]

I'm done, I'm done, I'm done! :-)

I finally found an abridged book at I price I was willing to pay (under $4) during the last audible sale. It was Rebellious Desire by Julie Garwood, narrated by Anna Flosnik. The book and the narration were both just fine. I noticed the book has a better rating for the unabridged version, but that's understandable.

I really wanted to finish all 14 categories, so I'm happy. I'm looking forward to next year and looking over some of the posts here to get more ideas.

[Lea's Audiobooks]

Yea Carrie! You beat me. I'm still stuck on the inspirational category (listening to a new sub-genre). I really think I have one that will work but just haven't taken the step yet.

And I can think of no other sub-genre I haven't tried. Maybe I need to think some more...