narrators of audio books

[dbbks3]

For the "readers" of audio books: Do you have readers who you love or hate? Do you ever make a decision about choosing a book based on the narrator? Do you have favorites?

[Dee]

yep, def. picked books based on narrators - both my library and audible let me sample books. There are ppl I know I love - Simon Vance, Susan Erickson, Davina Porter; some I like - Phil Gigante, Dick Hill, Elisabeth Rogers

there have been a few i've disliked, unfortunately I didn't write their names down - but I remember the books they narrated so that helps

i've also picked books up to listen to based on the narrator - right now i'm getting read to listen to The Problem of Pain - not my normal listening fare, but its narrated by Simon Vance

[Nícia]

Do you concentrate on the story when you're listening to it? What do you do to not get distracted? I never picked an audio-book because I would find it hard to pay attention all the time.

[Dee]

I do - i find I actually have to concentrate more when I listen because its easy to get distracted, and harder to review...thankfully, the ipod has a 30 second back function

[Tracy]

I love listening to audio books but whether I listen or not depends on the narrator. A few I really like are: Phil Gigante, Tavia Gilbert and Eric G. Dove

[Nícia]

Thanks for the information, Dee. :)

[dbbks3]

I love C J Critt, Ron McLarty,Lou Diamond Phillips (Yes the actor/director). There are others. Authors are uusually the worst at reading their own books.

[Elisa Santos]

I have given a try at audio-books recently and, i am ashamed to say that i....fell asleep: wheter i was particularly tired that time or just simply was my reaction to it i still have to get another go at it.

[Dee]

and they aren't for everyone, i'm a combo visual/audio learner - so I do well with both, others are just visual, and some are just audio

[dbbks3]

I am a very visual person, but love my audio books. They let me "read" when I am cooking, driving or otherwise occupied with my hands. (Listening to music while driving puts me to sleep. Listening to books on CD keeps me alert.) There are some books that to which I only want to listen. Sometimes because of the book. Sometimes because of the narrator. Expample: I have read Janet Evanovich. I prefer to listen to her books. She makes me laugh out loud. I love her narrator, CJ Critt. I also like to listen to old favorites. I also have my nook color. I like "regular" books also. In other words, however one reads the important thing is reading. Now I must continue cooking for TG while I listen to a book,

[Elisa Santos]

Yeah, the main thing is - read! A lot - it will only do good.

[Dee]

Simon Vance was the narrator for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and the others

[Cherie]

I agree, Deanna, I have enjoyed the Janet Evanovich books more by listening to them than by reading them, and I am sure it is because of CJ Critt. I usually knitt or crochet when listenng to most audio books. When I first tried to listen to audio books on my iPod, without doing something with my hands, I fell asleep.

[dbbks3]

I always have to be doing something if I am listenting to a novel or tv.
One reader I find very irating is Frank Muller. His artificial breathy way of speaking everything makes me cringe. I will not get a audiobook if he is the reader.

[Matt]

Nícia wrote: "Do you concentrate on the story when you're listening to it? What do you do to not get distracted? I never picked an audio-book because I would find it hard to pay attention all the time."

I usually have to be doing something else while listening to an audiobook. Usually I'm driving. But I also listen while doing house/lawn work. Several people at the factory where I work listen to audiobooks while on the assembling line.

[Dee]

I listen to audiobooks at work - i can't focus when I have music on, but my workspace is too quiet that I can't concentrate with the silence - so I use audiobooks - most of the time I get those playaway devices from the library

[Renelle]

I commute to work 3 days week and then end up travelling on the weekend for hockey games. I love the audio books cuz that way I can 'read' two books at a time!! One audio one bound.

[Jimbo]

I could listen to David Sedaris or Sarah Vowell read the phone book.

[Dee]

i didn't mind David Sedaris - I think he narrated his one book I listened to, but i'm just not a fan of his writing (if that makes any sense). I've read one Sarah Vowell, but haven't listened, so I might check that out

[Sandra]

I've been listening to Stephen Fry reading the Harry Potter series and all I have to say is that he's amazing.

Being a Richard Armitage fan, I've listened a few of his audiobooks and - not only his voice is beatiful - he does a good job interpreting the characters. I would recommend Bernard Cornwell's "Lord of the North"

[dbbks3]

Agree with both of Sandra's comments.

[Silvio111]

Neil Gaiman has narrated some of his own books ("A Study in Emerald"--his Sherlock Holmes story); he has a truly enfolding voice; I like to listen to him before I go to sleep.

On the other hand, I have an uneven experience with Nadia May. I really liked some of the Ngaoi Marsh books she narrated, but her British accent gets too plummy for me; it kind of repels, which is unfortunate because I really want to hear the Dorothy L. Sayers (Lord Peter Wimsey) books she has narrated but can't always stomach them.

I tend to either listen to audio books while knitting, or else I listen before I go to sleep; but the danger there is that I do go to sleep and then I have to find the last place I was still awake for.

All in all, I am very fond of audio books, but I can't be moving around or I get distracted too easily. They do give the eyes a rest, however!

[dbbks3]

I listen to audio books when I am driving, cooking, doing things around the house or on the computor. In other words those times when I cannot phyically read my nook or a book.

[Dee]

i've only really listened to Nadia May doing classics (jane austen etc) so her british accent works for that

[Silvio111]

It's not her British accent, exactly; it's the thickness of her voice; the over-exuberant way she enunciates; it just bugs me.

Now Neil Gaiman--he has a British accent I could listen to for the rest of my conscious life!

[Janet]

Deanna wrote: "I love C J Critt, Ron McLarty,Lou Diamond Phillips (Yes the actor/director). There are others. Authors are uusually the worst at reading their own books."
Unless the author is Ron McLartey!